I obviously love this deck! I have tried to make the Dracogenius work as my general over the Firemind many times, but I have never seen a list that was as spot on as yours. Welcome to the Izzet League!

Well, thanks a lot for the great compliment TheDracogenius! Dracogenius for me was the hardest general to build around and balance so far, but I am pretty happy with the current build. Do you have any suggestions or tips from your own experiments? I'll have a look at your firemind list soon, when I have some more time on my hands.

I always tried to build a voltron deck with equipmemt cards like Loxodon Warhammer and the "swords of protection and value" to win with commander damage. Turns out that Niv is actually a great control card rather than a purely aggressive beatstick. I would not look at those lists for advice, I am much more comfortable with my current build. But I will probably try out a few new variations of my deck with the Dracogenius at the helm to switch things up a little. My problem has always been that the Dracogenius was too fair in my eyes, while the appeal of the Firemind gets kind of lost when you only use him to activate a game winnig combo every time. The build you have sits comfortably in the middle between broken interactions and infinite combo potential, which is a state my deck always either failed to reach or exceeded by a mile.

Ok, thanks a lot for your clarification and openness TheDracogenius. I'm glad my deck was able to inspire you to try out a new build!

Don't be too harsh on yourself for playing firemind as a broken competitive combo powerhouse. He just kind of asks for that. Also, I think playgroups play a large role in dictating the character of decks. So if the group wants to play a highly competitive game, there is probably less room for fun interactions. I agree that it does bury some of the appeal of firemind (for me it also undermines the appeal of the format somewhat, but that is a personal preference), but it also gets your competitive itch scratched.

Our playgroup usually just wants to have a fun match, kitchentable style. When everyone's racing for their combo, there is just less room for everyone to try out their deck and have some fun with their creations. As a result, combo's are seen more as a way to finish games that drag out too long, so we can play our next game. It is never the main wincon of decks I make. Perhaps you can have multiple versions of your deck depending on what type of playgroup you are in. For a more casual game, use dracogenius, replace some of the combo's for more interactive shenanigans, so you can have a great Izzet experience in both environments.