This isn't really about what reanimation spells to play, I'm pretty sure I know most of the good ones, I'm more interested to hear what people think about what colors to use and what generals to use. Currently I'm thinking UBx since it obviously needs B for the reanimation spells and I think that U has the best support (protection, draw, discard outlets) and the best reanimation target (Jin Gitaxis. I just don't know which to pick for the third color since it seems like I would benefit from having a third color. So what colors should I pick and with what general? And what are some interesting targets outside of the obvious (the ones that are commonly played in Legacy Reanimator)?
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On Mono Black in Commander:
Quote from BlackJack68 »
But whomever your commander is, Cabal Coffers is really in charge.
Dromar, the Banisher, that way you get access to White's reanimator effects. White has effects that are comparable to Black's, and it also has someexcellenttargets.
And Dromar's effect hoses two other colors while simultaneously providing a way for you to recycle ETB effects.
Add red, Wheel of Fortune, Wheel of Fate, and other effects like it are shared between blue and red and they fill up your grave like none other. Goblin Welder and the other not so good Trash for Treasure are great for cheating big artifacts into play, (i'm looking at you Sundering Titan) and also are a great source of card advantage in the form of Solemn Simulacrum and others like it.
Another option would be white, as it has an impressive suite for recursion as well. It also will allow you to better set up a defense if you were going for a slower route, but reanimator is typically about cheating something big into play as soon as possible. Green I wouldn't even consider for something like this unless you are interested in something like Karador, Ghost Chieftan.
I would agree with UBW. I tried UBR with Sedris because... well it seems obviously good. But what I found was that red contributed very little to the theme, and Sedris's ability was never used. I suppose red has some good draw/discard effect. White has really great reanimation targets, though. (In addition to some of the best targetted removal which you'll likely need).
The mimeoplasm seems perfect for a reanimator themed general. The blob is pretty much a reanimation spell by itself and green gets you lots of good fatties and ramping.
Dromar, the Banisher, that way you get access to White's reanimator effects. White has effects that are comparable to Black's, and it also has someexcellenttargets.
And Dromar's effect hoses two other colors while simultaneously providing a way for you to recycle ETB effects.
Yo Dromar, Sharuum the Hegemon called, she wants her colors back. Then again a Sharuum reanimator deck is almost too easy to build. I have refrained from playing it against friends.
Yo Dromar, Sharuum the Hegemon called, she wants her colors back. Then again a Sharuum reanimator deck is almost too easy to build. I have refrained from playing it against friends.
Heck, Havengul Lich basically is a really expensive reanimator on a stick.
I was going to mention Sharuum like you did, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
In all seriousness, Sharuum's reanimator fame is more focused on artifact creatures. While she's excellent for that purpose, the combos are trite and the decklists are usually similar. Dromar may not be built for reanimator, but he has some solid synergy with it (reanimator decks like ETB effects, and Dromar can recycle those effects fairly easily while providing a combat threat).
I'm going to go against the grain on this and recommend staying monoblack. There are even some good generals for it. Balthor the Defiled, Chainer, Dementia Master, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Sheoldred, Whispering One all make good re animator generals (some better than others). Black has enough reanimate effects for you, has tutors, card draw, board wipes, creature kill, and probably the best thing, graveyard tutors (buried alive, entomb, ect.) I don't see any reason you'd need to add extra colors honestly.
I'm going to go against the grain on this and recommend staying monoblack. There are even some good generals for it. Balthor the Defiled, Chainer, Dementia Master, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Sheoldred, Whispering One all make good re animator generals (some better than others). Black has enough reanimate effects for you, has tutors, card draw, board wipes, creature kill, and probably the best thing, graveyard tutors (buried alive, entomb, ect.) I don't see any reason you'd need to add extra colors honestly.
You can even use all of them in the same deck.
Mono-black gives you the most support for a reanimator-based strategy, lest you plan on simply milling yourself by using blue.
