I saw this tweet by Saffron Olive over at MTGGoldifhs Reported CaveDan went 5-0 with 2 weard decks. One was neoform bant Evolve with the pongafies and stuff. (Turns out voice of resurgence with neoform into renegade rallier can put on preasure.)
Now the other deck just blew me away. I have been trying to build a midrange BGX deck that could branch out into more then 3 colours. Perhaps with Pillar of the Paruns But never in my wildest dreams could I imagine this:
This deck has a lot going for it. Keep discarding, trading and surviving. Get Niv-Mizzet Reborn and re-load on a lot of cards and then you can outgrind your opponent. This is essentially the same as other GBX decks except you are garuanteed to burry the opponent in cards one you resolve Niv-Mizzet. 4 Bring to Light functions as copies of Nov-Mizzet (7 copies). Find Supreme Verdict to kill creatures. Primal Command gives you life. Unmoored Ego is good vs combo.
I do not belive the deck needs at least 2 cards in each colour. But it increases your odds of getting a lot of cards of Niv-Mizzet.
Here are some cards I would like to see or consider:
- Nahiri, the Harbinger is so good. Also she can fill your hand with her ultimate and Niv-Mizzix
- Manamorphose is a good card and it smooths your mana.
- Ajani Vengeant is a nice Lightning Helix.
- Blood Braid Elf if we go this route we need less counterspells and more discard spells.
- If the deck runs more creatures and discard spells voice of resurgence with neoform into renegade rallier can work out. If We run enough 4 drops (BBE?) you can also Neoform into Niv-Mizzet. Perhaps the deck can also run a one of Siege Rhino even though Niv-Mizzik can not find him.
- A very different deck but the old poddeck had a very good midrange grind. As well as fantastick combo. Could it just be midrange value with Prime Speaker Vannifar to reload the hand with Niv-Mizzek? Rhythm of the Wild perhaps as well?
Any thoughts you might have would be welcome. I wanne brew on this deck. (Also, do anybody know who CaveDan is?)
Safewright Quest is decent at fixing your mana and helping you hit 5 mana, although it does warp your mana base.
I suspect Domri, Anarch of Bolas's real role is being a 3-cmc RG mana dork against decks that cannot assault him properly (control, combo) that also is ersatz removal (especially with Niv-Mizzet Reborn). Yeah, you need the speed boost against those archetypes. I suppose the power boost also helps, but he's soooooo vulnerable to getting attacked.
Speaking of RG cards, I've had good results replacing a Niv with a Bloodbraid Elf. Despite flipping Countersquall disturbingly often, BBE just does stuff sooner and is an excellent Primal Command tutor target.
In the meantime, I've had a middling time with this deck against Jund (you lose so much life to your mana base and slower speed that they can viably go under), a worse but still salvageable time against UR Phoenix (Unmoored Ego is worth a zillion bucks as long as none of their Arclight Phoenixes are on the battlefield, but be prepared to block with Niv a lot), and a horrible time against Gx Tron. Even when you can Unmoored Ego a Tron land, they consistently hit 6-7 mana the hard way, and you cannot overcome Wurmcoil Engine, Karn Liberated, and Karn, the Great Creator (especially 2 or more of them at once). Have too much Tron in your meta and you need Fulminator Mages in your sideboard.
I've been trying to make this deck work. I'm sad 'cause I love the card, but it feels just a little bit too fair. Drawing 4-5 when you cast your bomb feels amazing tbh, but you have to sacrifice so many insane cards. I think the deck craves for Snapcaster Mage. I don't think you can fit Bloodbraid Elf without changing the core as this is built as a control deck.
I'm testing Glittering Wish with an extra Niv-Mizzet Reborn sideboard and just useful cards to grab or more hosers like extra Unmoored Egos. This way we have mainboard and sideboard tutors. First card i removed was Inquisition of Kozilek, it does nothing as a 2-off so I added 2 Noble Hierarch instead for more consistency. Also, I don't recommend Firespout as you can't search it with Bring to Light (you pay no red/green mana for it so it does nothing), I just play another Supreme Verdict sb.
I gotta say if you don't mind having a low winrate (understandable as the deck is super hard to build and not even close to being optimized) it's a blast to play.
I will update if I feel I'm on a list that is anything close to a T3 deck.
Kaya is in a good place right now because of the shape of the format.at 3 mana you can play her turn 2 against tron. If on the play you can tag any maps or whatever. Against aggro she can gain you life. Then against Phoenix and dredge she can exile threats... while also undoing a few of their hits by the life gain. When the format changes she will probably drop from playability.
Kaya is in a good place right now because of the shape of the format.at 3 mana you can play her turn 2 against tron. If on the play you can tag any maps or whatever. Against aggro she can gain you life. Then against Phoenix and dredge she can exile threats... while also undoing a few of their hits by the life gain. When the format changes she will probably drop from playability.
Yeah, I think maindeck Kaya, Orzhov Usurper is a meta overreaction against UR Phoenix. She's no good against Gx Tron: unless you land her on Turn 2 on the play, they're never exposing any of their rocks to her, and they'll just kill her or continuously prevent her from ulting by pinging her. Consider this: I often have to Primal Command to break up the complete Tron instead of Unmoored Ego.
Hey Guys,
Glad i found this page... i've been working on this (and streaming it, self-plug, over at https://www.twitch.tv/daviusminimus), but took it down a slightly different route.
I found the spell-based list CaveDan played to be completely hopeless, I've no idea how he 5-0d with it, some kind of magic god!
So, the first thing I thought was "lets just play creatures". I went quite deep down that route, only to find that a lot of colour combinations are lackluster, and also, relying on manadorks for fixing was causing some real issues (too many hands that flood out, too many that lose "if they bolt the bird" etc).
I'll post the list, but then I've got a wall of text coming up with how I came to these cards, because it's not exactly intuitive! http://www.streamdecker.com/deck/U2P-3D6CI
On my stream, someone mentioned the borderposts as a way to artificially increase the land count AND increase your hits off Niv. I didn't like the sound of it until I dug a lot deeper. I realised that UR was probably my least favourite slot, but there isn't a borderpost in that colour. However, BR was also pretty underwhelming when being more creature-heavy, and there is a post there.
I then went on to working out my colour combinations with borderposts in mind. E.g. Since my borderpost adds BR, and my 2 basics were either forest or plains, I wanted my 2-drops to either be WB, WR, GB, GR. Then my 3-drops+ would occupy the other colour combos.
