Deck history
The main reason I built this deck is I wanted something different then just smashing with creatures. Both my Mimeo list and Bruna list did this so I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to do. I liked Nin from the time she was first spoiled, but it has taken till now for me to build a deck for her. This was originally a Grixis wheel deck, I just never seemed to enjoy playing it. I dropped the black and Nin was born. With recent changes this deck seems to have an amazing way of never winning the game in the same way, thus making it an extremely fun and interesting deck to play.
Why play nin
You like drawing cards.
She can be played politically.
You want to take a different route to win each time. (that's more about the deck though)
You like combos and crazy interactions.
Why not to play nin
Don't like combos or interactions.
You want to win off general damage.
Plan A: Self Draw
With this method It's best to use one of the many theft style cards such as Conquering Manticore and Dominus of Fealty. I do not run the one shot act of treason type spells due to the one shot nature of them and the body of the theft creatures can also be used. Ideally you'll have Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Psychosis Crawler to get even more profit out of your draws.
Plan B: opponents Draw
With this method you shoot their creatures let them draw cards and deal damage with Repercussion, Molten Psyche and Sudden Impact. The issue with this method is your giving your opponent a chance to draw, but it could be slightly negated if you decide to run c sphinx.
I have a standard Theft deck that is Red/Blue. It's a lot fun. It seems you aren't trying to permanently take things though, which is what I describe as theft. If you want to take things for (hopefully) the rest of the game you can run things like Ghostly Flicker, Nephalia Smuggler, and Deadeye Navigator. Since Flickering puts the targeted object back into play under your control you keep it. Also I'm surprised I didn't see Zealous Conscripts. He's a hasting stealing body. Paired with a Deadeye Navigator you can start stealing multiple things a turn.
I don't think Walking Atlas will do much for you, but I could be wrong. Whenever I had in him in play I didn't have any lands for him to put into play.
If you're running a theft theme you definitely need Blatant Thievery. Though they are on the monetarily expensive side both Desertion and Bribery are nice and thefty.
Thank you for the fast reply. I haven't had walking atlas come up yet so i can't defend it or not, but on paper it seemed like an alright ramp choice that i had lying around. With the draw and could be used as a body for Nin. But time will tell.
On your suggestions Chamber of Manipulation is going in asap thank you for that. Zealous Conscripts and the red one of the cycle from gate crash are both will find a way in. Blatant thievery and probably Desertion will probably also both make it in.
Thank you for the fast reply. I haven't had walking atlas come up yet so i can't defend it or not, but on paper it seemed like an alright ramp choice that i had lying around. With the draw and could be used as a body for Nin. But time will tell.
On your suggestions Chamber of Manipulation is going in asap thank you for that. Zealous Conscripts and the red one of the cycle from gate crash are both will find a way in. Blatant thievery and probably Desertion will probably also both make it in.
On Walking Atlas: Yeah I thought about that after I posted. I didn't run him in a draw heavy deck, so that's why he wasn't useful to me. Since you could be drawing lands he could have a use.
Updated first post. will be getting some wish listed cards soon.
Also a stack clarification question. With a kicked rite targeting a "bring back instant" creature, if I target Turnabout I'd be able to cast turnabout before the second token enters?
Transguild Promenade isn't really necessary in a 2 color deck. By the time you get to Insurrection mana, you'd probably have trip red. You also have enough draw that you're going to be drawing into enough land without needing the comes into play tapped cards. If you're still worried about color fixing, throw in Wayfarer's Bauble for actual ramp/fixing, and/or Armillary Sphere. Or heck, go with Chromatic Lantern and set it and forget it. Chromatic Lantern goes nicely with Caged Sun because if you name blue with Caged Sun and have Chromatic Lantern out, all of your lands tap for 2 blue mana.
Gilded Lotus over Thran Dynamo. Nothing like a mana rock that can pay for your counterspell all by itself. And they're pretty cheap right now since in M13.
You could use with some cheaper draw spells like Brainstorm, Preordain and Ponder. Nothing like smoothing out your deck and getting a Psychosis Crawler or Niv Mizzet activation for 1 mana.
Taurean Mauler. I love him. Seems a little too good stuff a choice for a deck that has other plans. Also he has no evasion so he'll get chumped by tokens all day.
mite wanna run sum sac outlets after stealing and attacking. and u could use more threaten spells. Boseiju, Who Shelters All keeps ur instant/sorcery spells coming.
