Niv's Bag O' Tricks

Commander / EDH Budget Control Five Color Ramp Scapeshift Spellslinger

apohl13

Lands (40)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Azorius Guildgate
• 1x Boros Guildgate
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dimir Guildgate
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 5x Forest
• 1x Golgari Guildgate
• 1x Gruul Guildgate
• 1x Indatha Triome
• 3x Island
• 1x Izzet Guildgate
• 1x Ketria Triome
• 1x Maze's End
• 3x Mountain
• 1x Orzhov Guildgate
• 3x Plains
• 1x Rakdos Guildgate
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Selesnya Guildgate
• 1x Simic Guildgate
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Vivid Crag
• 1x Vivid Creek
• 1x Vivid Grove
• 1x Vivid Marsh
• 1x Zagoth Triome

Rakdos (4)

• 1x Bedevil
• 1x Kolaghan's Command
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Terminate

Ramp/Fixing (17)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Circuitous Route
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Firemind Vessel
• 1x Harrow
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Scapeshift
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Tome of the Guildpact
• 1x Wilderness Reclamation
• 1x Wood Elves

Selesnya (5)

• 1x Behemoth Sledge
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Faeburrow Elder
• 1x Knight of New Alara
• 1x Sylvan Reclamation

Gruul (4)

• 1x Atarka, World Render
• 1x Decimate
• 1x Hull Breach
• 1x Rhythm of the Wild

Orzhov (4)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Kaya's Guile
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Mortify

Dimir (3)

• 1x Countersquall
• 1x Perplex
• 1x Tyrant's Scorn

Commander (1)

Azorius (5)

• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Mistmeadow Witch
• 1x Soulherder
• 1x Time Wipe
• 1x Turn to Mist

Boros (5)

• 1x Aurelia, the Warleader
• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder
• 1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 1x Wear / Tear

Golgari (4)

• 1x Deathsprout
• 1x Golgari Charm
• 1x Pernicious Deed
• 1x Putrefy

Izzet (4)

• 1x Counterflux
• 1x Expansion / Explosion
• 1x Ionize
• 1x Izzet Charm

Simic (4)

• 1x Bring to Light
• 1x Coiling Oracle
• 1x Growth Spiral
• 1x Simic Charm

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I have been wanting to build a Niv-Mizzet Reborn Commander deck ever since he was printed, but never was quite able to figure out the shell to play him in. In a lot of the other archetypes I initially tried, it was hard to shake the feeling that another Legendary could just do Niv's job better, specifically Ramos, Dragon Engine. This deck is specifically designed around Niv, and fits a playstyle that I personally love.

The Gameplan

• Turns 1 - 3 or 4

This deck dislikes 1-drops because we almost always want to play a tap land on turn 1. (Also, almost all multicolored cards are 2 or more CMC). The first few turns should be spent tapping out to ramp as fast as possible. Because of this, an ideal opening hand with this deck is 4 or even 5 lands to make sure we hit our land drops and 1 or 2 ramp spells/mana rocks. It doesn't matter if our opening hand has action because...

• Turn 4ish

Once we have ramped into as fast as possible, we slam Niv-Mizzet Reborn and refill our hand with action. With 43 Gold cards in the deck, Niv will typically hit 4 cards on average. It's not uncommon to hit anywhere from 2 to 6 cards, though.

At this point, we transition into a control deck. The vast majority of the 2-color cards that Niv can draw us are heavily interactive, so we are easily poised to begin leaving up mana to answer all of our opponent's threats. Because of the incredible versatility of cards with multiple modes such as Silumgar's Command and Rakdos Charm, this deck is able to answer just about every threat its opponents can play.

• Winning the Game

Locking down our opponent's threats is awesome, but we still have to close out the game. We have 2 sweet win conditions in this deck:

• Maze's End: This WinCon is awesome because in addition to just being very unique and making for a different experience, it keeps this deck on a budget by playing 10 guildgates. Any 5C deck could break the bank by playing fetches, shocks, and dual lands, but we get to keep our money as well as playing a spicy WinCon.

Once we have 10 lands, we can Scapeshift for Maze's End and any guildgates we don't yet have on the battlefield (besides one, because Maze's End searches the last one up when you activate it). This gives our opponents 1 turn rotation to deal with it before you activate it to grab your last gate and win on your next turn. If you possibly can, wait until you are able to leave up 2-3 untapped mana sources and a counterspell during the turn rotation. It's worth noting that Bring to Light can be a second copy of Scapeshift.

• Niv-Mizzet Reborn beats! Don't forget, Niv-Mizzet Reborn is a 6/6 flier, and commander damage is a thing! We also have 5 finishers to pair with Niv in this deck-- Knight of New Alara, Atarka, World Render, Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, and Aurelia, the Warleader all make Niv a 2 turn clock. If we control 2 of these finishers, he can one-shot opponents with commander damage. Boros Charm can also give Niv double-strike, resulting in some unexpected one-shot kills. Just make sure to always leave up countermagic when we play out any of our finishers.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my deck and read this description! If you like it, feel free to give it a +1, and if you have any criticism or ideas for changes I might not have thought of, leave a comment and let me know!

Top Ranked	Achieved #33 position overall 3 years ago Achieved #19 position in Commander / EDH 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Budget 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Control 3 years ago
Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 20 - 0 Rares 26 - 0 Uncommons 29 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.28
Tokens	Spirit 1/1 WB, Treasure