CEDH - The Arch Niv-Mizzet (EDH / Commander)

My most competitive EDH deck that features 0 combos (because combos are not fun for anyone and I want to win with style); What you get for not having the generic go-to combos is extremely worth it.

This is, in my opinion, is a pretty complicated deck to pilot and you'll you need to kind of know it inside out; It is, however, very fun and exciting as well - it never encounters the same lines of play and often times you have to take risks to get out of bad situations; After a certain point your decision tree splits really heavily and most of the lines of play contain a big amount of uncertainty so a combination of intuition + knowledge of the deck is necessary.
When your time to win comes you`ll have to leverage chances for finding the right cards with the correct mana and prepare to fail since there's no auto win button; Instead you will chain extra turns for mana and wheel until you gain enough board control that your enemies either scoop or have little way to contest.

It's pretty much a puzzle every game so you have to play the deck, the players and min-max all the time to optimize your chances of winning.
I often times find myself devising 4-5 ways a certain situation can be played out so in order to assess as many decision trees as possible in a timely fashion you just need to know the deck and what to expect of it;

What you get for having an uncertain cEDH is fun, unique games and lots of brainstorming and feels good moments when your line of play turned out to be (one of) the correct ones.

Random Info:

• Sensei's Top is one of the best cards in this deck, try to always find it.
• Don't be afraid to wheel and don't hold onto cards that feel like they'll be amazing in 2-3 turns.
• Don't be afraid to drypass a couple of turns if you hit land drops and there's no immediate threats, mostly not to draw attention and to keep people on their toes.
• Don't be afraid to use an extra turn as an explore if that's your only play. You'll get it back when the time comes.
• Don't forget that you can cast Niv-Mizzet through Dream Halls
• Since you cannot control the whole table you`ll have to leverage your counters and steals for only the biggest threats.
• Show and Tell in 95% of cases for Omniscience and Dream Halls, try not to get tempted for a Sphinx/Jar/Lotus unless the situation is completely clear.
• It's important to assess the biggest threats to the gameplan even before drawing your starting hand and devising a very broadbrush plan of action. How agressively can we use our counterspells, can we afford to draw attention, should you go for an early bribery instead of a long setup, etc. Of course, flexibility is key (especially with a deck that loops its hand) but in order to play your turns faster, It's still a good idea to have a go-to direction.
• Remember: Nobody likes Niv- Mizzet players. Even Niv- Mizzet players hate other Niv- Mizzet players.
• It's possible that with a god hand you can force yourself on the table and attempt to get super far ahead; This is where an experienced Niv player will differ from the inexperienced one drastically because it is very likely that taking on the opportunity is not the correct line of play; This deck is greedy by nature and finding the right balance is not always easy. Min-Max is the name of the game, and if you don't play it right you'll just get blown out of hate in 1-2 turns.
• There's 0 graveyard hate currently so against EDH's like Meren you should agressively counter her out of casting range and/or steal. (I'm not counting Time Reversal and wheels as graveyard hate)
• It is really important to know when to keep the table balanced and when to focus someone out of being able to play against you (This doesn't happen always proactively - Actually, most of the time you will be able to control this balance simply by choosing what the other players will resolve while strictly following who hates on who and how would the scales tip; It's not a very rare play to secure someone else's spells and help them out, or hate on the one who's destroying a weaker player.)
• Choosing who to separate your Fact or Fiction is an entirely new min-maxing game of it's own; Know your people and play it wisely.