Frith

Team Niv-Mizzet (MtG) @vonKonigsberg Neither Teferi nor the demonic leviathan were able to resist Bolas’s mind-shattering touch. In the Time Spiral novel, it mentions that when Teferi came into physical contact with Bolas, his mind became scrambled, and he began to disintegrate, his consciousness literally being stripped away. Teferi was badly beaten, but Bolas let him live. With the demonic leviathan, the implication from the Future Sight novel is that Bolas used his mind-shattering touch to defeat the leviathan, “the dragon attacked the leviathan’s mind with his magic, and shredded it like tissue paper.” Even in the battle with Leshrac, Bolas mentions that their battle temporarily robbed Bolas of his greatest ability. However, because Bolas had the original mask, it was all a ruse and Leshrac had been tricked. So again, Niv is the only character we know of to have actually "resisted” Bolas’s mind-shattering touch. Niv’s big superpower is his mind, so while he may not be a Bolas, he has his own accomplishments that make him a strong team player.

Consistent with some of your points, every major character has inconsistencies at times in the writing. For example, Bolas was defeated in his pre-mending glory by Tetsuo Umezawa, a non-planeswalker. From all practical perspectives, Tetsuo should have never been able to defeat Bolas, but he did. I could also point to some of the questionable moments with some of Yawgmoth’s team members listed here (e.g., the new Praetors and Atraxa).

About the Kami, I’m not sure why you would say that the dragon spirits of Kamigawa have no connection to the Ur-Dragon, the progenitor and avatar of all “dragonkind” which denotes multiple forms of dragons. Just because a dragon is not directly birthed from the Ur-Dragon, does not mean there isn’t a transcendental relationship. The word “dragonkind” is purposefully used for these reasons. There is absolutely nothing that says that dragon spirits have no metaphysical connection to the Ur-Dragon. Otherwise, all the Kami would just be generic spirits with no connection to any physical form. All worlds have unique metaphysics, but that does not denote an absence of connectivity to the broader multiverse. The dragon spirits and their unique abilities then bring another important dynamic into the Ur-Dragon’s circle.

Finally, I don’t think our points of view are going to change much here. I don’t see Yawgmoth and his team as the unbeatable force that you do. Likewise, you don’t see the synergy in Niv’s draconic team that I do, and I’m okay with that. You've brought up some good points, and the debate is much appreciated.

Team Niv-Mizzet (MtG) @vonKonigsberg Thank you for the @ suggestion. One point of clarification is that I’m referring to Bolas’s “post-mending” version, which is the one mentioned in this “Super Battle Royale," not his "pre-mending" version. I don’t think that post-mending Bolas is capable of destroying planes as you mentioned here.

Anyway…Niv is certainly not Bolas and was never intended to be. Niv’s character is an antithesis to Bolas and is about pure intelligence, preparation, knowing more than you let on, and cunning tactics. Those qualities would be very relevant here. Sure, Bolas and Niv share some of these characteristics, but they have very different motivations. Niv is perhaps the only character in WotC lore to have explicitly resisted Bolas’s mind-shattering touch, which is a significant feat in and of itself. Looking again to his character development in The Gathering Storm, Niv had known about planeswalkers for millennia and had an intelligence network in place that provided information about Bolas and his efforts on other planes. The implication here is that Niv had already allied with Ugin and other planeswalkers. Niv has proven himself to be a master strategist on par with Bolas. Intelligence and strategy are always relevant factors in any fight. On a separate note, this is also why he’s getting a new five-color iteration in “MoM: the Aftermath” (i.e., Niv-Mizzet, Supreme).

Saying that the Ur-Dragon’s identity as a primordial being “doesn’t really mean much” is not meaningful here when you acknowledge that the Eldrazi fell to the Gatewatch, a group that Bolas crushed on Amonkhet in moments. Conversely, no one would ever say that Bolas could defeat his own progenitor, the Ur-Dragon. Based upon this and your argument, the Ur-Dragon would most certainly steamroll the Eldrazi, so why then would the Ur-Dragon not be able to take on Yawgmoth whose demise came from a culminating alliance through the Legacy Weapon?

There’s nothing here to indicate that Niv’s draconic team, bolstered and empowered by the Ur-Dragon, along with iconic Dominarian Elders and a Worldsoul, would not be a potent threat to any team listed here. In addition, Dominarian Elder Dragons and their powers have always been implied to have rivaled that of planeswalkers.

Team Niv-Mizzet (MtG) Bolas's response to Tezzeret at the conclusion of The Gathering Storm clearly indicates that Niv proved to be more of a challenge than anticipated, something that surprised Bolas, and the reason he valued his win so much. This was Wexler's intention in the story which is considered canon. As for Niv passing out after killing Kefnet, this occurred immediately after Niv was resurrected and in a weakened state. In your argument, there would have been no need for Bolas to have ever prevented Niv's ascension. Bolas clearly underestimated Niv and his ability to adapt. In any respect, Niv is consistently referenced as a contributor to Bolas's defeat.

As for the Ur-Dragon vs. Yawgmoth, the Ur-Dragon has specifically been avoided in literature due to its vastness and place in legend as a primordial being. Its mere presence empowers dragonkind and gives birth to incredibly powerful dragons like Nicol Bolas and Ugin. In essence, the Ur-Dragon is a divinity of incomprehensible power which is precisely the reason that WotC limits its use in literature but continues its printing as an iconic five-color avatar.