Broken New MTG Lifegain Legend Creates Multiple 2-Card Infinite Draw Combos

Thanks to its flashy nature, Reality Fracture’s Multiverse Reforged precon drew a lot of attention when it was revealed. By pursuing a Polymorph theme, this new precon offered players tons of different splashy late-game bombs that look incredibly fun to play in Commander.

Some of these cards, while decidedly mediocre in the precon, are absolutely broken outside it, upgrading fan-favorite archetypes or creating new ones. The reimagining of Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel is perhaps the most powerful of these, easily breakable with other infamous MTG hate pieces.

MTG Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel

Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel mostly just has one extremely broken ability: turning life gain into card draw. This basically breaks every effect that gains lots of life over time, allowing Niv to draw through your deck at blinding speeds. Soul Sisters effects like Soul WardenSoul WardenWhenever another creature enters, you gain 1 life. are one example, drawing a card whenever a creature enters the battlefield.

This ability is so powerful that it makes many normally unplayable cards completely broken. Tablet of the Guilds, for example, will essentially draw you a card whenever you play any colored card in a Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel Commander deck. Other cards, like Peace of Mind, also get flipped on their head, drawing three cards for one mana and a discard. Extort effects like Blind Obedience are particularly powerful, adding an Ancestral Recall to every spell you cast.

Notably, there’s a fair few hate cards with incremental life gain, like Archivist of Oghma and Kambal, Consul of Allocation that turn into draw engines Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel. While these are already auto-adds, lifegain doublers like Rhox Faithmender and The Wind Crystal can double the amount of value they create. Alhammarret’s Archive is particularly ridiculous, doubling both your life gain and your card draw.

Notably, because of how Niv-Mizzet is worded, you still gain life before paying it for cards, letting other lifegain payoffs like Karlov of the Ghost Council become powerful, scaling threats. This also opens the door for cards like Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Bloodthirsty Conqueror, and Sanguine Bond to act as win conditions, dealing tons of damage while you naturally draw cards.

It’s easy to forget, but Niv-Mizzet also has an activated ability that can drain your opponents for some card draw. While this is the least exciting part of this card, you can still use untappers like Thousand-Year Elixir to activate Niv-Mizzet multiple times. Trigger doublers like Roaming ThroneRoaming ThroneWard {2}
As this creature enters, choose a creature type.
This creature is the chosen type in addition to its other types.
If a triggered ability of another creature you control of the chosen type triggers, it triggers an additional time. are much stronger here, however, since they’ll also double up on Niv-Mizzet’s first ability.

Back up your Commander with some free protection spells like Flare of Fortitude and Flawless Maneuver, and this is an extremely strong strategy that should easily take over most Commander tables. If that weren’t enough, Niv-Mizzet’s infinite combos are even stronger, taking this Dragon to a whole new level.

Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel MTG Combo

The deadliest infinite combo available with Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel involves another infamous MTG card, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. As long as you’ve drawn just one card, Sheoldred triggers, gaining two life. You can then pay that life to Niv-Mizzet’s ability, drawing two more cards. This creates a loop drawing your entire deck.

Notably, Sheoldred isn’t the only card Niv-Mizzet can use to pull off this infinite combo. As long as you have eight cards in your graveyard, Starving Revenant also draws your deck with Niv-Mizzet, adding near-infinite life loss to your opponents. Queza, Augur of AgoniesQueza, Augur of AgoniesWhenever you draw a card, target opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. and Shabraz, the Skyshark do this too, but you can’t run this combo in a Niv-Mizzet Commander deck.

While it’s counterintuitive, you can also enchant yourself with Curse of Fool’s Wisdom to essentially build your own NecropotenceNecropotenceSkip your draw step.
Whenever you discard a card, exile that card from your graveyard.
Pay 1 life: Exile the top card of your library face down. Put that card into your hand at the beginning of your next end step.. Since you’ll lose and gain two life every time you draw a card, Niv-Mizzet can turn that two life into two more cards. If you have a lifegain doubler, like The Wind Crystal out, this becomes infinite since you’ll gain two life each time you draw a card.

While you need a lot of mana to win instantly, Approach of the Second Sun also creates a sort of pseudo-combo with Niv-Mizzet. Since the card both gains you seven life and tucks itself seven cards deep into your deck on your first cast, Niv-Mizzet will essentially draw it back into your hand. From here, if you have the mana, you just need to cast it a second time to win.

The Best Commander in Reality Fracture

With an absurd game plan and plenty of easy-to-assemble infinite combos, Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel is by far the best new Commander in Reality Fracture. By focusing on lifegain, this deck also supports a ton of other two-card infinite combos, like Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood. With all this in mind, Niv-Mizzet might not just be the best Reality Fracture Commander, but the best lifegain Commander in the entire game.

Stick with us here at dev.mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew, and our brand new MTG Rocks Podcast!