My Niv-Mizzet deck has gone through a number of changes since I first put it together, but it has, at this point, evolved into what I like to think of as a "shapeshifter" style deck. Copying and stealing (not to mention countering) my opponents spells has always been one of my favorite strategies, and the combination of Blue and Red is the best suited to such a strategy (which is probably why it's one of my favorite color combinations).
same thing seems to happen to me; whenever i play with this deck, and especially when I cast Niv himself, i just become TARGET ALPHA
that's why i said that i wanted to make the deck a little more friendly to play against, but the more i think about it; forget that. i'm just going to nickname this deck "Dr. Manhattan" because it's a big blue.....well, you know.......
Countermagic just isn't that great and these are the weakest. Jester's Cap - this just doesn't do enough to waste a card on it Recall - never really cared for this. It's quite expensive and needs other cards to pitch. Maybe just add more draw. Opportunity?
thanks! yea, i like to think the reason I'm always target alpha is because my deck is so good, but, you never know
i mentioned in the first post that i was trying not to run the 'instant win' combos, but i've been sorely tempted to put them in.....i mean, if you're going to get killed, might as well be for a good reason right?
@deadite: (you posted while i was typing this) yes, all of my decks are for multiplayer. i'd considered taking out recall, and you're probably right about twart, but jester's cap is important in my meta, as most people run some crucial and annoying combo pieces. also, i can get it back with academy ruins, or pull it out with tezzeret.
yea, i like to think the reason I'm always target alpha is because my deck is so good, but, you never know
No, I'm not that good and Niv-Mizzet becomes target alpha in my games too.
It works both ways though. A friend and I like to roll randomly for decks, and one time he got my Niv-Mizzet deck and I got his Maga deck. He played Niv-mizzet and I killed it for no reason other than to deny him the one card and two points of damage he would've gotten next turn. However it turned out he DID have the curiosity and was going to win the next turn.
No, I'm not that good and Niv-Mizzet becomes target alpha in my games too.
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what, you're saying i'm not a good player?!?!? say that to my face sucker!! let's settle this outside! *takes off jacket*
seriously though, i know it's just cause niv is the BOMB. i used to play him in standard, even though he rarely lasted more than 1/2 turns in play. But, he's one of my favorite cards ever, so i really like the deck
For some reason, this deck screams to be comboed with Teferi's Puzzle Box. Maybe explore that?
Also, I'd personally run Coalition Relic or Gilded Lotus over Mana Vault. You lose a bit of explosiveness, but I hate taking pain for this thing and then having to pay for it later. Just a personal thing though and you may disagree.
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In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Eye of the Storm and Spellshift play all your spells multiplied by the power of all instants and sorceries in your deck.
Pemmin's Aura and Charisma work well too. A friend of mine uses Sigil of Sleep and cards like Gelectrode. Gelectrode averages about 17 damage per game. For some reason, no one has targeted removal and no one wants to play mass removal to get rid of this one guy.
ok, so here are a few additions i'm probably going to make
+1 Ophidian Eye
+1 Curiosity
(sorry guys, but you asked for it )
+1 Jace Beleren
+1 Gilded Lotus (good call Dr.A)
and the cards i'm removing so far (other suggestions for what to drop?)
-1 Mana Vault
-1 Recall
-1 Twart
also, i think i need some morelow ccinstant speed draw spells if i'm going to play 'curious eye Mizzet' so that i can respond to removal; what usually happened in the past was when i would get the combo, tap niv to draw, and with the ability on the stack, they would kill him to prevent the combo from working. if i had more instant speed draw, i could still combo off with their kill spell on the stack.
ok, so here are a few additions i'm probably going to make
+1 Ophidian Eye
+1 Curiosity
(sorry guys, but you asked for it )
+1 Jace Beleren
+1 Gilded Lotus (good call Dr.A)
and the cards i'm removing so far (other suggestions for what to drop?)
-1 Mana Vault
-1 Recall
-1 Twart
also, i think i need some morelow ccinstant speed draw spells if i'm going to play 'curious eye Mizzet' so that i can respond to removal; what usually happened in the past was when i would get the combo, tap niv to draw, and with the ability on the stack, they would kill him to prevent the combo from working. if i had more instant speed draw, i could still combo off with their kill spell on the stack.
