Ooze combo was overkill, as was Reveillark combo. I generally never lose when Survival is online, and both Reveillark / Ooze / Triskelion / Phyrexian Devourer just clogged my hand up whenever I got them.
Zenith was cut because it's a non creature, and I'm finding mana dorks aren't that integral to your game plan anyway.
Relic warder was cut for Reclamation Sage, which is basically a straight upgrade.
The extra slots let me fit in Angel of Despair and Primeval Titan, which are both solid reanimator targets.
I also have room now for Academy Rector (so I have a 4 CMC slot on Birthing Pod chain), Tidehollow Sculler (because it's just good), and Pack Rat, which is my personal favorite, because it's a fantastic discard outlet in creature form (which the deck needs way more of).
Post Oloro banning, finally came back to Karador (mostly out of boredom).
Turns out that in the heavy midrange meta that we've got right now (Jenara / Marath / Yisan / etc.), straight reanimator is actually the perfect deck choice for steam rolling.
The deck is still playing a bit clunky, but I don't want to drop below 40 creatures, so I'm trying to make the reanimator theme work, while juggling the creature count, and maintaining enough discard outlets.
Still, the deck has so far performed pretty sweet.
The problem is you're playing a combo Animar list, with a bunch of cards that don't help you combo.
Combo Animar expends a significant amount of resources getting to the higher CMC tiers, so once you get there, you want to be sure you immediately win.
Purphoros, Prophet of Kurphix, Soul of the Harvest, Primordial Sage, Deadeye Navigator, etc, are all unreliable or win more.
You should really look at Jester's list, and think over the card differences, and whether or not each one makes sense for a competitive 1v1 setting.
Inferno Titan / Consecrated Sphinx / Teferi / Glen Elendra / Venser don't seem worth it. You have no way to take advantage of having creatures (equipment), play boardwipes, and win through general damage. I'd stick with the 2 mana counter, rather than a 4 mana counter that gives you a 2/2 like Venser does.
I also think Cruel Ultimatum deserves to be in here though. It's tutorable with Mystical Tutor, and is just brutal when resolved.
Also agree you need at least 5-6 mana rocks in Thraximundar.
I also think you might be playing too many single target removal spells. I counted 6 and that seems excessive, especially when you also have bounce + boardwipes. At the very least, I'd cut Chainer's Edict.
I also think Oblivion Stone is much better than Engineered Explosives.
You're only playing 36 lands, so Erebos and Sarkhan are too mana intensive to ever do any good.
I generally like Goblin Pyromancer, but Grenzo isn't a "may" effect, so every time you activate him, you have a 1/99 of wiping your own board. I'd cut him too.
Play Zur, who plays similar to Kaalia, but my similar, I mean better.
Barring that, bluff an All-In-Kaalia style of deck, but actually be playing Oros-Reanimator, with Kaalia as an alt wincon. Kaalia will keep eating removal, but your real win strategy will be casting the big creatures just through ramp and reanimator shenanigans.
1) The difference between 6 mana and 8 mana is huge (quantitatively, yes, it's only 2 mana).
For example, casting Iname turn 4 requires just Worn Powerstone or Coalition Relic. Maelstrom Wanderer on the other hand, requires a deck dedicated to ramp to consistently cast your general early enough to not get steamrolled by combo or aggro.
2) MW is less consistent than Iname. Arcadus touched on this, but I don't think does it sufficient justice. Iname is one of the most consistent decks in the meta. Your general does exactly what it wants to every time you resolve it, and you require only one of 6-10 cards in your deck to then win. This is an extremely easy board position to assemble, especially because you play black and have access to tutors.
3) MW lacks the color black or white. Removal is very integral to beating Zur. MW has a bad matchup against Zur. Zur is the best deck in the meta. You can see where this is going.
All of that aside though, MW when build appropriately has a positive matchup against Iname. Cards like Upheaval, Wildfire, or Destructive Force prevent Iname from simply resurrecting his graveyard again (or, mana denial + wrath = good against Iname).
Much of Iname's removal is also dead against MW, which puts the deck at an immediate card disadvantage. Iname also struggles to consistently kill early enough to prevent MW from resolving.
One thing about Verdict that troubles me, even more than the fact the it can negatively affect my board state, is that it's your only wrath if I remember correctly. That means you'll hardly see it, so that you likely won't have it when you need it in those few circumstances.
Most of the other top tier decks (Marath / Zur / Prossh) are decks Supreme Verdict is never bad against. Since Derevi can recover much easier, it'll at least never be a dead card.
I have to admit, I prefer Beast Within's instant-speed and easier color demand over Vindicate or Pulse (and it's not like we couldn't handle the Beast token ;)).
