Two weeks ago, I shared my adventures in the past month playing G/B/W Reanimator. I told the story of my experiences playing the deck, but I didn’t really go into much detail about the deck itself. Today, I’d like to take a bit of a different approach and focus in on the meat and potatoes of G/B/W Reanimator and how Dragon’s Maze affects things.
Before I start, I should note that Dragon’s Maze has indeed arrived. Ten guilds are busy running a one-legged sack race* through a bunch of ridiculous checkpoints to satisfy the whims of some crazy god-dragon. We’ve all heard that children’s tale a million times. And while that may seem exciting, I’ve actually got something better to tell you about. Niv-Mizzet can take a backseat, because you’re about to hear just how good it feels to cast an Unburial Rites on an Arbor Elf. Get some!
At the very least, it feels better than running a one-legged sack race.
Maybe.
I guess the most important question to start with is “why.” Besides the classically powerful play of Unburial Rites on Arbor Elf, why sleeve up G/B/W Reanimator at all? What separates it from any other deck in Standard? I’d like to try my hand at answering that age-old question.
At its core, G/B/W Reanimator is the twisted sister of a combo and midrange deck. It gains the explosiveness and synergy that a combo deck possesses, but it also has the resilience and ability to grind out a game that a midrange deck typically features.
The beautiful thing about the archetype is that it doesn’t suffer from the same pitfalls that typically slay a pure combo or midrange deck. Unlike other combo decks, it doesn’t die to hate cards because it can simply play a midrange game instead. Unlike other midrange decks, it doesn’t lose to an opponent who is capable of going over-the-top with bigger threats or huge card draw spells like Sphinx’s Revelation. Cards like Grisly Salvage and Unburial Rites ensure that Reanimator is able to match the card advantage of a Sphinx’s Revelation deck. Angel of Serenity is there to take care of everything else.
Reanimator also gets the luxury of playing a low land count as well as acceleration in the form of Avacyn’s Pilgrim and Arbor Elf. 23 lands seems like a paltry amount in a deck playing cards like Angel of Serenity and sometimes even Craterhoof Behemoth, but because of cards like Mulch, Grisly Salvage and the mana dorks, Reanimator is still able to find lands to cast its spells on or ahead of curve—even the big ones.
The benefit of having a low land count is pretty straightforward. With fewer lands comes more spells. One of the awesome benefits of G/B/W Reanimator is that it’s rare that it’s going to run out of gas. Due to the sheer density of powerful cards in the deck alongside the versatility and card advantage of cards like Grisly Salvage and Unburial Rites, you can keep presenting threats long into a game. Most decks eventually fail to find a solution for it.
So then, what does a G/B/W Reanimator list look like?
Here is my most recently updated list pre-Dragon’s Maze:
Creatures (22)
- 3 Acidic Slime
- 4 Arbor Elf
- 2 Fiend Hunter
- 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
- 3 Restoration Angel
- 3 Thragtusk
- 3 Angel of Serenity
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (23)
Spells (13)
Chris VanMeter and I spent a month of tuning and testing to arrive at a lot of these choices. Along the way, we learned a number of things about the deck and the format as a whole as cards shifted in and out of the list. Lotleth Troll, Craterhoof Behemoth, Loxodon Smiter, and Centaur Healer all came and left. Acidic Slime started out as an errant hook shot but quickly found himself upgraded to a Slime Dunk. Not even Carlos Boozer was able to block that shot.** Sanctuary Cat surprisingly did not break the format, and even notorious G. Relentless showed up as a major player late in the game. Thug life.
We came up with a plan for every matchup. We tested the bad matchups until we found a configuration that was satisfactory for beating them. We finally reached a point where I felt reasonably comfortable facing any mainstream matchup, knew how to play the matchup, and knew how to sideboard for the matchup.
And then came 166 new cards. Niv-Mizzet polished off his lunch (Ham Sandwich with a side of Dragon’s Maize) and went about his task of shaking up the format.
I’d love to tell you about the versatility of Golgari Charm or why there are so many one-ofs in that sideboard, but honestly, I don’t think that’s important right now. Metagame choices like Sever the Bloodline, Garruk Relentless, and even the Acidic Slime itself simply might not be worth playing in the new format. Who knows what will happen.
But that’s actually what’s beautiful about Magic. You spend time tuning and testing to build the best deck you can, and once you finally are about to reach that point, everything changes and you get to do it again. It may seem bittersweet, but without this change Magic would get pretty boring.
