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 07:04 PM. Reason: Update
Primary legacy deck High Tide primer
5) Awesome Links: In relation to Reanimator & Legacy
Price trends of Singles:
http://www.mtgprice.com/sets/Premium...born/Reanimate
Reanimator articles/reports/etc:
2014:
http://www.starcitygames.com/events/...s_thomas_.html Reanimator in the Finals, SCG Columbus (Thomas Graves)
2013:
http://www.starcitygames.com/events/...hawn_tapp.html Reanimator in the Finals, SCG Philadelphia (Shawn Tappen)
http://www.starcitygames.com/events/...vs_jack_w.html Reanimator in the Finals, SCG Philadelphia (Seth Zulinski)
http://www.starcitygames.com/article...nd-Profit.html Article, Reanimating Griselbrand (Todd Anderson)
2012:
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/l...eanimator.html Tournament report, SCG Worchester 1st place (Reid Duke)
http://www.starcitygames.com/events/...att_costa.html Reanimator in the Finals, SCG Worchester (Reid Duke)
http://www.starcitygames.com/events/...with_gerr.html Deck Tech, SCG Invitational Indianapolis top 8 (Gerry Thompson)
2011:
http://www.starcitygames.com/events/...a_vs_andr.html Reanimator in the Finals, SCG St Louis (Milton Figueroa)
http://www.starcitygames.com/events/..._josh_wei.html Reanimator in the Finals, SCG Indianapolis (Josh Weinandy)
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/l...as_Graves.html Reanimator in the Finals, SCG Indianapolis (Kyle Kloster)
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/l..._Stoddard.html Deck Tech, SCG Louisville (Sam Stoddard)
http://www.starcitygames.com/article...In-Legacy.html Article after New Phyrexia (Reid Duke)
2010:
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/l...vid_Mayer.html Reanimator in the finals, SCG Atlanta (Gerry Thompson)
https://www.wizards.com/Magic/magazi...d10/welcome#24 Reanimator in the finals, GP Madrid (Andreas Muller)
Reanimator decklist sources:
Starcitygames.com Reanimate decklists
http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/tip...&format=Legacy
Legacy metagame:
http://www.starcitygames.com/pages/decklists/
http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/for...=Legacy&page=1
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...(started-2012)
6) 20 match ups: (Based mostly on decks that have performed with some level of consistent, higher placings since Return to Ravnica Legacy)
00) Post sideboard 1 key thing to remember, any deck no matter their color, has access to graveyard hate because of the following cards in the format, some are more common than others:
Tormod's Crypt more common 0 cast, mass graveyard removal.
Surgical Extraction more common Removes all copies from deck/hand, "free" with -2 life.
Relic of Progenitus Cantrips, mass graveyard removal.
Grafdigger's Cage Doesn't actually remove the graveyard.
Leyline of the Void Starts in play.
Faerie Macabre Less common "Uncounterable" but only hits 2 cards.
Nihil Spellbomb Less common has *swamp* in activation to draw a card.
01) RUG (Disruption, Moderate-Heavy playtesting recommended, a more common match up)
Pre sideboard They are a tempo based aggro strategy, their goal will be to kill you with their creatures, backed up by burn & disruption in the form of Daze, Spell Pierce, Force of Will & Stifle (Fetchlands). Unless you have the nuts & go off from the opening hand, you'll have to play around their annoying taxing counterspells. Trying to always have 1 open for Daze at a minimum when casting key spells, which shouldn't be too difficult since so much of your deck is 1 to cast save for a handful of spells, their clock isn't as fast as yours, so you have a couple turns you can use to get more lands into play & draw more cards. When you Entomb, most of the time you will be going for Griselbrand since they can't properly answer it with their burn, & the lifelink will turn the game around in your favor.
Post sideboard -Reanimate since you're against an aggro deck for +Show and Tell from the sideboard, as they will never benefit from it the way you do. The most likely graveyard hate cards they'll be running will be Tormod's Crypt or possibly Surgical Extraction, likely cutting their burn for it. If they are worried about a Show and Tell setup, they may even add Red Elemental Blast & cut their burn to almost nothing for it.
02) Stoneblade (Disruption, Moderate-Heavy playtesting recommended, a more common match up)
Pre sideboard They are a more control type deck, their goal will be to disrupt enough of your game plan to stop you in the form of counterspells in Force of Will, Spell Pierce & discard in Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, as well as Swords to Plowshares, they may also have access to 1 of's like Vindicate & Supreme Verdict depending on their list. To kill you, they'll be swinging at you with creatures like a slower aggro deck, or in more rare cases, Jace, the Mind Sculptor ultimate your deck away. So their clock isn't fast, & if they prevent you from going off with their disruption, you'll have some time to recover. When you Entomb, they are not the most aggressive strategy, so Griselbrand will almost always net you 7 cards when it comes into play, even if they have removal like Swords to Plowshares for it, the fact that you're drawing 7 more cards is a well worthy trade. Once you get a creature to stick however & start swinging, the game is yours.
