I dig your list, I'm running a singleton Intuition main. Weren't you running Maverick? Top8 at the Buncha Duals tourney? How would you compare your results or success with one over the other?
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I played my friend's (the guy who got T8 with bant maverick) aggro loam to a ~9th place finish at that. That weekend I lent reanimator to another friend who went to GP Indy.
I've been brewing RUG aggro loam since then, but didn't break it out at SCGRI because I got scared of combo :(
I do not play reanimator. But I've played against the local reanimator player a lot. I naturally understand why most of the monsters are 1-ofs, and I understand (and am highly amused by) the reason Jin is a 2-of. What I'm wondering is why don't people play more Gristlebrand? He is amazing and, coming from the other side of the board, terrifying. I cannot see any reason to not be playing multiple of him.
Honestly, that is likely due to the fact that Griselbrand is a relatively new toy for this deck. Also many places don't have weekly Legacy. Both of these would make it difficult to gauge how good he is. As a long time Reanimator affectionado and relatively decent pilot, I would say that he is one of the best generic targets. More specifically that if you are not sure what your opponent is playing, he would be a good option.
This has probably already been done, but lets dissect his abilities. He is a 7/7 for 8 mana. Therefore, he puts on a three turn clock. Moreover, if he is removed by a StP, you are up a decent amount of life (and if you Reanimated him you are only down 1 [this seems like a big upgrade over a blind Jin]). He flies and has lifelink. Evasion is always good and lifelink can be used to put you out of harm's reach or at a safe life total to go all Yawgmoth's Bargain on someone's ass. I am of the opinion that he is the real deal. Anyone else have any testing done with him?
BFeingersh is running a 2/2 split on Jin/Grizz. I'm sure other people will catch on and follow suit as well. Still, you want access to both since Jin just shuts down a lot of decks (combo) if they don't answer him on their next turn.
I'm running the 2/2 split also. Jin is better with protection and in the earlier turns. Gris Has never let me down anytime I've cast him. Both have screwed me with their draw7 but its bound to happen from time to time.
Here is my list:
CREATURES 9
2 Jin-gitaxias
2 Griselbrand
1 Iona
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Elesh Norn
1 Massacre Wurm
INSTANTS 18
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
2 Daze
2 Flusterstorm
4 Entomb
1 Intuition
SORCERIES 15
4 Reanimate
4 Exhume
3 Thoughtseize
3 Careful Study
1 Ponder
ENCHANMENTS 2
2 Animate Dead
LANDS 16
4 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
2 Island
2 Swamp
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Verdant Catacombs
SIDEBOARD
4 Show and Tell
2 Echoing Truth
2 Spell pierce
2 Duress
1 Empyrial Archangel
1 Angel of Despair
1 Iona
2 Ancient Tomb
I played in a local 10 person tournament to a 3-0-1 finish with this:
2 Griselbrand
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Blazing Archon
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection
4 Daze
3 Brainstorm
4 Careful Study
3 Faithless Looting
4 Entomb
4 Reanimate
4 Exhume
3 Animate Dead
2 Island
2 Swamp
1 Volcanic Island
1 Badlands
2 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Bloodstained Mire
SB: 3 Show and Tell
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 1 Cursed Totem
SB: 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
SB: 1 Terastodon
I played
2-0 against a BRW Zombies Deck similar to the Deck Sam Black has recently suggested, 2-0 against UW Stoneblade,
2-0 against TES
and drew the finals against RUG Delver (I lost to it 1-2 when we played for fun).
This list is very similar to what egosum suggested and Griselbrand really makes this archetype shine again. He is IMHO the best reanimation target and is a lot better tah Jin-Gitaxias due to his lifelink and big body.
One big problem Jin has is his frailty and that sometimes you reanimate him and gain nothing of it. This has all but changed with Griselbrand. I would even argue that he is nearly as good against combo as Jin-Gitaxias, as you just draw 14 cards and counter every relevant spell they play for the rest of the game.
Also I really liked the red splash as the cost for it is very low and the benefit of running additional Careful Studies, as well as cards that "cantrip" (I know they don't) in the sideboarded games is really big.
