Well, it's been a long-time-coming, but I think I've finally made the decision: the Flash-Enablers are going to have to go! Though they were integral to the gameplan 2-3 years ago, at this point the list is more optimized, runs a lower curve (so we can play things out AND have counter-mana up), and runs a higher density of instants. While there are times that flashing spells is great, it simply isn't as important to the core gameplan anymore - and two (relatively high-CMC) slots devoted to that has taken a noticeable toll in the last few weeks. I haven't made these changes official yet, but this is what I'm playtesting:
IN:
Island - I don't think I've used Minamo's second ability in over a year - and for that reason, a basic Island is simply better due to the presence of High Tide.
Izzet Signet - Making a reappearance yet again to take Vedalken Orrery's spot. Not sure this will stay; Serum Visions is the other I'm considering. But, there just aren't many worthwhile options left in the 2-3 CMC range that we don't already play! And, it's one of the few very-low-cost accelerants that makes colorless lands tap for U and R
Monastery Siege - Takes Leyline's spot. I have wanted to include this for some time, as it provides strong early-game sifting and some amount of late-game insurance. It's not firmly here yet, but I believe it will prove more versatile than Leyline in the current list.
Mystic Confluence - In for Reforge the Soul. I've just been overwhelmed by how expensive that card can be, especially as Miracle hits are so rare. RR can also be an issue in a list that wants so many islands for High Tide.
Overwhelming Denial - Takes Counterflux's place; with four cost-reducers now in the list, it often goes for UU (even without Surge). Even at 4 cmc, there are times where this cost is easier to pay than UUR.... there just aren't many R sources to go around, and I'd prefer to keep the island count up for High Tide.
Star Compass - Swapped in for Coldsteel Heart, for some corner-cases where it provides added versatility and second R in lategame.
As Foretold will be playtested in Coalition Relic's spot. I've been underwhelmed by the Relic as of late, and with such a low curve, As Foretold can quickly make our counterspells free (especially when paired with an extra turn).
Again, I like what I'm seeing, and you give me some more ideas. I made one switch myself just recently(intend to make the edits on my thread soon), so we'll see how things compare. Monastery Siege is likely one that will make an appearance in my deck, probably replacing my own Reforge...we'll have to see.
I think there is a strong case to be made for keeping them around in more budget-friendly builds, especially those running less of a focus on ultra low-cost and high-efficiency spells.
Actually, I think the Flash-Enablers are still the best way to approach a budget version of this list, simply because they let you abuse sooooo many sorceries and permanents while leaving counterspell mana up for the right time. Since they effectively give everything flash, they give you much wider access to (more budget-friendly) tools and resources during the deckbuilding phase, so that you can be confident in having counterspell mana up but don't have to restrict yourself to just playing a pile of instants. Actually, in many ways I think a budget version of this build should not strive to make direct replacements to individual cards, but rather look at groups of cards as a package, get a feel for why the package is played, and then substitute that as a whole for something more in line with what fits your constraints. That way you can seek to fill the same niche - and although you might give up a little bit of speed / consistency, you will often get more lasting value out of more budget friendly cards (which tend to have effects attached to permanents, or more powerful effects - just for a higher CMC)
For example, if you are looking to replace Mana Drain, I wouldn't go the Cancel route... it is strictly worse and offers you no upside for the increased cost. Instead, off the top of my head I might consider swapping out Mana Drain + a few others to add Rewind and a complementary untap package into the list. Rewind is similar to Mana Drain in that it gives you free mana back - it's worse in that the up-front cost is higher (and total payout likely less), but also better in the sense that you can use that mana immediately to play counterspells, flash things in, etc. If you can then use that mana to help flash in Recurring Insight, Cast Through Time, etc. it's still a major power play, but one that's only possible with the Flash-Enablers... so think critically about cutting them!
