Animate Dead + Liliana, Heretical Healer // Liliana, Defiant Necromancer + Loyal Retainers + and 2 others

Mana needed: {1}{B}

WB identity

Commander legal

The 5 combo pieces

What must be in place

Lurrus and You have not cast a spell using Lurrus this turn.
It is your precombat main phase.

How to execute it

  1. Cast Animate Dead from your graveyard by paying {1}{B}, returning Liliana, Heretical Healer from your graveyard to the battlefield with Animate Dead attached.
  2. Activate Phyrexian Altar by sacrificing Lurrus, adding {B}.
  3. When Lurrus dies, Liliana, Heretical Healer triggers, causing you to exile it and return it to the battlefield as Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, and create a 2/2 Zombie creature token.
  4. Activate Phyrexian Altar by sacrificing the Zombie, adding {1}.
  5. Activate Liliana, Defiant Necromancer's second loyalty ability by removing three loyalty counters from it.
  6. Liliana dies as a state-based action due to having zero loyalty.
  7. Resolve the Liliana ability, returning Loyal Retainers from your graveyard to the battlefield.
  8. Activate Loyal Retainers by sacrificing it, returning Lurrus from your graveyard to the battlefield.
  9. Repeat.

What the combo produces