He's pretty much the only creature you always want to reanimate, just play 4 and laugh at all the guys who get their Jin Gitaxis STPed without drawing 7 cards for their trouble.
If you need a rough list,
4xGriselbrand
1xIona, Shield of Emeria
1xElesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1xTerrastadon
4xForce of Will
4xDaze
4xSpell Pierce
4xBrainstorm
4xCareful Study
4x Faithless Looting
4xEntomb
4xExhume
4xReanimate
8xFetchlands
3xUnderground Sea
1xVolcanic Island
1xBadlands
1xIsland
1xSwamp
Spell Pierce can feel a bit odd compared to Duress but you need your disruption to be more U oriented to support Force of Will and protect a resolved Griselbrand. I'd also highly consider Flusterstorm instead of or in addition to Spell Pierce in the MD or out of the SB respectively.
I m glad you enjoyed the list, I guess the monster selection (main/side) was according to your metagame. Hope we can hear more impressions of your testing with the version of the deck.
Greetings,
Iņaki.-
No I posted the list sarcastically. Are you serious? Do you even play the deck? My choices are based on my meta. The only questionable card in my mainboard is Intuition. This list has gone 4-0 on several occasions in a meta filled with current tier1 decks except for nicfit.
What is Angel of Destruction? :eyebrow:
Grand! Since when has Nicfit been a tier one deck? I am still not convinced that it is competitive. I have played against it on several occasions and never had any trouble. Plus, who in their right mind would play this format without that awesomeness that you get in blue?
I've also gone 2-2 but thats just how it goes. I still have yet play a single round against nicfit but aggroloam seems to be gaining steam. The only match I've had against loam I won 2-0 in short order, thanks to surgical extraction from the board. Anyways, I have no clue why anyone would want to play any deck without blue.
Good to know I am not totally crazy! I have played against it (Nicfit) while I was piloting U/R Delver, RUG Tempo, and Reanimator. I have never had any issues. It seems like a fairly poor deck to me. However, now that I have said that, I will likely lose every match up I play against it from now on.
So it is just a coincidence that most decks in the format play the following?
Brainstorm
Daze
Spell Pierce
Spell Snare
Force of Will
Some actually playing more like Ponder, Counterspell, Vendilion Clique, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor?
I have played with Therapy and it is a solid card. If you know what your opponent is playing, it can be absolutely brutal. However, normally, when you cast it, (unless you are in Magical Christmas Land) you will likely get a 1 for 1, assuming you even hit something. Then another subsequent 1 for 1 when you flash it back. However, the flashback cost is slightly poorer in terms of card economy than the strict 1 for 1 that most people think that it is. See you must spend a card in your graveyard (yes you already cast it, but it is still a resource while in your graveyard) and a creature to potentially strip cards from your opponent's hand. So in reality it is more like a 1.5 for X, where X is what you get your opponent to discard. Sure if you hit 2 cards that is awesome, and if you are sacrificing your Veteran Explorer that is even better, but many times by the time you have a creature, your opponent's hand might have changed dramatically. If you miss on your flashbacked Therapy, then you are obviously on the wrong end of this interaction. It is in many situations arguable that unless you hit two cards on your flashback, that you are still on the wrong side.
That is logic is all assuming your opponent is not playing Brainstorm, which in and of itself can totally blank your Therapy flashback. Also Spell Pierce has recently been gaining love. Thus, it is more likely that your first attempt at Therapy will be countered in a 1 for 1 fashion which likely favors the blue player. In this interaction you lose the ability to see your opponent's hand, which then makes the flashback infinitely worse.
How is casting Therapy for a card, and flashing it back for another card a 1 for 1? "Sacrifice a creature" is not a drawback in the decks that play Therapy. Also, how is getting the front end of a Therapy pierced an exchange that favors your opponent?
Obviously if you whiff on either end of the therapy, you're not going to be overjoyed with the result as a whole, but that's why I said if you can realistically hit it's awesome.
I don't mean to derail this thread, just questioning your logic.