**Note: Credit for the format of this primer goes to ISBPathfinder for his Jenara thread.**
“Little is known about the bizarre entity that crawls the world of Muraganda. The fang druids call it the Mimeoplasm, as it absorbs the traits of anything it engulfs. The saurid warriors of the south seek out the Mimeoplasm wherever it roams, believing it to be the key to a mysterious afterlife, hoping to see in it traces of their fallen loved ones. The elves of the tropics believe it to be part of nature's cycle, a way to channel death back into life. The scarwitches hiss when it approaches, seeing it as the ultimate enemy of the world. Whether it's a natural process or a malevolent force, the Mimeoplasm never fails to command respect.”
-Doug Beyer, Savor the Flavor
Deck History
Spoiler:
I started playing EDH about two years ago, but really got into it last summer. This is the second EDH deck that I ever built, and the one that I have spent by far the most time testing and refining. The very first incarnation of this deck was the Devour for Power deck, which I picked up around the time that the precons were first released. I've been tuning it ever since, to the point that it shows very few similarities to the original deck. However, one thing that has remained the same is the general: The Mimeoplasm. The amazing versatility that he provides, combined with the potential for a surgical strike at a dangerous player, makes him one of the most powerful generals available. This has become my favorite deck that I have ever built, for any format, because of the amount of money, time and effort that I have invested into it.
Why Play The Mimeoplasm?
Spoiler:
You might like The Mimeoplasm if:
You enjoy being able to take advantage of all zones of play, especially the graveyard.
You like a general that gives you a lot of utility, but can also serve as a wincon.
You like to use many of the most powerful cards in the format to ramp, draw, and tutor.
Your meta likes wrath effects and you want immediate value from your creatures.
You think an ooze with a dinosaur arm is awesome (who doesn’t?).
You might not like The Mimeoplasm if:
You’re looking for a deck that combos off as quickly as possible.
Your meta is filled with graveyard hate.
You don’t like using staple cards and prefer something more unique.
You don’t plan to cast your general.
You’re evil.
The Competition:
Damia, Sage of Stone- While Damia is an extremely powerful card drawing engine, she doesn't have nearly as much versatility as The Mimeoplasm. She also has an extremely high casting cost and paints a huge target for removal on herself.
Vorosh, the Hunter- Vorosh can be a pretty solid beater, but he's by far the weakest of the three Commanders. The Mimeoplasm copying Skithiryx kills people more efficiently, while also having significantly more utility and costing one less mana.
About Me
Spoiler:
Just in case you wanted to know more about me (you probably don’t) I’ll include this section. I’m an 18 year old attending college at the University of Michigan. I’m going to school to be an Engineer. I liking doing pretty typical things, like hanging out with friends, playing video games, reading, watching sports, and, of course, playing Magic. I’ve been playing Magic for about six years now, since the release of Time Spiral block. I was introduced to the game by a couple of friends who had been playing it since a couple years before me. I was a pretty casual player for a while, but I eventually discovered MTGS and learned a ton about the game from coming here. I started to get into EDH about two and a half years ago, but I didn’t really focus on it until about a year and a half ago when the precons came out. That’s when I discovered The Mimeoplasm, which has gone on to become my favorite general. Nowadays, EDH is basically the only format I play. I love the challenge of building decks with all the unique restrictions, as well as the fun and politics of multiplayer games. I’m not really sure what else to say here, but if you guys have questions that aren’t too personal, feel free to ask me in this thread or through a private message.
The whole deck has been built up around what I consider to be one of the most powerful generals around: The Mimeoplasm. He can copy utility ETB creatures to gain value, exile someone else's fatties, and eventually turn into Skittles to snipe people out of nowhere. The fact that he comes in the three best colors for EDH certainly doesn't hurt his case either.
This deck has also been developed around a strong ETB theme backed up by cards like Birthing Pod and Survival of the Fittest. The inspiration for this idea initially came from ISBPathfinder's Jenara Primer. As such, it is an agro-control deck which relies on gaining card advantage over time to win. It also features quite a bit of tutoring and recursion for various card types, which allows me to gain a ton of value over time from various utility cards. It can also go crazy in a single turn with mass graveyard recursion like Living Death or Yawgmoth's Will.
The Skithiryx plan is useful in 1v1 games and to kill off players who threaten to get out of control, but it isn't resilient enough to win all by itself. As of now, the deck's main multiplayer win condition is just to beat down with a bunch of creatures, preferably enhanced by Swords of X and Y. Oftentimes this beatdown comes from Avenger tokens, which I have found is an extremely boring and often unreliable way to win. I'm currenty looking for a good combo to build into the deck that I can use to close out long games. I would like something that includes pieces which are still relevant outside of the combo to increase the consistency of the deck and mitigate "dead draws."
The deck also features two extra turn effects in Time Warp and Walk the Aeons which are usually just used to generate additional value, but can occasionally be used to take infinite turns. The combos to do this involve one card from each of three categories: Blink, Recursion, and Extra Turns. Blink includes Deadeye Navigator and Crystal Shard, Recursion includes Eternal Witness and Archaeomancer, and Extra Turns include the aforementioned Time Warp and Walk the Aeons.
