I've been toying with a deck idea but I'm really not 100% certain how it will play, only just theory-crafting an idea to make a neat Izzet deck focused around Nivmagus Elemental and to a lesser extent Nivix Cyclops & Guttersnipe.
The theory behind the deck is to play Nivmagus Elemental early or try to hold out with burn spells until Cyclops or Guttersnipe hit the board. From there, using cipher spells to tap their creatures down &/or untap my lands and use the cipher effect for more damage from Guttersnipe or to let Nivmagus Elemental eat the cipher effect for counters.
I'm wanting to try out using Epic Experiment but suspect it may be a dead card in my hand too often. Ideally it could be a game-winner with the right creatures in play.
The final 6 Sideboard cards are largely for fun & to fit the Izzet theme. I'll probably cut them for more instants & sorceries or maybe another Guttersnipe.
I've actually been trying to make something like this work for a while now :).
I don't think it will ever be truely competetive, but it's fun.
I would replace thought flare and inspiration with uncovered clues, it's cheaper, you dig deep and fin the spells that you were probably hoping to get off of thoughtflare and inspiration anyway. Don't run more than 2 or 3 though (3 is probably too much)
I'd drop teleportal, hands of binding will make your creatures basically unblockable anyway. But you should try out pursuit of flight.
Epic experiment is a very bad idea in this deck. You are only running 21 lands. You will never be able to cast it with x being a worthwhile number.
I think you should be plaing 4 charms, and you might want to add in a syncopate or 2 since you will have problems dealing with reckoner's if you don't have a hands of binding. I also think that you should probably be playing 3 hands of binding. Or at least put another in the sideboard.
And another creautre to consider is blistercoil wierd.
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If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Thanks for your response, I appreciate your feedback!
I've had a chance to build both the paper & online versions of the deck and play quite a lot over the last two days at both FNM online. The combo is extremely explosive and I've had quite a few turn 3 and 4 kills.
I did remove Thoughtflare and Inspiration and decided to run with no cantrips at all. Card draw was the weakest part of the deck but now it is a bit more streamlined with more cantrips + burn spells.
Teleportal comes in and out of my deck. I seem to have good luck making 10+ power angry unblockable Cyclop's on my opponent lately and seems to be one of those spells I like to resolve as opposed to let Nivmagus Elemental eat. Hands of Binding I agree is money in this deck and facilitates early game wins with it's cipher effect. It's important to recognize one thing here however - you cannot cast Hands of Binding when your opponent has no creature in play whereas you can cast Teleportal at any time. This restriction has cost me a few games.
I know Epic Experiment is bad but with the Nivix Cyclops and the Guttersnipe it's as good as it's ever going to get. Now and then I've had a giant blowout for X=7 when flooded and it's lights out for your opponent.
Funny you say that about charms as I was thinking about removing them. More often than not I use them to cycle land for turn 3 if I'm missing a land drop, other than that I often don't let them resolve.
I haven't wanted to try Blistercoil as he doesn't really follow the giant combo damage train as hard or as cast as Nivmagus Elemental or the Cyclops. I suppose the untap ability is nice, not sure how I could exploit that though?
I've actually been trying to make something like this work for a while now :).
I don't think it will ever be truely competetive, but it's fun.
I would replace thought flare and inspiration with uncovered clues, it's cheaper, you dig deep and fin the spells that you were probably hoping to get off of thoughtflare and inspiration anyway. Don't run more than 2 or 3 though (3 is probably too much)
I'd drop teleportal, hands of binding will make your creatures basically unblockable anyway. But you should try out pursuit of flight.
Epic experiment is a very bad idea in this deck. You are only running 21 lands. You will never be able to cast it with x being a worthwhile number.
I think you should be plaing 4 charms, and you might want to add in a syncopate or 2 since you will have problems dealing with reckoner's if you don't have a hands of binding. I also think that you should probably be playing 3 hands of binding. Or at least put another in the sideboard.
And another creautre to consider is blistercoil wierd.
Blistercoil wierd is just another creature fo you to play. I'm sure there are alot of opening hands when you don't have any creatures. Blistercoil will let you keep more of those.
I'm glad you are having success with the deck!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
I tried Blistercoil, he was good against agro matchups and against Burning Tree Emmissary but tends to not do a whole lot for me outside of chump block. That is sometimes all it takes to be useful in this deck though so I have been taking him in and out. I've been using Frostburn Weird as he's a 1/4 for two mana and he's very powerful in agro matchups and really I find he tends to be a bit of a removal magnet which allows me to sneak in my real win conditions. His pumpable ability allows me to waste a bunch of mana early on and keeps me safe. Overall he's been the more useful of the two.
