Unhallowed Be Thy Name

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Infinite Combo Mono-Black Multiplayer Persist Reanimator Sacrifice Suicide Black Zombie

Azdranax

Creature (29)

• 1x Ayara, First of Locthwain
• 1x Baleful Ammit
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Blood Pet
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Chainbreaker
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Hex Parasite
• 1x Lesser Masticore
• 1x Liliana's Standard Bearer
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Mindless Automaton
• 1x Nantuko Husk
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Phyrexian Ghoul
• 1x Plague Belcher
• 1x Putrid Goblin
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Spincrusher
• 1x Su-Chi
• 1x Tatterkite
• 1x Triskelion
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Wingrattle Scarecrow
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Artifact (15)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Blasting Station
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spawning Pit

Land (33)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 25x Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Heartless Summoning
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Retribution of the Ancients

Commander (1)

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Bitter Ordeal
• 1x Bubbling Muck
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Dimir Machinations
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Imperial Seal
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Toxic Deluge

Instant (7)

• 1x Cabal Ritual
• 1x Culling the Weak
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Mausoleum Secrets *f-pre*
• 1x Shred Memory
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

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When Mikaeus, the Unhallowed takes command of the undying hordes, there truly is no rest for the wicked. He takes necromancy to the next level by abused the undying and persist mechanics like few others can. As such, his level of control becomes quite cruel, and with nothing but black mana to be concerned about, he recruits only the most degenerate and exploitable of minions for his dark plans.

Even as he draws your opponents hatred, his evil plans include so many winning lines that it can be more than your opponents can overcome, even if he never sticks on the board. Thanks to the numerous built in combo pieces that can quickly end the game, interaction with your opponents board is pretty much limited to Toxic Deluge, thus staying focused to the fastest available win option is always the best bet.

Several killer combos can be accomplished quickly, including with Phyrexian Altar + Gravecrawler + either Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat or Plague Belcher, as long as you have at least one other zombie in play, except with the Belcher, who self fulfills this role. This combo requires the infinite sac-cast of Gravecrawler, which is open to responses, but is often effective in ending the game none-the-less.

Another combo would simply be Triskelion or Walking Ballista with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed already on board (Ballista would also require a sac outlet or Blasting Station, Blood Artist or Zulaport Cutthroat in play), resulting in an undying loop using their counters to kill your opponents (while using the last two counters each time to kill Triskelion and the last counter to kill Walking Ballista in each of those combos). Finally, any of the persist-type creatures in the deck (Putrid Goblin, Lesser Masticore, Chainbreaker, Plague Belcher, Tatterkite, Spincrusher, Baleful Ammit, or Wingrattle Scarecrow) with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed in play and Blasting Station or another sacrifice outlet can create infinite undying loops, which without the Blasting Station can complete the same type of prior combo with creature death-triggers from Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat, infinite mana from the same persist/undying sacrifices (plus Su-Chi) to artifacts Ashnod's Altar or Phyrexian Altar, as well as other potential shenanigans like swinging with an enormously pumped sacrifice outlet creature like Phyrexian Ghoul or Nantuko Husk, or exiling all of your opponents libraries with Bitter Ordeal.

The deck still has plenty of synergy even without these killer combos, plus a large number of tutors to find the most efficient combo kill based on cards in hand, so even if a certain combo get hosed, there's always another to find based on the variety of creatures, spells, enchantments and artifacts in the deck, which can easily get you to an alternate win condition in just an extra turn or two.

The depth and versatility of black is obviously strong, and the mono-black mana base leaves it very consistent and efficient. The included artifact ramp and mana producers (Mana Crypt, Chrome Mox, Mana Vault, Sol Ring), Blood Pet, Priest of Gix, Cabal Ritual, Dark Ritual, and Culling the Weak), plus mana-doublers (Bubbling Muck, Crypt Ghast) and mass-mana generating lands (Cabal Coffers, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Phyrexian Tower) greatly improve the speed and effectiveness of the deck, which help to power a win condition a turn or two earlier than expected.

The inclusions of Buried Alive and Entomb can help fill the graveyard with the right reanimation options for any situation, with Animate Dead and Reanimate to accelerate reanimating a key combo piece more quickly or returning a previously destroyed creature to play once Mikaeus, the Unhallowed hits the board. With seven available tutor options and two additional utility spells with transmute (Shred Memory and Dimir Machinations to find your key two and three CMC options), your ability to find exactly what you need to answer a threat or combo off for the win should be quite consistent. With the additional search/draw options available (Necropotence, Night's Whisper, Dark Confidant, Sensei's Divining Top), they can help dig and sort your way to victory more often than not.

Because black is so deep in terms of quality cards for reanimation build options, there are numerous additional cards that could easily make the cut in the deck as well. Give it a try and see what you think, and feel free to offer any feedback or suggestions on other strong fits for the deck. Thanks for looking.

Top Ranked	Achieved #11 position overall 7 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Cruel Control 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Mono-Black 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Suicide Black 5 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 29 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.19
Tokens	2/2 C Artifact Creature Spawn
Folders	Cool concepts, EDH Competitive, Yo, Various Top Commander, EDH possibility, Interesting Commander Decks, Decks I want, Oppressive Black, Cool Stuff, Good decks