A typical game will usually have you playing out some utility creatures and spells to draw and ramp up early on. Key cards here include Sylvan Library, Wood Elves, Skullclamp, and Sakura-Tribe Elder. It’s always good to get out Sylvan Primordial as early as possible. Blowing up your opponents' permanents while ramping yourself gives you a huge advantage, and copying him only makes it even better. After you have your resources up and running, you need to focusing on building up card advantage through the use of ETB creatures and graveyard manipulation. Birthing Pod and Survival of the Fittest are amazing here because they fill up your graveyard while simultaneously tutoring the perfect creature for any given situation. Make sure to get added value from your creatures by attacking whenever you have a clear shot, especially when they’re holding swords. When you reach the late game, you should have a sufficient advantage in resources over your opponents to go for a win. This is usually done by either dumping all your graveyard creatures into play off of Living Death, or getting in some swings with The Mimeoplasm, preferably copying Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon for some quick kills.
I haven't quite gone all in on spending yet. I tend to cap my reasonable expenditures at $20 per card, but I should be able to get something up to around $30-$40 if I'm patient enough and feel the deck really needs it. After $40, I just don't really feel that it's worth spending that much on cardboard. I like to think I can make a fairly competitive deck without compromising my financial security. If you have an unlimited mtg budget I would recommend updating the list with the ABU Dual Lands, the remaining fetchlands, as well as potentially better spells like Mana Drain and Imperial Seal. Bazaar of Baghdad is another extremely expensive card that could potentially improve the deck.
The Mimeoplasm- Obviously, he’s the general of the deck. His ability to copy creatures from any graveyard while exiling them can be extremely versatile. He can come in as an ETB or utility creature, he can serve as graveyard hate against an opponent’s shenanigans, or he can become Skithiryx for a lethal poison strike. The fact that he comes in the three best colors for EDH doesn’t hurt him either.
Artifact:
Birthing Pod- Since this deck runs a lot of ETB creatures, Birthing Pod becomes an incredible engine card. It can tutor up whatever I need for a given situation, and it can set up lots of really powerful interactions. The fact that it puts the creature directly into play is awesome. This is one of the best cards in the deck and should be considered a staple for most decks running green. Crystal Shard- Another very versatile card. Mainly serves to reuse my ETB creatures and to save my guys from a wrath. In a pinch it can be used to bounce a creature against a tapped out opponent. It’s also one of the pieces that can be used to set up an infinite turn combo with Eternal Witness or Archaeomancer. Lightning Greaves- A staple for any EDH deck that gets a lot of use out of its general. One of the most efficient haste outlets in the format, and also serves as protection from spot removal. Extremely useful to protect Jin-Gitaxias or give haste to beaters and utility creatures. Allows me to get more mileage out of my creatures, which is always good. Oblivion Stone- A recurable and tutorable board wipe is really amazing in EDH. It’s always nice to grab this thing with Tezzeret when you need to kill everything. It’s not quite as good here as it is in Bant decks because we don’t have access to Sun Titan, but I believe that it’s worth a slot in here. Sensei's Divining Top- I think this card is a pretty obvious staple. The ability to pay 1 mana to look at the top 3 cards of your library at any time is really powerful. The fact that it can draw you one of those 3 cards is really nice too. It’s also nearly unkillable because you can just put it on top in response. Skullclamp- This card is so good that it never should have been printed. The fact that it’s banned in both Modern and Legacy should give you a clue as to just how broken it is. It allows you to repeatably pay 1 mana to draw 2 cards as long as you have 1 toughness creatures. It gets especially crazy with something like Avenger of Zendikar. Sol Ring- Perhaps the most ubiquitous of all EDH staples. You would be hard pressed to come up with a deck where Sol Ring doesn’t fit. The fact that it taps for more mana than it costs is just ridiculously powerful. Landing one of these turn 1 will often put you so far ahead that the game turns into Archenemy. Sword of Feast and Famine- In my opinion, the best Sword in EDH. The land untap ability is incredibly powerful, especially if you can strap it on Primeval Titan. The discard ability is gravy, although it can force people into awkward situations where they have to choose between dumping fatties for The Mimeoplasm to eat, or losing cards that they were planning to cast. Sword of Fire and Ice- Not as powerful as Feast and Famine, but provides nice card advantage while killing off utility creatures. This deck really loves both draw and ramp, so getting out an early sword is really helpful. We also run a lot of utility guys that become infinitely more threatening when they pick up a sword. Sword of Light and Shadow- Yet another Sword of X and Y to that we can strap onto our ETB creatures to get more utility out of them. The gain 3 life mode isn't that useful, but returning a creature from the graveyard to your hand with every hit can be incredibly powerful. In addition, the protections that this Sword gives happen to be from the two best removal colors, which can significantly increase the longevity of our creatures.
