This deck might be a lot stronger in BO3 compared to BO1, because of the shuffling algorithm: white/red opponents will more often have the nut draw than not. Certainly I don't recall white opponents in BO1 being mana screwed very often for example, while it has happened in BO3 already.

Also boy BO3 is hard, especially when both sides have transformational sideboards.

Sorry for the delay

Ok so On B03 RDW is almost gone so that is great for this deck, also Esper has pick up popularity... and that is also very good for us.
This days I´m seeing Sultai, Gruul -wich has become quite a difficult match with 4 cindervines post board- WW less than a couple weeks tho a lot of Simic that its a chore to play I´m just conceding actively to save my mind, so overall the field is a lot better now than before the Mythic invitational.

So I SB a lot like what you are saying... I loose the Biogenic Ooze for Kraxis and that helps stabilize a lot, Phoenix i´m not sold TBH.
Against Aggro I trim counters, Syncopate on the draw is quite bad also Sabotage comes too late in this cases so I trim those and go full Burn, Search out also in hyper aggressive decks... sultai you might want to keep at least one coz those games can go long.

I saw you with Brontodon seems asking a lot to the manabase at least on curve, why not Vivien instead, or Cindervines?
I put 2 on the SB just now to test... the Simic matchup has gone quite bad lately.
I can see my self adding one Blink coz that piece of crap deck is driving me nutS!

1) Do you ever trim on Expansion//Explosion? Why?

Almost never but when lately I have trimmed one against hyper aggro
2) Do you ever trim on Chemister's Insight & Wilderness Reclamation? Why?
Same as before I go 3 of each for the hyper aggro matchups. Insight might be bad early but its very important to stabilize behind a reclamation so going to low on them can be problematic, same goes with Niv 3 is too much in this matchups.

About the sideboard plan you posted on page 1,

- Why trim Spell Pierce vs. RDW? Odds are you can trade 1 mana for 3 life which should be good.
- Against Nexus I think your sideboard plan is too ambitious. They might not transform, and even if they do tapping out for Ooze is just too dangerous (they resolve Wilderness Reclamation and you effectively lose). Your sideboard is short cards against it though (right now I have Crushing Canopy & Thrashing Brontodon in my sideboard).
- Sultai is the deck I'm least certain how to sideboard against. Lately I've been boarding out all my Niv Mizzets, mainly because getting him hit by Vivien almost loses the game. Niv is amazing if I have Wilderness Reclamation in play, but if I do, I'm already in good shape. Meanwhile I keep all my counterspells because there's a chance they bring in their own, and I need counters to force Wilderness Reclamation through. In fact I've actually found myself bringing in Negates.

I still need to put together a coherent 15-card sideboard, right now I often find I run out of bad cards to take out. With some reluctance I'm also going to spend a Mythic wildcard on another Phoenix - that card has been more than pulling its weight in the maindeck.

I'm beginning to like this deck! Using this maindeck and sideboard right now:

2 x Opt
2 x Shivan Fire
2 x Syncopate

4 x Growth Spiral
2 x Search for Azcanta

3 x Sinister Sabotage
2 x Fiery Cannonade

2 x Rekindling Phoenix
4 x Chemister's Insight
4 x Wilderness Reclamation

3 x Niv-Mizzet, Parun
4 x Expansion//Explosion

26 x land


Sideboard:

2 x Negate
2 x Lava Coil
2 x Fiery Cannonade
2 x Thrashing Brontodon
2 x Crushing Canopy
2 x Gift of Paradise
1 x Rekindling Phoenix
2 x Biogenic Ooze


vs. Sultai
-all Niv-Mizzet, some Expansion//Explosion (depends on how many discard spells they're running), some Fiery Cannonade (depends on their post-board plan: pay attention to whether they keep in Llanowar Elves or bring in Kraul Harpooner)
+Rekindling Phoenix, Biogenic Ooze, potentially Negate

Switch removal around based on what you see. Thief of Sanity is especially dangerous and needs to die immediately. They can have Hostage Taker post-board to answer your creatures, but fortunately Shivan Fire can kill Hostage Taker. If you're running Shock instead of Shivan Fire then things get more complicated; I'd probably hedge towards using Lava Coil instead. If given the choice, use Syncopate on Hydroid Krasis so they can't recur it. Don't expose Wilderness Reclamation to Vivien if possible.