Another quick update: I have been thinking long and hard about Mystic Remora ever since removing it, and keep coming to the conclusion that it's simply too strong to ignore. I am currently testing +1 Mystic Remora, -1 Trinket Mage. Why, you might ask? After all, Trinket Mage is a stalwart of the format and an auto-include in most blue lists... my reasoning is:
Trinket Mage is strong in a vacuum, but his 3cmc cost is clunky in practice. The power of Sensei's Divining Top, Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, etc. cannot be denied, but he does not provide access to them in the explosive, straight-out-of-the-gates way that you'd really like. A sorcery-speed T3 or T4 Trinket Mage is pretty underwhelming, and crucially, he wants to hit the battlefield on turns when you really want to ether (a) be casting other spells, or (b) have mana up for counterspells. Turns where you can land a T1 or T2 Trinket Mage are somewhat rare, and typically come off the back of cards that you'd want to find with him anyway (making his ability somewhat moot). On the other hand, Mystic Remora is very often a delayed Ancestral Recall - and more commonly than one might think, can be even better than one.
So as of writing, my current changes from the decklist in the main post are: IN:
Can't say I argue with you on Mystic Remora. I keep thinking of wanting that back in my deck someday, but thus far, no joy. It was fun when it came out on my previous iterations, though...especially if it was a T1 drop and you could keep up with your mana drops.
Why? Anticipate and Future Sight serve much the same purpose - to help us dig as we combo off. However, an early Future Sight can really hurt tempo, and it's always difficult to find the right time to slip it into play, especially at the steep cost of 2UUU. When we do use it, we can dig deeper with it - but since it's usually right when we're comboing off, it's hit-or-miss (with lands) and often we only need it to work once or twice to get us there. Anticipate for a much lower cost (that can be reduced to just U by many different effects) feels like the better choice for early-game versatility!
Gilded Lotus has recently been feeling like more and more of a liability, and I feel that Goblin Electromancer is the better choice here. Why?
Lotus concentrates its mana production into a single phase, when often we want to split it over multiple phases or turns (for counterspells, cantrips, etc). It can be difficult to play around this, since we need to be able to use all of the mana at once for it to pay off.
Lotus can't be dropped very quickly and, being colorless, it unfortunately avoids our many discount effects. Finding a time to get it to stick can be difficult, similarly to Future Sight
Everyone knows the power of GL, and thus it always has a large target painted on it for destruction or theft, so the ROI is not always there. By comparison, Goblin Electromancer is a lower-profile threat; it's easier to remove, yes, but its effect is less directly felt and opponents are not always chomping at the bit to burn removal on a 2-cmc critter.
When chaining many spells per turn, Goblin Electromancer can often produce more value for us than Gilded Lotus, for less than half the investment.
This brings our average CMC down to 2.77, and this is including the full price of our top-end spells: Dream Halls and Omniscience which make all subsequent costs negligible, Force of Will (which in 95% of cases is 0 rather than 3UU), Time Spiral (which can cost 0, or even net us mana with our discount effects), and Time Warp effects for additional turns. So, we're really running quite lean and mean!
Reporting back on As Foretold: This card is absolutely fantastic, since it allows us to play free spells on everyone's turn. This means we not only get a free spell on our own turn, but can also tap out to play things on our turn, with the knowledge that we get free counterspells on our opponents. The politics of this can be extremely powerful too - the fact that you have the potential for free spells can often prevent opponents from dropping bombs without protection, for fear that you have answers (even if you don't). Fantastic!
Supreme Will is potentially a good fit for this list, with both modes being things we really like to be doing. Digging 4 deep is quite strong, though unfortunately 3-cmc for a non-hard counter is less appealing.
Here are the major things that draw me to this card:
Recent edits have focused strongly on cost-reducing cards, thus this will often be cast for 1U or just U. Not having UU in the cost immediately slots this up one peg for this reason. (This is also the reason there is a very high likelihood that Cryptic Command will be pulled out soon!)
Digging four deep is very strong, but fatesealing the rest to the bottom-of-library is also great as we aren't stuck with what we have (as is the case with Sensei's Divining Top)
This helps to guard against other early wins, while also digging deep in a fresh draw-7 when comboing off. Most counterspells are dead once we are comboing out; this lets us more reliably string together our crazy and chaotic wheel effects while also being a relevant answer earlier in the game.
Although we have many answers, there is inevitably a tradeoff between having answers and speeding more quickly towards our own win condition... for most slots, the decision is an, "either, or" and we can't have our cake and eat it too. This manages to do both at once, and I hope future cards will do the same for us!
