5-color good stuff the deck, and it's actually good. Niv's delight is a deck built around playing guild paired cards in a control shell using Niv as a way to refill and stabilize with a big beater on board. This deck has major game against nearly all creature matchups, while being able to play a better midrange game against midrange. Control matchups are favored as long as they aren't on mono counterspell.deck, and with the unbanning of stoneforge mystic more control decks are playing fewer counterspells. This deck has game against nearly the whole field with its main weaknesses being fast non-creature based decks, like burn, prowess, and some combo based deck. The bad matchups are still winnable only slightly unfavored. The worse matchups were hogaak and phoenix before the banning, and now both of those decks aren't a thing. Now that the meta is so wide open the deck is able to perform extraordinarily well due to the fact that it is very flexible in play, but also flexible in deckbuilding. One of the most satisfying things about this deck is it is a tuner's joy to tinker around with the many card slots that are available. So far, the deck has been alive for around 3 months, and there is no real concensus on a real core for the deck. The core of the deck functions around niv, bring to light, and removal such as kaya's guile, lightning helix, assassin's trophy, etc. The lists vary from creature heavier decks that play more midrange, to lists that resemble more of a superfriends build for all the value. You can play the predominately more popular snow version of the deck, or play non snow and have a more consistent, but greedier mana base. You can play nearly all multicolored spells in your deck, or stray away from the niv hit nuts to shore up some matchups or to improve the decks consistency. There are a near endless amount of possibilities to tune this deck to make it your own individual dragon dropping, tutor-tastic, value amassing masterpiece.
The Mana
The most important thing about why this deck is able to work is the fact that we can make 5 color work. This is due to a multitude of cards that the deck is able to employ. The first and probably most contested card for the deck is birds of paradise. Birds is still played in many decks because of the ability it has too fix the decks mana, while accelerating the deck making three drops on t2 a possibility and double casting on t3 reliable, and having bring to light live on t4.
Perhaps the most important card for this decks mana, and the whole reason this deck plays snow is for Arcum's Astrolabe. Since this card requires snow mana the decks that play it also play at least one of each snow basic, 4 prismatic vista, and 4-6 fetches. The reason to devote so much to just this one card is because when it is in play any card in the deck can be played within reason. The card has near no downside other than having to play snow. The fact that it cantrips means that at any point in the game as long as there is access to snow mana the worst it does is fix mana further and give another shot at any one of this decks amazing top decks. Early game playing this t1 will fulfill half of the colored mana required for the rest of the game, and through the multitude of fetches being able to pick and choose what is needed for the time, and then filtering it later with the astrolabe is what gives snow the edge compared to non snow.
Now for an actual land that the deck plays and is integral to how some Niv decks are able to function. Pillar of the Paruns is a land that can create one mana of any color, but can only be used on multicolored spells. Since most Niv decks will only have Astrolabe and Birds as their non multicolor cards it ends up fulfilling the same role as astrolabe as making the required colored mana easier to accomplish. Some decks prefer to play more mono colored cards and thus lowering the amount of pillars the decks run down to 2 or cutting it all together.
Perhaps the most important card for this decks mana, and the whole reason this deck plays snow is for Arcum's Astrolabe. Since this card requires snow mana the decks that play it also play at least one of each snow basic, 4 prismatic vista, and 4-6 fetches. The reason to devote so much to just this one card is because when it is in play any card in the deck can be played within reason. The card has near no downside other than having to play snow. The fact that it cantrips means that at any point in the game as long as there is access to snow mana the worst it does is fix mana further and give another shot at any one of this decks amazing top decks. Early game playing this t1 will fulfill half of the colored mana required for the rest of the game, and through the multitude of fetches being able to pick and choose what is needed for the time, and then filtering it later with the astrolabe is what gives snow the edge compared to non snow.
Now for an actual land that the deck plays and is integral to how some Niv decks are able to function. Pillar of the Paruns is a land that can create one mana of any color, but can only be used on multicolored spells. Since most Niv decks will only have Astrolabe and Birds as their non multicolor cards it ends up fulfilling the same role as astrolabe as making the required colored mana easier to accomplish. Some decks prefer to play more mono colored cards and thus lowering the amount of pillars the decks run down to 2 or cutting it all together.
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Wrenn and Six
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
Creature (8)
3 Niv-Mizzet Reborn
4 Birds of Paradise
1 Seasoned Pyromancer
Instant (11)
3 Lightning Helix
2 Assassin's Trophy
2 Kaya's Guile
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Izzet Charm
1 Kolaghan's Command
Sorcery (6)
1 Thought Erasure
4 Bring to Light
1 Supreme Verdict
Artifact (4)
4 Arcum's Astrolabe
Land (23)
1 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
3 Windswept Heath
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Prismatic Vista
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Flooded Strand
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Unmoored Ego
1 Kess, Dissident Mage
1 Deafening Clarion
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Lightning Helix
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
1 Ashiok, Dream Render
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
3 Wrenn and Six
Creature (7)
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Ice-Fang Coatl
1 Kess, Dissident Mage
3 Niv-Mizzet Reborn
1 Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
Sorcery (9)
3 Bring to Light
1 Dreadbore
2 Safewright Quest
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Thought Erasure
1 Unmoored Ego
Instant (12)
3 Assassin's Trophy
1 Izzet Charm
2 Kaya's Guile
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Lightning Helix
4 Arcum's Astrolabe
Land (23)
1 Breeding Pool
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Pillar of the Paruns
4 Prismatic Vista
2 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Unmoored Ego
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Ashiok, Dream Render
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Deafening Clarion
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Hostage Taker
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Weather the Storm