The best part, though, is that the work we put into the deck doesn’t get lost. It’s not wasted. The knowledge may apply again to Reanimator later on in the season. It may not. Regardless, the skills we learned will be useful the next time we go to build a deck, or try to solve a metagame, or even just want to tune an established list. Everything in Magic builds off of each other.
I, for one, am excited about a new format. The first tournaments with new cards are always my favorite events of the year, and even though I haven’t had a chance to prepare much for the first SCG Open of the new set in Somerset, I still can’t wait to play. Seeing new synergies, not knowing exactly what your opponent is doing, and seeing if your cards work the way you want them to is all very exciting stuff.
So what does this fresh-faced format hold in store for G/B/W Reanimator? Hopefully some sweet, sweet new toys…
This would classify as a sweet new toy.
Apparently, there are a lot of bad people out there in the Magic world, because casting Sphinx’s Revelation seems to be the cardinal sin. Not for long. The Collection Agency is about to come a-knockin’.
I think this card is going to completely swing some matchups, like U/W/R Flash and Esper Control, solidly into G/B/W Reanimator’s favor. Besides just stripping their Sphinx’s Revelation and neutering their source of card advantage, it can also abruptly end games by taking something like Supreme Verdict to keep them from achieving board parity. The best part of the card is that it exiles the spell, which means that it is a strong threat against flashback cards and prevents Snapcaster Mage shenanigans.
Sin Collector also clears the way for Grand Daddy Obzedat to come down and ruin their lunch. Drain em’ and brain em’ all day, every day.
[Editor’s Note: I’ll let drain em’ and brain em’ slip through just this once.]
I also think this card may be a surprise player in The Aristocrats matchup (if that deck even remains a metagame player in the upcoming weeks). Exiling Blasphemous Act or Mark of Mutiny is extremely important since it’s typically one of those two cards that ends up actually beating you. Outside of those cards, the matchup tends to be pretty favorable.
Did I mention that you can blink this guy with Restoration Angel?
Now that’s just downright sinful.
I am mostly interested in the Loss side of this card. While that effect already exists in Cower in Fear and Golgari Charm, Cower in Fear is hard to cast and Golgari Charm suffers from being symmetrical. Thankfully, Loss suffers from neither of those problems and should serve as a great effect in matchups like The Aristocrats, where both sides are actually relevant.
Our profit. Their loss.
I think this card is extremely good. I’m not sure if this is the right home for it, but it’s a very versatile card and both effects are powerful. Ready is very good against control decks, Willing is very good against aggressive decks, and both halves can be useful against midrange decks. I expect this card to see a decent bit of play—if not in this deck, then in some other.
In the first few weeks, I expect that this card is also going to have huge blowout potential before people learn to play around it. Really, the only downside is that people already know to play around Restoration Angel and this occupies some of the same space. People will still be blown out regardless.
I have a W/G/B Tokens list at the end of this article that features Ready // Willing, and while I’ve only had a limited opportunity to play with it, I can only say that I’ve been impressed.
I think this card is awesome. I’m going to say right now that this isn’t the home for it, as I don’t think Reanimator has the luxury of casting a six mana card that doesn’t have an immediate impact on the board. More often than not you’ll be returning things like Avacyn’s Pilgrim or Mulch, which aren’t terribly effective late in the game.
With that being said, I think this card is powerful enough to spawn an archetype all on its own. If Chronic Flooding is powerful enough to win a Grand Prix by fueling a graveyard strategy, then surely Deadbridge Chant can do the same. How many Griselbrands and other scary things can we bring back? Seance + Deadbridge Chant anyone?
Do we even need to bring back those kinds of cards to make Deadbridge Chant a game-changer? In grindy midrange mirrors, this card feels like a Staff of Nin that doesn’t die to Putrefy and can sometimes even net you a big chunk of mana by virtue of putting the creature directly into play. This may be too cute, but cards like Deathrite Shaman can even help shape what Deadbridge Chant is putting back into play for you.
As a brief aside, I want to say that this is what the mythic rarity should be about. Cards like Deadbridge Chant and Master of Cruelties are exactly the kind of cards they should print at mythic. They are cards with huge splashy effects. They have the chance to be powerful and completely dominate a game, but at the same time they aren’t oppressive and are simply fun to play with.
