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View Full Version : [Report] I play Reanimator Therefore I R Winnar - 2nd out of 106 in Vestal



Di
03-17-2010, 06:09 PM
I realize the irony of the thread title. Get over it.


As a Reanimator player for the last ~7 months, I felt rather confident going into Vestal. After seeing Geoff Smelski's performance at the last Vestal tournament, I knew the deck would treat me well. It basically had to. I've helped the design the deck to near-perfection, understand sideboarding very well (a fatal flaw I might add seeing all these other Reanimator players. It's not the deck people, it's you. Learn to sideboard and stop losing.) and happen to just be awesome which helps my case for victory.

Team Left Field Reanimator - by Colin Chilbert/Geoff Smelski

2 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Blazing Archon
1 Empyrial Archangel
1 Sundering Titan

4 Entomb
4 Careful Study
4 Exhume
4 Reanimate

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Mystical Tutor

4 Force of Will
4 Daze

4 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
3 Marsh Flats
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
2 Swamp


Sideboard:

4 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
1 Show and Tell
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Echoing Truth
1 Rushing River
1 Wipe Away
1 Extirpate
1 Ravenous Trap
2 Faerie Macabre


I naturally kept our maindeck the same as it's arguably the most consistent build of the deck game 1. For some reason nobody else gives love for Ponder, but the card was insane for me. I changed the sideboard a little bit for meta predictions, but the board happened to be pretty awesome.


Round 1: Ray (Iamfishman) playing UWR Countertop Landstill

Game 1: I'm on the play, and lead with fetch, Ponder. He plays a Factory and a Top. I play another land and pass. His turn he plays a Volcanic Island and passes. I cast Mystical Tutor on his end step for Careful Study. On my turn I play Careful Study dumping Iona, and cast Reanimate. He attempts to Force, but I have a Force back (with another one ready in hand. I name Iona on blue. He can't find another colored source of mana and loses in short order.

I'll note here that I don't remember my exact sideboarding for each match, so I'm not going to bother listing it specifically. But I do recall I brought in discard and bounce, and Show and Tell. Generally 8-9 cards came in for blue matchups, something like 4 Thoughtseize, 1 Duress, and 4 assorted bounce.

Game 2: I mulligan to 5, he keeps his hand. He leads with a Relic. I Ponder, shuffle, and pass. He plays a Counterbalance. I Thoughtseize him, he flips a land, and take a Top. We play draw-go a little as he hits me a couple times with a Factory. I draw a Duress when I know he has a Force in hand, but he flips a Top with Counterbalance. From there it goes downhill and I can't find answers.

Game 3: I lead with a Ponder, go. He plays a turn 1 Top. My turn I Thoughtseize him to see lands, 2 Spell Snare, and an StP. He draws a Relic off the top. I play cantrips and dig, and find Show and Tell with Archangel in hand. Then he plays a Counterbalance with a mana open. My turn I go for Show and Tell without backup, and it resolves. He can't handle the Archangel and she takes it home.

2-1
1-0


Round 2: John, Monowhite Painter Grindstone

Game 1: He does a lot of irrelevant stuff, and I Entomb on his endstep turn 2 for Iona and play her turn 3. He doesn't play white spells for the rest of the game. It was fun.

I remember bringing in all bounce spells, and that's it.

Game 2: I mulligan, he mulls to 4. I Entomb during his 2nd end step for Iona lacking the animate spell, Careful Study dumping Inkwell, then Ponder and find Exhume on top. He draws Relic, and I frown, as I left only 3 creatures in the deck and 2 were gone. We go back and forth a bit as I'm searching for another Entomb, and find one. He draws another Relic, but I have the bounce spell, and get Iona in play. He then plays a Meekstone, and I frown. He also has Scrying Sheets and a Sensei's Top in play. I manage to bounce the Meekstone once and swing him down to 6, but I never draw another bounce spell for the rest of the game and get slow-grinded out by double Grindstone. It was sad to watch.

Game 3: I keep a risky hand and lead with Careful Study dumping Inkwell. He plays a turn 1 Meekstone and I Force. I have a turn 2 Exhume and get Inky into play. His 2nd turn involved a Sensei's Top and pass. My turn I swing putting him at 13, then Thoughtseize him seeing 2 Painter, 2 Swords to Plowshares. I take a Painter. He tops eot, and on his turn drops a Grindstone. However, he didn't have the land to cast Painter as well. My turn I swing him down to 6, and the Painter he plays has to chump Inky, and it ends up getting there.

