Hello and welcome to A Seat at the Table, the column where I pick a commander and talk about what I’d include in the 99. This week, another legend from the new Jumpstart 2022 product!
Mizzix is back in a new form, but instead of needing experience counters, this new Mizzix just wants you to keep it interesting. For 4R, you get Mizzix, Replica Rider, a 4/5 Flying Goblin Wizard with a textbox right out of my dreams:
“Flying
Whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, you may pay 1U/R. If you do, copy that spell and you may choose new targets for the copy. If the copy is a permanent spell, it gains haste and “At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice this permanent.” (A copy of a permanent spell becomes a token.)”
Things to note:
- You will need to cast these spells and pay the 1U/R. That’s a lot of mana.
- You can copy permanent spells, they just don’t stick around. Even if you use something to keep them around for a turn, at the beginning of your next end step, the sacrifice will trigger again.
- You are copying spells you cast – Magecraft loves this.
- Mizzix wants you to cast things from anywhere BUT your hand. Cascade, Flashback, bottling aka impulse draw, Hideaway, Etali, Possibility Storm, Knowledge Pool – why am I naming things I’m going to talk about!
Let’s get to seeing some cool stuff in the 99.
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Copying is cool
Magecraft is an ability from Strixhaven that is absolutely ridiculous. “Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell” triggers a few cards that are absolutely buck wild in a spellslinger focused deck (instants and sorceries, for those who don’t know). Archmage Emeritus gives you cards. Storm-Kiln Artist gives you Treasures and gets big for each of your artifacts. Veyran, Voice of Duality lets you trigger Magecraft more. Octavia, Living Thesis makes your team huge. Deekah, Fractal Theorist gives you tokens to swing with and can make them unblockable.
That’s just for Magecraft building around instants and sorceries. Let’s not forget Twinning Staff that copies copies and Harmonic Prodigy that lets you pay twice for another copy with Mizzix. Imagine Veyran, Harmonic Prodigy, Twinning Staff, Storm-Kiln Artist, Archmage Emeritus, Mizzix, and seven mana. You hit a Windfall off of Light Up the Stage last turn. To start the turn, play it for three mana.
Mizzix, Archmage Emeritus, Storm-Kiln Artist, Veyran trigger. This triggers Harmonic Prodigy and Veyran to copy all of them. Because you copy, Twinning Staff triggers. Draw a ton of cards, Windfall a ton, and as long as you have an Eldrazi shuffler titan like Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre in your deck, you’ll escape the mill.
Again, this is for a spellslinger-heavy deck, but wow that is some spicy Magical Christmasland stuff.
This one is simple enough. With Future Sight, you get to play with the top card of your library revealed and you can play it. Land? I can play it. Spell of any kind? I can play it. Is my library my hand? Nope! Mizzix triggers, pay 1U/R? Hell yes!
One with the Multiverse takes this further with the single free cast a turn, meaning you get a spell and a copy for 1U/R. Not to mention this doesn’t reveal your top deck to the table, but rather you can look at it at any time.
Mizzix can get spicy, but needs the help. You’ll need to be sure not to miss a land drop and also be sure to get these cards copied for the big turns. Jeska’s Will with your commander out is already one of the craziest spells you can cast. Three mana, you likely get seven red and three cards exiled for you to play until end of turn. Anything you cast from exile with it means you can trigger Mizzix. But if you cast Jeska’s Will from “not your hand”, copied with Mizzix, that’s six cards and 14 mana.
One of those cards can be Mana Gyser which routinely hits 20ish mana in my meta. Copied, that’s 40 mana and hopefully the game. Mind’s Desire copied and copy whatever you get from it.
I don’t want to write about Dockside Extortionist, just know that it is the best thing to cast, copy, bounce, flicker, reanimate, whatever – 90% of the time.
Possibility Storm turns all your cards into other cards. If you cast a Brainstorm, that can turn into an Etali, Primal Storm! Hey, five mana discount! But the inverse is also true. Cast Etali, Primal Storm, it can turn into Brainstorm.
That said, because you’re casting things from elsewhere, Mizzix will trigger and then you get to copy whatever you get. So if you do cast say an Izzet Signet and you get a Harmonic Prodigy, you get to copy the Prodigy for the turn if you want. Not to mention I’d probably prefer the Prodigy to the Signet!
Knowledge Pool works similarly, but for everybody. As it enters, it creates a shared pool from the top three cards of each library. Then whatever you cast from your hand actually lets you cast something else from the pool. This creates a different tension and dynamic to casting. You wouldn’t cast Dockside Extortionist if you couldn’t immediately cast something else so that you could actually get your Dockside Extortionist. However, if you cast it from the Pool, Mizzix lets you copy it. That said, if you have Dockside and spy your Jeska’s Will in the Pool, well, that’s an easy line, isn’t it. Cast Dockside, get Jeska’s Will, trigger Mizzix, pay Mizzix, get second Jeska’s Will, 14 mana, 6 cards in exile, cast something from your hand for Dockside, then go to town with the 6 exiled cards you’ll probably copy!
These are bombs costed at their rates for a reason. Mind’s Dilation lets you steal a spell for free off the top of an opponent’s library when they cast their first spell a turn.
Is this Mizzix copy eligible? You betcha.
Sunbird’s Invocation turns your big spells into more spells in a pseudo-Cascade way.
Is the spell you get off of Invocation Mizzix copy eligible? You betcha.
Wondrous Crucible from the latest Brothers’ War Commander precon product protects your board and triggers at your end step for you to randomly exile a nonland from your graveyard to cast it for free.
Is this Mizzix copy eligible? You betcha. If you hit a permanent and copy it, will you need to sacrifice it right away since Mizzix says the copy gains “at the beginning of your end step, sacrifice this permanent”? Nope! You get to keep it for a whole turn cycle.
Honourable Mention: Uba Mask
Uba Mask is a card I love very much. I’ve always been a fan. I’ve always loved this card. It turns every draw into a card you can copy with Mizzix as long as it’s not a land. It also puts pressure on players to play the cards as they get them because otherwise, they’re gone.
That does it for this edition of A Seat at the Table! If there’s another commander you’d like me to cover, I’m @mikecarrozza on Twitter and Instagram! Let me know!
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