Post sideboard +Show and Tell & discard, taking out some of your graveyard abusing focus. Careful Study since it technically doesn't replace itself & you're going up against a deck where card advantage can come into play. The most likely graveyard hate cards they'll be running will be Surgical Extraction, & they may also increase some discard or counterspells to the maindeck, like Inquisition of Kozilek or Spell Pierce from their sideboard, taking out slower things from their deck like lowering the number of Stoneforge Mystic & cutting Engineered Explosives if they are running any.
03) UW control Variants (Disruption, Moderate-Heavy playtesting recommended, a more common match up)
Pre sideboard The control deck to beat of Legacy as of March 2013, their goal will be to control the board state with their disruption & removal, then finish you off with either Entreat the Angels at the end of your turn with miracle, or Helm of Obedience + Rest in Peace if they are running the combo. The key thing to note here, is the versions running Rest in Peace because in play it severely impacts your from the graveyard plan, by keeping the graveyard empty. Their disruption to your gameplan will be Swords to Plowshares, Terminus, Force of Will, Spell Pierce & possibly Counterbalance + Sensei's Divining Top setup. They usually rely a little more on creature removal so their counterspells are not heavy, however that also means resolving a Reanimate might mean they're just going to Brainstorm a Terminus to the top of their deck. Use your disruption/protection to attempt to Reanimate while stopping their opposing counters & Rest in Peace if they have it. When you Entomb, Griselbrand will at a minimum draw you 7 cards when it hits the field, regardless of their removal or not. If Griselbrand is in play, getting an Iona, Shield of Emeria naming white can seal the game as they are locked out of everything for an answer except a Jace, the Mind Sculptor bounce.
Post sideboard +Show and Tell & discard, while they will possibly either be running Rest in Peace already, or bring it in from their sideboard. They also have access to Red Elemental Blast so if they put you on a heavy Show and Tell emphasis, they may try to "next level" you and bring those in as well, cutting some of their slower stuff like Stoneforge Mystic or more useless stuff like Engineered Explosives from their maindeck.
04) BUG aggro (Disruption, Moderate-Heavy playtesting recommended, a more common match up)
Pre sideboard They are an aggro deck backed up by disruption in the form of discard, counterspells, & some removal. After their creatures, the key cards they will have against you are Deathrite Shaman as potential graveyard hate, Daze & Force of Will for counterspells, & discard in Hymn to Tourach, & possibly Thoughtseize. As far as Deathrite Shaman goes, if it comes down, you can play around it if they don't know what you're playing, as many decks in the format are Blue/Black, & only key reanimator spells will give that away, also Deathrite Shaman can't actually do anything while it has summoning sickness.. As far as their disruption goes, Hymn to Tourach can actually give you a "freebie" creature to the graveyard randomly, while Daze can be played around by keeping a land untapped, thier clock isn't fast, they will use Delver of Secrets, Tarmogoyf & maybe even Tombstalker, in which the Delve requires some cards to their own graveyard to make it come out faster. If they are more Mid-Range BUG like Shardless-BUG, then they are a bit slower than the fastest aggro versions so you have a little more time, while they run more card advantage in things like Ancestral Vision for Shardless Agent tricks & Dark Confidant as a way to draw more cards. Use your own disruption against their own when trying to combo off, when you Entomb go for Griselbrand since they can almost never answer it, & the lifelink will help alot being against an aggro match up. If it's BUG Midrange, sometimes they run Liliana of the Veil, but that's usually in more Control BUG setups.
Post sideboard +Pithing Needle (Deathrite Shaman, Tormod's Crypt/Relic of Progenitus if they bring in that as well), Show and Tell, Thoughtseize in place of some Reanimate because of the life loss & being against aggro, & possibly letting Iona, Shield of Emeria to the sideboard since they will likely have no mass removal, or spot removal that can get rid of Griselbrand anyway. This is a deck that has the potential to be sideboarding Extirpate, though aside from that, it's common to see Surgical Extraction or one of the artifact graveyard removal's.
05) BUG control (Disruption, Moderate-Heavy playtesting recommended, a more common match up)
Pre sideboard The more control side of BUG decks, this is where you'll find even more disruption, as well as the planeswalkers of BUG in Jace, the Mind Sculptor & Liliana of the Veil. Their disruption will be Force of Will, Vendilion Clique, Thoughtseize, Hymn to Tourach & probably Deathrite Shaman as it is even in BUG control lists, though remember Deathrite Shaman can't actually do anything while it has summoning sickness. Since they have more disruption than BUG aggro, the may slow you down a little more, however, their clock is slower as well, so you will have more time. Because of their discard however which is only sorcery speed, try to go off earlier, getting a Griselbrand into play since their only answer to it will be either a Jace bounce, or a Liliana sacrifice, & even if they play that in the following turn, you still get to pay 7 life, draw 7 cards, and amass card advantage against them.