vs. Esper
-Fiery Cannonade, possibly one Growth Spiral, Opt (since games go long and you don't need to cantrip so much)
+Negate, Rekindling Phoenix/Biogenic Ooze depending on what you see, Crushing Canopy

It's going to be a long grind post-board. Don't tap out for a threat if they can play Teferi after; you can't easily get it off the board. If they play Thought Erasure, copy it with Expansion if possible. I'd probably not go for both Phoenix and Ooze because there's not enough space, but one or the other depending on what removal you see. If they keep in Vraska's Contempt, then bring in Ooze; if they have Kaya's Wrath, then use Rekindling Phoenix.

One or two Crushing Canopy makes sense since they kill Thief of Sanity as well as Search for Azcanta. I would board down on Shivan Fire, but not cut htem completely.

vs. Mono White
-Niv-Mizzet, Expansion//Explosion, Sinister Sabotage, some Wilderness Reclamation
+all removal spells, Thrashing Brontodon, Rekindling Phoenix, Biogenic Ooze

Not a good matchup. Hopefully you can stabilize behind the tough-to-remove creatures. Not sure if Gift of Paradise is worth it. Also not sure if 4x Fiery Cannonade is worth it. It's good some of the time, but a single Cannonade often doesn't do enough damage, and casting two is just too mana intensive. On the other hand, if one does not bring in 4x Fiery Cannonade in this matchup, they should go out of the sideboard since they're not relevant enough in other matchups. Brontodon is imperative because it not only blocks well, their answer (if they have an answer) to Phoenix is Conclave Tribunal, and Brontodon kills it.

vs. Mono Red
-Niv-Mizzet, some Expansion//Explosion (this is better vs. MonoR than MonoW because you can copy their burn spells to kill their creatures), some Wilderness Reclamation
+all removal spells, Thrashing Brontodon, Rekindling Phoenix, Gift of Paradise

Same as above. It's important to have the creatures to turn the corner with, because if you both play draw-go they're eventually going to draw the burn to finish you off.

vs. Mono blue
-Expansion//Explosion, Sinister Sabotage (fighting counterwars is a bad idea against a tempo deck)
+all removal spells, Rekindling Phoenix, Crushing Canopy

Not sure about this matchup at all. What do you think? How many Fiery Cannonade would you keep in, would you really bring in all removal spells?

Pre-board Niv-Mizzet outright wins the game, post-board Crushing Canopy can kill Deep Freeze (one of their only ways to beat Niv-Mizzet). Phoenix resolving is big game against them as well.

vs. Nexus
-Shivan Fire, Fiery Cannonade, Rekindling Phoenix
+Negate, Crushing Canopy, Thrashing Brontodon

This assumes they don't transform, which they probably won't, because if they do then just land a Reclamation on the turn they tap out for a creature and you're in good shape. If given the choice, use Syncopate on Nexus.

vs. Gruul
-?? (Search for Azcanta?)
+Rekindling Phoenix, Thrashing Brontodon

No idea about this matchup as well. The main concern from their part is Rekindling Phoenix, which you have no answer for save for countering it, and Cindervines. Brontodon is likely a shoo-in, but Crushing Canopy seems like overreacting since it has no other targets. I am not sure what to board out. Instinctively I'd take out Niv-Mizzet because it dies to Collision/Colossus, but it's one of the only ways you have to permanently kill their Phoenix. Counterspells are probably poor, but they can counter these problem cards. I have no idea. What do you think?

The Gruul matchup seems pretty hard, not to mention pretty common. They have 4x Cindervines, and I can't bring in Crushing Canopy because I can't hit anything else with it. Brontodon and Phoenix can conceivably block but Phoenix can die to their burn spells, Brontodon can't block 4/4s (Spellbreaker & adapted Growth Chamber Guardians), and if they have a Phoenix too it's hard to answer it. Finally Ooze dies to Lightning Strike. As long as Cindervines is in play the matchup feels quite hard. Any thoughts about it? Maybe +1 Biogenic Ooze in the sideboard and board down on Wilderness Reclamation?

