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Thread: [Deck] Reanimator

  1. #1
    REANIMATOR SUPREME
    rodgon666's Avatar
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    [Deck] Reanimator

    B/U Reanimator

    Introduction to reanimator style decks, The bad... and the not so bad

    Big, huge, enormous critters and very cheap spells to bring them to life, that my friends is the basis and basics of all reanimator decks.
    To this point in legacy history the only true competition Reanimator deck to have had an absolute control of the format was a little deck called Dragon. The format was changed so much and the deck was so devastating to the format that the cards were soon banned. A true bummer for every single reanimation mage out there...

    From that point on there has been a complete lack of all reanimation style decks in the classification of competitive decks to beat. Being fun, easy and entertaining to play as well as very inexpensive to build has made these decks into a casual players wet dream, and also due to this fact a serious lack of testing and concise evolution of a deck just for winning's sake has been neglected. I hoped to change this little fact.

    I dont feel like im the only one that has made a big jump with the reanimator style decks, in fact there are several decks that have made it to a very good placing in tournaments besides from mine, one is Orlove's Reanimator which uses Zombie infestations in conjunction with Squees to generate a secondary win condition to the usual reanimation of an Akroma angel of wrath or Spirit of the night. It has also proven itself yet i find the deck to be lacking some power, and consistency.

    Decks like Cephalid Breakfast also dwell into reanimation, yet it just doesnt feel like a true reanimation deck, relying on just one reanimation spell and one creature to win the game is just too much of a combo then a deck approach.

    In the process of making a deck that would be competitive enough to win tournaments and consistent enough for people to consider as a contender i have tested countless variations and with all the different colors of the magic spectrum.
    here is the link to the B/g variation that won me the 5th place at the mana leak open a while ago:

    B/g reanimator by Rodrigo Gonzalez
    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5670&highlight=reanimator

    as you can see, it even though it placed very well along with yet another reanimator deck, it was still classified as me being lucky or as my pet deck that wasnt that good.

    ok so from that point on and after winning countless tournaments with that version in San Diegos Game Empire ( that i believe holds some of the biggest tournaments in a weekly basis in the west coast) i decided to leave that version be and move on to what i eventually found to be the stronger color splash B/U.

    here is the most rescent decklist that i have improved on thanks to alot of the people here in The Source and to my fellow team mates. ill make sure to explain each and every one of the card choices and any substitutions you could use with effective results. Also a very long list of why some cards are bad and why some cards dont work at all in this deck.

    cards with a * may be subed out with some cards. Read the explanation section to see what they could be.

    B/u Reanimator
    by Rodrigo Gonzalez
    61 cards.

    Spells:
    4x Reanimate
    4x Exhume
    4x Careful Study
    3x Intuition
    3x Brainstorm
    2x Repeal*

    Enchantments
    4x Animate Dead

    Creatures:
    4x Putrid Imp
    3x Oona's Prowler
    4x Bogardan Hellkite
    1x Tidespout Tyrant
    1x Simic Sky Swallower
    1x Sundering Titan
    1x Akroma, Angel of Wrath
    1x Phantom Nishoba
    2x Bringer of the Blue dawn*

    Lands:
    4x Bloodstained Mire
    4x Polluted Delta
    4x Underground Sea
    1x Watery Grave
    5x Swamp
    1x Island


    Sideboard:

    3x Pithing needle*
    2x Repeal
    4x Echoing truth
    4x Stifle
    2x Show and tell

    The Basics – Mandatory Cards

    Mandatory Critters

    DISCARD ENABLERS:

    Putrid Imp: He is the most efficient creature based discard at the cheapest cost. Allows the deck to go aggro and beat for some points when necessary, very efficient as a stall tactic.
    -------------------------------------
    Oona's Prowler: Second best creature to have on your side for a discard outlet, 3/1 flyer for just 2 is incredible, allows the deck to beat for the win rather than just rely on reanimation, also works as slight disruption but definitely not used for that. Can be a double edged sword with exhume yet the drawback of this is very minor.
    --------------------------------------

    THE FATTIES:

    *Bogardan Hellkite: these creatures make the deck competitive, without these the deck slows down alot. being able to deal 5 damage to the opponent or his creatures is a game breaker, even after he gets sword's he dealt a minimum of 5 damage. flying for evasion is only icing on the cake.
    Alot of creatures have been used in the past instead of the hellkites for creature control:
    *Crater hellion: unpayable echo makes this a no go. no damage to opponent.

    *Magma Giant: just not enough power to make the cut, pyroclasm at best, damages you too.

    *Thunder Dragon: he would be the next best creature to put in. yet only 3 damage to non flyers makes it good but not amazing.

    all of these fall short of the Bogardan Hellkites, thus shouldn't be considered. also i have found that the dragons themselves serve as enough creature control that more creature damage critters are not needed.
    ---------------------------------------
    *Tidespout Tyrant: This creature along with all your deck costing mostly 1-2 mana makes for your ability to lock out opponents if got out early, with if not answered on turn 2 it makes for a soft lock on opponents side of the board. Also the interaction with animate dead and any of your coming into play ability creatures makes him a very good stall breaker and being able to win games out of your ass.
    a 5/5 flyer isnt too shabby of a creature either.
    ---------------------------------------
    *Simic Sky Swallower: 6/6 flying untargetable trampler. if you get this against a control player, no wait, any player, they will not be bale to get rid of him easily, you will often ride his back to victory. he has no coming into play ability and has no haste, thus making him quite slow, but his ability to survive pretty much all the best removal in the competive decks to beat makes him worth playing.
    ----------------------------------------
    *Sundering Titan: 7/10 with no trample might seem very slow. yet his coming into play ability is often a game breaker against the highest competitive decks to beat ( landstill of any color variations, Thresh of any color variations, and pretty much anything that relies on multicolor mana bases)
    You might wonder why run this creature if i myself run a multicolor mana base, well the answer is simple, i will never loose more than 1 land to his coming into play ability ( and 1 to his leaving play as well). since you get to choose what lands to destroy you can choose one of your duals as a Swamp and an Island. and yes that works. will not often win the games by itself but will enable you to control the game from his appearance on.
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    *Akroma, Angel of Wrath: One of the biggest issues that have been brought to my attention have been the fact that i only have 1 akroma in the deck. with her being as powerful as she is why dont i just run 4? simple. Akroma is only good by herself, in multiples she sucks. Yeah she is one of the most powerful critters to be printed to date, yet having more than one doesnt end the game any quicker, so one is more than enough. but she is also vulnerable to swords, so in this regard the dragons are superior. and even more, she cant be brought back with 1/3 of your reanimation suite, animate dead and her are a no go once again.
    ------------------------------------------
    *Phantom Nishoba: 7/7 trampler with lifelink. This guy will win you most aggro races. Bieng semi indestructable gives you a great edge in stall situations often breaking them into your favour. Its very easy to ride his back to victory, and you also loose quite a bit of life in this deck and it facilitates the reanimation of additional creatures.
    -------------------------------------------
    *2xBringer of the Blue dawn*: Ok this here will seem like a very weird choice of card selections. Compared to the other creatures he seems very weak. yet his ability often wins you the games more times than even akroma. If he isnt answered you will gain so much card advantage that it will make it near impossible for your opponent to win, even if he counters a bunch of your cards. thus he is in the deck as a 2 of. As only a 5/5 trampler with no real evasion ability he will not often end the games but he will definitely bring out the guys that do very fast.
    like i also mentioned before, if i had to decide to make a slot a metagame slot it would have to be one of these.
    Some cards that could replace one of the bringers ( because i wouldnt take out both) would be:

    *Garza Zol, Plague Queen: Haste 5/5 flyer with card advantage engine. definitely worth the spot as a replacement card engine, i would use her if the metagame was more of an aggro based metagame.