Having messed about with a lot of the creature cards, some were clearly lackluster from the start, so I then went down a more midrange plan. As you can see, there's a nice mix of early interaction, spells and creatures. What this means is that the deck is pretty good at getting to the mid/late game, and at that point, a Niv will usually do the job.
Having waffled a lot, here's some more waffle on the pros and cons of the list!
Pros:
1. Deck is hella fun
2. The interaction is flexible, giving you at least a shot in every game 1.
3. When you resolve Niv, you never (basically) lose. If you stick Niv, my worst case so far has been 3 cards (1 of which was a borderpost). But 2 extra spells and a 6/6 flyer is still enough to carry.
4. The deck can make a turn 3 Niv semi realistically. It requires turn 1 bop into hard-casting a borderpost.
Cons:
1. Although massively improved, the decks mana is still the biggest weakest. Often you are forced to fetch a basic early to enable your borderpost, which turns off a card like Tidehollow or Helix. If you could run 8 windswept heath, this problem would mostly be fixed, but you cant.
2. Blood Moon is at, what feels like, an all-time high. People are testing it with new-karn in either Ponza or Mono-red Prison, and it's really tough to beat.
3. It can occasionally fail to find a pay-off. I have lost games that have dragged to turn 9-10 but couldn't draw bring to light or Niv.
Out of the cards from the list linked, here's the ones I'm less keen:
Ajani Vengeant - I'm not sure she's necessary. I could run another helix, or nahiri potentially. There's also potential just to run a UR or UB card, since I don't have many of them.
Sideboard - I like Fiery Justice, Path, Unmoored Ego and Teeg. Crumble & Gust are auto-includes thanks to Bring to Light, but I'm not sure about the remaining slots.
I 4-1d my first league, then went on to 0-4, playing against 2x Ponza, 1x Mono-red Prison, 1x UW Control (field + path). I took a game out of all 4 losses, but ultimately couldn't beat the mana hate. I've beaten decks like Burn, 8-whack, Tron, BG Rock and Humans.
My list feels like it has potential. I tested a glittering wish list but hated it, so that's gone in the bin for now. I dont know how to solve the mana, maybe some of you guys can!
To fix the mana base you could add in 2 Prismatic Lantern. While not able to hit them off dragon you should he fine as they are a great boon in 1) casting it and your other spells. 2) Makes bloodmoon meaningless against you.
Bloodbraid looks like it could slot into this deck somewhere.
Rakdos Charm is a nice suggestion.
Bloodbraid didn't work in my list because I switched to Spell Quellers, and the borderposts are awful with it. When I wasn't running borderposts though, BBE was probably the 3rd best card in the deck (after Niv + Bring to Light).
I may drop the 4 borderposts and go to 24 lands. That would actually allow me to play 2 shocks for each colour. This manabase is so damn painful!
Chromatic Lantern or Coalition Relic both look useful (Coalition relic would let you hit 5 mana on turn 4 without hitting your 4th land).
For the record, I messed around with Neoform + BBE today. My initial thoughts are:
1. There's no massive benefit to Neo being UG, because if you hit it off Niv, you don't actually have a 6-drop to pick up, Niv is your curve topper.
2. BW, RW, BG, BR all lack impactful creatures that you are happy to sacrifice. E.g. Tidehollow Sculler is not good to sac! The best creatures early on are Reflector Mage and Voice.
3. Bloodbraid is a small nonbo with Neo - it doesn't trigger if you fetch it up with Neo, and if you hit Neo off BBE, you can't sac the BBE (so you need something else on board before you play BBE).
Overall, those challenges look difficult to overcome, and therefore I've shelved it for now!
Im looking at different ways to find Niv without it a) costing 5 and b) having an effect early in the game. So far:
Congregation at Dawn
Eldritch Evo (has the neoform issues for the most part)
Jarad's Orders - only really has 1 half of it's text
Nahiri (sort of)
Summoner's Pact - does the job but the GG might be tricky, and it's hardly useful early
Time of Need - oooooooooooooooooo
Not much to go at in all honesty. Probably best just to hope to draw it :S I tried looking for <5 manacosted Legends for Time of Need, and found only a handful of possibly playable cards: Geist of Saint Traft, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Olivia Voldaren, Pharika, God of Affliction...
Also, Saffi Eriksdotter is completely overkill, but flipping it off Niv then casting it to protect Niv seems beautiful!
Also, casting Assassin's Trophy on Turn 2 sucks against basically anyone other than tron. So, I'm trying a split of Trophy, Abrupt Decay and Maelstrom Pulse. I'll see which I prefer (I have a feeling I'll end on a 2 Trophy 1 Decay split, because **** tron).
Edit: Game 1 Turn 3 - can't cast Chromatic Lantern because of the Pillar of the Paruns... ouch
@SnowCrow - it was more to do with the colour pie. A BR ramp card was appealing because its a hit off Niv that doesn't clash with other cards. You might be given a choice between Kiora and Bring to Light, for example.
However, I think that might be something to ignore, since you don't really need ramp once you've hit 5 mana. I do need to revamp the list a touch, its not quite good enough yet! Domri is a little vunerable to agro decks, but Kiora has both value and ramp, which I like.
I have already played two tournaments with the deck. There are a few things I found out that will likely help in the creation:
1) I thing the deck must be a midrange. Trying to go fast is not gonna work as Mizzet is a 5-drop and for getting the real value when it matters you need to be proactive.
2) Manabase is not a big deal if you build it schematicly. You just need to have the cards work with your land choices. I strongly recommand to base your mana on Blood Crypt. First turn you can cast both Bolt and discard while it supports most of the strong 2-drops.
So far I played two tournaments with exactly the same 75:
I played against BW hatebares and lost 0:2. That deck punishes my mana base and pressures well. My opponent was also lucky. Overally, it wasn't unwinable, which is OK in this case.
I managed to beat Jeskai CopyCat 2:1. This was close as my removal choices were not really efective, an even match.
Against Burn I did too great. An easy 2:0. I just focused too much on beating aggro in this version and thought Niv would somehow have all the job done against slower decks.
Then I lost 1:2 against UR Phoenix because of my mistake. I didn't play around Blood Moon and lost an otherwise won game. Game 1 is tragic in this matchup, after sideboard this deck is probably even favorized.