Post sideboard +Pithing Needle for both Deathrite Shaman, & even the planeswalkers like Liliana's sacrifice to your single creature, & if they bring down a Tormod's Crypt you can even use it against that. Also Show and Tell to adjust for the hate accordingly. Since it may come down to card advantage as they run more control elements, you can likely let Careful Study go in place of your sideboard cards. As with BUG aggro, BUG Control is another deck that just might be running Extirpate, aside from that, it's more expected to see Surgical Extraction or one of the artifact graveyard removal's.
06) Jund (Disruption, Moderate playtesting recommended, a more common match up)
Pre sideboard They are a midrange deck with aggressive creatures, disruption from Swamp mana, & some burn. Their relevant disruption will be in the form of Thoughtseize, Hymn to Tourach & Deathrite Shaman, though comes down with summoning sickness, possibly a 1 or 2 of Maelstrom Pulse. Basically it means, their discard is going to affect you the most out of everything, & possibly Deathrite Shaman if you are too slow. Just go off as early as you can against them, Griselbrand is great for it's lifelink since they are an aggro deck, & aside from Liliana of the Veil, they can not answer it. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is also nice here since it kills Dark Confidant, Bloodbraid elf, Deathrite Shaman, everything really but Tarmogoyf. This should be one of the easier match up's to go against being a fast combo type deck, as all they really have to directly stop you is Thoughtseize.
Post sideboard +Pithing Needle for both Deathrite Shaman, as well as a use against Liliana of the Veil & if they bring down a Tormod's Crypt you can even use it against that. Show and Tell as well to help have more ways to cheat a creature into play around the graveyard hate. This is another deck that has the potential to be running Extirpate, however, the more common sideboard cards are Surgical Extraction or one of the artifact graveyard removals.
07) Dredge (Combo, Disruption, Light-Moderate playtesting recommended)
Pre sideboard This should be a fun match. Their main stuff to watch out for is Cabal Therapy in the graveyard, dredging fast enough, they have the "potential" to get some in the graveyard, as well as some Bridge from Belows & Narcomeba or Ichorid into play, then use them to start stripping your hand apart with flashback Cabal Therapy while making 2/2 zombies. This however, is the most aggressive they can get against you, & luckily, you are a bit faster than they are, especially running Lotus Petal, on top of being able to use your own disruption to slow their dredge enablers down a turn (Faithless Looting Breakthrough Careful Study) Against this deck, Entomb to Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is THEE card to get, it pretty much locks them out of the game as they can't do anything if their creatures don't even make the battlefield, -2/-2 at all times means they will never be able to reanimate a Golgari-Grave Troll. As far as Manaless Dredge, that deck is even slower, so you'll have more time to get out your "bomb" and take the game away.
Post sideboard +Show and Tell in place of Exhume, since you don't want to give them a free, huge Golgari-Grave Troll, & possibly Echoing Truth, since they will likely bring in Leyline of the Void, & you at a minimum can bounce all copies of their 2/2 Zombies away as a default. Whatever their graveyard hate strategy, you will still be faster than them, & all it really takes is getting an Elesh Norn into play to assure victory.
08) Maverick (Light playtesting required)
Pre sideboard They are an aggro deck with a focus on hatebears, against you, their hope will be Thalia, Guardian of Thraben & Scavenging Ooze, or Karakas fetched by Knight of the Reliquary as well as Swords to Plowshares, however, you are faster than their creatures can handle, and even if you have to pay 1 additional mana for cheating a bomb into play, you're still cheating a bomb into play. Swords to Plowshares is really their only answer, & even then it doesn't stop you from drawing 7 cards off of Griselbrand which means amassing card advantage, discarding more Reanimate targets & then doing it again, an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite can also really mess them up killing nearly all of their creatures. This is one of the easier match up's you can go against & you should have little problems.
Post sideboard +Show and Tell for you, while +Graveyard hate 1, 2, 3, 4, or whatever for them, whatever they're deciding to run as their hate, from Surgical Extraction to Tormod's Crypt to whatever they've decided as their graveyard hate, as well they may also bring in 1 Bojuka Bog as a Knight of the Reliquary target, though you can easily cheat a bomb into play before that happens.
09) Ad Nauseam Storm decks (Combo, Disruption, Light-Moderate playtesting recommended)
Pre sideboard The biggest thing about this match up, is going to come down to who combo's first, both sides have the potential to go off before the other, but both sides also have disruption, ANT runs a little more discard, while TES is more likely to have Silence effects. If you Entomb - Reanimate - Iona, Shield of Emeria naming black, they can't cast Ad Nauseam, Tendrils of Agony, Infernal Tutor or any of their Swamp producing ritual effects, & technically their discard but at that point it becomes significantly less relevant. If they go off early enough that they don't put you on Reanimator, & they go with Empty the Warrens because they can't do a lethal Tendrils of Agony, you can then go full throttle for an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite to steal the gamestate form them.
