(Niv-Mizzet, RebornNiv-Mizzet, Reborn | Art by Raymond Swanland)

Epic Preparations

Hello, EDHREC fans! I’m Bernardo Melibeu, and this is Epic Experiment, a series where we throw all common sense aside and experiment with some unusual strategies, changing how we normally build our deck. Is it going to work? Who knows?! We’re making science here. When you’re an Izzet mage, blowing things up is half the fun.

This week we'll be reviewing one of the most powerful five color legends from recent set: Niv-Mizzet, RebornNiv-Mizzet, Reborn.

Flying

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.

Observation 1:

Niv-Mizzet Reborn's ETB is really powerful. Even if we get as "low" as three new cards, we are still getting a lot of bang for our buck.

Observation 2:

This ETB is especially good in a controlling position and can easily allow us to outgrind most the table, especially with the right support.

Observation 3:

Having mana to cast all of the spells gained through the ETB is crucial, however, discarding isn't all that bad considering that we're going up in card quality.

Observation 4:

There's a hidden cost that we must be aware of, and that is that we probably have to fill our deck with not-so-optimal guild-colored cards.

The Old Formula

Niv-Mizzet Reborn's High Synergy list is quite unique; its mixture of powerful multicolored staples that tend to point to a slower deck. Most of these cards are pretty good staples on their own. However, we can see how we are drawn to some not-so-optimal cards, like CounterfluxCounterflux and DeathsproutDeathsprout.

The Epic Ingredients

One of the biggest questions about playing Niv is knowing which cards we're trying to get with our commander's ETB. While many lists opt to go for a more controlling route, I wanted to try a more combo-oriented shell. This leads us to find a shell that has space for lots of guild-colored cards, and Reanimator is a great one for that. We've a huge pool of guild-colored creatures and reanimation spells, which makes our ETB triggers flexible, so we have a decent chance to find both halves of the combo.

We have a wide array of baddies to reanimate: cards like Aurelia, the WarleaderAurelia, the Warleader, Gisela, Blade of GoldnightGisela, Blade of Goldnight, and Medomai the AgelessMedomai the Ageless are some impressive beaters that drastically increase our damage output. Ruric Thar, the UnbowedRuric Thar, the Unbowed, Dragonlord DromokaDragonlord Dromoka, and Azor, the LawbringerAzor, the Lawbringer provide some disruption and can help us untap with our creatures more often. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre StraitAesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Omnath, Locus of RageOmnath, Locus of Rage, and Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun are great for slower games where we need to grind out our opponents a bit. Dragonlord KolaghanDragonlord Kolaghan and Samut, Voice of DissentSamut, Voice of Dissent are haste-enablers, which is pretty important, especially when using some of our mass reanimation spells.

There's also a small Dragons package that appreciates the fact that our commander is also a Dragon. Atarka, World RenderAtarka, World Render is a great fake 12-power beater that also buffs our commander. Kolaghan, the Storm's FuryKolaghan, the Storm's Fury can be a great anthem effect, and having Dash drastically increases its all-in potential.

There are plenty of powerful reanimation effects that we can get with our commander's ETB trigger, like Extract from DarknessExtract from Darkness or Back for MoreBack for More. Primevals' Glorious RebirthPrimevals' Glorious Rebirth and Pyrrhic RevivalPyrrhic Revival are explosive spells that can probably end the game right then and there. Torrent of SoulsTorrent of Souls might not be as explosive as the previous two; however, it can really do some damage in the right board. Debtor's KnellDebtor's Knell and Hunting GroundsHunting Grounds are our go-to grindy "reanimation" spells (Hunting Ground technically isn't one, but it's cheating on mana in a similar way); they're on the slower side of things, but their value can be spread across multiple turns.

One thing that can help mitigate some of the randomness of Niv's triggers is assigning a role for each of the guilds. Let's say that we're looking for a source of ramp (among other things): Having Simic be the go-to color for it means that the Simic slot won't be overcrowded with other options. Most of the black-based guilds are centered around our reanimation spells, but they do have some uses outside of them. This is the most fun part of building a Niv deck because it's highly customizable, and colors may shift roles around as we tinker with them.

*Hunting GroundsHunting Grounds for all intents and purposes IS a reanimation spell