When "this creature" enters the battlefield, draw five cards.
Welcome To MTG Burgeoning's Guilds Of Niv-Mizzet Reborn EDH/Commander Deck
The fourth iteration of Niv-Mizzet Reborn and his ACTUAL enter the battlefield trigger are the inspirations for this deck:
"When Niv-Mizzet Reborn enters the battlefield, reveal the top ten cards of your library. For each color pair, choose a card that's exactly those colors from among them. Put the chosen cards into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order."
I want to maximize the number of cards drawn from each Niv-Mizzy ETB trigger. In order to accomplish this, I decided to create a five-color deck focusing on the ten guilds of Ravnica:
In order to optimize this trigger with Niv-Mizzy I included six cards from each guild, for a total of 60 gold spells. Each of these 60 cards meets the color-pair criteria for The Reborn's enter the battlefield trigger. How did I decide which cards to include? I chose the following parameters to guide these decisions:
A) Two LEGENDARY Creatures From Each Guild ~ 20 Creatures Total
1) Beat-Down Creatures
These are the creatures that we will ride to victory by beating-down our opponents. In my mind, I chose THEE legendary creature from each guild (10 total) that could carry us to victory in the most reliable ways:
Dragonlord Ojutai: Ojutai is a 5/4 flying, hexproof (while untapped) dragon that allows us to Anticipate when he deals combat damage to a player. Ojutai's reign as THEE Azorius beat-down creature may be short-lived as the powerhouse Dream Trawler may replace him in the near future.
Oona, Queen of the Fae: A 5/5 flying faerie that creates other faeries. She's an army-just-waiting-to-happen on a stick.
Dragonlord Kolaghan: As a 6/5 flying, hasty dragon his other ability is nearly useless in the EDH/Commander format. However, granting haste to our entire squad is very powerful.
Dragonlord Atarka: As an 8/8 flying, trampling dragon he posts stats above and beyond the majority of creatures in Magic. BONUS: This Gruul Dragonlord can spread five points of damage among opponents' creatures and planeswalkers when it enters the battlefield.
Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts: Teysa is amazing when in play. She's a vigilant 4/4 that has protection from creatures and a built-in combat deterrent for our opponents. I wish her mana cost was not so high. However, Orzhov is lacking many legendary beat-down creatures and Teysa checks these boxes.
Aurelia, the Warleader: She flies. She's vigilant. She's hasty. She provides an additional attack phase. All Aurelia does is give.
The Locust God: A powerful General/Commander itself, the God of Locusts flies, draws cards and creates an army of flying and hasty insects. Oh, and no, IT CANNOT DIE.
Prime Speaker Zegana: From the "(insert guild here) is lacking many legendary beat-down creatures" file, Simic provides us with Zegana. Under the right circumstances she can become a huge creature that can draw a bunch of cards. The lack of evasion is not ideal. Wishing Hydroid Krasis was legendary in this spot.
Storrev, Devkarin Lich: From the "(insert guild here) is lacking many legendary beat-down creatures" file, Golgari's gift to this Niv-Mizzy deck is Storrev. A 5/4 trampler for is not terrible, and his recursion ability makes Storrev's inclusion more attractive. Wishing Spiritmonger was legendary in this spot.
2) Auxiliary Creatures
These are our "helper" creatures that will tend to our battlefield and board state throughout the game. In my mind, I chose THEE legendary creature from each guild (10 total) that will provide the best assistance during a game:
Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage: Raff allows us to cast our Historic spells (all legendary spells for the purposes of this deck) as though they had flash. An "on-your-end-step" casting of Niv-Mizzet Reborn is magnificent.
Lazav, the Multifarious: Lazav can become a copy of any creature in our graveyard by paying that creature's converted mana cost generically...at instant speed...at any point in a game. He can keep doing this over and over and over.
Olivia Voldaren: This red-headed beauty from Innistrad can fly around and cause havoc while pinging dorks and stealing creatures.
Xenagos, God of Revels: Xenagos gives "helper" an all-new meaning. Granting haste and a sizable short-term boost Xenagos can bring life totals down in a hurry. Being indestructible and only a creature if any combination of our Gruul devotion is seven or more gives this God a built-in extended warranty.
Captain Sisay: Remember the aforementioned legendary creature parameter? Sisay is a reason for this guideline. She taps and we search our library for ANY LEGENDARY CARD. Sisay's bringing everyone to this party!
Kambal, Consul of Allocation: Two life here. Two life there. These are mere drops in a bucket when EDH/Commander players begin a game with 40 life each. However, even the deepest buckets eventually fill after each subsequent drop.
