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    [Deck]BUx Reanimator



    If you like cheating "bombs" into play, like Griselbrand & Iona, Shield of Emeria way before they could ever typically hardcasted, then putting them into the Graveyard & Reanimate'ing them into play as early as the first turns of the game, then a strategy focused on rising stuff from the grave, this long time deck that has been around for format that is Legacy, might also be a deck for you.

    1) Playing Reanimator
    2) Successful decklists & trends
    3) Card Choices
    3a) Maindeck
    3b) Sideboard
    4) Price Guide
    5) Awesome Links
    6) 20 match ups


    1) Playing Reanimator:
    Your goal will be to take down the opponent in a combo style deck that tries to cheat a bomb into play from the graveyard by Reanimateing it, then swinging at the opponent to take their life total down to zero, as a general description, that is about as basic as it gets, more specifically however...

    Starting hand First you will want to look for these key cards:
    ~Animate Dead, Reanimate or Exhume as "reanimation."
    ~Entomb, or Careful Study + a "bomb", like Griselbrand as "an enabler."
    ~Force of Will, Daze or Thoughtseize as "protection"
    ~And of course, mana as in Island Swamp Polluted Delta Underground Sea.

    Turn 1 If you have discard like Thoughtseize in hand, use it on them to see their hand, take out a key spell if it's problematic for you going off, like opposing discard or counterspells. If you don't have the discard, then your next card to look for will be Entomb or Careful Study with a "bomb" in hand (Big creature to reanimate), if you have that, you can Entomb at the end of their turn, yes it is instant speed! Your other way to go off will be to ditch a creature to the graveyard with Careful Study so it can be Reanimated afterward. The 3rd option for your turn 1 play will be Ponder, if you know what you're playing against & you know they are more likely to have disruption, sometimes it can be more beneficial to use draw first in an attempt to get more disruption of your own in an attempt to prevent them from countering your combo when you try to ditch something to the graveyard & reanimate it. Your other option will be access to another mana from Lotus Petal, if you get lucky enough to have a Reanimate in hand, because your other enablers are 1 converted mana cost (Careful Study & Entomb) you may even be able to "go off" on turn 1, which is more explosive than most decks can deal with. These will be most of your turn 1 plays.
    ~A note about Entomb it gets any card from your deck to the graveyard, the key cards to remember that you will be going for are creatures that are extremely powerful, examples of most recent trends:
    Griselbrand 7/7 Lifelink, pay 7 life, draw 7 cards, flying, lifelink. (The primary target, go to "bomb" that is good against all strategies because of it's massive card draw alone, on top of being a 7/7 threat, & a lifelinker against aggro as well.)
    Iona, Shield of Emeria 7/7 Flying, As Iona, Shield of Emeria enters the battlefield, choose a color. / Your opponents can't cast spells of the chosen color. (Especially effective against combo & control decks, cut combo off from ever doing anything, or cut control out of their main color so they can't deal with your 7/7 flyer properly.)
    Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 4/7 Vigilance, Other creatures you control get +2/+2, Creatures your opponents control get -2/-2. (A primary target against creature based decks, whether it's traditional aggro, tribal, or even combo type creature based decks like dredge & elves.)
    Tidespout Tyrant 5/5 Flying, Whenever you play a spell, return target permanent to its owners hand. (Can answer any problematic permanent in play, & can even give you a tempo edge when you're ahead by bouncing the opponents lands back to their hand, stalling them out from ever doing anything relevant since they keep getting stuck on low mana.)

    Turn 2 Will primarily be spent more on the second half of your combo, since the converted mana cost of most spells, or the mana curve of Reanimator is ridiculously cheap, nearly everything costing 1 & 2 to cast, you can easily "go off" on your turn 2 consistently uninterrupted, & even with Force of Will free to cast, or a previous turn Thoughtseize you can be aggressive enough to even go off through an opposing Counterspell when you have back up that is your own counters. The key cards to look for after "setting up" (as in, getting a creature to the graveyard through Entomb or Careful Study) will then be to cast Animate Dead Reanimate Exhume. These will get your creature out of the graveyard, & depending on your match up, when it resolves, you will have a very good chance of having the win at that point, all it takes after you Reanimate, is to just make the win "offical" by taking your opponents life total from 20 to 0.

