Next stop in my ongoing quest to catalog as many of my EDH decks as possible: The Mimeoplasm!
Admittedly not one of my best decks, as well as generally being better suited for dueling (due to the limited nature of Mimeo devouring your resources over multiple casts as opposed to someone like Karador who allows for repeated use of the same resources, as well as the odds of graveyard hate significantly rising with more opponents); Mimeo still has the potential to take out unprepared opponents quickly.
This deck functions as a more Voltron-style version of Karador (I'll try to post my Karador list soon for contrast), quickly dumping slime food into it's own graveyard and taking out opponents with one or two shots from ideally hard-to-deal-with or evasive threats. It runs rather light on utility, instead opting for haymaker after haymaker, hopefully taking out opponents before they have a chance to set up/fight back/eliminate your graveyard.
I've tried to limit most of the utility to creatures or otherwise spells that can be accessed from the graveyard (Dredge, Retrace, Flashback) as much as possible, in order to synergize with the Dredge/self-mill aspect of gameplay. That way, there is much less decision-making as to whether or not I should dredge or otherwise dump large amounts of cards into my graveyard. The answer is almost always "dredge away!"
It's not extremely competitive, as it has a rough time with graveyard hate and tuck spells. Still pretty fun for a quicker game, as opposed to hardcore control builds packed with sweepers and whatnot dragging games out for hours. (Plus, some of my decks have proven to be a little too much on the competitive side for the group of friends I usually play with; so instead of simply dumbing them down, I like to have a few less hardcore decks to mess around with from time to time.)
- Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots: I think when I initially built this deck, I simply didn't have another Greaves available at the time, so I just went without. Plus, I can't reliably get it without tutoring for it (Dimir Infiltrator currently being the only option), nor can I easily get it back in the very likely case it ends up in my graveyard (Eternal Witness is pretty much my only out). The haste is pretty invaluable for a gigantic Mimeo, I'm just not sure it's worth a slot considering how unreliable it is in this deck (I'd prefer not to run generic one-shot tutors like Demonic and Fabricate simply due to the nature of how this deck typically plays and the lack of non-creature recursion...and Archaeomancer and friends seem like a pretty narrow inclusion when most of my noncreature spells have flashback or retrace anyways).
- other graveyard-stocking tutors, e.g. Buried Alive, Entomb, and Corpse Connoisseur: Seeing as this is basically a combo deck of sorts, cards like these go along way to improving consistency and grabbing specific cards for the situation (and I believe at least a couple of these used to be in a previous iteration of the deck...I could probably greatly benefit from squeezing one or more back in somewhere).
- Speaking of tutors: Increasing Ambition might be a good fit here if I wanted a more flexible/generic option.
- "massive graveyard matters" type cards, e.g. Living Death and Mortal Combat: Both are relatively abusable here. Mortal Combat, while providing an instant win without having to worry about combat or life totals, is strongly telegraphed and doesn't really do anything until the requirements are met (although the payoff is well worth it). Living Death doubles as a sweeper, but can potentially backfire versus other graveyard decks. I think the main reason I have yet to try either of them is they don't have flashback, and I have very few ways of recurring non-creatures that get dredged into my yard (which, at a certain point in the game, most things get dumped into my yard). I'd like to give them a try eventually, though.
- other graveyard stockers, e.g. Sphinx of Uthuun, Sickening Dreams, Insidious Dreams, Magus of the Bazaar, and Breakthrough: Out of all these, I believe the Sphinx has the most potential, as he doubles as an evasive body for Mimeo to munch on. Sickening Dreams can serve as a small sweeper and global damage source while dumping key targets, and Insidious Dreams tutors (albeit only to the top of the library- often this is acceptable, especially if I am just looking for specific target to dredge into my yard anyways, but it certainly has it's weaknesses when your back is against the wall). Breakthrough and Magus were performers in my old 60-card dredge deck, but I'm not sure they'd make the cut here. Magus is definitely not an impressive body for Mimeo to eat, but he can certainly get the ball rolling if he comes down early. And Breakthrough just doesn't seem any better than other options.
