I haven't played much Final Fantasy, but I've played a few of the titles. While I'm not generally that into Universes Beyond content, when I was looking through the Final Fantasy spoilers one card caught my eye. Back in the day I logged a lot of hours playing Final Fantasy IX on the Playstation for the entertainment of myself and my daughter when she was too young to really play video games on her own. It was like her very own "let's play" series, and we both really enjoyed the story and the characters.

My favorite character by far was the cute little mage, Vivi Ornitier. I'm not alone. Vivi routinely shows up at the top of fan and critic lists of favorite Final Fantasy characters. While I'm not always excited to write about weird UB characters that I have little to no familiarity with, Vivi was a nice surprise and a great way to kick off a series of Final Fantasy columns.

In Magic, this mage is a 0/3 legendary Wizard with both an activated ability and a triggered ability. For 0 mana, I can add X mana in any combination of Blue and/or Red where X is Vivi's power. I can only activate this ability once each turn, and only during my turn. Whenever I cast a noncreature spell, I'll put a +1/+1 counter on Vivi and it will deal 1 damage to each opponent.

Pushing out one damage to each opponent when I cast a spell isn't much, though there are ways to win games with this ability. I'm a lot more excited about the prospect of making Vivi big and then generating a whole bunch of mana.

Regular readers know I have been building lower powered decks more often lately, but today I'll be aiming for a high powered, bracket 4 deck. I expect there may even be ways to build Vivi as a cEDH list but I'll leave that to the experts. I don't think today's build is cEDH (bracket 5) strong, but I do think it should be able to play at high powered tables.

Powering Up Vivi

The first trick is making Vivi powerful enough to make a difference. In most decks that means being a threat in combat, but for this deck I'll be more focused on making lots of mana.

I'm running some equipment that should be able to put in work in this build. Runechanter's Pike will give equipped creature +X/+0 where X is the number of instant and sorcery cards in my graveyard. That number might not be that big in the early game, but in the mid-to-late game it could represent a significant boost to Vivi's Power. I don't know if my Pike will ever give +10 power, but Excalibur, Sword of Eden can, and it has a low equip cost of 2 mana. It can only be equipped to a legendary creature and it gives vigilance along with a P/T boost of +10/+0.

The prospect of making 10 mana or more is nice, but what if we doubled Vivi's power? I'm running Bulk Up and Unleash Fury, both of which can double target creature's power until end of turn. The former has flashback so I can cast it and then cast it again from my graveyard. I'm also running Two-Handed Axe, which has an Adventure mode that can give target creature double-strike until end of turn. When a creature equipped with Two-Handed Axe attacks, I'll double its power until end of turn. If I can string even a couple of these doubling effects together I'll be making a ridiculous amount of mana.

I have a few X spells in this list to pour that mana into.

I'm unlikely to need to exile dozens of creatures, but it's nice to know I have a removal-by-exile option that can scale up to the amount of mana I'm able to generate. If I want to control the board against creatures that can be destroyed, Comet Storm will do nicely, but if I'm able to make enough mana, it may be able to just remove players.

Drawing cards is probably what I'll be most excited about doing with my mana. Stroke of Genius and Diviner's Portent can both draw me X spells, and the latter has a chance to let me scry first and then draw. That might not sound like a big deal, but if I'm scrying 20 and then drawing 20, my chances at pulling into a wincon are much better. I'm running a few ways to have no maximum hand size. Those include Sea Gate Restoration, which will also draw me cards equal to the number of cards in my hand.

The Combo Lines

Any Izzet (UR) deck aiming for high powered play is going to be looking to combo off and this is no exception. What I love about this build is that it's got some weird combo lines that use familiar combo pieces. Take for example Deadeye Navigator. I am running Peregrine Drake, but I'm hoping to use Deadeye in more interesting ways.

If I've got the above three cards in play, I can win the game. Battledriver will give a creature +2/+2 when it enters play. I just play Vivi, pair it with Deadeye, and use its zero mana activated ability to create two mana. I use that 2 mana to flicker Vivi and when it enters I can push out 1 damage to each opponent with Impact Tremors. The new Vivi is a new instance of the creature, so it can activate its ability to produce mana because it hasn't done that yet this turn. I'm also running Hero's Blade in this list, which gives +3/+2 and can equip automatically to a legendary creature when that creature enters the battlefield. Going from +2 power to +3 power suddenly lets me generate infinite mana, though I could also go infinite with other equipment if the power boost is at least 3 greater than the equip cost.

If I'm able to land the tried-and-true Dramatic Scepter combo, I'll just kill the table outright.

This combo is somewhat unique in that it gives you infinite cast triggers, which will put +1/+1 counters on Vivi and will push out damage to the rest of the table. This combo requires having enough mana rocks to pay the 2 mana activation cost. I'll need to have Dramatic Reversal in hand and when I cast Isochron Scepter and it enters the battlefield, I'll imprint that 2 mana blue instant on it. When I use Scepter to cast Dramatic Reversal, it will untap my nonland permanents, including itself. With 2 mana coming from mana rocks, I can kill the table. If I can make more than 2 mana I'll be able to make infinite mana - though I'm not sure what I'll do with it, as my buddies will all be dead.

Odds and Ends

There are a few extra things worth mentioning, as they're both helpful and can serve as backup wincons.

I'm running a handful of ways to have damage to an opponent get turned into card draw. Vivi will ding each of my opponents for 1 damage whenever I cast a noncreature spell. Turning a Pongify from "destroy target creature" to "destroy target creature, draw three cards" is going to feel fantastic.

