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, March of the Machine: The Aftermath keeps on giving. Niv-Mizzet, Supreme is going to show you how it’s done with colour pairs.

WUBRG Supreme is a 5/5 Legendary Dragon Avatar with a textbox that’s going to make brewers’ brain-gears turn.

Time for a textbox:

“Flying, hexproof from monocolored  

Each instant and sorcery card in your graveyard that’s exactly two colors has jump-start. (You may cast that card from your graveyard by discarding a card in addition to paying its other costs. Then exile it.”  

A new WUBRG Niv-Mizzet!

A few things to note:

  1. Jump-start requires you to discard a card to play the cards from your graveyard. There is no requirement for colour or anything, but discarding cards is necessary so keep your hand stacked.
  2. Hexproof from monocolored means that Niv-Mizzet, Supreme can’t be hit with Path to Exile, so you have a little bit less to worry about.

I will say that these are only my opinions. I know that people will have strong opinions about this, but remember: I chose my personal favourites.

Let’s get into the 99. Let’s pick the best instants or sorceries in each colour pair.

  1. Azorius

Nominees: Absorb, Dovin’s Veto, Emergency Powers, Faithful Mending, Fractured Identity, Render Silent, Sphinx’s Revelation, Supreme Verdict, Time Wipe

Winner: Spinx’s Revelation

I realize there are a ton of great board wipes here and you’ll need to pick more than a single card per colour pair, but there’s something about Sphinx’s Revelation’s simplicity. Instant speed draw for X with X life gain. I favour instants a lot more in this deck with jump-start allowing you to chain a few in a row. Sphinx’s Rev is a classic hand filler. I love it and you should too.

  1. Boros

Nominees: Boros Charm, Campus Renovation, Deflecting Palm, Heartwarming Redemption, Lorehold Command, Reconstruct History, Razia’s Purification

Winner: Boros Charm

Extremely popular card in Commander, Boros Charm is a versatile all-star. Being able to hit a play for four is great, but nothing compared to saving your permanents from a board wipe. Hell, even discarding Boros Charm to play your own board wipe like Time Wipe and then discarding a land or something to play Boros Charm! Everybody hates you now! Finally, you can give your  5/5 commander double strike. That can mean a surprise win!

  1. Dimir

Nominees: Ancient Excavation, Connive // Concoct, Deny Reality, Drown in the Loch, Extract from Darkness, Glimpse the Unthinkable, Lim-Dul’s Vault, Memory Plunder, Mind Funeral, Mind Grind, Mnemonic Betrayal, Recoil, Shadow of Doubt, Siphon Insight, Whispering Madness

Winner: Memory Plunder

The colour of mill and theft, I was tempted to pick Siphon Insight or Mnemonic Betrayal, but it has to be Memory Plunder. Being able to cast it once is strong enough in some cases, but with enough mana, being able to cast it twice is pretty wild.

Shout out to Ancient Excavation which allows you to double your hand and then sculpt it back down to exactly what you need in hand, and in your graveyard.

  1. Golgari

Nominees: Abrupt Decay, Assassin’s Trophy, Casualties of War, Culling Ritual, Deadly Brew, Deathsprout, Golgari Charm, Harness Infinity, Revival Experiment, Rushed Rebirth, Windgrace’s Judgment

Winner: Assassin’s Trophy

One of the best spot removal spells printed in the colours. It’s hard to pick anything but this. Takes out any permanent an opponent control for the low price of letting them have a basic land. Honorable mention for Harness Infinity, which might have a spot in this deck somehow, but I’m not sure how exactly.

  1. Gruul

Nominees: Artifact Mutation, Atarka’s Command, Decimate, Escape to the Wilds, Frenzied Tilling, Hull Breach, Klauth’s Will, Manamorphose, Treacherous Terrain, Vengeful Rebirth

Winner: Manamorphose

Woof, Gruul is thin. Manamorphose can fix you and replaces itself. You can get your commander out a little easier. Try it out.

  1. Izzet

Nominees: Collected Conjuring, Counterflux, Double Negative, Epic Experiment, Expansion // Explosion, Expressive Iteration, Galvanic Iteration, Izzet Charm, Magma Opus, Practical Research, Prismari Command, Reinterpret, Steam Augury, Teach by Example, Teleportal

Winner: Galvanic Iteration

This card is just excellent value. Getting to copy your next spell is great, being able to double cast it for five right away with flashback is great. Jump-starting it saves you a mana, but in the end, you’ll get some extra value out of your spells thanks to this little gem.

  1. Orzhov

Nominees: Anguished Unmaking, Batwing Brume, Castigate, Cauldron Haze, Culling Sun, Debt to the Deathless, Despark, Dire Tactics, Exterminatus, Fracture, Immortal Servitude, Inkshield, Kaya’s Guile, Merciless Eviction, Obzedat’s Aid, Rite of Oblivion, Utter End, Vanishing Verse, Vindicate

Winner: Inkshield

As much as I think Anguished Unmaking, Merciless Eviction, and Batwing Brume deserve a whole bunch of shine, there’s something about Inkshield that’s just freaking wild. Stay open for an attack, make a whole bunch of evasive 2/1s that crack back and then some. It’s hard to argue with that.

  1. Rakdos

Nominees: Backlash, Bedevil, Blood for the Blood God!, Cauldron Dance, Delirium, Dreadbore, Fevered Suspicion, Grave Upheaval, Hurl Through Hell, Kill! Maim! Burn!, Kolaghan’s Command, Macabre Mockery, Rakdos Charm, Skull Rend, Spontaneous Combustion, Terminate, Torrent of Souls, Unlicensed Disintegration, Wrecking Ball

Winner: Rakdos Charm

Rakdos Charm has so much utility! Got a graveyard deck in the game besides yours, well, say goodbye to them being the problem. Immortal Sun? Not anymore. Token deck? Knocked out, easy.

I do like Fevered Suspicion a lot, and there’s Blood for the Blood God!. That’s just a beating and a new hand!

  1. Selesnya

Nominees: Aura Mutation, Cosmic Rebirth, Eladamri’s Call, Fracturing Gust, Hymn of Rebirth, Join Shields, Join the Dance, March of the Multitudes, Mercy Killing, Reborn Hope, Safewright Quest, Sylvan Reclamation

Winner: Safewright Quest

Selesnya is very into creatures, so it’s a little thin here given that everything is pretty creature based. Safewright Quest in the early game allows you to fetch a Triome or something to fix your mana, and then does the same from the graveyard if you have Niv out in play. Reborn Hope is also a bit of a sleeper int his deck. Also, Hymn of Rebirth was a surprising discovery!

  1. Simic

Nominees: Aether Helix, Biomantic Mastery, Body of Research, Bring to Light, Decisive Denial, Double Major, Eureka Moment, Growth Spiral, Incubation // Incongruity, Neoform, Repudiate // Replicate, Simic Charm, Spitting Image, Unexpected Results, Urban Evolution, Voidslime

Winner: Bring to Light

I’m a hater on tutors, but in a five colour deck, you have to run this powerful card to search up your best creature, instant, or sorcery at 5 or less mana. It’s just very solid and can set itself up perfectly. Do I think Growth Spiral is probably better? Yeah! I’m just a huge fan of making sure your deck can play.

That’ll do it for this edition of A Seat at the Table! Let me know which commander you’d like covered next time @mikecarrozza on Twitter and Instagram!

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