2-1
2-0


Round 3: Chris, UBW Landstill

Game 1: I open with a nutty hand. I cast Entomb on his 2nd end step and it resolved, and I also cast a Mystical as well and it resolved, and I got Force. On my turn I cast Exhume, he casts Negate, I cast Force. I also had a 2nd Force in hand, but Iona on white went the distance.


See round 1 sideboarding.

Game 2: He opens with a turn 1 Relic. I get him to burn through the Relic by baiting it with an Inkwell. He manages to draw another one and my hand is lacking a bounce spell and I have trouble finding one. By the time I do I'm low on life thanks to a Factory and am forced to Entomb for Empyrial Archangel over Iona as I was using Reanimate. I manage to resolve the Reanimate but the following turn he plays Humility and I I can't find an answer to handle double Factory.

Game 3: My hand is nuts and I have an Iona on turn 2 with Daze backup. It was fun.


2-1
3-0


Round 4: Token, playing GBW Rock

Game 1: I play fetch, go. He plays Thoughtseize, and I respond with Entomb. He takes my Exhume. I Play Ponder and find Entomb and Exhume on top. His turn he plays Bojuka Bog and nukes the Iona I dumped. My turn I draw Exhume and pass. He plays a Tarmogoyf and passes. On my turn I draw Entomb and get Iona naming white into play, and his entire hand is white. Fun.

See round 1 sideboarding.

Game 2: I keep an odd hand of 3 land, Mystical, and 3 bounce spells. He has a turn 1 Thoughtseize, turn 2 Tidehollow Sculler, turn 3 Tarmogoyf. My draws are bad and I burn bounce spells on the creatures to stall, and by the time I can animate he has a Faerie Macabre ready for it.

Game 3: I keep an amazing hand. I play fetch, go. He opens with Thoughtseize, I respond with Entomb, then Daze it. On my turn I cast Reanimate and it resolves, putting Iona on white. He can't find a Diabolic Edict in time and I win quickly.


2-1
4-0


Round 5: Matt McNally, playing Countertop Bant

Game 1: I open with Ponder, go. He plays a Top. My 2nd turn involves a Careful Study dumping Iona and Empyrial Archangel, then cast Reanimate. He draws with Top, then Dazes. I Daze back. Iona on white. His next turn he replays the top. My next turn I Exhume Archangel into play. That was fun.

Game 2: He leads with a Top, and I lead with a Thoughtseize taking a Counterbalance and seeing he has a Force but an otherwise awful hand. My hand was also awful though and it took forever to find cards. He makes 5 land drops in a row and starts beating with a Dryad Arbor. I finally manage an Entomb on his end step with 5 cards left. He lets it resolve. I also Mystical on his end step, and it resolves, and I get Exhume. On my turn I cast Exhume, and he tops in response. He Tops in response, then attempts to Force, and I Daze. He pays with 1 land left untapped. I then Daze again, and he stops and thinks. He then decides to Top in response again, and I manage to bluff him into letting the Exhume resolve as he put me on triple Daze when the last cards in my hand were land. Iona on white comes into play. However, he untaps and plays Sower of Temptation, and I don't find a bounce spell in time.

Game 3: I open a nutty hand of Sea, 2 Daze, Reanimate, Iona, Mystical Tutor, Exhume. I play land, go. He plays a fetchland and cracks it, and I respond by playing Mystical Tutor for Careful Study. He plays a Hierarch. I play Careful Study, he attempts to Daze, and I Daze back. I draw stuff and dump Iona, then replay the land and play Reanimate. Iona on white. He can't race, and I win.

2-1
5-0


I draw in round 6 and 7 into top8.


Top8: Nick, Dragon Stompy

Game 1: He mulligans. I keep a good hand but it's all 1cc cards (I didn't know what he was playing until game 2). He opens with Mountain, go. I play land, go. He attempts a Chalice for 1, I Brainstorm in response and find the Force of Will. My next turn involves Entombing on my upkeep and Reanimating Iona. It's on red. He can't play spells and loses.

I boarded in all bounce spells and Show and Tell.