On the other tournament I started 2:1 vs Humans. I guess everything was OK. Once he had a nuts draw, twice I won with ease.
Then I lost 0:2 to BUG Teachings. I made a few bad decisions, but the matchup felt even.
Then I lost 1:2 to Grixis control. It was a nightmare. Greedy control with great answers and unaswerable threats (Keranos) was just too much - and I had a terrible Mizzet hit of two cards.
Then I easily won 2:0 against Phoenix Burn.
Moving forward I'd like to focuse more on greedier decks and combos. There is a lot of work to be done and the deck is hard to play, but it feels competitive.
@LeFantak - List is interesting. Its pretty similar to mine in some ways, but replaces mana dorks with discard/removal. Seems a legit way to go. Its interesting that you've trimmed down on Niv and Bring to Light. I understand the Niv, but the bring to light was 1 of the better cards in my list.
Grim Flayer looks quite hard to make a 4/4. If it works out, let me know, because I really wanted to run Grim Flayer myself.
Deck looks pretty interesting to me as you've built it. I wasnt a massive fan of K-command, but that was because my list was so spell-heavy, that it didn't have a 4th mode.
I'd suggest a Deputy of Detention too (or maybe just detention sphere)? Its a good hit from Niv, obviously its flexible too. On top of that, you already attract removal to your tidehollow scullers, so it's not so likely to die instantly.
You did say at the top that you can make the manabase not so painful, but then lost to blood moon and hatebears. I think the manabase is the biggest issue, and if you face field of ruin, ghost quarter and blood moon all day, you're likely to lose of lot of games of magic. If you dodge those, i think the deck is pretty decent.
@daviusminimus:
1) Before release of the edition I started with only three 5-drops as I felt like one was going to end the game anyway but then I wasn't hitting them often enough so I added one more. After more playing I could imagine myself adding yet one more, but 6 or even 7 of those is too greedy. I don't want to get stuck with various of them in hand early.
2) Well, I have some hopes for Grim especially because of Sculler (which is a must-kill). But I can't say much more without propper testing.
3) Commands feel just OK. Given I have yet to play against a Mox Opal deck, I believe two of those are just right.
4) I like your reasoning for Deputy. It might be worth taking one or two sideboard slots (Path and Staticaster), but I really like the aggressivity of both Reflector and Kitchen Finks maindeck. I want to be closing games fast. Well, that's probably why I'm sceptical about Kaya. More to it, I need to run a lot of different card types for Delirium. Detention Sphere is an enchantment, but it doesn't get to graveyard easily. I would rather consider another sorcery removal. Nahiri also works great with Flayer, but again I'm afraid of running too many expansive cards and Bloodbraid simply rules.
5) What I claimed about my mana base I will hold. I don't play any nonsense like City of Brass or Reflecting Pool, I have 4 basics and yet I had no problems besides dedicated land hate - and that was managable. I yet have to learn how to play it well. So far I learned this much - a) don't forget about Blood Moon. Fetch for basics while you can. Losing Decay for a Flayer is painful against it though; b) while playing against Field of Ruin, fetch at least two red sources no matter what as there's no Mountain in the deck. c) don't be too gready shockland-wise against controls as those can pressure effectively then. Well, nothing spectacular altogether, but it shows that mana base issues are more about playing well than changing decklist.
I'd be very interested in your experience with various Walkers as I thing that they are what we're missing the most compared to other midrange decks.
@LeFantak - thanks for your reply.
I'm going to skip to 5) because it's the most interesting part. I have to admit, I lost to "forgot about moon" when there was a chance I could beat it, so that's fair. The manabase is a little tough, but that's the price to pay when playing 5c I guess.
1) I am on 7x 5-drops, which does feel heavy at times, but at others, I'm lacking a finisher. I am playing 29 mana sources though (compared to your 24), so I do get to 5 pretty consistently. I've just looked back at your list and your 4 basics aren't included, so your mana will have looked greedy to begin with!!
With regards to walkers, I tested Ajani Vengeant and it was ok. I was on the full 4 lightning helix then i dropped 1 for him (or her?!?!). Anyway, I was considering testing Nahiri since it's a good way to help flood. I haven't tested Kaya simply because i don't have the tix for her right this second. But, does look decent.
Also, I do like Knight of Autumn over Kitchen Finks for the most part. As a game 1 card, it is just that bit more flexible, and does help "get em dead" a little easier too. There's the tiny upside of blanking GY hate which seems to be pretty common these days too.
I think we've both evaluated the power of cards and got our split of colours pretty similar, but you've gone a bit further down the midrange route whereas I've added a touch of ramp (i guess like abzan midrange when they ran hierarchs etc). I do like my birds of paradise, but I recognise that they die a lot too. If I were to cut them, I'd definitely cut some top-end.
Thank you, I just edited the decklist adding basics (it truly looked weird, sorry for that).
I'm very confident that Fings are better than the Knight. Old school modern Jund used to play them. There are some points for one card and some for the other, but the by far most important one that decides it is the fact that Fings don't die to common removal - that's huge. And yes, hitting them with Extraction or Spellbomb is... OK, but not a big deal anyway.
Ramping makes sense with Mizzet, but I'd be affraid to fall behind against aggro and combo decks (though you have some silver bullets to help there so...it makes some sense).
So I have been brewing and play testing with Niv for Modern since the day he was announced. I think he has a ton of potential!!! I have played 2 tournaments with this deck and went 2-2 in both tournaments. I have yet to lose a match 2-0. All of my loses I won a game in and it just came down to the wire. I beleive I'm on the verge of getting the right 75 but would like some input. Below is the list Im currently using and I am loving the glittering wish package. The toughest matchups so far have been control and agro. But Huntmaster has come through quite a bit.
Sideboard
2 Wear // Tear [DGM]
1 Terminate
1 Deafening Clarion
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Slaughter Games
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Firespout
1 Ashiok, Dream Render
1 Niv-Mizzet Reborn
1 hunt master of the fells
4 Teferi Time Raveler
The cards that have performed really well are
Huntmaster- most of the games I have won have come from him if I didnt resolve a niv mizzet. The truth is if you resolve niv mizzet you win 90% of the time.
Assassins Trophy - the land has not mattered even once. My deck is land heavy compared to the other decks i've seen online. some people are only running 20 or 21 lands. I am liking 23-24 lands.
