Nin, the Pain Artist is a very interesting card for Comander. She's cheap, efficient and has a devastating ability. She can be used to mill your opponents out, draw a lot of cards, or even kill an annoying creature or 2.
This deck is not built around Nin in the sense that it needs her to do everything. It is not a Combo deck, it's a classic UR control deck that uses Nin to stabilize. It does not have cards like Rings of Brightheart to make the ability able to hit multiple targets or ways to produce infirm mana to auto kill an enemy, but it can still win easily and epically by controlling you opponents out the game.
Now, this deck is super competitive. It was designed to be played against people who have dedicated thousands of dollars on just their manabase, with unfairly insane cards in their deck. So I had to adapt to survive and this was the result. Still, there are many cards that you could use instead, whether as budget options or because you think they are better than my lame little build, or even if they are just better suited to your metagame.
Counter Spells
Blue mages need to keep their cards safe. How do we do that? Counter all their spells. Yup, that's it. I know its annoying and many of you may be against it but they can be so powerful that I think it’s worth it. One thing to note is the psychology of people having their spells countered compared to just having their things killed straight up. Use these unfair cards to your advantage.
Force of Will: The go to Blue Counter Spell. For those who don't know why it is so good, let me explain. This counterspell is practically free. There is no mana required to play it. None. Other optoins for free counter spells are also Pact of Negation and even Foil. They have their uses and can be very good replacements for a free counter spell. Also there is Comandeer and Mindbreak Trap, which can be very unfair.
Mana Drain: Ok, this card is not cheap. Yeah. Counterspell is also a really good 2 mana counter. Mana Leak less so, but I have seen it played, with mixed results. For the extra mana there is Scattering Stroke, but that is very situational. I probably wouldn't play Force Spike, Frightful Delusion, or even Daze. Still, cards like Condescend and Broken Ambitions are good. Never underestimate the power of Scry 2 and maybe even forcing them to tap out to save a spell to save your spells is well worth it.
Hinder: Putting cards away from the graveyard is very important, especially if you can put their Commander on the bottom of their deck. Sometimes putting the card on top just to force a skipped draw step is pretty brutal. Other sick cards of the same ilk are Dissipate, Spell Crumple, Faerie Trickery, and other exile spells are pretty awesome. Just something to consider.
Desertion: What's better than stealing an opponent’s best creature? Winning. Okay, I'll give you that one, but one can lead to the other. We've already spoken about the unfairly free nature of Commandeer, and there are others that can be just as useful. Things like Spelljack and Gather Specimens can really shift games in your favour.
Card advantage is key. Practically every colour has a way of drawing cards and I'm sure they all need it to come out on top in EDH. There are so many times of draw spells and some of them have some pretty nuts bonus effects. Card advantage is very important in massive multiplayer games. It can put you way ahead of your opponents.
Read the Runes: Yes, I am playing this draw spell. Why? It's instant. It has an X in its casting cost. Oh, and it has a mini sacrifice outlet. It's better than it looks. There are other awesome instant speed draw spells to look out for. Bluesun's Zenith can draw you a large portion of your deck, or just shuffle things up a bit, which I like more than Stroke of Genius, but that's me.
Jace the Mindsculptor: Yes, yes, the big bad Jace TMS. He is amazing. All the Jaces are good card draw. Jace Beleren was my favourite Lorwyn Planeswalker, and Jace, Momory Adept, also draw cards (Really?) and can even Party draw for everyone. This makes me want to play it, but I can't find space. All the Jaces are good.
Consecrated Sphinx: Creatures draw cards to. Kozilek, Butcher of Truths has many awesome roles, like deck refiller, combo peice, fatty. My favourite though is the fact that he draws cards...when cast. Even if he gets countered you draw. Whoo. There are also many other sick cards that draw cards with bonus creature bodies to boot. Arcanis the Omnipotent being one of my favourite, but let’s not forget Mulldrifter and Aeon Chronicler. Gotta love those critters.
Artifact Ramp
Lets get ahead and power out the power spells. Ramping up ahead of your opponents is just such an awesome feeling and artifacts can definitely fill that role well.
Sol Ring: Mana ramping artifacts are essential in EDH/Commander. Artifacts that produce colourless mana are often very mana efficient. Sol Ring, Mana Vault, and Mana Crypt are all very cheap mana wise and can ramp you many turns ahead. Be careful with Mana Crypt, long term, this could kill you quicker than any of your opponents. Grim Monolith is another awesome super-efficient mana producer. Thran Dynamo is also considered very power and jump you from turn four to turn 7 in a heartbeat.