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EDH
BGJumpin' JaradsGB BB Furry Rat Lady: The Deck BB UU I Don't Ever Want To Explain How Knowledge Pool Works Ever Again UU RR This Is My Suika Cosplay Lightning Bolt Deck RR WW Mangara exiles both permanents and friends RWG Marath Sunforger RWG WUBRG Cromat and Friends WUBRG
--
I'm going to go against the grain on this and recommend staying monoblack. There are even some good generals for it. Balthor the Defiled, Chainer, Dementia Master, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Sheoldred, Whispering One all make good re animator generals (some better than others). Black has enough reanimate effects for you, has tutors, card draw, board wipes, creature kill, and probably the best thing, graveyard tutors (buried alive, entomb, ect.) I don't see any reason you'd need to add extra colors honestly.
It gives you access to better targets and gives you more protection and flexible removal. Jin Gitaxis kicks the pants off of all the other targets that are available so not playing blue seems incorrect. I'm leaning towards white because it seems like it has the best synergy with other reanimation effects and good targets and I was considering Sharuum since she allows me to reanimate artifact creatures but it seems like she'd draw a lot of hate despite the fact that I won't be playing one of her combos.
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On Mono Black in Commander:
Quote from BlackJack68 »
But whomever your commander is, Cabal Coffers is really in charge.
While merieke ri berit isnt specifically a reanimator general, she tends to have a low threat level and she semi-prevents people from playing their generals. And i would have to agree, ubw is the way to go, followed by bug then bgw.
It gives you access to better targets and gives you more protection and flexible removal. Jin Gitaxis kicks the pants off of all the other targets that are available so not playing blue seems incorrect. I'm leaning towards white because it seems like it has the best synergy with other reanimation effects and good targets and I was considering Sharuum since she allows me to reanimate artifact creatures but it seems like she'd draw a lot of hate despite the fact that I won't be playing one of her combos.
You're absolutely correct. You get more options for reanimate targets and I suppose more protection and flexible removal, but you are looking right over the small but important reason's to stay mono black. Consistency for one. I'm not sure how great your collection of dual lands is, but mono black doesn't require much outside of swamps. That alone is also a huge benefit, as it makes you much less vulnerable to land destruction, both from color screw and anti-nonbasic spells.
Black also has the most reason out of any color to stay mono. Effects like Corrupt and Korlash are pretty devastating, not to mention the raw power of something like cabal coffers.
The biggest reason though I think is because the more colors you splash, the more your deck is going to have to focus on a reanimate theme. What happens in your three color deck when a Leyline of the Void gets dropped? I guess half your deck is dead and your going to need to hardcast that Jin Gitaxis. Playing mono black means you can still fill your deck with enough good stuff cards and general back up plans to help deal with those type of situations.
You're absolutely correct. You get more options for reanimate targets and I suppose more protection and flexible removal, but you are looking right over the small but important reason's to stay mono black. Consistency for one. I'm not sure how great your collection of dual lands is, but mono black doesn't require much outside of swamps. That alone is also a huge benefit, as it makes you much less vulnerable to land destruction, both from color screw and anti-nonbasic spells.
Black also has the most reason out of any color to stay mono. Effects like Corrupt and Korlash are pretty devastating, not to mention the raw power of something like cabal coffers.
The biggest reason though I think is because the more colors you splash, the more your deck is going to have to focus on a reanimate theme. What happens in your three color deck when a Leyline of the Void gets dropped? I guess half your deck is dead and your going to need to hardcast that Jin Gitaxis. Playing mono black means you can still fill your deck with enough good stuff cards and general back up plans to help deal with those type of situations.
Well I can get my hands on pretty much anything thats less than $150 so color fixing isn't an issue at all (I have a Tundra and a Tropical already and getting a Bayou or a Scrubland isn't too bad, Underground Sea is a little bit harder. I also have a set of all the fetches and have access to Rav Duals and pretty much all of the other color fixers in magic). The reason why I'm steering away from mono-black is threefold, the first is actually consistency, going into blue gives the deck a lot more consistency at a fairly low cost. It gives your more tutors, card filtering and counterspells to protect your "combo". Not to mention it actually gives you outs to things like Nether Void, Leyline of the Void, and the new Grafdigger's Cage outside of Disk, O-Stone or All is Dust. The second issue is power, black doesn't have as good targets as White or Green or even Blue so you lose a lot of power by going mono-black. And the last issue is Resilience to hate, mono-black has a lot of trouble dealing with cards like the ones I mentioned before which really hurts the deck and this is pretty much eliminated by adding any of the other colors. And to top it all off I'd say that multicolor decks are better at being good stuff decks than Mono-black because you get access to better "good stuff" cards in multicolor. I just don't see a reason to play mono-black when you can splash at least one other color for almost no cost and gain so many tools that mono-black just doesn't have and not to mention you get more power due to having a larger number of potential targets.