Although Wizards no longer gives us 2-cmc goodies, I really, really like that they are giving us so many cards with multiple options stapled on - this is PERFECT for a list like ours and I look forward to what this and future sets bring us. At this point, I'm thinking this would slot in nicely as a replacement for the recently-added Anticipate; definitely open to suggestions though!
The Locust God. Wow! He doesn't fit in our list, but is an extremely strong contender to replace Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind outright as our commander. I am not sure yet whether I will be making this change personally, but I think it is something that every Niv-Mizzet pilot needs to seriously consider. Locust God offers many advantages that are simply hard to ignore: produces a boatload of blockers for early protection, has a MUCH easier casting cost, circumvents the commander tax to most removal (allowing you to play him earlier and more often, without as much restraint) and he combos extremely well with Skullclamp and the like. On the other hand, he can't snipe problematic creatures and has a (slightly) more difficult time getting at planeswalkers and life totals (assuming opponents have flying blockers). Right now I still like spellslinger Niv-Mizzet more - but there is something to be said for the power of this flashy new commander. We shall see!
Yeah, I think that The Locust God nearly completely replaces Niv-Mizzet in his deck if it isn't built with combo in mind. It just seems so much stronger overall. I know that my Niv-Miz will be making the conversion, and I'm excited about it actually.
Why not run both The Locust God and Niv 1.0? You have the benefit of one in your command zone at all times, and when/before he gets prohibitively expensive, you draw into the other for backup/redundancy, or ideally for a tag-team.
Why not run both The Locust God and Niv 1.0? You have the benefit of one in your command zone at all times, and when/before he gets prohibitively expensive, you draw into the other for backup/redundancy, or ideally for a tag-team.
EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT!!!!
Granted... If you are too combo-centric, you'll not want to run him. You're going too fast to run a card that isn't exactly going to win the game. Like, you don't want to drop any of your hand-cycling cards for it. But I would see the god make it's way as one of the 99.
Unfortunately this summer has been quite hectic, and my playgroup has been in and out of town at various times so I've gotten only a few games in (probably 2-3 games with a handcycling list, in total). So, I can't report back yet on which commander I prefer (though intuition still leans me towards Locust God).
However, I did gain some valuable insight in those games re: deck construction of my Locust God list, and I recommend taking a look at the changes over in this thread. They focus on: inclusion of faster mana, Khans delve cards, and replacing a few of the counterspells with removal (to broaden our suite of interaction). I think this batch of changes apply well to both Niv Mizzet and Locust God.
Why not run both The Locust God and Niv 1.0? You have the benefit of one in your command zone at all times, and when/before he gets prohibitively expensive, you draw into the other for backup/redundancy, or ideally for a tag-team.
EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT!!!!
Granted... If you are too combo-centric, you'll not want to run him. You're going too fast to run a card that isn't exactly going to win the game. Like, you don't want to drop any of your hand-cycling cards for it. But I would see the god make it's way as one of the 99.
My thinking is - at 6 mana to start with, these commanders are an expensive investment, especially when there isn't any immediate payoff (i.e. ETB effect). So I usually found myself simply not playing Niv until I was actually about ready to win, in which case the Commander Tax usually wasn't an issue - and before that point, the last thing I wanted was another big and expensive spell clogging up the list! I think this depends heavily on how you build the list though - my version is super focused on cheap and efficient spell-slinging, so I don't want too many wrenches included that can mess up that tempo. But a build focusing more on ramp and raw card advantage engines (i.e. Mind's Dilation and other powerful permanent-based effects) might be more interested in casting the commander (or pseudo-commmander) early and often.
Exactly it. I wasn't sure how much of your deck you felt would have to change in order to run both of them, but the synergy prompted me to just state the obvious for sake of argument. That you're aware of doing so, and what kind of build would be most functional in that situation, is enough for me. I will try doing it in my deck and report back on my own experience(s) if I beat you to the punch.
Overflowing Insight
4UUU
Sorcery
Target player draws seven cards.
The truth came to Kumena like the Great River's torrent: the only way to keep his enemies away from the hidden city was to claim its power for himself
Overflowing Insight
4UUU
Sorcery
Target player draws seven cards.
