Reanimation
Features
squire1
24 October 2010
8635 views
24 October 2010
8635 views
REANIMATING CREATURES
SELF RESURECTION
PERSIST CARDS
UNEARTH CARDS
REANIMATION DATA
TOP TEN REANIMATION CARDS
So here we are again to look at a long line of cards that MTG has created based around an iconic mechanic. This time we are focusing on reanimation, or effects that place creatures from the graveyard onto the battlefield.
REANIMATING CREATURES
First let us clarify a few things about the focus here. We are talking specifically about reanimation spells/effects. These spells/effects put cards creatures directly from the graveyard onto the battlefield. This specification in itself counts out other recursion cards that place cards from the graveyard into your hand or back into your library, so no Raise Dead, Gravedigger, Gravebane Zombie, etc.
In the beginning there were two. Two cards that built them all. Two cards that reanimated other creatures. At the time it seems that Wizards was unsure where reanimation belonged. As a metter of fact the cards were opposing each other, but one was much stronger than the other.
SELF RESURECTION
In addition to cards that reanimate other creatures from the graveyard, WOTC created one other card in Alpha that really lead to a whole different strain of reanimators:
Nether Shadow single handedly started a trend in MTG toward cards that are quick, and keep coming back for more. At first we saw Ashen Ghoul and Krovikan Horror type cards and Johnnies everywhere started playing with the mechanic. After a while whole mechanics were developed around the self reanimation thing an saw serious tournement play. Eventually leading us to some of the more moderns, amazingly good cards like Vengevine, or even Bloodghast which harkens back to Nether Shadow in a quite a few ways, but is much better. No question that WOTC has done a great deal to improve upon the meager beginnings of self-reanimation cards.
As mentioned earlier, self reanimation has lead to the development of some fairly important mechanics over the years, namley persist and unearth.
PERSIST CARDS
Persist was a mechanic that made life so great in limited and even made its way into constructed in a small way. Unassisted, persist is a one time Animate Dead for your own creature, which is great. With a little combo action it is a card that your opponant gets so tired of seeing that they actually leave the table. Among persist cards, the few that really got play are Murderous Redcap, Glen Elendra Archmage and Kitchen Finks for their obvious utility, and recurring utility at that. This mechanic made a decent splash, but never really left the standard environment.
UNEARTH CARDS
Unearth on the other hand continues to make waves and I have a distinct feeling that a few will stick around. Unearth seems like a decent idea until you realize how evil it can really be, then it sounds great!. Anathemancer stayed a sideboard standard for many decks and even made it to the mainboard in a few. Extractor Demon was fun for Johnny. Fatestitcher and Viscera Dragger were both solid cards that saw play is limited and some in constructed. But, the real showboaters here are Hellspark Elemental and Hell's Thunder for being in tons of RDW (Red Deck Wins) builds. Each of these creatures offered RDW something that was sometimes hard to achieve in aggro/burn decks, tempo. When you stop drawing creatures, just start unearthing to use that mana until you draw another beater. Unearth cards made tempo very scary at times because waves and waves of creatures just kept coming.
REANIMATION DATA
Even after some brief looks at the reanimation mechanics and cards through the years, we can see that there are huge variences in color and CMC, even from the beginning. So let's take a look at the actual distribution.
It is also always important to keep in mind what you get for the cost. Four CMC seems a bit high for reanimation cards, but 62.7% of these cards are creatures, some that self-reanimate, some that reanimate other things. So really any card that has a reanimation effect that cost under 4 or 3 is easily worth the cost. In some cases the higher cost ones like Sun Titan are an even better bargain.
TOP TEN REANIMATION CARDS
A special thanks goes to Buried Alive, Corpse Connoisseur, Entomb, and all of the other spells that get cards into my graveyard. You help make reanimation spells worthwhile.