    Turn 3 & beyond This is where, unless you're being disrupted more than you can handle, you will likely start going for the kill, swinging with whatever creature you decided to reanimate from the graveyard to play. Usually if you're at this point, you basically have the game, it's just making it official by getting them for lethal so you can go to the next game. However, even in scenarios where they can answer your creature, you still have disruption back up in the form of counterspells, as well as the ability to draw into more business that will allow you to just Reanimate the creature a second time if it goes back to the graveyard because of your opponent. Often enough though, 1 Reanimation will be enough, as they will be doing everything they can to try and stop you, because that creature coming out will likely be the end of them very fast. The key things you have to look for just in case are removal that can still get at your creatures, as far as red/burn goes, that will almost never be enough to kill your creatures as they are just too high on their toughness ratio, after that, it will be sacrifice effects like Innocent Blood or Liliana of the Veil targeting you to sacrifice a creature, but luckily if that does happen to resolve past your counters, you can still just reanimate again, the same applies for "most" removal all the way to sweepers like Wrath of God. The one key type of removal you have to watch out for is removal, that doesn't put your creature back into the graveyard, mostly Swords to Plowshares as it is a Legacy staple in most decks with Plains, so if you see that color across from you, try to get something that can't be targeted by Swords like Iona, Shield of Emeria naming white. You can also get Griselbrand if you have enough life to just draw a bunch of cards off of it, so that if they try to swords it, you can draw into either a counterspell, or more business just to reanimate again, & having all those cards in hand means you'll be discarding, so it's even a discard outlet for your creatures in hand that you want to go to the graveyard.

    The kill Whether you come out smoothly and take them from 20 to 0 with no problems, or you have to Exhume, then Reanimate & then Animate Dead again, if your threats keep coming out, you're still doing your job, and you will net the win, backed up by disruption that both helps you "combo off" in the early game, then protects your creature in play as it starts swinging, Reanimator is a very effective strategy in the format that is Legacy, having been around as a strategy for years, & still years to come.

    Reanimator today:
    Griselbrand: Another thing to note is an emphasis on Griselbrand, the power to be able to draw 7 cards, potentially combo off even more because you drew another Careful Study / Entomb & a Lotus Petal, then Exhume a second threat into play can really lock the game in your favor, most decks have a hard enough time dealing with a 7/7 flying lifelinker, but the ability for it through it's card draw, to allow you to cheat another bomb out into the battlefield when you draw 7+ cards, means you can pair Griselbrand up with something like Iona, Shield of Emeria to really cut them off can be devastating. If you can choose anything, because of the gamestate, to put into the graveyard (Usually Entomb) then get Griselbrand, it is the primary, go to Reanimation target. On top of possibly drawing more business, you'll also likely draw into more disruption to use on your opponent. There is also a synergy here with Tidespout Tyrant as drawing 7 cards, playing things like Lotus Petals & cheap converted mana cost spells can allow you to just bounce multiples of permanents back to your opponents hand, effectively locking them out of the game they're set so far back.

    Deathrite Shaman: Well, just looking at results alone, since the inclusion of that card into the format, Reanimator has still been performing on a level enough to have success, even having many top 16/top 8 placings in the past few months. On top of that, Entomb is an instant, your deck is fast, & Deathrite Shaman needs a whole turn (Summoning Sickness) before it can even activate, on top of that, if they play it early enough, like their 1st turn, they might not even know you're on the Reanimate strategy & actually use it for mana the following turn, since many, many decks will do things like turn 1 Fetchland pass, or turn 1 Underground Sea Ponder. Deathrite Shaman is not a reason to put Reanimator on the shelf, & proof of that has been the decks continued performance since the printing of the card.

    +Lotus Petal -Daze: Giving up Daze means you're losing some aspects of disruption to protect your setup, but in place of it, essentially, has been Lotus Petal as of recent, & if you're going to speed yourself up, then you don't need to rely as much on slowing the opponent down. Lotus Petal also gives you the possibility of turn 1 go off's, as well as using a Ponder turn 1, then turn 2 play a second land, play the Lotus Petal, Entomb or Careful Study, then cast a reanimation spell, whether it's 1 converted mana cost, or 2. On top of that, when you put a Griselbrand into play, any more Lotus Petal's you draw will allow you to cast more stuff from your hand right there -vs- waiting a whole turn to untap, giving your disruption in the form of things like Thoughtseize or further card draw like your cantrips, to dig deeper before you pass the turn at all, potentially taking sorcery speed removal out of your opponents hand, like Supreme Verdict or Liliana of the Veil as an example.

