Nivix Guildmage as a second Isochron Scepter
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Sept. 27, 2021, 1:03 a.m. by enpc
Most people are familiar with the classic Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal infinite mana combo, however I have been wondering about running Nivix Guildmage as a backup to this in my Kenrith, the Returned King deck (King me! King me!). The main reason for this is that the deck has a very heavy reliance on Kenrith once it has assembled infinite mana to either draw to a win condition or pump creatures and turn sideways. In fact, every combo based win condition has to go through Kenrith.
This is fine for the most part, as having him as my commander means that I should have access to him most of the time (especially with infinite mana available). however, the thought of including Nivix Guildmage was two fold - the first was that he acts as an infinite mana combo piece with Dramatic Reversal, but also becomes an infinite mana sink to either copy any other spells in hand as well as loot the entire deck (which with infinite mana and Elixir of Immortality can form other win conditions).
The question is, is it worth making a slot for Nivix Guildmage, or are the odds of not having access to Kenrith low enough that it's not needed?
Based on the information provided my vote would be no.
if you need a redundancy for kenny i think there is better dump draw options
and if its only able to work with reversal for a mana loop it seems like a wasted slot
however if you other cards that Nivix Guildmage could combo with i would change my vote. i mean i for one think its always cool to mana dump into infinite copys of Lightning Bolt
September 27, 2021 11:25 a.m.
sorry got distracted while posting, basically was just trying to say that if it has more synergy in the deck then just reversal it would be worth the card slot and my other concern was the specific color demand in a 5 color deck.
September 27, 2021 11:38 a.m. Edited.
You be better with Thrasios, Triton Hero as a mana sync cheaper to cast and get on board; generic mana from the activation ability get to scry; put lands onto the battle field and if no land draw. Just saying better outlet plus better utility even without the infinite mana sync
September 27, 2021 3:21 p.m. Edited.
Thanks for the comments - I have been on the fence about he includion, however I think I need more data to know if a backup is actually needed. If the case is yes, I might look into some other outlets as has been pointed out, while Nivix Guildmage fulfils a bunch of conditions, he is very narrow.
RiotRunner789 says... #2
I'd say, that if you drew him by himself would he be worth it?
Ideally combo pieces can be good on their own (such as Bloodchief Ascension and Mindcrank) and become game breaking once they meet their counterpart.
Nivix as a mana sink isn't bad but I think there are better 5c mana sink options out there.
September 27, 2021 11:10 a.m.