[Deck]BUx Reanimator

[Grave_]

I just got back from an IQ running 4 petals, 4 Thoughtseize, & Admonition Angel over Tidespout. Grave titan was brought in from the sb almost every game
lotus petals were always good, 2-3 Thoughtseizes might have been a bit better, but I don't know. I never really got to try admonition angel in action, but I didn't miss tidespout tyrant much either. Griselbrand was the star today. Overall I was 1-4-1. I think I had a streak of bad luck which is amplified by me not being very good at choosing mulligans. This is the breakdown:

Round 1 vs elves: 0-2
Game 1: I Thoughtseize & decide to take glimpse instead of craterhoof I Bin elesh Norn, counter gsz, & get killed.
Game 2: mulligan to a 5 card no land hand & scoop when he plays deathrite turn 1.

Round 2 vs Punishing Jund: 1-2
Game 1: I Get a turn 2 Griselbrand & A turn 3 Elesh Norn. Go game 2.
Game 2: I draw blanks all game until I can hardcast grave
titan thanks to ancient tomb. They have an answer of mealstrom pulse on tokens & Liliana's -2.
Game 3: couldn't reanimate griselbrand before deathrite went online, had angelangel in hand all game, but no show & tell found despite boarding the two more in.

Round 3 vs ANT: 1-2
G1: Turn 1 I Thoughtseize his Dark ritual. Next turn he sees the hand of iona & Show and Tell in my hand & manages to go off with past in flames before I get a creature out.
G2: A long game, I Thoughtseize him twice turn 1 & once on turn 3. After eventually exhuming griselbrand I go to 4 trying to counter chain of vapor. I get it back out on my next turn but he top decks another chain of vapor & tendrils for game.
G3: had a Thoughtseize & 2 Flusterstorm, but lost when he jammed more rituals at me than I had mana to counter. He gave the the Round 2-0 so that his group could go home since they were all 0-3.

Round 4 vs Smallpox: 1-1-1
This guy stalled hard & it paid off for him since one More turn would have made me win game 3.
Game 1: I have a hunch hes playing belcher & keep a hand with 2 FoW+2 blue cards. He locks me out a few turns in & kills me with a manland.
Game 2: I reanimate grave titan on turn 1.
Game 3:he breaks out a chains of mephistopheles & takes us to time by taking Turns upward of 3 minutes each. I eventually get out grave titan, but Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale kills off the tokens most of the time. He's defenseless at 2 life & passes the 5th turn after a 2 minute time extension for a draw.

Round 5 vs Dredge: 0-2
I wasn't sure what to counter since he never tried to go off without 2 separate enabler spells & I never have multiple in my hand.
Game 1: tried countering cabal therapy to keep my combo, forgot he had more in the graveyard & a few creatures.
Game 2: I cast a Show & Tell & we each drop our own griselbrands. After some jostling for life a few turns, he gets flamekin zealot &.Some tokens.

Round 6 vs MUD: 1-2
Game 1: He fails to exhume wurmcoil when I exhume griselbrand twice. It cost him the game.
Game 2: t1 Chalice on 1 shuts me down.
Game 3: I never get there & I die to a couple of creatures.

I have to hold off on replacing my creatures because I still haven't tested angel. I usually sideboarded out 2 Reanimate & 2 careful Study for SnT & flusterstorm / sol land depending on the matchups.

