As a budget niv player, i have some points for you, guys. We have 3 main ways to play niv. Since we dont have the mana rocks to ramp us on turn 3 or 4, we must chose or second or third wincon besides niv. We can: 1- play the full token version, with the creatures that the video showed us, but including the locust god (must for this strategy). But if you ramp on 3, and put 15 tokens turn 5 or 6, you will be the focus, and this is the worst thing that can happen. And the AOE dmg you have in your deck will kill all of your tokens. I dont like this strategy. 2- You can be politic. Playing the "bluest" version, with more counterspells and draw, land pass, and talking with the players to dont atack you so you dont counter them. Just play your game, off course, always having mana to ansewer to potential danger. Just ramp with artifacts and treasures, search for combo pieces and try to win in one turn with niv+curiosity and laboratory maniac. This is the most fun way to play niv for me. The con is, if the table identifies you as a danger by having a lot of resources, you probably lose the game. 3- more red less blue. Playing against an aggro table is probably the most difficult match you can face. If you have 2 or 3 opponents casting 2 or 3 creatueres each turn, counterspells will not be effective. Than you can add more AOE and single target removals. This way you can control the table and survive another turn to combo. Cons- less blue, less draw, hard to find the cards you need. But in general, playing niv, what you want is to remain unnoticed for most of the game and only appear after your commander is on the field. Since he is an expensive card, don't play without having 1, 2 or 3 spells to defend him. Anyway, I hope I helped. and give our dragon a chance, it's at least a lot of fun to play with him (unless you're focused and leave on turn 4)🎉
Worst matchup imo are enchantment decks. Your red removal spells are useless in these matchups and the only way I ever bounced back from these match ups is rivers rebuke.
I like this video and deck. Awesome job. I like avoiding the unlimited hand size cards and instead run Glint Horn Buccaneer. It’s deals a damage to each opponent for each card you discard.
I think swapping Torbran with Ojer Axonil would be good. They both have similar effects, but Ojer Axonil has greater potential to do more damage off of your triggers. Plus they both have the same mana value, so the swap won't hurt our mana curve. Thanks for the feedback!
What would you guys add from duskmourn/bloomburrow to the 100 dollar list. Also, what would you take out to make room for those cards as well as three steps ahead. I’m new to the format and love the deck. Thanks!
I think my top card from Duskmourn for this deck is Roaring Furnace // Steaming Sauna. Not only is it less than $1, but it's also one-half removal, one-half card draw with upside. As for swapping it with something... probably Case of the Ransacked Lab, but this card an easily replace any of our removal pieces as a 2 drop, then unlock the other room when we have the time and mana. In general, unless you wanna change how the deck plays, a good move is to swap enchantments with enchantments, counterspells with counterspells, etc. Barring that, it's also a good move to swap cards of equal mana values so we don't disrupt our mana curve too much. Hope this helps!
@@tm_mtg extremely helpful. Highly appreciated the thoughtful response. Amazing vid. Have used the deck once in my first commander game and had a blast. I’m hooked. WOTC should pay you for spreading the mirth.
I was just thinking of getting into commander with Niv-Mizzet (I'm just getting back into Magic after years away), and this video is just what I needed. Thanks! I have a few question though, if you don't mind. 1. What would you take out to make room for Ophidian Eye, Laboratory Maniac, and Swan Song? (EDIT: Just saw your suggestion in another comment of who to replace with Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might, so I cut that part of the question.) 2. Now that Bloomburrow is out, are there any cards from that set you think would go well with this deck? I have some ideas but wanted your thoughts. 3. What do you think of the Sorcerer class enchantment for this deck? I was thinking that since the creatures in this deck seem to be mostly there to trigger effects off our instants and sorceries rather than combat, the sorcerer's level 2 ability to tap them for mana might be a good way to squeeze extra use out of them since I assume they won't be fighting much. Or maybe there's not enough creatures in the deck to make it worth it?
