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Back in Black! *PRIMER*

Commander / EDH Casual Combo Infinite Combo Mono-Black

NV_1980

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Creature (29)

Artifact (16)

Sorcery (9)

Enchantment (6)

Commander (1)

Commander: Mikaeus, the Unhallowed

Land (35)

Instant (4)

Welcome to Back in Black !

Hi there! Welcome to the primer of my mono-black, resurrection, infinite combo deck; commanded by Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. This former protector of Thraben and zombie-slave to planeswalker Liliana, is about to turn your day very, very sour. His power wills my creatures away from their graves; giving them the strength to face my foes again with slightly increased ferocity. He is the epitome of destruction to all who shares the DNA of your species, and he is very, very pissed off. This deck is meant to be played casually. It’s not meant to be used in a competitive fashion, but of course I welcome anyone to try! Feel free to comment on anything you (dis)like throughout this primer; I hope you will enjoy it!

Alright, reasons; let’s put them in order. First and foremost; the ability to grant undying and +1/+1 to all my non-human homies. It’s what makes my wayward padre a machine of automatic, to-the-battlefield resurrection if there ever was one. The only way in which this could be more powerful, would be if the returned creatures would also have haste. Second, is his lethal disposition toward homo sapiens. Should the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve cross his path in anything resembling a lethal way (so not just combat); it’s bye-bye Vienna. Oddly enough, humans regularly make appearances in this game, so very useful indeed. Last but not least, this guy is a 5/5 intimidator, which makes his combat prowess pretty impressive. His only major downside is his high CMC, but there are easy ways to cope with that minor weakness.

I use the following ten parameters to determine the strength of the deck. For each, I allocate a score of 5 (very good), 4 (good), 3 (mediocre), 2 (bad) or 1 (very bad); when totalized this score represents the power rating of the deck (maximum score is 50 points).

  • Mana: indicates the availability of mana sources within the deck.
  • Ramp: indicates the speed at which mana sources within the deck can be made available.
  • Card Advantage: indicates availability of filter- and draw resources represented within the deck.
  • Overall speed: indicates the deck’s potential for pace, based on resource availability and mana curve.
  • Combo: indicates the measure of combo-orientation of the deck.
  • Army: indicates the deck’s creature-army strength.
  • Commander: indicates how much the deck is commander-oriented/dependent (less dependency is better).
  • Interaction: indicates how much this deck can mess with opponents’ board states and turn-phases.
  • Resilience: indicates whether the deck can prevent and take punches.
  • Spellpower: indicates the availability and strength of high-impact spells.

Mana: 3

The deck contains five mana rocks, an artifact that cheapens my spells, a spell that provides an instant mana boost, a creature that doubles my swamps’ output and an artifact I can sac creatures to in exchange for mana.

Ramp: 1

I have a single creature than upon sacrificing, allows me to search for lands. It’s not much, but it adds nicely to my other options that extend my mana base.

Card Advantage: 4

In terms of direct draw, this deck offers five permanent options, as well as one sorcery. It also offers some filtering options (two) as well as three tutors. Lastly, two of my creatures enable me to steal from graveyards!

Overall speed: 5

Over half of this deck’s cards (fifty-one!) have a CMC of three or less. Combine this with the deck’s availability of mana sources AND its very decent card advantage options, and what you get is a mono-colored deck with almost optimal speed.

Combo: 5

This deck’s combo potential is meant to bring down the house. There’s a multitude of options included to generate infinite mana (to power a very large spell), infinite ping, infinite life-gain, infinite zombies and even steal everyone’s graveyards empty.

Army: 3

In terms of pure fighting-power, this deck’s army is mediocre. Some have been added for their utility value only, while others have been added as sacrificial fodder for the greater benefit of the deck’s true combatants, the pumps. Under the right conditions, these creatures’ power is basically limitless.

Commander: 2

Can this deck win without Mikaeus, the Unhallowed? Certainly. Can it execute combos without him? Hardly. My dark cleric is essential to most of the strategies that lead to an easy win, so timing his summoning and keeping him around after is important.

Interaction: 2

This deck isn’t doing all that much during other players’ turns, though a few ways are incorporated to cause some life-loss based on creatures killed. I can also cause some other types of interaction by saccing my own creatures or forcing sacs on the opposing side.

Resilience: 3

In many ways, Mikaeus is the ultimate resistance enabler as he can automatically revive just about all my creatures. The deck’s recursion theme is built around him. Four of my creatures also have persist themselves, so they can return to the field off their own accord. I’ve included some more resurrection redundancy, if for whatever reason my mains aren’t available.