[Omega87]

Hey, i am going to visit my local event on Saturday in Munich. My build looks a bit different now, as i decided not to play Show&Tell in the maindeck. I did cut the Massacres in the Sideboard, because i do not want to waste these Slots for a horrible Match-up like D&T. So i try to improve our better but still critical matches.
Please take a look and tell me what you think about it.
Regards, Stephan

My List:

Mana: 17
4 polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Island
1 Swamp
3 Lotus Petal

Business: 16
4 Entomb
4 Reanimate
4 Exhume
4 careful Study

Protection: 12
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Spell Pierce
2 Thoughtseize

Carddraw: 8
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder

Creatures: 7
4 Griselbrand
1 Iona
1 Elesh Norn
1 Tydespout Tyrant


Sideboard: 15
2 City of Traitors
4 Show and Tell
2 Jace the Mind Sculptor
3 Pithing Needle
2 Flusterstorm
1 Grave Titan
1 Thoughtseize

[Grave_]

Hey, i am going to visit my local event on Saturday in Munich. My build looks a bit different now, as i decided not to play Show&Tell in the maindeck. I did cut the Massacres in the Sideboard, because i do not want to waste these Slots for a horrible Match-up like D&T. So i try to improve our better but still critical matches.
Please take a look and tell me what you think about it.
Regards, Stephan

My List:

Mana: 17
4 polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Island
1 Swamp
3 Lotus Petal

Business: 16
4 Entomb
4 Reanimate
4 Exhume
4 careful Study

Protection: 12
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Spell Pierce
2 Thoughtseize

Carddraw: 8
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder

Creatures: 7
4 Griselbrand
1 Iona
1 Elesh Norn
1 Tydespout Tyrant


Sideboard: 15
2 City of Traitors
4 Show and Tell
2 Jace the Mind Sculptor
3 Pithing Needle
2 Flusterstorm
1 Grave Titan
1 Thoughtseize

I don't like Jace in the SB, but that's just me.
I think 14 land is a bit shaky, & I'm of the belief that you shouldn't go below 15 lands. Running both dazes & petals seems redundant to me. If you're speeding up with lotus petals, I don't see slowing the opponent with daze being as necessary. Spell pierce seems like an alternative to flusterstorm that belongs in the SB, & I would rather have more Thoughtseizes MB with a duress or two in the SB if 4 Thoughtseize isn't enough disruption. Most of the differences are meta dependent & based upon your preferences. Good luck & play whatever list makes you happy, but remember that every event is a chance to test new things.

[Omega87]

I am not too sure about the Jaces either, but pack rat seems even worse in my opinion.
I play the petals to balance the lack of speed due to daze. I love to counter a shaman drawn from the top, which thoughtseize or duress does not hit...
What other land would you play, another basic or fetch? Sometimes i cut one Usea and play 4 basics, but thats a meta decision (dependent on the number of RUG players..)

[Kamus]

Why daze is so great and is a must have in reanimator:

http://blip.tv/scglive/scgma-lgc-fin...d-duke-6201704

[Worldslayer]

You play Dazes and Petals.

Massacre is necessary for DnT and Junk decks. Neither are actually that bad or unwinnable, though Massacre and Show and Tell are certainly some of the reasons why they aren't. It's also fairly strong vs. Uwr and esper blade decks.

Iona has long been outmoded by Sire. She is a relic.

If Spell Piece is taking the place of SnT I'd imagine it'd at least be either combo pieces like the outdated animate dead or something free, like Unmask given our window of operation.

[Omega87]

went 3:3 yesterday, not very exciting.
Lost to 2 miracles and 1 Elves (2:1 very unlucky, his discard hit almost everything i had. he won the dice roll)
Won against 1 Elves, 1 Burn (thx Iona), and one mirror.
now i will try to cut the petals, like reid duke did 2012. See video above.
my new 75:
http://www.mercadia.de/home/page.php.../deck&id=99068

@worldslayer:
Show us your 75, and please explain why you like sire so much?! (did it win you a match? How? What happened?)

[Worldslayer]

My seventy five is pretty standard UB, not too much different from my Philly list other than the Dazes over Thoughtseize.

