> Combos

• Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion
  This is a well known combo, often referred to as Mike & Trike.
  It consists in removing 2 counters from Triskelion to kill itself (it's a 2/2 because of Mikaeus, the Unhallowed) and using the rest to deal damage to any target. Triskelion will return to play thanks to undying, so that you can repeat the process as many times as you want and shoot everybody to death.
  Tipically, rather than hard-casting these two monsters, you're going to cheat them into play with one of the following card combination:

  • Buried Alive + Victimize: you cast Buried Alive to put them into your graveyard (together with a thrid creature of your choice) and then reanimate them with Victimize.
  • Intuition + Victimize: you cast Intuition and search for Mikaeus, Triskelion and Undead Gladiator. If the opponent chooses Undead Gladiator, you simply reanimate Mike & Trike with Victimize. Otherwise, at your next upkeep, you swap the card they've chosen with Undead Gladiator and reanimate them with Victimize anyway.

• Sage of Fables + Glen Elendra Archmage/Puppeteer Clique + <sac outlet>
  This combo takes advantage of the fact that Glen Elendra Archmage and Puppeteer Clique are both wizards and have persist.
  Thanks to persist, when they die they will return to play with a -1/-1 counter but, since they are wizards, they will receive a +1/+1 counter from Sage of Fables as well. The two counters will elide themselves, so that you can repeat the loop again.
  The same result can be achieved with Metallic Mimic (naming wizards) and Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. Actually, Mikaeus will work with any persist creature, not only wizards.
  The deck has several sac outlets that give you some payoff when exploiting this loop.

  • Ashnod's Altar: infinite mana.
  • Altar of Dementia: infinite mill.
  • Goblin Bombardment: infinite damage.

• Sage of Fables + Geralf's Messenger/Flayer of the Hatebound + Ashnod's Altar
  Here, instead of wizards with persist, you exploit creatures with undying.
  This time, the creature will come back with a +1/+1 counter on it that you can remove with Sage of Fable to draw a card.
  Both Geralf's Messenger and Flayer of the Hatebound also give you a payoff that can kill your opponents, provided you have enough cards in your deck.
  Since you need 2 mana to perform this loop, the only outlet that lets you go infinite with it is Ashnod's Altar.

• Sage of Fables + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Ashnod's Altar
  Almost the same combo as before, except now the creature with undying Sage of Fables itself (thanks to Mikaeus, the Unhallowed).
  Note that this time you don't have any particular payoff that lets you win the game. Although once you've drawn your entire deck, it shouldn't be that difficult to find a win condition.

> Other Interactions

• Sage of Fables + Glen Elendra Archmage
  This is more a side note to the second combo described in the previous section (go there for more details).
  In fact, with Glen Elendra Archmage you don't actually need an outlet to sacrifice her: you can activate her own ability.
  Unfortunately, you need some mana and (more importantly) a target to do so, therefore it's not possible to go infinite with it.
  Nonetheless, for 1 blue mana you can repeatedly counter any non-creature spell. Not bad at all.

• Coffin Queen + Plaguecrafter/Sidisi, Undead Vizier
  This has become my default package for black (i.e. I play it in any deck with black, unless I have a good reason not to do so).
  There are many creatures worth recurring with Coffin Queen out, although these two are the best I've found so far:

  • Plaguecrafter: he's already a nice inclusion on his own, but with Coffin Queen out you can effectively prevent your opponent from playing any threat. A kind of soft-lock à la Grave Pact, to say so.
  • Sidisi, Undead Vizier: TODO.

Marchesa, the Black Rose + Thalakos Deceiver -> attack, gain control of target creature.

> Notable Exclusions

• Unspeakable Symbol
  TODO