Now mistergreen527 and I present to you our top ten reanimation cards of all time.
| ###10.Dread Return | ###10.Evershrike | |
 Two times out of 1 card. Oh but I have to sac 3 creatures. Yup and I am still great with it. It is there f you need it. That is all I ask of a card, be there when I need you. In hand or in graveyard, doesn't matter. Just be there. It is a double use Resurrection and/or Zombify. |
 I was actually hesitant to put any cards on my list that could only return themselves, but I just love Evershrike too much. As long as it doesn't get exiled and you can get an Aura in your hand, it will just keep coming back. Evershrike becomes especially hard to get rid of when you combine it with cards like Aspect of the Mongoose, Brilliant Halo, Sleeper's Guile, Rancor, and Spirit Loop. Plus, it has evasion AND grows with each Aura on it. There are a lot of self-recursion creatures, but Evershrike is definitely my favorite. |
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| ###9.Footsteps of the Goryo | ###9.Haakon, Stromgald Scourge | |
 Footsteps of the Goryo, Yosei, the Morning Star, Kokusho, the Evening Star, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker; whatever big bad guy and I put him back in the graveyard to do it all over again next turn. Ok I am in. |
 Haakon, Stromgald Scourge may be a self-recursion creature, but he does so much more than that. He single-handedly allows all of your knights to come back from the dead. What I like most about Haakon, though, is that he allows you to repeatedly cast Crib Swap and Nameless Inversion. This lets you clear your opponent's board while you swing with all of your undead Knights. |
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| ###8.Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni | ###8.Dread Return | |
 Turn 1 Hedron Crabs, turn 2 glimpse of the unthinkable, turn 3 or 4 Phantom Warrior, Turn 5 I ninjitsu all over you for 5 and steal stuf from your graveyard. Throw in some Distortion Strike and you have got yourself a mean reanimation/control deck. Just the sneak attck ability on this guy makes him worth all the expense. Add the number 7 card on my top ten and you just can't stop it. |
This card is a Dredge deck's best friend. Even if it gets put into your own graveyard, it has a Flashback cost that can be easily paid for using Narcomoebas, Ichorids, or any Unearthed creature that would die at end of turn anyways. Personally, sacrificing three small creatures for a game winner sounds fair to me. |
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###7. Goryo's Vengeance
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###7. Unearth | |
 Why is this so good? Go take a look at some legendary creature. No seriously...go look, I'll wait. That is why. I hate this card because I keep losing to it paired with Kokusho, the Evening Star. I mean really I get hit with 10 damage and my opponant gains 5 life for 2. Just unfair and I hate you for it. You know who you are spike. Yeah you! But really with all the legendary creatures (like number 8 on my list) out there this card is just sick.From Spike : The best part was saccing it to Greater Good and drawing 5 cards. |
 For a common, this card is unbelievable. One mana to return a creature from the graveyard to the battlefield?! The only "drawback" is that the creature has to have a converted mana cost of 3 or less. However, this still gives it plenty of excellent targets. Plus, if you don't have a creature you could return, you can just cycle it. Did I mention that this is common?! |
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| ###6. Stitch Together | ###6. Reanimate | |
 Man do I hate Raise Dead, I hate paying BB for it even more. But threshold is not a challange for reanimator decks usually. So as long as I mill myself for enough, I get a Zombify for 2. Yes that is good, in fact I will do that all day, in a box, with a fox, with a bass, in your face. :) |
 Reanimate costs the same as Unearth, but pulls ahead on the list because it can target any creature, from any graveyard. The obvious downside is the life that you must lose. This doesn't matter much though if you're pulling out a creature that is game-ending. Still, the later in the game you cast Reanimate, the more dangerous it becomes, which prevents it from being higher on my list. |
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| ###5. Geth, Lord of the Vault | ###5. Animate Dead | |
 Hey what is a great way to steal stuff from people? How about milling opponents and reanimating their creature. Al I need to do that is these few spells. Or you could ramp like hell into Geth, Lord of the Vault and let him do both. The greatest part is that if you are stealing low CMC creatures you can do it plenty of times in one turn. That is great. Oh yeah, he is a 5/5 with intimidate btw. |
I'd much rather have my creature lose one power than lose a bunch of life. Personally, I'd gladly pay one more mana for that trade. Again, you can target any creature in any graveyard. The disadvantage here, though, is that your opponent can destroy the enchantment or the creature to get rid of your reanimated buddy. By then though, the damage will probably already be done. |