The truth came to Kumena like the Great River's torrent: the only way to keep his enemies away from the hidden city was to claim its power for himself
I don't see that making the cut for this deck at all. Wheel of Fortune, Reforge the Soul, Time Reversal and Time Spiral all fill that gap, to much greater degrees. Part of the goal of this deck is not only to cycle your own hand(and thus get draw damage from Niv), but also to screw your opponent's hands(hopefully). While Overflowing Insight certainly gets the draw power, it's overcosted for its effect, is only sorcery speed, and is a 1:1 deal, unlike the previous examples(to explain: suppose FireStorm had Consecrated Sphinx out. The other examples would get him HUGE benefit, much moreso than his opponents. With this, he would have to choose between a 7 draw or a 14 draw. See what I mean?).
Hi folks, after some testing, I've decided to stick with Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind over The Locust God as my commander. Why? It's quite simple, actually - Niv-Mizzet offers a higher ceiling to those who may eventually push their deck towards a truly competitive skew. Although in this primer I willingly forego the popular combos with Niv-Mizzet (namely Curiosity, Ophidian Eye, Tandem Lookout, and the much more mana-intensive Mind Over Matter), the upgrade path is still there for those who find themselves in more CEDH circles. The playgroup I've been with in Boston over the last year has steadily grown more competitive, and I've actually found myself moving back towards real combo again to keep up with the speed. This flexibility is easy to accommodate in Niv-Mizzet, but the combo power peak is just not quite as strong with Locust God.
Outside of strict CEDH and combo I believe Locust God is the stronger commander due to its greater flexibility and built-in recursion. However, the competitive potential of The Locust God seems slightly lower, so Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind seems the better choice for those whose playgroups may edge towards the CEDH scene (although IMO neither Niv-Mizzet nor Locust God are Tier-1 CEDH material, Niv-Mizzet combo seems to do a better job of keeping up)
Overflowing Insight
4UUU
Sorcery
Target player draws seven cards.
The truth came to Kumena like the Great River's torrent: the only way to keep his enemies away from the hidden city was to claim its power for himself
I don't see that making the cut for this deck at all. Wheel of Fortune, Reforge the Soul, Time Reversal and Time Spiral all fill that gap, to much greater degrees. Part of the goal of this deck is not only to cycle your own hand(and thus get draw damage from Niv), but also to screw your opponent's hands(hopefully). While Overflowing Insight certainly gets the draw power, it's overcosted for its effect, is only sorcery speed, and is a 1:1 deal, unlike the previous examples(to explain: suppose FireStorm had Consecrated Sphinx out. The other examples would get him HUGE benefit, much moreso than his opponents. With this, he would have to choose between a 7 draw or a 14 draw. See what I mean?).
Good thought, just too niche for this deck.
I also lean away from this new card simply due to the high CMC. I have found that anything over 2 cmc, and especially over 3 cmc, truly needs to do something special to deserve a place here. I've even been testing a more recent list without Consecrated Sphinx and Omniscience (but granted, I've also been testing out some Curiosity-like combos) so I'd have a hard time biting the bullet on a 7-cmc card with virtually any effect short of "win the game." Diminishing Returns definitely feels like the card to include over Overflowing Insight (and, hint hint, Diminishing Returns is likely to see an entrance in a future update!)
Experimental Frenzy
3R
Enchantment
You may look at the top card of your library at any time.
You may play the top card of your library.
You can't play cards from your hand.
3R: Destroy Experimental Frenzy.
@Firestorm, long time no see. I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on Niv-Mizzet, Parun, as well as a few other cards recently spoiled. Your last post was over a year ago now. Niv 3.0 was enough to bring me back to the game and these forums after a similar absence, so I'm crossing my fingers that you will pop back in too! My long term goal is to write up a Primer for Niv 3.0 as he will undoubtedly be replacing Firemind in my list. In my mind at least, he brings the deck back to a Tier 1 competitiveness level, where Firemind was beginning to fall behind.
As Foretold is really amazing. Thanks for pointing that card out. I will definitely be using that. At the very least, it makes all of our counters Force of Wills! I would like to point out that this card combos amazingly well with Vedalken Orrery and Leyline of Anticipation allowing you to cast a spell on EACH of our opponent's turns. I see a lot of value there and more of a reason to include at least one flash enabler. My vote would be Orrey since we can tutor for it and recur it.
