A couple of weeks ago, I played a Commander mirror match with a new friend in Korea, Kevin, that was one of the most intriguing duels I’ve ever played. The deck was Devour for Power, the Black/Blue/Green (B/U/G) precon from last year’s Commander release. Kevin and I decided to both run The Mimeoplasm as our commanders, and there was a real challenge to playing it at the right time because it interacts with every creature in every graveyard.

The bottom line is that every time you play The Mimeoplasm, it’s a different experience. That blew me away, and I was determined to retool the Devour for Power deck to absolutely maximize synergy with this unique commander.

Concept

This will be one of the most commander-centric decks I've ever built. I want to be able to replay or recur “The Mim” whenever I want; I want every player’s graveyard to be a smorgasbord of beefy delicacies each time I play him; I want to keep him safe from tuck effects and the like.

It means a certain amount of mana ramp, mechanics like hexproof, persist, and undying, and perhaps even the new Flicker mechanic (which extends to blue), as well as sacrifice outlets.

Finally, I want critters that can contribute before I play The Mim but also be good copy targets if my opponents don’t have anything better. Creatures with +1/+1 counters would be a plus. Whether it’s something as unassuming as a Spike Feeder or Fertilid or as meaty as a Primordial Hydra, it becomes a lot better when The Mim copies it with an extra half-dozen counters.

Brainstorming

Mill – By my estimate, the original Devour for Power deck includes two of the four most massive mill cards in the game in Dreamborn Muse and Szadek, but Altar of Dementia and Mesmeric Orb are both stronger. Other cards that deserve a look include Grindstone, Mindcrank, and Extractor Demon.

Removal – Last week’s deck relied on planeswalkers and Thrax himself for most of its removal, but this time, I’m going to need to devote more card slots to sweepers and spot removal. There are lots of options, but I am leaning toward Life's Finale (possibly the best card ever for a Mimeoplasm deck!) and Black Sun's Zenith, which The Mim could easily survive.

On top of that, I have a lot more options for taking care of artifacts and enchantments in green that I didn’t really have in Grixis. Ideally, I’d have at least ten slots for creature removal (sweepers and spot) and the same number for dealing with other types of permanents.

Additionally, I’d like to borrow a trick from Brandon and run a deck completely devoid of enchantments so that I can take advantage of green’s Tranquility effects. I know that some decks won’t care, but others can be entirely wrecked by it.

What is easy to overlook with The Mim is that keeping your opponents from wasting it is insufficient; you need to be able to kill, blink, or recur him at will in order to take advantage of whatever goodies might be lying in someone’s graveyard—recycling Eldrazi, for instance, which can ruin your whole graveyard strategy. Sac outlets combined with cards like False Demise/Unhallowed Pact, Nim Deathmantle, Reincarnation, and the like. Persist, in the form of Cauldron of Souls, would work, but I realized that undying (especially Undying Evil) would not; The Mim is usually going to have too many +1/+1 counters on it to benefit.

Acceleration – I was happy to use Signets for Thrax, but in green decks, I rarely bother with artifacts. For The Mim, I probably won’t rely on too many sorcery accelerants, instead focusing on critters for all my land-fixing needs. Not just the Wood Elves and so, but landcyclers such as Twisted Abomination, Wirewood Guardian, and Krosan Tusker. That way, if nothing tasty has found its way to the grumper by turn five, you can copy a 5/3 regenerating Zombie and get 6 counters on it. It won’t normally last too long, but it’ll do some damage and shake things up and probably take some of your opponents’ creatures with it, meaning you can recast The Mim for value again on your next turn!

The Gathering

When I sat down to make the deck, I was amazed by how many cool cards there are in these colors. B/U/G sits on the intersection of a ton of fun, and if you don’t have a deck in these colors yet, you owe it to yourself to make one!

