[Deck]BUx Reanimator

[Cpt-Qc]

Thanks for the input, everybody!

A corollary: It seems like the hexproof creatures aren't really played much at this point. I'm wondering whether people feel like they're essential, and in which matchups. I was thinking an Inkwell or an Archetype would be nice against hatebears and Lands, but I don't see a lot of those on the lists that have been placing lately.

I would say one of the 3 main evasive creatures is a must for the deck. As long as one is in your 75 that should be good.

Inkwell is the best solo creature but can be outraced by non U decks. It's good against any decks with StP.
Archetype is the worst solo creature and usually can't do much by himself, but he makes all of the other creatures 100% better. It's bad if you need speed but it's unvaluable in slower games where you'll get to reanimate at least twice.
Aetherling is mostly focused at beating miracles because it's the most evasive creature ever.

Now even if it's not the perfect silver bullet for a matchup, you'll often side out 1 or 2 of your main creatures and you can usually find one of those to be better. For example, I would rather have an Inkwell against DnT than a Tidespout. It's primary use is decks with Islands but it's less risky than reanimating and losing your creature (to StP or Karakas) if you had no free counterspell on T1 or T2.

[Ronald Deuce]

I would say one of the 3 main evasive creatures is a must for the deck. As long as one is in your 75 that should be good.

Inkwell is the best solo creature but can be outraced by non U decks. It's good against any decks with StP.
Archetype is the worst solo creature and usually can't do much by himself, but he makes all of the other creatures 100% better. It's bad if you need speed but it's unvaluable in slower games where you'll get to reanimate at least twice.
Aetherling is mostly focused at beating miracles because it's the most evasive creature ever.

Now even if it's not the perfect silver bullet for a matchup, you'll often side out 1 or 2 of your main creatures and you can usually find one of those to be better. For example, I would rather have an Inkwell against DnT than a Tidespout. It's primary use is decks with Islands but it's less risky than reanimating and losing your creature (to StP or Karakas) if you had no free counterspell on T1 or T2.

Thanks a lot for the information!

I've got a couple of questions/musings, but I'll give a match report first. 3–1 again today!

R1: 12-Post (2–0)
—G1: T2 Jin-Gitaxias sealed the deal. That card is awesome.
—G2: This one took a little longer, I think because I had some trouble finding everything I needed to close the game. I got Juked with a few biggies in my graveyard, but I managed to land a Pithing Needle when my opponent cracked a Map for Maze of Ith. I reanimated Blazing Archon and sat on it for a bit, eventually finding another big guy (Tidespout?) to seal the game.
R2: Grix Delver (0–2)
Total reversal from last week!
—G1: My T1 fetch got Stifled, and I didn't find another land.
—G2: He had too many counterspells to stop, and I also had some trouble sticking lands for long enough to get anything going. More on that in a bit.
R3: 3-Color Little Kid (2–0)
—Not a lot to say about this one. I think he was just interested in playing some Magic, and I saw a lot of Standard rares. Not a pairing I was hoping to see (feels bad if I win and worse if I lose), but I wish him the best. This match started to show me some inconsistencies that I'm wondering how best to address.
R4: Cheeri0s (2–1)
—G1: He started comboing out when I didn't have much on the board, but I had the timely Daze and Force.
—G2: T1 Glimpse, Kobold, Kobold, Kobold, Kobold, Walker, Kobold, Kobold, Memnite, Kobold, Shield Sphere, Kobold, Ornithopter, Kobold, Kobold, Scapegoat, do it all again, Grapeshot. Or something like that. I had a Daze in hand, but he went first.
—G3: I Forced his Glimpse on the first turn, then got stuck for a turn or two before playing Iona on Green. He conceded.

Maybe not the most representative tournament, but it elucidated a couple of the things I've been trying to articulate about my build's consistency. I'm on 15 lands right now, and I hate the prospect of running more, but the Delver match was really yucky because I just couldn't stick enough stuff to get the deck going. I'm considering cutting Lotus Petal at this stage. I really like the card; gives us a speed boost and works excellently with Tidespout, but the fact that it doesn't stick around is a problem. I've not found myself winning off of it as often as I'd hoped.

Daze also didn't perform as well as I would've liked. In both R2 and R4, it didn't really do anything. Too slow against Shield_Sphere.dec, and not impactful enough against Delver. The latter case might just be my inexperience, though; I'm new to competitive control, and I don't know the high-value targets all that well. I'll probably keep it around for the time being, but its weaknesses really showed today. Either my opponents had enough mana to work around it, or they didn't present anything that felt like it was worth skipping a land drop to counter.

I also had a few games in which I was missing a piece that would've given me liftoff. I'm missing the full quad of Ponders I had in Storm, and I think it might be worth it to experiment with that again. Cutting the 3x Petal would give me room for two more Ponders and a sixteenth land. I'm starting to think that might be a more stable and functional build.