Game 2: He mulligans. I open a hand of Brainstorm, FoW, and Sphinx, with 4 lands. A weak hand, but I was on the draw and opened Force. He plays a turn 1 Chalice, and I FoW pitching Sphinx. I draw a land, play a fetch and say go. He plays a Crypt, and I respond with Brainstorm. Brainstorm draws me into 3 lands. I now have 7 in hand. That was great. Naturally, I lose this game as I don't play spells for the rest of the time.

Game 3: I open a hand of 5 land, Iona, and Show and Tell. I debated mulling, but this avoided both Chalice and Crypt so I decided to keep. He mulls to 4, so I'm happy. I play land, go. He plays land, Crypt, go. I draw an Exhume, and play a land. He draws and plays Tomb, removes Spirit Guide, and plays Rakdos Pit Dragon. I frown. My turn I draw Reanimate, play a land, and Show and Tell Iona. He drops Gathan Raiders off it. On his turn he draws a red card, and doesn't swing. My turn I draw Ponder, and Ponder into Rushing River. I attack. His turn he goes to swing, and I River both his creatures. He scoops afterwards.

2-1
6-0-2


Top 4: Jim, Countertop Bant

Game 1: I keep an awful hand on the play of 3 land, 2 Daze, Force, and Sundering Titan. Not sure why I kept, but oh well. He attempts a Counterbalance on turn 2 and we fight over it but I win. I eventually draw relevant cards and Careful Study Titan then Reanimate him, blowing up 3 of his lands and leaving him with a Top and Hierarch. His next turn he drops a land and StP, but I Force. I swing. The next turn he plays another StP. I fall behind after that but start to build my hand, but he gets a Goyf into play the turn before I can Exhume an Iona into play.

See round 1 sideboarding.

Game 2: I open an interesting hand with no disruption but lots of business. I attempt an Entomb on his 2nd endstep and he Spell Pierces it. On my turn I go for Show and Tell and it resolves. I drop Iona and he drops Counterbalance. He ends up playing 2 Tarmogoyf but they can't race Iona.

Game 3: I don't have notes for this game, but I believe it involves a turn 3 Iona with backup, and he doesn't have a Tarmogoyf to race.

2-1
7-0-2


Finals: Dave Price (Quicksilver) playing NOT New Horizons, but tempo bant with KotR and Terravore.

Game 1: I mull to 5 and he mulls to 4. I open with Ponder and shuffle. He plays a land. I play a Careful Study and dump Iona with Exhume and FoW in hand. He plays a Tarmogoyf. I don't draw a blue card, but go for Iona. He has a Force of Will pitching Force of Will. Nice 4 card hand jackass. I don't find another animate spell and he plays another Tarmogoyf.

See round 1 sideboarding.

Game 2: I open with Careful Study dumping Iona. He plays Ponder. I go for Exhume with no backup, and he has a Daze. He plays another Ponder, then Crypt. yay. I draw Force of Will for the turn (yeah), Thoughtseize him, and see 2 Brainstorms and another Ponder. wtf. He drops another Crypt, and I Force. He Brainstorms, and plays a Goyf. I lose interest, and let him beat me down with some green creatures as I can't compete with those kind of draws.

0-2
7-1-2


I could've waited a turn game 2 as I had a Thoughtseize in hand, but I was worried he'd have a Crypt or Bog if I didn't go for it then (which it turns out he did the following turn. Overall, I think this build of the deck is about as strong as it gets. The consistency is just absurd. The amount of draw I had really put me ahead all the time. Too bad I couldn't win the entire thing though, but I was happy taking home a set of Tundras and a box of Worldwake, which sadly didn't yield me the Jace I desired.

beastman
03-17-2010, 06:29 PM
I don't see why there is so much hostility for dave price....

Other than that, good report.

Michael Keller
03-17-2010, 06:37 PM
Round 2: John, Monowhite Painter Grindstone

Game 1: He does a lot of irrelevant stuff, and I Entomb on his endstep turn 2 for Iona and play her turn 3. He doesn't play white spells for the rest of the game. It was fun.

That's pretty funny, Colin; I did get a chuckle. Nice work, btw.

Bryant Cook
03-17-2010, 06:41 PM
Good jobz!

Di
03-17-2010, 06:41 PM
I don't see why there is so much hostility for dave price....

Other than that, good report.