Spellpower: 2

Throwing around high-powered arcane energy is not this deck’s strong suit. A few spells that pack a bit of a wallop have been included, as well as some enchantment that will make creatures wish they have never been summoned, but that’s about it.

Total power score: 30

This deck is reasonably fast due to its great mana-curve and ample resources. It has a plethora of creative ways to deal with my opposition. Most of these ways require my commander to be on the field and under my control. This means the timing of his appearance needs to be careful, and if possible, planned well in advance. Once he’s here though, especially when I can protect him on the field, winning is almost inevitable. The deck can interfere with opposing plans, though mostly to the extent of stopping creatures involved in such endeavors.

This deck’s main power resides in combining Mikaeus’s ability to grant undying to most of my creatures, with creatures that either have persist or have abilities are activated by removing +1/+1 counters from them. This effectively makes my creatures immortal; allowing me to sacrifice them to whatever outlet I choose however often I would want to.

Each game, I aim to bring into play a sacrificial target, a sacrifice outlet and if required a card that allows me to benefit from creatures entering/exiting the battlefield. Once these are all in place, Mikaeus needs to make his appearance and seal the game in my favor. While assembling the combo pieces, my creatures will be delaying opposing creatures or by using removal spells. Other opposing plays can also be delayed, but there are less means available to do that so it’s harder.

At least three cards in the starting hand ought to be lands (or two lands and a CMC0 or CMC1 mana rock). This is a must; I are not going to start a game without this hand (even if I have to mulligan down to three cards). The ideal hand would also contain some acceleration in the form of rocks, draw- and/or filter options.

Order of play for this deck is straightforward. The key is to make haste, without being rash. I do not want to come off as overly eager, while at the same time taking care of myself and reacting harshly to early aggression. I start by making some resources available to me. Anything that grants mana or card advantage gets priority. That would include options like Arcane Signet, Burnished Hart, Mana Vault, Jet Medallion, Scroll Rack and Sensei's Divining Top.

Along with the first resources, I want to discourage immediate attacks from overzealous opponents. This means summoning some critters or using some of my spells to vape incoming attackers. Do not worry about losing some of the creatures to combat at this stage; even when they are meant to enable combos later. I have ways to return them to the field should it come to that. Some nice early creatures I would recommend, would be Baleful Ammit, Gravecrawler, Merciless Executioner, Nantuko Husk and Phyrexian Ghoul. Spells that are very suitable for this early stage would be examples like Hero's Downfall, Mutilate or Victim of Night.

Now that I have made a start, it’s time to prepare for a game-winning combo. During this phase, I gather the necessary requirements; a sacrificial target, a sacrifice outlet and most importantly: Mikaeus, the Unhallowed himself. The ideal sacrificial target either has inherent ‘persist’ ability (when it is sent to the graveyard, it comes back to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter), have an ability to give themselves -1/-1 counters (when entering the battlefield for instance) or it can use +1/+1 counters in exchange for boons. Aside from some cards already mentioned, examples are Lingering Tormentor, Plague Belcher, Puppeteer Clique, Putrid Goblin, Walking Ballista and Wingrattle Scarecrow.

For a sacrifice outlet, I summon a creature that can pump up its power/toughness with creature sacrifices. Examples of that would be Bloodthrone Vampire, Devouring Swarm and Fallen Angel. I can also choose to sacrifice creatures to artifacts that cause pain, mill or mana benefits in return. This would include options like Altar of Dementia, Blasting Station or Phyrexian Altar. Next to the actual sac outlets, I can also summon some options will bring me additional benefit from sacrificing my own creatures. This includes options that cause ping/lifegain (like Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat), options that allow me to draw cards (like Grim Haruspex and Harvester of Souls) or even options that force others to sacrifice creatures because I am sacrificing my own (like Dictate of Erebos and Grave Pact.

The last item on my wish-list, is of course the dreaded Mik himself. Since he’s so instrumental to the success of my end-game strategy; summoning him needs to be done carefully. If you can, use Cavern of Souls when summoning him; this prevents blue players from countering. When he hits the board, it also helps to have Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots ready for him, so that he becomes much harder to remove. If he gets killed anyway, and you have Reanimate in your hand or Phyrexian Reclamation/Sheoldred, Whispering One on the battlefield; opt for him to go the graveyard instead; respawning him will probably be cheaper this way.

With all the combo pieces assembled, it’s time to execute the game-winning activities I had planned! If for whatever reason I could not accomplish this, I’ll blast my opponents with a high-powered Torment of Hailfire or Exsanguinate and see if that does the trick.