    *Tombstalker: amazing in a deck that relies so much on a graveyard, he is good as a surprise! and people will not see him coming at all. 5/5 flyer is good, yet most of the time you will want to see him after turn 3. You will always feel a little ashamed of reanimating him. I had him as a one of in the deck before i found out the power of the bringer. Intuition for him and two reanimation spells and you have an almost guaranteed critter next turn.

    *Symbiotic Wurm: ok, this is another critter that alot of people will dismiss in a deck with no sacrifice outlets ( ill explain why cabal therapy is not here) but he is very very good in metagames with alot of stax and black white aggro or control decks.
    -------------------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------

    Other creatures that after being tested have produced very little good results and thus should not be considered and hopefully more explanation for their non inclusion will not be necessary:

    *Angel of Despair: used to be in the deck yet it fell short in oh so many ways... the creature was mostly used as a bad vindicate that costs you 7 life and hardly ever wins or does a game altering effect, without a way to constantly re use him he isnt all that good. (-recurring nightmare will be explained later too).

    *Blazing Archon: i have tried him before and this is mostly what happens:

    1-you end up paying 9 life against aggro to bring him out in play to loose him to eddict, gempalm incinerator or any kind of target removal of the sorts before it deals any damage or alters the game at all.

    2-if you get him against landstill, or any control or combo, his just a 5/6 with no haste that has no synergy with the rest of the deck to make an impression or give you a chance to race them.

    3-your aggro matchup is already amazing, other than ichorid combo ( which is combo more than aggro ) and for that you have cards after side board, which help against the deck more, plus unless you have 4 you will almost never see it before they go onlie and kill you. ( see TES and Belcher matchup results).

    so he is not as good in play as he is on paper.

    *Gigapede: he needs a discard outlet in order to be a discard outlet, and not powerful or evasive at all.

    *Undead Gladiator: certainly an uncounterable discard outlet yet too slow and not as good of a card drawing engine. EX:

    You would have to wait till turn two to cycle and then pay 1b to bring him back and discard the third turn and then hope to have a reanimate instead of a two mana reanimation spell to even be able to reanimate a creature that same turn, let alone have a third land. making it slow, very slow.

    *Kokusho, the Evening Star: hardcastable and also a pretty efficient creature. only thing about this creature that is bad is that in order for it to deal its damage instantaneously you would have to have a cabal therapy to sac it too. Swords to plowshares is still the biggest creature hoser and by not being able to deal the damage right away it makes the creature a dead play.

    *Uyo, Silent Prophet: this creature would be really good if it was cheaper and didnt have to be reanimated in the first place. yeah it could make a difference but you only want to see him if you have a lot of lands in play to be able to return them and then play a spell. its too slow.

    *Platinum Angel: i guess this could be your only out against decks like SI and Belcher... yet they probably will kill you before it comes down. interesting in multiples and makes it difficult to get beat or loose if more than one hit play, but not strong enough to warrant a maindeck slot.

    *Duplicant: i had this guy in my B/G reanimator deck and also my B/R version, but only because i had recurring nightmare in them, and not having blue makes it so you have to make the most use of your creatures, if you were able to re use him alot it would be good, but you already have an amazing game against aggro, so im sure you dont need him anyways.

    *Reya Dawnbringer: by herself she isnt that great. yeah free reanimation everyturn is great, no ... its amazing, but the fact is, if your playing against a deck that cant deal with her... you were going to win anyways. its a win more card with little effect in the ultimate outcome of the game.

    *Dragon Mage: you do not want to fill your opponents hands with cards, even if its a simetrical draw. if they didnt have an answer for him when he first hit, odds are they will draw into it and be able to get back in the game with a full set of fuel.

    *Volraths Shapeshifter: Interesting card, i noticed its not good enough of a beater and discard outlet. Thing i saw were that it would never turn into a creature after carefull study or intuition, since the cards you discard and search for go underneath it in the graveyard after resolution.

    *Dimir Doppelganger: you dont want to remove your creatures from your yard. sorry but this is a nono.

    *Bringer of the White Dawn: unless your going for a combo kill or have a ton of sundering titans in the yard and a way to sac them. no need for him.

    *Spirit monger: good creature yet theres better ones in the deck already, plus it doesnt win the game by itself at all...

    *RAZIA: was good in testing, yet not better than anything setup. Fulfills the same roll as akroma, but not as good. thus it didnt make the cut.

    *Kuro Pitlord: horrible, not being ale to reanimate him till turn 4 or later is BAAAAAAAD! very bad! also the loss of life is not going to save you. pay 5-6 life to kill one goyf... nah, its not worth it.

    *Nullstone Gargoyle: is not that good because it only eliminates one card and that isn't backbreaking to most decks. In his case, might as well run a Platinum Angel.( see platinum angel).

    *Verdant Force: not fast enough creature generation, descent but just not there.

    *Mindleech Mass: Suffers from the same problems as blazing Archon, good on paper, yet not so good in play. one hit does not spell game over and he gets worse as the game gets longer in turns.
    ---------------------------------------------------
    please if you have questions on any other creature ill answer your curiosity odds are i have tested it.
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    Last edited by rodgon666; 02-11-2008 at 06:04 AM. Reason: error upon submission

  2. #2
    REANIMATOR SUPREME
    rodgon666's Avatar
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    Re: [Deck] B/U Reanimator

    Mandatory Reanimation Spells

    * Reanimate: Best reanimation spell ever. just one mana to cast and the life loss is irrelevant in most cases. auto 4 of in any reanimation deck.
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    *Exhume: Second best reanimation spell ever printed, 1B to get any creature back, no life loss and more often than not your opponent will not get anything in play or they will get a creature that has no relevance in the game after you get your in. If you exhume a dragon you can kill their creature with its coming into play ability if you need it dead. Gets around tormods crypt and extirpate if you have a discard creature and another creature in hand EX:

    just remember exhume doesnt target until resolved. so if they get rid of your yard before... just dsicard one more fatty after their effect resolves and with exhume still on the stack, since priority goes back to you even if you already passed it before the crypt trigger. And taaadaaa! you have it in play.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    *Animate Dead: Third best reanimation spell printed. the -1 power and being able to loose it to a deed or disentchant make it worse than exhume and reanimate by alot of levels yet its better than other options out there. Also being able to take opponents creatures as well as the interaction with repel and the Tidesprout Tyrant make it even better.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    There are alot of reanimation spells in the game of magic. It really sucks that most of the best reanimation spells are old classics, and there hasnt been any good ones printed in years. here is a list of some that have the potential to be played in legacy, yet not any better than the ones i already have listed.