So for Ophidian Eye and Laboratory Maniac, I would probably swap them in with something of the same mana cost so we don't disrupt our curve so much, such as with Quick Study and Case of the Ransacked Lab. Swansong can easily replace any counterspell, but probably the most logical is swapping it in with Dispel. One card I was excited for in Bloomburrow was Coruscation Mage. It's essentially one Guttersnipe spread across two bodies, so if your opponents somehow only get rid of one, you'll still have the other. And Sorcerer Class... I don't think it's worth it. It's first level is just a version of Izzet Charm, except it's not as good because it doesn't trigger our Instant & Sorcery payoffs. The second level is fine as long as we have the creatures to immediately benefit off of, which we could do with our token producers, but if we don't it just does nothing. It's level three is good, but at five mana I wouldn't want to potentially take off an early turn to level it up when I could be forwarding my gameplan. idk nine mana across potentially three turns is a lot to ask for, and putting all of our eggs in one basket serves as a prime target for removal. If you can make it work, that's awesome! But for me, I'd probably be more in favor of Wizard Class than Sorcerer Class. Thanks, and I hope this helps! :)
I've been playing Niv in arena for a while and you do not want to play this many instant & sorcery support creatures. I use only the treasure magecraft dwarf, urbrask, & the treasure dragons. The rest are draw, wheels, planeswalkers, boardwipes, ramp, bounce, counter spells & removal. Curiosity & miz's mastery too. I didn't spend a single penny on MTGA so I just used whatever cards I had that fit those types of cards I listed earlier. I know this is an annoying control heavy deck, but this is Niv's identity.
As a begginner that just started to play commander this video is a life saver
nice mic quality, dialogue, and deck list. Well done. Also Archidekt usage, very nice
I like how you did budget, upgrade, then top tier. Great vid, cant wait to build this!
Just made a Niv Mizzet deck with your recommendations, I butchered my first precon deck (mizzix) for this. Looking forward to playing it today
Sir, I am subscribed from now on. Great content, I would love to see more commander decks :D
A good way to stop the combo with Tandem Lookout too is to ping the Lookout with Niv’s trigger, since it only needs 1 damage to kill it
As a budget niv player, i have some points for you, guys.
We have 3 main ways to play niv.
Since we dont have the mana rocks to ramp us on turn 3 or 4, we must chose or second or third wincon besides niv. We can:
1- play the full token version, with the creatures that the video showed us, but including the locust god (must for this strategy). But if you ramp on 3, and put 15 tokens turn 5 or 6, you will be the focus, and this is the worst thing that can happen. And the AOE dmg you have in your deck will kill all of your tokens. I dont like this strategy.
2- You can be politic. Playing the "bluest" version, with more counterspells and draw, land pass, and talking with the players to dont atack you so you dont counter them. Just play your game, off course, always having mana to ansewer to potential danger. Just ramp with artifacts and treasures, search for combo pieces and try to win in one turn with niv+curiosity and laboratory maniac. This is the most fun way to play niv for me. The con is, if the table identifies you as a danger by having a lot of resources, you probably lose the game.
3- more red less blue. Playing against an aggro table is probably the most difficult match you can face. If you have 2 or 3 opponents casting 2 or 3 creatueres each turn, counterspells will not be effective. Than you can add more AOE and single target removals. This way you can control the table and survive another turn to combo. Cons- less blue, less draw, hard to find the cards you need.
But in general, playing niv, what you want is to remain unnoticed for most of the game and only appear after your commander is on the field. Since he is an expensive card, don't play without having 1, 2 or 3 spells to defend him. Anyway, I hope I helped. and give our dragon a chance, it's at least a lot of fun to play with him (unless you're focused and leave on turn 4)🎉
Hey, I'm interested in the 2nd version you mentioned with more counterspells and blue cards, would you care to share a list?
Worst matchup imo are enchantment decks. Your red removal spells are useless in these matchups and the only way I ever bounced back from these match ups is rivers rebuke.
I like this video and deck. Awesome job. I like avoiding the unlimited hand size cards and instead run Glint Horn Buccaneer. It’s deals a damage to each opponent for each card you discard.
arcane denial lets your opponent draw TWO cards and you one extra* still amazing card
Great Video man,just got into Commander, one question. Which card would you replace with ojer axonil,deepest might ? Really liked your deck profile !