MD:

Creatures - 7
1 x Elesh Norn
1 x Sire of Insanity
1 x Admonition Angel
4 x Griselbrand

Spells - 38
2 x Show and Tell
4 x Careful Study
4 x Ponder
4 x Brainstorm
4 x Daze
4 x Force of Will
4 x Entomb
4 x Reanimate
4 x Exhume
4 x Lotus Petal

Lands - 15
1 x blue fetchland
2 x black fetchland
2 x Swamp
2 x Island
4 x Polluted Delta
4 x Underground Sea

SB - 15
1 x Silver Bullet Creature
2 x Massacre
3 x Pithing Needle
9 x other things

Iona has essentially been outmoded for reasons I outlined earlier in this thread, but generally - the decks that we have trouble with aren't just one relevant color with two irrelevant supports anymore, Sire can protect himself in more circumstances, Sire is less vulnerable to the allstar anti reanimator card Karakas, and on early turns Sire can completely demolish even an unknown opponent. Everywhere I want Iona, Sire is just as good and some times I want specifically Sire and not Iona, so Iona gets the nod. Iona was typically our first or second string anticombo measure, and Sire remains unbeatable there while also being incredible against midrange decks and things like Death and Taxes ( who will usually sand bag Karakas in hand until we commit life and resources to making a legend). Sire is just a punishing house, and was my favorite update to the deck before I found Admonition Angel as the catch all Vindicate Bullet. Just read a page or two back to find more thought out arguments for Sire - unfortunately it's 10:30 and I'm checking out of my hotel currently.

[Omega87]

So you play Dazes and petals too?!

[Worldslayer]

Daze and Petal together are fairly "stock" in terms of the UB lists. Our effective window of operation pushes us to go faster and interact earlier than most decks, so eight free countermagic and colored mana producing accelerants seems par for the course. Some eschew petals, and I know I didn't run daze for the longest time when I started playing reanimator, but anymore I believe running both is more common than running just one (or perhaps neither). We're an underground sea combo deck - speed is paramount.

[TinkerRobot]

I will agree with the necessity of Daze in this deck. I have played with and without Petal, and although I run 3, I wouldn't fault anyone for cutting it (for more lands, obviously).

I've been really liking the addition of Sire of Insanity in the maindeck over Iona since I started testing it about 2 weeks ago. As I have also long been a proponent of Grave Titan (for matchups with Liliana and Karakas), I am now playing a list with

4 Griselbrand
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Grave Titan
1 Sire of Insanity

sideboard
1 Ashen Rider
1 Chancellor of the Annex

as my suite of fatties. Unless Khans shakes up the metagame (like Deathrite or True-Name did), I will be playing this configuration in GP New Jersey. While I like Ashen Rider in the 75, I find it underpowered in game 1s, but great at removing hate permanents games 2 and 3, so I moved it to the side. Chancellor of the Annex is both a concession to the speed of the format and my unwillingness to lose to Karakas. I also find it to compliment Daze in the way tempo decks use Wasteland.

[Kamus]

Iona > Siren

[kingsey]

Iona > Siren

I'm still not sold on sire over my girl iona. She owns burn and elves which are major.

[TinkerRobot]

I'm still not sold on sire over my girl iona. She owns burn and elves which are major.

True it might lose percentage points in those matches, but I'm more likely to Entomb for Elesh Norn against Elves anyway, and Griselbrand usually handles burn.

[Stryfo]

Personally, since I don't run petals, I'd much rather play Iona. Playing sire into an opponent's mana is always scary for me, I can understand his power in a deck with the ability to get him into play turn one, but without petals, I think Iona is a more consistently powerful choice.

[Rood]

Sire is a far better choice IMO then Iona. Comboing off with Griselbrand then drawing 14 into Petal animate for Sire is also just gg. Gotta deal with dat karakas.

[Stryfo]

Just went to a 52 person tournament for a judge promo force of will, ended up taking second. Here's a VERY brief report, because I didn't take any notes.

