by Can Tran

Created on: November 03, 2009

"Makeshift Mannequin" is a black instant spell printed as an uncommon for the Magic the Gathering expansion set known as "Lorwyn." In this respect, Makeshift Mannequin is on par with this black enchantment known as "Animate Dead." With regards to Makeshift Mannequin, you would want to use a few of these cards in a black reanimation deck. Should you know how to use Makeshift Mannequin, this becomes quite the impressive spell for the most part.

The converted mana cost for Makeshift Mannequin is four. You will need one black mana and three colorless mana to play Makeshift Mannequin. For what Makeshift Mannequin can do, the casting cost is worth it. Keep in mind that this is an instant spell and you can cast it at any given time during the game.

What does Makeshift Mannequin do in the first place?

By playing Makeshift Mannequin, you get to return a target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It has a "mannequin counter" on it. As long as the creature has the mannequin counter, it gets sent to the graveyard should it be the target of a spell or an ability. In this respect, you sacrifice it.

Unlike Animate Dead, Makeshift Mannequin only allows you to pick a creature from your graveyard. Animate Dead allows you to pick a creature card from any graveyard. Still, being able to bring back one of your creatures is great to have.

In a black deck, a good combination would be combining Makeshift Mannequin with "Extractor Demon." If you have to sacrifice the creature brought back via Makeshift Mannequin, you can punish the opponent via Extractor Demon's ability. That would be to make the target player "mill" the top two cards from his/her library into the graveyard whenever a creature gets sent to the graveyard.

In a black and red deck, you can combine this with "Vicious Shadows." It works in the same manner as Extractor Demon. However, the target player suffers X damage points in which X is equal to the number of cards in his/her hand.

With "Thraximundar," you get to put a +1/+1 counter on it whenever a creature is sacrificed.

With a combination of certain cards, you can very much get good play out of the Makeshift Mannequin. In any black reanimation deck, Makeshift Mannequin is a pretty good card. Overall, this is great provided you know how to use it. However, opponents may have spells on hand to neutralize Makeshift Mannequin.

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