I play Grave Titan in my Sideboard, for match-ups with Liliana (BUG). Usually one Griselbrand does the exchange then, but maybe some more experienced players can tell better.
Didn't like Tidespout Tyrant too much, so i cut it for Ashen Rider in the maindeck, to beat Karakas (not legendary).
I main Grave Titan for the above stated reasons, quality against Liliana and Small PoxOriginally Posted by Omega87
. It's also a quality racer, 10 damage is our fastest clock, 6 life is our shallowest hit, and it can swing all in and leave guys behind for the return swing. I've won a game 3 that started in turns off Grave Titan, three turns isn't enough to win off Griselbrand. I guess fringe-castable is a plus, especially lists packing sol lands. It basically serves the same spot as Inkwell Leviathan, as the big dumb guy with power and evasion that just gets there. Depending on the meta, you could main one and side the other, which is what I do.
Just got back from SCG. Rockin the mono black splash green reanimator list I've been working on
// Lands
4 [ZEN] Swamp (1)
4 [JGC] Bloodstained Mire
4 [RS] Bayou
3 [JGC] Wasteland
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
1 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
// Creatures
4 [AVR] Griselbrand
1 [ZEN] Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 [NPH] Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 [THS] Ashen Rider
// Spells
4 [US] Exhume
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy
4 [TE] Lotus Petal
4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
4 [TE] Dark Ritual
4 [7E] Duress
4 [PD3] Reanimate
4 [PD3] Entomb
3 [R] Animate Dead
// Sideboard
SB: 4 [M10] Pithing Needle
SB: 2 [DGM] Sire of Insanity
SB: 3 [WWK] Nature's Claim
SB: 4 [RTR] Abrupt Decay
SB: 1 [CFX] Inkwell Leviathan
SB: 1 [THS] Ashen Rider
went 6-3 overall out of 9 rounds. Pretty bad that I lost one of my rounds to a game loss for handing in my decklist a few mins late.
2-0 Pox
0-2 BUG (game loss)
2-0 Burn
2-1 RUG
0-2 Miracle (Savage topdeckz)
2-0 Manaless Ichorid
0-2 BUG
2-0 Elves
So a few thoughts,
This deck is absolutely awesome and fun to play. I'll definetally be doing a lot more testing to see how the mono black has been working for me. I think I need more testing in the BUG matchup to determine if it's actually bad or not yet.
UR Dreadstill creator and BRx WGD Combo Pioneer
How was your game against miracles? i mean, you play abrupt decays? And against BUG you should play grave titan, especially with dark rituals to cast it. Did you spend some thoughts about playing liliana, could be nice too?!
The miracle matchup I drew 14 cards and didn't find a single duress effect to discard the jace sitting in his hand on a crucial turn. I got very unlucky in that round. I agree Grave Titan should be considered but not maindeck-worthy...I will definitely I think sideboard one however. I thought about Lilliana...IDK if she's too slow to play here or not.
UR Dreadstill creator and BRx WGD Combo Pioneer
In the standard build liliana is definatly too slow, but with dark rit first turn very powerful!
Ok the match against miracles was very unlucky...
I play 14 lands in UB reanimator, with 8 creatures, one is grave titan, because every idiot plays BUG at the moment...
Top 8'd the most recent DHG dual land tournament. Went X-1-1 ID my last round. My only loss in swiss was to Miracles. Terrible matchup much?
Anyways, here's the list.
// Lands
5 [ZEN] Swamp (1)
4 [JGC] Bloodstained Mire
2 [RS] Bayou
1 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
3 [JGC] Wasteland
// Creatures
4 [AVR] Griselbrand
1 [THS] Ashen Rider
1 [NPH] Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 [ZEN] Iona, Shield of Emeria
// Spells
4 [US] Exhume
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy
4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
4 [TE] Dark Ritual
4 [PD3] Reanimate
4 [PD3] Entomb
4 [R] Animate Dead
4 [V09] Lotus Petal
3 [MM] Unmask
1 [FNM] Duress
// Sideboard
SB: 4 [M10] Pithing Needle
SB: 2 [DGM] Sire of Insanity
SB: 4 [WWK] Nature's Claim
SB: 4 [RTR] Abrupt Decay
SB: 1 [CFX] Inkwell Leviathan
Couldn't find the 4th Unmask for the maindeck so had to roll a 3/1 split. Matchups
2-0 Elves
2-1 UG Infect
2-0 RUG
2-0 BUG
0-2 Miracles (drew karakas game 1 in opening 7 ;( )
ID
Top 8: 1-2 RUG
Shitty part about game 3 is I literally hadn't really needed to mull the entire tournament but had to mull to 4 in g3. Still almost got there too. LOL, anyways cheers fellow reanimator players.