GU Experiment Kraj- all your abilities belong to us WB Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts- battlecruiser GUB The Mimeoplasm- when graveyards are not safe RGW Mayael the Anima- i luv the fatties
Updated first post. will be getting some wish listed cards soon.
Also a stack clarification question. With a kicked rite targeting a "bring back instant" creature, if I target Turnabout I'd be able to cast turnabout before the second token enters?
Alright so here's how this works. Let's say your "Bring back an instant" creature is Archaeomancer and Turnabout is already in your grave. You kick Rite of Replication on the Archaeomancer all of the tokens will enter the battlefield at the same time, not one after another. This means that all of their ETBs trigger and when they do you choose an Instant or Sorcery in your grave to return the moment they hit the field (as opposed to on resolution.) Here's where I could lose you in the explanation, so I'll try to explain it as well as possible. Assuming you target Turnabout with all of the triggers only one will actually bring it back. Here's why: Once a card leaves one zone to another it becomes, unless specifically stated, a new object to the game. So casting Turnabout before the other 4 resolve will not enable you to get it back the subsequent times because it is not the same card according to the game's logic even though it is infact the same card to you.
Oh actually, since your deck kinda works on this here's a better way to word it. There is a creature on the battlefield, 'kay? An opponent targets it with lightning bolt and you use flicker on the creature. This flickering counters the lightning bolt since it's left the field, even if only briefly.
Sorry if that was hard to follow. Rules can be tough to explain to people, I like using analogies for it to make it easier to follow.
.
How does everyone feel about Flusterstorm in a non storm deck? I have a copy and I'm considering using it.
That's all for now. thanks for all the help.
I say it's good. At the very least in a turn it's a one blue "Counter target spell unless it's controller pays 2". Since storm tracks all spells cast and not just your own. So yeah, I'd say run it.
Alright so here's how this works. Let's say your "Bring back an instant" creature is Archaeomancer and Turnabout is already in your grave. You kick Rite of Replication on the Archaeomancer all of the tokens will enter the battlefield at the same time, not one after another. This means that all of their ETBs trigger and when they do you choose an Instant or Sorcery in your grave to return the moment they hit the field (as opposed to on resolution.) Here's where I could lose you in the explanation, so I'll try to explain it as well as possible. Assuming you target Turnabout with all of the triggers only one will actually bring it back. Here's why: Once a card leaves one zone to another it becomes, unless specifically stated, a new object to the game. So casting Turnabout before the other 4 resolve will not enable you to get it back the subsequent times because it is not the same card according to the game's logic even though it is infact the same card to you.
Oh actually, since your deck kinda works on this here's a better way to word it. There is a creature on the battlefield, 'kay? An opponent targets it with lightning bolt and you use flicker on the creature. This flickering counters the lightning bolt since it's left the field, even if only briefly.
Sorry if that was hard to follow. Rules can be tough to explain to people, I like using analogies for it to make it easier to follow.
nno it was a great explanation. Thank you. I was hoping for another infinite management outlet the added creatures would of been nice aswell. I wasn't sure how they entered and if I could respond to them.
Ill give flutterstorm a shot.
Updated deck list.
Got a majority of the wished listed cards, still cutting some non theme cards.
Has anyone had any luck with soldevi excavations I'm considering running it.
Alright warp world, inner fire and b act are gonna be ordered. So far I love the way this plays it can win in multiple ways and outa the blue. It has a lot more synergies then I realized. Now I was wondering how sword of war and peace I don't attack that often but I may if I get it.
update Dissipate and Gilded Lotus
Also game report game one went well, decent amount of card draw was missing turnabout and Reiterate . I had the other pieces for infinite mana and something to sink it into just couldn't seem to draw it. Riku was about to take control and had an explosive turn and i drew into Insurrection .
Game 2
I was mana short form turn 1. was stuck at nothing for most of the game and lost to a gen wave with warstorm surge .
Have you considered Empyrial Plate with Nin? It allows her to fry the equipped target for as much as you want, and still have it live. SBA's are only checked when the entire ability is done resolving, so by the time SBA's check the damage marked, the cards are in your hand and boosting the toughness of the creature.
I would also recommend Plagiarize. Not only can you cast it to fry someone else's creature and draw the cards yourself, but it gets quite good with Wheel of Fortune effects, especially if you have Niv or Psychosis out.
