"You killed him!""No I did not- I gave him life."
Well, we did kill him.
Repeatedly.
Infinitely, actually.
Mikaeus West, Reanimator!
Why settle for creatures: the tappening when you can aspire to do so much more with your zombies- like kill them yourself! In Reanimator, zombies are resources first, combo pieces second and beatsticks lastly. You don't just have zombies, however; a handful of Eldrazi have wormed their way into reality to augment your sacrificial party with a dash of Lovecraftian seasoning.
If you like the idea of playing heavy on creatures without skimping on combo potential, especially if you have a penchant for morbidity, this is deck is a blast to play.
This was actually my very first EDH deck, hastily cobbled together for Halloween night to play friends. I initially picked Mikaeus simply because he was the zombie with the biggest hat. The deck has certainly become a lot more since then, as has Mikey's pricetag. Oof.
Ain't No Party Like a Sacrificial Party
Sacrifice is the name of the game here in Reanimator. Mikaeus gives everything Undying, which brings it back to the field after death with a +1/+1 counter. Now if you're like me and learned way more about math through a children's card game than the public education system, you'll know +1 and -1 cancel it out. So when you slap a critter toting a +1/+1 with a -1/-1, we can kill that sucker and bring him back.
Again. And again. And again.
You know where this is going.
We want to sacrifice stuff repeatedly. Infinitely. So we want critters that either give us value upon death or entering the battlefield for the first (thousandth) time. The cool part about this is while it is something of the deck's lynchpin, the deck itself remains wide open for all kinds of combos and strategies depending on what unlucky bastard we're going to sacrifice a million times.
The lasting appeal about running Mikaeus West's Reanimator deck is so long as new sets come out, we have possible new ways to play the deck with a very simple drag n' drop approach to deckbuilding. The only real restriction is the fact stuff's gotta be colorless or monoblack, but thankfully there is no shortage of that. Mikaeus takes jank or even outright trash and gives it a new lease on life (dying repeatedly forever)
It's not just limited to whatever ETB or "when __ dies" effects are scribbled on the hapless card in question; there are a ton of spells, artifacts, enchantments and creatures out there who use sacrifices as part of their price- like it's supposed to be a downside. Hahaha. HAHAHA.
Here in Reanimator, the possibilities are as endless as the hellish cycle of life and death being forced upon some gurgling bag of meat.
The essentials
With Mikey, you generally have carte blanche with picking your creatures- but there are a couple cards you will absolutely want in the deck. Otherwise you're severely limiting yourself.
Cauldron of Souls
While there are a couple other methods of getting -1/-1s needed to go infinite, Cauldron is by far the most consistent thanks to persist. Ashnod's altar
Free sacrifice outlet, easy source of potentially infinite mana. Aetherworks Marvel
I was so completely out of the Standard sphere I had no idea that this thing had value until I saw WotC panicked and banned it. It's only a dollar now but in Reanimator it is still golden. It's essentially a free mini-tutor whenever you go infinite.Grave Pact/ Dictate of Erebos
These are just mean. Gary the Merchant
There's no reason to go without him- he packs a whallop in whatever deck he's in but here he is an almost guaranteed wincon. Altar of Dementia
Another guaranteed free sacrificial outlet; the possibility of milling someone out is just the icing on the cake.Triskelion
. If you ever want to stop playing games with your victims, wheel this guy out; he's essentially a minigun with Mikaeus at the wheel. Don't even need a sac outlet or Cauldron to run it.
The Zombies
While really just about any colorless or monoblack critter can play in Mikey's deck (humans need not apply), Mikey himself is a zombie, so we're playing it largely as a zombie tribal. They support each other well and have a penchant for being useful in their disposable nature. Not just any zombie will do, however. We want zombies that play into death and sacrifice.
Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Even if you don't have an infinite outlet hooked up, Sidisi is basically a two'fer tutor. Vengeful Dead
He can dish out some damage over the game, but if you go infinite, he'll make short work of the table. Relentless Dead
This guy helps us out with recursion, something we're actually short on outside of Mikey's undying buff. Fleshbag Marauder
Annoying on his own, a boardwipe with an infinite combo. Blood Artist
This angsty prettyboy still counts as undead, right? Basically Vengeful Dead but gives you life, isn't picky about what dies, and boasts some luscious golden locks. Skinrender
I'm not actually sure what this guy is a zombified version of but what I do know is he's essentially target removal that works around indestructible. Phyrexian Crusader
I call him _The Situation, because this little nasty brings infect to the table, and with the zombie buffing going on in this deck, he doesn't need any sacrificial gimmicks to clench butts. Vindictive Lich
You bet your ass this guy's vindictive. Unpleasant by himself, but a game ender with an infinite sac outlet. Hell's Caretaker
Again, not a zombie in writing but he's cool- he helps a lot with recursion, arguably with less fuss than Relentless Dead. He can't go infinite due to tapping, but he doesn't really need to- just help dredge up any other critters that fall between the cracks. Phyrexian Ghoul
Is a sac outlet and can get some big gains for cards like _Rite of Consumption or Essence Harvest._ Carrion Feeder
Like Phyrexian Ghoul but a cute lil' brooding 1-drop.