-Rood
UR Dreadstill creator and BRx WGD Combo Pioneer
Took down a local tournament going 4-0 today (no top 8) and winning $200 in store credit (finishing off my trops FINALLY). We live in a sort-of remote area so there were only 9 people out today which meant 4 round Swiss and no top 8, but Legacy is alive and well out here with most people playing pretty competitive decks.
List:
// 14 land (need deltas)
4 Underground Sea
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Flooded Strand
2 Marsh Flats
2 Verdant Catacombs
// 8 creatures
4 Griselbrand
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Grave Titan
// 4 artifacts
4 Lotus Petal
// 15 instants
4 Entomb
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
// 19 sorcery
4 Careful Study
4 Reanimate
2 Thoughtseize
3 Ponder
3 Exhume
2 Show and Tell
1 Animate Dead
// Sideboard
2 Show and Tell
1 Ashen Rider
1 Inkwell Leviathan
3 Pithing Needle
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Massacre
2 Ancient Tomb (should be City of Traitors)
2 Thoughtseize
Tournament Report:
Round 1:
Joe playing Sneak & Show:
G1 - Had turn 2 Entomb into Reanimate Grisel, drew 7, beat down and Forced his Show & Tells along the way -- nothing too special, just average g1 walk in the park.
G2 - Kept hand with petal reanimate thoughtseize gris force storm and pithing needle, he played land passed, I drew iona, played nothing, and pitched grisel EOT hoping to peel a land to go seize into reanimate. Unfortunately, I never drew another land and eventually just died to one Emrakul (annihilating my 0 permanents) followed by 2nd off sneak attack -- i tried needling sneak at one point but he pierced and had graf anyway which thankfully let me know what hate he was on (though I have 0 outs to that other than show).
g3- This game was INSANE -- He went t1 cage which I forced, then I EOT Entombed for Gris with Exhume in hand -- he played t2 cage which i had no outs to, so we went draw go for about 15 turns -- in the meanwhile I Needled Sneak (which I later found out was the turn before he drew his 4th land) then with 3 minutes left on the round clock I sculpted my hand to get as much mana as possible -- with time called in the round I had 4 sea, island swamp and tomb. Turn 1 of extra turns I put down 3 lotus petals and then HARDCAST Iona with 0 countermagic backup and he had....... nothing! Iona resolved, I named blue. Next turn (turn 3 of extra turns) I cast a Griselbrand and swung with Iona, putting him to 7. Next turn (last turn of extra turns) I killed him -- he dropped his hand showing 2 Emrakul, Giselbrand, Sneak Attack X3 and Misdirection ... really dodged a bullet there.
Round 2:
David playing UWR Delver
G1 - He had t1 delver, so I drew for the turn and discarded Elesh Norn. After getting hit for 3 I Reanimated Norn and went down to 10 life to take out the flying insect -- He had flipped Delver with swords but I knew I had to put that part of the game behind me while wiping his board so went for it -- at 14 after swords he dropped SFM, TNN and searched a batterskull -- great -- drew nothing else relevant and died -- mistake was made in this game where I entombed EOT when I should've drawn the Show & Tell that was on top of library as extra insurance as I had a Gris in hand.
G2 - On the play, first turn Pondered into nothing relevant (searching for a Force as I had Entomb Reanimate in hand), shuffled and drew a Bstorm -- EOT I entombed for Griselbrand to draw out countermagic and he had no responses -- Next draw I peel Ancient Tomb off the top, cast Show & Tell, and am a little surprised he lets it resolve as it was my counter-bait, he lets it resolve and puts down RIP (clearing Gris) to my Inkwell Leviathan (LOL) -- he reads the textbox, and concedes telling me he has 0 outs in his 75.
G3 - He leads T1 delver and I lead T1 Thoughtseize him, taking Swords -- he had SFM ponder Bstorm land land -- upkeep he Bstorms and flips Delver, attacking me down to 14 -- I EOT entomb an Iona and next turn Reanimate it, putting me to 5 life -- naming white to shut off SFM. He must've brainstormed away his ponder as he just passed the turn back immediately with his Delver staring down my 7/7. I was fearing bolt but had a Force in hand and didn't see myself winning if I didn't take the aggressive line. Next turn I Entomb -> Exhume an Elesh Norn and he concedes showing Swords Swords SFM in hand. Turns out he sided out all his bolts vs me, something I told him he probably shouldn't do.