Also I'm currently diamond 3 playing Bo3 and I'm literally not seeing monoblue. No idea why.

EDIT: I think I'll lay off this deck for a while. The meta's simply too hostile and/or I'm just too unlucky. I can't even reliably beat Esper because Thief of Sanity wipes me out.

Reached Mythic with Temur Reclamation, same list as a few posts ago but sideboard tweaked a little:

2 x Negate
2 x Lava Coil
1 x Fiery Cannonade
2 x Thrashing Brontodon
1 x Crushing Canopy
2 x Gift of Paradise
1 x Rekindling Phoenix
3 x Biogenic Ooze
1 x Entrancing Melody


- Either I got lucky, or 4x Fiery Cannonade appears to be overkill. If I have four of them I do bring them in against mono-W and mono-R, but drawing multiples is usually bad because the first one would've done everything already. Anything that's still on the board is probably not dying to the second Fiery Cannonade. At that point I might as well just run three and pray not to run into these two decks.
- The 3 Rekindling Phoenix between the maindeck and sideboard sort of boomed and bust. If opponent cannot answer them they're great, otherwise I just go down in flames. I lost count of the number of times opponent would have a fair amount of power on the board, I play Phoenix, they have Vraska's Contempt/Lava Coil/Conclave Tribunal, and I'm just dead. On the other hand, there isn't a realistic card that would've helped me in those situations. A 1-to-1 removal spell would help a bit, but I'm usually under pressure from multiple creatures.
- Crushing Canopy is seldom better than Thrashing Brontodon. Brontodon can not only block (especially important vs. Gruul, mono-W and mono-R, all of which have enchantments you want to kill too), it can clock a Reclamation player + cannot be countered once in play + immune to Negate + you only need to hold up 1 mana. The big exception is vs. mono-U, but that deck literally fell off the face of the Earth and I so rarely queued against it that I'm OK with this split.
- 3x Biogenic Ooze might be too much. I often run out of things to board out, especially since matchups in which Ooze is good usually means Phoenix is also good.
- Entrancing Melody overperformed. I'm considering going up to two copies. Being able to steal Hydroid Krasis for 2 mana is very strong, it answers Phoenix, and it's serviceable against other creature decks. Heck, against one Grixis deck, I stole Thief of Sanity with it and they turned out not to have removal.
- One very noticeable weakness of this sideboard is, against Nexus, I have six cards to board out (2x Shivan Fire 2x Cannonade 2x Phoenix) and only 5 to bring in (2x Negate 1 Crushing Canopy 1 Thrashing Brontodon).
- It's conceivable one of these sideboard slots should be Search for Azcanta. That card seems very strong simply because it can be played early, before the standoff in control mirrors where neither side can tap out starts. Later in the game since it's only 2 mana so you can cast it while still holding up counterspells.
- It is possible that boarding out all the Expansion//Explosion is a bad idea. That is, the deck might be at its core a Wilderness Reclamation + Explosion combo deck. One can board down on the combo, but not all of it. Perhaps I stagnated at Diamond 3-4 because of this subpar sideboard plan. After I switched I also flooded out less.

When do you board in Melody? Replace with Azcanta?

Man I can't beat Sultai explore.

It's a great deck. Just went to Platinum from Gold 4 in 24 hours.

I think Sultai is a good matchup but it's not as good as the guides make it out to be. Game 1 you are relatively favored because their clock is quite slow unless they have the nut draw of Wildgrowth Walker into Jadelight Ranger. Other creatures like Merfolk Branchwalker you can hopefully clean up with Fiery Cannonade, failing which you can potentially still block with Phoenix. If you're not under pressure absolutely do not expose Wilderness Reclamation into a possible Vivien unless you have counters to back it up. Once you resolve Reclamation, point your Expansion//Explosion at creatures to stay ahead on cards (always being mindful of Vivien because it's their scariest card) and you should be able to grind them out. Aside from Vivien their only other real threat is Hostage Taker with a lot of mana available. Counter their relevant spells - cards like Vraska Golgari queen aren't actually dangerous unless she reaches her ultimate.

