Historic Mythic with Laboratory Maniac Combo: Fun & Jank Episode 41

Welcome back to Fun & Jank Episode 41, the series where I, Plum, take questionable ideas, shove them into Historic, and see how far we can take them.

I’ve been trying to make a Wizard Class deck work for quite some time now, and this might be the first time I think I’m on the right track! We played a few variations before in Episode 27 and some other fun Omen Hawker builds, but this one has been the best by far.

I hit Historic Mythic in Bo3 with a ~75% win-rate, and at no point did I feel like we were just getting lucky. The combo’s clean, the deck’s fast, and it’s resilient to quite a bit of hate. So let’s talk about the list, and what makes it tick.

The Combo

I know we’ve talked about this before, but let me run you through the Wizard Class Combo for those of you who are unfamiliar.

The loop is super simple. You need a Wizard Class level 3, Benthic Biomancer on board, and some way to get the combo going. It can be triggered by drawing your card for the turn, activating the adapt ability of Biomancer, or just drawing a card of off another spell or ability. Once you start the combo Wizard Class puts a +1/+1 counter on Biomancer, which then triggers its ability making you draw and discard a card. That draw triggers Wizard Class again and you can loop ad nauseam. (However, note that if you have no other creatures on the board besides Biomancer(s) you will deck yourself)

This combo gives you two basic ways to win:
1.) Attacking with a giant Benthic Biomancer
2.) Decking yourself while having something like Jace, Wielder of Mysteries out.

Jace is a poor replacement for Thassa's Oracle in Historic. He was often our main win-condition in our earlier lists because the board often gets gummed up by creatures, but he’s clunky and much too slow. Luckily for us, Final Fantasy brought us a new toy via Laboratory Maniac.

This guy makes a huge difference for the deck as a whole. Three mana is way less than four when we’re comboing off, and we no longer have to play and activate our win condition, which means less chances for our opponent to interact with us.

Leyline of Anticipation is somewhat common in Blue devotion shells as it helps power up Nykthos for “free,” but it’s especially important if we’re playing Lab Man. With a Leyline on the field we can start the combo with three mana open and no Lab Man in hand, because we’ll just draw into it as we combo off. Then we can flash it in in response to our last draw from an empty library. That’s much easier to do in a fast paced format like Historic instead of playing a four-drop like Jace.

We slotted this package into an Omen Hawker/Enigma Jewel shell and I ended up with the following list.

The Deck

Let me go over my choices for the list before we talk about gameplay.

Omen Hawker + The Enigma Jewel
These two are the backbone of the deck’s mana engine. Hawker and Jewel together let you slam Wizard Class and level it up way faster than you should be able to (remember we have the alchemized version). Being able to Level 2 and Level 3 basically on the same turn is what makes this deck feel fast enough to keep up with the Historic format and these guys are the reason why.

Laboratory Maniac
Win Condtion!

Trackhand Trainer
You know I’m a little obsessed with Blue creatures that act as an engine. Plagon, Oracle of the Alpha, Tamiyo, etc. This guy is no different. I love Trainer. It’s just so much value packed into a 1 drop. We don’t have many creatures with activated abilities beyond Biomancer, but Trainer is cheap card draw that keeps you digging when you’re under pressure. Against decks full of removal or counter spells, being able to refill and keep moving toward the combo (or your wincon) is super important. The first copy is great, but the second copy is even better because two Training Grounds on the field gives it “U: Draw a card.”

Unable to Scream
Mono-Blue doesn’t get hard removal but this does basically the same thing for us. A one mana investment to disable an attacker or annoying ability on a creature feels like a powerful effect for Mono-blue. It’s just such a clean answer to so many annoying creatures in Historic. It buys you breathing room to set up the combo without wasting too much mana. We could obviously splash a color for something more versatile, but I think sticking to a simple mana base is better.

Shark Typhoon
More of a flex spot, but It’s not necessary. It plays really well with Hawker and Jewel. Sometimes you just start making sharks for cheap and that’s good enough to win without even bothering to combo. And honestly, having that kind of alternate pressure helps in Bo3 when opponents start bringing in hate for the combo.

