In case you didn't read the end of the topic title, yes there are spoilers in this decklist for new cards from Guilds of Ravnica(GRN). You have been warned.

For a while now I've been contemplating looking for ways to revamp my Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius (formerly my failed attempt at Melek, Izzet Paragon) control deck, but hadn't been able to decide if I wanted to take another crack at a spells deck or just go silly Red/Blue enchantments.

I may well end up doing both at some point, but the release of Niv-Mizzet, Parun tipped me towards spells. I know it's not a new or novel concept, but Niv piqued my curiosity.

I've made a pass or two of my own already, but the deck is still considerably oversized and I would like input on what to cut, or things to add if you think I've missed something important.

















Deck size currently 139 cards.

Ideas?
Thanks much!!

Edit: Add Mystical Tutor. New count 140 cards.
Edit 2: Consecrated Sphinx
Archmage Ascension <-omg Niv can break this so hard with possibility storm!!!
Chaos Wand
Gamble
Game Plan
Possibility Storm
Time Reversal
Drift of Phantasms
Dramatic Reversal
Opt
Pact of the Titan
Quicken
Visions of Beyond
Faithless Looting
Serum Visions
Winds of Change
Kederekt Leviathan
Coastal Breach
Devastation Tide
159 cards... XD

Now that I've increased the deck size with my original post edits (plus I forgot to add Invert // Invent and Nexus of Fate so it's now 161 cards) it's time to actually make some cuts.



















Deck size currently 116 cards.
Not bad for going up 22 cards initially, but of course, I still need to cut 16 more.
Let's see if reorganizing gives us another angle to work with.

Commander (1)
1 x Niv-Mizzet, Parun


Creatures (13)
1 x Dreamscape Artist
1 x League Guildmage

1 x Tandem Lookout

1 x Solemn Simulacrum
1 x Toothy, Imaginary Friend

1 x Hypersonic Dragon
1 x Psychosis Crawler
1 x Willbreaker

1 x Consecrated Sphinx
1 x Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
1 x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1 x The Locust God

1 x Nezahal, Primal Tide


Non-Creature Permanents (23)
1 x Curiosity

1 x Coldsteel Heart
1 x Fellwar Stone
1 x Fire Diamond
1 x Isochron Scepter
1 x Izzet Signet
1 x Sky Diamond
1 x Thought Vessel

1 x Archmage Ascension
1 x Coalition Relic
1 x Ophidian Eye

1 x Leyline of Anticipation
1 x Vedalken Orrery

1 x Gilded Lotus
1 x Gratuitous Violence
1 x Metallurgic Summonings
1 x Possibility Storm

1 x Rowan Kenrith
1 x Thousand-Year Storm
1 x Will Kenrith

1 x Dismiss into Dream
1 x Swarm Intelligence

1 x Omniscience


Instants and Sorceries (41)
1 x Brainstorm
1 x Faithless Looting
1 x High Tide
1 x Mystical Tutor
1 x Preordain
1 x Visions of Beyond
1 x Winds of Change

1 x Counterspell
1 x Dramatic Reversal
1 x Mission Briefing
1 x Muddle the Mixture
1 x Radical Idea
1 x Think Twice

1 x Bonus Round
1 x Counterflux

1 x Chemister's Insight
1 x Commit // Memory
1 x Cryptic Command
1 x Insidious Will
1 x Paradoxical Outcome
1 x Past in Flames

1 x Devastation Tide
1 x Evacuation
1 x Mystic Confluence
1 x Pact of the Titan
1 x Time Reversal

1 x Game Plan
1 x Invert // Invent
1 x Rise from the Tides
1 x River's Rebuke

1 x Cyclonic Rift
1 x Firemind's Foresight
1 x Nexus of Fate

1 x Mizzix's Mastery
1 x Treasure Cruise

1 x Clone Legion
1 x Expropriate

1 x Enter the Infinite

1 x Curse of the Swine
1 x Epic Experiment
1 x Expansion // Explosion


Lands (38)
1 x Cascade Bluffs
1 x Command Tower
1 x Izzet Boilerworks
1 x Reflecting Pool
1 x Steam Vents
1 x Sulfur Falls
1 x Temple of Epiphany
1 x Wandering Fumarole
1 x Haven of the Spirit Dragon
1 x Myriad Landscape
1 x Reliquary Tower
1 x Riptide Laboratory
16 x Island
10 x Mountain