No hostility towards him at all. I was just bummed that the only time my deck decided to not do what I wanted it to was the finals of the tournament. But then again, I was also mad that he had a 4 card hand that produced a turn 2 Tarmogoyf with Force backup. And I had a really good hand game 2, but he played 6 cantrips by turn 5 game 2 and steamrolled me. I suppose if anything I was just bummed because I have a really good matchup against that deck given his only defense is Force of Will and Daze, which I can handle quite capably. Oh well, I was happy I got that far, and was happy for him on winning the event.

Peter_Rotten
03-17-2010, 07:05 PM
Did you go 2-1 every match (other than your loss)?

Di
03-17-2010, 07:19 PM
Lol yes. I lost every one of my game 2s all the way until top4, where I lost game 1 then won the others. It was a weird combination of mulligans, bad hands, bad draws, and a lot of hate. I was on the draw a good portion of the time as well (I only won the die roll twice).

I'm not really sure what conclusions to make of that, and personally don't think it's anything to worry about. Most of my game 2's were really close despite losing all but one of them, but it was odd how it played out. I do think though part of that has to do with how I prepared the deck post-board on the draw and how it affected sideboarding. I'm tinkering with different sideboarding packages right now to see if I can make it better post-board because I'd obviously prefer going 2-0 instead of having to fight for game 3 every time.

DrJones
03-17-2010, 07:28 PM
Congratulations! I think you have too much mana for a deck that needs so little, but maybe that's just me.

Peter_Rotten
03-17-2010, 07:39 PM
Lol yes. I lost every one of my game 2s all the way until top4, where I lost game 1 then won the others. It was a weird combination of mulligans, bad hands, bad draws, and a lot of hate. I was on the draw a good portion of the time as well (I only won the die roll twice).

I'm not really sure what conclusions to make of that, and personally don't think it's anything to worry about.

Personally, I was thinking about the Paranoia thread about Reanimator which seems to cling to chicken little philosophy. I won't doubt the power of the new Reanimator, but I would hardly say that the sky is falling when a deck went 2-1 all day long.

I'm happy to see good Reanimator lists. I remember loving the deck when reanimation targets of choice where Multani, Phantom Nishoba, and Visara the Dreadful.

DrJones
03-17-2010, 08:04 PM
Personally, I was thinking about the Paranoia thread about Reanimator which seems to cling to chicken little philosophy. I won't doubt the power of the new Reanimator, but I would hardly say that the sky is falling when a deck went 2-1 all day long.

I'm happy to see good Reanimator lists. I remember loving the deck when reanimation targets of choice where Multani, Phantom Nishoba, and Visara the Dreadful.That opinion doesn't take into consideration that the field was full of graveyard hate, that he faced several copies of discard/FoW/Crypt of Tormod/Relic of Progenitus and still had enough discard/counters/bounce to bypass them even after mulliganing twice in some matches.

There's no way to hate this deck. The most you can do is to slow it down a bit, assuming it doesn't get lucky and has force backup. Di said it best


Lol yes. I lost every one of my game 2s all the way until top4, where I lost game 1 then won the others. It was a weird combination of mulligans, bad hands, bad draws, and a lot of hate. I was on the draw a good portion of the time as well (I only won the die roll twice).

Sureshot
03-17-2010, 08:06 PM
Congrats on your finish! I have 2 questions though, why no Show and Tell md and was your opponent on the last round the real David Price, Grandfather of beatdown? LOL.

Peter_Rotten
03-17-2010, 08:35 PM
That opinion doesn't take into consideration that the field was full of graveyard hate, that he faced several copies of discard/FoW/Crypt of Tormod/Relic of Progenitus and still had enough discard/counters/bounce to bypass them even after mulliganing twice in some matches.

It sure as hell does. First, won't ANY deck in a Legacy tourney face multiple copies of FoW and Daze and Discard? Also, when the hell did decks NOT pack any yard hate in their SBs?

Plus, your opinion doesn't take into consideration the other Reanimator players at this tourney that did NOT make it to T8. Did Geoff also play Reanimator at this tourney?

Peter_Rotten
03-17-2010, 08:44 PM
Let's also keep in mind some great luck on Di's part.


My turn I go for Show and Tell without backup, and it resolves. He can't handle the Archangel and she takes it home.

However, he didn't have the land to cast Painter as well. My turn I swing him down to 6, and the Painter he plays has to chump Inky, and it ends up getting there.