Post-board things get dicier, but it depends on their configuration. Pay attention to what they bring in against you. If they have Duress Thought Erasure etc you probably don't need Fiery Cannonade; if they bring in Kraul Harpooner, you want it. I generally try to next-level them with my own sideboard. Vraska's Contempt lines up well against Phoenix, but is poor against Biogenic Ooze. Finality is great against Ooze but bad against Phoenix + Niv-Mizzet. Niv-Mizzet usually gets boarded down on because I can't realistically expect to untap with him unless I've completely won; however he's also the fastest way to turn the corner. If it looks like they don't have many copies of Vivien in their 75 then I might have one Niv-Mizzet after board. Some Sultai players try to fight you with Negate; if you see that that usually means they're boarding down on creatures, so bring in your own Negates or at least switch out Syncopate for them. Lava Coil is better than Shock/Shivan Fire because it kills Hostage Taker, but Shock/Shivan Fire are necessary if you see Thief of Sanity.

Melody is an all-around good card against them because it's not just a 2-for-1, you can take their Hydroid Krasis for 4 mana. I would keep Azcanta because it's a good early play and it's big if you manage to flip it. It's not just the activations - getting an extra mana helps you win counter wars.

Sultai has the tools to beat you, but they need to have the right sideboard. Game 1 is favored for you regardless. Overall I think it's about a 55-45 to 60-40 matchup.

Yeah they seem to get the nut draw every time. To be honest, I haven't run into them much lately. Just lost to like 3 in a row early on my run to platinum.

I'm getting better at playing the control matchups. The key is patience. Wait for them to drop the main threat, counter and then play Reclamation. Game over. Niv is a monster. Most fun was using him against WW as a sweeper lol.

For some reason I thought Shivan hit for 5 when kicked. That would really be helpful.

Now that I've found a good deck that's fun to play, when does everything rotate lol?

This is my WAR temur, it now includes RAL´s infinite damage as an alternative win con.
3 x Opt (XLN) 65
4 x Growth Spiral (RNA) 178
2 x Search for Azcanta (XLN) 74

4 x Wilderness Reclamation (RNA) 149
4 x Chemister's Insight (GRN) 32

4 x Fiery Cannonade (XLN) 143
4 x Sinister Sabotage (GRN) 54

4 x Ral, Storm Conduit (WAR) 211
4 x Expansion // Explosion (GRN) 224
2 x Narset's Reversal (WAR) 62

4 x Steam Vents (GRN) 257
4 x Sulfur Falls (DAR) 247
4 x Hinterland Harbor (DAR) 240
2 x Stomping Ground (RNA) 259
3 x Rootbound Crag (XLN) 256
4 x Breeding Pool (RNA) 246
2 x Island (M19) 267
2 x Mountain (RIX) 195

3 x Negate (RIX) 44
2 x God-Eternal Kefnet (WAR) 53
2 x Lava Coil (GRN) 108
3 x Saheeli, Sublime Artificer (WAR) 234
3 x Cindervines (RNA) 161
2 x Blast Zone (WAR) 244


Most of the deck is in early testing but Ral really pushed the deck, now its very fast and a lot more consistent, the ability to copy spells is huge, copying our Chemisters insight or Fiery cannonade to start... then copy an Exp for 3-4 and you are refilling your hand in a hurry.

Ok so cards from the new set in the main deck:

Ral and Narset´s Reversal

So the combo for anyone that is not familiar with it goes like this:

1.Play Ral
2. Cast any cheap spell or wait for your opponent to cast it
3. Copy that spell with EXP, this is going to make Ral trigger, resolve that trigger.
4. Cast the SECOND EXP and copy the first one on the stack before it becomes the copy of the original spell, this will trigger Ral again, let that resolve
5. Keep copying the FIRST EXP you casted -if not the combo will fizzle- and please do click on resolve all, coz its not pretty.
6. Rinse and repeat.


I´m testing 2 copies of Narset´s Reversal on the main deck for consistency and against counter wars, its a soft spot for sure and maybe more of a SB card but... its early in the meta and I feel like testing it.


The rest of the deck remains quite similar, but I chopped a lot of Burn to give more space to Ral, Niv is still the Boss but now the deck curves at 4 and that is quite the change.

I also added Blast Zone to the side board I will test it and see if it´s worth a place on the main deck... it seems really busted in a reclamation shell TBH.