Creature:
Acidic Slime- The best noncreature permanent hate available to this deck. He can come in, kill a problem permanent, and then sit back to block and kill a fatty with his deathtouch ability. The versatility and card advantage that he provides makes him one of the best green creatures in EDH. Archaeomancer- Recurs a lot of our powerful Instants and Sorceries for a second use. The fact that he only costs 4 and can carry a sword gives him a big advantage over Mnemonic Wall, which would probably be in this slot if Archaeomancer hadn’t been printed. Avenger of Zendikar- More than any other creature, Avenger of Zendikar gives you an “army in a card.” He will usually make at least 7 guys, while often making many more. Pairing him with Deadeye Navigator basically turns the game into “sweep or die” for all of your opponents. He’s always a solid Tooth and Nail target along with Primeval Titan, giving you a quick pile of 2/3s. Body Double- Another extremely versatile card (it’s sort of a theme in this deck), Body Double can copy the best card in any graveyard. He’s usually something of my own, but occasionally I can turn him into somebody else’s best dead creature. There are just so many things that you can do with this guy; he’ll just about never be a dead card. Once again, pairing him with Deadeye Navigator lets you do an incredible variety of different things, all in the same turn. Consecrated Sphinx- One of the most powerful creatures in the entire format. If left alone for even a single turn, he simply ends games. Be wary if someone else tries to copy him. This can result in both Sphinx players drawing their entire decks. This should result in a win for whichever player gets to take a turn sooner, so make sure you’re getting the biggest advantage out of this guy. Deadeye Navigator- This guy is crazy with any ETB creature. The ability to repeatedly use your creatures for is amazing, in addition to the fact that he also protects them and himself from targeted removal. He can also blink himself out to pair up with a different creature at any time. He’s another one of the ways that we can set up infinite turns by pairing him with Archaeomancer or Eternal Witness and recurring an extra turn card. Disciple of Bolas- This guy can generate a huge advantage or bail you out when you're low on life. He generates a ton of card advantage and gains you life while also having a body which can carry swords, get eaten by skullclamp, or podded away for a five drop. The lifegain is actually fairly relevant because this deck tends to do quite a bit of damage to itself. Duplicant- This is one of the best examples of cards that are chosen because they come with a spell effect on a creature body. He’s yet another creature that’s highly abusable with Deadeye Navigator, giving you a one-sided Final Judgment. The fact that he exiles the creature can be a little annoying if you want to copy it with Mimeoplasm, but the fact that it avoids graveyard triggers and stops others from abusing the creature means that it usually worth it. Eternal Witness- One of the best green creatures ever printed. She allows you to get any card back from your graveyard for just 3 mana. I don’t think much more needs to be said about it; this card is a staple. Just to note, it can be paired with Deadeye or Crystal Shard to recur a Time Warp effect every turn. Farhaven Elf- Essentially another copy of Wood Elves. I've gone back and forth between this guy and Yavimaya Dryad. Dryad has more upside because it can grab the shocklands, but the double green cost is often a pain. Right now I'm using this guy, but i could switch back at any time. Fierce Empath- This guy is a really efficient tutor on a body. He usually grabs either Prime Time or Consecrated Sphinx before being eaten by Skullclamp or Birthing Pod. This deck runs a lot of really powerful 6+ CMC creatures, so there should always be something good to grab. Fleshbag Marauder- A nice removal option on a cost effective body. 99% of the time he just gets sacrificed to himself so that you can use him again from the graveyard. Kills things like Blightsteel Colossus that are very hard to remove through conventional means. Really good with Havengul Lich to repeatedly force sacrifices for 4 mana. Genesis- This guy generates a lot of advantage over time. Obviously the goal is to get him into the graveyard so that he can start recurring your guys. His ability may not seem game breaking, but it helps contribute to the steady card advantage that this deck loves to generate. Glen Elendra Archmage- One of the few counters that this deck runs. The fact that it can only counter noncreature spells isn’t that big of a deal because we can usually just kill creatures. Being able to counter 2 spells takes this card from good to incredible. As I said, this deck is light on counters, so having one this good on a body is imperative. Havengul Lich- While he doesn’t have an ETB effect, this guy earns his slot because of his ability to consistently recur utility creatures from any graveyard, provided you can pay the mana for it. Absolutely amazing with things like Phantasmal Image and Fleshbag Marauder, which tend to get put back in the graveyard very easily. Ixidron- I was hesitant about this guy for a while, but after trying him out he's really good. He's essentially a wrath on an ETB creature that stops them from getting their general back. He also gets pretty huge if you play him at the right time. He can really turn the game around in a way that few other cards in this deck can. Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur- Possibly the most powerful effect on any creature in the entire format. Griselbrand is better but he's banned, so Jin-Gitaxias fills the role of the ultimate reanimation target. The draw seven every turn is absoluetly huge. The fact that he destroys everyone else's`hand is just gravy. Kokusho, the Evening Star- I was extremely happy to see Kokusho's unbanning, which eased a little bit of the pain of losing Primeval Titan. Draining everyone for 5 and gaining 15 in a multiplayer game is impressive. When you're able to recur him it gets crazy. Lotus Cobra- I've been trying this guy out recently and he has been really explosive. With fetchlands, Oracle of Mul Daya, and Life from the Loam, he's able to generate a ton of mana. Ideally I will eventually have a Crucible of Worlds in here, which will make him that much better. Mulldrifter- This guy is pretty self-explanatory. He’s either a Divination that can be tutored for and recurred later, or he’s a 2/2 flying body that also draws 2. He carries Swords well and blocks flyers if he has to. A 3 for 1 that comes on a body for just 5 mana is just so much value in this format. Oracle of Mul Daya- Oracle is one of the best ramp creatures available. The fact that he allows you to play an additional land as well as the ability to play them off the top of your library helps clear land clumps quickly while also ramping up to play your spells. The fact that he shows what you will be drawing is unfortunate at times, but is mitigated because of the fact that we don’t run many Instants anyway. Phantasmal Image- Clones tend to be really good in this format, and this guy is the most efficient clone effect ever printed. Sure, he dies pretty easily, but even a single Primeval Titan or Rune-Scarred Demon trigger is worth the low price of . Him and the other clones also have the ability to kill any general regardless of Shroud, Hexproof, Indestructible, etc. Phyrexian Metamorph- Another extremely efficient clone. This guy is even better than Phantasmal Image because of his ability to copy Artifacts. The fact that he is an artifact himself means that he is tutorable off Tezzeret as well. Most of the time he’ll become a copy of the best permanent on the board, but, like Image, he can also kill generals. Primeval Titan- Banned Rune-Scarred Demon- While he is pretty expensive for a tutor, the fact that he can be cheated into play or reanimated easily makes him much more abusable than most tutors. I love to chain a bunch of creatures through Survival of the Fittest and then reanimate this guy to tutor Living Death and get all my guys back. Another fun thing to do is to tutor for Rite of Replication and kick it on him, giving you 5 more tutors and six 6/6 flyers. Sakura-Tribe Elder- He’s basically a Rampant Growth on a body, which is plenty good enough for me. I usually leave him around until the end of my last opponent’s turn to serve as a chump blocker and sacrifice before damage. If it’s late in the game and I don’t need more lands, I’ll let him stick around to carry a Sword or get Skullclamped. Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon- Skittles is one of my main ways to win. He’s in the deck solely to be copied by The Mimeoplasm while getting at least six +1/+1 counters and haste, allowing him to be instantly lethal to any opponent who doesn’t have a flying blocker. He’s great to snipe a player who gets too threatening, but he usually doesn’t make it around an entire turn cycle to kill multiple people, which is where the extra turn cards come in. Snapcaster Mage- An instant staple in all formats, Snapcaster is incredible for his ability to reuse any spell in your graveyard. The fact that he has flash means that we can even use him to flashback a counterspell or other Instant during an opponent’s turn. He can also serve as a surprise blocker in a pinch, particularly when someone taps out expecting a Sword of Feast and Famine trigger. Solemn Simulacrum- While he isn’t the best at any of his effects, he does a lot of things well. He ramps, carries equipment, and draws a card when he dies. He’s a great card to funnel through Birthing Pod because you get a benefit when he comes in and when he leaves. Sphinx of Uthuun- Similar to how Rune-Scarred Demon is Demonic Tutor on a stick, Sphinx of Uthuun is Fact or Fiction on a stick. Considering that we run both of these spells, the creature versions should be almost auto-includes. Dumping Sphinx into the graveyard early and reanimating it can give you enough card advantage to run away with the game. Sylvan Primordial- If Primeval Titan and Terastodon had a child, Sylvan Primordial would be the result. While neither of it's abilities are individually as strong as the aforementioned cards, the fact that it does both just puts it over the top. I would probabky put this card below Prime Time but above Terastodon, which is pretty impressive considering the place those two have held in this format. Terastodon- The big elephant is one of our best ways to clear out noncreature permanents, as well as giving a massive number of counters when exiled by The Mimeoplasm. The fact that he can hit 3 different permanents gives him the edge over Woodfall Primus in multiplayer games. Trinket Mage- The amount of things that this guy can tutor off just a 3 mana body is incredible. In this deck I run Sol Ring, Sensei’s Divining Top, and Skullclamp as targets for him. I’d like to find a slot for Tormod’s Crypt or Nihil Spellbomb as well. If you want even more options, you can run the Artifact Lands, though I chose not to because of their vulnerability to artifact sweepers. Trygon Predator- This guy is amazing against artifact and enchantment strategies. He really benefits from having haste, which is a large part of the reason why Lightning Greaves is in here. Eventually I would like to replace him with a 3 cmc destroy target artifact or enchantment ETB creature, but unfortunately we don't have one in our colors yet. Wood Elves- This guy is amazing because he can tutor up one of my shocklands and put it into play untapped. He dies to Skullclamp, carries Swords, and can be Podded just like all the other creatures in here. I try to run most of my ramp in the form of creatures, so this guy is essential. Yavimaya Dryad- Essentially a second copy of Wood Elves, at least in the fact that it can grab a nonbasic forest. While it puts the land into play tapped, it also has a 2/1 body rather than 1/1. The biggest draw is that it has Forestwalk, which is key in a format where many of the best decks rely on green for ramp.