Post sideboard +Thoughtseize & Flusterstorm, -slower stuff, like Show and Tell & Tidespout Tyrant. They will likely remain mostly unchanged, their sideboard is half wish targets, and they don't usually have much for graveyard hate. The goal games 2-3 will be similar to game 1, whoever goes off 1st will most likely get the win.
10) High Tide (Combo, Disruption, Light playtesting recommended, a less common match up)
Pre sideboard Unlike the previous noted combo deck however, this one isn't so much a race as you can easily go off before them, they will never go off before turn 3, however being mono blue, they also have access to lots of counterspells. They can Force of Will & Flusterstorm, on top of also Merchant Scrolling into more counterspells if they feel necessary. Both sides have disruption, however you are a faster combo deck than they are, so use your discard to ditch their counters, then combo off with your own counterspell back up. When you Entomb get Iona, Shield of Emeria, if it makes play naming blue, you've won the game. They also have access to Cunning Wish into Surgical Extraction, but not till their turn 3 or later. If for some reason it actually gets to the point where they start to combo, counter High Tide, if they resolve Time Spiral & continue to combo at that point without fizzling, especially if they Blue Sun's Zenith themselves for 10+ cards, you're free to concede to save yourself the 5 minutes of boredom. Overall this is one of the less difficult match up's you can go against, as you're just a faster combo deck than they are.
Post sideboard +Thoughtseize & Flusterstorm, -Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite & Careful Study since it's card disadvantage, not replacing itself against a counterspell deck. They will have a heavy Wish dedicated sideboard & may even sideboard nothing at all, though sometimes there is 2-3 graveyard hate spells that come in depending on the list, if so, it's usually Tormod's Crypt / Grafdigger's Cage.
11) UR Delver (Disruption, Light-Moderate playtesting recommended)
Pre sideboard They are an aggro deck with a focus on burn spells & counterspells, Price of Progress included, as well as their disruption in the form of Force of Will Spell Pierce & possibly Daze. Just combo off early if you can, while getting Griselbrand as an Entomb target since they can not answer a 7/7 properly with burn, as well as it's lifelink that will set their aggressive plan backwards as soon as the first +7 life from combat you gain. If they have out alot of creatures, all of them have toughness of 2 or less so if you're getting overwhelmed, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite can also be a target since it will literally lock them out of the game aside from their burn spells, but for the most part you'll be getting Griselbrand. Since they may be running Daze you can also keep a land open when casting more vital spells to make opposing Daze useless.
Post sideboard +Show and Tell -Reanimate since they are an aggro deck with an access to burn on top, while they'll never drop anything scarier than a Snapcaster Mage from Show and Tell. For them their likely graveyard hate will be Surgical Extraction or possibly one of the graveyard hate artifact's, also depending on their list, they may possibly bring in more disruption via counters in the form of Flusterstorm, so you may want to bring in your Thoughtseize as well.
12) Show and Tell variants (Combo, Disruption, Moderate playtesting recommended, a more common match up)
Pre sideboard They are a combo deck with similar plans to your own, "cheat" a bomb into play, then use it to kill the opponent, you. They will be backed up by disruption that is Force of Will Spell Pierce & Daze. Depending on the version they are running, the main difference will be, Omnitell runs Burning Wish & Omniscience while the more common version will be running Sneak Attack. So your key cards to stop will always be Show and tell & either Sneak attack, or Burning wish with your own disruption. If they resolve a Show and Tell, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is the worst to come down, but because it can also be Griselbrand you may want to drop your own Griselbrand, because you can just Reanimate yours afterward. Another thing to note is Tidespout Tyrant, it can bounce any of their bombs back to their hand, including Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, which can fight back against an Emrakul that comes into play & you only have 1 turn to answer it. In the end, you should be a little faster than they are since your key spells cost 1 & 2, while theirs cost a minimum 3, giving you an edge based on that alone.
Post sideboard +Thoughtseize & Karakas in place of Show and Tell. If you have Blazing Archon in your list of 75, make sure it's in the maindeck post sideboard. Show and Tell decks are less known for running Leyline's in their sideboard as compared to before, but they could still be running Leyline of the Void, after that it's more likely one of the artifact based graveyard hate like Tormod's Crypt, Relic of Progenitus or Grafdigger's Cage.