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight: Gisela, as a 5/5 flying and first striking angel of beauty, absolutely meets the criteria for a beat-down creature. However, it's her other attributes that make her so attractive in this tier. All damage to our opponents is doubled in her presence, and any damage to us is prevented by half (rounded up). Yes, there's something about these flying redheads...
Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain: Remember the aforementioned legendary creature parameter? Jhoira 2.0 draws us a card whenever we cast a Historic (legendaries) spell.
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter: The first spell we cast each turn either nets a free spell or a free card in our hand. This Elf Druid has Aurelia-levels of giving...and maybe beyond!
Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper: Generally, life-gain in the EDH/Commander format is an afterthought. Yes, Heliod, Sun-Crowned has influenced many life-gain decks in the format. With that in mind, we'll hand Ikra the keys to our life-gain van and he can drive us right to victory lane.
B) Two Forms Of Disruption From Each Guild ~ 20 Spells Total
For the purposes of this parameter, I define disruption as spot removal, board wipes, resource denial, bouncing, counterspell (ONLY ONE!) and combat chicanery. In my mind, I chose THEE two best forms of disruption from each guild (20 total):
Teferi, Time Raveler: Teferi's static ability of "each opponent can cast spells only any time they could cast a sorcery" is so restrictive. His -3 ability of bouncing an artifact, creature or enchantment to its owner's hand and drawing a card is also very advantageous. In particular, Teferi could bounce Niv-Mizzy to our hand, drawing us a card, and then we can cast Niv-Mizzy for another ETB trigger.
Time Wipe: I prefer this board wipe over Supreme Verdict for this deck because it allows us to return a creature we control to our hand. One of those creatures could be Niv-Mizzy, priming him for another ETB trigger.
Tyrant's Scorn: The versatility of this spell is undervalued. In Dimir colors, bounce any creature to their owner's hand or destroy a creature with converted mana cost three or less. How many creatures in the EDH/Commander format with a CMC of three or less are problematic? Answering that question could take a while.
Recoil: Bounce any permanent. Allow for some redundancy here: BOUNCE ANY PERMANENT. Its controller also discards a card. Niv-Mizzy is any permanent. Just sayin'.
Rakdos Charm: In EDH/Commander, someone's always abusing their graveyard. Someone's always creating huge armies of creatures. Someone's always abusing an artifact. Well this spell from Rakdos checks all three of those boxes. Pick a mode and ruin someone's day!
Bedevil: This spell ousted Terminate, which was included in this deck's initial construction. Terminate destroys a creature and it can't be regenerated for . Bedevil destroys a creature, artifact or planeswalker for . I value the versatility of a spot removal spell with three modes over the much-forgotten and seldom-used keyword of regeneration.
Hull Breach: Destroy an artifact? Check. Destroy an enchantment? Check. Destroy both? Check. For . Che-, wait, what...?
Decimate: If each of the four targets stick, and that's a must for this spell to resolve, this 4-for-1 piece of Gruul destruction can be devastating.
Sylvan Reclamation: Exiling up to any two artifacts and/or enchantments is vital in a format such as EDH/Commander where recurring these permanents is not difficult. BONUS: basic landcycling is nice.
Aura Shards: As big an attention-grabber as there is in the format, this Selesnya enchantment can create both friends and foes in any game. I imagine the "may" qualifier in the "destroy target artifact or enchantment" makes this card so popular. We're looking at you Harmonic Sliver.
Anguished Unmaking: Aside from spot-exiling any non-land permanent for 3 life, this card's flavor text alone makes its inclusion automatic. FULL DISCLOSURE: My favorite flavor text ever.
Merciless Eviction: Four modes. One mass-exiling of one of the chosen modes. Merciless Eviction can rid the battlefield of all creatures, artifacts, enchantments or planeswalkers for .
Boros Charm: This is all about indestructibility. Survive board wipes. Survive combat. Send your opponents' creatures to their graveyards. Yes, the double strike mode can hit hard (Xenagos anyone?) and dealing 4 points of damage at instant speed to an opponent is not terrible, but this charm is here primarily to preserve our board.
Master Warcraft: If you've mastered playing with this card then you know its capabilities. If you haven't, imagine controlling an entire combat phase...during an opponent's turn! Try it, and try it now!
Invoke the Firemind: Flexibility reigns supreme with this selection. Do we need cards? Do we need to destroy a troublesome creature or planeswalker? Do we need to finish off an opponent? This Izzet masterpiece can do it all!
Expansion / Explosion: Two spells in one! We can copy an instant that is 4CMC or less and/or cast an Izzet-fueled X spell that deals X damage to any target and draws us X cards. This is a juiced-up Invoke the Firemind.