Due to Mikaeus' fantastic ability to give every non-human +1/+1 and 'undying', he is the mainstay in a lot of infinite combos within this deck. Reason for this is simple: +1/+1 counters can be removed or negated. The following combos depend on removing +1/+1 counters:

  • Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion: Activate Trikelion’s ability by removing all +1/+1 counters from it. Use two of the counters to deal 2 damage to any target, use 1 counter to deal damage to Triskelion itself. Because of Mikaeus granting it undying, Triskelion returns to the battlefield (this time with four +1/+1 counters (one from undying). Activate Trikelion’s ability by removing all +1/+1 counters from it. Use three of the counters to deal 3 damage to any target, use 1 counter to deal damage to Triskelion itself. Rinse and repeat.
  • Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Walking Ballista: Activate Walking Ballista’s ability by removing all +1/+1 counters from it (which will cause it to die). Use the counters to deal 1 damage per counter to any target. Because of Mikaeus granting it undying, Ballista returns to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter. Activate Ballista’s ability by removing the +1/+1 counter from it. Use it to deal 1 damage to any target. Rinse and repeat.
  • Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Spincrusher + sac outlet: sacrifice Crusher to the sac outlet for whatever benefit I need. Mikaeus will allow Crusher to reenter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. Use Crusher’s ability to remove the +1/+1 counter, in exchange for indestructibility. Now sac Crusher to the sac outlet again. Rinse and repeat.
  • Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Phyrexian Altar + Retribution of the Ancients + any non-human creature: sacrifice the creature (which is granted undying by Mikaeus) to Altar; having it generate . Creature returns to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter. Use the generated to activate Retribution, removing the +1/+1 counter from the creature (and granting some other poor schmuck -1/-1 in the process). Rinse and repeat.

Then there are the combos that can allow my creatures to negate counters:

  • Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Baleful Ammit/Plague Belcher + sac outlet: sac Ammit/Belcher to the sac outlet. The undying ability (granted by Mikaeus) allows them to return to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter. However, both creatures have an ETB that forces for distribution of -1/-1 counters amongst my own creatures. Choose to add these latter counters to the Ammit/Belcher themselves. This creates the situation of them having both +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on them at the same time. As a state-based effect, rule 122.3 takes effect (this forces pairs of such counters to be removed until this is no longer possible). Rinse and repeat.
  • Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Lingering Tormentor/Puppeteer Clique/Putrid Goblin/Tatterkite/Wingrattle Scarecrow + sac outlet: sac the mentioned creatures to the sac outlet. Now something funny happens. The creature has both the undying and persist abilities, so they are both triggered. Choose which one goes on the stack first. The second ability that goes on the stack triggers first; for this example, undying was put on the stack last, so it goes off first. The undying ability (granted by Mikaeus) allows the creature to return to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter. Now sac the creature again. This time undying will not trigger (because the creature has a +1/+1 creature when it dies). However, persist will; thus, the creature returns to the battlefield (this time with a -1/-1 counter). Rinse and repeat.

The unnamed sac outlets in the above combos can be any of the following:

All of these infinite combos can generate a lot of enter-the-battlefield and leave-the-battlefield triggers, which combined with the following cards can do the following for us:

My reliable sources of mana, and some utility:

  • Ancient Tomb: major colorless mana for a small price in life-points; excellent land to start games with.
  • Blast Zone: can function as a very versatile wipe.
  • Bloodstained Mire/Marsh Flats/Polluted Delta/Verdant Catacombs: my filtering lands; very helpful in obtaining my useful cards faster.
  • Bojuka Bog: a perfect way to say ‘bye-bye’ to the largest opposing graveyard in the game.
  • Cabal Coffers/Cabal Stronghold: perfect land for a ton of , especially when used in sync with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
  • Cavern of Souls: keeps them from countering my zombie spells; which is of special importance to Mikaeus.
  • Mortuary Mire: this is a great additional resource for returning a lost combo-piece back to my hand.
  • Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: a decent number of black permanents can generate quite a bit of black devotion, which translates into a lot of mana that this land alone can generate.
  • Rogue's Passage: first I pump up a creature sac-outlet to monumental size, and then I squeeze it through this to send it charging at the enemy unchallenged.
  • Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: helps my Cabal lands a great deal and allows all of my lands to be tapped for black mana.
  • War Room: there's always room for more draw-resources.

