Black/Green's the graveyard color set, right?

Pauper Reanimator RUW (Jeskai, America)

legendofa

Sorcery (18)

• 2x Breath of Life
• 3x Careful Study
• 4x Faithless Looting
• 4x Late to Dinner
• 3x Stream of Thought
• 2x Thrilling Discovery

Enchantment (3)

• 3x Bitter Reunion

Land (20)

• 5x Island
• 6x Mountain
• 5x Plains
• 2x Tranquil Cove
• 2x Wind-Scarred Crag

Artifact (4)

• 4x Lotus Petal

Creature (8)

• 3x Cinderheart Giant
• 2x Lava Serpent
• 3x Ulamog's Crusher

Instant (7)

• 4x Lightning Bolt
• 3x Negate

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Sideboard

Creature (5)

• 2x Greater Sandwurm
• 2x Striped Riverwinder
• 1x Walker of the Grove

Sorcery (2)

• 2x Thrilling Discovery

Instant (5)

• 3x Hindering Light
• 2x Shattering Blow

Enchantment (3)

• 3x Dragon Breath

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Maybeboard

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Commune with the Gods
• 1x Exhume
• 1x False Defeat
• 1x Ideas Unbound
• 1x Rise Again
• 1x Summon Undead
• 1x Winding Way

Creature (6)

• 1x Blanchwood Prowler
• 1x Circle of the Land Druid
• 1x Eldrazi Devastator
• 1x Greater Tanuki
• 1x Rust Goliath
• 1x Wrecking Beast

Instant (4)

• 1x Grisly Salvage
• 1x Izzet Charm
• 1x Mental Note
• 1x Tolarian Winds

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Well, it turns out blue/red/white is pretty good, too. As in, there's nothing in Pauper that supports a Reanimator strategy quite as well as {U}{R}{W}. Sure, we lose out on Exhume, but when the next best option is Summon Undead, white Reanimator spells start to look pretty promising. The wide selection of looters in red and blue also tend to offer more consistency and control than Winding Way and Grisly Salvage. So, even though I'm committed to Witherbloom, and the Jeskai monks hold secrets beyond my comprehension, I believe this is the core of the most consistent, fastest, and overall best classical Reanimator deck available in Pauper, until something at least as good as Zombify becomes common. (Note to the past: Dread Return becomes Pauper-legal with Commander Masters. Check out Dead Metal II: Rage for my take on that.) Support and payoffs are still being tweaked--suggestions and thoughts are welcome, as always.

Color and Strategy Analysis and Marginalia

{W}: Most good Reanimator spells (Breath of Life, Late to Dinner, False Defeat), Thrilling Discovery is potentially good

{U}: Draw and discard: Careful Study, Izzet Charm, Ideas Unbound, Tolarian Winds

{B}: Exhume is best available Reanimator spell, Grisly Salvage is good graveyard filler, surprisingly few options elsewhere (good stuff is mostly at uncommon and rare)

{R}: Bitter Reunion is key, most discard/draw in Faithless Looting, Thrill of Possibility, Izzet Charm, Thrilling Discovery

{G}: Mill for cards with Grisly Salvage, Winding Way, Blanchwood Prowler and Commune with the Gods, not many other options

Draw and discard vs. Mill: looting offers more control, mill is faster, Stream of Thought gives mill more control

The huge majority of this deck's budget is in the four Lotus Petals. If you switch those out for lands of some sort, you'll lose a little bit of speed, but save almost $100. (I don't own any Petals.)

Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Pauper legal.
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.77
Tokens	Elemental 4/4 G, Food
Folders	Pauper Decks I Did Not Make, Decks I like