Izzet Charm - has been disgusting. You arent playing it to counter things late. Late game you win with niv/Bring to light.
Teferi Time Raveler - Fantastic, been thinking of just running 3 main and 1 side then taking him out for aggro matches. Being able to cast bring to light and glittering wish at instant speed is awesome as well as your opponents not being able to counter your spells.
Things I want to improve
I want to give bring to light 1 or 2 other targets to search for such as 4 drops that end the game.
Mana base feels good but I do believe it still needs a little work.
There are a lot of life game spells to counteract the life loss from the mana base and agro decks, but are there more efficient speels to put in their place?
@MackAttack9000 - thanks for sharing your list. We need as many as possible, the deck has potential but is just not quite hitting the mark yet.
Bits of feedback just at a glance :
1. I really like the 1st copy of Knight of Autumn over the 2nd Finks. It gives you lifegain that you want, but also just some interaction vs certain decks. Its not as good at grinding, but our deck is pretty decent there anyway.
2. You have 23 lands, but 7x 5-drops, which is quite a lot, especially when you have a 4th Niv in the board. I'd recommend trimming 1.
3. The reflecting pool only looks good when you have pillar of the parun out, but when you have pillar, your mana tends to be pretty solid anyway. I would probably cut this for something else, almost "take your pick".
4. I wonder if Firespout should just be Fiery Justice? You can hit firespout off niv but not off bring to light (since you dont cast with the colours). Or perhaps a split, or fiery in the SB as a wish target?
5. I do quite like Crumble to Dust in the SB myself. Having a virtual 5 copies game 2, plus your 4 copies of fulminator, should give you a decent tron MU for just 1 SB slot.
6. I have liked Tidehollow Sculler. It attracts removal which isn't great, but it gives you something relevant against the more linear decks in the format.
7. I'd add an Unmoored Ego to that wishboard. Being able to board in, for example, Slaughter Games and leave Unmoored in the board gives you a wish target and a bring to light target, giving you a full 8 of that effect postboard. In addition, Unmoored Ego on Turn 3 can tag tron lands on the play.
I have to say, your 23 lands actually doesnt look enough to me. You have no turn 1 plays, so no ramp. I wonder if you could run just 1-2 copies of mistvein borderpost. Its nice because you can fetch for a basic, play this on turn 1, and still have mana turn 2 to play what you want. But in addition, it's a hit off Niv that won't clash with the other cards in your deck. Although you don't NEED to hit a land after Niv, it is a nice bonus. It may mess up your manabase though (e.g. you don't particularly want to fetch basic island when you have UB borderpost, and you may find it harder to cast Lightning Helix on 2, for example).
I do like your list, but those would be my suggestions, even if they're only small tweaks.
Hi guys. This is the version I am playing. I may not hit that many cards as most of your list, but i have been trying to make the deck smooth and consistent:
Sideboard
1 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom pulse
1 Lightning helix
1 Assassin's trophy
2 Rest in peace
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Firespout
1 Kambal
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Bring to Light
notes:
25 lands and 4 birds because i like to cast several spells after I resolve Niv, and missing the first landrops is terrible. I also put some discard since I feel it's important to interact on turn 1. So Niv will draw me 3 on average, which ain't much I know...
the 2 Glittering Wish in the main can obviously search for precise reactive spells but also for Bring to Light, which basically let you have access to your whole maindeck (though it generally tutors for Niv). It's a pretty cool tech. I don't think I need more wishes because of the tempo loss, and you already have solutions in the main. The tempo loss is also neglected by Bloodbraid elf. You always leave 1 BTL in the board game 2 and 3 so that you have a good target for Glittering wish and you can bring the hate cards in the maindeck. You can also leave a 2 or 3 mana universal card in the board like Trophy or Maelstrom pulse to fetch and cast before turn 5 but I am not sure and it probably depends of the matchup.
no counterspells because I am playing Bloodbraid and I feel that Niv is better in a proactive shell.
some cards like reflector Mage and Kembal are a bit suspect. Also not sure Firespout is that good because I have plenty of Spot removal and it's often cluncky (plus it kills my birds). Maybe Supreme Verditc id better and not too hard to cast (although double white...).
I don't know if I can have a plan against Blood Moon yet, or just avoid it and lose to it. I have not played against the card yet. I set on 3 basics (black, green, and white, which probably should be blue) yet and maybe could have a Wear/Tear in the side.
As for the Bring to Light targets, I did not find good 4 and 5 except for Niv and Bloodbraid. Primal Command is nothing special if we cannot loop it i feel. I have been trying Obzedat but it was pretty bad and hard to cast. You guys have any idea (even non multicolor cards) for BTL targets?
All the fetches get basics of the main colors (green or black), and the other lands they can fetch are of a secondary color, so you have access to almost all of the colors with each of them if you can affors to shock or have your land enter the battlefield tapped. There are 15 lands to cast birds t1 and 14 for the discard spells (I probably should add a black source). Still the mix of fetch may not be optimal and i'll spend some time figuring the probas.
I think you can afford not to run all the 10 duals. I don't have sacred foundry and watery grave.
The manabase has been consistent so far, though maybe there are better ways to build it. Don't hesitate to tell me
I don't see the point in hitting borderpost with Niv, same for Safewright Quest. it feels cluncky and not adding anything to the manabase. Better play farseek, birds, etc if you need to ramp.
I have been replacing 2 Growth Spiral by Coiling Oracles. Not sure what's the best but I was not hitting enough lands with Growth Spiral, and I don't want to go over 25 lands. I'll try unamoored ego in the sb for Tron. It's a good target for Glittering wish.
Now the other deck just blew me away. I have been trying to build a midrange BGX deck that could branch out into more then 3 colours. Perhaps with Pillar of the Paruns But never in my wildest dreams could I imagine this:
3 Niv-Mizzet Reborn
1 Sin Collector
2 Domri, Anarch of Bolas
1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
4 Bring to Light
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Primal Command
3 Safewright Quest
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Thought Erasure
1 Unmoored Ego
3 Assassin's Trophy
1 Countersquall
2 Izzet Charm
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Lightning Helix
1 Detention Sphere
1 Breeding Pool
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Mana Confluence
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Pillar of the Paruns
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Stomping Ground
1 Swamp
4 Windswept Heath
This deck has a lot going for it. Keep discarding, trading and surviving. Get Niv-Mizzet Reborn and re-load on a lot of cards and then you can outgrind your opponent. This is essentially the same as other GBX decks except you are garuanteed to burry the opponent in cards one you resolve Niv-Mizzet. 4 Bring to Light functions as copies of Nov-Mizzet (7 copies). Find Supreme Verdict to kill creatures. Primal Command gives you life. Unmoored Ego is good vs combo.