Experimental Frenzy is pretty interesting. My immediate feeling on it is that not being able to play cards from our hands is too severe of a handicap. IMO, it's not a good fit for this list. This card would work a lot better in a mono-red build or a deck that utilizes the graveyard more extensively. Being a moderately heavy control deck, we need access to our hands.
Hello everyone! In case you haven't heard the news, the future of MTG Salvation is somewhat up in the air at the moment. MTG Salvation itself is transferring ownership and much of the staff is working to build a new and separate site (MTGNexus). In light of this, I wanted to put out one last major update to the deck - see below. Unless the MTGS content transfers gracefully, I likely won't be updating the main post to suit - too much work given it may disappear in just a few weeks.
New Commander:
By far the most significant change is - to no one's surprise - a switch in commanders to Niv-Mizzet, Parun. His advantages are many, including: protecting himself on the stack; serving as a much more synergistic, effective, and speedy draw engine; and superior P/T. RRRUUU is more difficult to reach, but shifting away from near-mono-U High Tide and into more artifacts and any-color lands helps us significantly.
Niv-Mizzet, Parun's greatest advantage over his predecessors is the sheer amount of card draw he provides, especially when not combo'ing. This enables us to cast him far more aggressively and with less fear of enemy removal. When he does die, he often draws multiple cards in the process. Defending him is also more easily justified as he allows each of our counterspells to replace themselves with new cards.
The fact that NewNiv does a much better job of keeping our hand full means we can dip heavily into artifact ramp without worry of running out of "gas" (previously, it was often "either-or"). Consistently drawing cards on enemy turns also substantially improves the power of miracle cards such as Reforge the Soul and Devastation Tide. However, I'm not running the latter at the moment (you often Miracle into it at times you really don't want to cast it).
General Changes:
The decklist itself has more changes than I have time to address here, but in general, there were a few major aims:
Reduce CMC. I want this list to be as fast and efficient as possible without fully stepping into CEDH territory. Objective #1 is to preserve the crazy, unpredictable, and fun playstyle this deck brings to the table. We now have access to some even better engines and cards, but the gameplan remains the same - roll the dice, wheel like crazy, and see if you can't pull out an insane win from nowhere!
Remove unnecessary redundancy. With a more powerful and easily-protected draw engine, we have much less need to run multiples of certain effects. For example, including both Vedalken Orrery and Leyline of Anticipation is rather unnecessary. I now run just the Orrery - as it's easier to tutor for and easier cast (especially if you have limited blue mana sources and need to leave them up for interaction)
Much greater focus on racing out Niv-Mizzet. We do this by including many more low-CMC mana rocks with the goal of slamming him ASAP. Even if he dies to removal, there's a good chance he draws you the other mana sources needed to re-cast him!
Replace higher-CMC counterspells with 1-2 cmc alternatives. For example, Delay. Many players look down on this card as it isn't a "hard" counter. However, in a game of EDH, three turns may as well be forever... by the time that spell resolves, the game will be in a totally different place!
A Note on Combo:
The keen-eyed among you will observe that this deck now technically does have access to infinite combos via Isochron Scepter and Paradox Engine. However, that's not why they're included. They're here because they're just freaking good cards. You can always choose not to play down the infinite combo route (and I encourage you not to, unless your playgroup is cool with that!). They are simply so generally useful outside of infinite combos that I feel neglecting them would be a mistake.
Alright folks, this will do it for now. As mentioned, this primer will eventually transition to its new home at TappedOut. TappedOut is my most go-to repository for decklists and primers at the moment (including a CEDH Meren Primer for any of you who might be interested), so be sure to follow if you want to keep up with future updates!
Otherwise, I wish everyone well and hope to see you on the other side!
IN:
OUT:
AMONKHET SPOILERS:
UR [PRIMER] Flash of the Firemind (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind) RU
BG Death and Staxes: FireStorm4056's Competitive Meren Stax List GB
W Avacyn Angel of Hope W
R Akroma, Angel of (Your Opponent's) Fury R
R 99-Mountain Ashling R
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
I think there is a strong case to be made for keeping them around in more budget-friendly builds, especially those running less of a focus on ultra low-cost and high-efficiency spells.