Game 1: I open with a nutty hand.
Game 3: My hand is nuts and I have an Iona on turn 2 with Daze backup. It was fun.

Game 3: I keep an amazing hand. I play fetch, go. He opens with Thoughtseize, I respond with Entomb, then Daze it. On my turn I cast Reanimate and it resolves, putting Iona on white. He can't find a Diabolic Edict in time and I win quickly.

Game 3: I open a nutty hand of Sea, 2 Daze, Reanimate, Iona, Mystical Tutor, Exhume.

I draw in round 6 and 7 into top8.

My turn I draw Ponder, and Ponder into Rushing River. I attack. His turn he goes to swing, and I River both his creatures. He scoops afterwards.

On my turn I go for Show and Tell and it resolves. I.

DrJones
03-17-2010, 08:49 PM
It sure as hell does. First, won't ANY deck in a Legacy tourney face multiple copies of FoW and Daze and Discard? Also, when the hell did decks NOT pack any yard hate in their SBs?Yes, but those are supposed to stop combo decks, or at least, that's what people said in the reanimator paranoia thread. Which is why I find so puzzling that you used it as a confirmation that the deck is not unfair. Packing tons of hate only seems to slightly balance the match, but the end result is 2-1 in favor of Reanimator.

It could also be that Di is a really good player. I know because I faced him once and good players are easy to spot, heh.

Peter_Rotten
03-17-2010, 09:14 PM
Yes, but those are supposed to stop combo decks

But no. These are not supposed to STOP combo; they are supposed to provide the speed bumps needed to give you a fighting chance against a combo deck. I'll paraphrase a quote from SCG. Some people drop hate and expect the combo player to concede. We're not playing against Fluctuator here. We can't just drop Crypt and then laugh as they try to find their single Chain of Vapor.


Packing tons of hate only seems to slightly balance the match, but the end result is 2-1 in favor of Reanimator.

TONS of hate? Was this really tons of hate? This was the average amount of hate ANY deck would face. And, yes, sometimes the hate ain't enough. Sometimes the Burn player can still beat CoP:Red. Sometimes AggroLoam can win after you Extirpate their Loams. Sometimes Dredge can beat Leyline.

At this tourney, we didn't see Edict effects. I'm betting DEdict and friends are going to make a cute little comeback. We also didn't see Leyline. Leyline is great free uncounterable hate that makes Reanimator play the "hand-scultping" game. Hopefully your deck can play that game too (or at least be fast enough that that game doesn't matter.)

The meta will adjust.

Di
03-18-2010, 01:25 AM
Congratulations! I think you have too much mana for a deck that needs so little, but maybe that's just me.


Running a higher number of lands goes a long way towards beating the tempo matchups like Merfolk, Canadian Theshold, Tempo Bant, etc. Although the latter two aren't too difficult, Merfolk can be an incredibly difficult matchup. Due to their fast clock and Daze/Cursecatcher, having 18 lands really helps to resolve stuff and fight through land disruption. I generally have a sufficient amount of lands without getting flooded, and the extras are always nice to pitch to Careful Study. I've been debating cutting back down to 17, but that really hurts post-board with 3cc spells, not to mention it can be an occasional issue due to Daze slowing you down at times.





Personally, I was thinking about the Paranoia thread about Reanimator which seems to cling to chicken little philosophy. I won't doubt the power of the new Reanimator, but I would hardly say that the sky is falling when a deck went 2-1 all day long.

Oh, I certainly don't think the deck is banworthy. It's really good, but it has problems. Chalice of the Void hits really hard as does Counterbalance, and graveyard hate is still a problem. I was fortunate enough to bypass some hate in a few games and had some luck on my side. But I certainly don't think it's at the level where it's too good for the format. I personally do think it's the best deck, however.



Congrats on your finish! I have 2 questions though, why no Show and Tell md and was your opponent on the last round the real David Price, Grandfather of beatdown? LOL.

I've discussed maindeck Show and Tell, but I feel it's too slow to be worth the maindeck slot. It's really there to handle excessive hate, Chalice, or Counterbalance, but I don't want to skew my maindeck consistency for a card that's a bit slow. I don't think it's bad by any means for the maindeck, but I just think it isn't worth maindecking, at least until I start seeing graveyard hate.

