Is Mana Leak really better than Arcane Denial? I prefer the latter. I even prefer delay to mana leak...I think.

OscarGoldman I would always play Delay over Arcane Denial. Denial is a pretty sketchy card and discussion around it has been done to death in r/competitiveedh on reddit if you want to check it out some time.

The real debate I had was Leak or Delay. Leak is fairly underrated imo. It will work as a counterspell most of the time, and early game will almost always work as one. The reason I chose it was NMP is a fairly slow deck. If I delay an early game Carpet of Flowers, Mystic Remora, Necropotence, etc I don't want it coming back 3 turns later.

A lot of this is down to play style though. The difference is minimal between this and Delay. And if Arcane Denial is your preference, it still can get the job done and has the edge case of targeting your own spells to draw cards.

What are your thoughts on Iso-Rev on Niv?

Until very recently I ran it. Its now in the notable exclusions section of the primer. I cut it because I almost never assembled it, or even cared to try as it was usually more difficult than just jamming Niv and winning from there. They're also significantly worse with the lower artifact count. While Muddle the Mixture is still a little bit of a holdover from it, I would more frequently tutor for Gilded Drake or Pyroclasm and I still find that fairly useful.

Any reasons for not running Dizzy spell?

Yep, Dizzy Spell by itself is not a good card, and there's nothing I'd want at 1cc that 3 mana sorcery speed tutor would be good for. Getting a Curiosity effect is not a prerequisite for just jamming Niv-Mizzet. Its fine to play him, protect him as needed, and dig for a curiosity effect to end the game.

Muddle the Mixture on the other hand is pretty good by itself, and can get more powerful cards like Gilded Drake, Cursed Totem, or Pyroclasm as the situation warrants.

Have you tested Laboratory Maniac/Jace, Wielder of Mysteries? Also, I'd like to thank you for the list and the tips overall. I love this commander, and you've been a huge help!

I usually start off my lists borrowing from other decks and working from there, so I'm glad in turn it was a good resource for you!

Laboratory Maniac and Jace in my list would be "win more" cards in the sense that the only way to mill the deck is if I've already combo'd with Niv or Glinthorn. At that point I should have already won the game, so doing anything past that point would be for the purpose of dealing with high(er) life totals. For that, I think Lab Man is better because 2U is easier to hit instead of 1UUU, but Ulamog/Kozilek don't require any mana at all to loop the deck. Because they have very little usability outside of that scenario I personally wouldn't run them.

Why aren’t you playing any wheels with a draw commander

In the notable exclusion section I mentioned the reasoning for not running Timetwister, and the same goes for Windfall and Wheel of Fortune. They aren't consistently good without easy access to cards like Notion Thief , Smothering Tithe , and Narset, Parter of Veils . Dealing 7 damage after having Niv Mizzet out doesn't make up for getting your opponents a total of 21 new cards.

They give your opponents a chance to flash in a Notion Thief. Niv also can't runs all the rocks and mana dorks that other decks can so its also harder to empty your hand and wheel for value early game.

Hey deakmana! I've been running a Niv build based on yours, and loving it. What do you think about possibly including the Sensei's Divining Top + Future Sight + Helm of Awakening combo? Top is already in the deck, and Futuresight's card advantage seems useful in a control deck (and the mana cost doesn't concern me in this deck). The only piece that feels less than ideal is Helm of Awakening, as I would worry about enabling opposing combo decks outside of this combo. Maybe The Immortal Sun instead?

In my very limited play with the deck, I've struggled to find a combo piece with Niv before my control resources are taxed. An alternative way to draw the deck, when most of the combo pieces provide other value, seems like a decent idea. Let me know what you think!

Hey Magorian, glad you're having a good time with the deck :) Future Sight is both pretty useful on its own and is a great combo with Sensei's Top, so I think adding it in is a pretty reasonable choice. Helm of Awakening though is too dangerous and it doesn't pull its own weight most of the time. That also might warrant adding in Dizzy Spell as it will allow you to grab Sensei's Top or Curiosity, so its clunkiness is a little more justified.

Other options you could take to find your combos are Gamble and Intuition . I think Gamble is better as Intuition will always get you the worst Curiosity effect (probably Tandem) and can't easily grab another specific card in the deck.

I've generally have a different experience with Niv when he's out. Unless he gets stopped I don't run out of gas, but I reserve control spells still for when they stop someone from winning or dealing with Niv. Even basic cantrips like Sleight of Hand/Ponder/Impulse become very good at digging, almost pseudo-Ancestral Recalls. You could up the count of dig cards to help you find what you need. So stuff like Opt , Serum Visions , and Izzet Charm , as they're fairly useful at all parts of the game and still help to dig for a wincon after you drop Niv.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try out a few different iterations. If anything feels particularly powerful, I'll be sure to report back.

Have you ever ran into a situation where Niv's finite damage he can deal isn't quite enough to finish the table? If someone has an adequate amount of residual lifegain, couldn't that potentially be enough to withstand his damage output? Would something like Lab Man Jace warrant an include if that kind of situation occurs?

Why is merchant scroll in the deck? I'm just confused on what instant or sorcery we would be digging for with it most of the time. It seems very clunky.

My most frequent grab with Merchant Scroll by far is Force of Will to help set up counters after Niv or threatening interaction for combo players early. The 2nd most tutored card for me is either Pongify or Submerge. Sometimes I get other stuff too, but those are usually my go tos. Fluster if someone is getting close to Flash or Ad Naus. Mystical Tutor if you really want a Pyroclasm or Rolling EQ

The targets if Ive played Niv usually change a bit and Frantic Search becomes a top pick.

Why Phantasmal Image? The best thing seems to be Dockside which is great but otherwise I'm unsure about its utility in the blind.

I'm running phantasmal image in another deck and have been pretty suprised by its utility copying other peoples Docksides, Gilded Drakes, Dark Confidants, and even mana dorks like Birds of Paradise and Deathrite Shaman. I think it quite likely that it'll almost always have a good target, so I wanted to give it a whirl. In a testing slot for now. Even as a generic copy of a Thrasios I think it'll be quite decent.