    *Life and Death: Having 2 reanimation spells that make you loose life will often result in so much lie loss youll be easy to pick off. Incredibly worse than animate dead and exhume. Not good enough to be included.

    *Stitch Together: not good. you have almost not way to achieve turn 2 threshhold or a consistent turn 3. if it didnt require it it would be there instead of animate dead, but its not so its not.

    *Recurring Nightmare: is at least on paper an amazing card to play in this deck. i have tested it and unfortunately discovered that at 3 mana it is slow in alot of situations. its not bad, yet its a kill more card. you do leave yourself open to losing to a random stifle.

    * Zombify, and any reanimation spell with a cost higher than 2 are too slow.
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    Spells/ Draw/ Additional discard---Synergy core if the deck.

    Its obvious that any reanimation deck has to have more than just huge fatties and efficient reanimation spells in order to win games. In order for this deck, in fact any deck to have any chance to be competitive it needs the proper spells to help it succeed in its struggle.

    these are the spells i have found till recently that have the best synergy and efficiency with this particular deck.

    *Careful Study: Single handily the best synergy card in the deck, allows you to dig for combo pieces ( reanimator decks are considered combo by the way) while replacing your creatures in hand with reanimation spells and other goodies. and for just 1 blue mana its both a discard outlet and a draw engine.
    --------------------------------------------------------------

    *Intuition: This spot used to be buried alive. but being instant speed and being able to fetch creatures and spells make it infinitely better than buried alive. The best search engine card for the deck.
    --------------------------------------------------------------

    *3x Brainstorm: Only 3 brainstorms since its only the secondary draw card, it only fulfills one duty and is good in conjunction with the 8 fetchlands. but there is no space for one more.
    -------------------------------------------------------------

    *Repeal*: This card is essential to the decks consistency. You often run across main deck problematic cards that cant be dealt with with your creatures. this also buys you time and digs for cards you need. buys tempo for your deck. other cards used and efficient in this slot are Echoing truth, and Chain vapors ( both of which in my own opinion are inferior to repeal just die to the card drawing).
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Other Spells not included due to inefficiency and lack of synergy:

    *Cabal Therapy: good card in the deck yet not really as necessary as people might think, the deck is meant to be played as an aggressive deck, if your trying to spend your initial turns maybe, perhaps getting some cards out of your opponents hands then your probably going to loose. first turns are always meant to get your discard outlets active and ready to go, and using this on yourself is a horrible way to waste this cards intended use.

    *Dark Ritual: a two color deck does not want this card, you only get a boost out of it about 50% of the time you draw it in your opening hand. which might not seem like something bad, yet the boost you might get sometime is often not necesery to win any games. you eliminate some speed in order to add consistency of the deck.

    *Attunment: this would be good if you had alot of flashback spells. as a search spell its good and its not that bad as a discard outlet as well, yet you want to be able to selectively discard your cards not most of you hand. as a top deck its pointless. ( same could be said about careful study, yet that one only costs one not 3)

    *Recall: 3 for one card, 5 for 2. not bad, its a little like a witness for blue. you would never want to see in your opening hand though. and without it in multiples its not worth it.


    *Forbid: you dont need to have control elements like counters, i would consider daze since its free and protects your initial turns, not forbid though, most of your mana and turns should be spent searching and reanimating, and to protect a reanimation spell you would need 5 mana, as a discard outlet its not that great.

    *Last Rites: not a bad card against combo, slow combo. almost any other deck your not worried about what they play enough to try to get it from their hands, instead of maybe swords or counters.

    *False Memories: fun card! i would love this in ichorid, but as a creature tutor it not as efficient. you want your cards that search to be able to be as flexible as possible and as you have it right now you have some of the most effective tutors for a deck in this style. brainstorm is the nuts... carefull study is both draw and discard, and intuition is just too flexible. on the other hand if you had alot of flashback cards it would be good, but this is not really the deck or this card.

    *Sickening Dreams: this is also a very good card to add to the deck, you could easily switch these for the oonas prowlers. this create an undisruptable way of discarding ( since the discard is as an additional cost to the mana payed for the spell) as well as an additional source of burn and damage. i used to have these in the B/G and B/R versions of the deck, and if you decide to go with either these or the oonas prowlers its completely a metagame call. if you have alot of aggro go for the dreams, if you have alot of aggro control go for the oonas.

    *Insidious Dreams: too expensive, it would be amazing at 3. but 4 is too much

    *Possessed Portal: hahaha really? common its 8 mana... hahaha its would be a late late late late late game card, if you want some disrution of the sort throw in braids cabal minion, nice recurring interaction and disruption of opponents strategy. not an optimal choice though.

    *Lotus Petal: look at what i said about dark ritual, the cards boost is not worth the consistency of the later game.

    *Hurkyl's Recall: im guessing this is to bounce cards like needle and also crypts... thats what repeal is for and it draws you a card.


    *Wheel and Deal: in megrim deck perhaps... but you never want to give an opponent 7 fresh cards... you never do. unless you have some way of doing something in which it helps you more than them. maybe in legacy owling mine? ( do i hear a contest deck winner here? hahaha)

    *Diamond Valley: its good if you have it... but irrelevant if you dont. never a good card to have in you opening hands, if it produced mana maybe... yet not even worth the investment. very conditional and useless unless you have multiples to draw it when you need it ( turns 2 or 3 and odds are you only want it turn 3 and if you dont use it turn 3 your critter is gone with the swords before you untap anyways.)
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    Lands

    the decks manabase is geared around getting a dual land turn 1 or 2. only 19 lands are ok since your spells cost 2 or 1 with exception of intuitions. removing as much land from the deck with 8 fetchlands and having some basics in case of a blood moon or anything of the sorts is good to have given the situation.
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    Side Board


    *Echoing Truth: are against combo like TES or anything with a lot of token generation. extra bounce against decks you need it.

    *Repeal: against small aggro, white weenie, suicide black, or if you fear crypt.

    *Show and Tell: against black aggro control or stuff such as shuffle truffle style decks, or landstill

    *Stifle: is also against combo and yet its so versatile that i side it in against alot more than that.

    *Pithing Needle*** Strictly a metagame slot. you choose. need to find something very good.

