Mikaeus, Extreme Sub $20 Budget EDH
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 3182 | 1154 COMMENTS | 535194 VIEWS | IN 2060 FOLDERS
Major changes to the decklist —May 10, 2015
It's been a while since I have gone through and checked the current deck price, and I've been dreading it for quite some time, because I knew it would be over $20.
When I first made this deck, Mikaeus was a $3 Mythic.
Now he is $10-15 (Major retailers), $7-10 (MagicCardMarket and Ebay), or $0 (If you use a Proxy), which has lead to me having to tighten the decklist even further.
As a result, I have now cut several cards in the deck, among them two of the strongest cards I had. Also two of the most expensive ones however.
Since these cards are still relatively cheap and do a HUGE amount of work for the deck, I will leave them in the maybeboard so people can easily see them if they want to know what to add next.
Blasting Station has gone from $0,5 to $1 to all of a sudden spiking to $3. It is hands down the best way to win with Mikaeus, but currently it is too much for the decks extremely tight budget. I replaced it with Altar of Dementia, which is one third of the price and achieves mostly the same goal (with the exception of fizzling against Eldrazi titans, but I have learned that most playgroups don't run them).
The second big cut is Sol Ring. It dropped from $5 to $1 when the commander precons came out, but has steadily been climbing upwards to $3 lately. Obviously this is another powerhouse of a card, but I had to cut it for budget reasons. In its place I'm putting in Worn Powerstone which was reprinted in the commander set and is therefore dirt cheap now (down from $3 to $0.5).
Whispersilk Cloak is another one. Overnight it went from $0.4 to $4. This is just a bug, they are still around $0.5 everywhere else I check, but for clearness I replaced it with Dauthi Embrace as they mostly do the same thing and it wasn't really important to me in the deck.
Crypt Ghast is another card that has climbed a lot. From $0.2 junk rare to over $1. It's a great card in this deck (and all other heavy black EDH decks, hence its price increase!) but with the changes I had to make it got the cut. Soldevi Adnate gets its place.
Then finally Praetor's Grasp gets the cut to make the $20 limit work. Still a great card, but a meta call (To counter combo, or if you know people are running cards like Nevermore and Humility which shut you down). In I put more ramp to make up for the loss of Sol Ring, which is Commander's Sphere. The ability to sac this for a card whenever you want it something I really appreciate.
actually I tried Puppeteer Clique online, and had issues with undying going back to the owners side with a +1/+1 counter....it was a bad idea
May 2, 2015 9:21 a.m.
pryoplasm: Puppeteer exiles the creature you reanimate eot, so it doesn't come back with undying under their control.
If they try to kill the creature you reanimated in order to get it back, you can sacrifice the clique while the undying trigger is ON THE STACK and grab it back! Mikaeus + Puppeteer + Sac outlet lets you infinitely reanimate ALL your opponents creatures at instant speed.
May 2, 2015 6:08 p.m.
Valentine35 says... #4
I'm confused, how do some of those cards in the "sac fodder" list make infinite combos? I understand a few of them like Tatterkite, Spincrusher, and Triskelion, but i don't get how the others work? I thought just because they have -1 counters on them doesn't mean that the +1 counter isn't on them anymore, i thought it still had both counters on it technically even though they cancel each other out aren't they both still on it? So that way they can infinitely come back with Mikaeus because they wont have undying for a second time around. I'm just curious, maybe I've been playing the counters wrong. Please explain. sorry if this is a dumb comment, i was just curious.
May 5, 2015 7:29 p.m.
Valentine35: Yes, -1/-1 and +1/+1 counters cancel each other out. They don't technically have them, they remove each other completely. A creature with a -1/-1 counter that gets a +1/+1 counter has ZERO counters on it.
May 5, 2015 7:36 p.m.
Valentine35 says... #6
Oh! ok well, i've been playing counters wrong lol. Thanks for clarifying. Awesome deck by the way, i'll be sure to add to the ever growing +1's, well deserved. thanks again.
May 5, 2015 7:38 p.m.
XTechNinjaX says... #8
I love this deck man! Although none of decks ever end up as budget decks because I'm constantly tuning them and such I still have a fascination with budget decks especially in a format like EDH where people feel like they have to pay or at least trade for ages to be able to keep up in. I also have some ideas for it. I know you have just hit 100,000 views and its got an awesome score(+1 from me btw) so I get it if they never even see your maybe board but as an MTG player who specializes in combos and a black sacrificial play style I think these could really find a home in this deck and they only cost pennies so they fit right into your budget design.
The combo of Bloodthrone Vampire and Essence Harvest to end games is disgusting and brutal and super cheap to add.
The combo with Ashnod's Altar and Nim Deathmantle is a bit more complicated but it can lead to several endless combos in this deck!
Take Merciless Executioner for example. If your commander is on the field giving him undying, you can sacrifice him twice to Ashnod's Altar floating 4 colorless to bring him back with Nim Deathmantle then rinse repeat until there are zero creatures left on any opponents fields. This combo get especially brutal with creatures like Blood Artist, Falkenrath Noble, and Grave Titan but those may be for your non-budget version.
Anyways I hope you find something in this comment useful and once again I love the deck and the premisse of building a dominant deck like this for a fraction of normal EDH deck costs!
May 9, 2015 8:42 a.m.
XTechNinjaX: Thanks for the in-depth suggestions! And you are completely right about the Nim Deathmantle!
I have tried it in the deck and it is amazing, but I had to cut it because Ashnod's Altar and Nim Deathmantle were $0.7 and $0.8, which even at such a low price is too much for this deck... I guess having them in the maybeboard so people are aware of them wouldn't hurt.
That said, I can't believe I have forgotten to add it to the non-budget list! Nim Deathmantle is easily worth running there. I actually already thought I had included it (as it goes infinite easily and gives you another out if Mikaeus is dealt with.)
As for Essence Harvest and Bloodthrone Vampire, they're already in the deck. Really good suggestions.
Sleazebag says... #1
Ibuki: Yeah, the times I have played 2HG with Mikaeus, the games pretty much ended turn 4-5 every time. Just have your teammate sit with countermana up while you try to combo off.
Sorry for not being of any help when it comes to 1v1! Other than lowering your curve and adding more 1 for 1 earlygame cards (More removal like Go for the Throat and Doom Blade, Smother, Damnation etc, also discard like Hymn to Tourach and Cabal Therapy. Edict effects like Diabolic Edict and Chainer's Edict. Remove some more expensive cards for them I guess.
Puppeteer Clique is also a great combo with Mikaeus lategame, although thats more multiplayer oriented than 1v1.
Hopefully you'll find a playgroup that plays multiplayer!
May 1, 2015 7:28 p.m.