$0.72 Izzet Goblin Creates Infinite Damage, Card Draw, and Storm Combos

In Commander, one theme I find very interesting to craft around is Experience Counters. Originally introduced in Commander 2015, this mechanic is easier to abuse than it might seem. Of the 16 legends that pay you off for building up your experience level, Mizzix of the Izmagnus Mizzix of the Izmagnus Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell with mana value greater than the number of experience counters you have, you get an experience counter.
Instant and sorcery spells you cast cost {1} less to cast for each experience counter you have. is one of the most exciting, with combo potential through the roof.

MTG Mizzix of the Izmagnus

As a Spellslinger Commander at heart, Mizzix unsurprisingly encourages you to fill your deck with instants and sorceries. Early on, simple spells like Preordain Preordain Scry 2, then draw a card. (To scry 2, look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom and the rest on top in any order.) or Ponder Ponder Look at the top three cards of your library, then put them back in any order. You may shuffle.
Draw a card. will help you start your experience counter train. The more counters you rack up, the bigger discount Mizzix provides, but you’ll need to keep casting spells of increasing mana value to keep triggering the Goblin Wizard.

With this in mind, you want your deck to encompass spells of varying costs. Rituals like Pyretic Ritual Pyretic Ritual Add {R}{R}{R}. and Seething Song Seething Song Add {R}{R}{R}{R}{R}. are therefore key to this deck’s game plan, letting you chain smaller spells into bigger ones and rack up experience counters quickly. It doesn’t take long before land-untapping spells like Frantic Search Frantic Search Draw two cards, then discard two cards. Untap up to three lands. and Treasure-producing spells like Big Score Big Score As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card.
Draw two cards and create two Treasure tokens. (They're artifacts with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.") start netting you mana, too.

All the while, you can churn through your deck in search of more impactful spells, including extra-turn spells like Time Warp Time Warp Target player takes an extra turn after this one. , that keep the experience counters coming. Notably, spells like Dig Through Time Dig Through Time Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for {1}.)
Look at the top seven cards of your library. Put two of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. and Blasphemous Act Blasphemous Act This spell costs {1} less to cast for each creature on the battlefield.
Blasphemous Act deals 13 damage to each creature. , which can naturally be cast at big discounts, still help trigger Mizzix, making them elite additions.

Once you’re at a truly high amount of Experience counters, Proliferate effects like Radstorm Radstorm Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn.)
Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) and Flux Channeler Flux Channeler Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) can keep pushing things further. The latter even has the upside of synergizing with Harmonic Prodigy Harmonic Prodigy Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
If a triggered ability of a Shaman or another Wizard you control triggers, that ability triggers an additional time. and similar trigger doublers, speeding up the experience counter growth. Doing so only makes other experience payoffs like Katara, Waterbending Master Katara, Waterbending Master Whenever you cast a spell during an opponent's turn, you get an experience counter.
Whenever Katara attacks, you may draw a card for each experience counter you have. If you do, discard a card. and Atreus, Impulsive Son Atreus, Impulsive Son Reach
{3}, {T}: Draw a card for each experience counter you have, then discard a card. Atreus deals 2 damage to each opponent.
Partner—Father & son (You can have two commanders if both have this ability.) more threatening over time.

With your engine running smoothly, your final step is to find ways to close the game. One approach is to use classic Spellslinger tools like Talrand, Sky Summoner Talrand, Sky Summoner Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, create a 2/2 blue Drake creature token with flying. , and Guttersnipe Guttersnipe Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, this creature deals 2 damage to each opponent. to maximize your Storm turns. Alternatively, you can also burn opponents out in one shot via Comet Storm Comet Storm Multikicker {1} (You may pay an additional {1} any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Choose any target, then choose another target for each time this spell was kicked. Comet Storm deals X damage to each of them. or Jaya’s Immolating Inferno Jaya’s Immolating Inferno (You may cast a legendary sorcery only if you control a legendary creature or planeswalker.)
Jaya's Immolating Inferno deals X damage to each of up to three targets. . For those who want to dig even deeper, however, there are also some infinite combo options that make ending games trivial.

Infinite Damage, Card Draw, and Mana

Mizzix enables a boatload of infinite combos, but the most effective way to end the spot centers on Urabrask Urabrask First strike
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, Urabrask deals 1 damage to target opponent. Add {R}.
{R}: Exile Urabrask, then return it to the battlefield transformed under its owner's control. Activate only as a sorcery and only if you've cast three or more instant and/or sorcery spells this turn. and Searing Touch Searing Touch Buyback {4} (You may pay an additional {4} as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
Searing Touch deals 1 damage to any target. . Once you have four experience counters, you can cast Searing Touch with Buyback for just one mana, dealing 1 damage to an opponent. This in turn triggers Urabrask, dealing another damage and netting you a red mana. You can funnel this mana into Searing Touch again and again until each opponent takes lethal damage.

Importantly, other Buyback spells like Seething Anger Seething Anger Buyback {3} (You may pay an additional {3} as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
Target creature gets +3/+0 until end of turn. and Haze of Rage Haze of Rage Buyback {2} (You may pay an additional {2} as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
Creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn.) also do the trick alongside Urabrask, increasing the combo’s redundancy. Similarly, you can replace Urabrask with Storm-Kiln Artist Storm-Kiln Artist This creature gets +1/+0 for each artifact you control.
Magecraft — Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.") or Birgi, God of Storytelling Birgi, God of Storytelling Whenever you cast a spell, add {R}. Until end of turn, you don't lose this mana as steps and phases end.
Creatures you control can boast twice during each of your turns rather than once. and still get infinite damage from Searing Touch.

Beyond setting up infinite-damage combos, Mizzix also helps you draw your whole deck with Reiterate Reiterate Buyback {3} (You may pay an additional {3} as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
Copy target instant or sorcery spell. You may choose new targets for the copy. and Ashling’s Command Ashling’s Command Choose two —
• Create a token that's a copy of target Elemental you control.
• Target player draws two cards.
• Ashling's Command deals 2 damage to each creature target player controls.
• Target player creates two Treasure tokens. . With three experience counters and four mana on hand, you can cast Ashling’s Command, choosing the Treasure-making and card draw modes. Then, holding priority, cast Reiterate with Buyback copying Ashling’s Command. When the copy resolves, you’ll net two Treasures, which you can use to recast Reiterate and keep the chain going.

Interestingly, Mizzix and Reiterate also combo nicely with any Ritual, allowing you to produce infinite mana instead. Doing so makes any of your Fireballs lethal immediately.

Fun, Unique, and Cheap

Whether you go heavy on combos or use Mizzix’s discount to cast a flurry of impactful spells, it’s hard to go wrong with this Commander. This makes it a bit surprising that fewer than 6,000 decks use this legend as their Commander, according to EDHREC.

Luckily, Mizzix’s low demand, coupled with its handful of reprints, has kept its price tag down at just $0.72. So, if using experience counters and a big discount to your advantage sounds appealing, you can always pick up a copy on the cheap to give it a shot.

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