- recursion guys, e.g. Nezumi Graverobber, Undertaker, and Havengul Lich: Nezumi Graverobber was once a staple auto-include in all my black EDH decks, as he provides decent graveyard hate (which this deck is noticeably short on), as well as potentially turning into a recursion monster. Unfortunately, he rarely ever gets to flip and start reanimating before something/someone takes him out. People tend to not be OK with a Rise from the Grave on a stick. Undertaker is card I initially overlooked, but have recently began to consider for this deck, as well as Karador. She dumps key targets into the yard while recurring utility creatures or whatever else that might be useful. Fragile, but she's cheap and relatively more low-profile than something like Hell's Caretaker or Graverobber would be. Pretty interested in trying her out eventually. Havengul Lich is a bit more of an expensive and mana-intensive option, but comes with a lot of upside. He allows potentially multiple reanimates per turn, as opposed to the single-serving guys above. Also can dig all up in your opponents' yards. That last ability is occasionally relevant, too. I'd really like to add at least one of these guys.
- other utility/spot removal creatures, e.g. Shriekmaw, Duplicant, Fleshbag Marauder, or Terastodon: Shriekmaw is a little on the narrow side (Terror-style), but evokes cheaply and has a form of evasion (which is always valuable for Mimeo food). Duplicant is a staple, well-rounded all-star; the least conditional and most reliable of targeted removal creatures. Fleshbag Marauder potentially takes out hexproof/shroud creatures, but not reliably. Also, he's not as attractive of an option when you can't recur him multiple times (like in Karador). Terastodon is an option for taking out non-creatures, as well as providing a good number of counters or large base body for Mimeo.
- Arashi, the Sky Asunder: Serves as spot removal on the board or a sky sweeper when channeled, to later become Mimeo food. I want to say surely he used to be in here at some point, but maybe not. Incredibly useful in some matchups.
- other sweeper creatures, e.g. Pestilence Demon, Kuro, Pitlord, and Necroplasm: This deck is relatively light on sweepers, instead opting to attempt to get a stocked graveyard and combo kill as soon and reliably as possible. However, there are a few decent options for mass removal stapled onto creatures that could be included. Pestilence Demon is evasive, somewhat selective as far as what he removes, and whittles down opponents all at the same time (granted he hurts me, too). However, he's not quite as effective in a 3-color deck (at least without Urborg). Kuro can be a monster, wiping out anything he can target (as long as I have a positive life total), but he can be hard to keep around (again, especially without Urborg). Necroplasm is an excellent eliminator of tokens, provides me another dredger, and in combination with Mimeo can selectively nuke virtually any CMC necessary (as well as continuing to grow every turn). I'm actually kinda surprised he isn't already in here (might have been cut for something else at some point, idk). Kenderekt Leviathan also gets a nod here. Not technically a sweeper, but often good enough. My only gripe is lack of evasion (and/or haste outside of Unearth). Same can be said for Ixidron.
- Death Cloud: One of the better "vanilla" sweepers for this deck (by "vanilla" here, I mean that it doesn't particularly synergize with the deck by being recurrable through Dredge, Flashback, Retrace, etc...it's basically a one-shot unless I draw Eternal Witness or something). I can break the symmetry with Life from the Loam, and I often want my cards in my graveyard anyways.
- Plaxcaster Frogling: provides protection for Mimeo, whether he eats him or he's already on the battlefield. Also capable of providing protection for other key creatures if necessary through Graft.
- Body Double: another guy that can take advantage of stocked graveyards. Not only is he just generally awesome on his own, he allows for potentially awesome plays by having Mimeo etb as whatever juicy target your opponent might have in their yard. A very tempting option, indeed.
- Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord: Lots of fun with Lhurgoyfs. He's not as abusable here as he is in Karador or his own deck, but he can certainly do some major damage sacrificing a gigantic Mimeo.