Removal is hurting me the most at the moment so I'm deciding to use 3 Mizzium Skins as well as 3 Dispels. Both of these spells I can use to 'go off' as they are only one mana but the fact that I can keep my guys alive while keeping only one U active is really, really nice. My matchup against blue decks using counterspells are pretty insane now as each counterspell they cast basically means my Nivmagus is getting +2/+2 more as well as dispel keeping him alive.
For anyone having trouble with those red decks with BTE & all those annoying red creatures, I really think this deck stops that madness better than any other around in RTR block. It's certainly the fastest limited deck I've ever played and if you're opponent can't remove your 3/4 Nivmagus by turn three it's often good game.
I've been toying with a deck idea but I'm really not 100% certain how it will play, only just theory-crafting an idea to make a neat Izzet deck focused around Nivmagus Elemental and to a lesser extent Nivix Cyclops & Guttersnipe.
Here's my decklist:
4 Nivmagus Elemental
4 Nivex Cyclops
2 Thoughtflare
2 Inspiration
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Teleportal
3 Izzet Charm
2 Mizzium Skin
2 Turn // Burn
2 Armed // Dangerous
3 Epic Experiment
3 Hidden Strings
2 Hands of Binding
4 Steam Vents
17 Other lands
2 Syncopate
1 Armed // Dangerous
2 Mizzium Skin
1 Illusionist Bracers
2 Izzet Staticaster
1 Melek, Izzet Paragon
1 Niv-Mizzet, Dragogenius
1 Mercurial Chemister
The theory behind the deck is to play Nivmagus Elemental early or try to hold out with burn spells until Cyclops or Guttersnipe hit the board. From there, using cipher spells to tap their creatures down &/or untap my lands and use the cipher effect for more damage from Guttersnipe or to let Nivmagus Elemental eat the cipher effect for counters.
I'm wanting to try out using Epic Experiment but suspect it may be a dead card in my hand too often. Ideally it could be a game-winner with the right creatures in play.
The final 6 Sideboard cards are largely for fun & to fit the Izzet theme. I'll probably cut them for more instants & sorceries or maybe another Guttersnipe.
Any ideas here would be much appreciated!
I don't think it will ever be truely competetive, but it's fun.
I would replace thought flare and inspiration with uncovered clues, it's cheaper, you dig deep and fin the spells that you were probably hoping to get off of thoughtflare and inspiration anyway. Don't run more than 2 or 3 though (3 is probably too much)
I'd drop teleportal, hands of binding will make your creatures basically unblockable anyway. But you should try out pursuit of flight.
Epic experiment is a very bad idea in this deck. You are only running 21 lands. You will never be able to cast it with x being a worthwhile number.
I think you should be plaing 4 charms, and you might want to add in a syncopate or 2 since you will have problems dealing with reckoner's if you don't have a hands of binding. I also think that you should probably be playing 3 hands of binding. Or at least put another in the sideboard.
And another creautre to consider is blistercoil wierd.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
I've had a chance to build both the paper & online versions of the deck and play quite a lot over the last two days at both FNM online. The combo is extremely explosive and I've had quite a few turn 3 and 4 kills.
I did remove Thoughtflare and Inspiration and decided to run with no cantrips at all. Card draw was the weakest part of the deck but now it is a bit more streamlined with more cantrips + burn spells.
Teleportal comes in and out of my deck. I seem to have good luck making 10+ power angry unblockable Cyclop's on my opponent lately and seems to be one of those spells I like to resolve as opposed to let Nivmagus Elemental eat. Hands of Binding I agree is money in this deck and facilitates early game wins with it's cipher effect. It's important to recognize one thing here however - you cannot cast Hands of Binding when your opponent has no creature in play whereas you can cast Teleportal at any time. This restriction has cost me a few games.
I know Epic Experiment is bad but with the Nivix Cyclops and the Guttersnipe it's as good as it's ever going to get. Now and then I've had a giant blowout for X=7 when flooded and it's lights out for your opponent.
Funny you say that about charms as I was thinking about removing them. More often than not I use them to cycle land for turn 3 if I'm missing a land drop, other than that I often don't let them resolve.
I haven't wanted to try Blistercoil as he doesn't really follow the giant combo damage train as hard or as cast as Nivmagus Elemental or the Cyclops. I suppose the untap ability is nice, not sure how I could exploit that though?
I'm glad you are having success with the deck!
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Removal is hurting me the most at the moment so I'm deciding to use 3 Mizzium Skins as well as 3 Dispels. Both of these spells I can use to 'go off' as they are only one mana but the fact that I can keep my guys alive while keeping only one U active is really, really nice. My matchup against blue decks using counterspells are pretty insane now as each counterspell they cast basically means my Nivmagus is getting +2/+2 more as well as dispel keeping him alive.
For anyone having trouble with those red decks with BTE & all those annoying red creatures, I really think this deck stops that madness better than any other around in RTR block. It's certainly the fastest limited deck I've ever played and if you're opponent can't remove your 3/4 Nivmagus by turn three it's often good game.