Round 3:
Zach playing Alluren
Note: Wow, what a fun deck -- this guy really just loves Legacy and was a blast to play against. It's nice to see passionate folk keeping archtypes alive and he was doing fine at 2-0.
G1: Turn two Entomb Reanimate Griselbrand got there drawing 21 cards over the course of the game while he didn't really do anything (played 2 fetchlands...). I say this a lot about my G1s but really they're just that easy. If you're not winning G1 you're playing Reanimator wrong! I'll make a mental note to take pictures of my opening hands as mulliganing is probably the hardest part about G1.
g2: I T1 Thoughtseized myself and put a Griselbrand in the yard, fetching Swamp rather than Usea since I only had one land in hand fearing Wasteland -- this ended up being a very bad move as he Forced my Reanimate leaving me looking for any blue source for the rest of the game. He brought the beats with Baleful Strix and Cavern Harpy while I sat helpless drawing Bstorm and Show & Tell. I eventually found a petal to cast Show, putting down a Gris vs his Alluren, and immediately drew down to 2 life. Stupid me forget he plays Parasitic Strix, so despite me being able to reanimate Elesh next turn he drops Imperial Recruiter to find Parasitic Strix to kill me -- stupid play on my part now knowing rogue deck.
g3: Went as normal, T2 Entomb Reanimate Griselbrand, drew 7, t3 Elesh Norn while he basically did nothing.
Round 4:
Grady playing Zombardment
Note: Surprised to see this deck in the Finals, but then again Drew Levin knows Cabal Therapy + Bloodghast is nothing to be trifled with. I've tested with this guy before so know if I can avoid his copious discard I'll probably be OK.
G1: He had t1 Deathrite Shaman which scared me, but I came to find out (at end of game) he accidentally forgot to put a Bayou in his deck -- yeah... that happened. He dropped a turn 2 Liliana of the Veil and +1d, him pitching souls to my Griselbrand. Next turn I Exhumed and drew 14 to find.... nothing relevant whatsoever... a bunch of careful studies and ponders and land -- 0 petals 0 entombs so couldn't do anything degenerate that turn. He then -2'd Lili to take out my Gris and cast Young Pyromancer. His only mana up was DRS so I decided to Daze the YP assuming he would drop a green source for DRS (which later I found out didn't matter) -- this was probably an OK play as in any normal game I would've wanted him to lock down the DRS so I could get to my GY but in this specific instance I probably should've just FoW'd because it set me back a land drop that almost lost me the game (see the Bstorm I did that won me the game, if I didn't hit Petal it was lights out). Next turn I Careful Studied away an Iona and a Grave Titan and Animate Dead'd the Titan to get some blockers (he had a DRS, Young Pyromancer and like 2 elementals from casting some Faithless Lootings) -- next turn he -2d the Lili again, binning her, with me saccing a zombie, then Innocent Blooded and took out another zombie, then fb'd souls with me at 5 life -- this was a pretty big decision moment for me as I had to decide whether or not I could survive the token swing with my Titan + Zombie token. He had YP + 2 Elementals, if I Forced he would have had 3 Elementals + YP to my 3 blockers, vs 2 Elementals + YP to my 2 Blockers. I eventually decided to let that resolve and hold up the Force for something more relevant. In retrospect (and during the game) I figured not Forcing the Souls flashback was a bad move as it essentially put me dead on board, but if I remember correctly I would've had to pitch Bstorm so I held off -- next turn I cast Bstorm and hit perfect -- Entomb, petal, exhume (had Sea Island Sea (tapped from BS)), went entomb, petal exhumed Elesh Norn, gg.
G2: Starting hand Exhume x2, Entomb, Reanimate, Ponder, land land -- he entombed for Cabal Therapy turn 1, I went land go, next turn he cast Faithless Looting, pitched 2 Bloodghasts, then went land tThoughtseize. In response I Entombed for Gris, so he took my Reanimate, and FB'd Therapy to snag my 2 Exhumes. Luck has it I topdecked a Reanimate, and went to 11 to get Gris in, thought for a bit before cracking strand to go to 10 (enabling Bloodghast haste) to cast Ponder (I did this to search for Force and clear the top 3 if it was garbage) shuffled off Ponder and drew Ancient Tomb, passed turn at 10 life. He casts Innocent Blood during his turn (and has land to bring back Ghast, or so I assumed). This was a tough decision, if I let it resolve he swings for 4 putting me to 6 with nothing but Show & Tell in hand and the top of my deck -- however if I draw 7 and miss on FoW I'm just dead -- I figured I'd be dead anyway if I let it resolve as I would only have 3 turns to find anything and didn't have any drew spells, so I take the winning aggressive line and draw 7, get there and Force the Innocent Blood! His followup is to Loot away some garbage. Next turn I bash and pass at a healthy 9, he has nothing else, attacks me to 5, then I exhume an Elesh and put the game away.