- other random fat: There's a lot that could be included in this category. In particular, I might consider the following: It That Betrays is another non-shuffling Eldrazi monster that provides a 2-turn general damage clock no matter what else I exile. It's possible to not even exile a second creature and just have Mimeo be a vanilla ITB and still get the job done in two turns. Simic Sky Swallower has a decent body with two forms of evasion. Shroud makes it a safe body to pile counters on and serve as a 2-3 turn clock. Also, not so expensive that casting him normally wouldn't be likely. Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur lacks evasion and is a little on the small side for 10 mana. He comes stapled to a game-breaking ability, no doubt. Speaking of Praetors, Sheoldred, Whispering One is always an enticing option. She offers evasion, removal, and recursion all in one.
- Death's Shadow: Used to run him as a cheesy easy +13/+13 for Mimeo. Cute and all, but he is absolutely useless outside of being in the gy for slime food. I think I have enough ways to get 1-or-2-shot kills already that I don't need another one that is so narrow in application.
- Fathom Mage: If this works how I think it does, she acts as a second Prime Speaker Zegana when eaten by Mimeo, as well as being 2 mana cheaper to cast normally (albeit not providing as explosive draw power as Zegana in that case).
- Exile recursion, e.g. Runic Repetition and Riftsweeper: I've been tempted many times to add in these safety valves. Repetition combos nicely with Memory's Journey to keep me from decking myself and getting back a key card (e.g. Laboratory Maniac). Riftsweeper allows me to recur creatures Mimeo has already eaten or stuff my opponents have exiled via various methods. It's tempting to add more utility and recursion, but I'm afraid it might water down the game plan, as this deck wants to be focused on doing it's thing as quickly and reliably as possible.
- other nonbasics: The above manabase is admittedly a bit sub-optimal. If you've read any of my other decklist posts, you'll know I'm really lazy about making proxies for cards that are in use elsewhere. As this deck does a lot of work from the graveyard, I haven't really noticed much of an issue with my manabase. However, there are at least a few nonbasics I could stand to squeeze in here; notably Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Creeping Tar Pit, Bojuka Bog, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Halimar Depths, Verdant Catacombs, and if I wanted to get a little more hardcore, Wasteland variants (as I do run Life from the Loam).
That's all I've got for now. I'll update this section as more stuff comes to mind.
- Liliana Vess: A powerful role player, in theory. She allows me to dump something in my yard or attack an opponent's hand, tutors, and has a sick ultimate. Sadly, more often than not, she ends up being a 5-mana discard spell or Vamp Tutor before biting the dust. Has a lot of potential in this deck, but hasn't been wowing me as of late.
- the Retrace spells (Raven's Crime and Worm Harvest): Raven's Crime has been a bit more generally useful (at worst, functions as an outlet to get something in my yard), but is still often underwhelming, especially in multiplayer. It can potentially wreck opponents' hands in concert with Life from the Loam (which can indeed be useful in some situations), but most of the time I'd rather get down to punching people in the face with fat oozes. Worm Harvest has been even more underwhelming. It shares a CMC with my commander, and it takes quite a bit of time/setup to get to the point to where it is relevant. Until I get a dredge engine running, it usually isn't worth it. It is occasionally useful to be able to make a bunch of chump blockers turn after turn, or swarm the board for an alpha strike. But most of the time, it's just too slow to matter much.
- Increasing Confusion: The flashback is nice, but it hasn't come up a lot in games so far. Could be a cut for something more useful.
- TaintedLands: The listed manabase is a bit suboptimal, as some of my BUG nonbasics are in use in various other decks. With only 5 Swamps and no Urborg, the Tainted Lands could probably be better options (I just have yet to realize it in game, as most of my lands typically end up in the graveyard).
As above, I will be updating this section from time to time as more things come to mind and I play more games.
Attempting to update a couple of my decklists with recent changes before I forget. Trying some different stuff out here and there.
Wrexial and Stormtide were removed to go in other decks. I'm lazy about making proxies, so I simply slotted in some random fat/synergy in Simic Sky Swallower and Kessig Cagebreakers (who can be quite ridiculous; I have actually won the last two games I played with this deck via Cagebreakers, once attacking with over 40 wolves, and again with about 25). If I free up a copy of Stormtide or simply make a proxy (and decide what to cut), I'd probably put him back in...just not sure for what.