    Show and Tell: Standard Sneak & Show / OmniTell decks have been abusing it for a while now, & since you are also cheating bombs into play, they will many times be in your hand, because most decks will never have an as relevant threat as you when a Show and Tell resolves, lists have already been running Show and Tell in the sideboard for the hate alone. Show and Tell also gives you an out when the creature just gets stuck in your hand & you just can't get to a Careful Study. Also with more recent trends, like Deathrite Shaman & Scavenging Ooze in the maindeck, it also helps deter against those strategies in main decks when you just Show and Tell your bomb into play from your hand.

    History: Reanimator type strategies have been in legacy for a long time, back when it was called type 1.5 was no different. Entomb is a key card in reanimation strategies, however it was unavailable in the format when banned, until this happened back in September of 2009 for Legacy, & this is where it all begins for the Reanimator of today, the basic version of the deck surviving at it's core through the Bannings of Mystical Tutor, Debut & banning of Mental Misstep to today:
    http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazin...ly/feature/56d effective date, October-1st-2009
    Dream Halls is no longer banned
    Entomb is no longer banned
    Metalworker is no longer banned

    2) Successful decklists & trends: from here http://www.starcitygames.com/pages/decklists/ & http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/for...=Legacy&page=1
    2009:
    7th place - Stefano Venturini - DragonsLeague Master of Geddon, Padova (133 players)
    9th place - Aaron Brodzinski - SCG St Louis (128 players)

    2010:
    5th place - Ryan McKinney SCG Richmond (236 players)
    4th place - Daniel Signorini SCG Richmond (236 players)
    1st place - Andreas Muller GP Madrid (2,227 players)
    13th place - Michael Trent SCG Indianapolis (286 players)
    7th place - Jason Terry SCG Indianapolis (286 players)
    7th place - John Cuvelier SCG Orlando (123 players)
    2nd place - Gerry Thompson SCG Atlanta (200 players)
    6th place - J.T. Henricks SCG Atlanta (200 players)
    8th place - Jesse Hatfield SCG Atlanta (200 players)
    12th place - Alix Hatfield SCG Atlanta (200 players)
    3rd place - Álex del Valle - MTG Barato Open (138 players)
    5th place - Luis Scott-Vargas SCG Seattle (191 players)
    12th place - Greg Peloquin SCG Seattle (191 players)
    July 1st Mystical Tutor banned
    4th place - Marco Kesseler - Sommermercadiade 2010 (134 players)
    14th place - John Cuvelier SCG Boston (218 players) welder
    8th place - ACCART Jean-Mary - 1 rencontres Legacy Paris (236 players)

    2011:
    January 1st Survival of the Fittest is banned
    11th place - Kyle Kloster SCG Indianapolis (267 players)
    May 13th Mental Misstep printed
    2nd place - Oliver Salten - Bazaar of Moxen V (633 players)
    2nd palce - Kyle Kloster SCG Indianapolis (334 players)
    6th place - Eli Kassis SCG Baltimore (318 players)
    12th place - Christopher Walton SCG Cincinnati (228 players)
    5th place - Gilles Maxime - Bac² Fête à la Pastèque - (148 players)
    8th place - Charlet Benjamin - Bac² Fête à la Pastèque - (148 players)
    3rd place - Eli Kassis SCG Pittsburgh (198 players)
    15th place - Ben Sturtz SCG Pittsburgh (198 players)
    6th place - Carlos Vasquez - Spanish Nationals Legacy Championiship (318 players)
    14th place - Alex del Valle - Spanish Nationals Legacy Championiship (318 players)
    3rd place - Rob Castellon SCG Boston (268 players)
    10th place - Brian Plattenburg SCG Atlanta (249 players)
    3rd place - Gines Valera - I Melendian's Legacy Open (141 players)
    9th place - Ignacio Herrero - I Melendian's Legacy Open (141 players)
    14th place - Alex del Valle - I Melendian's Legacy Open (141 players)
    October 1st Mental Misstep banned
    3rd place - Carlos Santiago - Eternal Weekend 2011 Legacy (293 players)
    1st place - Josh Weinundy SCG Indianapolis (290 players)
    4th place - Christopher Walton SCG Indianapolis (290 players)
    12th place - Dustin Penn SCG Indianapolis (290 players)
    5th place - Jack Hatton SCG Baltimore (238 players)
    9th place - Ryan McKinney SCG Baltimore (238 players)
    12th place - Justin Parnell SCG Baltimore (238 players)
    15th place - Romario Neto SCG Baltimore (238 players)
    3rd place - Tony Murata SCG Las Vegas (168 palyers)
    2nd place - Milton Figueroa SCG St Louis (277 players)
    9th place - Jim Kendrick SCG St Louis (277 players)
    1st place - Joaquin Solis - Frikigordo 2011 (156 players)

