Commander Flavor Builds: Niv-Mizzet, Visionary

Posted on November 21, 2024

Welcome back, Lore Seekers! It's been a while since I've had time for a flavor builds, but in honor of Niv-Mizzet's seventh Legendary Creature card, I figured it was time! Today we're building a deck that includes more Mizzets that you can shake a storm at, and a completely Ravnica-based 99 to accompany them. Let's dive in!

Who is Niv-Mizzet?

Niv-Mizzet, Visionary by Dan Scott

Niv-Mizzet is a 16,000 year old dragon, and the last of his kind. In ages long past, Niv-Mizzet triumphed over his equally brilliant kin and would eventually become the leader of an army of techno-mages eventually known as the Izzet League. 10,000 years ago, he was among the ten signatories of the guildpact, a magically binding constitution that turned the ten warring factions of the plane into ten guilds, each with their own sphere of influence. Over the years, he gradually became reclusive, until he wasn't heard from in public for several thousand years. The day-to-day duties of the guild were delegated to his closest advisors, the Izmagnus.

That is until about a century ago (during Guildpact), when the rogue Izzet Guildmage, Zomaj Hauc, found a lost clutch of eggs in Niv-Mizzet's old hunting grounds and brought them to life. Although the dragons were ultimately killed, the nephilim consumed their remains and grew to become an even bigger threat, forcing Niv-Mizzet to intervene (in Dissension). The combined power of the nephilim proved to be too much for him, and he teleported away, and wouldn't be seen again until years later.

During Return to Ravnica, in the wake of the destruction of the magical guildpact, Izzet mage Ral Zarek began his investigation of the Implicit Maze, a failsafe that Azor, the Lawbringer had written into the original guildpact should it ever fail. Niv-Mizzet commanded Ral to investigate the maze in the hopes of gaining its power for himself, but his hopes were stymied by the intervention of Jace Beleren, who completed the requirements of the Implicit Maze by bringing together the guilds.

When we again returned to Ravnica in Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiance (and more specifically, in The Gathering Storm fiction series), Niv-Mizzet is confronted with a looming invasion by an even more ancient dragon, the planeswalker Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God. Niv gave control of the guild to Ral while he pursued projects to defeat Bolas, including the invention of the Interplanar Beacon, a device to call planeswalkers to Ravnica's aid. Niv-Mizzet's plans were sabotaged from the start by Bolas, and while Niv put up a good fight against the elder dragon, he was ultimately killed.

But death was not the end. The survivors of Bolas' invasion banded together to resurrect Niv-Mizzet as the Living Guildpact, bestowing upon him power to challenge Bolas. Having worked behind the scenes with Bolas's brother, Ugin, Niv-Mizzet was successful in defeating the dragon god, and abdicated control of his former guild fully to Ral Zarek.

As of Murders at Karlov Manor, Niv-Mizzet is investigating the Omenpaths, seeking to establish Ravnica as a power in the new more connected multiverse.

The Deck

Niv-Mizzet, Visionary is at its core a spellslinger deck, as the Izzet League tends to be a very spell-focused guild mechanically. This version of Niv-Mizzet cares about non-combat damage, which is the focus of this deck: creatures, enchantments, and spells that do direct damage. You will not be swinging in combat in this deck, for the most power.

Because mana ramp is difficult for Blue-Red, the deck has been loaded with Izzet-themed mana rocks: Firemind Vessel, Izzet Cluestone, Izzet Keyrune, Izzet Locket, and Izzet Signet. I've also included cost reductions like Seal of the Guildpact, Goblin Electromancer, Melek, Reforged Researcher, Mizzix of the Izmagnus, and Ral, Monsoon Mage.

The first thing you should know about this deck is that Niv-Mizzet combos with himself, both Niv-Mizzet, Parun and Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. These combos are not infinite: they're limited by the number of cards in your deck. They are also not optional, if you draw a card or deal a damage with Visionary and either Parun or the Firemind out, you will combo out if there isn't a creature to direct the damage to and end the combo. Depending on how much life your opponents have left, that might be okay!

The goal of this deck is to draw cards fast enough that you have answers for everything long before an opponent can deal enough damage to take you out. Ideally, you're doing it in such small increments that your pod doesn't see the end coming fast enough. Elixir of Immortality and Enhanced Surveillance will help you keep going if you've accidentally drawn your deck, while Laboratory Maniac and Psychic Spiral are potential win cons. Lab Maniac and the Elixir are flavor bends, but fit well enough and are necessary enough mechanically to be worth it.

This version of the deck is not optimized: you could make a much stronger version, if you weren't relying solely on Izzet or Ravnica-themed cards, especially around the volume of card draw. I'm also including Psychosis Crawler and Scrawling Crawler, as Ravnica was invaded by Phyrexia and these cards are too good not to include.

Creatures in the deck are mostly focused on finding ways to deal direct damage, OR taking advantage of the card draw in this deck. The only non-obvious callout may be Homunculus Horde, which is a flavorful way to keep blockers on the board. Note that to be appropriately flavorful, the version of Repercussion in this deck is from the secret lair drop. Proft's Eidetic Memory makes for an excellent way to give this deck some combat power and make use of your various' Niv-Mizzet's evasion. Finally, make sure not to cast Mizzix's Mastery unless it'll win you the game - you want the ability to shuffle your graveyard back into your deck later, and if you remove all the good stuff, you'll be left with nothing later.

And that's it! The deck is straightforward: deal damage to draw cards, and vice versa!