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On Mono Black in Commander:
Quote from BlackJack68 »
But whomever your commander is, Cabal Coffers is really in charge.
I'd recommend you go either B/U/G w/ Oath of Druids or Esper Zur like Gaka mentioned. G gets you Terastodon and oath of druids, which meshes very well with reanimator strategies, while also allowing you to run the Eldrazi titans effectively.
Except I used Xira Arien to fuel my game plan. Not essential to the build, however, it's given me the edge on many occasions.
Sneak Attack is one of the few things that kicks it over the edge. Brutally efficient at dumping dudes against the opp. and into the grave to be retrieved once again. Survival of the Fittest aids this strategy once again, too.
I'd go with 5 color Reaper King using a UBr manabase. This allows you to play some excellent targets in Iona, Shield of Emeria and Terastodon. You're not realistically trying to cast Reaper King, he's just the only commander that you actually can cast with this setup.
Seems like the colors have been debated pretty well. I built a Sharuum reanimation deck that was supposed to be Solar Flare-ish, but it ends up playing a little too "all in" reanimator. Just wanted to mention that for me at least it's become rather boring, and I'll likely disassemble the deck. If you build it like a turn two or three reanimation deck, it's so linear and it quickly becomes "me vs the table" where it's rather difficult to hold everyone back.
Anyway, my two cents. I like all the colors people have suggested, I chose Esper colors because I was aiming for the Solar Flare style deck, but the other colors sound good too.
And Dromar's effect hoses two other colors while simultaneously providing a way for you to recycle ETB effects.
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
Another option would be white, as it has an impressive suite for recursion as well. It also will allow you to better set up a defense if you were going for a slower route, but reanimator is typically about cheating something big into play as soon as possible. Green I wouldn't even consider for something like this unless you are interested in something like Karador, Ghost Chieftan.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=307453
Yo Dromar, Sharuum the Hegemon called, she wants her colors back. Then again a Sharuum reanimator deck is almost too easy to build. I have refrained from playing it against friends.
Known criminal associates of Sharuum are Sundering Titan, Steel Hellkite, Memnarch, Magister Sphinx, and Phyrexian Metamorph.
You also get access to Unburial Rites, Sun Titan/Animate Dead combo.
Heck, Havengul Lich basically is a really expensive reanimator on a stick.
I was going to mention Sharuum like you did, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
In all seriousness, Sharuum's reanimator fame is more focused on artifact creatures. While she's excellent for that purpose, the combos are trite and the decklists are usually similar. Dromar may not be built for reanimator, but he has some solid synergy with it (reanimator decks like ETB effects, and Dromar can recycle those effects fairly easily while providing a combat threat).
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
You can even use all of them in the same deck.
Mono-black gives you the most support for a reanimator-based strategy, lest you plan on simply milling yourself by using blue.
BG Jumpin' JaradsGB
BB Furry Rat Lady: The Deck BB
UU I Don't Ever Want To Explain How Knowledge Pool Works Ever Again UU
RR This Is My Suika Cosplay Lightning Bolt Deck RR
WW Mangara exiles both permanents and friends
RWG Marath Sunforger RWG
WUBRG Cromat and Friends WUBRG
--
BG Savra, Rocking Attrition (retired) GB
BB">Shauku, Envoy of the End (retired) BB
BU Wrexial, the Tentacled H beast(retired)UB
BB Endrek Sahr, Master Commander (retired )BB
UU [PRIMER] Talrand's Terrible Tempo Terror Teatime (retired) UU
UBW Senator Trio - Three Heads Are Better Than One (retired) UBW
BB MONSTRUAL BLEEDING EREBOS SADISM (retired) BB
It gives you access to better targets and gives you more protection and flexible removal. Jin Gitaxis kicks the pants off of all the other targets that are available so not playing blue seems incorrect. I'm leaning towards white because it seems like it has the best synergy with other reanimation effects and good targets and I was considering Sharuum since she allows me to reanimate artifact creatures but it seems like she'd draw a lot of hate despite the fact that I won't be playing one of her combos.
