MTG Salvation

Quote from Kelzam »

Quote from TheHiscock »

Why both Eldrazi Titans in your list? Seems to me like you'll be constantly shuffling. Cutting one would open a slot and drop down your CMC a bit.

I recently overhauled my list to take more advantage Sidisi's token ability with more self mill (Mesmeric Orb and Seedborn Muse are so gross together). When I did that I added Birds of Paradise and the extra ramp is nice for sure. I've also always had Deathrite Shaman in my deck, he's a power house.

I've certainly taken some inspiration from your deck and added my own twist to it. I'd like to post my own list/write up/primer in a thread when I get time.

My 2cents: When I ran this list, I couldn't imagine not having both Eldrazi. Consistency is key. The graveyard is absolutely necessary for this deck to function and you NEED to be able to protect the graveyard, and having to shuffle a bit more is worth that utility. Personally, I do not feel like having only one or the other of the Eldrazi titans would cut it in any meta where players know better than to leave your graveyard alone. There's precious few ways to protect one of the key functions of the deck, which is the recursion engines. Having both for the effect has felt like a must-have.

Quote from DementedKirby »

Yeah, I'm aware that the average cmc of the deck is relatively high (4.08) which means that I'm pretty much casting only a single card a turn. However, the average cmc comes down if you take into consideration the following factors:

• Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth aren't really cast; they're for recycling/protecting the graveyard. When I can cast them, great. And it's usually thanks to Gaea's Cradle, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, etc.
• Gempalm Polluter, which costs 5B is never cast; it's cycling ability of BB is what's used. So for all effects and purposes it's cmc is 2.
• The cards that are always hardcast such as artifacts, instants, sorceries, and enchantments are much cheaper to cast in comparison to the creatures. Which leads me to my next point.
• Almost all the expensive creatures in the deck are cheated into play.

Most of the cards I'm casting are the cheap spells. Creatures are usually cheated into play or mana is amassed to cast them. Yes, this may seem inefficient because the deck has a higher than average curve. But it is a reanimator deck - so not everything is meant to be hardcast. I do hope to streamline the deck a bit more in the future. Possibly cut out some of the more higher costed cards as well as some pet cards in order to make space for better options such as mana dorks and ramp. I have been thinking lately of adding creatures like Yavimaya Dryad and Wood Elves to ramp as well as mana dorks like Birds of Paradise and Bloom Tender. Even if I draw these late game, I can always just pitch them to Survival of the Fittest, Whisper, Blood Liturgist, Grimgrin, Corpse-Born, etc.

Lately I've been considering more efficient ways to self-mill and go a bit deeper into reanimation because of it. Cards like Craterhoof Behemoth, Razaketh, the Foulblooded, etc. might make the curve super high, but Whisper, Blood Liturgist pretty much helps me get them for free from the graveyard. Sure, most of the time that means that these cards take up space in your hand. But either way, they can eventually be hardcasted if such a time arose.

Quote from DementedKirby »

That being said, it's a Primer and in no ways a definite way to run the deck. There is plenty of wiggle room for other people to insert their own strategies based on the skeleton I've provided. You yourself have found such a way to build around the deck, which is what I want to achieve with the Primer. It's not a "copy/paste this deck in tcgplayer or other such site" decklist.