''The best thesis defense is a good thesis offense." -Randall Munroe, xkcd
You've almost got your degree; all you have to do is impress Professor Iridescent Hornbeetle and you're good! You've done your literature review, you've reflected on the data you've gathered, and now you just gotta pick your approach.
This deck revolves around the combo of Iridescent Hornbeetle + Body of Research + Mystic Reflection to create an absurd number of copies of a win condition creature. BoR receives counters equal to the size of your library, Hornbeetle tries to spawn that many 1/1 tokens, and Reflection converts them into something else. And you have so many juicy options for that "something else" that should win you the game immediately. In order of effectiveness, they are:
(X = the size of your library)
1) Thassa's Oracle, which when Reflected generates 2X blue devotion on its own and wins as soon as the first trigger resolves.
2) Overwhelmed Apprentice, which mills 2X of your opponent's cards and wins on their next draw step (unless their library is somehow more than twice the size of yours, in which case something very strange is going on).
3) Frost Trickster, which taps down up to X of your opponent's creatures and can swing in for 2X in the air next turn.
4) Biomathematician, which generates X Fractal tokens in power from 1 to X, in addition to doubling the size of your original BoR Fractal. An overwhelming force that should be able to smash for the win on your next attack.
The cheapest this combo can cost (with Hornbeetle and a wincon on the board and MR foretold) is 7 mana (GGGUUUU), so it's essential that you use the available tools (Overwhelmed Apprentice, Treasure Map // Treasure Cove, Eureka Moment) to hit your land drops. Treasure Map is particularly excellent here; with the fixing and jump in mana from the Treasure tokens, this combo can be executed as early as turn 6. (T1 Apprentice, T2 Map, T3 scry + Foretell MR, T4 scry + 3 mana play, T5 Hornbeetle, T6 scry to go to 7 mana and BoR + MR).
Solve the Equation can find you the spell components of your combo or tutor up the right land colors via Silundi Vision and Khalni Ambush. Mystic Reflection can be used in a pinch to "counter" an opponent's creature or planeswalker spell by turning it into a Fractal. Be on the lookout for any creatures on your opponent's side that may be worth copying if you don't have a wincon of your own. And finally, be careful -- if your opponent can flash in or otherwise create a creature after Mystic Reflection but before Iridescent Hornbeetle's ability trigger, it'll break the combo. You can counter this by playing another Mystic Reflection after their creature resolves. Good luck!
(Combo idea credit where due, see this Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/mxys4i/copy_opponents_creature_x_times/)
2 comments
Creature (20) | |||
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$0.15€0.030.03 | |||
$0.25€0.130.03 | |||
$0.15€0.080.03 | |||
$17.86€14.522.09 | |||
$0.24€0.180.03 | |||
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (16) | |||
$0.500.03 | |||
$0.400.03 | |||
$0.99€1.070.02 | |||
$0.86€0.930.02 | |||
$2.66€2.100.03 | |||
$0.25€0.100.03 | |||
$0.75€0.540.02 | |||
Land (24) | |||
$1.15€0.870.02 | |||
$1.07 | |||
$0.54€0.600.02 | |||
7
Island
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$0.170.03 | ||
7
Forest
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$0.170.03 |
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1) Reconfigure this deck for Standard, where Oracle is still legal. There isn't actually much to change, swap out the Treasure Maps and tweak the manabase. Maybe go for a Food route with Gilded Goose to ramp and Wicked Wolf to fight their board to death.
2) Go all-in on the mill route with ETB mill effects, like Sage's Row Denizen.