Simic Charm: Although the +3 +3 mode can be useful, this charm's attractiveness is protecting our board with hexproof and bouncing a creature...any creature...like Niv-Mizzy.
Plasm Capture: DISCLOSURE: I am not a counterspeller nor do I condone couterspelling. I want to play Magic and have others play as well without the fear of permission. Admittedly, the inclusion of a counterspell in this deck pains me. However, I cannot deny how effective this card is for this deck. Double Simic-colors give us a potential fountain of mana in ANY COLORS for our 5-COLOR deck.
Assassin's Trophy: Destroy target permanent an opponent controls at instant-speed. Okay. Beast Within. Generous Gift. Oh, this only costs and the only drawback is our opponent gets a basic land in place of the destroyed permanent? How many EDH/Commander players do you know that don't even play with basic lands? I'm in!
Pernicious Deed: Nearly a complete board re-setter, this Golgari enchantment may be the most powerful black/green card in the format.
C) One Form Of Advantage From Each Guild ~ 10 Spells Total
For the purposes of this parameter, I define advantage as drawing additional cards, gaining life, library manipulation, mana ramp and graveyard recursion. In my mind, I chose THEE most advantageous spells from each guild (10 total):
Sphinx's Revelation: Instant-speed card-draw and life-gain. This card was made for "at the end of your turn..."
Lim-Dul's Vault: This gem from Alliances allows us to dig through our deck, five cards at a time, for as many times as we're willing to pay 1 life and put the top five cards from our library onto the bottom of it. With enough good fortune, this can set-up an epic Niv-Mizzy trigger.
Theater of Horrors: In a warped way this Rakdos enchantment "draws" us an additional card each turn. As a restriction the card's in exile and can't be cast unless an opponent lost life this turn. Oh that Rakdos guild! Luckily there's a built-in damage-dealer to opponents, and planeswalkers too!
Reap the Past: Graveyard recursion. There are times when you can return your entire graveyard to your hand. Reap the Past is exiled after it's cast so you can only use it once. Make it count!
Mirari's Wake: Additional mana? In a 5-color deck with a plethora of big, mana-hungry creatures? T: Done and Done! See what I did there? I added a Done after tapping a Done. Mirari approves.
Kaya, Ghost Assassin: Kaya is amazing. We can shift card balances. We can drain life. We can keep a creature in limbo. We can get additional ETB triggers from our own creatures (Niv-Mizzy). Oh, AND she can reset her loyalty by exiling herself! Kaya is the total package.
Nahiri, the Harbinger: Sorin's scourge allows us to draw a card if we discard one first or exile an enchantment, tapped artifact or tapped creature. If we can safely uptick her enough, Nahiri can bring one of our bigguns out from our library for a turn of hasty pleasure.
Keranos, God of Storms: This Izzet God gives us card advantage or a Lightning Bolt during each of our turns. Additionally, Keranos is indestructible and not a creature unless we have any combination of Izzet devotion equaling seven or more.
Tatyova, Benthic Druid: Amazing art. Amazing name. Amazing abilities. Only uncommon? Not in my mind! Each time we put a land into play with Tatyova on the battlefield we're going to draw a card and gain a life. Tatyova is some kind of special.
Treasured Find: Any card from your graveyard to your hand. This is the Demonic Tutor of graveyard recursion for the parameters of this deck. Unfortunately, this spell is exiled after it's cast so it's a one-and-done card. Make it count!
D) One Form Of Enhancement From Each Guild ~ 10 Spells Total
For the purposes of this parameter, I define enhancement as strengthening our creatures with +1 +1 counters and/or temporary power/toughness boosts and providing evasion in addition to cheating creatures into play and improving our battlefield. In my mind, I chose THEE most enhancement-worthy spells from each guild (10 total):
Venser, the Sojourner: Replacing Shield of the Righteous is this planeswalker from Scars of Mirrodin. Venser can make our army unblockable or can blink one of our permanents, such as Niv-Mizzy. The potential of Venser's emblem puts the focus of the table squarely on us, but we're ready for it anyway! You can't roll with The Reborn and not be ready!
Vela the Night-Clad: Vela's got intimidate! Our creatures have intimidate. EVERYONE'S GOT INTIMIDATE! Well, just our creatures have intimidate and if any of our opponents are playing one or two colors, well, they're not going to like the Night-Clad much. Additionally, let's not sleep on Vela's other ability. We have numerous ways of creating big armies that call for board wipes. Vela replaced the Dimir equipment Mask of Riddles from the initial construction of this deck.
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden: Grenzo replaced the Demonspine Whip from this deck's initial build. Grenzo helps us to cheat creatures onto the battlefield. You can't really expect anything less from a Goblin Rogue, can you?
