Junk Reanimator (Standard BNG)
Standard*
SCORE: 8 | 23 COMMENTS | 7375 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER
FNM - 1st Day —Feb. 23, 2014
Okay, so check out the current build I have listed in this article. I made some changes before going into FNM yesterday, and it worked surprisingly well. Below is a small recap of my matchups.
Round 1 - BANT WALKERS
Okay, so I was kind of worried right off the bat about bant walkers. Game one, I managed to take the win simply because I main deck Hero's Downfall x4. I was able to stifle his first few walkers with those cards and also with Ashen Rider's ETB effect on the whip. After that, my GY was full, I had an obzedat out, and there was very little he could do. Game two, I was too slow and unfortunately his Kiora was out and fully protected. I had to scoop when she managed to do her kraken emblem. Game 3, managed to take a win with blood baron that I brought in from side board and kept it alive with Golgari Charms.
Round 2 - Mono Black
Pretty easy match up. Won game one easily, game two I struggled when he played out two desecration demons and lost. Game three, I dropped turn one on the play pithing needle and declared pack rat. After I won, he told me he kept a hand with 3 rats and a Underworld Connections so the rat basically fucked his day up. I managed to whip out the Ashen Rider to exile his land that had the connections attached to it, and then it was gg.
Round 3 - U/W Control
Oh man, I used to hate this deck but it struggled hard against me. Same thing. I won game one, side boarded in some blood barons and golgari charms to handle his Detention Sphere and board wipes for game two. Game too... nearly went to rounds. I had two really good plays in this game. One, I managed to put out a shitload of lands fetched from Satyr Wayfinder and eventually started collecting cards since he managed to sphinx a few times and gain the advantage. I widdled him down with a few attacks and the bastard stabilized at 2 health and worked his way up to 10 with a few sphinxes while I was sitting at a heft 42 life. I collected cards until I had two Whip of Erebos in hand. Cast one, and the guy only had Syncopate, which he had to pay X=11 for because I had 14 lands. I allowed the counter, played second Whip of Erebos and then whipped out a Blood Baron of Vizkopa Since he was at 10 or less and I was at 30 or more life, he was a 10/10, swing for game. It was a glorious ending that left the guy completely baffled.
Game 4 - B/W Humans.
As one of you guys had said before, this deck suffers a bit against aggro decks. You're completely right, it does. But, it's not so much against G/R monsters as it is this fucking deck. Why? The entire decks is a counter to my deck between Soldier of Pantheon and Blood Baron of Vizkopa both main board. I lost game one, and game two I managed to Merciless Eviction and stabilize, but I had no support cards after that and my GY was bare when I dropped a Whip of Erebos. It came down to the wire, but he ultimately took the win. I could have at least taken game two had I side boarded in Golgari Charm rather than Abrupt Decay but I wasn't thinking straight.
All in all, it's a fantastic deck that has already seen some competitive play. I saw someone running it in SCG open today. Check out the new list and let me know how you guys fared with your variations!
Yeaaaahhh. I've been trying to put together a Reanimator deck since Theros came out. It's just not the same without Unburial Rites . I feel that Giant Adephage and Lord of the Void are kinda useless as Whip targets. They need to attack in order to get any effect which means they can be removed before that. Things like Ashen Rider and Angel of Serenity are much more valuable as whip targets since they have etb triggers. You could even run Gary or Centaur Healer .
Looks solid either way. I'm glad they printed Mulch on a creature. +1 from me.
February 16, 2014 9:40 p.m.
I'm still tinkering with the deck but I'm almost certain I'm going to drop the adephage and put in the Abhorrent Overlord. He's got a somewhat useful ETB effect and a decent sized flyer so I'll probably go with him. As for Ashen Rider, I'm still weighing his effectiveness. I like the exile permanent on entry, but he's a 5/5. I kind of like higher power flyers to swing with the whip for a greater life deficit on my opponent. Of course, it could be institutionally whipped out to deal with pesky plainswalkers to remove a god. Maybe I'll squeeze a two-for in there.
February 17, 2014 7:44 p.m.
Ashen Rider isn't necessarily about the damage. It's the E/LTB trigger. If you're looking for a solid flyer then use Shadowborn Demon . Nice ETB and a solid body. You can also hardcast him since he cost 5.
February 17, 2014 8:24 p.m.
Keep in mind he doesn't have a LTB effect though. Ashen Rider will get exiled by the whip and doesn't die (go to graveyard from play). If it did trigger twice, good lord I would use him in a heart beat but sadly that's not the case. I'll play with him further and see if I get enough return out of him. I do like playable things to whip... and it's 4 specific mana and 8 total CMC is a bit pricey to be hard casted in the event that I don't have a way to pitch him to the graveyard.
February 17, 2014 8:51 p.m.
Obzedat's Aid is all I have to say. You could even run 1 Rescue from the Underworld . Sigh. I wish we had more tools. Aggro is such a bad matchup. Gotta wait until journey to nyx I guess.
February 18, 2014 1:33 p.m.
snowbunny - Aggro is not a bad match up for a new junk re-animator deck, this is just not a finely tuned version. This deck needs a lot of changes to become competitive. things like Centaur Healer , Loxodon Smiter , Sylvan Caryatid and Voice of Resurgence give this kind of deck a much better early game that can shut down aggro before just taking over the game. I'm not sure how well the deck is, but I am about to built it online and do some testing.
February 20, 2014 1:02 a.m.
Centaur healer is definitely a good sideboard card. I tested my brew tonight and went 2-2. Voice of Resurgence helped me a lot against mono black. I lost my games against R/G monsters and Rakdos Control. Slaughter Games screwed me over.
February 20, 2014 1:11 a.m.
Ya Slaughter Games will definitely do that! I'm just stumped lol, I've built like 20 different decks to test over the last couple weeks and nothing is really jumping out. G/R monsters seems to be like the next BIG thing (pun intended), but then people can just make Esper control again to slow that down, until rotation at least, all of U/W based control decks are in RTR, so the next control variants are either gonna be really bad or wizards has to print some sick cards in the next few sets for them.
February 20, 2014 1:18 a.m.
Reanimator's matchup against U/W is disgustingly easy. Board Sylvan Primordial and you should be okay. Reanimator thrives during late game. I just don't know what to do for most midrange decks. Reanimator's matchup against R/G is at least 3-7. Probably 1-9.
Rochard says... #1
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord might work if you have room for him? He'll be growing as the graveyard fills up and can work as a fatty if you can't draw into a whip. He can also recur himself by sacing lands. What do you think?
February 11, 2014 10:40 p.m.