RISE OF THE NAZGUL - Esper Reanimator [Primer]
Modern Combo Competitive Control Discard Exile Flashback Primer Reanimator WUB (Esper)
Disruption (11)
Land (22)
Reanimation Target (5)
Reanimator (6)
Removal (5)
Self-Discard (11)
Sideboard
Maybeboard
Blink (18)
Disruption (10)
- 1x Dovin's Veto
- 2x Drown in the Loch
- 2x Force of Negation
-
2x
Inquisition of Kozilek
-
1x
Pithing Needle
- 2x Remand
Draw/Tutor (12)
Graveyard Hate (4)
Land (4)
Protection (5)
Reanimation Targets (7)
-
1x
Archetype of Endurance
-
1x
Ashen Rider
- 1x Chancellor of the Annex
-
1x
Grave Titan
-
1x
Massacre Wurm
-
1x
Sphinx of the Steel Wind
-
1x
Terastodon
Reanimator (4)
Removal (9)
Self-Discard (6)
Top Rank: #11 in Modern (#12 on T/O) - thanks for reading!
GREETINGS!
This is my Esper Reanimator Control build featuring Archon of Cruelty, Faithful Mending, and Teferi, Time Raveler.
With the release of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Faithful Mending, I decided to give Esper Reanimator a shot. I’ve had the opportunity to play with this deck lately and I really enjoy it because of its consistency, resilience, and speed. I want to make it as competitive as possible in today’s post-MH2 meta.
Check out the earlier Mardu version of this deck with Thrilling Discovery:
ARCHONBLADE - Hybrid Reanimator/Stoneblade [MH2]
OBJECTIVE
My goal is to place a Nazgûl (Archon of Cruelty) in my graveyard as quickly as possible from my hand or library using Bone Shards, Faithful Mending, Thoughtseize on myself, or Unmarked Grave. I then reanimate the Archon with Persist as early as turn 2, or with Unburial Rites by turn 4. This build is designed to protect my Archons from danger by utilizing Counterspell, Teferi, Time Raveler, and a toolbox of removal spells.
CARD CHOICES
Reanimation Targets
Archon of Cruelty brutalizes the opponent as it hits the board, forcing them to discard a card, lose 3 life, and sacrifice a creature or Planeswalker, while simultaneously bestowing me with 3 life and a card. Then the onslaught continues every turn. One or more unchecked Archons are a death sentence, since each Archon deals a total of 21 life-loss/damage over a span of 3 turns as it attacks (3+3+6+3+6=21), or 19 (3+3+5+3+5=19) if it has a -1/-1 counter on it.
I am running Serra's Emissary as a back-up reanimation target if an Archon is hit by Surgical Extraction or a similar card. Emissary is especially useful against stompy or burn decks by bestowing me with protection from creatures or instants.
Library Self-Discard
Unmarked Grave allows me to tutor for an Archon, Emissary, or Rider and can also place Faithful Mending or Unburial Rites in my graveyard to cast via flashback later.
Hand Self-Discard
Bone Shards is both a hand self-discard outlet and a powerful removal spell.
Faithful Mending is a worse Faithless Looting and a better Thrilling Discovery, since Mending has flashback and allows me to draw before discarding. Mending lets me rapidly draw and discard cards at instant-speed while padding my life total in the process.
Disruption
Thoughtseize is the most efficient discard spell and allows me to preemptively negate a threat during the early game. Plus I can cast it on myself if I have no other way to discard an Archon.
Counterspell is my second line of defense for my reanimation spells and also protects my Archons from removal.
Force of Negation is useful because I can cast Force even if I am tapped out, which will catch my opponent off-guard. I try to keep at least 1 other blue card in my hand to pitch to Force when necessary.
Scary Teferi (Teferi, Time Raveler) is a powerhouse, simultaneously 1) protecting my Archons from counterspells or removal during my turn, 2) allowing me to cast my sorceries as if they are instants with his +1 ability, which is especially brutal with Damn, Persist, Prismatic Ending and Thoughtseize, and 3) bouncing problematic artifacts, creatures, or enchantments with his -3 ability, while also drawing a card. Extra copies of Teferi can be absorbed by Force of Negation.