And no, it was not the real Dave price :p

practical joke
03-18-2010, 04:05 AM
A few questions about your list:

why only 3 mysticals when you use a tutor sideboard list?
I haven't seen a single part of your report where you picked up the sundering titan. Dead card?


About the games:
What the heck happened to that meekstone?!
If I read it correctly you also walked straight into graveyard hate once in a while. ( iona in grave, bojuka bog) Things like this should not happen unless stuff you play gets countered.
You hardly calculated the ammount of forces/dazes he might have.

I might be wrong in my observations but some parts are written like you do.

Anyways congrats on your nice result.

naarou
03-18-2010, 08:40 AM
Good read. Few things to point out though:

"It's not the deck people, it's you. Learn to sideboard and stop losing." seems pretty ignorant considering that this game has a luck element. Considering post #13...

Sundering Titan? Did this work at all for you? It seems like a stall tactic at best--but I'm definitely open and interested in why you run it.

As practical joke said, what happened to that meekstone in R2G3? Meekstone is a PITA. :<

Did you see a lot of Macabre? I played three people in a row with what felt like 3+ in the board. It was rough considering all of them were running FoW so I couldn't even set up an exhume->macabre->entomb without excessive duress/fow/daze backup.

4eak
03-18-2010, 10:29 AM
I haven't seen a single part of your report where you picked up the sundering titan. Dead card?

Sundering Titan? Did this work at all for you?

Use your browser's search feature--


Game 1: I keep an awful hand on the play of 3 land, 2 Daze, Force, and Sundering Titan. Not sure why I kept, but oh well. He attempts a Counterbalance on turn 2 and we fight over it but I win. I eventually draw relevant cards and Careful Study Titan then Reanimate him, blowing up 3 of his lands and leaving him with a Top and Hierarch. His next turn he drops a land and StP, but I Force. I swing. The next turn he plays another StP. I fall behind after that but start to build my hand, but he gets a Goyf into play the turn before I can Exhume an Iona into play.

@ Di

First off, congratz.

I'd also like to echo:

Why Titan? I find the card is too easy to answer and recover from. Usually I can find reanimation targets which are just plain stronger.

Why only 3 mystical tutors?

Why no Thoughtseize at all in the main? I consider it vital to know the deck and flavor (and sometimes current hand in clutch situations) in game 1, but the information is less useful in games 2 and 3. I actually side the card out in games 2 and 3 in some cases.





peace,
4eak

naarou
03-18-2010, 02:58 PM
I haven't seen a single part of your report where you picked up the sundering titan. Dead card?

Sundering Titan? Did this work at all for you?

Why Titan?
Use your browser's search feature--

Di
03-18-2010, 04:57 PM
A few questions about your list:

why only 3 mysticals when you use a tutor sideboard list?
I haven't seen a single part of your report where you picked up the sundering titan. Dead card?


About the games:
What the heck happened to that meekstone?!
If I read it correctly you also walked straight into graveyard hate once in a while. ( iona in grave, bojuka bog) Things like this should not happen unless stuff you play gets countered.
You hardly calculated the ammount of forces/dazes he might have.

I might be wrong in my observations but some parts are written like you do.

Anyways congrats on your nice result.


@ Mystical Tutor


I opted to run the 4th Ponder over Mystical tutor because I wanted to have smoother draws in the early game. I was anticipating a lot of tempo decks like Merfolk (and there was a lot there, I happened to avoid them) and having the additional draw spell is huge because it ensures me I can make land drops and still find answers. I was very happy with the configuration I had, but odds are the 4th Mystical Tutor will likely find its way back into the deck.

@ Sundering Titan

The posts above me handled that question. I wanted Titan as an option for control and aggro-control where keeping them off resources is important. I only used it once all day (and would've won the game from it but the guy had 2 Swords to Plowshares ready) but I didn't have many opportunities to take advantage of him, as people kept fetchlands in play, had too many nonbasic (Wasteland, Factory, etc) lands that I couldn't hit, or they only had 1-2 lands in play and it'd be weaker than getting Iona. It's generally more of a turn 3+ target as it can essentially geddon in those control matchups, but the chance just never arose for me. I like it a lot though and in the right matchups it's huge.


@ The Meekstone round 2, game 3.

I clearly mention that I FoW'd it:


He plays a turn 1 Meekstone and I Force.



