I like the idea of this deck, but there is ways to turn that mindwrack demon against you immediately. Learn from the past and days undoing can be played immediately after this card on the next turn. And shamble back is essentially one mana removal that gives you a 2/2 against this deck. Exiling my opponents dragonlords before they can reanimate them, while simultaneously turning there demon into a consistent 4 damage to them also has me putting shamble back as a 4 of in my sideboard against this deck. Don't let yourself be fooled into thinking there is not GY hate, it's just more about timing it right.
No one ever said that GY hate doesn't exist, but it is incredibly limited. I'd honestly be shocked if people are slotting in 4 Shamble Backs into their SB. You'd be better off siding in Hallowed Moonlight. At least then you'd have game against Collected Company decks and Eerie Interlude, especially given recent tournament results. Could you make an anti-grave yard deck? of course, but this kind of argument starts to ring of the whole "dies to removal" argument, which simply isn't good enough of a stance. I will gladly change my tune when Learn from the Past and Days Undoing become relevant sideboard tech. They weren't when Rally was dominating standard and I see very little reason why they would now.
I'm focused on modern at the moment (SCG States this weekend, Modern GP next month), but should be able to start playing standard again soon. I'd love to hear others experiences and will update the primer accordingly. I have been paying attention to coverage though and I'd definitely pack Languish in the main if you are planning on taking this to an event.
I’ve been testing and tuning UB Reanimator for about 3 weeks now but haven’t brought it to any kind of event yet. I’m planning on playing it at 2 Game Days next weekend. Here is my list.
I’m packing 4 Languish in the main board as I’m expecting an aggro-heavy local meta and I can always pitch them to GY to get a scorcery for delirium if needed. 24 lands feels like the right amount. Sometimes I have to go digging for them through Jace/Oath of Jace but I end up having to mitigate a lot of flood near the end of the game.
As of this weekend I’ve went from a 1/1 split of Kologhan and Silumgar to just 2 copies of Dragonlord Silumgar in the main as it usually ends up finding a hard to deal with target near the end of a game (Archangel of Tithes, etc), plus it’s just a hilarious card. I was testing on xMage against B/W control and stole someone’s Sorin then immediately ult’d for 19 vampire tokens, which was an amazing way to finish a game. The sideboard is definitely still a work in progress.
In terms of matchups, I’ve found CoCo not to be as terrible as I initially feared, although reflector mage can be quite annoying. He’s a reason why I don’t mind having Silumgars, because I can at least make my opponent regret bouncing it at some point. The 4 Languish really keep CoCo from building too much of a board, but they recover quick. I’ve also done extensive testing against various humans flavors and I’m not at all worried about them. Ojutai can be a bit of a pain with Always Watching but by the time it comes out, the board is usually under control enough that To the Slaughter finds its target.
Control and ramp are a bit difficult because of how reactive the early game is. Ramp is easy enough to disrupt post-board but other control decks are a bit problematic until I can resolve a Sphinx of the Final Word.
I'm seriously questioning the lack of the one card that I feel is the primary reason to play UB over Jund. Jund will get you the best reanimator target in Atarka, and it will give you Goblin Dark-Dwellers, Vessel of Nascency etc. But blue will get you Pieces of the Puzzle. This card is tailor-made for reanimator. It lets you dig five cards into your library, ensuring that you will get your reanimator spell while also dropping targets into the graveyard and netting you card advantage. If we're not playing this as a four-of, I don't see the point of UB over the obvious advantages of Jund.
I have been playing this archetype online. It has its time when it feels like the best deck in the format because some hands are just unbeatable. I have found in testing that ever after is the card that wins me the game on the spot most the time. Also having discard outlets really let's you get further ahead. I sometimes feel that jace is so bad in the deck. That I went down to 3 jace and 1 call of the bloodline. The 1/1 vamps it makes are insane sometimes they don't just chump block early turns then give you extra life. And against control they put pressure on the player. So often it's just a languish game then turn 5 demon or turn found demon turn 5 languish.
But without oath of jace this deck does nothing. Oath of jace is the best card in this deck and games 2-3 I have players discarding it/exile.
I think I will start playing Sphinx and drop one of the other bombs.
But I think this deck has lots of potential.
Went up against several different decks, including G/B Aristocrats, Mono Red Eldrazi, Mono White Humans, R/B Vampires, B/W Control and B/W Lifegain. None of the matchups were a huge problem for the deck, although the Aristocrats game was definitely the most difficult with every kill spill and Languish providing some kind of benefit to my opponent.
In terms of changes from here, I don't find dead weight to be a very useful card at all. Too many X/3s in the format. I could see myself turning it into a third concoction any day now. Sidisi is so-so. Amazing when I really need it, but not often worth the 4/6 body or tempo loss in exploiting itself. Silumgar was definitely MVP yesterday, providing a very hilarious win condition. The deck is pretty soft to Duress early on, but recovers quickly enough, often getting back whatever was taken via Jace.