I really hope that this trend continues. I want to see fewer automatic four-of tournament staples at mythic and more cards like these.
I actually don’t see this card making many waves in G/B/W Reanimator. Cheaper solutions like Abrupt Decay are more effective against aggressive lists, and Abrupt Decay also offers the ability to destroy problematic permanents like Ground Seal and Rest in Peace—something Putrefy cannot do.
There are only a few cards in the format that I care about killing that Abrupt Decay can’t hit. The main two are Olivia Voldaren and Angel of Serenity, and generally speaking Sever the Bloodline is going to be a better answer to these cards than Putrefy
Against Olivia (or in other words, against Jund), being able to Grisly Salvage or Mulch over a Sever the Bloodline is a key benefit that Putrefy doesn’t offer. Typically, you’ll have time to hit the mana you need to flashback Sever the Bloodline against them, and I’d rather have an answer that I don’t have to worry about incidentally milling over with my engine cards.
Against Angel of Serenity, Sever the Bloodline is going to be better simply for the exile clause. Exiling the Angel is relevant both for fighting future Angels and for combating Unburial Rites, as you rarely see one without the other.
This card is the hardest to get a grasp on. It’s obviously a powerful effect, but is it good enough to make the cut? I think the best way to find out is to simply examine what it’s going to do in each matchup.
Against aggressive decks, the card is basically like Strangleroot Geist. They have to deal with a two power creature, and once they do they will then have to deal with another creature that may or may not end up being better than the undying half of Strangleroot Geist. This is definitely the kind of effect that G/B/W Reanimator is looking for in those matchups. Angel of Serenity is the ultimate trump to any aggressive deck, and the key ingredient in post-board matchups is to buy time to find and put one in play. Voice of Resurgence will help buy that time.
Against midrange decks, the card isn’t going to be very good. Thragtusk already isn’t a great card in midrange mirrors because Thragtusk decks are all well equipped to beat opposing Thragtusks. Voice of Resurgence is essentially a worse version of Thragtusk because the initial body isn’t relevant at all.
Then there are the control decks. This may sound blasphemous, but I actually don’t think this card is that good against control. It’s a card that has sweeper protection AND prevents them from profitably playing cards on your turn; how could it be bad?
The issue is that it doesn’t actually put any pressure on them by itself. Most control decks can simply afford to take two damage a turn or worse yet play an Augur of Bolas and just negate the damage altogether. In a grindy matchup like that, it’s important for every card to be high impact and be able to stand on its own merits. While it’s nice to be able to hamper their ability to counter your spells or play things like Sphinx’s Revelation at the end of your turn, it doesn’t actually affect things too much because if they do manage to let you get too many Elementals, they can just clear them away with a Supreme Verdict.
The final point is that it doesn’t fit your game plan against control decks. It’s basically like a mini Thragtusk against them.
Thragtusk isn’t very good against control.
Now, I’m not suggesting our beloved Tusk is actively bad against control, but all Thragtusk does is attack and then attack some more when the original card dies. Every control deck in this format is well equipped to deal with a deck that just plans on attacking with a bunch of mindless creatures.
G/B/W Reanimator’s plan against control decks is to come at them on a number of different axes. Acidic Slime harasses their mana development and can keep them off of important spells. Obzedat, Ghost Council presents a threat that avoids their removal. Deathrite Shaman stifles their card advantage engines (Think Twice, Snapcaster Mage) and puts them on a reasonable clock. Garruk Relentless provides a steady stream of threats to neuter Supreme Verdict. All of these cards do something other than just attack and block and put pressure on control decks in a way they may not be equipped to beat. Voice of Resurgence can’t say the same.
All in all, I think this card has potential as a sideboard option against aggressive decks, but I think it’s too low impact to run as a maindeck card right now.
Most of the time, it seems like this card will just be a worse version of Obzedat, Ghost Council. The exception is against The Aristocrats or any kind of white- or black-based aggressive deck that might spring up, such as a resurgence in Zombies. Blood Baron of Vizkopa’s lifelink is extremely relevant against those decks, making him a threat on par with Thragtusk. His protections are also extremely relevant, dodging nearly all removal from Zombies and most of the removal from a deck like The Aristocrats.
He’s also much easier to cast than Obzedat. That can be very relevant in a deck featuring four basic Forests and some number of colorless lands.