Have you considered Empyrial Plate with Nin? It allows her to fry the equipped target for as much as you want, and still have it live. SBA's are only checked when the entire ability is done resolving, so by the time SBA's check the damage marked, the cards are in your hand and boosting the toughness of the creature.
This is my Nin deck; it tries to run as many indestructible creatures/effects as possible to maximize drawing cards for myself (need to update it a bit though). I like some of the cards/combos from your list though, I'll see what I can adopt to my list.
On Empyrial Plate in the early stages of this deck I did but at that point it was more of pure theft till i drew a way to win. Now that it has changed into a win in anyway possible i may put it in. Goblin Electromancer hasn't really done enough for me to justify running it and this would be a perfect slot to place it in. On Plagiarize one that i missed very interesting effect and fits theme. I may run some testing before it makes the final cut.
I always like to see an alternate deck list that sorts cards according to function rather than type (look at my primer for example). This helps potential critiquers and yourself to improve the deck more effectively as it helps you balance the effects.
In general I find creatures to be very weak unless you have a way to cheat them out or create very large token hoards. I would also try to limit your own creature count because you want to be targeting other people's critters with Nin, not your own.
Upload your deck to a website that calculates average CMC and other stats. I'd be curious to see.
I'm not seeing nearly enough card draw in your build (I might be biased ) or ramp. These help to make your deck much more competitive and consistent. Including hand cycling effects will help you a lot. Cards like Wheel of Fortune and Windfall should be auto includes in any Izzet deck (take a look at the section on hand cycling in my primer for in depth explanation).
Really try to get Blatant Thievery. One of the best theft cards for commander.
Psychic Possession combos with Nin. It also works very well with wheel effects.
If you want to make theft a viable strategy you need to make it your primary strategy. But you are missing many of the best cards for the job. Aquire and Bribery NEED to be included.
NOTE: If you're making a primer, you should really create both a "dream version" where money is no object... as well as a budget friendly option. The point of a primer is to educate newcomers about your general. If a card is strictly the best card for the slot, it should be in the primer. Just my $.02
When I'm less tired, I will put together my own Nin deck for you to look at. I'm intrigued by the idea because there should be an Izzet commander deck dedicated to thievery and I think Nin is the one who can pull it off.
Thank you for taking a look, and now on to your suggestions.
I have it uploaded to tappedout so ill post that link here. Old "habits" die hard, all edh decks i have built have been creature heavy themes. Mimeo which is reanimation, and bruna with blink though that had some enchantment theme as well. When i started building this deck i wanted something different and it slightly is. I'm gonna look through my creature list and see if i can defend running them. I think i still may run around 20 though, a few have proven to be very valuable and don't want to cut them. Also i wanted i didn't think about a dream deck idea but that's a good idea.
Bribery will be in here im just waiting for modern masters and other summer sets to come out before i purchase it. Acquire , Helm of Possession and Commandeer will be in my next purchase.
The main reason I built this deck is I wanted something different then just smashing with creatures. Both my Mimeo list and Bruna list did this so I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to do. I liked Nin from the time she was first spoiled, but it has taken till now for me to build a deck for her. This was originally a Grixis wheel deck, I just never seemed to enjoy playing it. I dropped the black and Nin was born. With recent changes this deck seems to have an amazing way of never winning the game in the same way, thus making it an extremely fun and interesting deck to play.
Why play nin
You like drawing cards.
She can be played politically.
You want to take a different route to win each time. (that's more about the deck though)
You like combos and crazy interactions.
Why not to play nin
Don't like combos or interactions.
You want to win off general damage.
Other options
Tibor and Lumia Flavorful but seems more casual, when I first started getting into edh I wanted to build a deck with them at the helm. It fits a more spell themed deck, but if that interests you http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=319722 .
niv-mizzet the firemind The big daddy of izzet, but is notorious for the infinite combos centered around the general. Be prepared for the hate that comes with it. It is probably the strongest out of all the izzet commanders imo. The link to the primer for him http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=404918
niv-mizzet, dracogenius My original deck inspiration it doesn’t have the same hate the previous one has, and would be the general for this deck if it wasn’t for nin. A really fun looking list and my inspiration for this deck http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=456559
Jhoira of the Ghitu imo the most boring of the izzet leaders. It just not for me though.