The archetype is certainly a blast to play. Luck was on my side a lot of the time yesterday but there are a lot of really awesome ways to swing the back out of nowhere. Probably the most fun I've had playing Magic.
Congrats on your finish! I definitely agree with Concoction vs Dead Weight. I am currently running a 3/2 split, but Dead Weight seems... dead most of the time. Sidisi might be a little too "cute" at this point and could probably be replaced with Dark Petition (though we couldn't abuse the synergy w/ Ever After quite the same way that Seasons Past Decks get to).
I hope so! I played against a buddy of mine the other day prior to FNM and demolished him (I had a GPT the following day, so I didn't stick around for FNM). Once the 20th rolls around I'll be back to my regular schedule of standard events and can post build updates accordingly.
That being said, I think I'm going to drop Pore over the Pages. It is a good card, but still seems too slow. I'm also not sure how the deck lines up against the crypto rites decks, so hopefully some other people can chime in on their experiences against the aristocrats decks.
2x Dead Weight
4x Dragonlord Atarka
2x Dragonlord Silumgar
1x Ever After
2x Evolving Wilds
2x Grasp of Darkness
6x Island
4x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
4x Languish
4x Mindwrack Demon
4x Necromantic Summons
4x Oath of Jace
2x Sinister Concoction
4x Sunken Hollow
8x Swamp
2x To the Slaughter
1x Ultimate Price
3x Dispel
1x Dragonlord Kolaghan
2x Duress
1x Linvala, the Preserver
2x Negate
2x Ruinous Path
2x Sphinx of the Final Word
2x Void Winnower
I’m packing 4 Languish in the main board as I’m expecting an aggro-heavy local meta and I can always pitch them to GY to get a scorcery for delirium if needed. 24 lands feels like the right amount. Sometimes I have to go digging for them through Jace/Oath of Jace but I end up having to mitigate a lot of flood near the end of the game.
As of this weekend I’ve went from a 1/1 split of Kologhan and Silumgar to just 2 copies of Dragonlord Silumgar in the main as it usually ends up finding a hard to deal with target near the end of a game (Archangel of Tithes, etc), plus it’s just a hilarious card. I was testing on xMage against B/W control and stole someone’s Sorin then immediately ult’d for 19 vampire tokens, which was an amazing way to finish a game. The sideboard is definitely still a work in progress.
In terms of matchups, I’ve found CoCo not to be as terrible as I initially feared, although reflector mage can be quite annoying. He’s a reason why I don’t mind having Silumgars, because I can at least make my opponent regret bouncing it at some point. The 4 Languish really keep CoCo from building too much of a board, but they recover quick. I’ve also done extensive testing against various humans flavors and I’m not at all worried about them. Ojutai can be a bit of a pain with Always Watching but by the time it comes out, the board is usually under control enough that To the Slaughter finds its target.
Control and ramp are a bit difficult because of how reactive the early game is. Ramp is easy enough to disrupt post-board but other control decks are a bit problematic until I can resolve a Sphinx of the Final Word.
But without oath of jace this deck does nothing. Oath of jace is the best card in this deck and games 2-3 I have players discarding it/exile.
I think I will start playing Sphinx and drop one of the other bombs.
But I think this deck has lots of potential.
1x Dead Weight
4x Dragonlord Atarka
2x Dragonlord Silumgar
1x Ever After
2x Evolving Wilds
2x Grasp of Darkness
6x Island
4x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
4x Languish
4x Mindwrack Demon
4x Necromantic Summons
4x Oath of Jace
1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
2x Sinister Concoction
4x Sunken Hollow
8x Swamp
2x To the Slaughter
1x Ultimate Price
2x Dispel
1x Dragonlord Kolaghan
2x Duress
1x Linvala, the Preserver
2x Negate
1x Ob Nixilis Reignited
1x Ruinous Path
1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
2x Sphinx of the Final Word
2x Virulent Plague
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
Went up against several different decks, including G/B Aristocrats, Mono Red Eldrazi, Mono White Humans, R/B Vampires, B/W Control and B/W Lifegain. None of the matchups were a huge problem for the deck, although the Aristocrats game was definitely the most difficult with every kill spill and Languish providing some kind of benefit to my opponent.
In terms of changes from here, I don't find dead weight to be a very useful card at all. Too many X/3s in the format. I could see myself turning it into a third concoction any day now. Sidisi is so-so. Amazing when I really need it, but not often worth the 4/6 body or tempo loss in exploiting itself. Silumgar was definitely MVP yesterday, providing a very hilarious win condition. The deck is pretty soft to Duress early on, but recovers quickly enough, often getting back whatever was taken via Jace.
The archetype is certainly a blast to play. Luck was on my side a lot of the time yesterday but there are a lot of really awesome ways to swing the back out of nowhere. Probably the most fun I've had playing Magic.
That being said, I think I'm going to drop Pore over the Pages. It is a good card, but still seems too slow. I'm also not sure how the deck lines up against the crypto rites decks, so hopefully some other people can chime in on their experiences against the aristocrats decks.