MTG Salvation

putrid imp

Just curious on people's experience with it and how often it was actually used.

I've been adding some more reanimator support to my cube. Is it overkill to have such a narrow enabler?

Putrid Imp is a great creature. Good reanimation support, cheap, evasive, relevant creature type. Solid B player.

Quote from kojiro

Putrid Imp is a great creature. Good reanimation support, cheap, evasive, relevant creature type. Solid B player.

This pretty much sums him up. I'm not sure what size he fits in tho. I have him in at 600.

He's really good in a dedicated reanimator build, and he has fringe uses in a zombie recursion deck. He was too narrow for my 540 list, but once the cube is a bit bigger, you need as many remotely playable enablers as you can get ahold of.

Necro alert...

I always dismissed Putrid Imp as being not powerful enough, but I’ve had success with PImp in the MTGO Vintage Cube (proxied with friends). The reasons are obvious - aggro Reanimator simply needs a certain density of enablers, and this guy is as efficient as they come. I’m now considering adding him to my 720. Does anyone share this experience?

It is only playable in that specific deck, and even then only when everything goes according to plan as it does nothing alone. Especially in a large cube, I'd be expecting non-ideal reanimator lists and a non substantial amount of deck that reanimate as a second theme, and in those lists I'd vastly prefer discard outlets that actually do something on their own. I think it is a trap card as you are not really able to push reanimator as much as this card suggests at that size.

Good points - I may have been too hasty after the card performed well for me in one specific deck. Everything you’re saying is why I didn’t have it in my Cube to begin with. I will reconsider adding it.

The number of cards in cube that allow for turn 2 reanimation without acceleration can be counted on 1 hand - Entomb, Putrid Imp, Thoughtseize, Faithless Looting, Careful Study. If turn 2 is necessary for Reanimator to be competitive in your cube, probably at least 4 of those 5 should be played, and Putrid Imp makes the cut as #4. Maybe even #3 for the fact that it's on-color.

I think it's better to design the Reanimator deck as a slower, more controlling deck in cube, so Imp doesn't make it. But if the cube is so high-powered that Reanimator needs more speed to stay competitive, Putrid Imp is the role-player you may need.

Don't forget about Firestorm.

I'm still a big fan of Putrid Imp because it works uniquely well with Recurring Nightmare and Victimize, as well as helping to hold janky graveyard-centric black aggro decks together (ie. the ones playing Unearth) and playing its normal role as the T2 Reanimate-enabler.

Does anyone run Insolent Neonate? He also seems on the cusp of good enough for 2 different archetypes, with a somewhat higher worst-case scenario.

I've had Putrid Imp in my cube for years, along side Raven's Crime as 2T reanimation enablers. I've eventually cut both, but they performed surprisingly well for us.

Though not typical, I did have a game where I pitched Griselbrand, reanimated it on turn 3, and on turn 4 (with the help of a 2T mana rock) drew 14, pitched my hand to the imp, and cast Living Death for 12+ creatures.