Darksteel Ingot: Indestructible coloured mana production? Yup, awesome. Izzet Signet is another awesome mana producer for cheap, which can filter your colourless lands. There are also a miriad of different 2 casting cast artifacts that can be abused quite well. Mind Stone, Everflowing Chalice, and many other similar artifacts can be used to power out some ridiculous early plays. Also, Tezzeret the Seeker can be used to quickly tutor these up to put you way ahead of your opponents, and even start untapping them for an extra bonus.
Solemn Simulacrum: Putting lands straight into play is awesome, and there are quite a few artifacts that can do it to. Solemn Simulacrum and Wayfarers Bauble can be a lot of help to get lands into play. There are also other artifacts that can be easily abused for maximum value like Dreamstone Hedron, which can double as a draw spell when in need. Look out for cards like this that are just always good.
Crucible of Worlds: Sure, cards like Crucible of Worlds and Expedition Map aren't "Ramp" per se, but they both help to allow for consistent land drops, which helps to put you ahead in the long run. Land tutoring and recursion is a very power effect to look out for, especially with cards like Academy Ruins and Strip Mine.
Creatures
Creatures are actually my favourite parts of this format. They can be big stupid beaters like Blightsteel Colussus or tricky super spells like Frost Titan. There are just so many things they can do. The possibilities are endless
Duplicant: There are many creatures than can double as removal, especially cards like Duplicant and Phyrexian Ingester which straight up exile creature to kae them bigger, but there are also the Clone variants, the best of which I think is Phyrexian Metamorph, which can be used to copy powereful creatures and artifacts as well kill some awesome legendaries. Remember they don't target. There are also a mariad of dragons that do the same, like Bogardan Hellkite, Balefire Dragon, and Flameblast Dragon, all of which can be used to Kill your opponents and they're creatures.
Snapcaster Mage: There are a huge number of awesome utility creatures that you can use. Trinket Mage can help tutor up some awesome artifacts, like Sol Ring. There are the recursion creatures like Anarchist, Nuclavee, Snapcaster Mage, Mnemonic Walland Izzet Chronarch that help bring back vital spells for more action. Lighthouse Chronologist can become a serious problem if left unchecked. Sphinx of Uthuun can help fill your hand while also putting your opponents in a real bind. In fact Sphinxes are pretty awesome in general. Sundering Titan is a bit of a strange one, getting better when you have people playing the same colours as you. Ixidron can hit the table and just mess with your opponents best creatures, and the same can almost be said for Kederekt Leviathan. These are all up to you. Half of the fun of this format are all in the Utility creatures.
Utility Spells
Now this is where creativity is important. This is all up to you. There are so many amazing options and so many interactions that you can try out or accidentally find some amazing plays that just help abuse the board state.
Sensei's Diving Top: Back to some Artifacts. Yes, there are some very broken artifacts. Sensei's Diving Top being one these. Scroll Rack is a very similar card with many more pros and cons, especially when paired with fetch lands like Scalding Tarn. The there are cards like Helm of Obedience and Vedalken Shackles which can be used to, once again, steal your opponents creatures. There are also some seriously broken equipment, like Sword of Fire and Ice, or Emperial Plating. In fact, the use of swords can used quite well to modify your deck based on your metagame. I have been known to use Sword of Body and Mind to combat annoying Momir Vig, Simic Visionary decks, and lets not forget Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots which can protect your creatures while making them much faster and scarier. Clout of the Dominus and be used to similar effect. There are so many awesome utility artifacts. Personally I beleive that brow is the most powerful colour in magic. Come on, just look at Minslaver which can be continually recurred using Academy Ruins for many extra turns. Again, these artifacts are all up to you. I have seen artifacts be used devastatingly to take over a game.
Spin into Myth: Once again we have the spells you think are best for you. I love spells like Spin into Myth and Rite of Replication to take care of dangerous creatures and Generals. Then there are the cards like Mystical Tutor, Gamble, Future Sight and Fact or Fiction to gain some card advantage, while usingBribery, Acquire, Blatant Thievery and Treachery to steal some permanents. Then you can use spells like Wipe Away and Capsize to remove some troubling creatures and other permanents. There are so many options here. This is all up to what you feel comfortable with. Timestop can stop can be used to stop annoying Combos or just straight up counter a powerful spell. Blue is very powerful and has nearly unlimited options. Then we have red who has cards like Chaos Warp and Insurrection.