EDIT: Blast Zone is frigging great! 1 or 2 in the main... that is the question, with out Niv the mana base is a lot more flexible... HMMMM
EDIT 2: 2 Blast zones is the right number never look back!
small changes on the SB

and I´m back with 2 syncopates MD
I think this is T1 ATM, I was 88% after testing a lot of crap but crawled back to 94% with a 5-0, Grixis and Esper have little game against the deck and the aggro piles are so aggressive that cannonade just kills them on the spot.

2 Search for Azcanta (XLN) 74

2 Syncopate (DAR) 67
4 Sinister Sabotage (GRN) 54
4 Fiery Cannonade (XLN) 143

3 Opt (XLN) 65
4 Growth Spiral (RNA) 178

4 Ral, Storm Conduit (WAR) 211

4 Expansion // Explosion (GRN) 224
4 Wilderness Reclamation (RNA) 149
4 Chemister's Insight (GRN) 32

2 Blast Zone (WAR) 244

4 Steam Vents (GRN) 257
4 Sulfur Falls (DAR) 247
1 Island (M19) 267
1 Mountain (RIX) 195
4 Breeding Pool (RNA) 246
4 Hinterland Harbor (DAR) 240
2 Stomping Ground (RNA) 259
3 Rootbound Crag (XLN) 256

3 Negate (RIX) 44
2 God-Eternal Kefnet (WAR) 53
4 Lava Coil (GRN) 108
2 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer (WAR) 234
1 Narset's Reversal (WAR) 62
3 Dire Fleet Daredevil (RIX) 99

I really want to try that combo out. I have 4 Ral from cracking packs and two Sealed pools. I believe I still only have one Expansion though and I feel the 7 rare wilds I have now should go toward lands.

Playing with this now. Against some kind of mirror. He's mainboarding Nexus and Ral's Outburst. This game is going to take forever. He's killed two of my Rals with copying Ral's Outburst and he's got Azcanta flipped and Reclamation on the board.

Ouch. He just reversed my Expansion for 7 that I was trying to kill his Ral. I'm losing this game for sure lol. He just -2 Ral on his turn. He's doing explosion to the face for lethal I think. Yep.

Ouch! Game 2. He's already played Nexus 3 x. Narset's Reversal on a Nexus is dirty... I don't think he's running counters... Nevermind, he just threw away a negate. Probably from his SB.

Just reversed his Expansion for 4. Just got nexus's again and then he drops Azcanta and still has Rec on the board. I had SB'd in Saheeli. My two artifact creatures could win this game...

He's about to explode to my face, and I'm gonna Reverse it...no hes playing Nexus..., I countered, he countered, I Reversed and targeted Nexus...He's got expanison in his hadn still. So that was a misplay. He just got his Nexus and my reversed Nexus...

That was some cool moves.

Ouch that sounds painful!
I´m 6-0 with it on mythic ladder I think I can get to the 1K with it this weekend, Nexus reclamation is a very bad matchup for sure.... I HATE THAT DECK!!!

Played a bit with this deck in unranked BO1, it still feels OK. Untapping with Niv-Mizzet hasn't gotten any less weaker and maybe 95% of the time leads to a win. Heck, I just beat a Trostani + Thorn Lieutenant + 2 saprolings + 3 lifelink tokens with me on 3 life and only having 2 Niv-Mizzets in hand. Play Niv-Mizzet, untap, use Azcanta to find Chemister's Insight. Use Chemister's Insight, find another Chemister's Insight. Second Reclamation untaps, cast Chemister's Insight, find Opt & Growth Spiral. His board's utterly decimated. RIP.

It's possible Temur will have a special place in the upcoming meta because Grixis gained a lot, and it has no enchantment removal. However the bad matchups still seem awful. Temur didn't gain anything to help it survive vs. aggro decks that I can see.

Perhaps switching colors is better. White for example gives many attractive sideboard cards: Ajani is a haymaker vs. red, and Teferi/Teyo counter the two most common ways to beat you - Negate and discard respectively. Tamiyo also works against decks trying to use Thought Erasure, although the +1 ability seems pretty poor. White also gives you access to real sweepers, and a strictly better Negate to win counter wars with. The only problem is, there doesn't appear to be any win condition as strong as Niv-Mizzet in white, and going four colors seems impractical.