    2012:
    12th place - Phillip Lorren SCG Atlanta (191 players)
    16th place - Alex Delgado - 1º Torneo Lliga Catalana Legacy 2012 (119 payers)
    3rd place - Antonio Fedon SCG Washington (234 palyers)
    12th place - Ryan McKinney SCG Washington (234 palyers)
    11th place - Daniel Gomez - 2º torneo Lliga Catalana Legacy 2012 (109 players)
    2nd place - Yuri Danishevskiy - Russian National Legacy Championship (113 players)
    1st place - Joaquin Solis - Big Legacy @ GP Madrid 2012 (234 players)
    15th place - Milton Figueroa SCG Tampa (141 players)
    3rd place - Manuel Looz - D-Day V (227 players)
    16th place - Jeremy Hollar SCG Dallas (174 players) mono black
    6th place - Joaquin Solis - Melendians 2 Legacy Open (101 players)
    May 4th Griselbrand printed
    2nd place - Joaquin Solis - Bazzar of Moxen VI - Big Legacy Trial (486 players)
    16th place - Alex Del Valle Bazzar of Moxen VI (722 players)
    16th place - Dustin Sendejas SCG Nashville (213 players)
    15th place - Don Reed SCG Columbus (258 players)
    1st place - Reid Duke SCG Worchester (213 players)
    3rd place - Gerry Thompson SCG Invitational Indianapolis (235 players)
    7th place - Max Tietze SCG Invitational Indianapolis (235 players)
    12th place - Sean Ryan SCG Seattle (187 players)
    9th place - Jeremy Blair GP Atlanta (905 players)
    10th place - Owen Turtenwald GP Atlanta (905 players)
    31st place - Conley Woods GP Atlanta (905 players)
    12th place - Michael Wong SCG Las Vegas (223 players)
    13th place - Trevor Carr SCG Las Vegas (223 players)
    9th place - Colton Sandford SCG Buffalo (216 players)
    11th place - Alex Delgado - 8º Torneo Lliga Catalana Legacy, Castelldefels (111 players)
    8th place - Grant Wilkinson SCG Denver (142 players)
    1st place - Artur Sanchez - 9º torneo Lliga Catalana Legacy - Barcelona (128 players)
    1st place - Alex Del Valle - Ovino 7, Legacy (445 palyers)
    3rd place - Milton Figueroa SCG Invitational Atlanta (311 players)
    October, Return to Ravnica
    5th place - Drew Rosen SCG Providence (175 players)
    12th place - Alex Delgado - LCL 2012 Octubre (131 players)
    11th place - Calvin Rarie SCG New Orleans (92 players)
    7th place - William Buehler SCG St Louis (162 players)
    14th place - Gus Landt SCG Dallas (175 players)
    11th place - Chase Hansen SCG Seattle (164 players)