    ________________________________________________________________
    ________________________________________________________________


    Any percentages i post up are irrelevant, instead ill just describe what matchups are good and why their good and the bad and why as well.

    Matchups agaisnt the major decks are as follows:

    CONTROL:

    Landstill:
    In your favor. the only version that gives you any problems is the four color variation with edicts and spell snares main. Other version are simple to beat.
    Side In: Stifles

    The Rock:
    Pretty much a Bye. you have soo much time its hard for them to deal with your critters fast enough, Sundering titan is MVP in this MU.
    Side In: Echoing Truth.



    AGGRO CONTROL:

    U/G/b and U/G/r:
    Incredibly in your favor, they also give you massive amount of time and without swords to deal with your fatties they cant stop you.

    U/G/w:
    swords makes this matchup slightly more disadvantageous than the other versions of thresh. Yet its still pretty good, id say very slightly in your favor.
    MVP: Sky Swallower and Sundering Titan.

    Survival:
    Even. Unless you get control of the game early you will loose in tempo. you can still get the game under control later in the game but it really depends on who gets the upper hand first.
    MVP: Hellkites.

    Dragon Stompy:
    Slightly unfavorable. this deck is also very explosive and if they get a turn 1 mage it ruins you game play. it doesnt lock you out but its not very good for you without having almost any basics. Chalice 1 or 2 hurts alot, but trinisphere isnt a gamebreaker.

    AGGRO:

    Vial Goblins:
    Pretty much auto win. very close to a bye. If the opposing goblin deck has a white splash it still in your favor.
    MVP: all.

    Dead Guy ale:
    Even. This decks disruption is very annoying. After play testing i have found that dealing with more than 1 creature is very hard for them before you kill them. but then again if you run into their disruption very early the tempo goes in their favor, not drastically but it shifts.
    MVP: Sundering Titan, Skyswallower

    COMBO:

    Ichorid:
    Unfavorable. they are very fast, you can still race them, yet if they have the god hand your gonna loose. at least game 1. after sideboard you have a much better chance.
    Side In: Stifle, echoing truth
    MVP: ???
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    that was long.....
    Id like to milk that oreo... split it in half...and lick all that sweet sweet candy off. mmmmm... oreos....

  3. #3
    REANIMATOR SUPREME
    rodgon666's Avatar
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    Rods Reanimator!

    I just realized i could post this here too. since i meet the time i started the thread and it should meet the unique criteria.
    ________________________________________________________________

    B/U Reanimator

    Introduction to reanimator style decks, The bad... and the not so bad

    Big, huge, enormous critters and very cheap spells to bring them to life, that my friends is the basis and basics of all reanimator decks.
    To this point in legacy history the only true competition Reanimator deck to have had an absolute control of the format was a little deck called Dragon. The format was changed so much and the deck was so devastating to the format that the cards were soon banned. A true bummer for every single reanimation mage out there...

    From that point on there has been a complete lack of all reanimation style decks in the classification of competitive decks to beat. Being fun, easy and entertaining to play as well as very inexpensive to build has made these decks into a casual players wet dream, and also due to this fact a serious lack of testing and concise evolution of a deck just for winning's sake has been neglected. I hoped to change this little fact.

    I dont feel like im the only one that has made a big jump with the reanimator style decks, in fact there are several decks that have made it to a very good placing in tournaments besides from mine, one is Orlove's Reanimator which uses Zombie infestations in conjunction with Squees to generate a secondary win condition to the usual reanimation of an Akroma angel of wrath or Spirit of the night. It has also proven itself yet i find the deck to be lacking some power, and consistency.

    Decks like Cephalid Breakfast also dwell into reanimation, yet it just doesnt feel like a true reanimation deck, relying on just one reanimation spell and one creature to win the game is just too much of a combo then a deck approach.

    In the process of making a deck that would be competitive enough to win tournaments and consistent enough for people to consider as a contender i have tested countless variations and with all the different colors of the magic spectrum.
    here is the link to the B/g variation that won me the 5th place at the mana leak open a while ago:

    B/g reanimator by Rodrigo Gonzalez
    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ght=reanimator

    as you can see, it even though it placed very well along with yet another reanimator deck, it was still classified as me being lucky or as my pet deck that wasnt that good.

    ok so from that point on and after winning countless tournaments with that version in San Diegos Game Empire ( that i believe holds some of the biggest tournaments in a weekly basis in the west coast) i decided to leave that version be and move on to what i eventually found to be the stronger color splash B/U.

    here is the most rescent decklist that i have improved on thanks to alot of the people here in The Source and to my fellow team mates. ill make sure to explain each and every one of the card choices and any substitutions you could use with effective results. Also a very long list of why some cards are bad and why some cards dont work at all in this deck.

    cards with a * may be subed out with some cards. Read the explanation section to see what they could be.

    B/u Reanimator
    by Rodrigo Gonzalez
    61 cards.

    Spells:
    4x Reanimate
    4x Exhume
    4x Careful Study
    3x Intuition
    3x Brainstorm
    2x Repeal*

    Enchantments
    4x Animate Dead

    Creatures:
    4x Putrid Imp
    3x Oona's Prowler
    4x Bogardan Hellkite
    1x Tidespout Tyrant
    1x Simic Sky Swallower
    1x Sundering Titan
    1x Akroma, Angel of Wrath
    1x Phantom Nishoba
    2x Bringer of the Blue dawn*

    Lands:
    4x Bloodstained Mire
    4x Polluted Delta
    4x Underground Sea
    1x Watery Grave
    5x Swamp
    1x Island


    Sideboard:

    3x Pithing needle*
    2x Repeal
    4x Echoing truth
    4x Stifle
    2x Show and tell

    The Basics – Mandatory Cards

    Mandatory Critters

    DISCARD ENABLERS:

    Putrid Imp: He is the most efficient creature based discard at the cheapest cost. Allows the deck to go aggro and beat for some points when necessary, very efficient as a stall tactic.
    -------------------------------------
    Oona's Prowler: Second best creature to have on your side for a discard outlet, 3/1 flyer for just 2 is incredible, allows the deck to beat for the win rather than just rely on reanimation, also works as slight disruption but definitely not used for that. Can be a double edged sword with exhume yet the drawback of this is very minor.
    --------------------------------------

    THE FATTIES:

    *Bogardan Hellkite: these creatures make the deck competitive, without these the deck slows down alot. being able to deal 5 damage to the opponent or his creatures is a game breaker, even after he gets sword's he dealt a minimum of 5 damage. flying for evasion is only icing on the cake.
    Alot of creatures have been used in the past instead of the hellkites for creature control:
    *Crater hellion: unpayable echo makes this a no go. no damage to opponent.

    *Magma Giant: just not enough power to make the cut, pyroclasm at best, damages you too.

