Introduction
**UPDATE**
As of 11/19/2017 this deck, fully foreign foil, along with the rest of my entire collection has been stolen...
Hey gang! So here we are, my first official primer, how exciting is that?! So let's just jump right in shall we?
I'll start by saying that I am a major "brewer", and that I find it much more satisfying to win with my own creation than that of some pro player that everyone and their mom is playing...that said, I started this deck about 4 years ago when I sold what was left of my Legacy and Vintage cards after most of my entire collection was stolen, to get into Modern. Since that day I have been tinkering with and evolving this list and it has become somewhat of a "pet" deck of mine. I played Reanimator in Legacy with a Show and Tell transformation sideboard and I have always been in love with that type of play-style, so naturally it was the direction I wanted to try in Modern as well. Imagine my sadness when I learned that Reanimator strategies were practically non-existent in the format! I wasn't going to let that stop me, so my original lists ran Unburial Rites and Polymorph, with some other really interesting choices...I eventually moved on to Goryo's Vengeance, abusing him to flash in Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur at my opponents end step etc...I then added Obzedat, Ghost Council and I was headed in the right direction! With the printing of Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
, the final piece to my puzzle was complete!
This newest version of the deck aims to drown your opponent in straight value and card advantage, while controlling the game and disrupting your opponents plans as much as possible while sticking threats in the form of Obzedat etc...it is packed full with ways to rip apart your opponents hand and wipe the board clean of anything that makes it through, and the longer the game plays out, the harder it gets for you to lose. If you're saying to yourself, "Groovy." then this is the deck for you! Read on for more detailed info on specific card choices, match-ups, and side boarding etc...and leave me some love with a +1!
The Primer
Overview
Reading this decklist
Reading this decklist
Custom categories coming soon! ...Possibly.
Deck colors
Deck strengths
Deck strengths
The sideboard...Having access to white means we have the best possible post-board match-ups plain and simple. As for the rest, overall I'd say the deck is pretty consistent, while still managing to remain very flexible thanks in part to the various Gifts packages and graveyard toolbox. The decks strongest quality however, I believe is in it's incredible synergy. Every card does exactly what it's suppose to, but also adds additional versatility to the deck allowing for multiple lines of play due to the "well oiled" and cohesive nature of the list.
Deck weaknesses
The Strategy
General strategy
General strategy
Generally our most basic plan is to try and stick an Obzedat as soon as possible...sometimes this can happen as early as turn 2 or 3, but it's completely ok if it doesn't happen until much later, as we have the ability to survive pretty well and mess with our opponents game plan along the way. Depending on the match-up, we can also sometimes just punch through Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and get there with Lingering Souls tokens and Snaps.
Early game
Early game
I typically like to keep any opening hand that has a discard spell and the ability to cast it, especially if I'm on the play. I also will generally keep anything that has Gifts and 3 or more lands, as long as I have at least one disruption or removal spell as well. An Ideal hand/game could range anywhere from T1 disruption>T2 disruption+Serum Visions> T3 Liliana of the Veil>T4 Gifts etc...to T1 Fetch into disruption/Serum>T2 Fetch into Jace>T3 Jace loot/Goryo's for Obzedat and so on...There are some games where it's completely ok to just Jam the Rites/Elesh combo immediately and make them have it or lose, though generally it's better to just play it safe and wait for the right opening. It's also important to note that you should never be afraid of using Goryo's Vengeance to flash in a binned Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite as an early board wipe to save yourself or keep the board state from getting too out of control. She is not our main win-con and fills the roll of a 4th board wipe nicely.
Mid game
Mid game
"MID GAME" TEXT GOES HERE.
Late game
Late game
"LATE GAME" TEXT GOES HERE.
Contingency plan
Contingency plan
"CONTINGENCY PLAN" TEXT GOES HERE.
Mulligans
Mulligans
"MULLIGANS" TEXT GOES HERE.
Matchups and sideboarding
Matchups and sideboarding
"MATCHUPS AND SIDEBOARDING" TEXT GOES HERE.
Combos and synergies
Combos and synergies
"COMBOS AND SYNERGIES" TEXT GOES HERE.
Card Choices Explained
Lands
Lands
"LANDS" TEXT GOES HERE.
Creatures
Creatures
"CREATURES" TEXT GOES HERE.
Other cards
Other cards
"OTHER CARDS" TEXT GOES HERE.
Other Information
Building this deck
Building this deck
"BUILDING THIS DECK" TEXT GOES HERE.
Event record
Event record
2/2/2016
So round 1 had me up against Tron, and in the first game he managed to have turn 3 Tron into a turn 4 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger exiling my 2 blue sources...luckily he left me with a white source and I was sitting on a path and had Goryo'd a ghost dad the turn before. He was not able to recover fast enough. Game 2 should have been mine, statistically...he mulled twice and I kept a greedy hand with several pieces of board hate but only one land...had I literally drawn just ONE land I would have had him locked out of the game, but for FIVE turns he did absolutely nothing while I never drew a single land...you can guess what happened. Game 3 he had another turn 3 tron into turn 4 Ulamog, but again I had white sources left with a Path in hand. He top decked a second ulamog and targeted my last 2 remaining lands...when I responded to the trigger by cracking my fetch land he tried to back track and say he wanted to target my Jace instead...I called a judge and was able to get it resolved quickly in my favor. I then proceeded to path his second Ulamog EOT, draw into a second land, activate and flip Jace, and cast a hasty ghost dad from the grave off of a binned goryo's for the game.
1-0
Round 2 was Infect. First game started with me just DESTROYING his hand for the first few turns and never letting a threat stick. Second game had me at 7 infect by turn 3, but I drew into a board wipe 2 turns in a row, followed by a snap Damnation, then gifted into Unburial Rites+Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.
2-0
Round 3 was by far my best match up...Burn. Game 1 he nearly had me until Ghost dad flew in to save the day and keep my life total in check. Game 2 I had an opening hand with Timely Reinforcements and some disruption, then proceeded to draw into a Leyline and then finally gifts into Iona for GG.
3-0
Round 4 was hands down the funnest game of Magic I have had in a long time...he was on some sort of Naya CoCo deck, and I can't for the life of me remember all the details of our games, as they were VERY long and super complex...I remember that one game had me the CLEAR front runner with over 20 life and him in the single digits, just to have him somehow turn it all around with TWO CoCos and in one turn drop me to like 12 and throw himself back up to 20+, where I then stayed alive long enough to wipe the board a few times and get a Ghost Dad and a Timely through to flip the tables once again and ultimately take it home! It was crazy and had most of the other players who had finished their rounds cheering.
4-0
So I'd have to say so far I'm LOVING this deck and I feel like the more I play it, the less little misplays I will make and the better I will be at making Gifts packages on the fly...I can't wait to take it again and see how it does against some of this new Eldrazi BS running around! STAY TUNED!!
Change log
Feedback
Currently looking for thoughts on ways to diversify my board (if possible or if even needed), and thoughts on where I stand against the new Eldrazi decks running around...