The protection suite really suffered; I had to drop it down to five cards, and it won’t be enough to protect The Mim in a tuck-heavy environment. Fortunately, I was able to squeeze in plenty of removal: five sweepers, five spot removal for creatures, and five ways of dealing with artifacts and enchantments.

I was also able to fit in ten cards for acceleration, including five creatures. However, I did save two slots for sorceries—Cultivate and Kodama's Reach—just to give me a chance at a turn-four The Mimeoplasm if the stars align just so. A Sol Ring also makes that a possibility, especially if I have a chance to play Forbidden Alchemy first. Turn-two Alchemy, discarding a Gaea's Revenge and an Artisan of Kozilek, followed by 18 points of hasty commander damage seems strong!

Here’s the first draft of the deck:

"First The Mimeoplasm Draft"

• Milling (0)

• Killing (0)

• Acceleration (0)

• Protection (0)

• Early Plays (0)

• Fatties (0)

• Wild Card (0)

• Lands (40)
• 40 Lands

Buy This Deck

Milling

Notice how this gives me seven heavy hitters, any of which can potentially either kill an opponent single-handedly or force use up answers. Having more creatures is invariably a good thing!

Killing

With no enchantments of my own, Tranquility effects will just randomly hose some of my opponents, although depending on the metagame, Back to Nature would be better as Creeping Corrosion. Also, no sooner had I completed the first draft than they printed Rain of Thorns, a multiplayer Hall of Famer in the making (more on that in the next week or two).

Twisted Justice in particular is criminally underplayed, but it’s somewhat situational. Play it as soon as someone plays his commander after a Damnation, and you will have to work hard to lose the game; draw it a turn too late, and you might just spend 6 mana to kill a utility weenie and draw one or two cards.

Choice of Damnations is even harder to get right. In the late game, you will often force your strongest rival to lose a bunch of permanents and damage his mana base sufficiently that he can’t cast his commander or other bombs with impunity, which can be enough of an edge for you to put the game away. On the other hand, if someone has 30 life and twelve permanents, what can you do? Your best bet would be to play Choice of Damnations for ten, forcing him to either sac two of his twelve permanents or lose 10 life, neither of which seems particularly strong.

While we’re on the subject of sacrifice effects, Living Death and its less powerful suspendy cousin should be better than generic Damnation effects as long as The Mim is cherry picking the strongest creatures from your opponents’ graveyards. Also: kills Avacyn dead! Not to be underestimated in a post-AVR world. BSZ will have to suffice against Sigarda.

Acceleration

Five creatures that have synergy with The Mim as well as being more useful in the later game than a Skyshroud Claim or similar. Crucible of Worlds is obviously stunning in a milling deck; Strip Mine abuse strictly optional!

The Rest

These are reasonably sized threats that all fill one or more other roles: acceleration through ramp or draw, removal, protection through indestructibility, recursion, or making The Mim more resilient. Also, eight of the ten will do something even if they’re swept away before my next turn; in some metas, that is absolutely essential. Versatility is king!

Wild Card

I loved Primal Command so much in my Avenger of Zendikar deck that I immediately traded for another one. For this deck, it protects me from my own milling and helps me to recover from tucking in addition to potentially offering life-gain and removal. Did I mention that versatility is king?

Frustrating Five

Finally, they say misery loves company, and nothing makes me more miserable than having to cut good cards out of decks. I got some great feedback last week, so this week, I’m hoping that you'll give me more advice on how to fit these last five cards in. Which cards are most powerful/useful/synergistic/fun, what would you take out for them, and how would that change affect the deck’s overall performance?

I’d also like to find an alternative sacrifice outlet to Greater Good, my sole enchantment, but let’s be honest: There probably isn't a better 0-cost sac outlet in the game than “Greatest” Good. Let me know what you think in the comments!

¹ Update: I did have one game in which my last opponent threw up a wall of beef that held me off, but Mesmeric Orb milled away his artifact removal and then killed him. I don’t mind winning that way once in a while, as long as The Mimeoplasm is still my Plan A.