- I have experienced with Lightning Helix in midrange and the lifefain is good.
- Thought Erasure is good as midrange decks needs discard spells. Thos is further backed up by Sin Collector and Inquisition of Kozilek.
- Assassin's Trophy is a good removal (you will winn the resource game eventually.) And it is good vs Tron.
- Old BG decks used to run some numbers of Vampiric Tutor to find Cranial Extraction. (Extended Era.) I really like that Bring to Light can find Unmoored Ego VS combo, and it can also find tron lands. Yes please.
Some cards I do not understand
- Domri, Anarch of Bolas is this vs control decks. But the deck only runs 8 creatures?
- I do not understand Kaya, Orzhov Usurper apeal.
- Safewright Quest seems slow.
I do not belive the deck needs at least 2 cards in each colour. But it increases your odds of getting a lot of cards of Niv-Mizzet.
Here are some cards I would like to see or consider:
- Nahiri, the Harbinger is so good. Also she can fill your hand with her ultimate and Niv-Mizzix
- Manamorphose is a good card and it smooths your mana.
- Ajani Vengeant is a nice Lightning Helix.
- Blood Braid Elf if we go this route we need less counterspells and more discard spells.
- If the deck runs more creatures and discard spells voice of resurgence with neoform into renegade rallier can work out. If We run enough 4 drops (BBE?) you can also Neoform into Niv-Mizzet. Perhaps the deck can also run a one of Siege Rhino even though Niv-Mizzik can not find him.
- A very different deck but the old poddeck had a very good midrange grind. As well as fantastick combo. Could it just be midrange value with Prime Speaker Vannifar to reload the hand with Niv-Mizzek? Rhythm of the Wild perhaps as well?
Any thoughts you might have would be welcome. I wanne brew on this deck. (Also, do anybody know who CaveDan is?)
Link to deck:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1885348?fbclid=IwAR3MKNhzHwmxSU3vnZCzkKBuODbqtOS5SS6lyVetyOSvnJDtcLxOcU3m1Pg#paper
Vizial look of the deck: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/visual/1885348
I suspect Domri, Anarch of Bolas's real role is being a 3-cmc RG mana dork against decks that cannot assault him properly (control, combo) that also is ersatz removal (especially with Niv-Mizzet Reborn). Yeah, you need the speed boost against those archetypes. I suppose the power boost also helps, but he's soooooo vulnerable to getting attacked.
Speaking of RG cards, I've had good results replacing a Niv with a Bloodbraid Elf. Despite flipping Countersquall disturbingly often, BBE just does stuff sooner and is an excellent Primal Command tutor target.
In the meantime, I've had a middling time with this deck against Jund (you lose so much life to your mana base and slower speed that they can viably go under), a worse but still salvageable time against UR Phoenix (Unmoored Ego is worth a zillion bucks as long as none of their Arclight Phoenixes are on the battlefield, but be prepared to block with Niv a lot), and a horrible time against Gx Tron. Even when you can Unmoored Ego a Tron land, they consistently hit 6-7 mana the hard way, and you cannot overcome Wurmcoil Engine, Karn Liberated, and Karn, the Great Creator (especially 2 or more of them at once). Have too much Tron in your meta and you need Fulminator Mages in your sideboard.
I'm testing Glittering Wish with an extra Niv-Mizzet Reborn sideboard and just useful cards to grab or more hosers like extra Unmoored Egos. This way we have mainboard and sideboard tutors. First card i removed was Inquisition of Kozilek, it does nothing as a 2-off so I added 2 Noble Hierarch instead for more consistency. Also, I don't recommend Firespout as you can't search it with Bring to Light (you pay no red/green mana for it so it does nothing), I just play another Supreme Verdict sb.
I gotta say if you don't mind having a low winrate (understandable as the deck is super hard to build and not even close to being optimized) it's a blast to play.
I will update if I feel I'm on a list that is anything close to a T3 deck.
Yeah, I think maindeck Kaya, Orzhov Usurper is a meta overreaction against UR Phoenix. She's no good against Gx Tron: unless you land her on Turn 2 on the play, they're never exposing any of their rocks to her, and they'll just kill her or continuously prevent her from ulting by pinging her. Consider this: I often have to Primal Command to break up the complete Tron instead of Unmoored Ego.
Glad i found this page... i've been working on this (and streaming it, self-plug, over at https://www.twitch.tv/daviusminimus), but took it down a slightly different route.
I found the spell-based list CaveDan played to be completely hopeless, I've no idea how he 5-0d with it, some kind of magic god!
So, the first thing I thought was "lets just play creatures". I went quite deep down that route, only to find that a lot of colour combinations are lackluster, and also, relying on manadorks for fixing was causing some real issues (too many hands that flood out, too many that lose "if they bolt the bird" etc).
I'll post the list, but then I've got a wall of text coming up with how I came to these cards, because it's not exactly intuitive!
http://www.streamdecker.com/deck/U2P-3D6CI
On my stream, someone mentioned the borderposts as a way to artificially increase the land count AND increase your hits off Niv. I didn't like the sound of it until I dug a lot deeper. I realised that UR was probably my least favourite slot, but there isn't a borderpost in that colour. However, BR was also pretty underwhelming when being more creature-heavy, and there is a post there.
I then went on to working out my colour combinations with borderposts in mind. E.g. Since my borderpost adds BR, and my 2 basics were either forest or plains, I wanted my 2-drops to either be WB, WR, GB, GR. Then my 3-drops+ would occupy the other colour combos.
Having messed about with a lot of the creature cards, some were clearly lackluster from the start, so I then went down a more midrange plan. As you can see, there's a nice mix of early interaction, spells and creatures. What this means is that the deck is pretty good at getting to the mid/late game, and at that point, a Niv will usually do the job.
Having waffled a lot, here's some more waffle on the pros and cons of the list!
