So it’s about 6:10 at the LGS, me and three other guys are waiting for the draft to start at 6:30. We decide to kill time by playing a short game of EDH, fully accepting that we wouldn’t get anywhere near done by the time of the draft. I’m playing my [[Stitcher Geralf]] deck that I’ve been working on for a few months now. The others are playing [[Nahiri, the Lithomancer]], [[Prime Speaker Zegana]], and [[Brion Stoutarm]]. They have the really fancy stuff in their decks. The Swords, original dual lands, black foil planeswalkers, you name it, they had it. As someone with not anywhere enough money for that stuff, I don’t expect to do very well.

Turns 1-4 are very tame. A few artifacts are put out here and there, nothing very threatening. I play my 4th Island, play [[Grimoire of the Dead]] and pass. Again, nothing really of note is played. More artifacts, ramp spells, that sort of thing.

Turn 5, I draw Sol Ring, play it along with [[Mirror-Mad Phantasm]], figuring I could pull off some dumb synergy with Grimoire later on. The other three at the table ask what it does because it’s an understandably rare card to see anywhere. They figure it’s dumb and should probably kill it at some point. I pass the turn, nothing super threatening shows up from the others.

Turn 6. I draw [[Laboratory Maniac]]. My heart skips a beat. Could I do it? Could I really pull off the most insane thing I’ve ever tried in EDH? I figure, sure, what the hell. I don’t got that long to play anyway. I send the Mirror-Mad Phantasm back into the deck, shuffle up, and start looking for it again. My grin gets wider with every card I flip. A newer player who is watching this asks if it’s even legal. Another older player says it is. I barely hear them, delusions of success are flooding my mind, my hands are trembling. Suddenly I see the Phantasm. It flies onto the battlefield, at least 7/8ths of my deck is left. I activate the ability one more time, casting it into the abyssal library. I shuffle again. I offer someone to cut. Nobody does. I begin to flip cards into the grave again. Faster and faster they go, until I have two cards left in my library. I slowly flip the second to last. The [[Lich’s Mirror]] goes to my grave. I flip the last card. It’s Mirror-Mad Phantasm. I start cackling like a madman. I tap the Sol Ring and my last untapped Island. I slam down the Laboratory Maniac. I’m now roaring with laughter and immediately pass the turn. Everyone at the table goes “What the fuck” and they all look for solutions to it. But nobody has anything they can do. My turn comes back and I enter the draw phase. Thunder and lightning crash through the sky as I ascend to the next plane of magic existence, reserved for people that pull off the most bullshit lucky combos with the best flavour interactions. And that is why I believe I have the right to be called a Mad Scientist, at least in EDH.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

TL:DR, I got stupid lucky with Mirror Mad Phantasm and Laboratory Maniac.

So it’s about 6:10 at the LGS, me and three other guys are waiting for the draft to start at 6:30. We decide to kill time by playing a short game of EDH, fully accepting that we wouldn’t get anywhere near done by the time of the draft. I’m playing my [[Stitcher Geralf]] deck that I’ve been working on for a few months now. The others are playing [[Nahiri, the Lithomancer]], [[Prime Speaker Zegana]], and [[Brion Stoutarm]]. They have the really fancy stuff in their decks. The Swords, original dual lands, black foil planeswalkers, you name it, they had it. As someone with not anywhere enough money for that stuff, I don’t expect to do very well.

Turns 1-4 are very tame. A few artifacts are put out here and there, nothing very threatening. I play my 4th Island, play [[Grimoire of the Dead]] and pass. Again, nothing really of note is played. More artifacts, ramp spells, that sort of thing.

Turn 5, I draw Sol Ring, play it along with [[Mirror-Mad Phantasm]], figuring I could pull off some dumb synergy with Grimoire later on. The other three at the table ask what it does because it’s an understandably rare card to see anywhere. They figure it’s dumb and should probably kill it at some point. I pass the turn, nothing super threatening shows up from the others.

