Conspiracy Unraveler Reanimator

[Daniel Worobec]

Conspiracy Unraveler Reanimator

Format: Legacy

Creator: Daniel Worobec

Date: March 3, 2024

This version of Reanimator uses Conspiracy Unraveler in an augmented Reanimator shell as an engine for both card advantage and playing multiple large creatures in one turn.

Conspiracy Unraveler Reanimator V.1.0 by Daniel Worobec

4x Conspiracy Unraveler
4x Atraxa, Grand Unifier
4x Reanimate
4x Animate Dead
4x Entomb
4x Grief
4x Force of Will
2x Unmask
4x Careful Study
4x Street Wraith
4x Troll of Khazad-dûm
4x Lórien Revealed
4x Sea Gate Restoration
4x Underground Sea
4x Polluted Delta
1x Island
1x Swamp

Conspiracy Unraveler Reanimator takes advantage of Conspiracy Unraveler’s ability to cast things for free with the collect evidence 10 alternative casting ability. You can get Conspiracy Unraveler into your graveyard with traditional Reanimator ways and then be able to cast things for free once on the battlefield.

Getting cards into the graveyard to use the alternative cost ability consists of cycle abilities, discard, Entomb and casting pitch spells. Not only are Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Lórien Revealed, Sea Gate Restoration and Street Wraith are used as card advantage, often after being used and then entering the graveyard, it can be used as collect evidence to cast the next draw spell as a type of continuous draw engine. While enabling the draw engine you also have discard options for the opponent, counter magic and can enable multiple large creatures to enter the battlefield in a single turn.

This version of Reanimator uses a traditional shell so it can work with or without Conspiracy Unraveler.

[Weapon X]

I don’t see a point to it’s inclusion at all. It feels like you need to reanimate it to use it’s effect and if that is the case why not reanimate something better?

[Whoshim]

It pitches to FoW, which most targets do not (except Atraxa).

However, I don't see how this deck really wins. It doesn't seem like it can go very fast, and the creatures are limited. It has a bit of disruption, which is nice. I just don't think it can get going very quickly - I think that the deck will run into issues having enough CMC in the graveyard to cast more than one spell.

I had not noticed this creature before, and it makes for an interesting Dread Return target for Dredge (I don't think it makes the cut there, but it does have me wondering).

[FTW]

I'm missing the appeal too. The limiting resource is usually cards, not mana. Conspiracy Unraveler gives extra mana ("free spells") instead of extra cards. Then you need to run other card draw (Lorien, Sea Gate) for it to do a Griselbrand impression.

You usually want Atraxa or Griselbrand for cards (fewer Griselbrand in Bowmasters meta). Or Archon of Cruelty for board control + less suicidal card advantage.

Unraveler also loses harder to grave hate postboard, making you more dependent on graveyard size.

[Lexi]

Does conspiracy unraveler let you pay flashback costs with its ability? If it does I suspect it may work better in a self mill or dredge deck than a traditional reanimator deck. Despite this I also suspect its not better than other dredge reanimation target options without a lot of brewing and even then likely wouldn't get there.

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

Gatherer says you can

[FTW]

It might be worth trying in the new Dredge. It can cast Faithless Looting and Otherworldly Gaze and Dread Return, to trigger Poxwalkers. It can also cast Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis without needing to exile as many cards or have 2 creatures in play.

The issue with Reanimator is it's already an optimized Tier 1 deck. Conspiracy Unraveler might win some games for fun, but the deck is already better without it. Dredge has more room to improve on.

[rufus]

Gatherer says you can

Are you referring to this:

If you are casting a spell from your graveyard (for example, a spell with flashback) you can’t also exile that card to pay the alternative collect evidence cost offered by Conspiracy Unraveler.

because that doesn't actually say that you can use the unraveller ability with flashback, and - while I'm not a judge - I don't think that you can.

...702.34. Flashback
702.34a Flashback appears on some instants and sorceries. It represents two static abilities: one that
functions while the card is in a player’s graveyard and another that functions while the card is
on the stack. “Flashback [cost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard if the
resulting spell is an instant or sorcery spell by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost”
and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it
would leave the stack.” Casting a spell using its flashback ability follows the rules for paying
alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2f–h.

601.2b If the spell is modal, the player announces the mode choice (see rule 700.2). If the player
wishes to splice any cards onto the spell (see rule 702.47), they reveal those cards in their hand.
If the spell has alternative or additional costs that will be paid as it’s being cast such as buyback
or kicker costs (see rules 118.8 and 118.9), the player announces their intentions to pay any or
all of those costs (see rule 601.2f). A player can’t apply two alternative methods of casting or
two alternative costs to a single spell. If the spell has a variable cost that will be paid as it’s
being cast (such as an {X} in its mana cost; see rule 107.3), the player announces the value of
that variable. If the value of that variable is defined in the text of the spell by a choice that
player would make later in the announcement or resolution of the spell, that player makes that
choice at this time instead of that later time. If a cost that will be paid as the spell is being cast
includes hybrid mana symbols, the player announces the nonhybrid equivalent cost they intend
to pay. If a cost that will be paid as the spell is being cast includes Phyrexian mana symbols, the
player announces whether they intend to pay 2 life or a corresponding colored mana cost for
each of those symbols. Previously made choices (such as choosing to cast a spell with flashback
from a graveyard or choosing to cast a creature with morph face down) may restrict the player’s
options when making these choices.

[Weapon X]

The looks to be saying it can’t exile itself to play itself…

[FTW]

The Gatherer piece says that.

But rufus pointed out another rules trap: both Flashback and Collect Evidence are alternative castings, and you can't do more than one alternative casting thing at the same time according to 601.2b.

Example: If you give Force of Will flashback (Snapcaster Mage), you can't pitch a blue card to cast it.