Doomsday Arises
It’s the end of the line…but for whom?
Doomsday illulstrated by Adrian Smith
Doomsday has been heralded since the beginning of the format as one of the strongest decks available because of its speed and flexibility. Yet after two weeks of play leading to a rough 42.86% match win rate, only one has held out hope for the archetype. As a quick refresher on the combo, it requires the titular card Doomsday to assemble a pile of card draw and mana, typically some combination of “The Power 9”, to cast Jace, Wielder of Mysteries with an empty library. With some sort of card draw to kick things off, you can win on the same turn you cast Doomsday.
Recognizing Risk
Despite its obvious power, the deck can be extremely fragile. Effects like Ashiok, Dream Render and Mindcrank can prevent the card Doomsday from effectively resolving, and can mill over the key pieces of the combo after a Doomsday has already resolved. Narset, Parter of Veils and Karn, the Great Creator can significantly reduce the deck’s combo speed. Ancestral Recall, Wheel of Fortune and Timetwister can all force Doomsday to draw cards before they have Jace out. A single counterspell can snipe Jace and leave Doomsday without a win condition. While Doomsday piles can be made to counteract the opponent’s options, evaluating the range of possibilities and determining the correct amount of risk to take makes playing Doomsday not for the faint of heart.
Reimagined with Reanimation
With all of the potent answers available to counteract Doomsday, both in the mainboard and sideboard of decks, it can be hard to rely on it as the sole win condition. Therefore it is important for powerfully proactive decks to have a pivot and/or a protective plan, catching their opponents by surprise. Inspired by Michael (Experimentw), Nikola gave the deck a synergistic reanimator package to diversify their threats. Champion of Wits and Striped Riverwinder not only dig for your combo pieces, but dump reanimation targets into the graveyard. Chancellor of the Annex not only protects Doomsday’s fastest combo wins, but it is also one of the best creatures to bring back with Animate Dead. This plan B gives opponents difficult mulligan and sideboarding decisions, as the answers to the reanimation plan have little overlap with those that answer the combo plan, but both require immediate interaction.
Conclusion
Jace, Weilder of Mysteries illustrated by Anna Steinbauer
Recognizing the deck’s inherent strengths and difficulty to pilot, Nikola has been practicing Doomsday’s many nuanced piles to be ready for any situation. Looking to shore up the deck’s glass cannon nature, Nikola sought wisdom from others and included a synergistic backup plan. Congrats to Nikola for honing their deck each week until their 4-0 showing.