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| ###4. Liliana Vess | ###4. Sun Titan | |
 A not very respected planeswalker honestly, but really take another look. Discard +1 not bad, tutor...meh passable, ultimate...hell yeah ultimate. Toss this is a hand control deck with a few contagion clasps and thrumming birds and you are on your way to reanimation heaven in no time. |
 My top four shows what I really like to find in a reanimation spell: recursion. Sun Titan not only triggers when it enters the battlefield, but every time it attacks also. He also lets you return more than just creatures (any permanent), as long as it has a converted mana cost of 3 or less. As with Unearth, this still gives him plenty of excellent targets (including Animate Dead). |
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| ###3. [[Hell's Caretaker | ###3. Recurring Nightmare | |
 So I switched this one last minute from Recurring Nightmare. Why?, you might ask. Really?! because I only have to cast this once. There are a million token creating effects before that and another million untapping effects. I could reanimate my whole graveyard in a well planned play. This guy is just mean. Yeah yeah, he is only a 1/1. Um... reanimator decks not so bothered by removal. I will just drop a new one and bring this one back. Totally beats out Recurring Nightmare because I do not have to cast it each turn for the same effect. |
 Recurring Nightmare works extremely well with any creature that has an ability that triggers when it enters the battlefield. You can keep switching out two creatures to allow their abilities to trigger over and over again. Or, you can just use it once as a traditional recursion spell. You can even use it more than once per turn, as long as you have at least six mana. Also, leaving it in your hand during your opponent's turn helps protect it from sorcery-speed enchantment removal. There's just a lot to like about this card. |
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| ###2. Reanimate | ###2. Teneb, the Harvester | |
| The one casting cost is just too good. I mean by turn 2 you could have some great stuff in your graveyard with the help of Wild Mongrel and Llanowar Elves or Hedron Crab, then play Reanimate and boom. You get your favorite It That Betrays turn 2 for some life, next turn you annihilate anything they had out. This card is just strong. I <3 Reanimate more than my number 1 pick but you will why it did not make it to that spot. |
 I like Teneb, the Harvester because he can return a creature every turn, can target creatures in any graveyard, and has evasion. He even makes an excellent EDH general, giving you access to three colors. His only drawbacks are that he has to hit the opponent and his ability requires a cost. This brings us to my number one recursion spell. |
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| ###1. Yawgmoth's Will | ###1. Reya Dawnbringer | |
 Pretty obvious here I think. This card is banned in Legacy and restricted in Vintage for a reason. I mean imagine the recurring Memnites and Ornithopters alone. I mean really, this card is an invitation to dump your entire library into your graveyard and play any creature in your deck for 3 CMC extra. The card is as overpowered as they come. So I need at least four of them. |
 Reya Dawnbringer is the queen of reanimation. You get to return a creature for free. Every turn. For free. The reason I like her a lot better than Debtors' Knell is because she herself can be targeted by other reanimation spells. Once she's out, just sit back while your graveyard army becomes your battlefield army. For free. Every turn. |
Hope that you all enjoyed our newest countdown, feedback is always appreciated.
patrickd117 says... #2
Uggh, Footsteps of the Goryo really? the whole not giving haste kind of kills it. Also may I suggest Victimize ? I it to be incredibly underrated. Also, no card:Patriarch's Bidding or Living Death ? Still overall a pretty good list, Teneb deserves more love than he normally gets
October 24, 2010 8:28 p.m.
Victimize is a good card for sure. Yeah Footsteps of the Goryo I figured would be controversial, but is easily triggers come into play and when a creature goes to the graveyard effect is one fell swoop. It works for what it does.
I personally would not use card:Patriarch's Bidding, but that is a style thing. I rarely play tribal and it has limitted use aside from that. Now Living End /Living Death and all of the other mass reanimators were in my short list but Liliana Vess was the only one to make the cut. She has more utility than the average card and I get to control them all.
October 24, 2010 9:39 p.m.
@blueclay - actually that is the first time I really looked at Mimic Vat closely. And for the most part I agree with you, it is better. It would give you great advantage with CIP effects. It does miss the when it enters the graveyard effects though. If it said sacrifice it at the EOT I would actually change the article up right now.
October 25, 2010 8:43 a.m.
I liked it a lot.I was only surprised that only two spells were found in both lists. o.O
October 25, 2010 11:04 a.m.
