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 Warden Soul Warden Whenever 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 Tablet of the Guilds As this artifact enters, choose two colors.
Whenever you cast a spell, if it's at least one of the chosen colors, you gain 1 life for each of the chosen colors it is. , 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 Peace of Mind {W}, Discard a card: You gain 3 life. , also get flipped on their head, drawing three cards for one mana and a discard. Extort effects like Blind Obedience Blind Obedience Extort (Whenever you cast a spell, you may pay {W/B}. If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain that much life.)
Artifacts and creatures your opponents control enter tapped. are particularly powerful, adding an Ancestral Recall Ancestral Recall Target player draws three cards. to every spell you cast.

Notably, there’s a fair few hate cards with incremental life gain, like Archivist of Oghma Archivist of Oghma Flash
Whenever an opponent searches their library, you gain 1 life and draw a card. and Kambal, Consul of Allocation Kambal, Consul of Allocation Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, that player loses 2 life and you gain 2 life. that turn into draw engines Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel. While these are already auto-adds, lifegain doublers like Rhox Faithmender Rhox Faithmender Lifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.)
If you would gain life, you gain twice that much life instead. and The Wind Crystal The Wind Crystal White spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
If you would gain life, you gain twice that much life instead.
{4}{W}{W}, {T}: Creatures you control gain flying and lifelink until end of turn. can double the amount of value they create. Alhammarret’s Archive Alhammarret’s Archive If you would gain life, you gain twice that much life instead.
If you would draw a card except the first one you draw in each of your draw steps, draw two cards instead. 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 Karlov of the Ghost Council Whenever you gain life, put two +1/+1 counters on Karlov.
{W}{B}, Remove six +1/+1 counters from Karlov: Exile target creature. become powerful, scaling threats. This also opens the door for cards like Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life.
{3}{B}{B}: Creatures you control gain lifelink until end of turn. , Bloodthirsty Conqueror Bloodthirsty Conqueror Flying, deathtouch
Whenever an opponent loses life, you gain that much life. (Damage causes loss of life.) , and Sanguine Bond Sanguine Bond Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life. 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 Thousand-Year Elixir You may activate abilities of creatures you control as though those creatures had haste.
{1}, {T}: Untap target creature. to activate Niv-Mizzet multiple times. Trigger doublers like Roaming Throne Roaming Throne Ward {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 Flare of Fortitude You may sacrifice a nontoken white creature rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Until end of turn, your life total can't change, and permanents you control gain hexproof and indestructible. and Flawless Maneuver Flawless Maneuver If you control a commander, you may cast this spell without paying its mana cost.
Creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn. , 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 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse Deathtouch
Whenever you draw a card, you gain 2 life.
Whenever an opponent draws a card, they lose 2 life. . 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 Starving Revenant When this creature enters, surveil 2. Then for each card you put on top of your library, you draw a card and you lose 3 life.
Descend 8 — Whenever you draw a card, if there are eight or more permanent cards in your graveyard, target opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. also draws your deck with Niv-Mizzet, adding near-infinite life loss to your opponents. Queza, Augur of Agonies Queza, Augur of Agonies Whenever you draw a card, target opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. and Shabraz, the Skyshark Shabraz, the Skyshark Partner with Brallin, Skyshark Rider
Flying
Whenever you draw a card, put a +1/+1 counter on Shabraz and you gain 1 life.
{W/U}: Target Human gains flying until end of turn. 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 Curse of Fool’s Wisdom Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player draws a card, they lose 2 life and you gain 2 life.
Madness {3}{B} (If you discard this card, discard it into exile. When you do, cast it for its madness cost or put it into your graveyard.) to essentially build your own Necropotence Necropotence Skip 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 The Wind Crystal White spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
If you would gain life, you gain twice that much life instead.
{4}{W}{W}, {T}: Creatures you control gain flying and lifelink until end of turn. 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 Approach of the Second Sun If this spell was cast from your hand and you've cast another spell named Approach of the Second Sun this game, you win the game. Otherwise, put Approach of the Second Sun into its owner's library seventh from the top and you gain 7 life. 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 Sanguine Bond Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life. and Exquisite Blood Exquisite Blood Whenever an opponent loses life, you gain that much life. . 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.

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