Turn 6. I draw [[Laboratory Maniac]]. My heart skips a beat. Could I do it? Could I really pull off the most insane thing I’ve ever tried in EDH? I figure, sure, what the hell. I don’t got that long to play anyway. I send the Mirror-Mad Phantasm back into the deck, shuffle up, and start looking for it again. My grin gets wider with every card I flip. A newer player who is watching this asks if it’s even legal. Another older player says it is. I barely hear them, delusions of success are flooding my mind, my hands are trembling. Suddenly I see the Phantasm. It flies onto the battlefield, at least 7/8ths of my deck is left. I activate the ability one more time, casting it into the abyssal library. I shuffle again. I offer someone to cut. Nobody does. I begin to flip cards into the grave again. Faster and faster they go, until I have two cards left in my library. I slowly flip the second to last. The [[Lich’s Mirror]] goes to my grave. I flip the last card. It’s Mirror-Mad Phantasm. I start cackling like a madman. I tap the Sol Ring and my last untapped Island. I slam down the Laboratory Maniac. I’m now roaring with laughter and immediately pass the turn. Everyone at the table goes “What the fuck” and they all look for solutions to it. But nobody has anything they can do. My turn comes back and I enter the draw phase. Thunder and lightning crash through the sky as I ascend to the next plane of magic existence, reserved for people that pull off the most bullshit lucky combos with the best flavour interactions. And that is why I believe I have the right to be called a Mad Scientist, at least in EDH.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

TL:DR, I got stupid lucky with Mirror Mad Phantasm and Laboratory Maniac.

So it’s about 6:10 at the LGS, me and three other guys are waiting for the draft to start at 6:30. We decide to kill time by playing a short game of EDH, fully accepting that we wouldn’t get anywhere near done by the time of the draft. I’m playing my [[Stitcher Geralf]] deck that I’ve been working on for a few months now. The others are playing [[Nahiri, the Lithomancer]], [[Prime Speaker Zegana]], and [[Brion Stoutarm]]. They have the really fancy stuff in their decks. The Swords, original dual lands, black foil planeswalkers, you name it, they had it. As someone with not anywhere enough money for that stuff, I don’t expect to do very well.

Turns 1-4 are very tame. A few artifacts are put out here and there, nothing very threatening. I play my 4th Island, play [[Grimoire of the Dead]] and pass. Again, nothing really of note is played. More artifacts, ramp spells, that sort of thing.

Turn 5, I draw Sol Ring, play it along with [[Mirror-Mad Phantasm]], figuring I could pull off some dumb synergy with Grimoire later on. The other three at the table ask what it does because it’s an understandably rare card to see anywhere. They figure it’s dumb and should probably kill it at some point. I pass the turn, nothing super threatening shows up from the others.

Turn 6. I draw [[Laboratory Maniac]]. My heart skips a beat. Could I do it? Could I really pull off the most insane thing I’ve ever tried in EDH? I figure, sure, what the hell. I don’t got that long to play anyway. I send the Mirror-Mad Phantasm back into the deck, shuffle up, and start looking for it again. My grin gets wider with every card I flip. A newer player who is watching this asks if it’s even legal. Another older player says it is. I barely hear them, delusions of success are flooding my mind, my hands are trembling. Suddenly I see the Phantasm. It flies onto the battlefield, at least 7/8ths of my deck is left. I activate the ability one more time, casting it into the abyssal library. I shuffle again. I offer someone to cut. Nobody does. I begin to flip cards into the grave again. Faster and faster they go, until I have two cards left in my library. I slowly flip the second to last. The [[Lich’s Mirror]] goes to my grave. I flip the last card. It’s Mirror-Mad Phantasm. I start cackling like a madman. I tap the Sol Ring and my last untapped Island. I slam down the Laboratory Maniac. I’m now roaring with laughter and immediately pass the turn. Everyone at the table goes “What the fuck” and they all look for solutions to it. But nobody has anything they can do. My turn comes back and I enter the draw phase. Thunder and lightning crash through the sky as I ascend to the next plane of magic existence, reserved for people that pull off the most bullshit lucky combos with the best flavour interactions. And that is why I believe I have the right to be called a Mad Scientist, at least in EDH.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

TL:DR, I got stupid lucky with Mirror Mad Phantasm and Laboratory Maniac.