Thoughts: My list is pretty aggressive so I took lines accordingly. I felt like I got pretty lucky to win, particularly in the r4 and r1 vs Sneak, but I also think that that goes with the territory of Reanimator and combo in general -- just shove and hope they don't have it.
I don't think I Dazed a relevant spell all game, so I don't know if they're any good... I wanted to try them despite them falling out of favor recently just because I didn't like only relying on the 4 FoW as protection. I didn't get a T1 combo all day which sucked so that made me think countermagic is all the more necessary especially when you're going for it vs their open mana.
I liked the 2/2 main/sb split with Thoughtseize. I was testing with all 4 in the main that Cucunato ran but wasn't feeling it. Thoughtseizing myself to put a monster in the yard was cute but always felt a little bad. I enjoyed being on the draw and pitching a fatty EOT and that took a lot of people offguard. I tried to find an Empyrial Archangel from the store last minute but didn't find one. Almost switched out Inkwell Leviathan for Blazing Archon for the S&S matchup but am happy I stuck with Leviathan as it won me the UWR Delver match.
All-in-all it's a very fun deck to play and was a great respite from my usual Esper Deathblade grind -- I think I'll continue to test and switch between the two to keep my meta on its toes.
Anyone else finding Iona extremely crappy? I want to play a Sire of Insanity over her I think. Just gets owned by Karakas and doesnt seem worthwhile anymore.
UR Dreadstill creator and BRx WGD Combo Pioneer
Is there another thread for the burning reanimator deck here or do people just discuss both versions in this thread?
This what you are looking for?
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ing-Reanimator
Thanks
Went 3-0-2 (2 IDs, 6-0 in games) yesterday to make top 8. Beat a innovative Bant StoneCascade deck with 2-1 to split the top4 prizes.
Swiss Matches:
2-0 Miracles
2-0 Elves!
2-0 Miracles
Used the following list:
Deck worked like a charm.Land (14)
3x Flooded Strand
4x Polluted Delta
2x Marsh Flats
3x Underground Sea
1x Island
1x Swamp
Instant (13)
4x Brainstorm
4x Entomb
1x Daze
4x Force of Will
Enchantment (1)
1x Animate Dead
Sorcery (21)
4x Ponder
4x Careful Study
4x Reanimate
3x Thoughtseize
4x Exhume
2x Show and Tell
Creature (7)
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Ashen Rider
3x Griselbrand
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Inkwell Leviathan
Artifact (4)
4x Lotus Petal
Sideboard (15)
2x City of Traitors
1x Engineered Explosives
3x Pithing Needle
1x Thoughtseize
1x Echoing Truth
2x Show and Tell
1x Massacre
1x Grave Titan
3x Pack Rat
Jeroen van Beeck
DCI: 8210489125
Mentor | Blade | LandStill
What advice do you have for beating miracles? Did you know the meta going in and did that have an impact on what fatties you main boarded?
I beat Miracles in this case by sheer speed. Game ones were won on the back of him tapping out and not having FoW. Game two was won in both cases by a non-properly answered SnT (FoW backup or seize). Pack Rat was my backup plan and engine if need be.
The meta here is a lot of Miracles, BUG Tempo and UWR DelverBlade. Combo is making a return slowly. The only other reanimator player also went top 8 (after picking the deck up in the morning, lol). I chose to maindeck the Inkwel now in stead of Grave Titan as I expected less Liliana's. Deathrite really doesn't matter for this deck either. Ashen Rider was a concession to Miracles (Karakas) and SnT.
Jeroen van Beeck
DCI: 8210489125
Hi there, I was readding the last pages and I have a important question, is JTMS necesary on the SB? Obv is good vs miracles and other control matchups but I prefer (As one member said) the Pack Rat in SB It seems so good vs miracles (If we protect it obv)
Thanks and regards!^^
Same, she's very underwhelming in what used to be her main role: naming white. Now she's relegated to beating combo decks, tribal decks, and burn, which I'm okay with. She's sided out every other match, sure, but that's no reason to trash her.