Wickerbough fits nicely into the Pod-chain, and being able to hit the opponent for 4 after blowing something up is no mean feat either.
I was testing Restoration Angel and Blood Artist, and while the Artist is just win-more (and therefore got cut already), the Angel is really nice to have, mostly flickering Harmonic Sliver/Acidic Slime/Shriekmaw or making your stuff removalproof. I definitely think Resto deserves the spot in the deck.
I definitely didn't miss Liliana though :D. True, Garruk only hits for 3, but what's important to me is that I get to choose what he hits - and if I get him to stick against control, the Wolf tokens can become a real threat very quickly.
On the other hand, I'd never cut Eternal Witness. Yes, we don't have many non-creature targets for her, but each of them is worth being recurred, and sometimes I also want to recur a second creature which is where witness also helps a lot.
I would play Beast Within and Vindicate. Beast Within is good only if its because its an out to Animar.
I don't think Wickerbough is needed - you have both Qasali and Harmonic Sliver along the Birthing Pod chain to deal with enchantments / artifacts. Plus, the 4 CMC spot has much better goodies like Restoration Angel (which is interesting - I'm going to try that), or Academy Rector (though no longer as good now that its not tutoring up Pattern of Rebirth -> Protean Hulk).
Garruk is not necessary, but I would never cut Liliana.
Well I am running mindsalver, and it does tend to be a win lol, as well as some of the manacreatures, i could use some of the other ones though. You really think i need less creatures? I like the idea of more counter spells, I'm just not sure about losing Arcum fodder
All the other artifact creatures, as well as the equipments, add little to nothing to your game plan. Arcum is an extremely bad general if you're trying to win through beatdown (see Thassa, God of Sea instead), and most of the artifact creatures you're playing do nothing on their own.
You only need 1-3 artifact creatures every game, and enough counterspells to protect your game plan. Obviously your opponent will disrupt what you're doing, but Arcum is good because of the deck's inevitability. You have to dedicate very little slots to your actual win conditions, and can thus play a lot of disruption. Sometimes you'll combo early, but more often will grind out a win simply by attrition.
You're playing a lot of artifact creatures, when I don't believe it's truly necessary.
Note that Mindslaver is legal in Duel Commander, so activating Arcum even once should win you the game (an early Mindslaver can just be brutal, especially against competitive decks with removal and discard which they can use against themselves).
Playing all the lands which become artifact creatures gives you good redundancy, and I would play some artifact mana dorks (Silver Myr, Guardian Idol, Manakin, Milikin, Plague Myr). But otherwise, you shouldn't need more artifact creatures than that.
You also need Lightning Greaves and Thousand-Year Elixir in here. Every other piece of equipment is contrary to the game plan of Arcum -> Mindslaver -> Win
Can get Flash of Insight / Think Twice / Alter Reality, and Deep Analysis if you add it in.
-Necrotic Ooze
-Triskelion
-Phyrexian Devourer
-Green Sun's Zenith
-Leonin Relic Warder
-Reveillark
+Reclamation Sage
+Angel of Despair
+Primeval Titan
+Tidehollow Sculler
+Pack Rat
+Academy Rector
Ooze combo was overkill, as was Reveillark combo. I generally never lose when Survival is online, and both Reveillark / Ooze / Triskelion / Phyrexian Devourer just clogged my hand up whenever I got them.
Zenith was cut because it's a non creature, and I'm finding mana dorks aren't that integral to your game plan anyway.
Relic warder was cut for Reclamation Sage, which is basically a straight upgrade.
The extra slots let me fit in Angel of Despair and Primeval Titan, which are both solid reanimator targets.
I also have room now for Academy Rector (so I have a 4 CMC slot on Birthing Pod chain), Tidehollow Sculler (because it's just good), and Pack Rat, which is my personal favorite, because it's a fantastic discard outlet in creature form (which the deck needs way more of).
Turns out that in the heavy midrange meta that we've got right now (Jenara / Marath / Yisan / etc.), straight reanimator is actually the perfect deck choice for steam rolling.
The deck is still playing a bit clunky, but I don't want to drop below 40 creatures, so I'm trying to make the reanimator theme work, while juggling the creature count, and maintaining enough discard outlets.
Still, the deck has so far performed pretty sweet.
More updates to come!
Combo Animar expends a significant amount of resources getting to the higher CMC tiers, so once you get there, you want to be sure you immediately win.
Purphoros, Prophet of Kurphix, Soul of the Harvest, Primordial Sage, Deadeye Navigator, etc, are all unreliable or win more.