00 Nin, the Pain Artist
CREATURES
01 Archaeomancer
02 Charmbreaker Devils
03 Conquering Manticore
04 Consecrated Sphinx
05 Djinn illuminatus
06 Dominus of Fealty
07 Duplicant
08 Hellkite Tyrant
09 Izzet Chronarch
10 Laboratory Maniac
11 Memnarch
12 Mindclaw Shaman
13 Molten Primordial
14 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
15 Nivix Guildmage
16 Phyrexian metamorph
17 Pilgrim's Eye
18 Psychosis Crawler
19 Solemn Simulacrum
20 Stuffy Doll
21 Talrand, Sky Summoner
22 Trinket Mage
23 Walking Atlas
24 Zealous Conscripts
PLANESWALKER
25 Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
26 Curiosity
27 Repercussion
SORCERIES
28 Banefire
29 Blasphemous Act
30 Inner Fire
31 Insurrection
32 Molten Psyche
33 Ponder
34 Rite of Replication
35 Warp World
INSTANTS
36 Brainstorm
37 Chaos Warp
38 Comet Storm
39 Counterflux
40 Cyclonic Rift
41 Dissipate
42 Flusterstorm
43 Into the Core
44 Reins of Power
45 Reiterate
46 Reverberate
47 Scattering Stroke
48 Spell Crumple
49 Spin into Myth
50 Sudden Impact
51 Turnabout
52 Wild Ricochet
53 Darksteel Ingot
54 Elixir of Immortality
55 Empyrial Plate
56 Gilded Lotus
57 Izzet Keyrune
58 Izzet Signet
59 Lightning Greaves
60 Sol Ring
61 Thran Dynamo
62 Tormod's Crypt
LANDS
63 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
64 Command Tower
65 Forgotten Cave
66 Haunted Fengraf
67 Izzet Boilerworks
68 izzet Guildgate
69 Lonely Sandbar
70 Reliquary Tower
71 Riptide Laboratory
72 Rupture Spire
73 Steam Vents
74 Tectonic Edge
75 Temple of the False God
76 Thespian's Stage
11 Island
11 Mountain
I am trying to keep this on somewhat of a budget.
Deck by type
00 Nin, the Pain Artist
THEFT
01 Conquering Manticore
02 Dominus of Fealty
03 Hellkite Tyrant
04 Memnarch
05 Molten Primordial
06 Reins of Power
07 Insurrection
08 Zealous Conscripts
RAMP
09 Solemn Simulacrum
10 Darksteel Ingot
11 Gilded Lotus
12 Izzet Keyrune
13 Izzet Signet
14 Sol Ring
15 Thran Dynamo
NIN’S TOYS
16 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
17 Psychosis Crawler
18 Stuffy Doll
19 Talrand, Sky Summoner
20 Empyrial Plate
21 Chaos Warp
22 Cyclonic Rift
23 Into the Core
24 Spin into Myth
25 Blasphemous Act
26 Duplicant
COPY
27 Djinn Illuminatus
28 Nivix Guildmage
29 Phyrexian Metamorph
30 Reiterate
31 Reverberate
32 Wild Ricochet
33 Rite of Replication
COUNTERS
34 Counterflux
35 Dissipate
36 Flusterstorm
37 Scattering Stroke
38 Spell Crumple
COMBO and GOOD STUFF
39 Comet Storm
40 Sudden Impact
41 Brainstorm
42 Turnabout
43 Banefire
44 Inner Fire
45 Molten Psyche
46 Ponder
47 Warp World
48 Elixir of immortality
49 Lightning Greaves
50 Tormod’s Crypt
51 Trading Post
52 Curiosity
53 Repercussion
54 Archaeomancer
55 Charmbreaker Devils
56 Izzet Chronarch
57 Mindclaw Shaman
58 Trinket Mage
60 Laboratory Maniac
61 Walking Atlas
62 Nucklavee
With this method It's best to use one of the many theft style cards such as Conquering Manticore and Dominus of Fealty. I do not run the one shot act of treason type spells due to the one shot nature of them and the body of the theft creatures can also be used. Ideally you'll have Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind and Psychosis Crawler to get even more profit out of your draws.
Plan B: opponents Draw
With this method you shoot their creatures let them draw cards and deal damage with Repercussion, Molten Psyche and Sudden Impact. The issue with this method is your giving your opponent a chance to draw, but it could be slightly negated if you decide to run c sphinx.
Combos and synergies
infinite mana
inner fire and Reiterate
turnabout and Reiterate
turnabout and Nivix Guildmage
turnabout , Izzet Chronarch or Archaeomancer and Rite of Replication (also make infinite creatures.
turnabout , Izzet Chronarch or Archaeomancer and riptide laboratory
warp world and Reiterate A high chance at least.