I'd recommend Fact or Fiction if it weren't for the fact that you don't actually draw the cards, you put them into your hand. Sort of annoying. How about Oona's Grace? Would Twitch be too slow? Maybe other cantrips like Quicken or something. You could also run more "change target" effects like Swerve, Misdirection, Willbender, Goblin Flectomancer, Shunt, etc. to counter those problems.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
ok, so here are a few additions i'm probably going to make
+1 Ophidian Eye
+1 Curiosity
(sorry guys, but you asked for it )
+1 Jace Beleren
+1 Gilded Lotus (good call Dr.A)
and the cards i'm removing so far (other suggestions for what to drop?)
-1 Mana Vault
-1 Recall
-1 Twart
also, i think i need some morelow ccinstant speed draw spells if i'm going to play 'curious eye Mizzet' so that i can respond to removal; what usually happened in the past was when i would get the combo, tap niv to draw, and with the ability on the stack, they would kill him to prevent the combo from working. if i had more instant speed draw, i could still combo off with their kill spell on the stack.
ah! think twice....how could i forget. I'll add that as well as oona's grace. good call on both counts.
also, another thought i just had; i'm taking out time stretch for knowledge exploitation. this is totally a metagame choice (as EVERY other blue deck is running time stretch, and a few are running KE....so i don't want them stretching off of me.....)
Cheatyface, the knowledge exploitation is a good call i may think about that too, or add it in general to timestretch earlier/remove theirs from the deck in one... seems really gud.
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Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. ~Blaise Pascal~
I'd add Merchant Scroll and Future Sight. Scroll gets Gifts Ungiven and with the Gifts you can get Izzet Chronarch/Recall/Divining Top/Future Sight and with that you can assemble Future Sight + Divining Top. Gives you an extremely powerful engine. My friend play Clout of the Dominus in his deck which is pretty annoying if it sticks.
Durr... I need to learn how to read at some point. =) The drake seems somewhat out of place, maybe replace it with a Sower of Temptation?
gilded drake is FAR superior or sower IMO. the drake lets you take the creature for good, whereas the sower relies on a 2/2 staying in play. also, drake combos really well with capsize, e.g. " I cast gilded drake, take your darksteel colossus FOREVER...enjoy your 3/3....oh, wait, capsize it AND keep your DSC....."
didn't really think of clout of the dominus....seems good w/ Niv
1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Wizards
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Memnarch
1 Trinket Mage
1 Scrivener
1 Izzet Chronarch
Counterspells
1 Counterspell
1 Hinder
1 Forbid
1 Dissipate
1 Cryptic Command
1 Rewind
1 Force of Will
1 Desertion
1 Spelljack
1 Draining Whelk
1 Time Stop
Steal & Copy Spells
1 Knowledge Exploitation
1 Acquire
1 Bribery
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Take Possession
1 Treachery
1 Gilded Drake
1 Clone
1 Body Double
1 Twincast
1 Reiterate
1 Wild Ricochet
1 Copy Enchantment
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Mizzium Transreliquat
1 Capsize
1 Evacuation
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Relearn
1 Gifts Ungiven
Planeswalker
1 Jace Beleren
Draw Spells
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Whispers of the Muse
1 Gush
1 Rhystic Study
1 Aeon Chronicler
1 Thought Reflection
1 Time Spiral
1 Ophidian Eye
Planeswalker
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Artifacts
1 Sol Ring
1 Izzet Signet
1 Mana Vault
1 Grim Monolith
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Voltaic Key
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Volcanic Island
1 Steam Vents
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Shivan Reef
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Academy Ruins
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Soldevi Excavations
1 Tolaria West
1 Strip Mine
1 Flooded Strand
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Smoldering Crater
1 Reliquary Tower
19 Island
6 Mountain
suggestions are welcome!
just as I suspected.............I'm already perfect!
seriously though, i think i'd like to add in some memory jar / wheel of fortune effects, but i'm not sure what to take out........
My list was also pretty similar to yours.
that's why i said that i wanted to make the deck a little more friendly to play against, but the more i think about it; forget that. i'm just going to nickname this deck "Dr. Manhattan" because it's a big blue.....well, you know.......
Countermagic just isn't that great and these are the weakest.
Jester's Cap - this just doesn't do enough to waste a card on it
Recall - never really cared for this. It's quite expensive and needs other cards to pitch. Maybe just add more draw. Opportunity?
Consider adding:
- Vedalken Shackles
- Vesuvan Shapeshifter
- Diamond Valley
- or the budget versions High Market / Miren, the Moaning WellOverall, a pretty solid list.
