The Mimeospasm
Hello and welcome to my Mimeoplasm EDH/Commander decklist :)
The goal of the deck is to get as many creatures into your graveyard as possible in order to get juicy targets for Mimeoplasm to copy and to make Lhurgoyf and friends as large as possible. I've always hated milling, but with this deck you'll be more than happy to throw your cards into the graveyard.Note that this deck is generally focused on self-milling.
The decklist:
This deck focuses on getting your stuff into the graveyard as quickly as possible and runs mostly creatures in order to maximize the size of your many Lhurgoyf-type cards. I'll highlight a few cards to give you a general idea of my thoughts:
- Millikin, Deranged Assistant, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Dawntreader Elk: All of these cards help ramp our mana while putting creatures into the graveyard.
- Life from the Loam: The deck throws a ton of cards into the graveyard, and this card makes sure you won't miss any land drops. Dredge is also deceptively powerful, letting you both retrieve a useful card from your graveyard while putting even more stuff in the graveyard in the process. In this deck, which aims at filling the graveyard, "Dredge 3" might as well read "Draw 3".
- Stinkweed Imp, Golgari Grave-Troll: Speaking of Dredge, these two cards boast the highest dredge number on any printed card, and they're frankly amazing. Stinkweed Imp protects the deck from Daxos of Meletis and other pesky commanders, and Golgari Grave-Troll is always huge.
- Looter il-Kor, Magus of the Bazaar, Bonded Fetch: These cards lets you filter your hand and work great with dredge cards because you can dredge cards from your graveyard back into your hand, only to discard them again, filling your graveyard for free. I play the Looter il-Kor over Merfolk Looter because I get to attack people while accomplishing the same thing (granted, not during my opponents' turns). il-Kor can also act as a target for Mimeoplasm to make it near-unblockable.
- Lhurgoyf, Mortivore, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, Nighthowler, Splinterfright, Boneyard Wurm: All of these creatures become extremely large very quickly.
- Reiver Demon, Dread Cacodemon, Kederekt Leviathan, Bane of Progress: The deck mills itself a lot, so sorcery-type board wipes don't really cut it in this deck because I don't have a reliable way of getting them back from the graveyard. Reiver Demon and Dread Cacodemon only trigger when cast from your hand, but cards like Genesis and Body Double makes this requirement easier to fulfill. Bane of Progress is really good because this deck doesn't run any important artifacts or enchantments itself (maybe aside from Nighthowler), and Kederekt Leviathan is a great target for Mimeoplasm.
- Traumatize, Mirror-Mad Phantasm: The deck's two most powerful milling spells. While Traumatize is a sorcery, putting half of your deck into the graveyard as early as turn 4 is just too good to pass up. Mirror-Mad Phantasm is statistically just as strong as Traumatize, but with the added bonus of being a creature.
- Living Death: The only non-creature, non-land card in the deck that doesn't mill or have flashback, Living Death makes up for these things by potentially being able to turn the tables completely around on everyone. If you've cast a Traumatize prior to casting Living Death, odds are you'll probably win on your next turn unless someone has a board wipe. Living Death is also remarkable for its ability to remove indestructible creatures with shroud. If an opponent is cheesy enough to run Platinum Angel, Whispersilk Cloak and Darksteel Forge in the same deck, Living Death can at least be used to kill the Angel.
Playing the deck
The first few turns:
Your best opening hand will usually contain either a Deranged Assistant, Millikin, Hermit Druid and/or a Magus of the Bazaar. The earlier you get your base creatures down, the sooner you can start milling your deck. In multi-player (where you get to draw a card even if you're the starting player), passing your first turn without doing anything to discard Golgari Grave-Troll or Stinkweed Imp can be an attractive play if you don't have any other early ways of milling. Death's Shadow is another great creature to throw into your graveyard turn 1 if you've got the black mana to do so.
You'll generally stay passive during the first few turns of the game. The deck has a couple of ways to block problem creatures like Daxos of Meletis, but you generally won't mind taking some damage if it means your Millikin gets to mill a bit more, especially because a Millikin on the field can mean a turn 4 The Mimeoplasm or Traumatize. Remember that Looter il-Kor and Magus of the Bazaar lets you dredge your dredge cards in and out of the graveyard for some really strong early milling.