Pros:
1. Deck is hella fun
2. The interaction is flexible, giving you at least a shot in every game 1.
3. When you resolve Niv, you never (basically) lose. If you stick Niv, my worst case so far has been 3 cards (1 of which was a borderpost). But 2 extra spells and a 6/6 flyer is still enough to carry.
4. The deck can make a turn 3 Niv semi realistically. It requires turn 1 bop into hard-casting a borderpost.
Cons:
1. Although massively improved, the decks mana is still the biggest weakest. Often you are forced to fetch a basic early to enable your borderpost, which turns off a card like Tidehollow or Helix. If you could run 8 windswept heath, this problem would mostly be fixed, but you cant.
2. Blood Moon is at, what feels like, an all-time high. People are testing it with new-karn in either Ponza or Mono-red Prison, and it's really tough to beat.
3. It can occasionally fail to find a pay-off. I have lost games that have dragged to turn 9-10 but couldn't draw bring to light or Niv.
Out of the cards from the list linked, here's the ones I'm less keen:
Ajani Vengeant - I'm not sure she's necessary. I could run another helix, or nahiri potentially. There's also potential just to run a UR or UB card, since I don't have many of them.
Sideboard - I like Fiery Justice, Path, Unmoored Ego and Teeg. Crumble & Gust are auto-includes thanks to Bring to Light, but I'm not sure about the remaining slots.
I 4-1d my first league, then went on to 0-4, playing against 2x Ponza, 1x Mono-red Prison, 1x UW Control (field + path). I took a game out of all 4 losses, but ultimately couldn't beat the mana hate. I've beaten decks like Burn, 8-whack, Tron, BG Rock and Humans.
My list feels like it has potential. I tested a glittering wish list but hated it, so that's gone in the bin for now. I dont know how to solve the mana, maybe some of you guys can!
Bloodbraid looks like it could slot into this deck somewhere.
You mean Chromatic Lantern.
I agree about Bloodbraid Elf which seems to make sense here though would probably work better if Izzet Charm and Countersquall were other cards instead (Terminate/Bedevil, Castigate, Abrupt Decay/Maelstrom Pulse or Deafening Clarion).
It could also pair nicely with Glittering Wish to get out SB bullets rather than run Bring to Light in the maindeck which seems slower and is probably only here to get Niv out.
I wonder if Thalia's Lancers could work here as a 1x-of to find either Niv or PW's like:
Teferi, Time Raveler, Nahiri, the Harbinger, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Ral, Izzet Viceroy, Sarkhan Unbroken or Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God.
Wouldnt mind seeing a sphinx's revelation, if not playing bloodbraid. Possibly a Rakdos Charm... depending on the meta, naturally.
Bloodbraid didn't work in my list because I switched to Spell Quellers, and the borderposts are awful with it. When I wasn't running borderposts though, BBE was probably the 3rd best card in the deck (after Niv + Bring to Light).
I may drop the 4 borderposts and go to 24 lands. That would actually allow me to play 2 shocks for each colour. This manabase is so damn painful!
Chromatic Lantern or Coalition Relic both look useful (Coalition relic would let you hit 5 mana on turn 4 without hitting your 4th land).
For the record, I messed around with Neoform + BBE today. My initial thoughts are:
1. There's no massive benefit to Neo being UG, because if you hit it off Niv, you don't actually have a 6-drop to pick up, Niv is your curve topper.
2. BW, RW, BG, BR all lack impactful creatures that you are happy to sacrifice. E.g. Tidehollow Sculler is not good to sac! The best creatures early on are Reflector Mage and Voice.
3. Bloodbraid is a small nonbo with Neo - it doesn't trigger if you fetch it up with Neo, and if you hit Neo off BBE, you can't sac the BBE (so you need something else on board before you play BBE).
Overall, those challenges look difficult to overcome, and therefore I've shelved it for now!
Im looking at different ways to find Niv without it a) costing 5 and b) having an effect early in the game. So far:
Congregation at Dawn
Eldritch Evo (has the neoform issues for the most part)
Jarad's Orders - only really has 1 half of it's text
Nahiri (sort of)
Summoner's Pact - does the job but the GG might be tricky, and it's hardly useful early
Time of Need - oooooooooooooooooo
Not much to go at in all honesty. Probably best just to hope to draw it :S I tried looking for <5 manacosted Legends for Time of Need, and found only a handful of possibly playable cards:
Geist of Saint Traft, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Olivia Voldaren, Pharika, God of Affliction...
Also, Saffi Eriksdotter is completely overkill, but flipping it off Niv then casting it to protect Niv seems beautiful!
Any thoughts anyone!?!
Edit: Game 1 Turn 3 - can't cast Chromatic Lantern because of the Pillar of the Paruns... ouch
However, I think that might be something to ignore, since you don't really need ramp once you've hit 5 mana. I do need to revamp the list a touch, its not quite good enough yet! Domri is a little vunerable to agro decks, but Kiora has both value and ramp, which I like.
1) I thing the deck must be a midrange. Trying to go fast is not gonna work as Mizzet is a 5-drop and for getting the real value when it matters you need to be proactive.
2) Manabase is not a big deal if you build it schematicly. You just need to have the cards work with your land choices. I strongly recommand to base your mana on Blood Crypt. First turn you can cast both Bolt and discard while it supports most of the strong 2-drops.
So far I played two tournaments with exactly the same 75:
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacomb
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strands
2 Blood Crypt
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
4 Pillar of the Paruns
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Island
1 Plains
3 Inquisition of Kozielek
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Sygg, River Cutthroat
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Assassin's Trophy
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Reflector Mage
2 Kolaghan's Command
1 Electrolyze
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Niv-Mizzet Reborn
2 Bring to Light
2 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Assassin's Trophy
1 Fracturing Gust
3 Rest in Peace
1 Thoughtseize
1 Fulminator Mage
2 Sin Collector
I played against BW hatebares and lost 0:2. That deck punishes my mana base and pressures well. My opponent was also lucky. Overally, it wasn't unwinable, which is OK in this case.
I managed to beat Jeskai CopyCat 2:1. This was close as my removal choices were not really efective, an even match.
Against Burn I did too great. An easy 2:0. I just focused too much on beating aggro in this version and thought Niv would somehow have all the job done against slower decks.
Then I lost 1:2 against UR Phoenix because of my mistake. I didn't play around Blood Moon and lost an otherwise won game. Game 1 is tragic in this matchup, after sideboard this deck is probably even favorized.