Actually, I think the Flash-Enablers are still the best way to approach a budget version of this list, simply because they let you abuse sooooo many sorceries and permanents while leaving counterspell mana up for the right time. Since they effectively give everything flash, they give you much wider access to (more budget-friendly) tools and resources during the deckbuilding phase, so that you can be confident in having counterspell mana up but don't have to restrict yourself to just playing a pile of instants. Actually, in many ways I think a budget version of this build should not strive to make direct replacements to individual cards, but rather look at groups of cards as a package, get a feel for why the package is played, and then substitute that as a whole for something more in line with what fits your constraints. That way you can seek to fill the same niche - and although you might give up a little bit of speed / consistency, you will often get more lasting value out of more budget friendly cards (which tend to have effects attached to permanents, or more powerful effects - just for a higher CMC)
For example, if you are looking to replace Mana Drain, I wouldn't go the Cancel route... it is strictly worse and offers you no upside for the increased cost. Instead, off the top of my head I might consider swapping out Mana Drain + a few others to add Rewind and a complementary untap package into the list. Rewind is similar to Mana Drain in that it gives you free mana back - it's worse in that the up-front cost is higher (and total payout likely less), but also better in the sense that you can use that mana immediately to play counterspells, flash things in, etc. If you can then use that mana to help flash in Recurring Insight, Cast Through Time, etc. it's still a major power play, but one that's only possible with the Flash-Enablers... so think critically about cutting them!
UR [PRIMER] Flash of the Firemind (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind) RU
BG Death and Staxes: FireStorm4056's Competitive Meren Stax List GB
W Avacyn Angel of Hope W
R Akroma, Angel of (Your Opponent's) Fury R
R 99-Mountain Ashling R
Trinket Mage is strong in a vacuum, but his 3cmc cost is clunky in practice. The power of Sensei's Divining Top, Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, etc. cannot be denied, but he does not provide access to them in the explosive, straight-out-of-the-gates way that you'd really like. A sorcery-speed T3 or T4 Trinket Mage is pretty underwhelming, and crucially, he wants to hit the battlefield on turns when you really want to ether (a) be casting other spells, or (b) have mana up for counterspells. Turns where you can land a T1 or T2 Trinket Mage are somewhat rare, and typically come off the back of cards that you'd want to find with him anyway (making his ability somewhat moot). On the other hand, Mystic Remora is very often a delayed Ancestral Recall - and more commonly than one might think, can be even better than one.
So as of writing, my current changes from the decklist in the main post are:
IN:
OUT:
UR [PRIMER] Flash of the Firemind (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind) RU
BG Death and Staxes: FireStorm4056's Competitive Meren Stax List GB
W Avacyn Angel of Hope W
R Akroma, Angel of (Your Opponent's) Fury R
R 99-Mountain Ashling R
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
+1 Anticipate
+1 Goblin Electromancer
-1 Future Sight
-1 Gilded Lotus
Why? Anticipate and Future Sight serve much the same purpose - to help us dig as we combo off. However, an early Future Sight can really hurt tempo, and it's always difficult to find the right time to slip it into play, especially at the steep cost of 2UUU. When we do use it, we can dig deeper with it - but since it's usually right when we're comboing off, it's hit-or-miss (with lands) and often we only need it to work once or twice to get us there. Anticipate for a much lower cost (that can be reduced to just U by many different effects) feels like the better choice for early-game versatility!
Gilded Lotus has recently been feeling like more and more of a liability, and I feel that Goblin Electromancer is the better choice here. Why?
Reporting back on As Foretold: This card is absolutely fantastic, since it allows us to play free spells on everyone's turn. This means we not only get a free spell on our own turn, but can also tap out to play things on our turn, with the knowledge that we get free counterspells on our opponents. The politics of this can be extremely powerful too - the fact that you have the potential for free spells can often prevent opponents from dropping bombs without protection, for fear that you have answers (even if you don't). Fantastic!