    *Thunder Dragon: he would be the next best creature to put in. yet only 3 damage to non flyers makes it good but not amazing.

    all of these fall short of the Bogardan Hellkites, thus shouldn't be considered. also i have found that the dragons themselves serve as enough creature control that more creature damage critters are not needed.
    ---------------------------------------
    *Tidespout Tyrant: This creature along with all your deck costing mostly 1-2 mana makes for your ability to lock out opponents if got out early, with if not answered on turn 2 it makes for a soft lock on opponents side of the board. Also the interaction with animate dead and any of your coming into play ability creatures makes him a very good stall breaker and being able to win games out of your ass.
    a 5/5 flyer isnt too shabby of a creature either.
    ---------------------------------------
    *Simic Sky Swallower: 6/6 flying untargetable trampler. if you get this against a control player, no wait, any player, they will not be bale to get rid of him easily, you will often ride his back to victory. he has no coming into play ability and has no haste, thus making him quite slow, but his ability to survive pretty much all the best removal in the competive decks to beat makes him worth playing.
    ----------------------------------------
    *Sundering Titan: 7/10 with no trample might seem very slow. yet his coming into play ability is often a game breaker against the highest competitive decks to beat ( landstill of any color variations, Thresh of any color variations, and pretty much anything that relies on multicolor mana bases)
    You might wonder why run this creature if i myself run a multicolor mana base, well the answer is simple, i will never loose more than 1 land to his coming into play ability ( and 1 to his leaving play as well). since you get to choose what lands to destroy you can choose one of your duals as a Swamp and an Island. and yes that works. will not often win the games by itself but will enable you to control the game from his appearance on.
    -------------------------------------------
    *Akroma, Angel of Wrath: One of the biggest issues that have been brought to my attention have been the fact that i only have 1 akroma in the deck. with her being as powerful as she is why dont i just run 4? simple. Akroma is only good by herself, in multiples she sucks. Yeah she is one of the most powerful critters to be printed to date, yet having more than one doesnt end the game any quicker, so one is more than enough. but she is also vulnerable to swords, so in this regard the dragons are superior. and even more, she cant be brought back with 1/3 of your reanimation suite, animate dead and her are a no go once again.
    ------------------------------------------
    *Phantom Nishoba: 7/7 trampler with lifelink. This guy will win you most aggro races. Bieng semi indestructable gives you a great edge in stall situations often breaking them into your favour. Its very easy to ride his back to victory, and you also loose quite a bit of life in this deck and it facilitates the reanimation of additional creatures.
    -------------------------------------------
    *2xBringer of the Blue dawn*: Ok this here will seem like a very weird choice of card selections. Compared to the other creatures he seems very weak. yet his ability often wins you the games more times than even akroma. If he isnt answered you will gain so much card advantage that it will make it near impossible for your opponent to win, even if he counters a bunch of your cards. thus he is in the deck as a 2 of. As only a 5/5 trampler with no real evasion ability he will not often end the games but he will definitely bring out the guys that do very fast.
    like i also mentioned before, if i had to decide to make a slot a metagame slot it would have to be one of these.
    Some cards that could replace one of the bringers ( because i wouldnt take out both) would be:

    *Garza Zol, Plague Queen: Haste 5/5 flyer with card advantage engine. definitely worth the spot as a replacement card engine, i would use her if the metagame was more of an aggro based metagame.

    *Tombstalker: amazing in a deck that relies so much on a graveyard, he is good as a surprise! and people will not see him coming at all. 5/5 flyer is good, yet most of the time you will want to see him after turn 3. You will always feel a little ashamed of reanimating him. I had him as a one of in the deck before i found out the power of the bringer. Intuition for him and two reanimation spells and you have an almost guaranteed critter next turn.

    *Symbiotic Wurm: ok, this is another critter that alot of people will dismiss in a deck with no sacrifice outlets ( ill explain why cabal therapy is not here) but he is very very good in metagames with alot of stax and black white aggro or control decks.
    -------------------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------

    Other creatures that after being tested have produced very little good results and thus should not be considered and hopefully more explanation for their non inclusion will not be necessary:

    *Angel of Despair: used to be in the deck yet it fell short in oh so many ways... the creature was mostly used as a bad vindicate that costs you 7 life and hardly ever wins or does a game altering effect, without a way to constantly re use him he isnt all that good. (-recurring nightmare will be explained later too).

    *Blazing Archon: i have tried him before and this is mostly what happens:

    1-you end up paying 9 life against aggro to bring him out in play to loose him to eddict, gempalm incinerator or any kind of target removal of the sorts before it deals any damage or alters the game at all.

    2-if you get him against landstill, or any control or combo, his just a 5/6 with no haste that has no synergy with the rest of the deck to make an impression or give you a chance to race them.

    3-your aggro matchup is already amazing, other than ichorid combo ( which is combo more than aggro ) and for that you have cards after side board, which help against the deck more, plus unless you have 4 you will almost never see it before they go onlie and kill you. ( see TES and Belcher matchup results).

    so he is not as good in play as he is on paper.

    *Gigapede: he needs a discard outlet in order to be a discard outlet, and not powerful or evasive at all.

    *Undead Gladiator: certainly an uncounterable discard outlet yet too slow and not as good of a card drawing engine. EX:

    You would have to wait till turn two to cycle and then pay 1b to bring him back and discard the third turn and then hope to have a reanimate instead of a two mana reanimation spell to even be able to reanimate a creature that same turn, let alone have a third land. making it slow, very slow.

    *Kokusho, the Evening Star: hardcastable and also a pretty efficient creature. only thing about this creature that is bad is that in order for it to deal its damage instantaneously you would have to have a cabal therapy to sac it too. Swords to plowshares is still the biggest creature hoser and by not being able to deal the damage right away it makes the creature a dead play.


    *Platinum Angel: i guess this could be your only out against decks like SI and Belcher... yet they probably will kill you before it comes down. interesting in multiples and makes it difficult to get beat or loose if more than one hit play, but not strong enough to warrant a maindeck slot.

    *Duplicant: i had this guy in my B/G reanimator deck and also my B/R version, but only because i had recurring nightmare in them, and not having blue makes it so you have to make the most use of your creatures, if you were able to re use him alot it would be good, but you already have an amazing game against aggro, so im sure you dont need him anyways.

    *Reya Dawnbringer: by herself she isnt that great. yeah free reanimation everyturn is great, no ... its amazing, but the fact is, if your playing against a deck that cant deal with her... you were going to win anyways. its a win more card with little effect in the ultimate outcome of the game.

    *Dragon Mage: you do not want to fill your opponents hands with cards, even if its a simetrical draw. if they didnt have an answer for him when he first hit, odds are they will draw into it and be able to get back in the game with a full set of fuel.

    *Volraths Shapeshifter: Interesting card, i noticed its not good enough of a beater and discard outlet. Thing i saw were that it would never turn into a creature after carefull study or intuition, since the cards you discard and search for go underneath it in the graveyard after resolution.

    *Dimir Doppelganger: you dont want to remove your creatures from your yard. sorry but this is a nono.