    2013:
    4th place - Hunter Stumper SCG Columbus (325 players)
    5th place - Aram Portella - LCL 2013 Enero (125 players)
    6th place - Gus Landt SCG Dallas (212 players)
    1st place "Roon" - Legacy MOCS (174 players)
    18th place - Caleb Durward SCG Cincinnati (279 players)
    15th place - Todd Anderson SCG Indianapolis (326 players)
    3rd place - Devin Koepke SCG Kansas (190 players)
    12th place - Aram Portella - LCL 2013, Abril (110 players)
    5th place - Kyle Hersey SCG Seattle (261 players)
    8th place - Rafael Parra - LCL 2013 - Mayo (108 players)
    16th place - Chris Wood SCG Nashville (201 players)
    11th place - Seth Zulinski SCG Baltimore (298 players)
    2nd place - Seth Zulinski SCG Philadelphia (220 players)
    15th place - Gil Medeiros SCG Philadelphia (220 players)
    3rd place - Dustin Penn SCG Minneapolis (302 players)
    15th place - Daniel Hutchinson SCG Baltimore (285 players)
    2nd place - Shawn Tappen SCG Philadelphia (280 players)
    11th place - Josh Rhoades SCG Philadelphia (280 players)
    2nd place - Robert Cucunato SCG Cleveland (234 players)
    3rd place - Christopher Walton SCG Cleveland (234 players)
    14th place - Andrew Hurst SCG Cleveland (234 players)
    3rd place - Joseph Alane SCG Milwaukee (250 players)
    12th place - Robert Champeny SCG Milwaukee (250 players)
    13th place - Chase Hanson SCG Seattle (253 players)
    4th place - Robert Cucunato SCG Indianapolis (388 players)
    8-0 Legacy portion - Mike Hawthorne SCG Invitational Indianapolis (331 players)
    9th place - Andrew Smith SCG Dallas (251 players)
    15th place - James Higginbottom SCG Providence (268 players)

    2014:
    11th place - Jon Naskrent SCG Indianapolis (256 players)
    13th place - Matthew Ucci SCG Indianapolis (256 players)
    2nd place - Thomas Hake SCG Orlando (239 players)
    1st place - Thomas Graves SCG Columbus (342 players)
    6th place - Chris VanMeter SCG Baltimore (402 players)
    1st place - Carlos Bassetti - TeTe Open (113 players)
    3rd place - Loic Le Briand Grand Prix Paris (1,587 players)
    12th place - Jon Naskrent SCG St Louis (390 players)
    15th place - Thomas Graves SCG St Louis (390 players)
    10th place - Jesse Inman SCG Atlanta (316 players)
    15th place - Dominic Casali SCG Atlanta (316 players)
    16th place - Marc Skerritt SCG Atlanta (316 players)
    4th place - Rafael Parra - LCL 2014 February (137 players)
    2nd place - Nick Patnode - Bazaar of Moxen Qualifier, PA (173 players)
    3rd place - Sergio Cobos - Arcanis 20k (203 players)
    3rd place - Robert Cucunato SCG Cincinnati (300 players)
    16th place - Hank Zhong SCG Jersey (426 players)
    13th place - Nick Wilbur SCG Worcester (290 players)
    12th place - Fred Edelkamp SCG Baltimore (372 players)
    9th place - Zack Wilson SCG Atlanta (263 players)
    10th place - Jesse Inman SCG Atlanta (263 players)
    13th place - Trow Lowry SCG Atlanta (263 players)
    2nd place - Jake Muldowsky SCG New Jersey (259 players)
    6th place - Robert Cucunato SCG Indianapolis (260 players)
    October 1st Treasure Cruise printed
    5th place - Jannik Rønn - Danish Legacy Masters II (118 players)
    10th place - Will Setzer SCG Worcester (225 players)
    12th place - Will Holland SCG Worcester (225 players)
    15th place - Nick Wilbur SCG Worcester (225 players)
    5th place - Jannik Rønn - Danish Legacy Masters II (118 players)
    7th place - Craig Spitzer SCG Minneapolis (247 players)
    2nd place - Irie Shun - Eternal Festival Tokyo (330 players)
    3rd place - Jesse Inman SCG Atlanta (240 players)
    9th place - Christopher Morris-Lent SCG Portland (228 players)
    7th place - Joe Lossett SCG Players Championship
    9th place - Kent Ketter SCG Players Championship
    10th place - Chris VanMeter SCG Players Championship
    3rd place - Xavier Labeye - Belgian Legacy Cup Finals (102 players)
    1st place - Florian Klotz - JK Legacy Cup (153 players)

