Overview:

This Nekusar deck leverages forced card draw and wheel effects to drain opponents, supported by damage amplifiers and efficient interaction. While lacking infinite combos, it achieves potent synergy with redundancy in wheel effects (12+), damage doublers like Solphim, Mayhem Dominus, and staxy card-draw punishment via Sheoldred, the Apocalypse/Orcish Bowmasters. The mana base and tutor density enable consistent T6–8 kills, but reliance on Nekusar and enchantments creates vulnerability.

Primer:

Core Strategy: Overwhelm opponents with incremental damage from forced card draw and wheel effects. Key phases:

• Setup (T1–4): Deploy mana rocks (Mana Vault, Chrome Mox) and card-draw engines (Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora). Protect Nekusar with free counterspells.
• Amplification (T5–7): Resolve damage multipliers (Solphim, Ghyrson Starn) and asymmetrical wheels (Windfall, Dark Deal).
• Kill (T7+): Chain wheel effects (Wheel of Fortune, Echo of Eons) or deploy finishers (Peer into the Abyss, Forced Fruition).

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands, 1–2 ramp pieces, and ≥1 wheel/damage engine.
• Prioritize blue sources for counterspell protection.
• Avoid hands lacking early interaction or card selection.

Key Tips:

• Sequence wheels after establishing 2+ damage sources.
• Use Waste Not/Monument to Endurance to mitigate self-discard.
• Save free counters for critical wheel turns or Nekusar protection.
• Teferi's Puzzle Box + damage doublers creates inevitability.

Avoid Traps:

• Overcommitting to symmetrical draw (Font of Mythos) without damage multipliers.
• Casting Nekusar without protection in removal-heavy pods.
• Wasting tutors early; prioritize redundancy over silver bullets.

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Enchantment-heavy strategy folds to Farewell/Cleansing Nova.
• Relies on commander for baseline damage (3+ removals cripple the deck).

Moderate:

• Limited lifegain/creature-based defense against aggro.
• Wheels empower graveyard/storm strategies.

Minor:

• Pain lands compound self-damage from forced draw.

Most Important Cards:

• Wheel of Fortune
• Windfall
• Solphim, Mayhem Dominus
• Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• Fate Unraveler
• Teferi's Puzzle Box
• Peer into the Abyss
• Forced Fruition
• Megrim
• Liliana's Caress

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• T6–8 kills via wheel chains, T4–5 with perfect draws (e.g., T1 Dark Ritual into T2 Solphim). No T3 wins.

Resilience: 5/10

• Free counterspells (4) protect key turns, but critical pieces (Nekusar, enchantments) are fragile.

Consistency: 7/10

• 8 tutors (e.g., Demonic Tutor, Mystical Tutor) and 12+ wheel effects ensure redundancy.

Interaction: 7/10

• S-Tier: Force of Will, Fierce Guardianship, Deadly Rollick.
• A-Tier: Cyclonic Rift, Dismember.

Rating Justification:

This deck sits between "Optimized" (rubric 6.5) and "Focused Competitive" (7.0). It lacks cEDH speed but surpasses casual decks with efficient interaction and tutor density. Comparable to rubric 6.5 ("T6–7 via efficient combos") but held back by commander dependency.

Power level: 6.0–6.5