T2
URG Destructive Force
UW Caw-Blade
Legacy
W Stax
U Merfolk
EDH
RB Bladewing the Risen
GW Tolsimir Wolfblood
UB Sygg, River Cutthroat
WUBRG Progenitus
B Maga, Traitor to Mortals
WUR Numot, the Devastator
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
G Azusa, Lost but Seeking
GWR Hazezon Tamar
Peasant
U Pros-Tide
Casual
BR Flaming Zombies Attack!
G Primalcrux
UR Pyromancer Ascension
UB Mill
i mentioned in the first post that i was trying not to run the 'instant win' combos, but i've been sorely tempted to put them in.....i mean, if you're going to get killed, might as well be for a good reason right?
@deadite: (you posted while i was typing this) yes, all of my decks are for multiplayer. i'd considered taking out recall, and you're probably right about twart, but jester's cap is important in my meta, as most people run some crucial and annoying combo pieces. also, i can get it back with academy ruins, or pull it out with tezzeret.
shackles seems good......
No, I'm not that good and Niv-Mizzet becomes target alpha in my games too.
It works both ways though. A friend and I like to roll randomly for decks, and one time he got my Niv-Mizzet deck and I got his Maga deck. He played Niv-mizzet and I killed it for no reason other than to deny him the one card and two points of damage he would've gotten next turn. However it turned out he DID have the curiosity and was going to win the next turn.
what, you're saying i'm not a good player?!?!? say that to my face sucker!! let's settle this outside! *takes off jacket*
seriously though, i know it's just cause niv is the BOMB. i used to play him in standard, even though he rarely lasted more than 1/2 turns in play. But, he's one of my favorite cards ever, so i really like the deck
Also, I'd personally run Coalition Relic or Gilded Lotus over Mana Vault. You lose a bit of explosiveness, but I hate taking pain for this thing and then having to pay for it later. Just a personal thing though and you may disagree.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Pemmin's Aura and Charisma work well too. A friend of mine uses Sigil of Sleep and cards like Gelectrode. Gelectrode averages about 17 damage per game. For some reason, no one has targeted removal and no one wants to play mass removal to get rid of this one guy.
GX Tron XG
UR Phoenix RU
GG Freyalise High Tide GG
UR Parun Counterspells RU
BB Yawgmoth Token Storm BB
WB Pestilence BW
+1 Ophidian Eye
+1 Curiosity
(sorry guys, but you asked for it )
+1 Jace Beleren
+1 Gilded Lotus (good call Dr.A)
and the cards i'm removing so far (other suggestions for what to drop?)
-1 Mana Vault
-1 Recall
-1 Twart
also, i think i need some more low cc instant speed draw spells if i'm going to play 'curious eye Mizzet' so that i can respond to removal; what usually happened in the past was when i would get the combo, tap niv to draw, and with the ability on the stack, they would kill him to prevent the combo from working. if i had more instant speed draw, i could still combo off with their kill spell on the stack.
I'd recommend Fact or Fiction if it weren't for the fact that you don't actually draw the cards, you put them into your hand. Sort of annoying. How about Oona's Grace? Would Twitch be too slow? Maybe other cantrips like Quicken or something. You could also run more "change target" effects like Swerve, Misdirection, Willbender, Goblin Flectomancer, Shunt, etc. to counter those problems.
I second Oona's Grace, and how about Think Twice?
GX Tron XG
UR Phoenix RU
GG Freyalise High Tide GG
UR Parun Counterspells RU
BB Yawgmoth Token Storm BB
WB Pestilence BW
also, another thought i just had; i'm taking out time stretch for knowledge exploitation. this is totally a metagame choice (as EVERY other blue deck is running time stretch, and a few are running KE....so i don't want them stretching off of me.....)
Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed. ~Blaise Pascal~
might add force back instead of a different counterspell
i'd also like to work in windfall for when i've blown my hand trying to counter everything; make everybody else discard, and refill my hand
gilded drake is FAR superior or sower IMO. the drake lets you take the creature for good, whereas the sower relies on a 2/2 staying in play. also, drake combos really well with capsize, e.g. " I cast gilded drake, take your darksteel colossus FOREVER...enjoy your 3/3....oh, wait, capsize it AND keep your DSC....."
didn't really think of clout of the dominus....seems good w/ Niv
Equilibrium!
OOOOOoooooooo..........that's a good idea !
that goes really well with the drake, venser + lab, and of course, any other creature turning into a giant jellyfish
now what to remove.......?
Mind Over Matter will also wipe out everyone and is good by itself.