Love this deck. I modded the list a bit for mine. This thing is proof that Animar is still one of the strongest decks out there.

Thanks for saying that! I'm doing my best to demonstrate that the deck can still be built well, even though it's been ignored by the competitive community for a while.

My Animar list plays alongside Zur and Yidris Doomsday and Storm lists and can still win. Animar is still very potent, it's just not one of the usual spell-based decks that seem to dominate the competitive meta. In fact, I'd argue that the unique axis that Animar revolves on makes him harder to deal with for those decks, as many times their counter and removal is based heavily on spell combo.

I agree. Animar may not always be as robust as the UBx shell, but it has a really powerful, flexible combo package that can definitely hold up at the top tables. I play against Breya and Leo (RIP) dday most weeks and still get my share if wins. Here's hoping the deck gets its day in the sun again!

Agreed! Hopefully we'll put Animar back on the map soon.

Any thoughts on Chain of Vapor added for extra interaction plus utility? It's a staple in most competitive lists and having the bonus of self-bouncing stuff to enable wins is nice. I know cuts are tough but this one is hard to leave out IMO.

I've found that Animar rarely needs to interact on board. We have Ainok/Rec Sage effects for problem artifacts/enchants, and Drake for creatures, plus Ulamog for top-end removal. I rarely find myself wanting more. I like the self-bounce value tho, so I may have to think about it. Smart call.

Even though I personally love the card and play it in my decks, I'd actually argue against Chain of Vapor in this deck, because bouncing Animar is too much of a disadvantage in my opinion.

yeah, wouldn't want to use it on Animar himself, and the cases where you have 2-3 guys worth bouncing and want to eat your own lands are fairly niche. And yeah, it can be used on an opponent, but then getting Animar bounced is a big risk, and losing dorks and stuff is just plain bad tempo. i dont like cyclonic for similar reasons: basically that soft removal, even with marginal upsides isnt where a fast combo deck like this needs to be, esp if it's not creature-based. I'd happily play Faerie Imposter or Rec sage if i wanted more cheap interaction/bounce.

I just put in Vizier of the Menagerie into my list as well. Great call. I have to say, I'm quite impressed. He really speeds the combo up, especially with top-deck tutoring.

yeah, the 4 CMC has been a minor issue a couple times, but im generally quite pleased. when he's online the deck gets its very own Future Sight for 1 mana.

plus the "look at the top of your deck" can be performed whenever you want, so i can goof around while other people are doing important shit.

• "activate top" --> "OK, gonna look at my top card"
• "cast Imperial seal" --> "just a sec, gonna look at my top card"
• deep in concentration --> "gimme a minute, gotta check the top card"

It's our very own version of "storm count is still zero". You could prob use it to mind game people, but in a group of friends who know the deck pretty well it becomes a bit of a running joke.

Agreed 100%. I know that we probably differ here, but I've found Momir Vig, Flamekin Harbinger, and yes, Mana Crypt and Mana Drain extremely helpful. Mana Crypt and Drain have let me recover and accelerate both in the early games and after severe blowouts, and the additional tutoring I think makes the deck feel more sturdy. Would love your input.

Interesting options!

Vig - this guy got cut for the same thing i was worried about with Vizier: hes a big bump in the curve, despite bringing a lot of value when he's online. Further, Viz grants more immediate value, whereas Vig needs to be followed up by a few creatures, esp green ones. Ultimately i just liked cheaper options more.

Harbinger: what do you grab here? Mulldrifter and Soul of the harvest are the only valid targets im seeing, and neither is a crucial piece that a better tutor couldnt also get you. I'd play GSZ or Chord of Calling over this (gets Empath for Soul, better ramp and tutor options). And if you're playing in a tuck-meta, may god have mercy on your commander!

Crypt: free mana is great, dont get me wrong. and yeah, you can use it to pay tax on animar after he's killed. BUT after the first few casts (all 1-2 drops) I find that the need for colorless mana declines precipitously, and the number of handy dorks on board increases in parallel. I've never felt squeezed for mana with stuff like Wood elves and all the dorks handy. Now a board wipe can really fuck you over, but predicting those and having your Glen or Force handy will do a lot more work in the deck than including crypt, much as i love crypt. Dont let me stop you from playing it, but i've never felt the need.

Drain: another fantastic card i never feel bad playing in other decks. Here tho, holding up 2 mana is a huge tempo loss for a deck that wants to dump its hand early and often and build a robust board state rather than play draw-go magic. The ritual effect is spicy, but then youre essentially sandbagging while looking for that big Ad Naus or something to counter, with the upside ultimately being a bunch of mana the deck has difficulty spending. i mean shit, for every turn you leave 2 mana floating, you better be getting 2+ mana back after your big counter, all other things being equal. Thats not a good rate outside a deck designed to play more reactively and with colorless mana. id recommend Swan song, Fluster, Pierce or even Stubborn Denial over this, but honestly i'd skip it entirely.

Fair point. I took out Mana Drain for Beastcaller Savant, which I think is a worthy trade. I use Slithermuse, so Flamekin Harbinger can fetch Mulldrifter and Slithermuse, which are good draw pieces and cheap creatures, as well as being a one drop ramp piece for Animar. For Momir Vig, I found him useful as a tutor, but he's also available for a pitch for Force of Will. I've used him as both. I also use Elvish Harbinger, which I think is a good tutor, a mana fixer, and can fetch Momir or Fauna Shaman depending on my hand and the board state. Overall, I found the tutoring effects helped shrink the deck, and Mana Crypt helped me get off the ground as an early draw, and assistance in casting a quicker Ancestral Statue or more expensive creature. Question: What answer do you use for Hushwing Griff?