I recently got some Deadbridge Chants and Progenitor Mimics, so I wanted to give them a try. It would make sense for me to say I cut Phyrexian Metamorph for the Mimic, but honestly I pulled it out a couple months earlier while building another deck, and I just threw in the Entomb for S&G's. The last two cards I cut for the two new adds were Serene Remembrance and Increasing Confusion. Confusion was less of a difficult cut, since I rarely get to live the dream of casting it for a huge dredge (plus it rarely ever feels good to spend your turn tapping out for it) and Chant does a similar job of dredging cards in the yard (albeit only once, and only if I draw it naturally or Witness it back or something). Remembrance was a harder cut to make, as it gives me a lot of additional flexibility. But I couldn't find anything else I felt comfortable with cutting, and I really wanted to try out the newer cards.
I've got an order coming to me in the mail soon, a couple things which might be considerations for this deck, namely Satyr Wayfinder and mayyyybe Nemesis of Mortals. The only thing I could see cutting for Wayfinder would be Mulch, as it does the same thing (albeit not as well, as it can only get one land as opposed to up to 4) but is a creature, which is a plus. As for Nemesis, I actually can't see me cutting anything for it. I thought it looked cool, because it can potentially be a 4-mana 10/10. But that's all it is. It has no evasion or protection, so Feeding it to Mimeo would be a last-ditch effort if I'm really hard up or have Rogue's Passage or a defenseless opponent. And it only counts for 5 counters when used as the second devoured creature...so probably a no-go.
Other than that, in looking over my list again, I was kinda surprised to see a lack of Corpse Connoisseur. It's basically Entomb with flashback, but as a creature....and 5 times as much mana. Surprised to see it missing, but not sure I'd actually make the switch subbing it in for Entomb. Both have their upsides.
I'd like to eventually get some guys I cut back in there; like Wrexial, Stormtide, and maybe Serene Remembrance. I need to do a bunch more testing to determine whether I need the extra utility it provides back in the deck.
I've got a lot of decks to tend to, though, and only so much time/games to test. So it may be a while before I get to any other updates.
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Admittedly not one of my best decks, as well as generally being better suited for dueling (due to the limited nature of Mimeo devouring your resources over multiple casts as opposed to someone like Karador who allows for repeated use of the same resources, as well as the odds of graveyard hate significantly rising with more opponents); Mimeo still has the potential to take out unprepared opponents quickly.
This deck functions as a more Voltron-style version of Karador (I'll try to post my Karador list soon for contrast), quickly dumping slime food into it's own graveyard and taking out opponents with one or two shots from ideally hard-to-deal-with or evasive threats. It runs rather light on utility, instead opting for haymaker after haymaker, hopefully taking out opponents before they have a chance to set up/fight back/eliminate your graveyard.
I've tried to limit most of the utility to creatures or otherwise spells that can be accessed from the graveyard (Dredge, Retrace, Flashback) as much as possible, in order to synergize with the Dredge/self-mill aspect of gameplay. That way, there is much less decision-making as to whether or not I should dredge or otherwise dump large amounts of cards into my graveyard. The answer is almost always "dredge away!"
It's not extremely competitive, as it has a rough time with graveyard hate and tuck spells. Still pretty fun for a quicker game, as opposed to hardcore control builds packed with sweepers and whatnot dragging games out for hours. (Plus, some of my decks have proven to be a little too much on the competitive side for the group of friends I usually play with; so instead of simply dumbing them down, I like to have a few less hardcore decks to mess around with from time to time.)
