Hello, everyone! I'm Levi from The Thought Vessel, and today we're looking at a Commander that is incredibly popular and can be a wheely big problem for playgroups - Nekusar, the Mindrazer. We'll be examining Nekusar, the Mindrazer as a Commander, a typical deck, its strengths, weaknesses, and, ultimately, how to beat it. Let's begin!

The Commander

Nekusar made his debut in Commander 2013 and was an immediate hit. Before this, the wheel archetype didn't have a viable payoff in the command zone, so he essentially created a new archetype. To date, EDHREC data shows that 20,735 Nekusar decks have been created in the past two years, making him the second most popular Grixis commander, behind Sauron, the Dark Lord. The unique theme of this deck - death by charity - can really turn a game on its head. Allow me to explain.

The Deck

Most Nekusar decks are wheel decks, a term derived from the card Wheel of Fortune. Using Nekusar's ability to ping the table for one damage per card drawn, a single Wheel of Fortune can translate to 21 collective damage. Passively, the table will take six damage without even trying. This deck is loaded with as many wheel effects as possible, often including additional draw effects like Howling Mine. Here is an example of a decklist for Nekusar you might see at your local game store.

Nekusar, the Mindrazer | Commander | EDHRec Average

• Commander (1)
• 1 Nekusar, the Mindrazer

• Creatures (18)
• 1 Fate Unraveler
• 1 Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph
• 1 Harmonic Prodigy
• 1 Jace's Archivist
• 1 Kami of the Crescent Moon
• 1 Kederekt Parasite
• 1 Magus of the Wheel
• 1 Master of the Feast
• 1 Nightscape Familiar
• 1 Orcish Bowmasters
• 1 Psychosis Crawler
• 1 Razorkin Needlehead
• 1 Scrawling Crawler
• 1 Seizan, Perverter of Truth
• 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 1 Solphim, Mayhem Dominus
• 1 Stormfist Crusader
• 1 The Locust God

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted

• Instants (11)
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Baleful Mastery
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Dark Ritual
• 1 Dream Fracture
• 1 Mystical Tutor
• 1 Negate
• 1 Terminate
• 1 Wheel and Deal

• Sorceries (12)
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Dark Deal
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Echo of Eons
• 1 Molten Psyche
• 1 Peer into the Abyss
• 1 Prosperity
• 1 Reforge the Soul
• 1 Wheel of Fate
• 1 Whispering Madness
• 1 Windfall
• 1 Winds of Change

• Enchantments (10)
• 1 Dictate of Kruphix
• 1 Fevered Visions
• 1 Forced Fruition
• 1 Liliana's Caress
• 1 Megrim
• 1 Phyrexian Tyranny
• 1 Propaganda
• 1 Spiteful Visions
• 1 Underworld Dreams
• 1 Waste Not

• Artifacts (13)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Dimir Signet
• 1 Font of Mythos
• 1 Howling Mine
• 1 Izzet Signet
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Rakdos Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Talisman of Creativity
• 1 Talisman of Dominance
• 1 Teferi's Puzzle Box
• 1 Thought Vessel

• Lands (34)
• 4 Island
• 3 Mountain
• 5 Swamp
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Crumbling Necropolis
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 1 Drowned Catacomb
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1 Luxury Suite
• 1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 1 Morphic Pool
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 1 Training Center
• 1 Watery Grave
• 1 Xander's Lounge

Buy This Deck Export text

Strengths

The strength of this deck lies in its unpredictability. Nekusar runs an incredibly redundant number of wheel effects and damage payoffs to keep the wheels turning. The goal is to ensure that, no matter what seven cards come next, Nekusar can still do the thing.

Opponents, however, don't have decks designed with this level of redundancy, which can throw off their strategy and make it incredibly difficult to plan ahead. If an opponent draws into a pocket of lands or spells they can't cast, they might be temporarily locked out of the game. Additionally, wheeling forces players to discard their hands, which can be devastating - especially for combo decks that might lose their win conditions with no way to retrieve them.

Weaknesses

The flipside of wheeling is that you're also giving your opponents card advantage. Without a consistent way to deal damage, Nekusar effectively becomes a group hug deck, allowing players to draw into answers for both the Nekusar player and the rest of the board.

Additionally, due to its focus on card draw and damage output, some Nekusar decks sacrifice board presence and removal. This leaves them vulnerable to good old-fashioned combat damage. While some Nekusar builds include more removal or blockers, doing so may make the deck less efficient by cutting into its core damage and wheel effects.

Cards to Look Out For

Narset, Parter of Veils - This one's tricky because it's anti-synergistic with the deck, limiting players to drawing just one card per turn. However, a single wheel effect with Narset in play can leave every opponent with one or zero cards in hand, making it incredibly difficult for them to stop Nekusar from winning.

Teferi's Puzzle Box - Normally, this card just keeps players on their toes, punishing combo/control players trying to sculpt their hands. In this deck, it does that and adds 1+ damage per card drawn, making it a huge problem if opponents don't find removal in time.

Grafted Exoskeleton - This cranks Nekusar's intensity up to 11. Instead of needing an opponent to draw 40 cards, you now only need 10. One Windfall at the right moment, and the game is over immediately.

The Locust God - Almost an alternate win condition. Every card drawn creates a 1/1 flying Insect with haste, which can chip away at life totals or form an emergency defense.

Jace's Archivist - Windfall is one of the best wheels because it typically draws even more cards. Jace's Archivist lets Nekusar use that effect multiple times per turn, including during opponents' turns. This makes it one of the highest-priority kill on sight cards in the deck.

How to Beat Nekusar

Nekusar relies entirely on dealing damage through forced card draw. If those damage sources get removed, the deck plays more like a group hug strategy. While that slows the Nekusar player down, it's not enough on its own to win - you need to be smart with your resources. Most wheel effects involve discarding your hand and drawing seven cards. To minimize losses, spend as many spells as possible before the wheel resolves. For example, if you have Swords to Plowshares in hand and a wheel is on the stack, cast it before losing the card. Nekusar naturally draws a lot of attention. Use that to your advantage - keep your life total high, play out your hand constantly, and let the table focus on the Nekusar player. Once they're eliminated, that's your window to take out the remaining players, who likely have stronger boards and more resources.

Commander Kryptonite - Additional Tech Against Nekusar

Smothering Tithe - Normally, I avoid mentioning auto-includes, but this one is too good to ignore. Since Nekusar forces everyone to draw, you'll ramp massively with treasure tokens.

Narset, Parter of Veils - How the tables have turned! This card is just as brutal against Nekusar as it is in the deck. If you land Narset first, everyone else is in topdeck mode while you refill your hand. It's tough to lose from that position.

Bribery - This lets you steal a creature from Nekusar's deck, often a redundancy piece that deals damage on draw. The best target? Sheoldred, the Apocalypse - she deals two damage per draw and gains you life.

And there you have it! That's how to beat Nekusar. If you have a commander you'd like to see on Commander Kryptonite, email me at thoughtvesselshow@gmail.com. Until next time - happy gaming!