Turn 3 you'll want to evoke Mulldrifter, cast Forbidden Alchemy or Buried Alive to get some good targets into your graveyard. Your best targets for a turn 3 Buried Alive will most often include Golgari Grave-Troll if you don't have it already. For the two other targets, I like finding a creature with shroud and maybe Woodfall Primus to take out key targets if I need to.
The mid-game
When you reach turn 4-5 you've preferably hit some good targets for The Mimeoplasm to copy. If not, you'll want to spend your mana milling and drawing as much as possible. Alternatively you might want to consider casting cards like Kessig Cagebreakers and Golgari Grave-Troll. You don't always have to cast your commander, especially if there's no satisfying targets for it to copy. If your graveyard isn't large or maybe doesn't contain a Lhurgoyf creature, you can always wait. Remember that The Mimeoplasm exiles whatever is being copied, so choose your targets wisely - you'll want them to make an impact, especially since you only get to use them once.
The late-game
At this point you'll start to be able to cast your larger creatures if need be. The Mimeoplasm should be out on the battlefield by now, usually as a 15+ power creature with some form of special ability, be it Terastodon's etb trigger, Simic Sky Swallower's trample, flying and shroud or Primordial Hydra's constantly doubling power and toughness.You should prioritize at killing the player most likely to be able to deal with your commander first, as they'll have a lot of influence in turning the rest of the table against you. Milling shouldn't really be a priority at this point unless you're making your Lhurgoyf creatures larger or need better targets for The Mimeoplasm in case it died. Psychic Spiral should be mentioned here as a way to "re-roll" your graveyard if you're not happy with its contents, or to mill someone to death if you feel particularly mean. Be careful not to mill yourself out.
Your creatures, especially The Mimeoplasm, should be so large that your opponents are going to have a tough time dealing with them. You'll most likely draw a lot of attention from the first time you cast your commander, but the deck has enough power to be able to one-shot a player with your commander in certain circumstances.
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Your commander is usually the biggest creature on the table unless someone is doing some doubling or infinite shenanigans.
- The deck can have very explosive turns, killing people as early as turn 5 if your opponents don't have an answer to your huge commander (usually in the form of a boardwipe to bypass shroud).
- You'll be playing a mill deck, but rather than ruining everyone's day by emptying their deck into their graveyard, you'll mill yourself as the good guy you are.
- This deck doesn't really mind getting milled by others, and standard discard spells like Mind Rot are often times beneficial to you.
Cons:
- The deck is largely creature-based, so you often times won't have the option to wipe the board or destroy your opponents' key permanents.
- The deck in its current form is very much geared towards casual play. It doesn't deal well with graveyard hate or control decks.
- You're depending a lot on your baseline of creatures to do the job of milling you into larger stuff, so early removal can really slow you down if you don't have any dredge creatures to take advantage of.
- The Mimeoplasm exiles the cards from your graveyard, so you'll inevitably run out of creatures at some point (although I've never hit that point myself).
- You'll sometimes mill cards that you wanted or maybe needed to draw.
Final comments:
Personally I find this deck a blast to play. I love casting huge creatures and this deck is great at doing so. It also has some completely insane plays depending on what's in everyone's graveyards: Once I turned Mimeoplasm into a 16/17 Aurelia, the Warleader and it was hilariously powerful.
The maybe-board:
I have updated the maybe-board with cards that could be played in this deck and might be added at some point. However, right now I don't know what to cut from the deck in order to fit any of those, so if you have suggestions I'd be happy to hear them. I'll explain the maybe-board below:
- Glen Elendra Archmage is a very strong counter option for this deck, and can protect us against unpleasant cards to some extend.
- Invisible Stalker has hexproof and can't be blocked, making it one of the most unfair targets for The Mimeoplasm to copy. It's currently not in the deck because I think it might be a bit too powerful for my playgroup at the moment.
- Sheoldred, Whispering One is another really strong option for this deck for obvious reasons, but as with Invisible Stalker, it might be a bit too powerful for my playgroup at the moment.
To-do list:
- Upgrade mana-base (low priority)
I hope you liked this deck list and/or could use it as a source of inspiration! Please feel free to comment with questions and suggestions, and a +1 is always appreciated :)