    2015:
    January 23rd Treasure Cruise banned
    32nd place - Joe Lossett SCG Indianapolis (582 players)
    36th place - Joseph Alane SCG Indianapolis (582 players)
    42nd place - Lee Prost SCG Indianapolis (582 players)
    4th place - Noah Cohen SCG Dallas (190 players)
    6th place - Aaron Segrest SCG Dallas (190 players)
    14th place - Kevin Roche, Eternal Extravaganza (317 players)
    1st place - Nick Patnode SCG Richmond (222 players)
    5th place - Borja Ceberio - V Edición Arcanis Deluxe (217 players)
    7th place - Irie Shun - God Series 3 (211 players)
    12th place - Shane Downey SCG Portland (107 players)
    3rd place - Austin Palmer SCG Portland (151 players)
    20th place - David Yarbrough SCG Chicago (171 players)
    6th place - Jake Moldowsky SCG Washington DC (528 players)
    2nd place - Per Clasen - Danish Legacy Masters (99 players)
    3rd place - Lars Krieger - Danish Legacy Masters (99 players)
    11th place - James Higginbottom SCG Philadelphia (120 players)
    15th place - Peter Luo SCG Philadelphia (120 players)
    4th place - Chase Hansen - GP SeaTac (2014 players)
    15th place - Andrew Cotter SCG Kansas City (75 players)
    15th place - Jordan Kasten-Krause SCG Jersey (523 players)
    7th place - Ono Jun - GP Kobe side event KMC (108 players)

    3) Card choices: Please note, these are primarily from more recent Reanimator trends, examples:
    Feb-2013, Roon, Legacy MOCS http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital...5124#decklists
    March-2013, Todd Anderson, SCG Indianapolis http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=53943 & since then.

    3a) Maindeck:
    Creatures:
    Griselbrand (4) This is the one creature in the deck that you'll see more than 1 copy of because it's just that powerful, often times you'll be going for Griselbrand over other targets because of the card draw alone, it's a "Yawgmoth's Bargain" -the draw step drawback, but has legs, a kill condition, a lifelinker, all at the "Drawback" of having to pay 7 life at a time instead of 1 at a time, which means little if you can pay the 7 life once, that's all it takes, also a 7/7, lifelinking flyer.
    Iona, Shield of Emeria (1) The other 1 of you will see in most Reanimator lists, against many decks, resolving this and naming their main color will literally lock them out of the game, especially when some decks in Legacy are still mono color decks, also a 7/7 flyer.
    Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (1) One of the most common 1 of's, this card is great against Legacy because so many decks have creatures, it's mass removal & a kill condition in one, & it keeps that -2/-2 on the opponent until they answer it, making it on some levels, even more devastating than just 1 time removal spells, also a 4/7 that doesn't tap to attack.
    Tidespout Tyrant (1) Depending on what you're up against, this thing can lock the game out for your opponent when you keep bouncing all their stuff back to their hand, whether it's to bounce away problematic permanents or even bouncing their lands back to their hand, also a 5/5 flying body.
    To the graveyard:
    Careful Study (4) As an enabler to get creatures to your graveyard, & to draw cards, this card is key in the deck, since you draw cards every turn, & can even start off with a creature in your hand from the opening 7.
    Entomb (4) Instant speed enabler that allows you to put any creature from your entire deck right into the graveyard, picking the best one for your given match up when you know what the opponent is on.
    Into play:
    Reanimate (4) Reanimate at the cost of life.
    Exhume (3) Reanimate while sometimes giving your opponent a "freebie" reanimate of their own, however you're almost always going to get the better deal.
    Animate Dead (2) Reanimate that gives your creature -1/-0, & sits on it making it vulnerable to Enchantment hate, because of this it's usually the least ran of the 3.
    Show and Tell (2) The other way you can cheat a "bomb" into play is with this card, though it's "drawback" lets the opponent do it too, the majority of the time what you put down will be more effective than what they put down.
    Draw:
    Ponder (4) Draw 3, pick the best of, or shuffle it away and draw from a new topdeck.
    Brainstorm (4) Legacy Staple. Draw 3, put the 2 worst back, from your entire hand, then shuffle away with a shuffle effect, like a Polluted Delta fetchland.
    Protection/Disruption:
    Force of Will (4) Legacy Staple, disruption against aggressive strategies, & protection for your own, works when trying to get a creature into play from the graveyard as back up, as well as helping prevent removal by countering things like Swords to Plowshares.
    Thoughtseize (2) Direct disruption, you get to see their hand, pick the most problematic, non land card, & then it goes away, if they burn a counterspell on it, then that's a counterspell they're not using against your Reanimating and it did it's job. You can even target yourself to discard a creature.
    Mana:
    Lotus Petal (4) The potential to combo off from turn 1, giving more explosiveness, as well as having synergy with Griselbrand in that, you may draw more, & be able to cast more spells before passing the turn, access to more protection/disruption.
    (Whatever combination of lands you push for, you'll want a focus on Blue/Black, the minimum average lands is 16.)
    Swamp (1) Basic
    Island (2) Basic
    Underground Sea (4) Dual
    ~Fetchlands:
    Polluted Delta (4) Island/Swamp
    (3) more Island fetchlands Flooded Strand, Misty Rainforest, or Scalding Tarn
    (2) more Swamp fetchlands Marsh Flats, Verdant Catacombs, or Bloodstained Mire

