Who doesn't like drawing cards? Wheels is a mechanic based on an old card called Wheel of Fortune, forcing everyone to discard all their cards and draw seven new ones. If you're a fan of drawing cards, wheels might be a good place to look into since it can both draw you a ton of cards and bring you wins without your opponents suspecting a thing.

Wheels is primarily a Grixis () mechanic, with commanders like Nekusar, the Mindrazer, Kefka, Court Mage and Nicol Bolas, the Ravager being at the top of the pile. However, there are a lot of other commanders that support wheels, ranging from Izzet () (a subset of Grixis, if we're being honest), and even Esper () commanders like Queza, Augur of Agonies or Temmet, Naktamun's Will having a decent showing.

So, what are the staples that really make a wheels deck? Let's take a look.

Discard And Draw

The traditional wheel consists of discarding your hand and drawing a new one. Wheel of Fortune is the card the whole archetype is named after, but it's quite pricey and most people can't afford to run one in their decks. Luckily, there are several budget alternatives spread out around the color pie.

Black decks get access to Dark Deal, which serves as both a wheel and a sort of pseud-discard. The upside is that your opponents still toss out their hand and draw one less, but the downside is you also draw one less card.

Blue gets access to one of the best Blue draw spells ever in Windfall. Not only do you discard your hand and everyone else's but you also draw up to the maximum amount discarded from all players. This card can be an amazing come-from-behind surprise, or even a game winner in the right circumstances.

Additionally, Blue also has self-discard-and-draw spells like Tolarian Winds and Wheel and Deal. Commit // Memory not only wheels from the graveyard, but also comes with a bounce-spell stapled to it. Cards like Echo of Eons also shuffle graveyards back into the library, making it a great way not to deck yourself out while wheeling through your whole deck.

Some pseudo-wheel cards make you exile cards instead of discarding them. Magus of the Jar and Memory Jar will draw you cards, but will exile cards from your hand instead of discarding them. Teferi's Puzzle Box puts those cards under your library instead.

Red has a lot of wheel cards similar to Wheel of Fortune. Cards like Wheel of Misfortune, Wheel of Fate, Will of the Jeskai, and Reforge the Soul are all amazing additions to any wheel deck.

There are a few multicolored wheel cards that players can consider. Whispering Madness is probably the best of the bunch, forcing a potentially repeatable Windfall once you can cipher it on a creature that can deal damage every turn. Another pseudo-wheel you could consider is Emergency Powers. It's only a pseudo-wheel because it doesn't discard, but it does draw everyone a new hand after shuffling their hands and graveyards into their decks.

These instants and sorceries set a wheel deck up to perform its game plan, but there are also more than a few creatures that should show up in any good wheel deck.

Important Creatures For A Wheel Game Plan

Kicking off this list of important wheel cards is Jace's Archivist, which, for a single Blue mana once it's already on the field for a turn, can wheel you and your opponents every turn. Body of Knowledge is also a good card for a wheel deck, since it allows you to keep all your cards and grow it to be bigger than most opponents can deal with. Forgotten Creation is often... uh... forgotten, but it's an every-turn wheel on your upkeep.

Magus of the Wheel is like Jace's Archivist, but is only a one-off effect since you have to sacrifice him. Dragon Mage is another repeatable wheel, but he has to connect on attack for it to work. With flying, that's not such a hard task, but the repeatability of the ability makes this one a removal lightning rod.

No wheel deck in Black should be without a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. As pricey as it is, it's almost an unbeatable card in a deck that's drawing you and your opponents multiple cards a turn. Cards like Razorkin Needlehead are a close second, punishing your opponents' draws and turning giving them resources into a tax.

In keeping with the "tax your opponents' draws" theme, Psychosis Crawler and Scrawling Crawler both deal insane amounts of damage in a wheel deck, turning repeatable effects like Jace' Archivist from a nuisance into an actual threat.

Izzet has some of the best payoff creatures for a deck like this, but also some of the better wheel enablers. Arjun, the Shifting Flame draws you cards every time you cast a spell. The upside is more card draw, but you sacrifice playing the cards in hand for that benefit. There are two Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius that punish opponent card draws too. The Locust God capitalizes on your draws, and can often win without any warnings through hasty flying threats. Not to mention, it's very resistant to removal.

Artifacts To Break Your Opponent Down

Artifacts rarely get mentioned in things to throw into a wheel deck, but there are a few standouts I'd consider staples. Monument to Endurance is a new addition to wheels, and should find its way into any deck wanting to discard. Elixir of Immortality is a safety valve in case you'd deck yourself out. Iron Maiden (the card, not the metal band crossover) is a passive way to win, acting as a reverse rack, dealing damage to opponents based on the amount of cards they have over a certain number in hand.

The all-star in terms of wheels is Geth's Grimoire. While wheeling the Grimoire draws you as many cards as your opponents have tossed out. Throw in a Spellbook or a Thought Vessel for no maximum hand size and you have a formidable deck basis.

Enchantments To Bring The Pain

Enchantments in wheels sometimes have a massive overlap with discard decks. Cards like Waste Not, Liliana's Caress, and Megrim all do good work in a discard deck, but are super useful to have in a wheel deck when you're forcing your opponents to discard every turn.

However, there are some lesser-known cards that should have a place in your 99. Psychic Corrosion, or Sphinx's Tutelage can win all on its own thanks to the sheer amount of draw spells you have access to.

Fevered Visions is like a reverse rack just like Iron Maiden and can contribute to passive wins. Although expensive to cast, Forced Fruition is worth a reconsideration. It's one of the best ways to make your opponent deck out, although it gives them the benefit of seeing their entire deck and finding answers for your board state.

Underworld Dreams shouldn't be underestimated in a wheel deck either since it could quickly drain opponents out without you having to do much.

Game Changers That Just Fit

Some Game Changers could fit into the "staple" category, but they would change the power level rating of the deck, so pick your Game Changers with caution.

Probably the best one for this deck is Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern. Imagine putting everything that's a permanent into play when your opponent discards their hand? Brutal.

Notion Thief and Narset, Parter of Veils can both lock opponents out of the game with a single Wheel activation. You might not win immediately, but it breaks your opponents' ability to interact with you. You might as well stick them in prison.

With your opponents likely to have lots of cards in hand, Jeska's Will is a great addition, ensuring that you get a ton of Red mana to spend on your spells.

No discussion of Wheels Game Changers would be complete without a nod to Consecrated Sphinx. You could draw half your library on a single wheel turn with this on the field.

Tying It All Together

What makes a Wheels deck stand out is how it approaches the game. Wheels decks are one of the few that can build multiple gameplans and win conditions into their deck. Experimenting with a Wheels deck can give you a lot of ideas, but you only have 99 slots. Depending on what you want to do with your wheel deck, your choice of cards will vary. Despite this, these cards tend to be useful regardless of what strategy you decide to pursue in your Wheels deck.