Removal
If I use Teferi’s -3 ability to bounce a permanent, then an Archon enters the battlefield/attacks or I cast Thoughtseize, I can effectively destroy Teferi’s bounced target.
Prismatic Ending is great for permanently eliminating problematic permanents which cost up to 3 CMC, like Rest in Peace, Sanctifier en-Vec, or Oblivion Ring.
Bone Shards eliminates a problematic creature or Planeswalker while hopefully placing an Archon in my graveyard.
Manabase
Since this deck tends to draw cards rapidly and has a low average CMC (excluding reanimation targets), I can run a very lean manabase of only 20-22 lands. Fetchlands ensure that I have the necessary mana to reliably cast multi-colored spells. I also run Prismatic Vista and at least one of each basic land to protect against Blood Moon, or to give me a land to choose from against Path to Exile.
The life-loss from the fetches and shocklands is offset by Archon of Cruelty and Faithful Mending. To save life I also run a few fastlands (Concealed Courtyard, Darkslick Shores, and Seachrome Coast) and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (to turn my fetches and basics into swamps).
SIDEBOARD
Chalice of the Void cast with 0 or 1 charge counters is a defensive tool against affinity or Hammertime decks running 0/1 cost artifacts like Memnite, Colossus Hammer, etc. and Living End combo decks.
Damn doubles as both targeted removal and a board-wipe (Wrath of God) for emergency use against creature swarm decks.
Engineered Explosives wipes the board of 0-cost tokens or small creatures, as well as tricky artifacts or enchantments up to 3 CMC.
Flusterstorm provides early game counterspell support when necessary, but should primarily be used against cascade decks to prevent cascaded spells from resolving. Plus the copies of Flusterstorm will evade the opponent’s Chalice of the Void (with 1 charge), since the copies of Flusterstorm technically were not cast.
Leyline of the Void and Nihil Spellbomb are my chosen graveyard hate against the mirror, Jund, dredge, etc. I mulligan aggressively until I find a Leyline, which is usually outside the range of Prismatic Ending. Spellbomb is an alternative when I can’t find a Leyline or need to draw a card.
Vindicate is a catch-all when I need additional removal, especially against man-lands or Planeswalkers.
EXCLUSIONS
Blink
I specifically am not running the blink package of Ephemerate, Grief, Mulldrifter, or Solitude because I think the self-exile effects reduce the ability of this deck to effectively focus on reanimation. Exiling cards from my hand to play Grief and Solitude early is fine in theory, and I can pull off some big plays on turn 1. However, based on my experience piloting this deck and other Reanimator builds, the self-exile hurts more than it helps, causing the deck to run out of steam quickly. Every card in my hand is crucial.
I agree that Ephemerate with an Archon is awesome, but the chance of that actually happening is reduced if I have no way of protecting myself from counterspells or removal. My Archons are sitting ducks, especially against Azorius Control. This is why I prefer to run Thoughtseize and Counterspell over the blink package.
Lingering Souls
Lingering Souls
generates chump blockers against Hammertime, Green Stompy, or other decks with too many creatures to remove consistently, but the card is too slow to survive in today’s hyper-competitive meta.
Otherwordly Gaze
I am on the fence about running Otherworldly Gaze, since it surveils 3 cards for only 1 mana and has flashback. Other 1-drop draw spells like Consider do not dig as deep. While extra card-filtering power seems useful, as of right now I prefer to run Counterspell or Thoughtseize instead.
I am trying to make this deck as competitive as possible. Any comments or suggestions are welcome!
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| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 3 years |
| Last updated | 1 year |
| Splash colors | WU |
| Legality | This deck is Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 7 - 2 Mythic Rares 31 - 12 Rares 13 - 0 Uncommons 5 - 1 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.76 |
| Folders | Modern Decks I Did Not Make, Favorites |
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