You should really look at Jester's list, and think over the card differences, and whether or not each one makes sense for a competitive 1v1 setting.
I also think Cruel Ultimatum deserves to be in here though. It's tutorable with Mystical Tutor, and is just brutal when resolved.
Also agree you need at least 5-6 mana rocks in Thraximundar.
I also think you might be playing too many single target removal spells. I counted 6 and that seems excessive, especially when you also have bounce + boardwipes. At the very least, I'd cut Chainer's Edict.
I also think Oblivion Stone is much better than Engineered Explosives.
Bonesplitter is extremely mana efficient, both in terms of extra damage per turn, and in pumping Grenzo. I would definitely play it.
Quest for the Goblin Lord also seems pretty crazy in a deck with so many goblins, and again, pumps Grenzo.
You're also missing Go For The Throat.
Cuts:
You're only playing 36 lands, so Erebos and Sarkhan are too mana intensive to ever do any good.
I generally like Goblin Pyromancer, but Grenzo isn't a "may" effect, so every time you activate him, you have a 1/99 of wiping your own board. I'd cut him too.
Barring that, bluff an All-In-Kaalia style of deck, but actually be playing Oros-Reanimator, with Kaalia as an alt wincon. Kaalia will keep eating removal, but your real win strategy will be casting the big creatures just through ramp and reanimator shenanigans.
1) The difference between 6 mana and 8 mana is huge (quantitatively, yes, it's only 2 mana).
For example, casting Iname turn 4 requires just Worn Powerstone or Coalition Relic. Maelstrom Wanderer on the other hand, requires a deck dedicated to ramp to consistently cast your general early enough to not get steamrolled by combo or aggro.
2) MW is less consistent than Iname. Arcadus touched on this, but I don't think does it sufficient justice. Iname is one of the most consistent decks in the meta. Your general does exactly what it wants to every time you resolve it, and you require only one of 6-10 cards in your deck to then win. This is an extremely easy board position to assemble, especially because you play black and have access to tutors.
3) MW lacks the color black or white. Removal is very integral to beating Zur. MW has a bad matchup against Zur. Zur is the best deck in the meta. You can see where this is going.
All of that aside though, MW when build appropriately has a positive matchup against Iname. Cards like Upheaval, Wildfire, or Destructive Force prevent Iname from simply resurrecting his graveyard again (or, mana denial + wrath = good against Iname).
Much of Iname's removal is also dead against MW, which puts the deck at an immediate card disadvantage. Iname also struggles to consistently kill early enough to prevent MW from resolving.
Username: Fluxuate
Timecode: (UTC -5:00) Eastern Time
General: Prossh
Most of the other top tier decks (Marath / Zur / Prossh) are decks Supreme Verdict is never bad against. Since Derevi can recover much easier, it'll at least never be a dead card.
I would play Beast Within and Vindicate. Beast Within is good only if its because its an out to Animar.
I don't think Wickerbough is needed - you have both Qasali and Harmonic Sliver along the Birthing Pod chain to deal with enchantments / artifacts. Plus, the 4 CMC spot has much better goodies like Restoration Angel (which is interesting - I'm going to try that), or Academy Rector (though no longer as good now that its not tutoring up Pattern of Rebirth -> Protean Hulk).
Garruk is not necessary, but I would never cut Liliana.
All the other artifact creatures, as well as the equipments, add little to nothing to your game plan. Arcum is an extremely bad general if you're trying to win through beatdown (see Thassa, God of Sea instead), and most of the artifact creatures you're playing do nothing on their own.
You only need 1-3 artifact creatures every game, and enough counterspells to protect your game plan. Obviously your opponent will disrupt what you're doing, but Arcum is good because of the deck's inevitability. You have to dedicate very little slots to your actual win conditions, and can thus play a lot of disruption. Sometimes you'll combo early, but more often will grind out a win simply by attrition.
Note that Mindslaver is legal in Duel Commander, so activating Arcum even once should win you the game (an early Mindslaver can just be brutal, especially against competitive decks with removal and discard which they can use against themselves).
Playing all the lands which become artifact creatures gives you good redundancy, and I would play some artifact mana dorks (Silver Myr, Guardian Idol, Manakin, Milikin, Plague Myr). But otherwise, you shouldn't need more artifact creatures than that.
Cutting all the artifact creatures will allow you to play a standard suit of counterspells, which is basically a necessity in Mono U. That means cards like Spell Pierce, Swan Song, Spell Snare, Force Spike, Counterspell, Remand, etc.
You also need Lightning Greaves and Thousand-Year Elixir in here. Every other piece of equipment is contrary to the game plan of Arcum -> Mindslaver -> Win