Vivi Ornitier | Art by Toni Infante

Competitive Commander has been missing a proper spells-matter deck for a while. The partner pair of Krark, the ThumblessKrark, the Thumbless and Sakashima of a Thousand FacesSakashima of a Thousand Faces comes close, its decklists full of cantrips and rituals, but it's far from a dominating force the likes of Kinnan, Bonder ProdigyKinnan, Bonder Prodigy or Blue Farm. Thanks to Magic's newest expansion, however, it looks like cEDH may have just got its top-tier Izzet Spellslinger deck. Let's look at building Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier in cEDH.

What Does Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier Do?

For , Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier is a 0/3 legendary Wizard with two central parts: a triggered ability that rewards you for casting noncreature spells, and a mana ability that can swell over the course of the game to provide insane amounts of advantage.

So, first up, the trigger: "Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, put a +1/+1 counter on Vivi Ornitier and it deals 1 damage to each opponent." This might not sound like a lot of damage in a 40-life format, but don't discount how impactful it can be against the raft of Ad NauseamAd Nauseam and NecropotenceNecropotence decks running rampant. Each of those Vivi triggers is one more card those black decks can't draw. Now, onto the mana ability.

Once on each of your turns (at any point in the turn), you can pay . When you do, add X mana in any combination of and/or , where X is Vivi's power. So, between this and the triggered ability, what does Vivi really want to do? Cast a whole bunch of spells, really quickly, really cheaply, then finish your opponents off with a once-per turn massive mana payoff or a compact combo (or both)! To do this, let's dig deeper into some of the deck's key cards.

Key Cards for Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier

Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier is classic Izzet cEDH through and through. Full to the brim with as much low-cost interaction and efficient card draw as possible, this is a deck that moves fast but can survive through to the midgame with relative ease - a crucial quality for today's best cEDH decks. Backing up all of this is a suite of unique effects and payoffs that transform Vivi from a simple pinger and mana producer into a threat in and of itself.

Cantrips and Baubles

Like any good Storm deck, Vivi runs a suite of low-cost cards which serve at least one of two primary functions: replace themselves, and/or or go positive on mana.

On the cantrip side, this includes common Izzet cEDH inclusions like Gitaxian ProbeGitaxian Probe and PonderPonder, as well as more niche picks, such as ImpulseImpulse, Light Up the StageLight Up the Stage, and multi-format all-star Stock UpStock Up. What really makes Vivi unique, however, are the cost artifacts it runs purely in order to keep the cast-triggers swelling: Mishra's BaubleMishra's Bauble, Urza's BaubleUrza's Bauble, and Tormod's CryptTormod's Crypt. Sure, Tormod's CryptTormod's Crypt can hit a greedy The Master of KeysThe Master of Keys-player's graveyard or the like, but really this card is here to put a +1/+1 counter on Vivi and damage the rest of the table.

Curiosity Effects

Here we're getting to the meat and potatoes of Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier: CuriosityCuriosity and similar effects, namely Ophidian EyeOphidian Eye, Tandem LookoutTandem Lookout, and even Niv-Mizzet, VisionaryNiv-Mizzet, Visionary. These are the cards that take Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier and break the deck into the upper echelons of cEDH, turning each Vivi trigger into an Ancestral RecallAncestral Recall. The earlier you can pair Vivi with one of these cards, the better.

Payoffs

Once Vivi has gotten big from a game full of noncreature spells, it's time to start using Vivi's mana ability to cast some truly game-ending threats. Consecrated SphinxConsecrated Sphinx, Wandering ArchaicWandering Archaic, and Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun are all top-end creatures which are difficult to answer and accrue incredible amounts of value as the game goes on. Additionally, the deck runs a bevy of wheels - Wheel of FortuneWheel of Fortune, WindfallWindfall, and Will of the JeskaiWill of the Jeskai - all of which can be used to keep on churning once you're full of mana but low on cards in hand.

How Does Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier Win?

Vivi has three primary packages that, should they resolve, close out the game with relative ease:

1. A classic of any-and-every Izzet cEDH list,
2. A big-mana combo from some classic Commander haymakers,
3. And a Vivi-specific pile.

Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach

Of course, since we're in Izzet, the deck runs the classic package of Lion's Eye DiamondLion's Eye Diamond, Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach, and Brain FreezeBrain Freeze. Make no mistake, there's no need for a Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle here. Instead, Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier itself is the payoff. With Vivi in play, each cast of a noncreature spell (i.e., Lion's Eye DiamondLion's Eye Diamond and Brain FreezeBrain Freeze) is one damage to each opponent, meaning that simply performing the loop of milling cards and making mana is enough to kill the table.

Without Vivi in play, the loop is still lethal, as Brain FreezeBrain Freeze will eventually have a high enough storm count to mill out your opponents. The downside of that approach is that it leaves them alive until they each next draw cards. A small difference, but not a meaningless one.

DragonstormDragonstorm

Speaking of storm, as long as a single spell has already been cast this turn, Dragonstorm can assemble the lethal combination of Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun and Niv-Mizzet, VisionaryNiv-Mizzet, Visionary. With both of these Dragons out, either your next card drawn or you next instant or sorcery cast will start a runaway train of damage and card draw, ending with your library in your hand and that much damage being distributed across the rest of the table.

cEDH loves a good one-card package, and Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier often makes just enough mana to make this one-card work.

Quicksilver ElementalQuicksilver Elemental

Now we're making it to some real Vivi-specific tech. First up, the lynchpin: Quicksilver ElementalQuicksilver Elemental.

For , Quicksilver ElementalQuicksilver Elemental is a 3/4 Elemental creature with one particularly relevant activated ability; ": This creature gains all activated abilities of target creature until end of turn." So, with Vivi out, this means that you can pay to give Quicksilver ElementalQuicksilver Elemental Vivi's mana ability until end of turn, allowing you to pay to add three mana in any combination of and/or . This exhausts the "once per turn" limit which comes with Vivi's (now Quicksilver ElementalQuicksilver Elemental's) mana ability, but no matter. Simply funnel one into activating Quicksilver ElementalQuicksilver Elemental's first ability, target Vivi, and now it'll have another instance of that same mana ability - this time, however, the new instance hasn't been used yet. From here, activation after activation, you'll have infinite mana.

The one problem with this loop, however, is that Vivi doesn't have a mana sink to dump all this mana into. As such, backing up Vivi with a CuriosityCuriosity or the like is where things really become game ending, since infinite mana plus an Ancestral RecallAncestral Recall stapled to each noncreature spell you cast is usually enough resources to draw through your deck.

Vivi Ornitier cEDH Deck List

Wrap Up

Looking at Vivi, I can't help but have flashbacks off Nadu, Winged WisdomNadu, Winged Wisdom's brief moment in cEDH. Resolving Nadu didn't immediately end the game, but the ease of assembling a nearly unstoppable two-card value engine off ShukoShuko or Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves was just too much. Similarly, sticking a CuriosityCuriosity or the like onto Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier is usually just too much for the rest of the table to handle.

That being said, Vivi does require that you actually cast some spells, rather than just active a no-cost ability over and over again, so I think this commander will stay legal. Make no mistake, though, it is absolutely a powerhouse that will dominate top tables if left unchecked.