13) Belcher (Combo, Light playtesting recommended)
Pre sideboard It's the turn 1 combo deck of the format, glass cannon, all in deck known is Belcher, game 1, you won't even know they're playing it until they combo off unless you get lucky, are on the play, & you turn 1 Thoughtseize. Aside from that, if you do know you're playing belcher, know that their deck is typically, 11 business cards, & a bunch of mana, & 7 of those 11 business cards, are going to mean Empty the Warrens, obviously if they combo off and make an army, that means you go full throttle into Reanimateing an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, if they haven't comboed off for some reason then you should go for Iona, Shield of Emeria naming red. If they get a turn 1 Goblin Charbelcher, you still have access to Force of Will to combat, or even the ability to get out a [cards]Tidespout Tyrant[cards] & bounce it back to their hand.
Post sideboard +Thoughtseize Flusterstorm, -Show and Tell since it's a bit slower & they can ride a Goblin Charbelcher on it, making it uncounterable, then discard to a Lion's Eye Diamond to activate. They will likely have a mostly Wish dedicated sideboard, so don't expect too much in the form of graveyard hate, if they do anything at all, it "might" be Xantid Swarm because you have blue & Force of Will. Both sides are fast combo decks, so whoever goes off 1st will still be the most impact on the game.
14) Elves (Combo, Light playtesting recommended)
Pre sideboard They are a tribal, aggro, combo deck, if you can wrap your head around that ^.^ It means more specifically, they'll cast lots of mana producing elves, while focusing on a combo like finish through these key cards Glimpse of Nature, [cards]Natural Order[cards], Green Sun's Zenith. Luckily however, by the time they have enough mana to Green Sun for 7 it will be turns later, while Natural Order & Glimpse of Nature are faster, you still have enough disruption in Force of Will & Thoughtseize while they are essentially a mono green deck, aside from possibly Deathrite Shaman in which, it still takes a whole turn before it can actually eliminate cards from your graveyard. Entomb for Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite to Reanimateing it, will almost always be game against them, since half their deck or more will die to -2/-2.
Post sideboard +Show and Tell/Thoughtseize & Pithing Needle for Deathrite Shaman's if you see them or see green/black anything like Bayou/Verdant Catacombs. -Tidespout Tyrant & some Careful Study since more Show and Tell means you're more likely to be able to drop the creature from hand instead of relying on the graveyard as heavily. They may bring in Cabal Therapy as well as some graveyard hate, though their hate could be anything whether it's one of the artifacts, or one of the "free" black graveyard hate spells like Extraction, Leyline of the Void, or Faerie Macabre.
15) Goblins (Light playtesting required)
Pre sideboard They are a tribal aggro deck, they have a heavy focus on card advantage & overwhelming by swarming with tons of goblins, but they are not fast, & unless they're splashing a color, they don't even have relevant disruption. The only thing you have to look out for is Goblin Matron into a Stingscourger which will bounce your creature back to your hand after going through the work to Reanimate it. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is something they simply can never answer as it will almost always completely wipe their side of the board, & Krenko will only become a 1/1 that does basically nothing. This is one of the easier match ups you can go against as your clock is just faster than theirs, & they have almost nothing for an answer to stop you save for maybe Stingscourger.
Post sideboard +Thoughtseize & Show and Tell. They will likely bring in one of the artifact based graveyard hate, so maybe even Pithing Needle since it also affects Aether Vial & some of their goblins abilities. Blood Moon is also a possibility, but you're fast enough that it shouldn't matter, though just in case it can't hurt to nab a basic land with an early fetchland.
16) Merfolk (Disruption, Light-Moderate playtesting recommended)
Pre sideboard Another tribal deck on the list, they are mono blue (unless splashing a color which is uncommon), a bunch of "fish" backed up by some disruption & card draw, the disruption being Daze Cursecatcher & Force of Will for most lists. Their goal is to get out creatures & take the combat step to victory like most other traditional aggro decks. Since they are not fast, you can wait a turn if you expect Daze or Cursecatcher off of an Aether Vial if it gets to the point of that being a possibility, but on the play you can be so fast it might not even matter. One thing to note against this deck, they can put down alot of damage in 1 turn, with just a Mutavault & a single merfolk in play, they can at end of turn Vial in another lord, then cast another one on their next turn, & since they all pump eachother, they can suddenly be swinging for alot of damage where the previous turn they hit you for significantly less, for the most part however, by the time it gets to that point, you will have combo'ed out if you're going to win. Standstill is something you shouldn't stop over either, unless you both have nothing on the board & you can take advantage of getting to 8 cards, then discarding a bomb to the graveyard, but if they have a threat on the table, just eat it and they draw 3 cards. I only note Standstill because I've seen people stop over it when they should just accept their opponent drawing 3 cards & eat it, & in most cases, that is what you have to do, especially if they have a threat on the board, Mutavault, or an Aether Vial.
Post sideboard +Show and Tell, Thoughtseize, -Careful Study. They are more likely to bring in graveyard hate artifacts than anything else, but never forget the possibility of Surgical Extraction because it removes all copies & is "Free" to cast at -2 life.