These are also all cards you have to keep in mind when play against a deck like this.
Combos
There are a lot of combos in UR. Many of them I don't know, maybe because it's weird and needs a lot of cards, or because I haven't played against it yet. However there are some really good combos to use. These are my favourites
Palinchron and Manaflare: INFINITE MANA!! Yeah, that's about it. But there are so many things to do with all that mana, like Comet Storm insta-win, or just draw out your deck with Blue Sun's Zenith and win through Laboratory Maniac. You could always also just force someone to draw out their deck as well. Infinite mana has so many aplications.
Gilded Drake and Crystal Shard/Erratic Portal: Yup, more creature stealing. Basically when the Drake hits the table, the "come into play" targets a creature and goes on the stack, then you return it to your hand with the Shard or Portal. The ability resolves and the targeted creature goes to you while the Drake is nowhere to be seen and doesn't go to your opponent. Whoo. Another combo that takes a while to just destroy your opponents but it is worth it.
WARNING: Don't be affected by "Fancy Play Syndrome." FPS is a very dangerous liability when playing in multiplayer games, especially epic games of EDH. Pulling ahead of everyone is a very good way to paint a target of your head. It's best to stay under the radar, dealing with problems that could cause a massive set back to you or the rest of the board. In the late game when you have properly stabilized you can start going crazy. It is very satisfying winning with this deck, especially when you grinded it out without the need for combos.
If you need any help with your decks send me a message and I'll do my best to keep it with your budget and with awesome cards best for your play group.
Nin needs to be running minimum of 15 mana rocks. She has no oppurtunity cost to running a bunch of mana rofks because she uses them to draw non mana rocks. Because you draw so hard you only need two or three win cons. You can run way more counter and spot removal because she draws so many cards you can replace them easily. So go very light on creatures mainly shoorinf nin herself. Win cons teezeret, dragonmaster outcast, bribery, ect... keep them low cost and efficent
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This deck is not built around Nin in the sense that it needs her to do everything. It is not a Combo deck, it's a classic UR control deck that uses Nin to stabilize. It does not have cards like Rings of Brightheart to make the ability able to hit multiple targets or ways to produce infirm mana to auto kill an enemy, but it can still win easily and epically by controlling you opponents out the game.
Let's look at the deck:
1 Nin, the Pain Artist
Creatures
1 Aeon Chronicler
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
1 Charmbreaker Devils
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Dominus of Fealty
1 Draining Whelk
1 Duplicant
1 Ertai, Wizard Adept
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
Planeswalkers
1 Jace Beleren
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
Spells
1 All Is Dust
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Bribery
1 Chaos Warp
1 Comet Storm
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Desertion
1 Dismiss
1 Dissipate
1 Evacuation
1 Expedition Map
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Force of Will
1 Future Sight
1 Gamble
1 Hinder
1 Izzet Signet
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mana Vault
1 Mind Unbound
1 Mindslaver
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Rewind
1 Rhystic Study
1 Rite of Replication
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Spell Crumple
1 Spin into Myth
1 Starstorm
1 Treachery
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Forgotten Cave
11 Island
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Kher Keep
1 Maze of Ith
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Mountain
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Remote Isle
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Shivan Reef
1 Steam Vents
1 Strip Mine
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Tolaria West
1 Volcanic Island
1 Wasteland
Now, this deck is super competitive. It was designed to be played against people who have dedicated thousands of dollars on just their manabase, with unfairly insane cards in their deck. So I had to adapt to survive and this was the result. Still, there are many cards that you could use instead, whether as budget options or because you think they are better than my lame little build, or even if they are just better suited to your metagame.
Counter Spells
Blue mages need to keep their cards safe. How do we do that? Counter all their spells. Yup, that's it. I know its annoying and many of you may be against it but they can be so powerful that I think it’s worth it. One thing to note is the psychology of people having their spells countered compared to just having their things killed straight up. Use these unfair cards to your advantage.
Mana Drain: Ok, this card is not cheap. Yeah. Counterspell is also a really good 2 mana counter. Mana Leak less so, but I have seen it played, with mixed results. For the extra mana there is Scattering Stroke, but that is very situational. I probably wouldn't play Force Spike, Frightful Delusion, or even Daze. Still, cards like Condescend and Broken Ambitions are good. Never underestimate the power of Scry 2 and maybe even forcing them to tap out to save a spell to save your spells is well worth it.
