IzzetLegendary Creature — Vedalken WizardNin, the Pain Artist
Mana value2Rank#11,119
The Commander
, 
: Nin deals X damage to target creature. That creature's controller draws X cards.
Guide
Gameplan
Use Nin as a repeatable card-draw engine and removal outlet: tap her to deal lethal damage to your own creatures (drawing a pile of cards) or to opposing threats, and convert that advantage into a game-ending spell or combo. You ramp into big X activations, control the board, and bury opponents in card velocity. Most decks pivot from value-engine into a dedicated combo or burn finish.
Strengths
- Repeatable card advantage that refills your hand every turn
- Doubles as flexible removal that can kill almost any creature
- Cheap two-mana commander that comes down early and demands an answer
- Synergy with damage doublers and self-sacrifice value pieces
- Blue/red gives access to elite card filtering, counterspells, and combo support
Weaknesses
- Tapping ability is slow and easy to disrupt with summoning sickness or removal
- Drawing opponents cards when used as removal can backfire
- Mana-hungry: large X activations require serious ramp to be impactful
- Color pair lacks built-in lifegain and graveyard recursion
- Vulnerable to creature hate and tap-down/stax effects that lock the engine
Key Cards
- Furnace of Rath — Doubles Nin's damage so X activations kill bigger creatures and let you draw twice the cards off your own dudes.
- Gisela, Blade of Goldnight — Doubles your outgoing damage, turning Nin into an efficient removal and draw machine.
- Spark Double — Copies Nin for a second activation each turn or untaps your draw engine via clones.
- Thousand-Year Elixir — Lets Nin tap the turn she enters and untaps her for a second activation.
- Laboratory Maniac — Pairs with Nin's massive self-targeted draw to deck yourself out and win on the spot.
- Curiosity — Attached to Nin or another creature, it chains extra draws off every point of damage dealt.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana (Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Mana Crystals) and untap enablers like Thousand-Year Elixir and Magewright's Stone to make Nin's activations bigger and repeatable. Lean into a tight combo finish—Laboratory Maniac plus a draw-your-deck enabler, or infinite-mana outlets—so your card advantage actually closes games. Round out with premium interaction (Cyclonic Rift, Counterspell suite, Dack Fayden) to protect the engine and stabilize before you go off.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Self-mill into Laboratory Maniac/Jace, Wielder of Mysteries to win by drawing an empty library
- ▸Burn opponents out with a refueled hand of damage spells and X-burn
- ▸Assemble an infinite-mana or untap loop to draw your whole deck and combo off
- ▸Grind incremental card advantage into an overwhelming threat or large finisher
Archetypes
- Combo — Nin's draw and untap loops enable deck-yourself wins with Laboratory Maniac or infinite mana payoffs.
- Spellslinger — Constant card refueling from Nin keeps a hand full of burn and instants flowing.
- Control — Nin acts as both removal and card advantage, fueling a counter-heavy reactive build.
- Group Slug — Damage-doubling enchantments turn Nin and burn spells into direct paths to player damage via redirection effects.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (RU), by popularity.