Enchantment:
Necromancy- The main reason to choose this over Animate Dead is the fact that it can be played at Instant speed if you’re willing to sacrifice the creature at the end of turn. I think this benefit is worthwhile considering that you only have to pay one extra mana to get it. The fact that it doesn’t give -1/-0 will almost never matter, but it could be potentially relevant, which gives a bit more support for Necromancy. Necropotence- One of the most powerful Enchantments ever printed. The ability to turn life into cards at a rate of one-for-one has only been seen on two other cards in Magic, and both of them are banned in this format, while it may be annoying that you don’t get the cards until end of turn, you can fix this by taking an extra turn or using Alchemist’s Refuge. I typically just use it to draw up to seven every turn, since I don’t want my cards getting exiled. One of the biggest drawbacks is the cost, since this is the only card in the deck that requires 3 mana of a single color. Also, make sure you don’t pay too much life and watch out for Mindslaver. Pernicious Deed- An amazing sweeper if you're playing . The fact that you can drop it for 3 mana and then sit back with mana open lets you play some interesting politics. The fact that you get to choose which permanents to hit means this will usually be better than Oblivion Stone, and also less vulnerable to hate since it's an enchantment rather than an artifact. Phyrexian Arena- This is like a more relaxed version of Necropotence. It only gives you one extra card per turn at the cost of one life, but you get the card in your hand right away. It also doesn’t draw nearly as much hate, meaning it will often stick around to gain you continued advantage over time. Survival of the Fittest- Survival is an incredibly potent tool for filling your graveyard and grabbing whatever creature you need for the situation. The fact that it can be activated immediately and more than once per turn makes it miles better than Fauna Shaman. This card, perhaps more than any other, is used to set up my win conditions. Sylvan Library- Library is absolutely a card advantage and card selection machine. It is significantly more powerful than Sensei’s Divining Top, which is considered to be one of the best card selection tools ever printed. The price of four life per extra card might seems steep, but in a 40-life format we can afford to pay it at least a couple times.
Instant:
Abrupt Decay- This one might be a little questionable in the stereotypical EDH meta filled with bombs, but I've noticed that my playgroup has started to use a lot of lower cmc cards lately. The fact that it can't be countered is really nice when you go against plenty of blue decks. Replace this with Putrefy if you think it will be better in your meta. Beast Within- One of the most versatile and efficient spot removal spells available to us. It hits any type of permanent, at Instant speed, for just 3 mana. Usually giving the opponent a 3/3 Beast won’t matter too much, so this is almost an Instant speed Vindicate, in green. It doesn’t get much better than that. Brainstorm- This card is considered to be one of the best cards in Legacy, but many people think it doesn't deserve a spot in EDH. However, the fact that it's actually a draw 3 rather than filter 3 and draw 1 makes it quite good in my opinion. The amount of fetches and tutors that we run means that you will usually be able to shuffle away the cards you put back and see new ones next turn. Cyclonic Rift- A huge bomb that can also be played early on for tempo advantage. The fact that this card is good both early and late game is exactly what we want. There are many games where I cast this, untap, play another threat, and get concessions on the spot. It's that good. Entomb- Considering that we can basically use our graveyard as an extension of our hand, this is almost as good as a one mana demonic tutor that can be played at any time. Paying one mana to put any card in your graveyard is incredibly powerful with all the ways we have to abuse it. Going turn one Entomb, turn two Reanimate is one of our strongest opening plays. Fact or Fiction- As with Entomb, Fact or Fiction becomes absurdly powerful in a graveyard based deck. Most of the time it can be looked at as : draw 5 cards. The fact that you get to choose the pile means that you will always get what you want in hand or the graveyard. This is one of the most useful draw spells available to us. Intuition- Just picked this one up. It's basically a more flexible Buried Alive that can be played at instant speed. Thinking about including Undead Gladiator so that I can guarantee to get Skithiryx and a fatty in my graveyard if I want to. Krosan Grip- Every deck needs at least a little bit of Artifact and Enchantment hate, and this is the one that is best suited to our cause. K-Grip is extremely useful against the most common forms of graveyard hate, such as Tormod’s Crypt and Relic of Progenitus, because they won’t be able to activate the artifact’s ability in response to it being destroyed. Lim-Dûl's Vault- Another fantastic tutor that we have access to in these colors. There really isn't much that needs to be said about this card. The fact that you get to see 5 cards rather than just one means that you can set up your next few turns (or a great stack for Fact or Fiction). Mystical Tutor- Tutors are one of the best ways to increase consistency in EDH. While Mystical Tutor only gets Instants and Sorceries, that still gives it plenty of options. At worst, you can always grab Demonic Tutor to get whatever other type of card you need. Pact of Negation- Arguably better than Force of Will in this deck, and at a fraction of the price. This can be a nasty surprise if someone tries to do something degenerate or game winning while you're tapped out. You shouldn't use this on just anything; make sure to save it for something especially gamebreaking. Vampiric Tutor- Once again, tutors are extremely useful in EDH. The fact that this and Mystical tutor to the top of the library rather than the hand can be easily offset by using them on the opponent’s end step, so that you will immediately draw them on your turn. The loss of 2 life is negligible in a 40 life format. Voidslime- This deck doesn’t run very many counters, so we want to make sure we get as much utility out of them as possible. Voidslime, like Krosan Grip, is very useful against graveyard hate because it can counter the activated ability. Voidslime can basically counter anything, so you should probably save it for the situation where you need it most.
Planeswalker:
Tezzeret the Seeker- Tezzeret is one of the few Planeswalkers that I would consider to be actually good in EDH. He tutors for any artifact in the deck, and can be used to untap Birthing Pod and Crystal Shard if necessary. Most of the time he goes and gets either Pod or Oblivion Stone, depending on the board, but other prime targets include the Swords and Metamorph.