17) Zombies (Disruption, Light playtesting recommended, a less common match up)
Pre sideboard Walking dead, Zombardment, etc, whatever you'd call it, the key cards to watch out for are Cabal Therapy, while Carrion Feeder & Goblin Bombardment are just too slow, they will abuse these cards, specifically Therapy in your case, with Gravecrawler, Lingering Souls & Bloodghast. They may also be running disruption in the form of Tidehollow Sculler After that, they are just an aggro deck, & Entomb into Iona, Shield of Emeria into play naming black cuts off the vast majority of their spells, while Entomb into Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite can eat their army away if they are potentially swarming you, as all their creatures are under the 2 toughness or lower category, save for a Carrion Feeder with enough creatures sacrificed. The only other card they may be running that may have an impact on you is Deathrite Shaman, but only if it comes down fast enough to do anything relevant against you before you Reanimate, in which you can do faster than them, especially on the play & in game 1 where they might not even drop it right away, not realizing you're playing Reanimator until it's too late to make a difference.
Post sideboard +Show and Tell Pithing Needle since it can hit Deathrite Shaman, or at a minimum, Goblin Bombardment, Carrion Feeder, - some Reanimate or Careful Study since you're bringing in Show and Tell. They will likely bring in Surgical Extraction, but Leyline of the Void & even Extirpate are a possibility. The graveyard artifact hate is less likely since they use the graveyard themselves.
18) 12 post (Light playtesting required, however a less common match up)
Pre sideboard They are a ramp deck with elements of combo in 1 card, Show and Tell. Aside from that they have almost no interaction with you, though the possibility of Crop Rotation into their 1 of Bojuka Bog if they are running it, based on the list that won San Diego this year. If they Show and Tell, they will drop Eldrazi, but may also drop Primeval Titan, however you can be faster than them, so Entomb into Griselbrand into play, drawing 7 or 14 cards can easily be the end of them with so much card advantage, as their mid game plan of Cloudpost Cloudpost Cloudpost is just too slow. This should be one of your easier match ups since you are faster than they are, and they don't pack much for disruption at all.
Post sideboard +Thoughtseize Karakas, -Show and Tell. +Blacing Archon as a 1 of is also helpful against those Emrakuls, but in this Eldrazi deck, they also have the potential to destroy it with Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre. They may bring in Flusterstorm for more disruption since they will have almost none game 1, & if they are running graveyard hate it will likely be artifact based. They also may have Chalice of the Void in their sideboard, but that may just be too slow.
19) Junk/The rock (Disruption, Light-Moderate playtesting recommended)
Pre sideboard They are an aggro based deck backed up by disruption in the form of discard. Their relevant disruption will be Deathrite Shaman Hymn to Tourach & possibly Thoughtseize. Aside from that, they are mostly just an aggro deck, so you can combo off before they get you anywhere near lethal damage, especially since their disruption is some of the least effective, Hymn is random, Deathrite can be too slow, & only Thoughtseize hits the card they actually want to go to the graveyard. This should for the most part be one of your easier match ups since most lists don't pack alot of target discard from the start.
Post sideboard +Show and Tell & Pithing Needle, which can name Deathrite Shaman, or Knight of the Reliquary to stop Bojuka Bog tricks, -Careful Study. This is another deck that may possibly be running Extirpate, the more likely candidates however are Surgical Extraction or one of the artifact based graveyard hate.
20) Reanimator The mirror match! (Moderate playtesting recommended)
Pre sideboard If you go against the mirror match, the key thing to remember is what you already know, they're doing the same thing you're doing. Winning the die roll may be the deciding factor since both sides will likely be racing to get an Iona, Shield of Emeria into play naming black. Before that disruption comes into play, & since Iona is the worst, prioritize in preventing them from successfully casting an Entomb, aside from that, if it goes for the long haul & you keep disrupting eachother, only to both Reanimate Griselbrands to have them go back to the graveyard again, your overall goal will still be to get an Iona into play under most conditions, especially if they have nothing on the board & you have the chance to Reanimate anything of your choice. Also to note, the Reanimate Exhume & Animate Dead work from both graveyards, so you can try to "next level" them, Reanimating their stuff while keeping your hand more focused on disruption to prevent them from doing so, in which they can also do the same thing, so be careful about Entombing for your creature unless you're secure in getting it into play before they steal it from your graveyard.
Post sideboard This could get tricky, depending on what you think they'll sideboard, you could base your sideboard on what you think their game plan is, instead of what you think you should do against Reanimate as a deck, basing it more on the player themselves. Aside from paragraphs of speculation on how far that can go, remember that in any mirror match, card advantage can be what it comes down to since many mirror matches can take longer games that go back and forth, aside from a blowout like a turn 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria into play naming black. If you go the more control route against them, then +Flusterstorm & Thoughtseize, but if you just want to go all in and try to race them, especially if you're on the play, then stick with trying to cheat a bomb into play as fast as possible.