Hinder: Putting cards away from the graveyard is very important, especially if you can put their Commander on the bottom of their deck. Sometimes putting the card on top just to force a skipped draw step is pretty brutal. Other sick cards of the same ilk are Dissipate, Spell Crumple, Faerie Trickery, and other exile spells are pretty awesome. Just something to consider.
Desertion: What's better than stealing an opponent’s best creature? Winning. Okay, I'll give you that one, but one can lead to the other. We've already spoken about the unfairly free nature of Commandeer, and there are others that can be just as useful. Things like Spelljack and Gather Specimens can really shift games in your favour.
Cryptic Command: Cryptic Command is just one of many broken utility counter spells at your disposal. There are many more. Why? This is a blue deck. Rewind, Forbid, Last Word, Suffocating Blast, Draining Whelk, Remand, Counterbalance even Lost in the Mist.
Draw spells
Card advantage is key. Practically every colour has a way of drawing cards and I'm sure they all need it to come out on top in EDH. There are so many times of draw spells and some of them have some pretty nuts bonus effects. Card advantage is very important in massive multiplayer games. It can put you way ahead of your opponents.
Jace the Mindsculptor: Yes, yes, the big bad Jace TMS. He is amazing. All the Jaces are good card draw. Jace Beleren was my favourite Lorwyn Planeswalker, and Jace, Momory Adept, also draw cards (Really?) and can even Party draw for everyone. This makes me want to play it, but I can't find space. All the Jaces are good.
Ancestral Vision: Card draw comes in many shapes and sizes. From the lowly Jushi Aprentice and Azure Mage, to the epics of Skullclamp and Honden of the Seeing Winds. There are the staple Mind's Eye and Rhystic Study. There are so many options. Just don't play weird cards like Serum Visions, Brainstorm is better.
Consecrated Sphinx: Creatures draw cards to. Kozilek, Butcher of Truths has many awesome roles, like deck refiller, combo peice, fatty. My favourite though is the fact that he draws cards...when cast. Even if he gets countered you draw. Whoo. There are also many other sick cards that draw cards with bonus creature bodies to boot. Arcanis the Omnipotent being one of my favourite, but let’s not forget Mulldrifter and Aeon Chronicler. Gotta love those critters.
Artifact Ramp
Lets get ahead and power out the power spells. Ramping up ahead of your opponents is just such an awesome feeling and artifacts can definitely fill that role well.
Darksteel Ingot: Indestructible coloured mana production? Yup, awesome. Izzet Signet is another awesome mana producer for cheap, which can filter your colourless lands. There are also a miriad of different 2 casting cast artifacts that can be abused quite well. Mind Stone, Everflowing Chalice, and many other similar artifacts can be used to power out some ridiculous early plays. Also, Tezzeret the Seeker can be used to quickly tutor these up to put you way ahead of your opponents, and even start untapping them for an extra bonus.
Solemn Simulacrum: Putting lands straight into play is awesome, and there are quite a few artifacts that can do it to. Solemn Simulacrum and Wayfarers Bauble can be a lot of help to get lands into play. There are also other artifacts that can be easily abused for maximum value like Dreamstone Hedron, which can double as a draw spell when in need. Look out for cards like this that are just always good.
Crucible of Worlds: Sure, cards like Crucible of Worlds and Expedition Map aren't "Ramp" per se, but they both help to allow for consistent land drops, which helps to put you ahead in the long run. Land tutoring and recursion is a very power effect to look out for, especially with cards like Academy Ruins and Strip Mine.
Creatures
Creatures are actually my favourite parts of this format. They can be big stupid beaters like Blightsteel Colussus or tricky super spells like Frost Titan. There are just so many things they can do. The possibilities are endless
Sower of Temptation: Again, stealing creatures is good. Remember that. There are a whole bunch of creatures that do that. Sower of Temptation, Ambassador Sphinx, and one of my favourites Dominus of Fealty are all very good at doing this. There are probably more like it, like Conquering Manticore and friends, which can be a huge blow out.
