Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Living Death + Ashnod's Altar + Blood Pet + Eternal Witness

5-card combo · BG

Verdict

Yes — this 5-card loop converts a single activation into infinite death triggers, ETBs, and storm count through a self-resetting Living Death chain.

Cards required: 5
Cheapest stack total: $12.34
Color identity: BG
Popularity: 75 decks
Format: Commander

Buy required cards on TCGplayer

Blood Pet sacrifices twice thanks to undying, funding the in Living Death's cost while Ashnod's Altar covers the by cashing out Eternal Witness and Mikaeus. Living Death resets the entire board each loop; Eternal Witness's ETB trigger returns Living Death immediately, and Mikaeus re-grants undying to Blood Pet so the next iteration starts clean. This lives in Golgari reanimator shells where Mikaeus already anchors a recursive gameplan — the loop assembles naturally rather than as a dedicated package.

Recipe

How it works

Prerequisites

Blood Pet does not have a +1/+1 counter on it.

Steps

Activate Blood Pet by sacrificing it, adding .
When Blood Pet dies, its undying ability triggers, returning it to the battlefield from your graveyard with a +1/+1 counter on it.
Activate Blood Pet by sacrificing it, adding .
Activate Ashnod's Altar twice by sacrificing Eternal Witness and Mikaeus, adding .
Cast Living Death by paying , causing each player to exile all creature cards in their graveyards, sacrifice all creatures they control, then put all cards exiled this way onto the battlefield.
When Eternal Witness enters the battlefield, it triggers, returning Living Death to your hand from your graveyard.
Repeat.

Result

Infinite colorless mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite storm count

Variations

Cheaper, tighter, alternate lines

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician can replace Ashnod's Altar as a sacrifice outlet if the Altar is removed, though it requires creatures in hand rather than raw mana. Drop Blood Pet for any other undying creature — Butcher Ghoul or Geralf's Messenger — if redundancy is the goal, but note the loop's colorless-mana ceiling drops unless that creature also produces mana. Pair the infinite storm count with Tendrils of Agony or the infinite ETBs with a Zulaport Cutthroat effect to close; the loop itself doesn't deal damage.