Double Drawgon

By Conley Woods

Magic 2013 has stolen most of the show recently when it comes to new and innovative decklists, which has naturally meant a focus on Standard. Still, at Daily Decks, we like to mix it up from time to time. Commander, Legacy, Modern, and Block all produce some pretty awesome decklists, which is why we turn our focus to the big-deck format today: Commander. Specifically, Hanyou submitted the following hundred-card list over at TCGPlayer.com, and it has quite the case of Curiosity killing the cat, along with everything else.

You see, about seven years ago, one of the greatest Magic sets ever, Ravnica, hit shelves. In fact, we will be returning to that very place in a month or two. In this land of multicolor cards, many favorites were born. One Dragon stood head and shoulders above the rest, though, and he is today's Commander: Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. Niv-Mizzet has obvious player appeal, being a blue dragon and all, but he also happened to have one of the cooler text boxes anyone had ever seen. Immediately, a combo involving Curiosity plus Niv-Mizzet was realized and casual fans (along with some rogue competitive ones) got to work.

Naturally, the combo works by Curiosity drawing a card upon damage being dealt, while Niv-Mizzet deals damage for each card drawn, creating a near-infinite loop limited only by the number of cards in your deck. Hanyou decided to play a little more fair, though, limiting the number of Curiosity clones to things like Tandem Lookout. Instead of using an instant-win combo, which is frowned upon in some circles, Hanyou played with a bunch of cards that everyone loves, like Howling Mine and Font of Mythos. It's pretty easy to make it to the late game and get all of your interactions working properly when everyone wants to keep you alive as you draw them additional cards!

Remember that in Commander, you have easier access to your general than any other card in your deck, allowing decks that are built around a single card to still exist. In this case, Niv-Mizzet turns most of the cards in your deck into powerhouses, so having access to him whenever you have the mana to cast him is quite nice. Now, where did I put those Spellbooks...

Hanyou's Drawn Out

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Planeswalker (2)

1 Jace Beleren 1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

Creature (23)

1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind 1 Adamaro, First to Desire 1 Aeon Chronicler 1 Arcanis the Omnipotent 1 Clone 1 Consecrated Sphinx 1 Dominus of Fealty 1 Dragonmaster Outcast 1 Enclave Cryptologist 1 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant 1 Graceful Adept 1 Hapless Researcher 1 Jushi Apprentice 1 Kami of the Crescent Moon 1 Nin, the Pain Artist 1 Psychosis Crawler 1 Sakashima's Student 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Soramaro, First to Dream 1 Sturmgeist 1 Tandem Lookout 1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir 1 Whirlpool Warrior

Sorcery (9)

1 Blasphemous Act 1 Fabricate 1 Invoke the Firemind 1 Ponder 1 Red Sun's Zenith 1 See Beyond 1 Shattering Spree 1 Slagstorm 1 Spiraling Embers

Instant (16)

1 Blue Sun's Zenith 1 Brainstorm 1 Cerebral Vortex 1 Counterspell 1 Cryptic Command 1 Electrolyze 1 Fire // Ice 1 Flusterstorm 1 Forbid 1 Gifts Ungiven 1 Lightning Bolt 1 Remand 1 Rewind 1 Runeflare Trap 1 Unsummon 1 Vapor Snag

Artifact (14)

1 Anvil of Bogardan 1 Empyrial Plate 1 Font of Mythos 1 Howling Mine 1 Iron Maiden 1 Ivory Crane Netsuke 1 Ivory Tower 1 Izzet Signet 1 Mizzium Transreliquat 1 Sol Ring 1 Spellbook 1 Staff of Nin 1 The Rack 1 Venser's Journal

Enchantment (2)

1 Archmage Ascension 1 Bulwark

Land (34)

1 Cascade Bluffs 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Faerie Conclave 1 Ghitu Encampment 1 Halimar Depths 14 Island 1 Izzet Boilerworks 1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea 6 Mountain 1 Reflecting Pool 1 Reliquary Tower 1 Shivan Reef 1 Sulfur Falls 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Vivid Crag 1 Vivid Creek

100 Cards