Hey guys! First post here, but have lurked for some time to use this forum as a deck crafting resource. Now that intros are out of the way, let's jump right into it.
After sifting through every Reanimator thread I could find on the Casual-Multiplayer section, I've decided upon Abzan colors. My meta tends to consist of a little bit of a slow start by everyone with big lategame potential. There are maybe six consistent people who play, and because of everyone knowing each other well, the games tend to become very political. It's not uncommon to see people hated off the board for their actions in a previous game.
With that in mind, I've chosen Junk Reanimator because it seems like a very sticky and resilient deck with enormous late game potential. I'm going into this knowing that I'm going to get a lot of hate for playing things like Recurring Nightmare and Sylvan Primordial, but I'm hoping that this particular build is resilient enough to deal with anything that the table decides to throw at me. After all, plays like Sun Titan into Flickerwisp into Thragtusk, and double Angel of Serenity plays are what drew me to the deck in the first place. At the moment I'm opting for a little bit of a hybrid in dipping into enchantment territory. I'll be running cards like Utopia Sprawl, Courser of Kruphix, and Commune with the Gods. Reanimator on it's own seems to be a tad inconsistent, so I'm hoping that this will help with mana fixing and land drops. It also allows me to run and recur Animate Dead and Recurring Nightmare on a more consistent basis.
This is, hopefully, where you guys come in. I've built Legacy Reanimator in the colors of UB for 1v1's before, but this seems to be a different beast. I'm looking for feedback on anything you guys can think of. Is there anything in the deck that doesn't mesh well? Let me know. Is my landbase way off? Let me know! One thing in particular I'm a little leery about is the use of Deathreap Ritual. Typically, Reanimator seems to be the type of deck that empties it's hand by turn 5-6 and then top decks for the rest of the game. However, with how grindy the nature of FFA is, I'm hoping to mitigate some of that top deck with the choices I've made in card selection. Another thing I'm not sure about is the singleton of Unburial Rites. It was the last card chosen for the deck list and I picked it because I wasn't really sure if 6 reanimation spells (even if recurred) was going to cut it. Is it necessary? If I don't need it do I have room to run another game ending fatty? Maybe something like Pernicious Deed would work instead? I like the idea of running even a single copy of it for some board control, but it might be that Sylvan Primordial, Angel of Serenity, and Ashen Rider will take care of that aspect all on their own.
As an aside, I had the notion that Vedalken Orrery might have the potential to create some very interesting and oppressive shenanigans with this deck. Has anyone tried something like this before?
Essentially, with this deck, I'm trying to build something that just won't die; something that always has an answer and is built to grind you into oblivion. Any advice you guys have towards that end is highly appreciated.
Thank you guys for any input you have to offer. I'm eager to get this guy built and on the table ASAP!
P.S. As this is my first post, I'm still feeling out the ins and outs of post etiquette and structure. I apologize in advance for any rule violations or faux pas' I may have committed unknowingly!
I personally think that Satyr Wayfinder is hot garbage and never field him. All of my good cards are Enchantments so those are what I want to hit. I also typically omit the midrange value nonsense in favor of fatties. I'm not looking to cast 4 drops on turn 4, I want to be recurring something unfair by then.
For card draw it's hard for me to justify anything over Compost. I have no idea what your meta is like but even if there's only one Black player it's still going to be a 2 mana Contract from Below. Ritual is fine too, I don't mind the card, but Compost is bonkers in the right spheres.
Part of what makes this deck so powerful is that everything worth drawing is hit by Kruphix's Insight. It's essentially a 3 mana draw 3 that also bins your fatties. Card is wildly overpowered when you start thinking about it in those terms. Clearly it doesn't always draw 3 cards but, again, even "misses" are fine as long as long as they're creatures or Unburial Rites or whatever.
Something close to this. Numbers don't have to be exact but it'll give you a rough idea.
One thing that I'll note is that Pernicious Deed tends to be awful in this deck since it clears your entire board and most of your "lands." I typically use Beast Within if anything.
My take would be wildly different.
But my group is three or four.
That said, I can not stress enough that running consistant card draw wins games.
In my meta Animate Dead gets destroyed too often for it to have long term value. Only for ETB effects. So I tend to play big mana and Nezumi Graverobber in stead.
Fun but not great is Teneb, the Harvester in the Abzan colors.