Any time I'm building a high-powered Izzet deck with these card draw payoffs, I usually include Niv-Mizzet, Parun, and Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. Those two legendary Dragon Wizard cards will deal 1 damage to any target when I draw a card, so they both combo with the three cards shown above. I'll draw, ping someone, draw, ping someone, and so on until the table is dead or I've drawn into another wincon I can use to close out the game. I just need to make sure I don't draw myself out.

While it isn't part of a specific combo, Displacer Kitten is the kind of card that can result in all sorts of nonsense. Squeezing mana out of Vivi, casting a spell, and then flickering Vivi will let me squeeze Vivi for mana again. Either Ogre Battledriver or equipment can help to make Vivi produce more mana, and if I'm able to pull into draw spells there's a decent chance I'll be able to have a big turn.

If I'm able to cast spells and have Vivi leave play, those counters can be put on The Ozolith for later use. When I go to combat I can move those counters back onto Vivi for more mana production, probably in my second main phase. If I've got enough counters I might be able to hit Vivi with a Chandra's Ignition to push out a bunch more damage.

Maybe We Don't Exist...

Vivi isn't just an adorable character design that won the hearts of fans because it's just so darn cute. The character goes through a serious character arc, and is the voice that closes out Final Fantasy IX with a touching monologue. The character's most memorable quote might be the existentialist line "How do you prove that you exist...? Maybe we don't exist..."

I'll be the first to admit that I remembered Vivi based upon the character design more than anything else. If you have access to an old Playstation and you're into retro gaming, Final Fantasy IX is definitely worth checking out. I'm sure any 20+ year old game will show its age, but I remember it fondly and I bet it's still a good time.

Vivi Ornitier | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Vivi Ornitier

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Archaeomancer
• 1 Archmage Emeritus
• 1 Archmage of Runes
• 1 Deadeye Navigator
• 1 Displacer Kitten
• 1 Faerie Mastermind
• 1 Livaan, Cultist of Tiamat
• 1 Mindwrack Liege
• 1 Mnemonic Wall
• 1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
• 1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
• 1 Ogre Battledriver
• 1 Peregrine Drake
• 1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
• 1 Storm-Kiln Artist
• 1 Tandem Lookout

• Instants (21)
• 1 AEtherize
• 1 Aetherspouts
• 1 Bulk Up
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Comet Storm
• 1 Consider
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Deflecting Swat
• 1 Diviner's Portent
• 1 Dramatic Reversal
• 1 Fierce Guardianship
• 1 Fire Magic
• 1 Force of Will
• 1 Mana Drain
• 1 Opt
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Stroke of Genius
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Unleash Fury

• Sorceries (8)
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Chandra's Ignition
• 1 Curse of the Swine
• 1 Past in Flames
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Preordain
• 1 Sea Gate Restoration
• 1 Windfall

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 Curiosity
• 1 Impact Tremors
• 1 Octopus Umbra
• 1 Ophidian Eye
• 1 Rhystic Study

• Artifacts (12)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Excalibur, Sword of Eden
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Hero's Blade
• 1 Isochron Scepter
• 1 Izzet Signet
• 1 Runechanter's Pike
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Talisman of Creativity
• 1 The Ozolith
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Two-Handed Axe

• Lands (37)
• 13 Island
• 13 Mountain
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Riptide Laboratory
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stormcarved Coast
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Training Center
• 1 Volcanic Island

Buy This Deck Export text

This list could easily be made more budget friendly and powered down by removing some of the more expensive cards and pivoting to a more combat-oriented voltron approach. It's possible Vivi could still pack a punch but many casual tables will take more kindly to being murdered one at a time by a big commander than losing to a combo.

If you wanted to power this list up, that would probably mean focusing on the most efficient wincon available to your commander. I'm running a bunch of wincons because I like decks that can give me a variety of game experiences, but when you're moving up into cEDH my understanding is that it's all about efficiency and a focus on your most effective wincon.

I expect you'll want to load in Underworld breach and other storm spells, but you do want to focus on your optimal line to win the game. That may well be Dramatic Scepter combo, so you'll also want to add in Fabricate, Mystical Tutor, Spellseeker and other cards that can get you to that combo as quickly as possible. It does just win the game with Vivi in play, so it's probably your best option. It may well be an oversight that I'm not running those tutors in today's list, as tutors are fine in bracket 4 decks.

Final Thoughts

I wasn't able to play this list in paper or on Tabletop Simulator before writing this column. That Thursday night playgroup is more casual and this Vivi list probably wouldn't have been enjoyed in that meta. I've been on a tear lately, so last night I played what I was hoping was a bracket 1 deck instead. I may write about that experience next week.

My sense that Vivi Ornitier is going to be seeing a lot of play may result from my personal bias. It's one of few Final Fantasy games I've played, so its characters are familiar to me, but there have been a lot of Final Fantasy games released over the past 40 years. That means there have been a lot of characters, and the Final Fantasy set reflects that IP's long and varied history. A quick Scryfall search reveals well over 100 new legendary creatures with set codes of FIN or FFC. That's a lot.

When Fallout was released, I dove back into those games and later regretted not picking up more of those Magic commander decks. I don't expect I'll be doing that with Final Fantasy. There are just too many FF games to realistically go back into that IP and do more than get a quick reminder of what those games were like. One of the blessings of Universes Beyond is that you can skip some of those sets. The veritable firehose of new cards coming out of WotC means it won't be long before there's another set to dive into.

That's all I've got for today. I'm not sure what I'll be hitting next week, but it might be another Final Fantasy column, and it might be that bracket 1 deck I recently threw together.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!