Snapcaster Mage: There are a huge number of awesome utility creatures that you can use. Trinket Mage can help tutor up some awesome artifacts, like Sol Ring. There are the recursion creatures like Anarchist, Nuclavee, Snapcaster Mage, Mnemonic Walland Izzet Chronarch that help bring back vital spells for more action. Lighthouse Chronologist can become a serious problem if left unchecked. Sphinx of Uthuun can help fill your hand while also putting your opponents in a real bind. In fact Sphinxes are pretty awesome in general. Sundering Titan is a bit of a strange one, getting better when you have people playing the same colours as you. Ixidron can hit the table and just mess with your opponents best creatures, and the same can almost be said for Kederekt Leviathan. These are all up to you. Half of the fun of this format are all in the Utility creatures.
Utility Spells
Now this is where creativity is important. This is all up to you. There are so many amazing options and so many interactions that you can try out or accidentally find some amazing plays that just help abuse the board state.
Sensei's Diving Top: Back to some Artifacts. Yes, there are some very broken artifacts. Sensei's Diving Top being one these. Scroll Rack is a very similar card with many more pros and cons, especially when paired with fetch lands like Scalding Tarn. The there are cards like Helm of Obedience and Vedalken Shackles which can be used to, once again, steal your opponents creatures. There are also some seriously broken equipment, like Sword of Fire and Ice, or Emperial Plating. In fact, the use of swords can used quite well to modify your deck based on your metagame. I have been known to use Sword of Body and Mind to combat annoying Momir Vig, Simic Visionary decks, and lets not forget Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots which can protect your creatures while making them much faster and scarier. Clout of the Dominus and be used to similar effect. There are so many awesome utility artifacts. Personally I beleive that brow is the most powerful colour in magic. Come on, just look at Minslaver which can be continually recurred using Academy Ruins for many extra turns. Again, these artifacts are all up to you. I have seen artifacts be used devastatingly to take over a game.
Spin into Myth: Once again we have the spells you think are best for you. I love spells like Spin into Myth and Rite of Replication to take care of dangerous creatures and Generals. Then there are the cards like Mystical Tutor, Gamble, Future Sight and Fact or Fiction to gain some card advantage, while usingBribery, Acquire, Blatant Thievery and Treachery to steal some permanents. Then you can use spells like Wipe Away and Capsize to remove some troubling creatures and other permanents. There are so many options here. This is all up to what you feel comfortable with. Timestop can stop can be used to stop annoying Combos or just straight up counter a powerful spell. Blue is very powerful and has nearly unlimited options. Then we have red who has cards like Chaos Warp and Insurrection.
These are also all cards you have to keep in mind when play against a deck like this.
Combos
There are a lot of combos in UR. Many of them I don't know, maybe because it's weird and needs a lot of cards, or because I haven't played against it yet. However there are some really good combos to use. These are my favourites
Palinchron and Manaflare: INFINITE MANA!! Yeah, that's about it. But there are so many things to do with all that mana, like Comet Storm insta-win, or just draw out your deck with Blue Sun's Zenith and win through Laboratory Maniac. You could always also just force someone to draw out their deck as well. Infinite mana has so many aplications.
Crucible of Worlds and Stripmine/Wasteland/Tectonic Edge/Ghost Quarters: Continuous land destruction is always nice. It isn't an insta-win like a lot of awesome combos but over a long game, this is pretty devastating.
Gilded Drake and Crystal Shard/Erratic Portal: Yup, more creature stealing. Basically when the Drake hits the table, the "come into play" targets a creature and goes on the stack, then you return it to your hand with the Shard or Portal. The ability resolves and the targeted creature goes to you while the Drake is nowhere to be seen and doesn't go to your opponent. Whoo. Another combo that takes a while to just destroy your opponents but it is worth it.
Stuffy Doll/Mogg Maniac or Creatures that die well like Solemn Simulacrum with Nin, the Pain Artist:The damage, Cards drawn, and value here can be huge. It can definitely be worth putting these cards in a deck.
WARNING: Don't be affected by "Fancy Play Syndrome." FPS is a very dangerous liability when playing in multiplayer games, especially epic games of EDH. Pulling ahead of everyone is a very good way to paint a target of your head. It's best to stay under the radar, dealing with problems that could cause a massive set back to you or the rest of the board. In the late game when you have properly stabilized you can start going crazy. It is very satisfying winning with this deck, especially when you grinded it out without the need for combos.
If you need any help with your decks send me a message and I'll do my best to keep it with your budget and with awesome cards best for your play group.