Sarkhan Vol: Replacing the Mage Slayer from this deck's initial construction is this dragon-loving planeswalker. Sarkhan can pump-up our creatures and give them haste and can also borrow an opponent's creature for a turn. If we're fortunate enough to -6 Sarkhan we create 5 4/4 flying dragon tokens. 20 power!
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes: This Journey into Nyx iteration of Ajani replaced Eladamri's Call from the deck's first upgrade, which replaced Behemoth Sledge from the initial build. Ajani's +1 abilities are perfect for strengthening our army or digging through our library (four cards at a time) in order to find other ways to enhance it. Oh, yes, and then there's that gaining 100 life ability. Who doesn't want to take eight counters off of something and gain 100 life!?
Primevals' Glorious Rebirth: Remember the aforementioned legendary creature parameter? This legendary Orzhov sorcery, assuming we meet its legendary sorcery restriction, allows us to return ALL LEGENDARY PERMANENT CARDS FROM OUR GRAVEYARD TO THE BATTLEFIELD. We're not just recurring creatures but enchantments and planeswalkers too! Let the Redundancy Department of Redundancy echo once more: ALL LEGENDARY PERMANENT CARDS FROM YOUR GRAVEYARD TO THE BATTLEFIELD.
Iroas, God of Victory: This legendary Boros God gives our creatures menace and prevents all damage that would be dealt to them when they're attacking. As Iroas is indestructible and not a creature unless any combination of our Boros devotion is seven or more, he is well-protected from common removal spells. He also sports a hefty 7/4 body for just . REPLACED BY General Ferrous Rokiric. THIS HUMAN SOLDIER WILL ENHANCE OUR ARMY BY CREATING A 4/4 BOROS-COLORED GOLEM ARTIFACT CREATURE TOKEN WHENEVER WE CAST A MULTICOLORED SPELL. SPOILERS: EVERY SPELL IN THE DECK IS MULTI-COLORED. WE'RE GOING TO CREATE A LOT OF GOLEMS!
Jhoira of the Ghitu: Original Jhoira. Classic Jhoria. Jhoria 1.0 is included here in order to suspend some nonland cards. The downside is our opponents get to see what's eventually coming. The upside is our opponents get to see what's eventually coming. When you roll with Niv-Mizzy you've got to induce some fear in your opponents.
Nissa, Steward of Elements: This iteration of Nissa from Amonkhet allows us to manipulate the top of our library, cheat lands and creatures into play in addition to creating a pair of 5/5 hasty and flying elemental land creatures for a turn. This version of Nissa is the first planeswalker in Magic's history to sport an X in its casting cost.
Journey to Eternity: As the only aura in the deck, this Golgari enchantment allows us to return the enchanted creature after it dies back to the battlefield and transform Journey to Eternity. Once transformed, by tapping Atzal, Cave of Eternity and we can return a creature from our graveyard to the battlefield at instant-speed.
In the following YouTube videos I go into greater detail explaining these inclusions:
Command Tower: Best land in the format. No additional commentary needed. Okay, maybe a little. In our deck, this land taps for any color and has no restrictions.
Pillar of the Paruns: With this deck list, the Pillar acts as Command Tower #2 because every spell in our deck is two-colors and we'll always be able to use it.
Exotic Orchard: In the best and most likely scenarios this land is Command Tower #3. In the worst and least likely scenario it taps for nothing.
Reflecting Pool: As we are running the full complement of shock lands, check lands and a basic land of every color this land will most likely act as Command Tower #4.
DISCLOSURE: I am tempted to replace Exotic Orchard with Reliquary Tower. Not having a maximum hand size will allow us to keep all of the cards we draw with Niv-Mizzet Reborn. How many cards will we be drawing...?
Experimentation & Play-Testing
This guild-themed deck provides the best possible balance across the ten color combinations and optimizes the number of cards drawn by each Niv-Mizzy ETB trigger. I experimented with this concept in the following YouTube video:
Niv-Mizzet Reborn EDH/Commander Deck & 40 Enter the Battlefield Triggers:
A 6/6 flying legendary dragon that draws you (nearly on average) five cards when it enters the battlefield?!
Best. General/Commander. Ever...?
Where does Niv-Mizzet Reborn rank on your list of best EDH Generals/Commanders?
Making a very brief appearance during an installment of the UP & UP Series, MTG Burgeoning swaps-out a Guild card from the 99 and explains the reasoning behind the decision:
Making another appearance on the UP & UP Series, MTG Burgeoning makes some UPdates & UPgrades to this Niv-Mizzet Reborn EDH deck:
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