Once you have infinite mana, steal the board with Memnarch , put it into Banefire or comet storm use nin to deck someone.
If you don't want to win this way, there is many other options.
A copied Molten Psyche .
Hellkite Tyrant is always fun and on a theft theme.
Molten Psyche and copy effects.
Card Options
Coming soon!
Wishlist
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Sulfur Falls
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
I don't think Walking Atlas will do much for you, but I could be wrong. Whenever I had in him in play I didn't have any lands for him to put into play.
If you're running a theft theme you definitely need Blatant Thievery. Though they are on the monetarily expensive side both Desertion and Bribery are nice and thefty.
Chamber of Manipulation turns a land into a nice theft machine.
Hope it helps, and I will surely post again if anything comes to mind.
On your suggestions Chamber of Manipulation is going in asap thank you for that. Zealous Conscripts and the red one of the cycle from gate crash are both will find a way in. Blatant thievery and probably Desertion will probably also both make it in.
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
On Walking Atlas: Yeah I thought about that after I posted. I didn't run him in a draw heavy deck, so that's why he wasn't useful to me. Since you could be drawing lands he could have a use.
Another Suggestion: Guile
Also a stack clarification question. With a kicked rite targeting a "bring back instant" creature, if I target Turnabout I'd be able to cast turnabout before the second token enters?
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
Archaeomancer over Izzet Chronarch and Faerie Trickery or Dissipate over Cancel. Both are budget enough to pick up pretty easily.
Transguild Promenade isn't really necessary in a 2 color deck. By the time you get to Insurrection mana, you'd probably have trip red. You also have enough draw that you're going to be drawing into enough land without needing the comes into play tapped cards. If you're still worried about color fixing, throw in Wayfarer's Bauble for actual ramp/fixing, and/or Armillary Sphere. Or heck, go with Chromatic Lantern and set it and forget it. Chromatic Lantern goes nicely with Caged Sun because if you name blue with Caged Sun and have Chromatic Lantern out, all of your lands tap for 2 blue mana.
Gilded Lotus over Thran Dynamo. Nothing like a mana rock that can pay for your counterspell all by itself. And they're pretty cheap right now since in M13.
Windfall goes with both of your main plans. Wheel of Fortune is probably out of budget, but maybe not Reforge the Soul?
You could use with some cheaper draw spells like Brainstorm, Preordain and Ponder. Nothing like smoothing out your deck and getting a Psychosis Crawler or Niv Mizzet activation for 1 mana.
Taurean Mauler. I love him. Seems a little too good stuff a choice for a deck that has other plans. Also he has no evasion so he'll get chumped by tokens all day.
Repercussion with no Blasphemous Act? I've gotten killed with this combination several times.
WUBRG Some of these decks can actually win games...WUBRG
How I know I should build a deck:
sac outlets:
Altar of Dementia
Ashnod's Altar
Phyrexian Altar
GU Experiment Kraj- all your abilities belong to us
WB Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts- battlecruiser
GUB The Mimeoplasm- when graveyards are not safe
RGW Mayael the Anima- i luv the fatties
gomazoa
Transguild Promenade
Invoke the Firemind
Taurean Mauler
Gather Specimens
In
Solemn Simulacrum
Ponder
Brainstorm
Simic Manipulator
Temple of the False God
alright made a few small changes with cards i currently own.
Helm of Possession Fits the theme and a much needed sacrifice outlet.
Archaeomancer over Mnemonic Wall im planing on getting the bounce wizard land, that i cant think the name of.
How does everyone feel about Flusterstorm in a non storm deck? I have a copy and I'm considering using it.
That's all for now. thanks for all the help.
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
Alright so here's how this works. Let's say your "Bring back an instant" creature is Archaeomancer and Turnabout is already in your grave. You kick Rite of Replication on the Archaeomancer all of the tokens will enter the battlefield at the same time, not one after another. This means that all of their ETBs trigger and when they do you choose an Instant or Sorcery in your grave to return the moment they hit the field (as opposed to on resolution.) Here's where I could lose you in the explanation, so I'll try to explain it as well as possible. Assuming you target Turnabout with all of the triggers only one will actually bring it back. Here's why: Once a card leaves one zone to another it becomes, unless specifically stated, a new object to the game. So casting Turnabout before the other 4 resolve will not enable you to get it back the subsequent times because it is not the same card according to the game's logic even though it is infact the same card to you.