    Other cards to note:
    Daze More recent trends have gone away from Daze, & are "essentially" running Lotus Petal in it's place, trading for a slightly more aggressive push with Reanimator.
    Hapless Researcher non traditional This card has been seen in some lists, however even when it is ran, it's usually a 1-2 of. Also against one-shot graveyard removal with Exhume on the stack.
    Inquisition of Kozilek1 non traditional Only hits stuff of converted mana cost of 3 or lower, doesn't nab opposing Force of Will.
    Misdirection non traditional Force of will is usually enough.
    Flusterstorm non traditional If ran, it's usually in the sideboard.
    Buried Alive non traditional You might think this fit's into this deck, but it's not traditionally ran at all, because you can do everything you need with Entomb & Careful study alone, & they only cost 1 to cast, where Buried Alive costs 3, as well you really only need 1 creature to reanimate under the majority of circumstances to get there.

    Other "1 of" Reanimation targets to note: (Between the raw card drawing power of Griselbrand alone (against any deck), as well as it's lifelink (like against aggro), Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite's effectiveness against creature based strategies, (like against aggro), Iona, Shield of Emeria's ability to stall out the opponent & cut them off of a whole color (like against control or combo), & Tidespout Tyrants ability to answer problematic permanents against any strategy, many of the remaining creatures are inferior to these 4, & have either been trending out, or were only seen in fewer lists to begin with since the printing of Griselbrand
    Grave Titan A non legendary creature that gives you multiple threats. Non Legendary helps against Karakas decks.
    Sphinx of the Steel Wind Less common since Griselbrand, since a 7/7 lifelinker is usually enough.
    Angel of Despair Less common if you're running Tidespout Tyrant because it "essentially" does the same thing, however Tyrant is more abuseable, at a minimum, you can even bounce their lands back to their hand.
    Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur Less common now with Griselbrand in the deck.
    Blazing Archon Less common with Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, since -2/-2 is enough to devastate most creature based strategies, while Blazing Archon doesn't actually deal with their threats, it just puts them on "pause".
    Empyrial Archangel Less common, Iona, Shield of Emeria can prevent targeting from a color, & Griselbrand has lifelink if you're getting low.
    Inkwell Leviathan non traditional. Empyrial Archangel is a more popular "shroud" creature between the 2.
    Terastodon non traditional. Usually in sideboard if ran at all.

    3b) Sideboard:
    Creatures:
    ~Blazing Archon (1) Very good against Show and Tell strategies because of Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, usually in the sideboard over the maindeck when ran.
    ~Angel of Despair If you don't have Tidespout Tyrant, then you should at a minimum have Angel of Despair in your 75 somewhere.

    Artifacts:
    ~Pithing Needle (3) mostly for opposing hate, examples: Deathrite Shaman Tormod]s Crypt Relic of Progenitus Faerie Macabre Scavenging Ooze. As a bonus, it can also help against some combo decks like Helm of Obedience + Rest in Peace, Planeswalkers like Liliana of the Veil, or even against Sensei's Divining Top when paired with Counterbalance.
    ~Engineered Explosives Less common in sideboards.

    Lands:
    ~Karakas Mostly for opposing Show and Tell/Sneak Attack strategies when ran. Came into the general spotlight when CFB included 2 maindeck copies of it to fight opposing Karakas(es).
    ~City of Traitors Less common in sideboards. Sometimes to support a heavier Show and Tell emphasis after sideboarding. Also allows more flexibility against Spell Pierce and Daze.