Last edited by feline; 03-18-2015 at 05:07 PM. Reason: Update
Primary legacy deck High Tide primer
I think for the purpose of Reanimator, it should reflect traditional lists rather than combo lists.
The combo lists are a subset of the main archetype, and are more specialized with card selection. It may confuse first timers looking at the list and wondering why Children of Korlis is included, for instance; or how Emrakul is getting reanimated with Reanimate. Perhaps you can modify the OP by throwing a reference to combo lists without showing it as the main set of cards.
West side
Find me on MTGO as Koby or rukcus -- @MTGKoby on Twitter
* Maverick is dead. Long live Maverick!
My Legacy stream
My MTG Blog - Work in progress
There should be some space put between TinFins and Reanimator as they are different decks.
Lumping them all into one primer will get people posting in wrong threads.
Otherwise I look forward to seeing the rest.
EDIT Koby beat me to it
Originally Posted by GreatWhale
I'm going to explain all of that, noting what is "non traditional" in it's own section below the regular stuff, while the traditional stuff will be the priority, I just haven't organized the singles yet and such.
I also want to base the traditional stuff on what is actually ran, so I am going over the lists since the printing of griselbrand again, & noting every card in every list, how many times it was ran -vs- wasnt ran, and stuff that is in most decklists will be what gets properly noted, middleground stuff will get noted but not the the priority, and the rogue stuff or rare'r stuff will be beneath. It takes a bit of time to go over every list but I've done this stuff before so it won't take forever, I just don't want to put what is "traditional" based on "That seems traditional" I want to base it on actual results, as I've noticed already Animate Dead is a little less in lists than I predicted it would be already.
Either way it just means it will all make sense when it's actually complete, I'm still moving stuff around, I still have a TON of stuff to add that isn't there.
Tinfin's will get a nod but the main focus will be traditional Reanimator, if people want to go more in depth on Tin-fins I have linked the thread to that accordingly in the links section. ^.^
Part of the reason I posted it early is so that if anyone was curious, they could see the "updates" themselves & sorta see how I do these by checking it every so often if they feel compelled to do so out of interest, maybe I'm having too much fun doing this and I really am crazy!
-edit- 5:00 pm Pacific time. Everything basically complete except for match ups at this point.
-edit- 6:30 pm Pacific time. Continuing next day.
-edit- Done, March 22nd
Last edited by feline; 03-22-2013 at 11:34 AM.
Primary legacy deck High Tide primer
I'm pretty sure neither of those are needed in a Reanimator primer. The links to other primers, none of which have any relation to Reanimator, reek of self-promotion. Most of those links and credits are already imbedded at the end of every one of Feline's posts. A better place for those links would be in the "All the totally awesome stuff by Feline" thread, that I'm sure many admirers would read and post within.
Tin Fins is definitely a different deck even though it's a variation of Reanimator, and plays differently since it can win on the same turn it reanimates Griselbrand. (i.e. not as much fear of life loss vs. aggro decks), thus I think the inclusion of links and comparisons to the Tin Fins deck will confuse newbies trying to figure out traditional reanimator. The trickle down effect is that we all will have to read their confused posts after they've decided to include Emrakul in their traditional reanimator list b/c "Tin Fins has both Emrakul and Reanimate, and Emrakul is bigger than Griselbrand so that makes it better..."
My main concern is that the entire primer reads as a Google search result of "Reanimator + tournament results". I get the impression that not a lot of play time with this deck has been logged in by the author. How about we get some collaboration with the dude that won the MOCS tournament with Reanimator and combine some his 13 page primer into this one? The concern was that his sarcastic writing tone might warp young minds... I say "so what!?" A 10 year old on the internet can find many more things to warp their mind than sarcastic tone in a MtG forum.
This is a forum specializing in Legacy format MtG strategy and discussion, and the primers should reflect that knowledge and expertise. For example: Sphinx of the Steel Wind has been dropped from the main deck in most recent successful lists, b/c Griselbrand already serves a similar role and that slot can be filled with another creature like Tidespout Tyrant (which has been adopted recently by Todd Anderson and has been in Gerry T lists). I can see that by Google searching for tournament results, yet this primer states that Tidespout isn't popular nor in most lists. Why? There seems to be a shift towards that creature recently, and reading a couple of the SCG articles corroborates this trend. Why/how is Tyrant better than Angel of Despair or Sphinx traditionally and popularly used in this spot? These types of answers and observations should be included in a primer, to save other people the large amount of play-test and/or tournament time to figure this out. Please, Rune! Get involved in this somehow, for the greater good of Legacy Reanimator players across the nation and globe.