Sorcery:
Beacon of Unrest- One of the most versatile reanimation spells available. It can take artifacts in addition to creatures, as well as being able to target opponents’ graveyards in addition to your own. Add in the fact that it shuffles itself back into your library for later use, and you have one of the best reanimation spells ever. Buried Alive- If getting one card into the graveyard with Entomb is good, getting three is amazing. While you can only grab creatures, they’re usually what you would want to grab anyways. This spell can instantly set you up for a lethal Mimeoplasm by grabbing Skithiryx and any 6+ power creature, as well as grabbing a utility creature for backup. One of the most useful spells in our 99. Damnation- The most efficient board sweeper ever printed in our colors, Damnation is Wrath of God in black. There will always be situations where our opponents are building up a strong board position, and this can take them out on the cheap, allowing you to follow it up with a threat of your own. Decree of Pain- While it may not be the cheapest mass removal spell, it is certainly the most powerful. You can typically expect to draw 10 or more cards off of this thing in a multiplayer game, which, combined with clearing away all the threats on the board, can take you from a losing position to a winning position in the blink of an eye. Demonic Tutor- Tutoring is inherently powerful in a 100 card singleton format, and tutors just don’t get any better than this one. The ability to go get any card from your deck and put it into your hand for just 2 mana is unparalleled by any other card ever printed. There’s a reason that this is the most played non-colorless card in the format, at least according to scoeri’s statistics. Green Sun's Zenith- I find this superior to Worldly Tutor because it puts the creature directly into play rather than onto the top of your library. The fact that it can only get green creatures rarely matters since the number one tutor target is just about always going to be Primeval Titan. Also gets Eternal Witness, Acidic Slime, and many others. Jarad's Order's- Tutoring a creature to hand and one to the graveyard? Sign me up. This deck has so many ways to take advantage of this card that it's not even funny. You can stock your graveyard to go for the kill with Skithiryx, reanimate Jin-Gitaxias, set up an engine with Genesis, etc. The uses for this card are almost endless. Life from the Loam- A really efficient way to fill up our graveyard while also guaranteeing our land drops with fetchlands. I've thought about including cycling lands for their incredible synergy with this card, but the fact that they come into play tapped is too big of a downside for me. Living Death- This card will usually be an absolute blowout. We can set it up with cards like Survival of the Fittest and Buried Alive while making sure that we don’t overcommit to board position. Then we can drop this thing to serve two functions: sweep the board and reanimate all of our best creatures in one go. This is one of our strongest win conditions. Reanimate- Easily the most efficient way to get a creature out of the graveyard. The fact that you lose life can occasionally be annoying, but most of the time it doesn’t matter. Just make sure that you’re not taking too much damage as there are several other cards which require you to pay life in here as well. Regrowth- It’s Eternal Witness without the body, which is still extremely good. Gets back anything you want for the low price of 2 mana. I find it to be particularly useful when grabbing back lands, artifacts, and enchantments that we can’t recur as easily otherwise. Since we don’t have access to Sun Titan in our colors, cards like Regrowth are essential. Rite of Replication- An absolute bomb when kicked on nearly any ETB creature. Hitting Prime Time gives you 10 lands. Rune-Scarred Demon gives you 5 tutors. Even hitting something like Solemn Simulacrum can be powerful because you get to ramp 5 lands and draw 5 cards the next time someone sweeps the board. Just be careful of spot removal because it will fizzle if the target is removed. Time Warp- The best extra turn that will fit in the budget. I’m not going to go spend $50+ on Temporal Manipulation or $200+ on Capture of Jingzhou when we have a $5 version that is almost exactly the same. This can be used to take infinite turns, but often will just be used to get in an extra attack and cast some more spells. Tooth and Nail- One of the most hated cards in the format, Tooth and Nail is known for fetching up two card combos to instantly end the game. In this deck however, I don’t run any such combos, other than Deadeye Navigator + Eternal Witness, but that only goes infinite if I have a Time Warp effect in the graveyard already. I used to run Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion, but I removed them because my playgroup doesn’t really like infinite combos. Walk the Aeons- Our other extra turn effect. I decided to stay away from Time Stretch because of the extremely high mana cost and the fact that two extra turns is much less fun for your opponents than one extra turn. The buyback cost on this is pretty much irrelevant, but I suppose it could be used if you’re sure that you won’t need those islands and that getting another extra turn will help you win. Yawgmoth's Will- An incredibly powerful spell that lets you play any card from your graveyard, including lands. The only downside is that cards put into your graveyard for the rest of the turn will be exiled instead. This usually isn’t a problem because playing this card will usually give you so much of an advantage that you don’t really need those cards again.