1 The Mimeoplasm
Mana Ramp & Land Search: 9
1 Greenseeker
1 Dawntreader Elk
1 Mulch
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Wood Elves
1 Elvish Aberration
1 Twisted Abomination
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Wirewood Guardian
Utility Creatures: 12
1 Eternal Witness
1 Acidic Slime
1 Indrik Stomphowler
1 Kagamaro, First to Suffer
1 Mulldrifter
1 Havengul Lich
1 Brutalizer Exarch
1 Dark Hatchling
1 Dinrova Horror
1 Progenitor Mimic
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Avatar of Woe
Evasive Bodies: 7
1 Blighted Agent
1 Invisible Stalker
1 Viral Drake
1 Wonder
1 Putrefax
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Inkwell Leviathan
Random Fat (counter supplies): 4
1 Boneyard Wurm
1 Mortivore
1 Ghoultree
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Mycoloth
1 Triskelion
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
Dredge & Graveyard Fillers: 11
1 Entomb
1 Life from the Loam
1 Splinterfright
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Balustrade Spy
1 Dreamborn Muse
1 Golgari Grave-Troll
1 Mirror-Mad Phantasm
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Deadbridge Chant
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
Flashback & Retrace: 5
1 Raven's Crime
1 Memory's Journey
1 Tracker's Instincts
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Gnaw to the Bone
Tutors: 6
1 Dimir Infiltrator
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Buried Alive
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Jarad's Orders
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
Planeswalkers: 2
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Liliana Vess
Other: 3
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Kessig Cagebreakers
1 Living Death
1 Barren Moor
1 Breeding Pool
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Dakmor Salvage
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Flooded Grove
5 Forest
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Halimar Depths
4 Island
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 River of Tears
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Simic Guildgate
3 Swamp
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Twilight Mire
1 Watery Grave
1 Yavimaya Coast
- Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots: I think when I initially built this deck, I simply didn't have another Greaves available at the time, so I just went without. Plus, I can't reliably get it without tutoring for it (Dimir Infiltrator currently being the only option), nor can I easily get it back in the very likely case it ends up in my graveyard (Eternal Witness is pretty much my only out). The haste is pretty invaluable for a gigantic Mimeo, I'm just not sure it's worth a slot considering how unreliable it is in this deck (I'd prefer not to run generic one-shot tutors like Demonic and Fabricate simply due to the nature of how this deck typically plays and the lack of non-creature recursion...and Archaeomancer and friends seem like a pretty narrow inclusion when most of my noncreature spells have flashback or retrace anyways).
- other graveyard-stocking tutors, e.g. Buried Alive, Entomb, and Corpse Connoisseur: Seeing as this is basically a combo deck of sorts, cards like these go along way to improving consistency and grabbing specific cards for the situation (and I believe at least a couple of these used to be in a previous iteration of the deck...I could probably greatly benefit from squeezing one or more back in somewhere).
- Speaking of tutors: Increasing Ambition might be a good fit here if I wanted a more flexible/generic option.
- "massive graveyard matters" type cards, e.g. Living Death and Mortal Combat: Both are relatively abusable here. Mortal Combat, while providing an instant win without having to worry about combat or life totals, is strongly telegraphed and doesn't really do anything until the requirements are met (although the payoff is well worth it). Living Death doubles as a sweeper, but can potentially backfire versus other graveyard decks. I think the main reason I have yet to try either of them is they don't have flashback, and I have very few ways of recurring non-creatures that get dredged into my yard (which, at a certain point in the game, most things get dumped into my yard). I'd like to give them a try eventually, though.
- other graveyard stockers, e.g. Sphinx of Uthuun, Sickening Dreams, Insidious Dreams, Magus of the Bazaar, and Breakthrough: Out of all these, I believe the Sphinx has the most potential, as he doubles as an evasive body for Mimeo to munch on. Sickening Dreams can serve as a small sweeper and global damage source while dumping key targets, and Insidious Dreams tutors (albeit only to the top of the library- often this is acceptable, especially if I am just looking for specific target to dredge into my yard anyways, but it certainly has it's weaknesses when your back is against the wall). Breakthrough and Magus were performers in my old 60-card dredge deck, but I'm not sure they'd make the cut here. Magus is definitely not an impressive body for Mimeo to eat, but he can certainly get the ball rolling if he comes down early. And Breakthrough just doesn't seem any better than other options.