Thank god i've never run into that! Bear in mind that Animar gets counters on cast, as with Torp, but you wont get any of the better effects.

We use Ainok to get rid of torpor orb, but creature removal in general is not one of the decks strengths (nor should it be, really). i'd recommend anticipating and using a counterspell as needed (creature only tutors require a reveal), and if that fails, buffing animar and attacking the player with the gryff. Def something that might make consider more counterspells or clone/steal spells if it appeared in my meta. for example, Grim Lavamancer is a mediocre card at best, but it does excel at kill hatebears.

Luckily I was able to kill the player with the Gryff, as their deck wasn't that strong, but man was that a headache. Really bad. Yeah, Torpor is a pain, but Ainok is good for that. Thanks for all the input!

Happy to help!

JMCraig that's is the first 49 creature list that I find realy interesting!! But Realy!! I was seing the Ainok question and instead of him my choice come to Sylvok Replica that you may tutor, at bad, even with Fabricate. So I would ask your question of what do you think about it and about Opposition. Maybe is becouse I love this card, but the advantage it give is incredible and with 49 it can do much more than in my list. From animar to animar players can I ask your opinion on what you woul cut from my Animar, Soul of Victorious for Vizier of the Menagerie that I totaly forgot of its printing?? +1 From me!!

Hi!

Ainok is here (and replaced Slyvok) bc its a Morph creature, which is great with Buttstone. Both can be case effectivey for free, but only Ainok triggers Buttstone. The downside is that fabricate can't find it, but i almost always use that for Statue anyway. If i need interaction i'll grab Ballista, Revoker or Skite, and hopefully one of them sill do the trick. If not: Clamp!

Opposition: as a 4-mana spell, this has the same issue as Aluren in my opinion: its a bit too slow and murders your tempo at a crucial time. when you have four mana, you want to be casting 3-4 creatures to build up your newly cast Animar and get you ready for a combo attempt this turn or next, not tapping out for an expensive enchantment and passing with a 1/1 Animar. That opens you up to another turn of Bolt/burn damage, opponents digging for wraths/counters etc. it basically signals: "i'll be combo-ing soon, but feel free to hit me hard this turn", which is a bad place to be.Vizier is also a lot better than Domri, who himself may be worse than a "draw 1" guy. your call!

Yes in your case Ainok is probably the right choice, we run a totaly different number of artifactc-reature.

Opposition is a backup plan for 1vs1, to take advantage of manascrew or of one color, in mirror most of the time it result in a gg.

For Vizier we have come to the same solution.... he will probably be cut off.

I noticed you have den pro under combo. What's the combo with him?

He and Witness are listed there bc they mainly serve as combo redundancy. rather than protect the combo with counterspells (holding up a lot of mana) it is often easier to try, bait out removal/combos, flip Den or Witness and try again. So i listen them under combo bc thats their typical role.

That said, as a Morph, Den is a great Cloudstone enabler, and often a free cast for building up Animar.

Would you be able to give a quick run-down on your perspective regarding running Chrome Mox and Mox Diamond? I know that getting Animar down turn 2 can make a world of difference, but how often is Mox Diamond a dead draw in your opening hand due to your low land count? And how do you see the pros and cons of ditching a card to Chrome Mox at the start of the game? I normally find being down a spell card after mulligans to have a noticeable negative effect on Animar's ability to chain into a combo, but in your opinion is it worth it for the potential early mana ramp?

I'd also like to hear your opinion on Hardened Scales if you have the time. How noticeable an effect does it have on your ability to combo if you have it in your starting hand, versus just having another 1 drop creature in hand?

Hi there! The two modes aren't free of course, but the benefits in terms of ramp far exceed the minor card advantage loss. The deck needs as much speed as it can get bc it's protection suite isn't that robust.

Scales is an interesting one. It ultimately negates your turn-2 Animar almost every time BUT Scales games are still almost always faster just by virtue of the subsequent ramp. Turn 3 Animar into 4 counters turn 4 is just as good as turn 2 Animar into 4 counters on turn 4, the difference being that scales games have a much higher ceiling just bc scales is a crazy card. Natural Ulamogs on Turn 4-5 are very possible. Like Survival, it's one of a very select group of 2CMC enchants that really pull their weight once you master the timing.

Thanks for the reply!

So what would your thoughts be regarding having the Kiki-jiki combo in Animar? I know that a number of people consider it too slow and awkward with its mana requirement, but it does come with the benefit of being a 2-piece infinite combo that doesn't required Animar on the board. Cards like Eldritch Evolution and Vizier of the Menagerie have also gone a long way to making the combo more accessible.

Kiki-jiki combo pieces do take up a number of slots though, and can warp how the deck plays. Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch tie in well with Cloudstone Curio combos but they also make you compromise deck space that could go to other functions like more ramp, card draw, or silver-bullet cards like Scavenging Ooze.

When I first saw your list, I was surprised that it did not include Wirewood Symbiote because I thought it was a powerhouse for netting extra value and Animar counters with cards like Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Elvish Visionary, and Reclamation Sage. Would you say that there just aren't enough elves in the deck to make the Symbiote's inclusion worthwhile, or was it excluded for another reason?