@ Walking into graveyard hate:

The Bojuka Bog play happened during game 1. That certainly isn't expected. I cast Entomb the previous turn in response to a Thoughtseize, and didn't have an animate spell in my hand (but had one on top of my deck after using Ponder). On his second turn he played Bog for his land drop and caught me off guard. The other time I walked into graveyard hate was round 2 game 2. He mulliganed to 4 and didn't open with Relic. I played Entomb on my first endstep with cantrips in hand, and had Exhume sitting on top of my deck ready to be cast turn 3. He had a single-turn window to draw an answer and he drew the Relic. In both cases it wasn't really my fault as I didn't make any play mistakes, so don't insinuate this "shouldn't happen" as it was merely an issue of luck. Unfortunate, but it happens.

@ Hardly calculating the number of counters in opponent's hand:

This is not an issue of trying to guess the opponent's hand, but this specifically derives from my playstyle of the deck. I play this deck very aggressively and will continuously run things out as quick as possible. Reanimator's biggest weakness is giving the opponent time, so I play the deck at a pace that attempts to cut them off from it. It's possible I'll walk into a Daze or Force of Will, but waiting a turn or so before going off is generally more costly than attempting to go off immediately due to the speed of the format and the nature of other aggressive decks. I have no issues testing the strength of the opponent's hand by running out business spells, because the deck will either A. resolve the spell and prove the opponent has a weak hand, or B. the spell will get countered. In the first scenario you generally just win the game, but if the second happens I'm not as worried anyway because I'm confident enough that the deck will find answers quickly and go off again.


Good read. Few things to point out though:

"It's not the deck people, it's you. Learn to sideboard and stop losing." seems pretty ignorant considering that this game has a luck element. Considering post #13...


Did you see a lot of Macabre? I played three people in a row with what felt like 3+ in the board. It was rough considering all of them were running FoW so I couldn't even set up an exhume->macabre->entomb without excessive duress/fow/daze backup.

I won't claim ignorance on the luck element; I'm well aware that I had some good luck throughout the day and that it plays a role. However, there were 5-6 other Reanimator players at the event and I watched a few of them closely. I witnessed at least 3-4 games that were likely lost based on sideboarding alone. Players not fully understanding this deck's sideboarding strategies in difficult matchups is far too costly because this deck sees too much hate to not already put it at a disadvantage. If you don't know the deck well enough then you can't possibly win with it because you'll just get hit with not being able to properly handle post-board scenarios.


I only saw one opponent use Faerie Macabre, and I lost a game to it. I'm not sure if other players brought it in against me because I never saw it. However, I boarded under the impression I could see it in any given matchup so 2+ Thoughtseize came in every round. I will admit though that blue decks running Faerie Macabre are incredibly difficult to handle. I haven't come across this yet, but I imagine a Merfolk player running them is arguably the toughest matchup for the deck.


First off, congratz.

I'd also like to echo:

Why Titan? I find the card is too easy to answer and recover from. Usually I can find reanimation targets which are just plain stronger.

Why only 3 mystical tutors?

Why no Thoughtseize at all in the main? I consider it vital to know the deck and flavor (and sometimes current hand in clutch situations) in game 1, but the information is less useful in games 2 and 3. I actually side the card out in games 2 and 3 in some cases.



The Titan comments are above. But to reiterate, I like Titan for control matchups where cutting them off of resources is sometimes better than cutting them off from playing a certain color or something. It's certainly a situational creature, but it's been very strong for me in a number of matchups that something like Iona wouldn't. A good example of this is against a deck like Bant. Many lists are beginning to run multi-colored sources of removal, be it a bounce spell or Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Granted, Titan is vulnerable to removal, but cutting them off of all their lands can go a long way as decks like that are generally capable of racing an Iona or Inkwell, especially if you use Reanimate or if they have a Goyf or War Monk prior to you getting the creature in play.

The 3 Mystical Tutors question was also answered above in the beginning of this post.


