Nekusar - Hidden Niv-Mizzet - High Power

Commander / EDH Competitive UBR (Grixis)

Mxashleyw

Instant (28)

• 1x Anticipate
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Blink of an Eye
• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Disperse
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x High Tide
• 1x Impulse
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Mana Leak
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Mission Briefing
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Negate
• 1x Opt
• 1x Prohibit
• 1x Quicken
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Spell Pierce
• 1x Spell Snare
• 1x Tainted Strike
• 1x Think Twice
• 1x Tolarian Winds

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Curiosity
• 1x Future Sight
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Ophidian Eye
• 1x Phyresis

Land (34)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 9x Island
• 6x Mountain
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 5x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Tainted Peak
• 1x Tarnished Citadel
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Watery Grave

Artifact (13)

• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Prismatic Lens
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Star Compass
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Commander (1)

Sorcery (14)

• 1x Dark Deal
• 1x Day's Undoing
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Dreadbore
• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Last One Standing
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Molten Psyche
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Wheel of Fate
• 1x Windfall
• 1x Winds of Change

Creature (5)

• 1x Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1x Niv-Mizzet, Parun
• 1x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
• 1x Stormcaller of Keranos

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***The information below is out of date and will be updated soon, although most of it still applies.

This list may look fairly standard on first glance, but this one is a bit of a Trojan horse. Heavily inspired by the LabManiacs Niv-Mizzet build, now in Grixis and on a "High Power" paper budget.

We're not trying to stack group hug card draw to grind out incremental damage against the table. We don't want our opponents drawing extra cards until we say so, even Nekusar's card draw is an unfortunate downside to a decent win-con in the command zone.

We're trying to ramp fast, draw as much as possible until we find our first wheel and begin trying to chain them, discarding Kozilek as needed until we hit either two combo pieces or one + tutor. Knowing when to wheel is important, often it is better to wheel away a single combo piece with no tutor and start planning to assemble another.

We want to win with Niv-Mizzet + Curiosity/Ophidian Eye, or any of the many Drama Scepter combos (Blue Sun's Zenith / Future Sight + Stormcaller there's more that should be obvious when reading the cards). As back up we have Nekusar serving the same function as Niv-Mizzet, although with him we generally need infect, preferably Tainted Strike. We have other infect givers but those are either early game counter spell bait or long game back up unless we're feeling greedy.

And about that card, not to get into a debate but I generally regard Arcane Denial as a bad card. However it not only protects Curiosity wins but enables them with it's card draw, so in this deck it's decent.

I'm happy with how this has come out. I enjoy cEDH and this deck was built with that mindset, just on a budget. It's low to the ground, fast and efficient. A truly cEDH version of this deck is entirely possible, and I may brew that list for fun even though I have no intention of building it IRL. You just have to approach it like the LabManiacs Niv-Mizzet build but with black tutors.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 28 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 28 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.15
Folders	Casual Multiplayer