    *Bringer of the White Dawn: unless your going for a combo kill or have a ton of sundering titans in the yard and a way to sac them. no need for him.

    *Spirit monger: good creature yet theres better ones in the deck already, plus it doesnt win the game by itself at all...

    *RAZIA: was good in testing, yet not better than anything setup. Fulfills the same roll as akroma, but not as good. thus it didnt make the cut.

    *Kuro Pitlord: horrible, not being ale to reanimate him till turn 4 or later is BAAAAAAAD! very bad! also the loss of life is not going to save you. pay 5-6 life to kill one goyf... nah, its not worth it.

    *Nullstone Gargoyle: is not that good because it only eliminates one card and that isn't backbreaking to most decks. In his case, might as well run a Platinum Angel.( see platinum angel).

    *Verdant Force: not fast enough creature generation, descent but just not there.

    *Mindleech Mass: Suffers from the same problems as blazing Archon, good on paper, yet not so good in play. one hit does not spell game over and he gets worse as the game gets longer in turns.
    ---------------------------------------------------
    Id like to milk that oreo... split it in half...and lick all that sweet sweet candy off. mmmmm... oreos....

  4. #4
    REANIMATOR SUPREME
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    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    Mandatory Reanimation Spells

    * Reanimate: Best reanimation spell ever. just one mana to cast and the life loss is irrelevant in most cases. auto 4 of in any reanimation deck.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------

    *Exhume: Second best reanimation spell ever printed, 1B to get any creature back, no life loss and more often than not your opponent will not get anything in play or they will get a creature that has no relevance in the game after you get your in. If you exhume a dragon you can kill their creature with its coming into play ability if you need it dead. Gets around tormods crypt and extirpate if you have a discard creature and another creature in hand EX:

    just remember exhume doesnt target until resolved. so if they get rid of your yard before... just dsicard one more fatty after their effect resolves and with exhume still on the stack, since priority goes back to you even if you already passed it before the crypt trigger. And taaadaaa! you have it in play.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    *Animate Dead: Third best reanimation spell printed. the -1 power and being able to loose it to a deed or disentchant make it worse than exhume and reanimate by alot of levels yet its better than other options out there. Also being able to take opponents creatures as well as the interaction with repel and the Tidesprout Tyrant make it even better.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    There are alot of reanimation spells in the game of magic. It really sucks that most of the best reanimation spells are old classics, and there hasnt been any good ones printed in years. here is a list of some that have the potential to be played in legacy, yet not any better than the ones i already have listed.

    *Life and Death: Having 2 reanimation spells that make you loose life will often result in so much lie loss youll be easy to pick off. Incredibly worse than animate dead and exhume. Not good enough to be included.

    *Stitch Together: not good. you have almost not way to achieve turn 2 threshhold or a consistent turn 3. if it didnt require it it would be there instead of animate dead, but its not so its not.

    *Recurring Nightmare: is at least on paper an amazing card to play in this deck. i have tested it and unfortunately discovered that at 3 mana it is slow in alot of situations. its not bad, yet its a kill more card. you do leave yourself open to losing to a random stifle.

    * Zombify, and any reanimation spell with a cost higher than 2 are too slow.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Spells/ Draw/ Additional discard---Synergy core if the deck.

    Its obvious that any reanimation deck has to have more than just huge fatties and efficient reanimation spells in order to win games. In order for this deck, in fact any deck to have any chance to be competitive it needs the proper spells to help it succeed in its struggle.

    these are the spells i have found till recently that have the best synergy and efficiency with this particular deck.

    *Careful Study: Single handily the best synergy card in the deck, allows you to dig for combo pieces ( reanimator decks are considered combo by the way) while replacing your creatures in hand with reanimation spells and other goodies. and for just 1 blue mana its both a discard outlet and a draw engine.
    --------------------------------------------------------------

    *Intuition: This spot used to be buried alive. but being instant speed and being able to fetch creatures and spells make it infinitely better than buried alive. The best search engine card for the deck.
    --------------------------------------------------------------

    *3x Brainstorm: Only 3 brainstorms since its only the secondary draw card, it only fulfills one duty and is good in conjunction with the 8 fetchlands. but there is no space for one more.
    -------------------------------------------------------------

    *Repeal*: This card is essential to the decks consistency. You often run across main deck problematic cards that cant be dealt with with your creatures. this also buys you time and digs for cards you need. buys tempo for your deck. other cards used and efficient in this slot are Echoing truth, and Chain vapors ( both of which in my own opinion are inferior to repeal just die to the card drawing).
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Other Spells not included due to inefficiency and lack of synergy:

    *Cabal Therapy: good card in the deck yet not really as necessary as people might think, the deck is meant to be played as an aggressive deck, if your trying to spend your initial turns maybe, perhaps getting some cards out of your opponents hands then your probably going to loose. first turns are always meant to get your discard outlets active and ready to go, and using this on yourself is a horrible way to waste this cards intended use.

    *Dark Ritual: a two color deck does not want this card, you only get a boost out of it about 50% of the time you draw it in your opening hand. which might not seem like something bad, yet the boost you might get sometime is often not necesery to win any games. you eliminate some speed in order to add consistency of the deck.

    *Attunment: this would be good if you had alot of flashback spells. as a search spell its good and its not that bad as a discard outlet as well, yet you want to be able to selectively discard your cards not most of you hand. as a top deck its pointless. ( same could be said about careful study, yet that one only costs one not 3)

    *Recall: 3 for one card, 5 for 2. not bad, its a little like a witness for blue. you would never want to see in your opening hand though. and without it in multiples its not worth it.


    *Forbid: you dont need to have control elements like counters, i would consider daze since its free and protects your initial turns, not forbid though, most of your mana and turns should be spent searching and reanimating, and to protect a reanimation spell you would need 5 mana, as a discard outlet its not that great.

    *Last Rites: not a bad card against combo, slow combo. almost any other deck your not worried about what they play enough to try to get it from their hands, instead of maybe swords or counters.

    *False Memories: fun card! i would love this in ichorid, but as a creature tutor it not as efficient. you want your cards that search to be able to be as flexible as possible and as you have it right now you have some of the most effective tutors for a deck in this style. brainstorm is the nuts... carefull study is both draw and discard, and intuition is just too flexible. on the other hand if you had alot of flashback cards it would be good, but this is not really the deck or this card.

    *Sickening Dreams: this is also a very good card to add to the deck, you could easily switch these for the oonas prowlers. this create an undisruptable way of discarding ( since the discard is as an additional cost to the mana payed for the spell) as well as an additional source of burn and damage. i used to have these in the B/G and B/R versions of the deck, and if you decide to go with either these or the oonas prowlers its completely a metagame call. if you have alot of aggro go for the dreams, if you have alot of aggro control go for the oonas.