On the other tournament I started 2:1 vs Humans. I guess everything was OK. Once he had a nuts draw, twice I won with ease.
Then I lost 0:2 to BUG Teachings. I made a few bad decisions, but the matchup felt even.
Then I lost 1:2 to Grixis control. It was a nightmare. Greedy control with great answers and unaswerable threats (Keranos) was just too much - and I had a terrible Mizzet hit of two cards.
Then I easily won 2:0 against Phoenix Burn.
Moving forward I'd like to focuse more on greedier decks and combos. There is a lot of work to be done and the deck is hard to play, but it feels competitive.
Upgrades after first two tournaments:
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacomb
1 Polluted Delta
1 Windsweapt Heath!
2 Blood Crypt
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
4 Pillar of the Paruns
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Island
2 Inquisition of Kozielek
1 Thoughtseize!
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Fatal Push!
3 Lightning Helix
4 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Grim Flayer!
1 Angrath's Rampage!
1 Assassin's Trophy
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Reflector Mage
1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper!
2 Kolaghan's Command
1 Electrolyze
4 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger!
2 Niv-Mizzet Reborn
2 Bring to Light
2 Path to Exile
1 Fatal Push
1 Collective Brutality!
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Fracturing Gust
2 Nihil Spellbomb!
1 Surgical Extraction!
2 Thoughtseize
2 Fulminator Mage!
1 Sin Collector
What do you thing about my deck choices. Anyone has experience with my new additions?
Grim Flayer looks quite hard to make a 4/4. If it works out, let me know, because I really wanted to run Grim Flayer myself.
Deck looks pretty interesting to me as you've built it. I wasnt a massive fan of K-command, but that was because my list was so spell-heavy, that it didn't have a 4th mode.
I'd suggest a Deputy of Detention too (or maybe just detention sphere)? Its a good hit from Niv, obviously its flexible too. On top of that, you already attract removal to your tidehollow scullers, so it's not so likely to die instantly.
You did say at the top that you can make the manabase not so painful, but then lost to blood moon and hatebears. I think the manabase is the biggest issue, and if you face field of ruin, ghost quarter and blood moon all day, you're likely to lose of lot of games of magic. If you dodge those, i think the deck is pretty decent.
1) Before release of the edition I started with only three 5-drops as I felt like one was going to end the game anyway but then I wasn't hitting them often enough so I added one more. After more playing I could imagine myself adding yet one more, but 6 or even 7 of those is too greedy. I don't want to get stuck with various of them in hand early.
2) Well, I have some hopes for Grim especially because of Sculler (which is a must-kill). But I can't say much more without propper testing.
3) Commands feel just OK. Given I have yet to play against a Mox Opal deck, I believe two of those are just right.
4) I like your reasoning for Deputy. It might be worth taking one or two sideboard slots (Path and Staticaster), but I really like the aggressivity of both Reflector and Kitchen Finks maindeck. I want to be closing games fast. Well, that's probably why I'm sceptical about Kaya. More to it, I need to run a lot of different card types for Delirium. Detention Sphere is an enchantment, but it doesn't get to graveyard easily. I would rather consider another sorcery removal. Nahiri also works great with Flayer, but again I'm afraid of running too many expansive cards and Bloodbraid simply rules.
5) What I claimed about my mana base I will hold. I don't play any nonsense like City of Brass or Reflecting Pool, I have 4 basics and yet I had no problems besides dedicated land hate - and that was managable. I yet have to learn how to play it well. So far I learned this much - a) don't forget about Blood Moon. Fetch for basics while you can. Losing Decay for a Flayer is painful against it though; b) while playing against Field of Ruin, fetch at least two red sources no matter what as there's no Mountain in the deck. c) don't be too gready shockland-wise against controls as those can pressure effectively then. Well, nothing spectacular altogether, but it shows that mana base issues are more about playing well than changing decklist.
I'd be very interested in your experience with various Walkers as I thing that they are what we're missing the most compared to other midrange decks.
I'm going to skip to 5) because it's the most interesting part. I have to admit, I lost to "forgot about moon" when there was a chance I could beat it, so that's fair. The manabase is a little tough, but that's the price to pay when playing 5c I guess.
1) I am on 7x 5-drops, which does feel heavy at times, but at others, I'm lacking a finisher. I am playing 29 mana sources though (compared to your 24), so I do get to 5 pretty consistently. I've just looked back at your list and your 4 basics aren't included, so your mana will have looked greedy to begin with!!
With regards to walkers, I tested Ajani Vengeant and it was ok. I was on the full 4 lightning helix then i dropped 1 for him (or her?!?!). Anyway, I was considering testing Nahiri since it's a good way to help flood. I haven't tested Kaya simply because i don't have the tix for her right this second. But, does look decent.
Also, I do like Knight of Autumn over Kitchen Finks for the most part. As a game 1 card, it is just that bit more flexible, and does help "get em dead" a little easier too. There's the tiny upside of blanking GY hate which seems to be pretty common these days too.
I think we've both evaluated the power of cards and got our split of colours pretty similar, but you've gone a bit further down the midrange route whereas I've added a touch of ramp (i guess like abzan midrange when they ran hierarchs etc). I do like my birds of paradise, but I recognise that they die a lot too. If I were to cut them, I'd definitely cut some top-end.
I'm very confident that Fings are better than the Knight. Old school modern Jund used to play them. There are some points for one card and some for the other, but the by far most important one that decides it is the fact that Fings don't die to common removal - that's huge. And yes, hitting them with Extraction or Spellbomb is... OK, but not a big deal anyway.
Ramping makes sense with Mizzet, but I'd be affraid to fall behind against aggro and combo decks (though you have some silver bullets to help there so...it makes some sense).
Lands
4 Pillar of the Paruns
1 Reflecting Pool
1 island
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
1 Stomping Ground
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Sacred Foundry
1 hallowed fountain
1 Godless Shrine
4 misty rainforest
4 Windswept Heath
Instants/Sorceries
4 Lightning Helix
2 Terminate
4 Izzet Charm
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Assassin's Trophy
2 Firespout
4 Glittering Wish
4 Bring to Light
4 Growth Spiral
Creatures
2 Kitchen Finks
1 huntmaster of the fells
3 blood braid elf
3 Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Sideboard
2 Wear // Tear [DGM]
1 Terminate
1 Deafening Clarion
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Slaughter Games
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Firespout
1 Ashiok, Dream Render
1 Niv-Mizzet Reborn
1 hunt master of the fells
4 Teferi Time Raveler
The cards that have performed really well are
Huntmaster- most of the games I have won have come from him if I didnt resolve a niv mizzet. The truth is if you resolve niv mizzet you win 90% of the time.
