Thank you! I've been watching Legacy SCG Opens all year, so I figure at some point I'd have to become part of the fray myself.
A few follow-ups: Do you think the singular Island and Swamp is enough to combat Wasteland? I was thinking the same thing about the fetches--would a second Misty Rainforest work? Did you switch out Empyrial Archangel for Sphinx of the Steel Wind in the mainboard, or did you just take out the Archangel entirely? The Archangel seems like a pretty important fatty to have access to, but definitely not in the main, is why I ask.
I know, it seems gross to have to settle for Watery Grave, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Perhaps a 2-2 split?
Bear with me, I really like this deck and I really like Legacy, so I'd like to go into it with as much a fighting chance as possible.
I love reanimator strategies. To be fair, I love graveyard strategies throughout all of Magic, but there's something especially elegant about Reanimator over Dredge or Tin Fins. This fact, in light of Reanimator's recent rise in viability, and considering that I'm interested in buying into Legacy soon, here is the list I'm currently toying with:
Of note:
- I don't have the Show and Tell package. I understand the appeal, but it seemed weak/counterproductive.
- I want my mainboard fatties to have the widest possible impact across matchups. Is this the best configuration for that?
- The sideboard has wide answers, as well, for an unknown metagame.
- Odds are the Underground Seas would be mostly Watery Grave irl unless I can find someone to borrow from. How much does that hurt the deck vs. the Underground Seas?
- Besides that, I have some other convictions about the mana base. Is the number of fetches to actual lands correct? Should I have more than Tropical Island and Bayou to splash for Abrupt Decay? Should I have more basics, lest I run into Wasteland?
I like to think of Noble Hierarch not as an excuse to run a higher curve, but as a way to keep the mana count in-game high enough while still being able to aggressively Ghost Quarter lands. Also, it's extremely advantageous to be able to represent a Path to Exile to your opponent when you need to, or occasionally have those explosive T1 Hierarch, T2 Arbiter+Quarter draws. She's more tempo than ramp in my mind.
I definitely see what you mean about adding Scavenging Ooze and Aven Mindcensor. The deck has so many good choices for cards, that I'll be honest, I just forgot about those two.
I haven't had a lot of experience with Choke, so it might be worth at least seeing what happens over a few games, but I see what you mean. I'll keep an eye on it.
I'll try to find some room for a mainboard Spellskite, too.
I don't have a ton of experience with the deck, but Modern seems really interesting to me right now and I'm eager to try out various anti-Delver lists. I'm always most interested in formats when there's a bad guy to beat.
I'm a fan of diversifying my answers a bit in the sideboard, as well as keeping some healthy variety in the mainboard. I like Judge's Familiar, but what do you think about it vs. Dryad Militant? With lots of Burn/Delver running around, is either significantly better than the other? I'm leaning towards the Familiar right now, but I could be convinced otherwise.
I'll be proxying this up and testing with some friends this weekend, so any input it welcome!
A few follow-ups: Do you think the singular Island and Swamp is enough to combat Wasteland? I was thinking the same thing about the fetches--would a second Misty Rainforest work? Did you switch out Empyrial Archangel for Sphinx of the Steel Wind in the mainboard, or did you just take out the Archangel entirely? The Archangel seems like a pretty important fatty to have access to, but definitely not in the main, is why I ask.
I know, it seems gross to have to settle for Watery Grave, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Perhaps a 2-2 split?
Bear with me, I really like this deck and I really like Legacy, so I'd like to go into it with as much a fighting chance as possible.
I love reanimator strategies. To be fair, I love graveyard strategies throughout all of Magic, but there's something especially elegant about Reanimator over Dredge or Tin Fins. This fact, in light of Reanimator's recent rise in viability, and considering that I'm interested in buying into Legacy soon, here is the list I'm currently toying with:
4x Polluted Delta
4x Underground Sea
1x Bayou
1x Tropical Island
1x Island
1x Swamp
1x Misty Rainforest
2x Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (7)
3x Griselbrand
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Tidespout Tyrant
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind
4x Force of Will
3x Daze
3x Thoughtseize
4x Entomb
4x Careful Study
4x Brainstorm
3x Ponder
4x Reanimate
3x Exhume
Other Spells (6)
4x Lotus Petal
2x Animate Dead
2x Duress
3x Pithing Needle
2x Flusterstorm
3x Abrupt Decay
2x Echoing Truth
1x Blazing Archon
1x Empyrial Archangel
1x Sire of Insanity
Of note:
- I don't have the Show and Tell package. I understand the appeal, but it seemed weak/counterproductive.
- I want my mainboard fatties to have the widest possible impact across matchups. Is this the best configuration for that?
- The sideboard has wide answers, as well, for an unknown metagame.
- Odds are the Underground Seas would be mostly Watery Grave irl unless I can find someone to borrow from. How much does that hurt the deck vs. the Underground Seas?
- Besides that, I have some other convictions about the mana base. Is the number of fetches to actual lands correct? Should I have more than Tropical Island and Bayou to splash for Abrupt Decay? Should I have more basics, lest I run into Wasteland?
Any other thoughts?
I like to think of Noble Hierarch not as an excuse to run a higher curve, but as a way to keep the mana count in-game high enough while still being able to aggressively Ghost Quarter lands. Also, it's extremely advantageous to be able to represent a Path to Exile to your opponent when you need to, or occasionally have those explosive T1 Hierarch, T2 Arbiter+Quarter draws. She's more tempo than ramp in my mind.
I definitely see what you mean about adding Scavenging Ooze and Aven Mindcensor. The deck has so many good choices for cards, that I'll be honest, I just forgot about those two.
That's what I was thinking, too, regarding Judge's Familiar vs. Dryad Militant. I'll try out the Militant.
I haven't had a lot of experience with Choke, so it might be worth at least seeing what happens over a few games, but I see what you mean. I'll keep an eye on it.
I'll try to find some room for a mainboard Spellskite, too.
I don't have a ton of experience with the deck, but Modern seems really interesting to me right now and I'm eager to try out various anti-Delver lists. I'm always most interested in formats when there's a bad guy to beat.
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Judge's Familiar
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Qasali Pridemage
4 Flickerwisp
4 Blade Splicer
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Restoration Angel
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
Land (23)
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Temple Garden
4 Ghost Qaurter
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Stirring Wildwood
3 Plains
1 Forest
2 Stony Silence
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Choke
1 Dismember
2 Auriok Champion
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
1 Spellskite
I'm a fan of diversifying my answers a bit in the sideboard, as well as keeping some healthy variety in the mainboard. I like Judge's Familiar, but what do you think about it vs. Dryad Militant? With lots of Burn/Delver running around, is either significantly better than the other? I'm leaning towards the Familiar right now, but I could be convinced otherwise.
I'll be proxying this up and testing with some friends this weekend, so any input it welcome!
(First time posting on MTGS, woo!)