Rd 1 - W - Deathblade, Pack Rat did work here.
Rd 2 - L - UW Miracles with RiP helm, I took game 1 with a fast griselbrand, the helm got me in game 2 when I had lethal on board and I mulled to a bad four game 3.
Rd 3 - W - DnT, g1 I get a turn 2 griselbrand, he lands karakas so I draw 14 and hit the 1 mainboard needle. I reanimate Iona and he scoops. g2 he mulls to 5 which he later tells me was 3 plains 2 waste. I had a basic and 2 fetches in my opener, so he didn't get there.
Rd 4 - W - Goblins, had the turn 1 force for his cage in games 2 and three followed by turn 2 Jin both times (once by choice, once not), he got g1 by wasting my only land and I never drew out.
Rd 5 - W - Affinity, Turn two Grisel g1, Turn three Elesh after bouncing his crypt g2
Rd 6 - W - Miracles, Turn two Grisel g1, Game two was longer, he countered my early action and I eventually cast misthollow griffin, which did 9 damage before getting blasted, then I cast (after trying to work around his counter-top for a while) pack rat and slowly ratted him out of the game, was really close, he snapped back councils judgement twice to try to keep the rats in check.

Quarters - W - Miracles, G1 I had the nut turn 2 with counter backup, G2 I got there with clique and some tidespout-animate dead tricks.
Semis - W - UWR Delver, G1 took a while but I eventually exhausted his counters and a Griselbrand hit play. G2 we jockeyed for position and he slammed rest in peace. I slam rat and we have a fight over it, I get to keep the rat and he doesn't have immediate removal, so I win.
Finals - L - Miracles, g1 I win fairly quickly, since I'm on the play. g2 I mulligan kind of deep and he sets up a lock, stabilizing at 6 life, taking MANY turns to get rid of my hapless researcher that pestered him all game. g3 I punt away, and sadly, only get 2nd place.


I love my build of this deck, most of you will probably think it's crazy, but at the very least, the main 60 is insanely consistent and resilient, and the sideboard is, if nothing else, fun, and it was very successful in this tournament. Here is the list I'm running currently:



4 Hapless Researcher
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3 Griselbrand
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur

2 Island
3 Swamp
2 Marsh Flats
4 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Underground Sea

2 Animate Dead
4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
1 Echoing Truth
1 Pithing Needle
4 Entomb
4 Force of Will
1 Misdirection
4 Careful Study
4 Exhume
4 Reanimate

Siedboard:
2 Pithing Needle
1 Echoing Truth
2 Baleful Strix
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
3 Pack Rat
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Misthollow Griffin
2 Thoughtseize
1 Engineered Explosives

[Adryan]

Currently I'm doing pretty well with this deck online. I enjoy the fact how fast this deck can win games (i play mostly miracles and I'm a smoker^^) and how it crushes that stupid Sneakshow deck and all the other combo decks (i don't mind losing to Storm etc., but losing to Sneakshow is always heartbreaking).


I only have one question, because i only read the last 2 pages of this thread. Did anyone ever try playing a BUG Version of Reanimator (with a couple of Abrupt Decay in the MD for mainly Deathrite, Counterbalance and postboard stuff like Needle, RIP etc.). Currently preboard with U/B the plan is to be faster than Deathrite Shaman or win via Show&Tell or win with double fatty and Exhume, which is okay but there are some spots where you are too slow or simply don't draw the stuff which is useful with Deathrite in play.

[Stryfo]

People have tried it, with varying degrees of success. But you still run into the problem of not drawing your abrupt decay, and, preboard, decay is commonly only good against DRS and counterbalance. I'd personally rather have more versatile tools, which is why I play a mainboard pithing needle. This allows me to fight karakas, Jace, and Top, while still having an answer to DRS and keeping my manabase strong.

[Arsenal]

Sire is a far better choice IMO then Iona. Comboing off with Griselbrand then drawing 14 into Petal animate for Sire is also just gg. Gotta deal with dat karakas.

Sire seems win-more in that situation. If you've reanimated Grizzledaddy, drawn 14 cards, and are still alive, why exactly are you wanting to Sire? Why do ANYTHING there?