I've seen Jace played in some sideboards, can you explain why you would want to, in what match ups, what comes out and also put it in the primer?
For those of us who like to know the history of a deck, could you post what early deck lists looked like, why the cards were selected and at what points in time was this deck hot.
Wouldn't it be better if someone who actually plays the deck wrote the primer so we could prevent confusions like Tinfins/Reanimator (completely separate decks imo) and get to read about finer points of playing the deck?
Get Aslan to write the primer.
View ALSAN HAD Said That wrote the deck already weeks ago but it is Disappeared .. So instead of criticize feline I would say good instead because it has begun to do so! Sure Collaboration of a serious player in the Scripture of the primer would benefit for sure!
Thank you for the above notes, still working on the primer as of this message.
Last edited by feline; 03-21-2013 at 10:05 AM.
Primary legacy deck High Tide primer
No one reads very well. Aslan is in the hospital, that's why he hasn't written the primer.
Oh, well that's awkward. I didn't realize people cared that much about who did it. It seemed like feline had a stronger desire to do it, and it didn't make a big difference to me.
Anyway, when I started writing it was never with the intention of having it embedded within another person's work, so I guess I'll have to figure out what else to do with my now 16 pages of madman ramblings on Reanimator.
Don't say that! If you have that much information all it is, is just figuring out how to word it & share it, though I know that takes some work, if that's the issue, well people still want to see what you have to say anyway somehow, everyone loves insight. ^.^
Last edited by feline; 03-21-2013 at 01:36 PM.
Primary legacy deck High Tide primer
So I really like Todd Anderson's SCG Open Indianapolis list: http://tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=10367&iddeck=75606
Problem is that I don't own any Show and Tells (nor have access to them through other players). I understand this takes away a different angle of attack, but could I just replace the 2x Show and Tell with 2x Thoughtseize (running the full set maindeck)? I figure that if I can't get Griselbrand in play through an alternate method, I should try to protect my sole avenue of attack; hence, beef up the discard. As an aside, more Thoughtseize may allow me to ditch a monster in the yard when I don't have Entomb/Careful Study. Would going -2 Show and Tell, +1 Thoughtseize +1 Misdirection be better?
Well, feel free to PM me it at any time
TTP
What do you guys think about this unusual list that just placed 1st at 64 man tourney? It looks like a reanimator deck back from the old days, less control elements and more agressivenes.
u
Deck Name: Reanimator Position: 1
Reanimator Charles Jérémy Sideboard
Creatures [16]
1 Angel of Despair
1 Anger
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Flayer of the Hatebound
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Laquatus's Champion
1 Magister Sphinx
1 Thraximundar
4 Griselbrand
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Instants [8]
4 Dark Ritual
4 Entomb
Sorceries [16]
4 Buried Alive
4 Exhume
4 Faithless Looting
4 Reanimate
Enchantments [4]
4 Animate Dead
Artifacts [4]
4 Lotus Petal
Lands [12]
1 Marsh Flats
1 Polluted Delta
2 Badlands
4 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Pithing Needle
2 Phyrexian Obliterator
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Blazing Archon
2 Defense Grid
4 Through the Breach
Looks like a budget (non-blue) version of traditional Reanimator. Through the Breach replaces Show & Tell, Faithless Looting replaces Careful Study. Anger just speeds things up.
West side
Find me on MTGO as Koby or rukcus -- @MTGKoby on Twitter
* Maverick is dead. Long live Maverick!
My Legacy stream
My MTG Blog - Work in progress
it's my french friend (i'm chinese ^^) with his reanimator (version a little fun because he use some cards in his card book -_ -) in GPT toulouse france, he is very lucky that day to have a lot of turn 1 kill with his Turn 1 Dark Ritual + entomb + return Grisel + Draw 14 + Faithless Looting Anger + reanimate Magister Sphinx get all haste and 2 creatures
attack to win.
finally the 2 winners split the bilands and they play for fun, his RB reanimator lose 0:2 to Team America, beacause the player Team America do not go to GP Strasbourg, so the 3 byes for his reanimator , happy and lucky : )
metagame, report, photo and 3 top8 videos here by our forum , youtube and facebook MCB(in french...)
http://www.legacy31.org/t742-legacy-...u-10-mars-2013
and for me, i was also lucky just 4 days ago i have win a small GPT in bordeaux with my UB reanimator version like Alsan and Joaquín Solis
http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/dec...6&iddeck=71855
http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/dec...5&iddeck=74819
a litte change that i use one Grave Titan for the weapon against Liliana and i found it not bad, i will test it for GP.
There are a number of techy silver bullets one can run in Reanimator. It should be noted that, if you are running multiple Animate Dead, the following card should NOT be one of them: Iridescent Angel
Just played a match where someone was Entombing for a tool to stay alive and ended up facepalming hard.
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