Assassins Trophy - the land has not mattered even once. My deck is land heavy compared to the other decks i've seen online. some people are only running 20 or 21 lands. I am liking 23-24 lands.
Izzet Charm - has been disgusting. You arent playing it to counter things late. Late game you win with niv/Bring to light.
Teferi Time Raveler - Fantastic, been thinking of just running 3 main and 1 side then taking him out for aggro matches. Being able to cast bring to light and glittering wish at instant speed is awesome as well as your opponents not being able to counter your spells.
Things I want to improve
I want to give bring to light 1 or 2 other targets to search for such as 4 drops that end the game.
Mana base feels good but I do believe it still needs a little work.
There are a lot of life game spells to counteract the life loss from the mana base and agro decks, but are there more efficient speels to put in their place?
Bits of feedback just at a glance :
1. I really like the 1st copy of Knight of Autumn over the 2nd Finks. It gives you lifegain that you want, but also just some interaction vs certain decks. Its not as good at grinding, but our deck is pretty decent there anyway.
2. You have 23 lands, but 7x 5-drops, which is quite a lot, especially when you have a 4th Niv in the board. I'd recommend trimming 1.
3. The reflecting pool only looks good when you have pillar of the parun out, but when you have pillar, your mana tends to be pretty solid anyway. I would probably cut this for something else, almost "take your pick".
4. I wonder if Firespout should just be Fiery Justice? You can hit firespout off niv but not off bring to light (since you dont cast with the colours). Or perhaps a split, or fiery in the SB as a wish target?
5. I do quite like Crumble to Dust in the SB myself. Having a virtual 5 copies game 2, plus your 4 copies of fulminator, should give you a decent tron MU for just 1 SB slot.
6. I have liked Tidehollow Sculler. It attracts removal which isn't great, but it gives you something relevant against the more linear decks in the format.
7. I'd add an Unmoored Ego to that wishboard. Being able to board in, for example, Slaughter Games and leave Unmoored in the board gives you a wish target and a bring to light target, giving you a full 8 of that effect postboard. In addition, Unmoored Ego on Turn 3 can tag tron lands on the play.
I have to say, your 23 lands actually doesnt look enough to me. You have no turn 1 plays, so no ramp. I wonder if you could run just 1-2 copies of mistvein borderpost. Its nice because you can fetch for a basic, play this on turn 1, and still have mana turn 2 to play what you want. But in addition, it's a hit off Niv that won't clash with the other cards in your deck. Although you don't NEED to hit a land after Niv, it is a nice bonus. It may mess up your manabase though (e.g. you don't particularly want to fetch basic island when you have UB borderpost, and you may find it harder to cast Lightning Helix on 2, for example).
I do like your list, but those would be my suggestions, even if they're only small tweaks.
25 lands
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
1 Thought erasure
1 Izzet Charm
1 Dreadbore
2 Assassin's trophy
3 Lightning Helix
2 Glittering Wish
2 Growth Spiral
1 Kambal, Consul...
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Detention Sphere
1 Electrolyze
1 Reflector Mage
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Niv
1 Bring to Light
Sideboard
1 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom pulse
1 Lightning helix
1 Assassin's trophy
2 Rest in peace
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Firespout
1 Kambal
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Bring to Light
notes:
25 lands and 4 birds because i like to cast several spells after I resolve Niv, and missing the first landrops is terrible. I also put some discard since I feel it's important to interact on turn 1. So Niv will draw me 3 on average, which ain't much I know...
the 2 Glittering Wish in the main can obviously search for precise reactive spells but also for Bring to Light, which basically let you have access to your whole maindeck (though it generally tutors for Niv). It's a pretty cool tech. I don't think I need more wishes because of the tempo loss, and you already have solutions in the main. The tempo loss is also neglected by Bloodbraid elf. You always leave 1 BTL in the board game 2 and 3 so that you have a good target for Glittering wish and you can bring the hate cards in the maindeck. You can also leave a 2 or 3 mana universal card in the board like Trophy or Maelstrom pulse to fetch and cast before turn 5 but I am not sure and it probably depends of the matchup.
no counterspells because I am playing Bloodbraid and I feel that Niv is better in a proactive shell.
some cards like reflector Mage and Kembal are a bit suspect. Also not sure Firespout is that good because I have plenty of Spot removal and it's often cluncky (plus it kills my birds). Maybe Supreme Verditc id better and not too hard to cast (although double white...).
I don't know if I can have a plan against Blood Moon yet, or just avoid it and lose to it. I have not played against the card yet. I set on 3 basics (black, green, and white, which probably should be blue) yet and maybe could have a Wear/Tear in the side.
As for the Bring to Light targets, I did not find good 4 and 5 except for Niv and Bloodbraid. Primal Command is nothing special if we cannot loop it i feel. I have been trying Obzedat but it was pretty bad and hard to cast. You guys have any idea (even non multicolor cards) for BTL targets?
4 Pillar of the Paruns
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Blood crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Steam vents
1 Stomping ground
1 Temple garden
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
2 Marsh flats
2 Misty rainforest
2 Windswept heath
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Polluted delta
All the fetches get basics of the main colors (green or black), and the other lands they can fetch are of a secondary color, so you have access to almost all of the colors with each of them if you can affors to shock or have your land enter the battlefield tapped. There are 15 lands to cast birds t1 and 14 for the discard spells (I probably should add a black source). Still the mix of fetch may not be optimal and i'll spend some time figuring the probas.
I think you can afford not to run all the 10 duals. I don't have sacred foundry and watery grave.
The manabase has been consistent so far, though maybe there are better ways to build it. Don't hesitate to tell me
I have been replacing 2 Growth Spiral by Coiling Oracles. Not sure what's the best but I was not hitting enough lands with Growth Spiral, and I don't want to go over 25 lands. I'll try unamoored ego in the sb for Tron. It's a good target for Glittering wish.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/against-the-odds-niv-mizzet-reborn-standard-magic-arena