    *Insidious Dreams: too expensive, it would be amazing at 3. but 4 is too much

    *Possessed Portal: hahaha really? common its 8 mana... hahaha its would be a late late late late late game card, if you want some disrution of the sort throw in braids cabal minion, nice recurring interaction and disruption of opponents strategy. not an optimal choice though.

    *Lotus Petal: look at what i said about dark ritual, the cards boost is not worth the consistency of the later game.

    *Hurkyl's Recall: im guessing this is to bounce cards like needle and also crypts... thats what repeal is for and it draws you a card.


    *Wheel and Deal: in megrim deck perhaps... but you never want to give an opponent 7 fresh cards... you never do. unless you have some way of doing something in which it helps you more than them. maybe in legacy owling mine? ( do i hear a contest deck winner here? hahaha)

    *Diamond Valley: its good if you have it... but irrelevant if you dont. never a good card to have in you opening hands, if it produced mana maybe... yet not even worth the investment. very conditional and useless unless you have multiples to draw it when you need it ( turns 2 or 3 and odds are you only want it turn 3 and if you dont use it turn 3 your critter is gone with the swords before you untap anyways.)
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Lands

    the decks manabase is geared around getting a dual land turn 1 or 2. only 19 lands are ok since your spells cost 2 or 1 with exception of intuitions. removing as much land from the deck with 8 fetchlands and having some basics in case of a blood moon or anything of the sorts is good to have given the situation.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Side Board


    *Echoing Truth: are against combo like TES or anything with a lot of token generation. extra bounce against decks you need it.

    *Repeal: against small aggro, white weenie, suicide black, or if you fear crypt.

    *Show and Tell: against black aggro control or stuff such as shuffle truffle style decks, or landstill

    *Stifle: is also against combo and yet its so versatile that i side it in against alot more than that.

    *Pithing Needle*** Strictly a metagame slot. you choose. need to find something very good.

    ________________________________________________________________
    ________________________________________________________________


    Any percentages i post up are irrelevant, instead ill just describe what matchups are good and why their good and the bad and why as well.

    Matchups agaisnt the major decks are as follows:

    CONTROL:

    Landstill:
    In your favor. the only version that gives you any problems is the four color variation with edicts and spell snares main. Other version are simple to beat.
    Side In: Stifles

    The Rock:
    Pretty much a Bye. you have soo much time its hard for them to deal with your critters fast enough, Sundering titan is MVP in this MU.
    Side In: Echoing Truth.



    AGGRO CONTROL:

    U/G/b and U/G/r:
    Incredibly in your favor, they also give you massive amount of time and without swords to deal with your fatties they cant stop you.

    U/G/w:
    swords makes this matchup slightly more disadvantageous than the other versions of thresh. Yet its still pretty good, id say very slightly in your favor.
    MVP: Sky Swallower and Sundering Titan.

    Survival:
    Even. Unless you get control of the game early you will loose in tempo. you can still get the game under control later in the game but it really depends on who gets the upper hand first.
    MVP: Hellkites.

    Dragon Stompy:
    Slightly unfavorable. this deck is also very explosive and if they get a turn 1 mage it ruins you game play. it doesnt lock you out but its not very good for you without having almost any basics. Chalice 1 or 2 hurts alot, but trinisphere isnt a gamebreaker.

    AGGRO:

    Vial Goblins:
    Pretty much auto win. very close to a bye. If the opposing goblin deck has a white splash it still in your favor.
    MVP: all.

    Dead Guy ale:
    Even. This decks disruption is very annoying. After play testing i have found that dealing with more than 1 creature is very hard for them before you kill them. but then again if you run into their disruption very early the tempo goes in their favor, not drastically but it shifts.
    MVP: Sundering Titan, Skyswallower

    COMBO:

    Ichorid:
    Unfavorable. they are very fast, you can still race them, yet if they have the god hand your gonna loose. at least game 1. after sideboard you have a much better chance.
    Side In: Stifle, echoing truth
    MVP: ???
    Id like to milk that oreo... split it in half...and lick all that sweet sweet candy off. mmmmm... oreos....

  5. #5
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    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    Quote Originally Posted by rodgon666
    Gigapede: he needs a discard outlet in order to be a discard outlet, and not powerful or evasive at all
    I think you should run it anyway since you can guarantee what you Intuition for ends up in the gy and not your hand if you make him the third card.

    Quote Originally Posted by rodgon666
    deck called Dragon. The format was changed so much and the deck was so devastating to the format that the cards were soon banned. A true bummer for every single reanimation mage out there...
    This really isn't true at all. The cards were banned when Legacy was created along with stuff like Land Tax, Mana Drain, and Hermit Druid. Just saying.

    Fun deck, and a pretty good one. But how is this one any different from the ones I see commonly?
    Quote Originally Posted by Pinder
    I love it when Tacosnape reads me Seuss. It's the sodomy I don't like .

  6. #6
    REANIMATOR SUPREME
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    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    what makes this one deck different from all the reanimator decks out there is that this deck actually works in a tournament environment. ive still to see any other reanimator deck except for orloves reanimator deck and my B/G version in the mana leak open make it to the top 8 of any mayor tournament.

    besides from that the card choices and me being the first one ( as far as i know) to have come up with a B/U reanimator deck list that works in a legacy environment without trying to bite off the extended version. that makes it unique.

    also.

    i have placed first in one major one, and countless first places in SD in our weekly tournaments, thus i believe this makes it stand out alot more than any other legacy reanimator deck out there, since the focus of the deck is strictly to win and not just to have fun. ( not that its not fun to win ^_^ ) that also makes this deck unique.
    Id like to milk that oreo... split it in half...and lick all that sweet sweet candy off. mmmmm... oreos....

  7. #7
    REANIMATOR SUPREME
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    Re: [Deck] B/U Reanimator

    i have taken the freedom to post this deck in the Cangd deck challenge as well.

    also heres the link to all the previous information about the deck in the new and developmental section if anyone wants to take a look at how the deck turned out the way it did.

    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ead.php?t=8640
    Last edited by rodgon666; 02-11-2008 at 05:19 PM. Reason: wrong link
    Id like to milk that oreo... split it in half...and lick all that sweet sweet candy off. mmmmm... oreos....

  8. #8
    "Catches Bullets With His Teeth?"
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    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    I too am happy to see this here and hope people don't dismiss it because it's "reanimator". This deck is consistant and powerful; I happen to be in the boat that 61 cards is one to many, but it's hard to argue with resultsm (I think I would cut either a prowler or a b-storm). For what it's worth this deck crushed me in the finals of a 52 man tournament while I was playing white stax.

  9. #9

    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    Actually come to think of it this reanimator deck is probably one of the most innovative and effective decks there is in this contest other then mossnought in my opinion. I mean the deck looks very flexible and has answers for many different situations in the metagame. You should play this at the GP rod I bet you would do pretty well.