The lack of maindeck Thoughtseize is likely the largest difference between this list and other standard lists. As I mentioned above, I have a very distinct playstyle with Reanimator, and as such I have a build that caters to that. I run an additional cantrip (Ponder) where most decks don't in favor of Thoughtseize, because I'm looking to combo as fast as I can and as consistently as I can every game, or at least game 1. The pace I play game 1 is so aggressive I feel Thoughtseize is almost too slow for my maindeck. I want to spend turn 1 playing either a cantrip, Entomb, Mystical Tutor, or Careful Study, and put a creature into play turn 2. If I get hit with disruption it happens, but I still have Daze and Force of Will myself. I feel the consistency I have with Ponder outweighs the loss of maindeck Thoughtseize because I don't have to worry about hate the first game regardless, which at that point Reanimator is heavily favored as most decks have very little to combat the deck pre-board. Post-board I bring them in not only because I want to have an answer to Faerie Macabre, but also because the deck slows down drastically. Due to people bringing in hate, you can't anticipate on going off as fast. That said, the tempo slows down a bit and you have to slow roll the win as you're now up against a lot more. At that point, Thoughtseize is much more suitable to me as I'm not rushing out cantrips and bombs as you have to play a bit more carefully.

naarou
03-19-2010, 10:30 PM
Fair enough. I think macabre might be this decks biggest issue in the near future~! I've experimented with needles, but I think thoughseize is a better answer all around. I chose to run duress main over thoughtseize last tournament I attended because of the ability to reanimate twice with duress (-9 hp, -9 hp), but with macabre running rampant I'm going to definitely have to switch back in order to keep up.

I'm definitely digging the idea of ponders though. :3

Some Guy
03-20-2010, 02:17 AM
so you lost every game two you played , except your final match ? that seems to look as if this deck does not do very well on the draw.

practical joke
03-20-2010, 03:45 AM
On the draw, opponents have a very important advantage of T1 land and be able to set-up hate at that moment.

As he said, he plays an aggressive list, you really want to drop something T2. If they go land,crypt, goblin lackey, go. You feel screwed.
Also that first land can also mean, daze, thoughtseize, duress and other cards that you have hardly no response to since.
1. brainstorms won't work
2. dazes are of no use
3. Force of Will is too costly to spend on a single discard in some matches. ( and with some hands it's the 1 thing you want to force)


Also your own thoughtseizes have less chance to hit something, due to them being able to cast brainstorm or already dropped a threat.

I still think you did a very good job at the tournament, but I'm always around some high level legacy players, and every mistake you make will be taken back to you so you never make it again, might it be to luck or not. Some risks can be considered at every card you play and they can draw.

I do agree on sideboarding being ridiculously important especially with a mystical tutor board. Mistakes are maken too easily, and you will lose due to that.


Can't wait for your next report on high standings.

XiaN
03-20-2010, 08:11 AM
Because you mentioned numerous times that sideboarding is so important : Could you please mention some of the most used SB Plans?

Peter_Rotten
03-20-2010, 09:18 AM
so you lost every game two you played , except your final match ? that seems to look as if this deck does not do very well on the draw.

I'm unsure that this is correct. How many times did the opponent win the die roll and start game one on the play?

Di
03-20-2010, 12:20 PM
I'm unsure that this is correct. How many times did the opponent win the die roll and start game one on the play?

As mentioned previously I only won the die roll twice all day. Being on the draw really didn't have much to do with it as I won an overwhelming majority of my game 1's. But being on the draw post-board is tougher because the opponent tends to open with hate before you have Daze and discard online.

naarou
03-21-2010, 06:51 PM
I just tried ponders over duress/tseize at a local tournament. I really liked it. It added even more consistency and increased the perceived quality of my starting hands by a lot, and when I needed to board in hand control, it was an easy out.

JACO
03-29-2010, 11:40 AM
I've helped the design the deck to near-perfection, understand sideboarding very well (a fatal flaw I might add seeing all these other Reanimator players. It's not the deck people, it's you. Learn to sideboard and stop losing.) and happen to just be awesome which helps my case for victory.


However, there were 5-6 other Reanimator players at the event and I watched a few of them closely. I witnessed at least 3-4 games that were likely lost based on sideboarding alone. Players not fully understanding this deck's sideboarding strategies in difficult matchups is far too costly because this deck sees too much hate to not already put it at a disadvantage. If you don't know the deck well enough then you can't possibly win with it because you'll just get hit with not being able to properly handle post-board scenarios.

Would you be so gracious as to educate us with how you are sideboarding these matches? For example, I'm interested to know what 9 cards you could afford to take out against Aggro-Control players, and would just like to see how you sideboard with your list. I'm sure this would be very helpful for the readers as well as those looking to get better with the deck.