In those colors it’s easy to gain life, draw cards, destroy stuff and have fatties. So think about those.
(I like Qasali Pridemage and in certain builds Necrotic Sliver.)
In my meta Animate Dead gets destroyed too often for it to have long term value. Only for ETB effects. So I tend to play big mana and Nezumi Graverobber in stead.
You're not going to get anything much bigger than turn 2 Commune with the Gods turn 3 Animate Dead on Sylvan Primordial against 5 opponents. At that point you're already untapping with 7+ mana which is enough to hard cast your fatties. Moreover, because of cards like Overgrown Tomb and Murmuring Bosk you can meet all of your colored requirements off of Forests alone. Abzan Reanimator is basically the most unfair ramp deck that you can build when it draws reasonably well because you get the best of both worlds.
In my research before coming up with the actual list, I saw you and a few others mention Carpet of Flowers. I think I'm going to pick up a playset, but I'm going to hold off on using them for now. The card seems like it ventures into an area of oppression that I don't quite want to drop on the table yet if that makes sense? The players on the table run good decks, but we don't tend to see anything in the realm of Waste Notcombos. As of yet, some of the most "oppressive" stuff we see are things like Panharmonicon and Eldrazi Displacer into Noxious Gearhulk. I sense that this deck is going to up the ante a little bit, which is fine, but I don't want to create such a large gulf that people are going to want to quit altogether.
I personally think that Satyr Wayfinder is hot garbage and never field him. All of my good cards are Enchantments so those are what I want to hit. I also typically omit the midrange value nonsense in favor of fatties. I'm not looking to cast 4 drops on turn 4, I want to be recurring something unfair by then. Clearly it doesn't always draw 3 cards but, again, even "misses" are fine as long as long as they're creatures or Unburial Rites or whatever.
Duly Noted. I picked Satyr Wayfinder because I figured I might need more legs to shore up the openings early game. If I'm going to be fairly reliably popping off with bombs on turn 4, Kruphix's Insight seems the way to go for a more solid all around deck. As for omitting Siege Rhino and Thragtusk, you don't feel like the life gain that those cards allow access to upon recurrence creates more overall resiliency for the deck? Maybe the counter argument for that would be that once I'm dropping fatties, I'm controlling the board with such efficiency that life gain ends up meaning very little. How about Courser of Kruphix? I figured it would act as inadvertent card draw, while also aiding land drops and resiliency through the life gain. From your deck list it seems like needless material.
For card draw it's hard for me to justify anything over Compost. I have no idea what your meta is like but even if there's only one Black player it's still going to be a 2 mana Contract from Below. Ritual is fine too, I don't mind the card, but Compost is bonkers in the right spheres.
Like I mentioned before, I might get some groans from the table for dropping a 2 mana enchant that potent right away. I'm going to pick up a playset and see how Ritual plays out for now. I can always swap over now that I've got the idea, but I definitely like the idea of having ample card draw to fix the inherent flaws of Reanimator.
One thing that I'll note is that Pernicious Deed tends to be awful in this deck since it clears your entire board and most of your "lands." I typically use Beast Within if anything.
I completely missed that it would end up destroying my acceleration. I like Beast Within as an alternative. How do you feel about Vindicate, with the trade-off being that it's a sorcery? I suppose that with a deck like this a plain 3/3 is negligible.
In my meta Animate Dead gets destroyed too often for it to have long term value. Only for ETB effects. So I tend to play big mana and Nezumi Graverobber in stead.
The reason I don't like the Nezumi play as much is because it seems too conditional, even with 6 players on the board. I also don't really have a way of protecting it from removal, so flimsiness seems a bit of an issue. If I were to run something like that, I think I'd have to restructure the deck in a different direction than it is right now.
W.r.t. lifegain I've never found it necessary in dedicated ramp/reanimator lists. I'm also not saying that you can't run it, merely that I don't run any of it myself. I'd rather have big, action spells and they don't qualify in most instances.
I personally run Beast Within over Vindicate in Green decks. The 3/3 is irrelevant and the instant speed is extremely relevant in throngs of situations. Tapping out main phase to 1-for-1 someone is abysmal in multiplayer and so I tend to sandbag them for game-winning threats/combos/synergies. Don't get me wrong, Vindicate is fine, but as someone who's often presented with the option of running either I always opt for Beast Within instead.