  10. #10
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    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    GP? for legacy?

    just let me know where and ill bring the other minoraTeam members with me to it to represent. hahahaha

    yeah and i do think this deck would do very good. its often looked at with condescending looks from my opponents that is until you beat them down twice in minutes or less. They dont expect it to be that explosive and non forgiving.

    punks hahahaha.
    Id like to milk that oreo... split it in half...and lick all that sweet sweet candy off. mmmmm... oreos....

  11. #11

    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    Quote Originally Posted by rodgon666 View Post
    GP? for legacy?

    just let me know where and ill bring the other minoraTeam members with me to it to represent. hahahaha

    yeah and i do think this deck would do very good. its often looked at with condescending looks from my opponents that is until you beat them down twice in minutes or less. They dont expect it to be that explosive and non forgiving.

    punks hahahaha.
    Looks like what I heard from Robert there isn't going to be an grand prix for legacy. However I think you should take it to gencon. It would be refreshing to see another San Diego player besides Nick Trudeau to top 8 at a legacy champs event.

  12. #12

    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    Quote Originally Posted by rodgon666
    *Animate Dead: Third best reanimation spell printed. the -1 power and being able to loose it to a deed or disentchant make it worse than exhume and reanimate by alot of levels yet its better than other options out there. Also being able to take opponents creatures as well as the interaction with repel and the Tidesprout Tyrant make it even better.
    Can you explain the interaction between "return to hand" and Animate Dead please? The leaves play trigger triggers, even if Animate Dead is returned to hand... or am I wrong here? hm... cant be...

  13. #13
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    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    oh. by that i mean that you have the possibility to re-reanimate a dragon or a the sundering titan for extra damage/control. Done at a good time it can win you alot of games that might have been really shady.

    its just some extra versatility to the deck, as well as being able to re- reanimate opposing Witnesses, or any of their creatures with good abilities, taking opposing goyfs after killing them with a dragon are always fun plays. Also making your opponent use their Graveyard hat on themselves is also like a slap in the face, hahaha
    Id like to milk that oreo... split it in half...and lick all that sweet sweet candy off. mmmmm... oreos....

  14. #14
    The Best of Both Worlds
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    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    I'm getting tons of hands where you are praying that your 1 reanimation-target creature goes all the way if BOTH your discard piece and your reanimation piece resolved. Is it just MWS, or does the deck only even show you 1-2 reanimation targets in the first 6 turns?

    I tried out a 60 card variation and did -3 Brainstorm -3 Intuition -1 Simic Sky Swallower, +3 Quicken +4 Mulldrifter. It's the only way I can think of making the deck not fizzle out short of taking Oona's Prowler out for Looter il-Kor. Seeing one Mulldrifter draws you ~4 cards, while Intuition isn't doing much extra as far as I can tell.

    You mentioned a problem with Exhume and Oona's Prowler. I don't think it's the end of the world either, but it does present a problem when combined with the fact that Bogardan Hellkite killing creatures means Exhuming later undoes his work...

    I would suggest replacing Exhume with Necromancy ("4th best" reanimation you might say?) because you may find yourself facing down a Counterbalance with 1cc and 2cc in their top 3 shutting off all your reanimation.

    Does a Green splash offer anything? Pernicious Deed? Krosan Grip? Sorry if it sounds like a suggestion that stretches and thereby dilutes the deck. Just wondering if it improves anything despite that cost.

  15. #15
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    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    Quote Originally Posted by Isamaru View Post
    I'm getting tons of hands where you are praying that your 1 reanimation-target creature goes all the way if BOTH your discard piece and your reanimation piece resolved. Is it just MWS, or does the deck only even show you 1-2 reanimation targets in the first 6 turns?

    I tried out a 60 card variation and did -3 Brainstorm -3 Intuition -1 Simic Sky Swallower, +3 Quicken +4 Mulldrifter. It's the only way I can think of making the deck not fizzle out short of taking Oona's Prowler out for Looter il-Kor. Seeing one Mulldrifter draws you ~4 cards, while Intuition isn't doing much extra as far as I can tell.

    You mentioned a problem with Exhume and Oona's Prowler. I don't think it's the end of the world either, but it does present a problem when combined with the fact that Bogardan Hellkite killing creatures means Exhuming later undoes his work...

    I would suggest replacing Exhume with Necromancy ("4th best" reanimation you might say?) because you may find yourself facing down a Counterbalance with 1cc and 2cc in their top 3 shutting off all your reanimation.

    Does a Green splash offer anything? Pernicious Deed? Krosan Grip? Sorry if it sounds like a suggestion that stretches and thereby dilutes the deck. Just wondering if it improves anything despite that cost.
    - It is just MWS

    - quicken? Mulldrifter?! These changes don't even make any sense, seeing as you are also taking out the cantrips and tutors (he uses intuition as an instant speed buried alive 1/3 of the time)... Necromancy is 3cc, this deck has few cantrips and 19 lands... he cannot fill out the curve that way!

    - 12/60 = 1/5 One out of every 5 cards is going to be a reanimation spell... you should see more than 1 reanimation spell in the first six turns.

  16. #16

    Re: [Deck] B/U Reanimator

    Have you ever considered running Trickster Mage over Oona's Prowler? Its costs one less and gives the possibility of more turn two reanimations.

    BTW congrads on getting this posted in the Established section.

  17. #17
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    Re: Rods Reanimator!

    If your going to cut one card to make it 60 cards... cut the 3rd Intuition. Don't tamper too much with the deck or else it won't work. Personally, I would only modify the big beater creatures in response to the meta, but nothing else.
    You know that nightmare where your running but you just can't get away...

  18. #18
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    Re: [Deck] B/U Reanimator

    I would also consider Imp's Mischief for the sideboard. The card works wonders against B/W, B/G/W , B/G, and Burn.
    You know that nightmare where your running but you just can't get away...

  19. #19
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    Re: [Deck] B/U Reanimator

    Quote Originally Posted by manofbio View Post
    Have you ever considered running Trickster Mage over Oona's Prowler? Its costs one less and gives the possibility of more turn two reanimations.

    BTW congrads on getting this posted in the Established section.
    I like the way you are thinking but the problem with Trickster Mage is that she requires to tap. In addition to the summoning sickness, she can only discard one card a turn.

    Oona's Prowler is able to discard more than one card a turn on the turn she comes into play. This is critical for the Reanimator deck when it's trying to play around Crypts and other graveyard hate.

    I would much rather consider the card Turbulent Dreams if you want to run an additional blue discard outlet.
    You know that nightmare where your running but you just can't get away...

  20. #20
    REANIMATOR SUPREME
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    Re: [Deck] B/U Reanimator

    Imps mischief is certainly a good sideboard card. it could easily replace the needle spot.

    Also Team Hero hit it dead on when it comes down to the issue of being able to discard more than one card per activation.

    Turbulent dreams is just not better than repeal. its good but not versatile enough since its not an instant.
    Id like to milk that oreo... split it in half...and lick all that sweet sweet candy off. mmmmm... oreos....

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