Was talking to another guy at the store who plays Reanimator (the Grix Delver guy), and he said something to the effect that if I'm running Daze, I should run a full quad. Anybody have further input on that?

Thanks again!

[Cpt-Qc]

Was talking to another guy at the store who plays Reanimator (the Grix Delver guy), and he said something to the effect that if I'm running Daze, I should run a full quad. Anybody have further input on that?

That way of thinking is understandable since Daze is at it's best in the first two turns and quickly becomes less useful as the game progresses but I believe it's not this clear cut what's the best number. I personally play 3 since it's significantly worse for this deck than it is for say a delver deck with wasteland and/or stifle where it can be live until T5-6. I don't ever want to see it more than once per game if possible. Just enough to remind the opponent that they have to slow down all their plays in fear of it being their last turn.

Besides, daze is quite bad on the draw and is often the first card that gets boarded out so, considering you'll win approximately 50% of the die rolls, you probably don't want it in your opening hand that often.

[Ronald Deuce]

That way of thinking is understandable since Daze is at it's best in the first two turns and quickly becomes less useful as the game progresses but I believe it's not this clear cut what's the best number. I personally play 3 since it's significantly worse for this deck than it is for say a delver deck with wasteland and/or stifle where it can be live until T5-6. I don't ever want to see it more than once per game if possible. Just enough to remind the opponent that they have to slow down all their plays in fear of it being their last turn.

Besides, daze is quite bad on the draw and is often the first card that gets boarded out so, considering you'll win approximately 50% of the die rolls, you probably don't want it in your opening hand that often.

Thanks a lot for the info! It sounds rather like what I was thinking; this past week, I goldfished a bit with a quad of Daze and it came up too often.

My crash-course hit its first crash last week (0–3; yaaaaay! Hasn't happened since I tried Pox once. Once.), so I've cut red for the time being to see what I can get out of a straight U/B mainboard with green in the side.

Aside from Force, is our only other good go-to control card Thoughtseize? Been thinking about Collective Brutality and Cabal Therapy as well.

[Karhumies]

Aside from Force, is our only other good go-to control card Thoughtseize? Been thinking about Collective Brutality and Cabal Therapy as well.

MD options:
Collective Brutality kills DRS but it's slow
Unmask is super fast, "all-in"
Seize is all-around, synergy with Reanimate
FoW and Daze protect against counters when going off
Brainstorm and Spell Pierce can protect against spot discard
Cabal Therapy has poor flashback synergy, I don't recommend it

Niche SB options:
Defense Grid
Duress
Xantid Swarm
Boseiju
Misdirection "5th FoW"
Divert
Ground Seal (if running Exhume + Shallow Grave build)

[crowe_1]

Aside from Force, is our only other good go-to control card Thoughtseize? Been thinking about Collective Brutality and Cabal Therapy as well.

In terms of sideboard, at least two Pithing Needles are a must IMO. Shuts down DRS, Relic, Tormod, F Macabre, problematic Planeswalkers, and the list goes on and on. Best part is the opponent probably boarded out anything they might have that could remove it. I personally run an Engineered Explosives post-board to hit Chalice, DRS, Cage, etc.

I've seen lists run Flusterstorm too but I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's better for definitively countering business spells, whereas we're usually trying to win a counter war with our counterspells. Good versus Surgical I suppose.

[Karhumies]

I've seen lists run Flusterstorm too but I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's better for definitively countering business spells, whereas we're usually trying to win a counter war with our counterspells. Good versus Surgical I suppose.

Terrible vs. Grafdigger's Cage, Nihil Spellbomb and LED compared to Spell Pierce. Typically not better than Spell Pierce unless opponent goes T1/2 storm goblins route or the opponent has manaless counter backup to counter the Pierce whereas Fluster makes multi copies. That's niche.

[crowe_1]

I agree. Don't run it personally, just trying to rationalize its use. Flusterstorm is best to hard counter something like Show and Tell; ie, stopping a (instant or sorcery) spell cold that absolutely needs to be countered. Not bad, but not what we really want in a sideboard card because it doesn't help push our combo through any better than Spell Pierce. They counter our Reanimate, we counter back with Flusterstorm, they use their counterspell number two targeting the same Reanimate. It's not useless by any stretch but I think we can do better.

[Venomous72]

Morawski is in 3rd overall with UB Reanimator at SCG Worcester. Anyone know his specific list? Chancellor's in the 75 at all?

[crowe_1]

Didn't see any Chancellors. Saw an Iona in the board and someone said on Reddit he had a GT main. Seems like it's closer to a classic build with Show and Tells side, though I guess we won't know for sure unless his list is published.

[Venomous72]

Didn't see any Chancellors. Saw an Iona in the board and someone said on Reddit he had a GT main. Seems like it's closer to a classic build with Show and Tells side, though I guess we won't know for sure unless his list is published.