After sifting through every Reanimator thread I could find on the Casual-Multiplayer section, I've decided upon Abzan colors. My meta tends to consist of a little bit of a slow start by everyone with big lategame potential. There are maybe six consistent people who play, and because of everyone knowing each other well, the games tend to become very political. It's not uncommon to see people hated off the board for their actions in a previous game.
With that in mind, I've chosen Junk Reanimator because it seems like a very sticky and resilient deck with enormous late game potential. I'm going into this knowing that I'm going to get a lot of hate for playing things like Recurring Nightmare and Sylvan Primordial, but I'm hoping that this particular build is resilient enough to deal with anything that the table decides to throw at me. After all, plays like Sun Titan into Flickerwisp into Thragtusk, and double Angel of Serenity plays are what drew me to the deck in the first place. At the moment I'm opting for a little bit of a hybrid in dipping into enchantment territory. I'll be running cards like Utopia Sprawl, Courser of Kruphix, and Commune with the Gods. Reanimator on it's own seems to be a tad inconsistent, so I'm hoping that this will help with mana fixing and land drops. It also allows me to run and recur Animate Dead and Recurring Nightmare on a more consistent basis.
Here's the current deck list:
6 Forest
3 Plains
3 Swamp
2 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
2 Isolated Chapel
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
1 High Market
4 Satyr Wayfinder
2 Flickerwisp
1 Eternal Witness
2 Courser of Kruphix
2 Siege Rhino
2 Thragtusk
2 Sun Titan
2 Angel of Serenity
2 Sylvan Primordial
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Ashen Rider
4 Commune with the Gods
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Animate Dead
2 Recurring Nightmare
2 Deathreap Ritual
1 Unburial Rites
This is, hopefully, where you guys come in. I've built Legacy Reanimator in the colors of UB for 1v1's before, but this seems to be a different beast. I'm looking for feedback on anything you guys can think of. Is there anything in the deck that doesn't mesh well? Let me know. Is my landbase way off? Let me know! One thing in particular I'm a little leery about is the use of Deathreap Ritual. Typically, Reanimator seems to be the type of deck that empties it's hand by turn 5-6 and then top decks for the rest of the game. However, with how grindy the nature of FFA is, I'm hoping to mitigate some of that top deck with the choices I've made in card selection. Another thing I'm not sure about is the singleton of Unburial Rites. It was the last card chosen for the deck list and I picked it because I wasn't really sure if 6 reanimation spells (even if recurred) was going to cut it. Is it necessary? If I don't need it do I have room to run another game ending fatty? Maybe something like Pernicious Deed would work instead? I like the idea of running even a single copy of it for some board control, but it might be that Sylvan Primordial, Angel of Serenity, and Ashen Rider will take care of that aspect all on their own.
As an aside, I had the notion that Vedalken Orrery might have the potential to create some very interesting and oppressive shenanigans with this deck. Has anyone tried something like this before?
Essentially, with this deck, I'm trying to build something that just won't die; something that always has an answer and is built to grind you into oblivion. Any advice you guys have towards that end is highly appreciated.
Thank you guys for any input you have to offer. I'm eager to get this guy built and on the table ASAP!
P.S. As this is my first post, I'm still feeling out the ins and outs of post etiquette and structure. I apologize in advance for any rule violations or faux pas' I may have committed unknowingly!
First of all, you said that you play 6 people. This often makes things like Carpet of Flowers and Compost rather oppressive. I personally play lists that use 4x Commune with the Gods and 4x Kruphix's Insight but very few actual lands. It's usually something close to 6x Forest 4x Overgrown Tomb and 4x Verdant Catacombs and from there I rely on Utopia Sprawl and Carpet of Flowers as acceleration.
I personally think that Satyr Wayfinder is hot garbage and never field him. All of my good cards are Enchantments so those are what I want to hit. I also typically omit the midrange value nonsense in favor of fatties. I'm not looking to cast 4 drops on turn 4, I want to be recurring something unfair by then.
For card draw it's hard for me to justify anything over Compost. I have no idea what your meta is like but even if there's only one Black player it's still going to be a 2 mana Contract from Below. Ritual is fine too, I don't mind the card, but Compost is bonkers in the right spheres.