- recursion guys, e.g. Nezumi Graverobber, Undertaker, and Havengul Lich: Nezumi Graverobber was once a staple auto-include in all my black EDH decks, as he provides decent graveyard hate (which this deck is noticeably short on), as well as potentially turning into a recursion monster. Unfortunately, he rarely ever gets to flip and start reanimating before something/someone takes him out. People tend to not be OK with a Rise from the Grave on a stick. Undertaker is card I initially overlooked, but have recently began to consider for this deck, as well as Karador. She dumps key targets into the yard while recurring utility creatures or whatever else that might be useful. Fragile, but she's cheap and relatively more low-profile than something like Hell's Caretaker or Graverobber would be. Pretty interested in trying her out eventually.
Havengul Lich is a bit more of an expensive and mana-intensive option, but comes with a lot of upside. He allows potentially multiple reanimates per turn, as opposed to the single-serving guys above. Also can dig all up in your opponents' yards. That last ability is occasionally relevant, too. I'd really like to add at least one of these guys.
- other utility/spot removal creatures, e.g. Shriekmaw, Duplicant, Fleshbag Marauder, or Terastodon: Shriekmaw is a little on the narrow side (Terror-style), but evokes cheaply and has a form of evasion (which is always valuable for Mimeo food). Duplicant is a staple, well-rounded all-star; the least conditional and most reliable of targeted removal creatures. Fleshbag Marauder potentially takes out hexproof/shroud creatures, but not reliably. Also, he's not as attractive of an option when you can't recur him multiple times (like in Karador). Terastodon is an option for taking out non-creatures, as well as providing a good number of counters or large base body for Mimeo.
- Arashi, the Sky Asunder: Serves as spot removal on the board or a sky sweeper when channeled, to later become Mimeo food. I want to say surely he used to be in here at some point, but maybe not. Incredibly useful in some matchups.
- other sweeper creatures, e.g. Pestilence Demon, Kuro, Pitlord, and Necroplasm: This deck is relatively light on sweepers, instead opting to attempt to get a stocked graveyard and combo kill as soon and reliably as possible. However, there are a few decent options for mass removal stapled onto creatures that could be included. Pestilence Demon is evasive, somewhat selective as far as what he removes, and whittles down opponents all at the same time (granted he hurts me, too). However, he's not quite as effective in a 3-color deck (at least without Urborg). Kuro can be a monster, wiping out anything he can target (as long as I have a positive life total), but he can be hard to keep around (again, especially without Urborg). Necroplasm is an excellent eliminator of tokens, provides me another dredger, and in combination with Mimeo can selectively nuke virtually any CMC necessary (as well as continuing to grow every turn). I'm actually kinda surprised he isn't already in here (might have been cut for something else at some point, idk). Kenderekt Leviathan also gets a nod here. Not technically a sweeper, but often good enough. My only gripe is lack of evasion (and/or haste outside of Unearth). Same can be said for Ixidron.
- Death Cloud: One of the better "vanilla" sweepers for this deck (by "vanilla" here, I mean that it doesn't particularly synergize with the deck by being recurrable through Dredge, Flashback, Retrace, etc...it's basically a one-shot unless I draw Eternal Witness or something). I can break the symmetry with Life from the Loam, and I often want my cards in my graveyard anyways.
- Plaxcaster Frogling: provides protection for Mimeo, whether he eats him or he's already on the battlefield. Also capable of providing protection for other key creatures if necessary through Graft.
- Necrotic Ooze: Borderline auto-include in decks that heavily utilize the graveyard and creatures. However, I don't have an awful lot of attractive activated abilities available here. Options include several regeneration outlets, tutoring (Fauna Shaman, Greenseeker, Dawntreader Elk), removal (Avatar of Woe, Triskelion, Kagemaro, First to Suffer), Proliferation (Viral Drake), and graveyard stocking (Greenseeker, Mirror-Mad Phantasm, Fauna Shaman again)...ok, now that I typed it out, it seems like a lot more than I realized. Could have potential...
- Body Double: another guy that can take advantage of stocked graveyards. Not only is he just generally awesome on his own, he allows for potentially awesome plays by having Mimeo etb as whatever juicy target your opponent might have in their yard. A very tempting option, indeed.
- Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord: Lots of fun with Lhurgoyfs. He's not as abusable here as he is in Karador or his own deck, but he can certainly do some major damage sacrificing a gigantic Mimeo.
- other random fat: There's a lot that could be included in this category. In particular, I might consider the following: It That Betrays is another non-shuffling Eldrazi monster that provides a 2-turn general damage clock no matter what else I exile. It's possible to not even exile a second creature and just have Mimeo be a vanilla ITB and still get the job done in two turns. Simic Sky Swallower has a decent body with two forms of evasion. Shroud makes it a safe body to pile counters on and serve as a 2-3 turn clock. Also, not so expensive that casting him normally wouldn't be likely. Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur lacks evasion and is a little on the small side for 10 mana. He comes stapled to a game-breaking ability, no doubt. Speaking of Praetors, Sheoldred, Whispering One is always an enticing option. She offers evasion, removal, and recursion all in one.
- Death's Shadow: Used to run him as a cheesy easy +13/+13 for Mimeo. Cute and all, but he is absolutely useless outside of being in the gy for slime food. I think I have enough ways to get 1-or-2-shot kills already that I don't need another one that is so narrow in application.
- Fathom Mage: If this works how I think it does, she acts as a second Prime Speaker Zegana when eaten by Mimeo, as well as being 2 mana cheaper to cast normally (albeit not providing as explosive draw power as Zegana in that case).
- Exile recursion, e.g. Runic Repetition and Riftsweeper: I've been tempted many times to add in these safety valves. Repetition combos nicely with Memory's Journey to keep me from decking myself and getting back a key card (e.g. Laboratory Maniac). Riftsweeper allows me to recur creatures Mimeo has already eaten or stuff my opponents have exiled via various methods. It's tempting to add more utility and recursion, but I'm afraid it might water down the game plan, as this deck wants to be focused on doing it's thing as quickly and reliably as possible.
- other nonbasics: The above manabase is admittedly a bit sub-optimal. If you've read any of my other decklist posts, you'll know I'm really lazy about making proxies for cards that are in use elsewhere. As this deck does a lot of work from the graveyard, I haven't really noticed much of an issue with my manabase. However, there are at least a few nonbasics I could stand to squeeze in here; notably Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Creeping Tar Pit, Bojuka Bog, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Halimar Depths, Verdant Catacombs, and if I wanted to get a little more hardcore, Wasteland variants (as I do run Life from the Loam).
That's all I've got for now. I'll update this section as more stuff comes to mind.
- Drift of Phantasms: originally included as a tutor for Laboratory Maniac. Also can grab Gnaw to the Bone, Forbidden Alchemy, Eternal Witness, Wood Elves, Splinterfright, and Stinkweed Imp. Mostly irrelevant as Mimeo food, but does count as a creature in the graveyard for Lhurgoyfs (Boneyard Wurm, Mortivore, Splinterfright). Considering replacing it with something less specialized and more powerful like Buried Alive or Entomb. The one (potential/situational) upside it has is tutoring directly to hand.
- Dimir House Guard: similar to Drift, it's a specialized tutor, in this case grabbing Dreamborn Muse, Dread Return, Balustrade Spy, Mortivore, Wonder, Viral Drake, Phyrexian Metamorph, Gravedigger, or Jarad's Orders. Otherwise, generally a bit more useful than Drift as a body in the yard (has a non-zero power, evasion, and potential regeneration). Both House Guard and Drift would benefit from me adding something like Undertaker.
- Liliana Vess: A powerful role player, in theory. She allows me to dump something in my yard or attack an opponent's hand, tutors, and has a sick ultimate. Sadly, more often than not, she ends up being a 5-mana discard spell or Vamp Tutor before biting the dust. Has a lot of potential in this deck, but hasn't been wowing me as of late.
- the Retrace spells (Raven's Crime and Worm Harvest): Raven's Crime has been a bit more generally useful (at worst, functions as an outlet to get something in my yard), but is still often underwhelming, especially in multiplayer. It can potentially wreck opponents' hands in concert with Life from the Loam (which can indeed be useful in some situations), but most of the time I'd rather get down to punching people in the face with fat oozes. Worm Harvest has been even more underwhelming. It shares a CMC with my commander, and it takes quite a bit of time/setup to get to the point to where it is relevant. Until I get a dredge engine running, it usually isn't worth it. It is occasionally useful to be able to make a bunch of chump blockers turn after turn, or swarm the board for an alpha strike. But most of the time, it's just too slow to matter much.
- Increasing Confusion: The flashback is nice, but it hasn't come up a lot in games so far. Could be a cut for something more useful.
- Tainted Lands: The listed manabase is a bit suboptimal, as some of my BUG nonbasics are in use in various other decks. With only 5 Swamps and no Urborg, the Tainted Lands could probably be better options (I just have yet to realize it in game, as most of my lands typically end up in the graveyard).
As above, I will be updating this section from time to time as more things come to mind and I play more games.
Change log, edits, and more to come later.
- Tainted Isle
- Dimir Guildgate
- Worm Harvest
- Dread Return
- Gravedigger
- Triskelavus
- Drift of Phantasms
+ Halimar Depths
+ Creeping Tar Pit
+ Buried Alive
+ Havengul Lich
+ Living Death
+ Sphinx of Uthuun
+ Sheoldred, Whispering One
edit: 6/18/14
- Serene Remembrance
- Increasing Confusion
- Phyrexian Metamorph
- Wrexial, the Risen Deep
- Stormtide Leviathan
+ Entomb
+ Kessig Cagebreakers
+ Deadbridge Chant
+ Progenitor Mimic
+ Simic Sky Swallower
Wrexial and Stormtide were removed to go in other decks. I'm lazy about making proxies, so I simply slotted in some random fat/synergy in Simic Sky Swallower and Kessig Cagebreakers (who can be quite ridiculous; I have actually won the last two games I played with this deck via Cagebreakers, once attacking with over 40 wolves, and again with about 25). If I free up a copy of Stormtide or simply make a proxy (and decide what to cut), I'd probably put him back in...just not sure for what.
I recently got some Deadbridge Chants and Progenitor Mimics, so I wanted to give them a try. It would make sense for me to say I cut Phyrexian Metamorph for the Mimic, but honestly I pulled it out a couple months earlier while building another deck, and I just threw in the Entomb for S&G's. The last two cards I cut for the two new adds were Serene Remembrance and Increasing Confusion. Confusion was less of a difficult cut, since I rarely get to live the dream of casting it for a huge dredge (plus it rarely ever feels good to spend your turn tapping out for it) and Chant does a similar job of dredging cards in the yard (albeit only once, and only if I draw it naturally or Witness it back or something). Remembrance was a harder cut to make, as it gives me a lot of additional flexibility. But I couldn't find anything else I felt comfortable with cutting, and I really wanted to try out the newer cards.
I've got an order coming to me in the mail soon, a couple things which might be considerations for this deck, namely Satyr Wayfinder and mayyyybe Nemesis of Mortals. The only thing I could see cutting for Wayfinder would be Mulch, as it does the same thing (albeit not as well, as it can only get one land as opposed to up to 4) but is a creature, which is a plus. As for Nemesis, I actually can't see me cutting anything for it. I thought it looked cool, because it can potentially be a 4-mana 10/10. But that's all it is. It has no evasion or protection, so Feeding it to Mimeo would be a last-ditch effort if I'm really hard up or have Rogue's Passage or a defenseless opponent. And it only counts for 5 counters when used as the second devoured creature...so probably a no-go.
Other than that, in looking over my list again, I was kinda surprised to see a lack of Corpse Connoisseur. It's basically Entomb with flashback, but as a creature....and 5 times as much mana. Surprised to see it missing, but not sure I'd actually make the switch subbing it in for Entomb. Both have their upsides.
I'd like to eventually get some guys I cut back in there; like Wrexial, Stormtide, and maybe Serene Remembrance. I need to do a bunch more testing to determine whether I need the extra utility it provides back in the deck.
I've got a lot of decks to tend to, though, and only so much time/games to test. So it may be a while before I get to any other updates.