GRRWHazezon Tamar (Valakut)GRRW
UKami of the Crescent Moon (
Group Hug)UUHeidar, Rimewind Master [Mini-Primer]U
WKemba, Kha Regent (Stax)W
GEzuri, Renegade Leader [Primer]G
EDH:
RNorin the WaryR <-Link! (Primer - Mono Red Control)
GUEdric, Spymaster of TrestUG <- Link! (Mini-Primer - Dredge)
Duel Commander:
WUGeist of Saint TraftUW <- Link! (Aggro-Control)
BGSkullbriar, the Walking GraveGB <- Link! (Aggro)
BUGDamia, Sage of StoneGUB <- Link! (Extinction Control)
Church of the Wary
Zur would be my next best suggestion, followed by Karador, Ghost Chieftain.
My Blog About It
You're absolutely correct. You get more options for reanimate targets and I suppose more protection and flexible removal, but you are looking right over the small but important reason's to stay mono black. Consistency for one. I'm not sure how great your collection of dual lands is, but mono black doesn't require much outside of swamps. That alone is also a huge benefit, as it makes you much less vulnerable to land destruction, both from color screw and anti-nonbasic spells.
Black also has the most reason out of any color to stay mono. Effects like Corrupt and Korlash are pretty devastating, not to mention the raw power of something like cabal coffers.
The biggest reason though I think is because the more colors you splash, the more your deck is going to have to focus on a reanimate theme. What happens in your three color deck when a Leyline of the Void gets dropped? I guess half your deck is dead and your going to need to hardcast that Jin Gitaxis. Playing mono black means you can still fill your deck with enough good stuff cards and general back up plans to help deal with those type of situations.
Well I can get my hands on pretty much anything thats less than $150 so color fixing isn't an issue at all (I have a Tundra and a Tropical already and getting a Bayou or a Scrubland isn't too bad, Underground Sea is a little bit harder. I also have a set of all the fetches and have access to Rav Duals and pretty much all of the other color fixers in magic). The reason why I'm steering away from mono-black is threefold, the first is actually consistency, going into blue gives the deck a lot more consistency at a fairly low cost. It gives your more tutors, card filtering and counterspells to protect your "combo". Not to mention it actually gives you outs to things like Nether Void, Leyline of the Void, and the new Grafdigger's Cage outside of Disk, O-Stone or All is Dust. The second issue is power, black doesn't have as good targets as White or Green or even Blue so you lose a lot of power by going mono-black. And the last issue is Resilience to hate, mono-black has a lot of trouble dealing with cards like the ones I mentioned before which really hurts the deck and this is pretty much eliminated by adding any of the other colors. And to top it all off I'd say that multicolor decks are better at being good stuff decks than Mono-black because you get access to better "good stuff" cards in multicolor. I just don't see a reason to play mono-black when you can splash at least one other color for almost no cost and gain so many tools that mono-black just doesn't have and not to mention you get more power due to having a larger number of potential targets.
I'd recommend you go either B/U/G w/ Oath of Druids or Esper Zur like Gaka mentioned. G gets you Terastodon and oath of druids, which meshes very well with reanimator strategies, while also allowing you to run the Eldrazi titans effectively.
THIS!
Except I used Xira Arien to fuel my game plan. Not essential to the build, however, it's given me the edge on many occasions.
Sneak Attack is one of the few things that kicks it over the edge. Brutally efficient at dumping dudes against the opp. and into the grave to be retrieved once again. Survival of the Fittest aids this strategy once again, too.
EDH:
Xira Arien
Things like Terastodon, Woodfall Primus, Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, etc.
Also: Survival of the Fittest (and Fauna Shaman too), plus Birthing Pod as a back-up plan.
Anyway, my two cents. I like all the colors people have suggested, I chose Esper colors because I was aiming for the Solar Flare style deck, but the other colors sound good too.
twitter.com/bccarlso
He's saying use ONLY Black/Blue/Red manabase, and Reaper King allows you to pay 2 instead of Gand W.
OldSchool on Cockatrice
UW "Nancy" - U/w Tempo UW
BUG Damia Self-Mill Multiplayer BUG
BRW Kaalia 1v1 BRW