Nivermind by ShadowingBane

Format: Commander

Commander: Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 40

Deck overview

This deck is an Orzhov lifegain and drain midrange deck led by Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel. The primary game plan focuses on establishing early lifegain enablers like Soul Warden, Authority of the Consuls, and Creeping Bloodsucker before deploying the commander on Turn 5. Once Niv-Mizzet is active, every point of life gained can be paid to draw extra cards, rapidly cycling through the library to assemble powerful life-drain payoffs such as Sanguine Bond, Enduring Tenacity, Starscape Cleric, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. When paired with Sheoldred, drawing cards creates a compounding loop that nets immense life and card advantage, enabling a decisive table elimination around Turn 7. The deck defends its execution with versatile phasing and protection spells like Clever Concealment and Grand Abolisher, while disrupting opponents through efficient spot removal, board sweepers, and soft stax pieces.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adventurer's Inn
  • 1 Ajani Resolute
  • 1 Ajani, Strength of the Pride
  • 1 Alhammarret's Archive
  • 1 Archaeomancer's Map
  • 1 Authority of the Consuls
  • 1 Beacon of Immortality
  • 1 Bleachbone Verge
  • 1 Caduceus, Staff of Hermes
  • 1 Charismatic Conqueror
  • 1 Children of Korlis
  • 1 Clever Concealment
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Creeping Bloodsucker
  • 1 Crypt Ghast
  • 1 Damnation
  • 1 Dark Confidant
  • 1 Despark
  • 1 Eclipsed Steppe
  • 1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
  • 1 Elenda's Hierophant
  • 1 Elixir of Immortality
  • 1 Emergence Zone
  • 1 Enduring Tenacity
  • 1 Enlightened Confidant
  • 1 Exemplar of Light
  • 1 Fix What's Broken
  • 1 Font of Agonies
  • 1 Fracture
  • 1 Fumigate
  • 1 Galadriel's Dismissal
  • 1 Gleaming Splendor
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Grand Abolisher
  • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  • 1 Guide of Souls
  • 1 Haliya, Guided by Light
  • 1 Heliod, Sun-Crowned
  • 1 Imp's Mischief
  • 1 Inkshield
  • 1 Ivory Tower
  • 1 Liliana the Faultless
  • 1 Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Moseo, Vein's New Dean
  • 1 Mox Amber
  • 1 Night's Whisper
  • 1 Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel
  • 1 Ob Nixilis, the Ascended
  • 1 Ocelot Pride
  • 11 Plains
  • 1 Radiant Fountain
  • 1 Rebuff the Wicked
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Reprieve
  • 1 Restoration Magic
  • 1 Revitalize
  • 1 Rhox Faithmender
  • 1 Sanguine Bond
  • 1 Scheming Silvertongue // Sign in Blood
  • 1 Serra Ascendant
  • 1 Sevinne's Reclamation
  • 1 Shattered Sanctum
  • 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sorin of House Markov // Sorin, Ravenous Neonate
  • 1 Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord
  • 1 Soul Warden
  • 1 Soul's Attendant
  • 1 Starscape Cleric
  • 6 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Tainted Field
  • 1 Tainted Sigil
  • 1 The Darkness Crystal
  • 1 The Soul Stone
  • 1 The Wind Crystal
  • 1 Turbulent Moor
  • 1 Twilight Prophet
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Urza's Saga
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 Vault of the Archangel
  • 1 Venser's Journal
  • 1 Vizkopa Guildmage