It would be wrong of me to not also mention just how freaking sweet he looks. If that’s not a good enough reason to play a card, then honestly, what is? Seriously, take a good hard look at him. He really looks like a complete badass. He is both Ready and Willing*** to kick some ass. He is Down and Dirty for some old fashioned beat down. He will probably star in the next Underworld movie alongside Kate Beckincall.
Fuse that.
Out of all the cards in Dragon’s Maze, this is the only card I see that is directly impactful against Reanimator.
In actuality, though, this card isn’t very good against it. I hope my opponents play cards like these. For one, this effect already exists and at a cheaper rate with Tormod’s Crypt and Purify the Grave. Secondly, it’s easy to play around these cards by simply casting threats on curve and not worrying about Unburial Rites.
The life gain doesn’t really matter. G/B/W Reanimator doesn’t really care about the opponent’s life total. Once Reanimator is winning the game, it’s going to win it regardless of whether the opponent is at fifteen or 50.
The only card that really scares me from the set is Progenitor Mimic. I feel like that card can get out of hand very quickly, especially against a deck that doesn’t pack much direct creature removal. Progenitor Mimic seems like an awesome card for Prime Speaker Bant.
Whew. There’s a decent amount of new cards that have potential impact in this deck, and there may even be more that will surface as contenders. So how do we piece it all together? I’m going to start with a rough list for the new format and why I think it is a good starting point. It will take testing, trial and error, and a more defined metagame before we can come to a more refined list, but you have to start somewhere.
Creatures (23)
- 4 Arbor Elf
- 3 Fiend Hunter
- 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
- 3 Restoration Angel
- 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
- 4 Thragtusk
- 3 Angel of Serenity
- 1 Obzedat, Ghost Council
Lands (24)
Spells (14)
Before I tackle some of the card choices, I want to first explain what I expect to see the first week or so of this format.
Yep, that’s mostly it.
In new formats, players always gravitate toward aggressive decks first. For one, aggressive cards are usually much easier to evaluate immediately. It’s easy to see that a card like Voice of Resurgence has a lot of potential. It’s an aggressively costed creature with multiple beneficial abilities. It’s much harder to evaluate if something like Sire of Insanity will be good. Sire has average combat stats and a symmetrical ability that could easily backfire. The format might also not be conducive to his ability. Rather than take a risk on a card like Sire, it’s easier and often more successful to just stick to a strategy you know is going to still be viable.
I expect to see a lot of people sleeving up decks like Naya Blitz, R/G Aggro, Jund Aggro, and similarly aggressive lists to start out the format. I also think there will be a number of people playing decks with Voice of Resurgence, such as G/W Aggro and G/W/x Midrange.
The final thing is I expect to see a lot of Jund Midrange. It was a very popular choice at the end of the season, and I suspect many players will be interested in trying out all the new options and upgrades it got in Dragon’s Maze, such as Sire of Insanity and Putrefy.
I don’t expect to see much control, of which U/W/R Flash and Esper are the most popular. The reason I don’t expect to see much control is twofold. For one, I think people will be scared of playing against new anti-control measures like Voice of Resurgence and Sire of Insanity and will opt to play a safer deck instead. Secondly, the control cards simply aren’t nearly as exciting as the other cards from Dragon’s Maze. While Far // Away might be a huge upgrade for Esper and Turn // Burn might be awesome in U/W/R Flash, neither of those cards are splashy new rares and mythics to revive interest in the archetype.
I also think that in a new format you’re going to play against a lot of random decks that you didn’t prepare for or even know that you should prepare for. Who knows what awesome and wacky brews people will come up with?
When you combine that all together, I want to play a maindeck that does two things:
1. Donkey stomps any aggressive deck.
2. Has a bunch of all-around good cards that will be reasonable threats against any kind of unexpected deck (see: Obzedat, Ghost Council; Thragtusk).
Metagame choices like Acidic Slime and Garruk Relentless find themselves in the sideboard to come in for the matchups where they shine, and instead cards like Fiend Hunter and Thragtusk are in the maindeck for their versatility and strength against aggressive decks.
I added a 24th land in Sunpetal Grove to make casting Fiend Hunter easier. I also have two Gavony Townships and no Cavern of Souls, mostly because I don’t expect to play against control decks much. Even if I do, Gavony Township is a reasonable threat against them, and Sin Collector is a good way to help resolve important five-drops anyhow.
Craterhoof Behemoth is like the Shaquille O’Neal of G/B/W Reanimator. He hasn’t retired from being big. His ability to simply end games can be very useful when you’re not entirely sure what your opponent might be doing and it’s possible to just lose out of nowhere. For that reason, I’ve chosen to play it again.
In terms of new cards from Dragon’s Maze, unfortunately there aren’t any I felt should make the maindeck. I think Ready // Willing is the closest to being a maindeck choice, but it’s hard to justify playing any cards that aren’t creatures or that don’t have graveyard synergy unless they are extremely high impact. I’m not sure Ready // Willing is THAT good.
Profit // Loss is a card I want to play, but it feels more like a metagame choice to fight decks like The Aristocrats, much like Golgari Charm was. Blood Baron of Vizkopa feels the same way. I don’t want to be stuck playing that card against my opponent’s Thragtusks.
Voice of Resurgence is in the sideboard to come in against aggressive decks to serve as a roadblock to buy time for Angel of Serenity to do that thing she usually does. You know, where she sweeps their board and provides you with a massive flying creature. That thing!
Ready // Willing comes in against aggressive decks to gain some life, and it comes in against control decks to serve as a protection against Supreme Verdict. I wouldn’t board it in against any kind of a midrange deck because it can be hard to get a lot of value out of it in those matchups, especially if they have a lot of single target removal spells.
The biggest absence from the sideboard is Deathrite Shaman. I will actually miss this card against U/W/R and Esper Control. Considering I don’t expect to play much against those decks and feel like the matchups are favorable anyway, I think I can do without them.
I won’t actually miss them much in the G/B/W Reanimator mirror as shocking as that may sound. While the card is good at shutting down your opponent’s Unburial Rites, it’s not particularly effective against cards like Fiend Hunter, Abrupt Decay, and Garruk Relentless. Shutting down Unburial Rites doesn’t matter much when your opponent’s plan is to just Acidic Slime you over and over again anyway.
That is my first take on G/B/W Reanimator with Dragon’s Maze. I feel like this deck will still be a strong contender in the metagame moving forward, even if the new set didn’t actually directly offer it too much in terms of strict upgrades. People tend to get a bit relaxed in their G/B/W Reanimator hate immediately after a new set comes out. Let’s punish that.
As for a deck that I hope will be a strong contender in the metagame moving forward, here is a W/G/B Tokens list I played in an upcoming Versus video:
Creatures (8)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (25)
I think this deck has a ton of potential, and it features a lot of cool new cards from Dragon’s Maze. If you’re anything like me and can’t seem to get away from these really awesome Intangible Virtue / Lingering Souls decks, then I suggest giving this a try. I feel with some tuning and care this could be a real threat in the format.
Before I conclude, I want to note that I think Dragon’s Maze is one of the best-designed sets we’ve seen in a very long time. There are a lot of cards that do awesome things (see: Sire of Insanity, Deadbridge Chant, Voice of Resurgence, Progenitor Mimic, and the fuse mechanic to name a few) and yet nothing seems overwhelmingly powerful or oppressive in any way. There are a ton of awesome build-around-me cards and a lot of room to experiment with new decks and ideas.
It really is one of the best sets I’ve ever seen. I am amazed.
I can’t wait until this weekend when I can finally get my feet wet with some of that sweet, sweet nectar they call the Magic: The Gathering Standard Constructed format. I might play one of the decks from this article, but I’m also working on a Four-Color Reanimator list featuring a new big baddie from Dragon’s Maze that I’d really like to play if I can get it worked out.
The deck seems….insane.
Thanks for reading,
BBD on Magic Online
@BraunDuinIt on Twitter
*Insider sources have confirmed that the rumors you have heard are indeed true. Ruric Thar will be starring in an upcoming trilogy about his one-legged sack racing exploits. The series is called Sack Up and coming in summer 2013 is the first feature film: Two Heads, One Leg. A sequel is in the works, with the preliminary title Luck Sack. Depending on box office success, they hope to extend the series with a final coup de grace: The Ultimate Sackrifice. If you can only hit up one movie this summer, make sure you hit the sack.
**Dikembe Mutombo was able to successfully block the shot, however.
***Is it just me or does the female on Willing look exactly like Angelina Jolie? It’s uncanny.
 |
I am Orzhov. Greed? Corruption? Power? You have it all wrong. All this was an honest day’s hard work. Our society was built on the same principles as every other successful society since the dawn of time: taxation without representation… Hey, wait, where are you going? You still owe me for lunch! |