@squire1 : Mimic Vat may not be better than Footsteps of the Goryo , but I would definitely say it is better than card:Goryo's Vengeance. Both miss the graveyard, but Mimic Vat has so many advantages over Goryo's Vengeance.
@mistergreen527: I'm curious as to why you chose Reya Dawnbringer over Emeria, The Sky Ruin . Reya is much easier to splash, that much I can certainly see, but I feel like Reya is just too much more prone to removal simply for the fact that she is a creature.
October 25, 2010 12:57 p.m.
emillang1000 says... #7
Either both of you have never actually played a reanimator or have been playing a god-awful one.
I've run a reanimator as my primary deck for the better part of a decade now, barring a switch to Black Control recently, and I'm honestly offended that you think these cards are good advice to players tring to learn how to make a reanimator.
Listen up, kids, to a veteran Reanimation player:
10. Dance of the Dead - of the reanimation spells offered here, this is the weakest. TRUE, it gives the creature +1/+1, but said creature doesn't untap unless you pay BB during your untap step, AND has the clause that the critter dies with the enchantment. Plus side? You can still Turn-1 Iona with it, which adds tons and tons of points to your score, bringing it back up to Tenth overall.
9. card:Patriarch's Bidding - Mass reanimation is wonderful. The only problem is that it costs 5, only hits 1-2 creature types, and doesn't have a Wrath effect. Sadly, this can easily put the game in your opponent's favor if you're not careful.
8. Reya Dawnbringer - Is a creature, and brings back friends every turn. If you keep her alive, and provide her with food, she'll slowly build you an army. Problem is, she doesn't bring things back immediately, and only brings one back per turn.
7. Bladewing the Risen - You know what's better than 1 creature per spell? TWO creatures! Bladewing only hits Dragons, yes, but when it's Hellkite Overlord or Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund, you really don't complain.
6. Balthor the Defiled - You know what's better than reanimating 2 creature? Reanimating an ENTIRE ARMY. And you know what Lion's Eye Diamond does with him? Wonderfully broken things, like dump all the creatures in your hand into play. Sadly, Balthor only hits Red and/or Black creatures, rather than everything.
5. Necromancy - Costs 3 for any creature from any graveyard, and can be played as an instant when needed. Downsides is that it costs 3, which is a big amount in a Reanimator, but also doesn't reduce the creature's P/T any either. Still, has that "when this is destroyed, kill the creature" clause that utterly kills this.
4. Living Death - Efficiency in spades. Get your army back and wipe theirs out. The best part? You can kill off indestructables with it. This is one of those few cards that is litterally almost broken, since it can easily turn the game around just by itself.
3. Animate Dead - Cheap, grabs pretty much anything from anywhere without Protection or Shroud. The first, and still one of the best. The ONLY downside to this card is its "if this is destroyed, kill the creature" clause.
2. Exhume - Cheap, effective, and in most reanimation decks amounts to you bringing a creature back and your opponent crying.
1. Reanimate - Efficiency at its finest: grab any creature you want from any graveyard for some meager life. So what if you lose 9 life? You still have an Iona, blocking many to all of your opponents' cards for the rest of the game.
- brackets kindly added by yeaGO!
November 1, 2010 2:04 p.m.
now now mister necromancer let's not get cocky... =) nice list though.
November 1, 2010 2:29 p.m.
Agreed it is a good list.
I think that the fact that there are such divergent lists from all three of us show just how much personality and style play into deck building.
You have a lot of good points emillang1000, nut different players do look for different things in cards. Style is a big factor. Many of the cards on all 3 lists never saw much tourny action. That is because they are not strictly better than each other in many cases.
Love the feedback though. Thanks for reading and participating :)
Carn13 says... #1
I love Geth too. He gets my vote for #1 standard reanimator. Seriously, you can just Jace the guy and steal his Ancient Hellkite or Sun Titan or what have you. Get past the mana and hell, you can turn your opponent into a crying mess in a few turns once you steal the 4 8-drop cards in his deck and hit him for 30 damage. Or more. Phyrexia wins. Epicly. Seriously, they deserve it. Or at least Geth does.
October 24, 2010 5:51 p.m.