Oh actually, since your deck kinda works on this here's a better way to word it. There is a creature on the battlefield, 'kay? An opponent targets it with lightning bolt and you use flicker on the creature. This flickering counters the lightning bolt since it's left the field, even if only briefly.
Sorry if that was hard to follow. Rules can be tough to explain to people, I like using analogies for it to make it easier to follow.
I say it's good. At the very least in a turn it's a one blue "Counter target spell unless it's controller pays 2". Since storm tracks all spells cast and not just your own. So yeah, I'd say run it.
GW BenedictioWG
nno it was a great explanation. Thank you. I was hoping for another infinite management outlet the added creatures would of been nice aswell. I wasn't sure how they entered and if I could respond to them.
Ill give flutterstorm a shot.
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
Got a majority of the wished listed cards, still cutting some non theme cards.
Has anyone had any luck with soldevi excavations I'm considering running it.
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
inner fire
Warp world
riptide laboratory
Blasphemous Act
Out
Prophetic Bolt
spelltwine
island and a mountain
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
Dissipate and Gilded Lotus
Also game report game one went well, decent amount of card draw was missing turnabout and Reiterate . I had the other pieces for infinite mana and something to sink it into just couldn't seem to draw it. Riku was about to take control and had an explosive turn and i drew into Insurrection .
Game 2
I was mana short form turn 1. was stuck at nothing for most of the game and lost to a gen wave with warstorm surge .
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
StaffI would also recommend Plagiarize. Not only can you cast it to fry someone else's creature and draw the cards yourself, but it gets quite good with Wheel of Fortune effects, especially if you have Niv or Psychosis out.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Darksteel Plate has the same effect.
This is my Nin deck; it tries to run as many indestructible creatures/effects as possible to maximize drawing cards for myself (need to update it a bit though). I like some of the cards/combos from your list though, I'll see what I can adopt to my list.
EDH Decks:
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Tajic, Blade of the Legion
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Ezuri, Renegade Leader 1v1
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher 1v1
Hythonia the Cruel
Trying to build:
Jenara, Asura of War
Designing a Custom Set:
Clash of the Cultures: 5 Wedges, 5 Cultures
Providing Artwork for:
Archester: Frontier of Steam
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
In general I find creatures to be very weak unless you have a way to cheat them out or create very large token hoards. I would also try to limit your own creature count because you want to be targeting other people's critters with Nin, not your own.
Upload your deck to a website that calculates average CMC and other stats. I'd be curious to see.
I'm not seeing nearly enough card draw in your build (I might be biased
Really try to get Blatant Thievery. One of the best theft cards for commander.
Psychic Possession combos with Nin. It also works very well with wheel effects.
Consecrated Sphinx should be an auto include as should Rite of Replication(imagine Reiterateing this targeted at any good non-legend creature. THESE ARE THE KIND OF COMEPiTIVE PLAYS THIS DECK SHOULD BE PULLING OFF), Vedalken Shackles, Sower of Temptation, and Commandeer.
If you want to make theft a viable strategy you need to make it your primary strategy. But you are missing many of the best cards for the job. Aquire and Bribery NEED to be included.
Charisma, Word of Seizing, Reins of Power, Grab the Reins, Roil Elemental, Aura Thief, Empress Galina, Aladdin, Eternal Dominion, Sphinx Ambassador, Mindslaver, Training Grounds and Helm of Possession are some options I would try out.
NOTE: If you're making a primer, you should really create both a "dream version" where money is no object... as well as a budget friendly option. The point of a primer is to educate newcomers about your general. If a card is strictly the best card for the slot, it should be in the primer. Just my $.02
When I'm less tired, I will put together my own Nin deck for you to look at.
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
I have it uploaded to tappedout so ill post that link here. Old "habits" die hard, all edh decks i have built have been creature heavy themes. Mimeo which is reanimation, and bruna with blink though that had some enchantment theme as well. When i started building this deck i wanted something different and it slightly is. I'm gonna look through my creature list and see if i can defend running them. I think i still may run around 20 though, a few have proven to be very valuable and don't want to cut them. Also i wanted i didn't think about a dream deck idea but that's a good idea.
Bribery will be in here im just waiting for modern masters and other summer sets to come out before i purchase it. Acquire , Helm of Possession and Commandeer will be in my next purchase.
Once again thank you.
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink
Nin's theft
Mill all decks
bruna blink