CMC
Creatures/Non-Creature Permanents/Instants and Sorceries/Total
1-0/1/7/8
2-2/7/6/15
3-1/3/2/6
4-2/2/6/10
5-3/4/5/12
6-4/3/5/12
7-1/2/3/6
8-0/0/2/2
9-0/0/2/2
10-0/1/0/1
11-0/0/0/0
12&X-0/0/4/4

Average-4.69/4.09/4.93/4.64

Well then. That's uh....how do we say...not good. Very very not good.
Curve needs to come waaaaaaaaaaaay down.
Ok, technically it's not quite as bad as the numbers here show because I put variable casting cost things up at the top end of their curve when, realistically speaking, they can easily be cast for less and still be fine, but the overall trend of the deck is still much too high.

Blech.

Made some cuts and adds so the actual deck size hasn't changed much, but I want to get this iteration down.
Deck size currently 115 cards.





Awesome!
Now for my first legal sized iteration of the deck, I can take it for test runs with proxies now and tweak as we go!
Wheeeeee!!

Commander (1)
1 x Niv-Mizzet, Parun


Creatures (11)
1 x Dreamscape Artist
1 x League Guildmage

1 x Solemn Simulacrum
1 x Toothy, Imaginary Friend

1 x Hypersonic Dragon
1 x Psychosis Crawler

1 x Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
1 x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1 x The Locust God

1 x Nezahal, Primal Tide

1 x Stormtide Leviathan


Non-Creature Permanent Spells (19)
1 x Curiosity

1 x Coldsteel Heart
1 x Fellwar Stone
1 x Fire Diamond
1 x Isochron Scepter
1 x Izzet Signet
1 x Sky Diamond
1 x Thought Vessel
1 x Wayfarer's Bauble

1 x Coalition Relic

1 x Leyline of Anticipation
1 x Vedalken Orrery

1 x Gilded Lotus
1 x Metallurgic Summonings

1 x Rowan Kenrith
1 x Thousand-Year Storm
1 x Will Kenrith

1 x Swarm Intelligence

1 x Omniscience


Instants and Sorceries (30)
1 x Brainstorm
1 x Faithless Looting
1 x Gamble
1 x High Tide
1 x Mystical Tutor

1 x Counterspell
1 x Cyclonic Rift
1 x Dramatic Reversal
1 x Expansion // Explosion

1 x Bonus Round
1 x Counterflux

1 x Chemister's Insight
1 x Commit // Memory
1 x Cryptic Command
1 x Fiery Confluence
1 x Insidious Will
1 x Mizzix's Mastery
1 x Past in Flames

1 x Aetherspouts
1 x Chandra's Ignition
1 x Devastation Tide
1 x Mana Geyser
1 x Mystic Confluence
1 x Time Reversal
1 x Treasure Cruise

1 x Invert // Invent
1 x Rise from the Tides

1 x Enter the Infinite

1 x Curse of the Swine
1 x Epic Experiment


Lands (39)
1 x Cascade Bluffs
1 x Command Tower
1 x Izzet Boilerworks
1 x Reflecting Pool
1 x Steam Vents
1 x Sulfur Falls
1 x Temple of Epiphany
1 x Wandering Fumarole
1 x Haven of the Spirit Dragon
1 x Myriad Landscape
1 x Reliquary Tower
1 x Riptide Laboratory
1 x Terrain Generator
1 x Maze of Ith
16 x Island
9 x Mountain


Ok, let's redo the deck stats and be a bit more realistic about some of the variable cost spells shall we?

Creatures/Non-Creature Permanent Spells/Instants and Sorceries/Total-
1-0/1/5/6
2-2/8/4/14
3-0/1/2/3
4-2/2/7/11
5-2/2/8/12 <-Treasure Cruise and Curse of the Swine here
6-3/3/2/8
7-1/1/0/2
8-1/0/0/1
9-0/0/0/0
10-0/1/0/1
11-0/0/0/0
12-0/0/2/2 <-Epic Experiment here

Avg CMC: 5/3.84/4.1/4.18

Weeellllll, still not great, but better.
We'll see how it plays. XD
Note: It's possible that Mana Geyser should really be Brass's Bounty for the color fixins, but we'll see if we need that in playtesting.