Lords of the Undead Locker Room
Without these guys, our zombies would just be meek, stanky resources to stab repeatedly. With them, our zombies become a physical force to be reckoned with and are arguably the reason for the tribal angle. Special mention goes to:
Undead Warchief
He makes our guys extra buff, and decreases their cost! Couple this with Heartless Summoning and your zombies suddenly cost 3 less with no visible downsides. Lord of the Acursed
Menace. Lord of the Undead
More recursion alternatives. Death Baron
Gives deathtouch to _The Situation._ Cemetery Reaper
Can dole out some graveyard hate if you got a rival necromancer to contend with.
Friends in Non-Euclidean Places
As promised, we got a Lovecraftian bent to our horde of zombies. The Eldrazi in question may not synergize directly with our zombie lords, but Mikaeus still gives them a buff and undying. Most importantly these guys reward our sacrificial tendencies.
_
Sifter of Skulls
Pumps out 2/2 (thanks Mikey!) chumpblockers that we can use to fire up sacrificial triggers like
Plunge into Darkness or just
Grave Pact/Dictate.
Smothering Abomination
Hello card draw! Voldaren Pariah
Sacrificial outlet, check. Flying beater body, check. Forces opponents to sacrifice, check. Can be killed to do it all over again, check. Darling, I think I'm in love with you.
It That Betrays
One big mean muther hubbard- huge body, annihilator AND you take anything your opponent sacrifices, something you can easily force them to do in this deck. 12 CMC? You're in Reanimator- put Ashnod's altar out there and sac away. - Void Winnower
Big fatty with some control'esque shenanigans. Dark Depths
Because why the heck not?
Hex Parasite snarfs down those ice counters proper quick. Or just stick
Vampire Hexmage in here somewhere if you just hate Phyrexia or something you friggin dick.
Honorable Mentions
These cards aren't particularly unique or obscure, but have a particular significance in this deck.
_
Gate to Phyrexia
Phyrexia provides as ever- one of the few answers to artifacts in monoblack, with no drawback to us.
Grave Betrayal
Really easy to just steal people's entire board states, except now they're in the zombie tribe with all the benefits. heartless summoning
Can serve as an impromptu Cauldron of Souls if you're in a pinch, and the price cuts in critter CMC's always a plus. _
Plunge into Darkness
Monoblack lifegain you can use to get out of a jam should the need arise.
The Rest of it
Really that's the last of the really unique stuff worth considering. Just about everything else is plug n' play, different ways to capitalize on your sacrificial game. You can tinker with these and see what best suits your needs in your meta, or simply personal taste. There's of course monoblack goodstuffs like Phyrexian Arena, but those are usually a given. You can lean into more zombie tokens for horde shenanigans or generic sacrificial fodder, but they don't work into infinite sacrificial combos.
The Weaknesses
Like most decks, this one isn't perfect. Let's address these real quick.
Mikey is crucial to the deck's combo power. The zombie tribal is formidable enough with a solid board state, so you can still pilot it in Mikey's absence, but you lose a lot of steam without him. He isn't particularly brittle but you might want to consider some defenses for him.
_Torpor Orb _ and cards with similar effects gimp this deck hard, and with only Gate to Phyrexia as a working solution, you're at the mercy of luck. Yet these are few enough that unless you know your opponents are specifically looking to counter you, taking countermeasures is using up space. You're not entirely helpless if you went all in on the zombie tribal, but... Yeah, it's just a really bad matchup.
Considering our whole deck is about killing things and repeatedly bringing them back, there isn't actually much in the way of recursion here. Most of it hinges on Mikey's Undying. We've got a couple guys who can help with this like Hell's Caretaker, Sheoldred , Lord of the Undead , and potentially Oversold Cemetery. We could fill this up with a bunch of recursion spells- and there may be a few worth considering, but we want to leave as much deckspace to optimizing on our tribal and combo'ing.
-We have just enough not-zombies in the mix that a card like Call to the Grave could be potentially a problem if you don't have Mikey's Undying to fall back on. Yet we can't go all-in on the zombie tribal without losing some power in the infinite sacrifice department.
-Anything with protection from Black is going to be irritating.
- Early game aggro will be hard to deal with. Your best bet is to lay low and reduce your threat profile until you're ready to make yourself infamous.
All in All
Mikaeus West: Reanimator is a very fun deck to play which allows for a lot of customization and rewards creative deckbuilding. It's also a very strong deck with good creatures, quick and powerful combos, with plenty of utility. It rewards cruelty with power, making it thematically perfect for your inner egomaniacal lich.
Get out there and make death your plaything!
