Niv-Mizzet, Parun: high-power casual

Commander / EDH* Casual Control Counterspell Primer UR (Izzet)

khorvain

Land (34)

• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x Cephalid Coliseum
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Great Furnace
• 9x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 5x Mountain
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Riverglide Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Seat of the Synod
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Tolaria West
• 1x Training Center

Diverse (8)

• 1x Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1x Charisma
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Guttersnipe
• 1x Harmonic Prodigy
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
• 1x Veyran, Voice of Duality

Shuffles (6)

• 1x Fateful Showdown
• 1x Mindmoil
• 1x Molten Psyche
• 1x Tolarian Winds
• 1x Valakut Awakening  ^Flip
• 1x Winds of Change

Countermagic and protection (18)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Disrupting Shoal
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of Negation
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Misdirection
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Spell Snare
• 1x Spellskite
• 1x Swan Song

Draw (11)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Impulse
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Teferi's Ageless Insight
• 1x Wavebreak Hippocamp

Utility (4)

• 1x Into the Roil
• 1x Snapback
• 1x Submerge
• 1x Turnabout

Commander (1)

Ramp (12)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Treasonous Ogre

Removal (6)

• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Pyroclasm
• 1x Rolling Earthquake
• 1x Shattering Spree
• 1x Vandalblast

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Sideboard

Other (17)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arjun, the Shifting Flame
• 1x Blood Moon
• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Goblin Recruiter
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Mindbreak Trap
• 1x Mogg Salvage
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Sigil of Sleep
• 1x Silundi Vision  ^Flip
• 1x Smoke
• 1x Snap
• 1x Tarnished Citadel
• 1x Torpor Orb
• 1x Trinket Mage

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Welcome to my high-power casual list for Niv-Mizzet, Parun.

The premise

What does a high-power casual deck entain?

• No infinite or pseudo-infinite combos as main win conditions
• No needlessly suboptimal and only situationally good cards
• High degree of interaction and/or agency
• Generally achieves its game plan
• Coherent theme, great synergy
• Low(ish) average CMC

Please note that this is not an optimized list. It is one with great synergy, a clear game plan, equally clear (but accounted for) weaknesses, and possibly most of all, a enjoyable, strong play experience. It does not run all the fast mana available to it, nor does it combo out with Niv-Mizzet, Parun and Curiosity effects. It does, however, win casual games often. Casual here refers to strong decks with good internal synergy, non-jank, non-infinite combos, efficient ramp and medium amounts of interaction.

The goal

This lists stays true to the name of the game: it revolves entirely around its commander, Niv-Mizzet, Parun and his on-draw pinging. It seeks to ramp out Niv-Mizzet as early as possible, protect him and ride the unreasonable card advantage to victory.

Key cards

We want to draw as many cards as possible, and no two cards are as suited to this as Mindmoil and Arjun, the Shifting Flame . Once you play either of these, Niv-Mizzet, Parun turns into a gatling gun and ensures you have absolute board control, as even attempts to remove him are met with severe punishment. You pseduo-filter your hand by letting you see your whole deck over and over, casting the spells you need at any given moment. Enhancing effects like Veyran, Voice of Duality and Charisma ensure ridiculous turn and tons of fun.

The game plan

Ramp

The earlier Niv-Mizzet, Parun is cast, the more diffucult it becomes to remove him. Jeweled Lotus , Dockside Extortionist and artifacts ensure an early cast.

Protect

Niv-Mizzet, Parun is the inherent strength and weakness of this deck. He will draw removal, and you will have to protect him. Free counterspells and efficient protection such as Spellskite let him stay and draw you cards for the next step.

Assume control

Once you've begun drawing cards off Niv, Dispel any foolish attempts at removing him, drawing ever more cards in the process. Now, the (Tolarian) Winds are blowing in your favor, and you can begin abusing any of the soft combos (see below) to eventually gain complete board control or just outright kill people in one turn.

Soft combos

Soft combos are cards that greatly enhance our game plan or make us win, without going infinite. Mindmoil is one such example, while Curiosity is not.

The major soft comboes are Niv-Mizzet, Parun plus ...

