So I was thinking of fun ways ti combos off in Moderm whem a forgotten gem came to my mind: Laboratory Maniac. This would make a super fun combo in Modern, and would be fun to play at FNM. Now here's the issue: Where does he fit? There aren't enough free mana spells in Moderm to make Oops! All Spells work. I though of him in Ad Nauseum, but than we're using a strictly worse win con in an existing combo deck. Does anybody have any ideas?
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"Don't believe everything you read on the internet." - Abraham Lincoln
As far as I know, the only legitimate (And even then...) places to use him are as a one-of in the sideboards of decks mentioned above, since he's one of the most certain win conditions (Nothing can protect them from his ability except Platinum Angel. Eggs and Time Walk especially can just re-cast him if they kill him).
Though if you're feeling brew-y, there are certainly some potentially good self-mill cards in modern to test out. Who knows, maybe there's that one combination....
Idea 1: Lab Man sees significant play in Legacy in the Oops, All Spells deck. You have the Gatecrash Dimir creatures and Narcomoeba, but no Dread Return, and almost certainly not enough fast mana to make him work. I would advise keeping this to Legacy.
Idea 3: Sideboard card against Lantern Control. I'm not sure what Lantern player would be dumb enough to let you keep a Lab Man in play, but it would be the most hilarious "I win" sideboard since Rakdos Charm vs. Splinter Twin.
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These days, some wizards are finding they have a little too much deck left at the end of their $$$.
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I play Laboratory Maniac as my alternate win condition in the sideboard against lifegain decks in Ad Nauseam. In Legacy, I pilot All Spells and he's naturally a part of the combo mainboard. So he's really great!
I haven't seen him in Eggs, I should look around for that.
It's not exactly strictly worse in AN. It gets past some things like too much lifegain, and Slaughter Games on your Ad Nauseam (provided you have Spoils of the Vault).
Of course there's no deck in Modern with 0 lands, but then again there doesn't need to be one. You just need to find another way to dump your entire library into your graveyard and the kill will work the same way as it does in Legacy. 2 Fatestitchers and a Mesmeric Orb will do it, then you Unburial RitesAngel of Glory's Rise, bring back Laboratory Maniac and Azami, Lady of Scrolls, draw a card, and win.
It's not good in Eggs now (nor is Eggs a good deck now, anyway). Post-ban Eggs relies on Krark-Clan Ironworks - the goal is not to draw our entire deck and reach the state where you can loop a Pyrite Spellbomb indefinitely; it's to hit 15 mana and cast Emrakul. You can do that without drawing your entire deck, off just one or two combo cycles.
Idea 3: Sideboard card against Amulet Control. I'm not sure what Lantern player would be dumb enough to let you keep a Lab Man in play, but it would be the most hilarious "I win" sideboard since Rakdos Charm vs. Splinter Twin
Lantern plays IoK / Thoughtsieze if you keep him in hand, and Abrubt Decay / Pyroclasm / Glavanic blast if you play him early. There's 0% chance Maniac counters Lantern.
I've been having luck with using him as my primary win-con in my Primal Surge deck. My local meta lets combo decks off pretty easily as there aren't many(I can thinking of 3/20+ players that have a combo deck other than twin) around that can't be stopped by enchantment/permanent destruction.
I've been having luck with using him as my primary win-con in my Primal Surge deck. My local meta lets combo decks off pretty easily as there aren't many(I can thinking of 3/20+ players that have a combo deck other than twin) around that can't be stopped by enchantment/permanent destruction.
I've been having luck with using him as my primary win-con in my Primal Surge deck. My local meta lets combo decks off pretty easily as there aren't many(I can thinking of 3/20+ players that have a combo deck other than twin) around that can't be stopped by enchantment/permanent destruction.
Do you mind sending me the list?
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Digging this convo up from the grave since Thassa's Oracle changes the possibilities slightly, giving twice the zero-library win-con possibility and making a self-mill concept worth rehashing, five years since LabMan. Are there enough mill/self-mill cards out there to make this a fast enough concept in modern...? It's a hard concept for your opponent to plan a deck against, except for using counterspells or just getting you to zero first. Might be one of those not-very-competitive decks that's a lot of fun to play with anyway...
Those are the three decks that have seen success with him in them so far (either Side or Main).
All three of those have forums here already. In a format full of Lightning Bolt, you're gonna find it a tricky deck to build!
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
Though if you're feeling brew-y, there are certainly some potentially good self-mill cards in modern to test out. Who knows, maybe there's that one combination....
Idea 2: Leveler
Idea 3: Sideboard card against Lantern Control. I'm not sure what Lantern player would be dumb enough to let you keep a Lab Man in play, but it would be the most hilarious "I win" sideboard since Rakdos Charm vs. Splinter Twin.
MTG finance guy- follow me on Twitter@RichArschmann or RichardArschmann on Reddit
I haven't seen him in Eggs, I should look around for that.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Of course there's no deck in Modern with 0 lands, but then again there doesn't need to be one. You just need to find another way to dump your entire library into your graveyard and the kill will work the same way as it does in Legacy. 2 Fatestitchers and a Mesmeric Orb will do it, then you Unburial Rites Angel of Glory's Rise, bring back Laboratory Maniac and Azami, Lady of Scrolls, draw a card, and win.
It's not good in Eggs now (nor is Eggs a good deck now, anyway). Post-ban Eggs relies on Krark-Clan Ironworks - the goal is not to draw our entire deck and reach the state where you can loop a Pyrite Spellbomb indefinitely; it's to hit 15 mana and cast Emrakul. You can do that without drawing your entire deck, off just one or two combo cycles.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Lantern plays IoK / Thoughtsieze if you keep him in hand, and Abrubt Decay / Pyroclasm / Glavanic blast if you play him early. There's 0% chance Maniac counters Lantern.