Utility Land:
Alchemist's Refuge- This land is simply incredible if you’re running blue and green. Giving all of your spells flash basically means that you can play draw-go without worrying about losing value. While Vedalken Orrery and Leyline of Anticipation aren’t worth dedicating slots to, Refuge is great because it takes up a “free” land slot. Bojuka Bog- Although this deck is designed to abuse the graveyard, it’s still important to have at least a couple slots dedicated to stopping other people from doing the same. Like Alchemist’s Refuge, Bog is great because it takes up a “free” land slot. This card should probably be in every black EDH deck. Boseiju, Who Shelters All- Being able to make a key spell uncounterable can be absolutely essential, especially if you’re playing against a bunch of blue decks. This is typically used with spells like Tooth and Nail, Rite of Replication, and Decree of Pain to make sure that you’re not wasting all that mana just to run into a counter. Cabal Coffers- When combined with Urborg, this land makes unparalleled amounts of mana. You have to be careful however, because with Urborg it is unlikely to tap for a net gain in mana, considering that there are only 5 swamps in the whole deck. Still, it’s worth the risk for the possibility to nearly double your mana. High Market- High Market’s main function is to serve as a sacrifice outlet, both to get creatures into the graveyard for later abuse as well as to protect them from being stolen by my opponents. The fact that you gain one life each time you use it can be relevant when it comes to cards like Necropotence and Birthing Pod which require life payments. Minamo, School at Water's Edge- Basically an Island with the added bonus of being able to untap a legendary creature. The only reason not to run this would be if you encounter a lot of nonbasic land hate. Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers- Same as Minamo, but obviously a Forest rather than an Island. The +1/+1 buff can be relevant if you're only able to get a 9/9 Skithiryx out off of Mimeoplasm. Shizo, Death's Storehouse- Once again, this card has almost no drawbacks. It can help to force Skithiryx through for damage in the presence of flying blockers, or help you get Sword damage with other legendary creatures. Strip Mine- Strip Mine is here to take care of opposing utility lands. Oftentimes opponents will be running an Alchemist’s Refuge or Cabal Coffers of their own that cannot be allowed to remain on the board. There are also some other lands that can get extremely annoying, such as Maze of Ith or Kor Haven. Thespian's Stage- Better than Vesuva in my opinion. The fact that it comes into play untapped can be huge at certain points in the game. It also helps mitigate the fact that you often have nothing good to copy with Vesuva by allowing you to change into something else later on. This land has a lot of upside over Vesuva without very much downside. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth- Urborg is such a useful land. It ensures that I’ll never be short on black mana for the rest of the game, while also setting up Cabal Coffers to produce obscene amounts of mana. The fact that it fixes your opponents’ black mana as well usually doesn’t matter.
Metagame
Spoiler:
I would consider my playgroup to be middle of the road, with several powerful decks, but several more that are relatively untuned. Combos and mass land destruction tend to be frowned upon in my group, though I'm trying to convince people otherwise, especially after some of the things Azusa has been doing lately. Here is a breakdown of the decks in my meta.
As you can see, it's a pretty wide mix. I would consider this deck to be near the top of the class, although it often has difficulty in multiplayer games because it has a reputation of becoming a threat early on.
This is a more flavorful and thematic budget version that I built. The entire deck can be bought for less than $100 going by TCGPlayer average prices. This deck is designed to be used in more relaxed, casual games. The main build tends to draw a lot of attention to itself from the rest of the table, so I'm hoping this built can lie-low a bit more. That said, I still want it to be capable of powerful plays that lead to wins. I feel like this is a good place to run something like Tunnel Vision + Living Death that is really fun and potentially powerful, but isn't consistent or fast enough for the main decklist. Feel free to make suggestions, as this is still in the development stage.
If you are going to comment on this deck, please specify somehow so that I know which decklist you're talking about. Otherwise I will probably assume you are talking about the main list. Now without further ado, let's get to the deck itself.
As I said, it's still in the works, so I'm sure there are lots of improvements to be made. However, since this is a budget deck, please stick mostly to cards that cost $1 or less and make sure anything you suggest is under $5 unless it's absolutely necessary.
Conclusion
Spoiler:
So the main point of this whole thread is to improve the deck. That's where you guys come in. I'm always open to hearing peoples' suggestions for how to make this deck better. No card is sacred, and I welcome the opportunity to discuss any card with you if you think that cutting it would help the deck become better, or help me become better as a player. The opposite is also true. I'm sure there are some obvious exclusions that I haven't even thought of to try out in this deck. It's also possible that I have already tried a card in a previous incarnation of the deck, but that it works much better in the current list. Also, don't hesitate to point out typos and errors as you find them, I'm sure I've made plenty.
As I said, I'm open to all comments, suggestions, and advice. Please don't hesitate to say something if you have a good idea. Thank you for taking the time to read over my thread. I really appreciate all the help that the people on this forum have given me, as well as everything I'm sure they have yet to contribute.
Even though its $10, nothing will go farther in consistency than a Demonic Tutor. It's a Diabolic Tutor for
I like less mil and more control.
Try things like Dissipate, Rewind, Counterspell. Rethink is alright as is the new counter from Innistrad that also forces a discard.
I like more utility in my creatures. Wickerbough Elder, Terastodon and Woodfall Primus are all fun. I like trying different things like Jin and Teferi, as well as Pathrazer of Ulamog and other large fats. I like variety. You could use things like Sakura Tribe Elder to obtain lands. Also, Mulldrifter dont resist not playing it, the evoke for is good, especially off of things like Living Death.
I've made some more changes. I would really like some advice on this deck. Which combos are worthwhile? Which cards are ineffective and should be replaced? Which cards should I replace them with?
Not sure if Army of the Damned will be very good but it's too cool to pass up. As far as creatures go, I'm not sure if I prefer Avatar of Woe or Kederkt Leviathan. What do you guys think?
Go with the leviathan as it can be played from the graveyard, and the avatar only works versus creatures and is unlikely to come out for only 2 until close to late game.