UR [PRIMER] Flash of the Firemind (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind) RU
BG Death and Staxes: FireStorm4056's Competitive Meren Stax List GB
W Avacyn Angel of Hope W
R Akroma, Angel of (Your Opponent's) Fury R
R 99-Mountain Ashling R
Hour of Devastation Spoilers:
UR [PRIMER] Flash of the Firemind (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind) RU
BG Death and Staxes: FireStorm4056's Competitive Meren Stax List GB
W Avacyn Angel of Hope W
R Akroma, Angel of (Your Opponent's) Fury R
R 99-Mountain Ashling R
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
Granted... If you are too combo-centric, you'll not want to run him. You're going too fast to run a card that isn't exactly going to win the game. Like, you don't want to drop any of your hand-cycling cards for it. But I would see the god make it's way as one of the 99.
Goblin Green Acres
However, I did gain some valuable insight in those games re: deck construction of my Locust God list, and I recommend taking a look at the changes over in this thread. They focus on: inclusion of faster mana, Khans delve cards, and replacing a few of the counterspells with removal (to broaden our suite of interaction). I think this batch of changes apply well to both Niv Mizzet and Locust God.
My thinking is - at 6 mana to start with, these commanders are an expensive investment, especially when there isn't any immediate payoff (i.e. ETB effect). So I usually found myself simply not playing Niv until I was actually about ready to win, in which case the Commander Tax usually wasn't an issue - and before that point, the last thing I wanted was another big and expensive spell clogging up the list! I think this depends heavily on how you build the list though - my version is super focused on cheap and efficient spell-slinging, so I don't want too many wrenches included that can mess up that tempo. But a build focusing more on ramp and raw card advantage engines (i.e. Mind's Dilation and other powerful permanent-based effects) might be more interested in casting the commander (or pseudo-commmander) early and often.
UR [PRIMER] Flash of the Firemind (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind) RU
BG Death and Staxes: FireStorm4056's Competitive Meren Stax List GB
W Avacyn Angel of Hope W
R Akroma, Angel of (Your Opponent's) Fury R
R 99-Mountain Ashling R
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
4UUU
Sorcery
Target player draws seven cards.
The truth came to Kumena like the Great River's torrent: the only way to keep his enemies away from the hidden city was to claim its power for himself
I don't see that making the cut for this deck at all. Wheel of Fortune, Reforge the Soul, Time Reversal and Time Spiral all fill that gap, to much greater degrees. Part of the goal of this deck is not only to cycle your own hand(and thus get draw damage from Niv), but also to screw your opponent's hands(hopefully). While Overflowing Insight certainly gets the draw power, it's overcosted for its effect, is only sorcery speed, and is a 1:1 deal, unlike the previous examples(to explain: suppose FireStorm had Consecrated Sphinx out. The other examples would get him HUGE benefit, much moreso than his opponents. With this, he would have to choose between a 7 draw or a 14 draw. See what I mean?).
Good thought, just too niche for this deck.
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
Outside of strict CEDH and combo I believe Locust God is the stronger commander due to its greater flexibility and built-in recursion. However, the competitive potential of The Locust God seems slightly lower, so Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind seems the better choice for those whose playgroups may edge towards the CEDH scene (although IMO neither Niv-Mizzet nor Locust God are Tier-1 CEDH material, Niv-Mizzet combo seems to do a better job of keeping up)
I also lean away from this new card simply due to the high CMC. I have found that anything over 2 cmc, and especially over 3 cmc, truly needs to do something special to deserve a place here. I've even been testing a more recent list without Consecrated Sphinx and Omniscience (but granted, I've also been testing out some Curiosity-like combos) so I'd have a hard time biting the bullet on a 7-cmc card with virtually any effect short of "win the game." Diminishing Returns definitely feels like the card to include over Overflowing Insight (and, hint hint, Diminishing Returns is likely to see an entrance in a future update!)
UR [PRIMER] Flash of the Firemind (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind) RU
BG Death and Staxes: FireStorm4056's Competitive Meren Stax List GB
W Avacyn Angel of Hope W
R Akroma, Angel of (Your Opponent's) Fury R
R 99-Mountain Ashling R
Experimental Frenzy
3R
Enchantment
You may look at the top card of your library at any time.
You may play the top card of your library.
You can't play cards from your hand.
3R: Destroy Experimental Frenzy.