Part of what makes this deck so powerful is that everything worth drawing is hit by Kruphix's Insight. It's essentially a 3 mana draw 3 that also bins your fatties. Card is wildly overpowered when you start thinking about it in those terms. Clearly it doesn't always draw 3 cards but, again, even "misses" are fine as long as long as they're creatures or Unburial Rites or whatever.
So it's usually something like:
6x Forest
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Overgrown Tomb
Creatures (16)
16x Creatures
4x Carpet of Flowers
4x Utopia Sprawl
4x Animate Dead
4x Dance of the Dead
4x Commune with the Gods
4x Kruphix's Insight
1x Recurring Nightmare
5x Additional Spells
Something close to this. Numbers don't have to be exact but it'll give you a rough idea.
One thing that I'll note is that Pernicious Deed tends to be awful in this deck since it clears your entire board and most of your "lands." I typically use Beast Within if anything.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
But my group is three or four.
That said, I can not stress enough that running consistant card draw wins games.
In my meta Animate Dead gets destroyed too often for it to have long term value. Only for ETB effects. So I tend to play big mana and Nezumi Graverobber in stead.
Fun but not great is Teneb, the Harvester in the Abzan colors.
In those colors it’s easy to gain life, draw cards, destroy stuff and have fatties. So think about those.
(I like Qasali Pridemage and in certain builds Necrotic Sliver.)
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
You're not going to get anything much bigger than turn 2 Commune with the Gods turn 3 Animate Dead on Sylvan Primordial against 5 opponents. At that point you're already untapping with 7+ mana which is enough to hard cast your fatties. Moreover, because of cards like Overgrown Tomb and Murmuring Bosk you can meet all of your colored requirements off of Forests alone. Abzan Reanimator is basically the most unfair ramp deck that you can build when it draws reasonably well because you get the best of both worlds.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
(-:
That combination seems to work nicely. In a big meta especially.
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
In my research before coming up with the actual list, I saw you and a few others mention Carpet of Flowers. I think I'm going to pick up a playset, but I'm going to hold off on using them for now. The card seems like it ventures into an area of oppression that I don't quite want to drop on the table yet if that makes sense? The players on the table run good decks, but we don't tend to see anything in the realm of Waste Notcombos. As of yet, some of the most "oppressive" stuff we see are things like Panharmonicon and Eldrazi Displacer into Noxious Gearhulk. I sense that this deck is going to up the ante a little bit, which is fine, but I don't want to create such a large gulf that people are going to want to quit altogether.
Duly Noted. I picked Satyr Wayfinder because I figured I might need more legs to shore up the openings early game. If I'm going to be fairly reliably popping off with bombs on turn 4, Kruphix's Insight seems the way to go for a more solid all around deck. As for omitting Siege Rhino and Thragtusk, you don't feel like the life gain that those cards allow access to upon recurrence creates more overall resiliency for the deck? Maybe the counter argument for that would be that once I'm dropping fatties, I'm controlling the board with such efficiency that life gain ends up meaning very little. How about Courser of Kruphix? I figured it would act as inadvertent card draw, while also aiding land drops and resiliency through the life gain. From your deck list it seems like needless material.
Like I mentioned before, I might get some groans from the table for dropping a 2 mana enchant that potent right away. I'm going to pick up a playset and see how Ritual plays out for now. I can always swap over now that I've got the idea, but I definitely like the idea of having ample card draw to fix the inherent flaws of Reanimator.
I completely missed that it would end up destroying my acceleration. I like Beast Within as an alternative. How do you feel about Vindicate, with the trade-off being that it's a sorcery? I suppose that with a deck like this a plain 3/3 is negligible.
The reason I don't like the Nezumi play as much is because it seems too conditional, even with 6 players on the board. I also don't really have a way of protecting it from removal, so flimsiness seems a bit of an issue. If I were to run something like that, I think I'd have to restructure the deck in a different direction than it is right now.
I personally run Beast Within over Vindicate in Green decks. The 3/3 is irrelevant and the instant speed is extremely relevant in throngs of situations. Tapping out main phase to 1-for-1 someone is abysmal in multiplayer and so I tend to sandbag them for game-winning threats/combos/synergies. Don't get me wrong, Vindicate is fine, but as someone who's often presented with the option of running either I always opt for Beast Within instead.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold