no tricks (minus Jokulhaups and Avacyn, Angel of HopeFaith's Reward Legion's InitiativeGhostway, no infinite combos just consistent, resilient reanimation.
This deck has 1 goal in mind, get creatures in play. there are a few tutorable cards that i can use for removal and they are tuned for my meta.
In a meta that is packing more reanimation hate those cards can and should be changed. everything in this deck is geared towards draw, discard or reanimation
in an attempt to make it consistent and resilient.
If you play in a very competitive meta where your opponents typically combo out early then this deck is not for you.
My playgroup allows proxying so budget was never a consideration in the building of this deck.
I run no mana fixing other than Land Tax because everything in the deck is so cheap and the manabase is fairly reliable already,
I don't believe mana ramp is necessary in this deck because I don't want to be dropping fatty creatures too early in a multiplayer game or it will draw much hate
combined with the fact that I would need to devote atleast 8 cards to mana accel to make it any sort of reliable I believe in this case it is better to pack more bombs
and wait a turn or 2 to get going.
The creatures are the best I could find in terms of affecting the game state immeadieatly and/or being a win condition on their own.
Because there is so much reanimation in the deck I believe the deck can support 1-4 creatures that are not playable by Kaalia.
Kaalia will either eat removal or beat face, she is not the primary strategy of the deck but she is very useful and should be used as such.
The idea of discarding creatures when Kaalia requires them in hand to be useful does seem and is counter-synergistic because of this
I run 25 fatties not including anger and concentrate my discard strategy around card draw to ensure I will always have a fatty in hand and in the graveyard when needed.
THE DECK RIGHT NOW
I have been tweaking this deck for a while but I believe more tweaking can still be done to further improve the strategy; more draw spells could be necessary because
running out of gas and being in topdeck mode is a 1 way ticket to a loss, the creature suite could be updated and changed to provide a greater benefit and more or less protection
could be helpful. Haste is also a crucial component for any reanimator, there is only one option for haste in the deck if the creature does not already have it and that is anger,
I had swiftfoot boots and lightning greaves in the deck at one point in time but I believe it is better to have enough ways to guarantee haste reliably
or have a few ways to tutor for it. because anger is tutorable with entomb and buried alive and in a pinch can be found with a real tutor it should be available by midgame if necessary.
There is not much single target removal in my meta or cards like lightning greaves may be in the deck if that was a larger concern.
This deck has 1 goal in mind, get creatures in play. there are a few tutorable cards that i can use for removal and they are tuned for my meta.
In a meta that is packing more reanimation hate those cards can and should be changed. everything in this deck is geared towards draw, discard or reanimation
in an attempt to make it consistent and resilient.
If you play in a very competitive meta where your opponents typically combo out early then this deck is not for you.
My playgroup allows proxying so budget was never a consideration in the building of this deck.
1x Kaalia of the Vast
Creature (31)
1x Anger
1x Aurelia, the Warleader
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Baneslayer Angel
1x Blood Speaker
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Bogardan Hellkite
1x Cho-Arrim Alchemist
1x Devout Witness
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Hammer Mage
1x Hellkite Tyrant
1x Herald of Leshrac
1x Hoard-Smelter Dragon
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
1x Kuro, Pitlord
1x Lord of the Void
1x Magmatic Force
1x Master of Cruelties
1x Resolute Archangel
1x Reya Dawnbringer
1x Rummaging Goblin
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Sepulchral Primordial
1x Scourge of Kher Ridges
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Tariel, Reckoner of Souls
1x Utvara Hellkite
1x Yosei, the Morning Star
1x Entomb
1x Faith's Reward
1x Ghostway
1x Moonlight Bargain
1x Necrologia
1x Vampiric Tutor
Enchantment (6)
1x Animate Dead
1x Dance of the Dead
1x Diabolic Servitude
1x Land Tax
1x Legion's Initiative
1x Necromancy
Artifact (1)
1x Anvil of Bogardan
Land (35)
1x Arid Mesa
1x Badlands
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Bazaar of Baghdad
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Caves of Koilos
1x Command Tower
1x Eiganjo Castle
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Fetid Heath
1x Godless Shrine
1x Graven Cairns
1x Kor Haven
1x Marsh Flats
4x Mountain
3x Plains
1x Plateau
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Scrubland
4x Swamp
1x Tainted Field
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Vesuva
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Ambition's Cost
1x Bitter Revelation
1x Breath of Life
1x Buried Alive
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Dread Return
1x Exhume
1x Faithless Looting
1x False Defeat
1x Imperial Seal
1x Jokulhaups
1x Living Death
1x Reanimate
1x Tormenting Voice
1x Torrent of Souls
1x Unburial Rites
1x Wheel of Fortune
1x Wild Guess
1x Zombify
Planeswalker (1)
1x Liliana of the Veil
THE BREAKDOWN
DISCARD OUTLETS (4)
DISCARD /DRAW OUTLETS (9)
DRAW SPELLS (3)
SEARCH EFFECTS (8)
REANIMATION (13)
CREATURES (playable with Kaalia) (22)
CREATURES (not useable with Kaalia) (4)
PROTECTION (8)
REMOVAL (12)
I run no mana fixing other than Land Tax because everything in the deck is so cheap and the manabase is fairly reliable already,
I don't believe mana ramp is necessary in this deck because I don't want to be dropping fatty creatures too early in a multiplayer game or it will draw much hate
combined with the fact that I would need to devote atleast 8 cards to mana accel to make it any sort of reliable I believe in this case it is better to pack more bombs
and wait a turn or 2 to get going.
The creatures are the best I could find in terms of affecting the game state immeadieatly and/or being a win condition on their own.
Because there is so much reanimation in the deck I believe the deck can support 1-4 creatures that are not playable by Kaalia.
Kaalia will either eat removal or beat face, she is not the primary strategy of the deck but she is very useful and should be used as such.
The idea of discarding creatures when Kaalia requires them in hand to be useful does seem and is counter-synergistic because of this
I run 25 fatties not including anger and concentrate my discard strategy around card draw to ensure I will always have a fatty in hand and in the graveyard when needed.
THE DECK RIGHT NOW
I have been tweaking this deck for a while but I believe more tweaking can still be done to further improve the strategy; more draw spells could be necessary because
running out of gas and being in topdeck mode is a 1 way ticket to a loss, the creature suite could be updated and changed to provide a greater benefit and more or less protection
could be helpful. Haste is also a crucial component for any reanimator, there is only one option for haste in the deck if the creature does not already have it and that is anger,
I had swiftfoot boots and lightning greaves in the deck at one point in time but I believe it is better to have enough ways to guarantee haste reliably
or have a few ways to tutor for it. because anger is tutorable with entomb and buried alive and in a pinch can be found with a real tutor it should be available by midgame if necessary.
There is not much single target removal in my meta or cards like lightning greaves may be in the deck if that was a larger concern.
POWERFUL CARDS I CONSIDERED