Go with the leviathan as it can be played from the graveyard, and the avatar only works versus creatures and is unlikely to come out for only 2 until close to late game.
Thanks for the input! I completely forgot that the Leviathan can be played from the graveyard. I think I'll definitely go with that.
Bloodgift Demon draws cards and has evasion, what's not to like? There are more decent demons (and there will be likely even more) like Rune-scarred Demon. If you run enough of them, Blood Speaker gives you access to this nice toolbox.
Now, about your deck... One thing I notice is that you aren't running a lot of creatures. It's not that every deck needs creatures, but your general needs creatures in any graveyard. As I see it, you can achieve this in three ways:
1. Get cards in your own graveyard. Dredge them, mill yourself, discard them from your hand or cast them and reuse them when they're dead. This will actually help the Teneb player, so beware.
2. Mill your opponents. This might double as a win-condition, but unfortunately you might be helping your opponents out. The Teneb player could be eating graveyards faster than you, for example, and my Glissa deck would love you if you milled it. Decks that pack a lot of recursion don't mind to get milled.
3. Kill opposing creatures and let the mimeoplasm eat their bodies. This is also a win-condition, because if you kill everything you'll have a hard time losing.
From these three, I like the third option best because it has an immediate impact on your board position. Personally I try do achieve this goal by playing Grave Pact and similar forced sacrifice effects. I trigger Grave Pact by sacrificing my own creatures, so I prefer creatures like Sakura-tribe Elder over Cultivate (just an example, feel free to run both). In this way, goal number 3 actually helps achieve goal number 1. If a deck is not working properly, determine some viable paths to victory and tune the deck to one of these goals. I feel your deck is lacking purpose. This is demonstrated by the addition of powerful cards that don't add to a specific goal and that have a high casting cost, like Praetor's Counsil. A simple Grave Pact can be played earlier and does add to your main strategy.
Now, about that Teneb player, without knowing his deck it's clear that he likes to steal stuff from graveyards. You can counter this by removing the cards in response to being targeted (with withered wretch or krosan reclamation, for example) or by stealing back the stolen stuff. There aren't many cards that do this, but Homeward Path and Brooding Saurian do.
All the reanimation is really good, but you need ways of populating the graveyard in order to fully abuse them. Living Death especially requires ways of making sure your graveyard is the fullest. Fauna Shaman is one of my personal favorites for the Mimeoplasm. It acts as a tutor while allowing you to dump creatures into your graveyard for reanimation as well as being much cheaper than Survival of the Fittest. True, this also helps the Teneb player, but you actually have the edge here: Your Commander is cheaper and doesn't take a turn to get online.
If you're looking for combo's, my Mimeoplasm list runs Necrotic Ooze, Triskelion and Phyrexian Devourer. This combo is easily enabled with Buried Alive or Fauna Shaman and ether the Mimeoplasm plus another creature in a graveyard, or another random reanimation spell. You simply reanimate the ooze and it gains the devourer's ability to remove the top card of your library from the game to put +1/+1 counters on it equal to that cards mana cost, and Triskelion's ability to remove those counters to deal damage to something. Because Phyrexian Devourer's "7 or greater" ability is triggered, not activated, this is not a problem for the ooze so you can repeat this until all other players are dead. This combo is not optimal however, because a card like devourer is a dead weight if you draw it and if the teneb player runs many non-taneb reanimation spells, this could just lead to him going off from your combo. It pays to wait until you can reanimate the ooze in the same turn before you entomb it.
All the reanimation is really good, but you need ways of populating the graveyard in order to fully abuse them. Living Death especially requires ways of making sure your graveyard is the fullest. Fauna Shaman is one of my personal favorites for the Mimeoplasm. It acts as a tutor while allowing you to dump creatures into your graveyard for reanimation as well as being much cheaper than Survival of the Fittest. True, this also helps the Teneb player, but you actually have the edge here: Your Commander is cheaper and doesn't take a turn to get online.
If you're looking for combo's, my Mimeoplasm list runs Necrotic Ooze, Triskelion and Phyrexian Devourer. This combo is easily enabled with Buried Alive or Fauna Shaman and ether the Mimeoplasm plus another creature in a graveyard, or another random reanimation spell. You simply reanimate the ooze and it gains the devourer's ability to remove the top card of your library from the game to put +1/+1 counters on it equal to that cards mana cost, and Triskelion's ability to remove those counters to deal damage to something. Because Phyrexian Devourer's "7 or greater" ability is triggered, not activated, this is not a problem for the ooze so you can repeat this until all other players are dead. This combo is not optimal however, because a card like devourer is a dead weight if you draw it and if the teneb player runs many non-taneb reanimation spells, this could just lead to him going off from your combo. It pays to wait until you can reanimate the ooze in the same turn before you entomb it.
Thanks for the reply. The Teneb deck has sort of faded away because it's owner has built several other decks. This means that my deck is the only real graveyard deck in my meta. I think this is the perfect time to add the Necrotic Ooze combo. I also plan on using
09-27-2011, 06:23 PM
The Mimeoplasm: Ooze & Aahs (05/16/13)
0
is good, especially off of things like Living Death.
Mimeoplasm (Reanimator Control)
Progenitus (Dream Halls//Good Stuff)