    Instants:
    ~Echoing Truth (1-2) Bounce that can hit multiple targets, like Leyline of the Void's in play
    ~Flusterstorm (2) Disruption to the opponent & protection for yourself, also harder to "answer" as it has storm & creates copies, making it harder for traditional counterspell strategies to work against it.
    ~Spell Pierce A weaker Flusterstorm, but can also be used against Artifacts/Enchantments/Planeswalkers.
    ~Chain of Vapor Cheap, 1 converted mana cost bounce, though usually Echoing Truth.
    ~Wipe Away Less common in sideboards. Usually Echoing Truth.
    ~Repeal Less common in sideboards. Usually Echoing Truth.
    ~Submerge Less common in sideboards. Usually Echoing Truth.
    ~Mindbreak Trap Less common in sideboards. Since you usually have enough disruption against fast combo decks with Thoughtseize & Force of Will.
    ~Hurkyl's Recall Less common in sideboards.

    Sorceries:
    ~Show and Tell (2) When they bring in the graveyard hate, it will mean little if you drop the "bomb" from your hand directly.
    ~Thoughtseize (2) After your maindeck, the rest are in the sideboard, giving you more for games 2-3 against opposing strategies that have disruption for your gameplan, whether it's opposing discard, counterspells, or their sideboard in graveyard hate that they keep in hand to use (Surgical Extraction, Extirpate, Faerie Macabre)
    ~Perish Destroy all green creatures, less commonly in sideboards.
    ~Massacre -2/-2 basically for "free" less commonly in sideboards.
    ~Duress Less common in sideboards. since Thoughtseize can hit creatures that may become problematic.
    ~Wipe Away Less common in sideboards. Usually Echoing Truth.

    Graveyard hate: (If your meta requires you to have some graveyard hate, these have been the more popular cards seen in sideboards.)
    ~Coffin Purge Graveyard hate with flashback, you can even Entomb it to the graveyard to use it if circumstances compel you to do so.
    ~Faerie Macabre "free" to play, "essentially" uncounterable, but only hits 2 cards when used.
    ~Tormod's Crypt 0 cast mass graveyard removal.
    ~Nihil Spellbomb Mass graveyard removal that cantrips.
    ~Surgical Extraction Hits all copies in deck, & "free" to cast (-2 life when doing so)

    4) Price guide of more known Reanimator cards: As of March 2013 (For the most current prices, click on the link of each card) High-Mid-Low according to http://magiccards.info/ & http://magic.tcgplayer.com/all_magic_sets.asp
    $50.00+ average:
    Underground Sea $199.98 $140.04 $126.40
    Polluted Delta $89.98 $80.81 $71.99
    Force of Will $91.94 $66.94 $58.49
    Thoughtseize $74.99 $64.15 $58.49
    Show and Tell $69.98 $60.91 $54.99

    $20.00 to $50.00:
    Entomb $30.20 $23.83 $20.25

    $10.00 to $20.00:
    Iona, Shield of Emeria $20.00 $17.41 $14.19
    Griselbrand $20.00 $15.10 $9.30
    Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite $12.99 $10.66 $8.95
    Flusterstorm $17.99 $13.22 $10.99

    $5.00 to $10.00:
    Reanimate $13.84 $4.95 $3.50

    $2.00 to $5.00:
    Angel of Despair $5.49 $4.19 $3.47
    Tidespout Tyrant $5.98 $2.63 $0.83
    Daze $4.10 $2.71 $1.98
    Blazing Archon $4.11 $2.07 $1.45
    Lotus Petal $4.49 $3.28 $2.46

    $1.00 to $2.00:
    Careful Study $2.98 $1.47 $1.00
    Animate Dead $2.58 $1.43 $0.72
    Brainstorm $3.30 $1.58 $0.99

    $1.00 or less average:
    Echoing Truth $1.48 $0.91 $0.75
    Pithing Needle $2.05 $0.82 $0.48
    Exhume $2.40 $1.03 $0.07
    Ponder $2.00 $0.95 $0.49
    Last edited by feline; 12-07-2015 at 06:04 PM. Reason: Update
    Primary legacy deck High Tide primer

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