The cards I use to accelerate mana-availability:

  • Arcane Signet/Fellwar Stone: cheap rocks I will use to provide .
  • Burnished Hart: I can fetch two swamps with this wonderful critter; provided he dies first. Not exactly an issue with a deck like this.
  • Crypt Ghast: doubles my swamp mana output and has the added benefit of granting me some life should I choose to pay a little extra mana during casting.
  • Dark Ritual: an ideal spell in my starting hand (or any hand in the early game).
  • Jet Medallion: helps me to cast black stuff a little cheaper.
  • Mana Vault: superb mana source if you need a lot of it in a pinch.
  • Mox Opal: not as good as Mox Jet, but the requirement of needing some additional artifacts before it can be used can be fulfilled easily with this deck.
  • Sol Ring: are there EDH decks without this card?

The mechanisms that provide me with card advantage:

  • Dauthi Voidwalker: superb option to have my opponent's stuff circumvent graveyards and go straight into exile; and then when the time is right, I can use it to steal something; and again if Mikaeus wills it.
  • Demonic Tutor/Diabolic Intent/ Vampiric Tutor: no combo deck should go without the cards required to find its most important combo pieces.
  • Grim Haruspex/Harvester of Souls: as this deck will kill of a lot (of its own) creatures, basing some draw on those occurrences seems like a good idea.
  • Phyrexian Arena: every turn, predictable card advantage for a bit of life.
  • Phyrexian Reclamation: for a little mana and life, any creatures in my graveyard can be returned to my hand; that’s a steal!
  • Reanimate: in case I lose something before my commander hits the field.
  • Scroll Rack/Sensei's Divining Top: fantastic filterings card that allows for (additional) draw in a pinch.
  • Sheoldred, Whispering One: allows me to return creatures to the battlefield from my graveyard without summoning them while forcing opponents to sacrifice creatures every turn without additional costs/prerequisites.
  • Skullclamp: you’re destined to be sacrificed? Equip this and make yourself useful.
  • Yawgmoth, Thran Physician: neat card-advantage mechanism that works extremely well when combined with Mikaeus.

What I need to get rid of what the opposition managed to summon:

  • Attrition: in a deck that can return creatures to the battlefield so easily, why not sacrifice one to kill off a non-black nuisance?
  • Feed the Swarm: chance to eliminate a troublesome creature or enchantment, at the cost of some life; depending on the target, usually well worth the effort.
  • Hero's Downfall: a versatile, destructive spell that can specifically eliminate planeswalkers (which is relatively rare) should I need to.
  • Mutilate/Toxic Deluge: at relatively low CMC, these are very cost-effective wipes that will even get rid of indestructible/hexproof creatures.
  • Nevinyrral's Disk: my reset button in case everything goes awry.
  • Victim of Night: cheap removal spell with a few minor restrictions.

Get ready to be expended for the greater good (or evil)!

  • Baleful Ammit: a very decent combat zombie for relatively low CMC, and the fact it can give itself a -1/-1 counter makes it an ideal sac target in a Mikaeus deck.
  • Gravecrawler: requires little to be summoned from my graveyard whenever I need it.
  • Gray Merchant of Asphodel: my most powerful drain-and-gain creature; with Mikaeus around I can use him at least twice.
  • Lingering Tormentor: opponents will fear this spirit, and if they don’t, … it’s rather … persistent.
  • Merciless Executioner: in this deck, I usually sacrifice this guy to itself; I can probably use him again anyway.
  • Plague Belcher: pings whenever one of my zombies dies, and carries its own -1/-1 counters so is also a very useful for sacrifice.
  • Puppeteer Clique: combined with Mik, this guy’s persist ability doesn’t just allow me to sac him an infinite amount of times, but I gain control of another opposing creature each time.
  • Putrid Goblin: cheap-to-cast creature with persist.
  • Spincrusher: an unorthodox sac target that I can make invulnerable by removing a +1/+1 counter (which includes the one it could get from undying).
  • Tatterkite: no counters can be placed on this beauty, so it’s perfect for repeating some undying with.
  • Triskelion/Walking Ballista: two of the best combo pieces with Mikaeus; just keep removing the +1/+1 counters for damage and get them back after.
  • Wingrattle Scarecrow: this deck can’t make it fly (no blue creatures), but it has inbuilt persistence, which is of great help with Mikaeus.

Step right this way mr./mrs. zombie!

Some amazing helpful additions that don’t fit in any other category.

I appreciate the time you took to read my primer. Hopefully it was entertaining and useful to you. If so, feel free to leave a +1 and/or feedback of any kind in the comments below. Thanks again!

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98% Casual

Competitive

Date added 6 years
Last updated 4 months
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

11 - 0 Mythic Rares

34 - 0 Rares

22 - 0 Uncommons

13 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.75
Tokens Morph 2/2 C
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