• Veyran, Voice of Duality or Harmonic Prodigy
• Mindmoil or Arjun, the Shifting Flame *
• Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
• Teferi's Ageless Insight
• Charisma

Of note here is Veyran, Voice of Duality , which not only doubles your card draw and damage from Niv, but also makes Mindmoil , Arjun, the Shifting Flame , Wavebreak Hippocamp and Guttersnipe trigger twice. Even more of note now is Harmonic Prodigy , which for doubles all Niv-Mizzet, Parun triggers! Draw to cards a spell, and do two damage per card drawn. *Currently testing replacement with Harmonic Prodigy .

Tips and tricks

There are many small interactions in this deck that can benefit you.

With Mindmoil or Arjun, the Shifting Flame out, free spells turn into damage. Fierce Guardianship and similar cards obviously shine here. Frantic Search can be used as a 'free' spell for Mindmoil , but it can also filter your mana in a pinch: pay for it with and untap three islands or similar!

Teferi's Ageless Insight and Mindmoil let you draw unreasonable amounts of cards. Watch out not to deck yourself, as you draw twice your cards in hand plus two with Niv and those cards out, if you choose to resolve Niv's draw - which draws two cards from Insight - first. If necessary, destroy it with Pyroblast or Red Elemental Blast , remove it with Chaos Warp or bounce it with Into the Roil .

Rolling Earthquake and Torbran, Thane of Red Fell turn into an evil boardwipe. For , your creatures take one damage, and everyone else's three. Plus your Niv trigger.

Tolaria West can tutor Jeweled Lotus .

Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast are subtly different. In a pinch, you can cast Pyroblast targeting any permanent or spell regardless of color, while you can only taget blue permanents and spells with Red Elemental Blast . This will probably never come up, though.

Abuse Treasonous Ogre . This card is fantastic, and three life for a red mana is a steal. Not only can you pay for half a Niv with this, but it can help you keep up blue mana, which you would have otherwise used for generic costs, for counterspells. Don't be afraid to sink life into it, I've nuked myself for upwards of 20 HP often. It doens't matter if you win.

Notable inclusions

Here are some cards that are not essential and can be substituted for others if you don't like them. Wavebreak Hippocamp draws lots of cards due to the amount of counterspells and instants in this deck. I'd recommend giving it a try!
Teferi's Ageless Insight could be considered win more, but in this deck, which does not contain the tried and true Curiosity combos, it generates great value and makes you win twice as fast.
Molten Psyche is simply a card I enjoy much, though it being sorcery speed hurts.
Seat of the Synod and Great Furnace are simply here for easier metalcraft on Mox Opal and Molten Psyche . Not at all necessary, but few things are more frustrating than having just one mana too little because you're stuck at two artifacts.
Vandalblast because my playgroup has a lot of artifacts. Overloading it is expensive though, so feel free to just remove it.

Notable exclusions

Mana Crypt and Mox Diamond . Fast mana is wonderful, but also makes decks much, much stronger. These cards are outside the scope of this deck. Jeweled Lotus is included simply because it is so essential and such a boon to this deck it cannot be left out.
Off-color fetches. Few of the players in my playgroup play fetches, and they would make this deck stronger yet again. If you want an optimized mana base, go ahead and throw Volcanic Island and fetches in there!
Gemstone Caverns is nice, but not essential. Though the early mana is great, this deck is not at all suited for the very fast metas where Caverns shines. Curiosity effects. Not what I'm aiming for.
Glint-Horn Buccaneer is only useful if you are also running Curiosity effects.
Mental Misstep does not have enough targets in my meta.
Tutors for Dockside Extortionist and Jeweled Lotus . In a casual meta, I don't feel like such narrow tutors are necessary, as they cater to a more combo oriented style of play. Nothing more with adding some though!

Thank you for visiting!

Thank you for taking a look at my list. If you like this style of powerful but casual play, be sure to check out my profile for more! Currently, I have an Animar, Soul of Elements deck of the same style: Animar, Soul of Elements: high-power casual.

Date added	2 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 4 Mythic Rares 43 - 5 Rares 16 - 5 Uncommons 20 - 3 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.32
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Treasure