By the time I can cast Jace, miracles has long since built it's entire control castle and is just running the clock out. I had to look pack rat up, tbh. It's a tiny guy that makes one tiny guy a turn by discarding cards? Vs 4 terminus 2-3 swords 2-3 council's judgment 1-2 supreme verdict counter balance top and 3 jace? What wizardry is this and give me your miracles opponents plz.
--
Anyway I'm back from a 6 month hiatus from magic due to work, played in an scg and went x-3 plus some good runs at local stuff, getting back in the swing of things. Apparently they printed some 3/1 fish that's immune to everyone who's playing fair (whatever, it means less cliques and more stoneforges, so I'm down with that), a mono white vindicate that blanks shroud creatures and rockets our worst two matchups (DnT, Miracles) to the top tier, and legacy is effin' saturated in karakas.
If anyone cares, here's the current list:
Silver Bullet Reanimator
Mana: 19
4 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Flooded Strand
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Island
2 Swamp
4 Lotus Petal
Targets: 8
1 Griselbrand
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Grave Titan
1 Empyrial Archangel
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Combo: 11
2 Show and Tell
4 Reanimate
4 Exhume
1 Animate Dead
Protection: 7
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
Draw/Tutor: 15
4 Entomb
4 Careful Study
4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
SB: 15
3 Dark Ritual
2 Flusterstorm
2 Thoughtseize
2 Misdirection
2 Echoing Truth
2 Massacre
1 Show and Tell
1 City of Traitors
I dropped the red splash that treated me so well in Milwaukee last year as probably too cute. Izzet Charm is good, but less so in current meta. Young Pyro side was cool against control, though.
Answers to some of the more obvious questions:
Only 1 Griselbrand? - playing the deck since he was printed the numbers main went 4...3...2............1. The # of him I play main is indirectly proportional to the number of karakas in the meta. Anecdotally, he just never stays out. He's the best ever vs tempo and people who don't "have it" - my opponents always seem the "have it", so I go for silver bullets instead. I don't see much sneak and show either, which he's great against.
Jin-Gitaxis, really? - Yes, I never got off this train, he's amazing. Dat turn 1. Later game, you very often need a new hand and can't afford to pay life to do it. Pet card alert**
Grave Titan main? - grindy-ass game 1s are where this idiot shines. good vs lili. Hardcast him plenty of times vs control, especially with rits out of side. 10 damage, too, he actually kills people.
Empyrael Archangel - she's good again, in this meta, in my opinion. Good defense if Legends/Titan isn't an option.
Dark Rit side? - Sometimes you have to prove you're the combo deck. Like vs fair decks and miracles where letting them have a turn 2 means a long boring loss. And vs other combo. Man, why aren't these main again?
No Ashen Rider - Tested a lot, same problem as the angel of despair, just isn't good enough. It's not even that great vs show and tell, as they almost never cast SnT proper, it's a 1-of that has to be in your hand, and they run cliques. If I still ran 3 griselbrand this is where I'd mention that he's better to have in hand than rider anyway.
Pack rat kills in 4 turns (if you're aggressive and go 2->6->12=20) counting the turn you play it, is harder to counter than our other spells, doesn't care about grave hate, and doesn't require that you commit many cards to make his clock fast, plus you get to choose which cards to commit, and he has the benefit of spot removal being bad against him unless used immediately. In addition, the most successful miracles players in my meta all board out several terminus and swords to plowshares against reanimator (not against me anymore after they got pack ratted once) since once a reanimation spell resolves, those cards don't do as much, their goal becomes to stop the combo, not deal with us after we go off.
I'm not saying Pack Rat is awesome, though I have been loving it, I'm saying that your analysis of it doesn't make much sense to me in the context of the matchup.
It's also not surprising that you're having problems with karakas since you're running 0 pithing needles in your 75. I'm really curious as to why you're not running it since in my experience it is an all-star in so many matchups, could you explain your reasoning?
Have you really found it necessary to run both inkwell and empyrial? In my experience they fill the same role. Finally, I am also a lover of Jin-Gitaxias, the mindtwist is severely underrated, as is 10 life to draw 7 rather than 15.
I'm running the standard list right now but was wondering if anyone has tried out Abrupt Decay in the side board? I was thinking maybe -
MAINBOARD
-1 island
-1 swamp
+1 Bayou
+1 Tropical Island
SIDE BOARD
+3 Abrupt Decay
It seems to fight through a ton of hate including Counter Balance and Chalice of the Void. It also takes out Rest in Piece, GD Cage, Lilly, and darn near everything else that can stop us.
Anyone try this yet?
My list plays with 4 in the board. It's by far the best card we can bring in from the side.
UR Dreadstill creator and BRx WGD Combo Pioneer
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