Brazen Borrower
Early interaction, a decent clock, flash, and it contributes to our devotion. This card has been an all-star so far, especially in games two and three. Very versatile and gives my list enough of an edge and a decent plan-b for when it’s relevant.

Manabase
We’re Mono-Blue so I’m not trying to be fancy here. Nykthos gives us extra mana to work with during our combo turns, but also helps in leveling up Wizard Class or drawing cards off of Trackhand Trainer. Otawara is just another piece of low opportunity cost interaction and Fiery Islet is mainly there for instant speed draw if we need it against interaction for our Lab man.

Gameplay

Chat we went absolutely HAM on stream, starting off 8-0 on the Bo3 ladder. Obviously take that with a grain of salt because my MMR is so low from playing all the jank. However, I did face many of the top contenders in Historic on the way to Mythic and did surprisingly well against them. We’re undefeated against Boros, UW Flash, and even BW Sorin. Speaking of which, click here to watch me absolutely steamroll a Sorin player on stream.

According to untapped (along with a few matches off stream) I had a 75% winrate over ~20 matches. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Since the actual combo pieces are only one mana (excluding the level up investment), it’s quite easy to set up everything by turn three, which keeps us on pace with the rest of the format. Even through interaction, Wizard Class and Trackhand Trainer provide you with so much additional draw that it’s easy to stay on track and refuel your hand.

I do wanna talk a little about our sideboard options. And one thing I’d like to mention is how the deck pivots quite well against removal heavy lists like Midrange or Control. Counterspell, Cyclonic Rift, Tishana's Tidebinder, Dismember, and Consign to Memory allow you to sideboard into a pseudo Flash deck. You get to start playing at instant speed, especially with Brazen Borrower and Leyline already in he main deck. Most of my wins against Control came from my opponents not expecting me to be able to play the same game they were with a combo to boot.

Fog Bank
Guys this is still Fun & Jank and I know this card is bad. But, it kind of rocked against aggro decks. They either spend a piece of a removal on our little 0/2 or we get to block their creatures all day. Did good work.

Tishana’s Tidebinder
Blanks an ETB trigger or ability while being a respectable body. Especially strong against Sorin but we brought her in a few times strictly as a 3/2 beater.

Consign to Memory
Just one to play play alongside Counterspell if needed. Eldrazi is rather strong at the moment and you’ll always run into random artifacts here or there. We’ll probably need to up the number once Edge of Eternities comes out.

Cyclonic Rift
Sometimes you just need to press the reset button on the board, and Rift will always get you there. Great against go-wide decks or just when you need to steal back tempo.

Counterspell
Bread and butter against control or combo. Stops board wipes, stops Sorin, stops whatever. You can board these in any matchup where you think you’re playing a longer game and need to protect your pieces.

Dismember
Cheap, instant-speed removal for anything that doesn’t care about your other answers. Great for dealing with midrange beef you can’t bounce profitably.

Tormod’s Crypt
Generic graveyard hate.

Pithing Needle
Covers planeswalkers, opposing combo pieces, annoying activated abilities. Helps a lot against Sorin, Karn, and whatever else ya need it to.

You can hear my general thoughts on sideboarding and reasoning behind my choices in the gameplay videos above.

Closing Thoughts

This has been one of the most satisfying brews I’ve played in a while. Not just because it got me to Historic Mythic in Bo3 with a ~75% winrate, but because it finally feels like the Wizard Class + Benthic Biomancer combo is very close to finding a proper home.
It’s clean.
It’s fast.
It’s resilient.
Like I mentioned above, we’ve tried a bunch of Omen Hawker shells for the past few months, but none of them clicked the way this one did. The package is strong but it’s just been hard to find the right shell for it. I don’t think this will be their final resting spot, but it definitely showed that the core cards can break into the format and put in some work. If you’re looking for a deck that feels different but still competitive, give this a shot.

Thanks for reading.

As always feel free to comment and leave any questions you have below! Make sure to come back next week for even more Fun & Jank!

If you want to see these decks in action, come hang out with me on stream where we test, refine, and have a ton of fun together!

Happy Brewing!