EDIT: Giving up red also gives up Expansion//Explosion, which should be a big loss. Ouch.

Bumping this for post-ban Ikoria meta. I've been trialling Niv Mizzet, it's been hit and miss.

Pros:

- Untapping with Niv Mizzet has gotten slightly less powerful (because you are now facing cards like Uro which take a lot of pings to die), but it's still strong enough that it's usually a win. It's significantly better at closing out the game than the next-best win condition Expansion//Explosion. Explosion can only remove one creature, Niv can remove several and still block their biggest creature.
- Niv Mizzet can also bail you out against many decks. You could be well behind on the board, stick Niv, and win.
- Niv Mizzet competes against Shark Typhoon, and there are matchups for which Niv is better: sacrifice (because it interacts with them and it's immune to Claim the Firstborn) and Temur Clover spring first to mind.

Cons:

- It's not easy on the mana. Assuming you still play Uro (which you probably should given the power level of that card, plus the fact that you kind of need lifegain to survive reach from sacrifice/cycling), then you need Fabled Passage, and from there you need Forest. But Forest doesn't cast Niv Mizzet. The issue is manageable, but it's definitely noticeable.
- There are good answers to Niv Mizzet now that don't trigger its ability: Elspeth Conquers Death & Teferi.
- There are also times when Typhoon is legitimately better than Niv Mizzet. Being able to make a creature at instant speed lets you attack Teferi, although Teferi is probably not dying. Typhoon can also be a surprise blocker, as well as work better with Reclamation.
- There's one annoying interaction with Niv Mizzet, and it's that it doesn't work with Thassa's Intervention (Intervention puts the cards into hand, which is not the same as drawing it). That's really unfortunate because of how versatile Intervention is. Playing BO1, I definitely miss not having a counterspell in my deck.
- Uro & Shark Typhoon both aren't instants, so running out of ammunition with Niv Mizzet has gotten a little more likely.

I'm thinking that perhaps for BO1 play (like what I'm doing) it makes sense to run multiple different cards (i.e. fewer 4-ofs). After all the deck sees a lot of cards, and unexpected cards can keep opponents on their toes. For example if I get the chance to resolve an Expansion//Explosion for a bunch, it's annoying to not have a counterspell to draw into to help survive to the next untap step.

I stole Seth Manfield's list and made some changes:

- 2 Aether Gust (I refuse to play this maindeck in BO1)
- 1 Shark Typhoon
+ 1 Storm's Wrath
+ 1 Niv Mizzet, Parun (replaces Shark Typhoon)
+ 1 Opt (hard for me to imagine playing Uro without 4 Opts, works well with Niv anyway)
(+ some changes to the mana base to accommodate Niv)

And so far I'm quite happy. Niv has single-handedly won several games, including ones in which I was very far behind. The most amazing one was the game against a UW control opponent who was up several cards on me, and had several 1/1 tokens beating down to boot. Unfortunately for him he'd used all his Banishing Lights on my Wilderness Reclamations, and hadn't drawn an ECD. I untapped with Niv, the pings mowed down his Dream Trawler (seriously), and I won a game no other card could've let me win.

Niv Mizzet's biggest competitors are obviously Shark Typhoon & Expansion//Explosion. Both have serious drawbacks relative to Niv:

- Shark Typhoon often just isn't big enough. At 6 mana, Typhoon is a 4/4 flyer. That's not even enough to attack Teferi off the board. Plus opponent can easily survive several hits from it.
- Expansion//Explosion is even more mana intensive. At 6 mana, you get to nuke for 2 (!) damage. That's not even enough to kill Mayhem Devil. It's also vulnerable to counterspells, especially Dovin's Veto & Negate.

Granted both spells also have moments when they're better than Niv, but Niv has enough advantages that I think a single copy is fine in a deck that draws this many cards. In the same way, I have a single copy of Storm's Wrath, and would like a single copy of Brazen Borrower (probably over Neutralize which has been very medium).

I love how you refuse to maindeck Aether Gust in BO1 while Kannister slaps the playset into his Jund pile.

Lol, I guess I just really, really, really hate UW control.