The γ decays from an isomeric 10 + state at 6457 keV in the nucleus 54 28 Ni 26 have been identified using the GSI fragment separator in conjunction with the RISING Ge-detector array. A central topic in contemporary nuclear structure physics is the investigation of exotic nuclear matter far from the line of β stability. Long-standing questions are "Where are the proton and neutron drip lines situated?" and "How does the nuclear force depend on varying proton-to-neutron ratios?" [1]. These issues can be addressed by investigating long isotopic chains: The magic Z = 28 nickel chain covers four potentially doublymagic nuclides, namely, with N = 20, N = 28, N = 40, and N = 50. Indeed, 48 Ni is found to denote the proton dripline [2], while measurements on 78 Ni provide crucial information on the astrophysical rapid neutron capture process [3]. As with 68 Ni [4], the self-conjugate N = Z nucleus 56 Ni shows distinct features of a soft doubly-magic core, becoming strongly deformed at modest excitation energies and angular momenta. Furthermore, a rotational state at ∼10 MeV excitation energy in 56 Ni revealed a fast, discrete proton decay branch [5,6]. Another evergreen of nuclear structure studies along the N = Z line is isospin symmetry or, more precisely, the breaking of isospin symmetry due to the Coulomb force as well as, possibly, some components of the strong nucleon-nucleon interaction [7]. Here, the so-called "J = 2 anomaly" must be mentioned: It relates to unusual mirror energy differences (MED) in excited states, the wave functions of which are thought to be dominated by spin J = 2, isospin T = 1 couplings [7][8][9]. During the past decade, the prime region for such investigations has been the rather well-confined N = 3,