Mana and setup: Sol Ring, Lotus Petal, and Ancient Tomb give you explosive turn-1 and turn-2 acceleration. Dark Ritual and the Talisman cycle (Talisman of Creativity, Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Indulgence) bridge into turn-3 plays. Arcane Signet and the dual lands (Blood Crypt, Steam Vents, Watery Grave, and others) ensure you hit all three colors by turn 3 in roughly two-thirds of openers. Tutors and piece assembly: Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor, plus 2 more tutors (which suspends for free on turn 1) let you search for any combo piece or protection spell. Muddle the Mixture transmutes into a 2-mana spell, making it a tutor for Dramatic Reversal or Isochron Scepter. Beseech the Mirror bargains away a token or artifact to find any card with mana value 4 or less—Demonic Consultation and Thassa's Oracle, plus 2 more creatures are all in range. The primary kill routes: (1) Demonic Consultation names Thassa's Oracle and exiles your library; you then cast Thassa's Oracle, which enters and checks your devotion to blue (the number of blue mana symbols in your permanents' costs). With zero cards left in your library, you win on the spot. (2) Dramatic Reversal untaps all your nonland permanents; Isochron Scepter imprints Dramatic Reversal and taps to copy it without paying mana. You activate Scepter for {2} and a tap, untapping everything including Scepter itself, then repeat infinitely. This generates infinite mana and infinite magecraft triggers (a mechanic that triggers whenever you cast or copy a spell). You then cast Fascination for X equal to your infinite mana, forcing each opponent to draw that many cards—Nekusar deals 1 damage per card drawn, ending the game. (3) Bloodchief Ascension enters as a quest counter engine; once it has three counters, each card milled triggers it to drain 2 life and gain you 2 life. Mindcrank converts opponent life loss into mill. Cast a spell that drains (Toxic Deluge, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, or even Nekusar's own damage trigger), Mindcrank mills them, Bloodchief drains them, and the loop repeats until they lose. Protection and resilience: Counterspell, Force of Will, and Flusterstorm (which copies itself for each spell cast before it this turn, scaling in a multiplayer game) protect your combo turn. Dualcaster Mage has flash and copies instant or sorcery spells when it enters, letting you flash in a copy of Dramatic Reversal or Molten Duplication mid-combat or in response to removal. Isochron Scepter itself protects by imprinting a cheap instant (Dramatic Reversal, Counterspell, or Spell Pierce) so you can reuse it. Lightning Greaves gives your commander shroud (it cannot be targeted) and haste, and equips for zero mana, so Nekusar is nearly untargetable once it lands. Secondary payoffs and pressure: Peer into the Abyss forces a target opponent to draw half their library and lose half their life, rounded up. With Nekusar in play, each card drawn is 1 damage, turning a single spell into a lethal burst. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse punishes every opponent draw with 2 life loss, stacking with Nekusar's damage. Orcish Bowmasters and Razorkin Needlehead both deal 1 damage per card drawn, creating redundant kill routes. Dark Deal, Jace's Archivist, and Fascination force opponents to draw far above their normal rate, multiplying Nekusar's damage output in a single turn.
Compact combo core: Nekusar, the Mindrazer is your commander and permanent damage engine—every card an opponent draws deals 1 damage to them. The Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter loop produces Infinite magecraft triggers, Infinite mana nonland permanents you control can produce, Infinite storm count, Infinite untap of nonland permanents you control on its own — it needs a separate finisher to actually win. Nekusar amplifies all of these by punishing every draw, turning a single Peer into the Abyss into a lethal burst. The deck wins by turn 5–8 in most games, assembling protection and mana early, then tutoring the missing combo piece on the conversion turn.