As Foretold is really amazing. Thanks for pointing that card out. I will definitely be using that. At the very least, it makes all of our counters Force of Wills! I would like to point out that this card combos amazingly well with Vedalken Orrery and Leyline of Anticipation allowing you to cast a spell on EACH of our opponent's turns. I see a lot of value there and more of a reason to include at least one flash enabler. My vote would be Orrey since we can tutor for it and recur it.
Experimental Frenzy is pretty interesting. My immediate feeling on it is that not being able to play cards from our hands is too severe of a handicap. IMO, it's not a good fit for this list. This card would work a lot better in a mono-red build or a deck that utilizes the graveyard more extensively. Being a moderately heavy control deck, we need access to our hands.
That said, I plan to eventually transfer and update the contents of this primer over to the decklist's new home at TappedOut.net:
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/primer-flash-of-the-firemind-niv-mizzet-parun/
1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
ARTIFACTS:
1 Chrome Mox
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Grim Monolith
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Izzet Signet
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Paradox Engine
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Talisman of Creativity
1 Vedalken Orrery
CREATURES:
1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 God-Eternal Kefnet
1 Mizzix of the Izmagnus
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Whirlpool Warrior
ENCHANTMENTS:
1 As Foretold
1 Dream Halls
1 Future Sight
1 Mystic Remora
1 Omniscience
1 Rhystic Study
INSTANTS:
1 Arcane Denial
1 Brainstorm
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Delay
1 Dramatic Reversal
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Force of Negation
1 Force of Will
1 Frantic Search
1 Impulse
1 Intuition
1 Mana Drain
1 Mission Briefing
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Narset's Reversal
1 Negate
1 Pact of Negation
1 Pull from Tomorrow
1 Swan Song
1 Tolarian Winds
1 Dack Fayden
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
SORCERIES:
1 Curse of the Swine
1 Echo of Eons
1 Fabricate
1 Faithless Looting
1 Gamble
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Reforge the Soul
1 Show and Tell
1 Time Spiral
1 Timetwister
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Winds of Change
LANDS:
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Fiery Islet
1 Flooded Strand
1 Forbidden Orchard
12 Island
1 Mana Confluence
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Mountain
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
1 Strip Mine
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Volcanic Island
1 Wooded Foothills
New Commander:
By far the most significant change is - to no one's surprise - a switch in commanders to Niv-Mizzet, Parun. His advantages are many, including: protecting himself on the stack; serving as a much more synergistic, effective, and speedy draw engine; and superior P/T. RRRUUU is more difficult to reach, but shifting away from near-mono-U High Tide and into more artifacts and any-color lands helps us significantly.
Niv-Mizzet, Parun's greatest advantage over his predecessors is the sheer amount of card draw he provides, especially when not combo'ing. This enables us to cast him far more aggressively and with less fear of enemy removal. When he does die, he often draws multiple cards in the process. Defending him is also more easily justified as he allows each of our counterspells to replace themselves with new cards.
The fact that NewNiv does a much better job of keeping our hand full means we can dip heavily into artifact ramp without worry of running out of "gas" (previously, it was often "either-or"). Consistently drawing cards on enemy turns also substantially improves the power of miracle cards such as Reforge the Soul and Devastation Tide. However, I'm not running the latter at the moment (you often Miracle into it at times you really don't want to cast it).
General Changes:
The decklist itself has more changes than I have time to address here, but in general, there were a few major aims:
A Note on Combo:
The keen-eyed among you will observe that this deck now technically does have access to infinite combos via Isochron Scepter and Paradox Engine. However, that's not why they're included. They're here because they're just freaking good cards. You can always choose not to play down the infinite combo route (and I encourage you not to, unless your playgroup is cool with that!). They are simply so generally useful outside of infinite combos that I feel neglecting them would be a mistake.
Alright folks, this will do it for now. As mentioned, this primer will eventually transition to its new home at TappedOut. TappedOut is my most go-to repository for decklists and primers at the moment (including a CEDH Meren Primer for any of you who might be interested), so be sure to follow if you want to keep up with future updates!
Otherwise, I wish everyone well and hope to see you on the other side!
UR [PRIMER] Flash of the Firemind (Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind) RU
BG Death and Staxes: FireStorm4056's Competitive Meren Stax List GB
W Avacyn Angel of Hope W
R Akroma, Angel of (Your Opponent's) Fury R
R 99-Mountain Ashling R