I saw a Fatal Push in the sideboard, and I wonder if he is running any in the main or maybe Collective Brutalities. With the amount of DRS running around, mainboard CB seems really good.

[Venomous72]

Top 8!

[Ronald Deuce]

Here it is:

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...?DeckID=112706

[EDIT: everything that follows upon closer examination; posted the list as soon as I could find it.]

So is Ashen Powder supposed to be Ashen Rider?

[meffeo]

So is Ashen Powder supposed to be Ashen Rider?

Yeah, as long as his sideboard showed on screen was correct. It makes obviously more sense to me.

A pretty stock list, even if the D&T mu seems worse without the big Leviathan.

[Venomous72]

Well it was nice to see that UB Reanimator is still kicking. I was kind of surprised to see such a traditional build do so well in this field of all the DRS's. I hope we get a write up somewhere of his matchups and how they went. UB is my favorite deck and this has inspired me to sleeve it up again. I am pretty rusty with it though so we'll see how this goes.

[RNGesus]

This is great, I feel that UB has proven itself capable of having a decent shot in any meta.

[Venomous72]

This is great, I feel that UB has proven itself capable of having a decent shot in any meta.

I agree. BR is fun and can spike a tournament, but UB really rewards the player knowing the deck. Knowing what to Daze, Force, when to force combo, etc. I also like the flexibility we have with MB Show and Tells, Collective Brutalities, etc.

[Venomous72]

Went 2-1 last night at our Tuesday Night Legacy. Beat Aluren 2-0 (turn 2 Elesh with Force backup, then turn 3 Elesh with backup), beat my buddy's Blasphemous Act home brew (game 2 I beat a turn 1 Grafdiggers Cage by Show and Telling Griselbrand, it gets plowed, then S&T'd Grave Titan).

I lost 1-2 to Death and Taxes. I had a Griselbrand plus Elesh kill in game 1, game 2 he had double containment priest. Game 3 I mulled to 5 and kept a no lander and lost.

All in all the deck felt fantastic. The one collective brutality in the main won me two games by itself. From the sideboard Abrupt Decay was obviously good and Show and Tell was great as always.

I'll stick with this list for a while.

[FZA]

Seeing UB Reanimator put up a solid finish at SCG Worcestor has inspired me to try out the deck. Never played much Reanimator though it has a special place in my heart since I used to play a budget mono-black version forever ago.

Anyone have a good SB guide for a list similar to the 3rd place Worcestor one?

[Venomous72]

Seeing UB Reanimator put up a solid finish at SCG Worcestor has inspired me to try out the deck. Never played much Reanimator though it has a special place in my heart since I used to play a budget mono-black version forever ago.

Anyone have a good SB guide for a list similar to the 3rd place Worcestor one?

I run a traditional UB build with a pretty similar sideboard.

If I am up against a DRS deck:

+ 2x Show and Tell
+ 2x Abrupt Decay
+ 1 Collective Brutality

- 1x Careful Study
- 1x Entomb
- 1x Exhume
- 1x Reanimate
- 1x Daze (on the draw)

Pithing Needle is good assuming they side out their Decays (a good player will). If I see more graveyard hate like Relics or Cages, I will bring in a third Abrupt Decay and run 4x Show and Tell most likely.

Death and Taxes:

+ 3x Abrupt Decay
+ 1x Pithing Needle
+ 1x CB
+ 1x Fatal Push
+ 1x Massacre
+ 1x Inkwell Leviathan

- 3x Daze
- 1x Lotus Petal (terrible against Thalia)
- 1x Thoughtseize (on the draw)
- 1x Force of Will
- 1x Griselbrand
- 1x Show and Tell (Sneak and Show has a terrible D&T matchup. Don't bring these in. Don't do it)

I like leaving in some number of FoW to protect from Surgicals or Swords. Iona is another option. If you blind play Pithing Needle, depending on your hand, Karakas is often a very good card to name. That will ruin your day.



Storm:

Lol. Just kill them.



Sneak and Show:

Kill them + Ashen Rider.


Miracles:

This one is actually kind of tricky. We will likely take game one but it will be a slog unless they just draw blanks. Path + Karakas + Counters really make this annoying. I always recommend going for Griselbrand first and then trying to get something like Tidespout out as well (or Grave Titan for a real fast clock).

Post board it really depends on the Miracles build. You bring in all your Abrupt Decay for sure. CounterBalance is bad news and they know it so they will leave it in. They will also bring in Rest in Peace and maybe Containment Priest.

I would leave the mainboard Show and Tell in, but probably not any others. Decay, Collective Brutality, Inkwell Leviathan, Duress/TS effects are all good. I would take out a Griselbrand, Elesh Norn, Daze on the draw, a Careful Study, a Lotus petal maybe.

Don't be scared to take out a Lotus Petal if all your cards seem good in a matchup.

Anyway, these are just based on my experience so far. I am not even close to an expert on this deck. If you have specific questions let me know and I'll do my best.