I think swapping Torbran with Ojer Axonil would be good. They both have similar effects, but Ojer Axonil has greater potential to do more damage off of your triggers. Plus they both have the same mana value, so the swap won't hurt our mana curve. Thanks for the feedback!
Great Video!
What would you guys add from duskmourn/bloomburrow to the 100 dollar list. Also, what would you take out to make room for those cards as well as three steps ahead. I’m new to the format and love the deck. Thanks!
I think my top card from Duskmourn for this deck is Roaring Furnace // Steaming Sauna. Not only is it less than $1, but it's also one-half removal, one-half card draw with upside. As for swapping it with something... probably Case of the Ransacked Lab, but this card an easily replace any of our removal pieces as a 2 drop, then unlock the other room when we have the time and mana. In general, unless you wanna change how the deck plays, a good move is to swap enchantments with enchantments, counterspells with counterspells, etc. Barring that, it's also a good move to swap cards of equal mana values so we don't disrupt our mana curve too much. Hope this helps!
@@tm_mtg extremely helpful. Highly appreciated the thoughtful response. Amazing vid. Have used the deck once in my first commander game and had a blast. I’m hooked. WOTC should pay you for spreading the mirth.
I was just thinking of getting into commander with Niv-Mizzet (I'm just getting back into Magic after years away), and this video is just what I needed. Thanks! I have a few question though, if you don't mind.
1. What would you take out to make room for Ophidian Eye, Laboratory Maniac, and Swan Song? (EDIT: Just saw your suggestion in another comment of who to replace with Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might, so I cut that part of the question.)
2. Now that Bloomburrow is out, are there any cards from that set you think would go well with this deck? I have some ideas but wanted your thoughts.
3. What do you think of the Sorcerer class enchantment for this deck? I was thinking that since the creatures in this deck seem to be mostly there to trigger effects off our instants and sorceries rather than combat, the sorcerer's level 2 ability to tap them for mana might be a good way to squeeze extra use out of them since I assume they won't be fighting much. Or maybe there's not enough creatures in the deck to make it worth it?
So for Ophidian Eye and Laboratory Maniac, I would probably swap them in with something of the same mana cost so we don't disrupt our curve so much, such as with Quick Study and Case of the Ransacked Lab. Swansong can easily replace any counterspell, but probably the most logical is swapping it in with Dispel. One card I was excited for in Bloomburrow was Coruscation Mage. It's essentially one Guttersnipe spread across two bodies, so if your opponents somehow only get rid of one, you'll still have the other. And Sorcerer Class... I don't think it's worth it. It's first level is just a version of Izzet Charm, except it's not as good because it doesn't trigger our Instant & Sorcery payoffs. The second level is fine as long as we have the creatures to immediately benefit off of, which we could do with our token producers, but if we don't it just does nothing. It's level three is good, but at five mana I wouldn't want to potentially take off an early turn to level it up when I could be forwarding my gameplan. idk nine mana across potentially three turns is a lot to ask for, and putting all of our eggs in one basket serves as a prime target for removal. If you can make it work, that's awesome! But for me, I'd probably be more in favor of Wizard Class than Sorcerer Class. Thanks, and I hope this helps! :)
@@tm_mtg It does! Thank you for your answer and your time.
I've been playing Niv in arena for a while and you do not want to play this many instant & sorcery support creatures.
I use only the treasure magecraft dwarf, urbrask, & the treasure dragons. The rest are draw, wheels, planeswalkers, boardwipes, ramp, bounce, counter spells & removal. Curiosity & miz's mastery too.
I didn't spend a single penny on MTGA so I just used whatever cards I had that fit those types of cards I listed earlier.
I know this is an annoying control heavy deck, but this is Niv's identity.
however 1v1 (arena/brawl) and 1v3 (edh) are quite different
so what works in one mode might not work the same in the other
Lmao I’m literally building niv with curiosity!