Having an illegal card in thete is also the reason why you can't unprototype it.
November 25, 2014 10:50 a.m.
@magicnerd0815, no other tutor options or have to go with more dig like Ponder as you suggested?
November 25, 2014 10:54 a.m.
I don't think that there are any legacy legal tutors that don't cost a million mana, except Infernal Tutor wich doesn't work in this deck.
November 25, 2014 11:05 a.m.
ratface383 says... #8
Add 3 more Griselbrand and an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, cut the Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Sigarda, Host of Herons, Blazing Archon, and Empyrial Archangel. Griselbrand is just the best reanimation target because it lets you draw half your deck when you play it. With all the free counters you play you can protect it easily. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is good against elves, death and taxes, maverick, and the like.
November 25, 2014 11:39 a.m.
@ratface383, you think a playset of Griselbrand is the right move? It doesn't leave much more room for utility reanimation targets with a total of seven creatures in the deck.
November 25, 2014 11:56 a.m.
Put in Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur over Griselbrand. Jin basically needs to be responded to within a turn in order to not soft lock the game, he also facilitates renaimation as you'll draw 7 cards at the end of turn then discard down to 7 putting all your reanimation target's in the graveyard.
November 26, 2014 4:40 a.m.
@Felix1942, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is an outdated card for reanimator. Too much removal in legacy, you can use Griselbrand's card draw as a response to removal.
November 26, 2014 5:59 a.m.
I do prefer Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur in this sort of reanimator over Griselbrand as well. I think Griselbrand is stronger in an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn reanimator, because you need a bunch of specific cards to look for and reanimate just once to clean up the field and swing for 15 flying. In your reanimator, I think the best targets for the first reanimation would be Iona, Shield of Emeria and Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur because they control your opponent and give you the upperhand.
I would run some Dark Rituals and maybe two Buried Alives probably in place of Thoughtseize and Daze. You're relying too much on your four Entombs. I think you'd better have some other ways to search your library for reanimation targets.
November 26, 2014 7:18 a.m.
@shedidthistome I'm aware there is a lot of removal in Legacy that's the main reason you run Daze + Force of Will to protect your Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur for one turn to force them to top deck.
If you brick with Griselbrand as well it ends up hurting you a lot worse, than jin milling you.
I'm not saying don't run Griselbrand, just that Jin is a better turn one target for reanimate because he gives you a huge amount of card advantage, as well as facilitate the rest of the deck.
November 26, 2014 1:52 p.m.
@Dhominus and @Felix1942, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur used to be my go-to reanimation target in my Better Luck Next Time, Prince Charming deck, pre-Griselbrand. Do you know how many times I've dropped it, just to have it exiled by white? Sure, I could protect it with Force of Will or possibly even Daze, but that's not always reliable. What if I'm not holding any countermagic? What is always reliable is activating Griselbrand's card draw ability in the face of removal and drawing into, either answers for that specific removal, more reanimation fuel, or both.
Also, @Dhominus, Entomb is not my only "enabler". There is Careful Study which can dump fatties from my hand and also Personal Tutor which can fetch Careful Study. The UB version can technically survive itself a few turns with not much to do, until you can hopefully Brainstorm into something to do.
Check out my Better Luck Next Time, Prince Charming deck. It's like what you describe. More variable silver bullets via less-reliance on Griselbrand, but also no countermagic. It's pretty much mono-black (though it's UB) and it's way more explosive (resolving fatties on first turn).
November 26, 2014 5:26 p.m.
So, if it was me, after looking at some of the tier decks, I would drop a Griselbrand and drop a ponder. I would replace those with an Island and the Grave titan. also for side boarding I would remove the Lim Dul's Vaults and replace them with a: Ashen rider, Inkwell Leviathan and 2 Flusterstorm. I know each person has their own build likes and dislikes, but you asked for opinions and this is mine.
December 10, 2014 6:20 a.m.
@Zombieu, what would be your reasoning for your mainboard amends? As for the sideboard, I am going to roll with Lim-Dul's Vault and see how it treats me for now. Removing them would mess up my entire sidebaord strategy, because it relies on it and Show and Tell.
December 10, 2014 10:41 p.m.
So, from what I have seen from other Reanimator decks your about a land short from perfect. 9 fetches for 6 lands is one land short. should be 9 fetches for 7 lands. other than that I live grave titan, because he brings friends and is a beast to get rid of and handle when he swings. He also can't be bounced by Karakas. The sideboard choices I recommended were because it looks as though you will have a hard match up against Storm,Elves and some tempo decks. Again this is just my opinion and you must Meta board for your own area. I just like the rider because it hits other non-land permanents.
December 11, 2014 7:50 p.m.
okay so two things, one is that your deck seems really weak to Blood Moon, it might be worth putting in somewhere around 2 swamps just so you could still "go off" through one. Also it might be worth trying to to play an eldrazi... It That Betrays or Pathrazer of Ulamog seem like good options. Annihilator is just so devastating
December 12, 2014 10:39 a.m.
@bmbinder, fantastic suggestion. I bumped up to one basic each.
December 15, 2014 8:32 a.m.
@Zombieu, I think 15 land and 4 Lotus Petal is plenty to get the party started. It's been doing fine so far in physical playtesting. I don't think the extra land you suggested is going to be a dealbreaker here. Thanks.
December 15, 2014 8:34 a.m.
15 land is going to lead to quite a few unwanted mulligans. You don't want a starting hand with just a Lotus Petal and no land, you have to have a land in opening hand which means with 15 you will be mulling more than average. 16 is really the lowest you can comfortably go without running more than just Lotus Petal for mana fixing. One mana might not seem like a huge difference, but it will save you a few mulligans, which could cost you several games if you're playing at FNM or tournaments. Just drop a cantrip for a basic and you'll be set. On a similar note, why are you running a Tropical Island? Is just just because Misty Rainforest can search for it? Wouldn't it make more sense to have it be a Bayou so if you find yourself with a Misty Rainforest and needing a Swamp then you can fetch the Bayou and have said swamp.
Other than those very minor tweaks, it looks like you have a solid deck here. +1
December 15, 2014 9:14 p.m.
@Saljen, I've been physically playing this deck and haven't had many land problems as of yet. I am comfortable with 15 as of right now, but will keep testing to see and take your suggestion into consideration as need be. Tropical Island is in here in case I want to run the Abrupt Decay sideboard package. I chose Tropical Island over Bayou, because it meshes better with my sideboard plan, which pretty much all relies on blue mana.
December 15, 2014 9:25 p.m.
If that's the case, than Island is better than Tropical Island because Tropical Island is vulnerable to Wasteland and all other non-basic land destruction. You aren't using that Abrupt Decay package that's in your maybe board, so you shouldn't alter your mana base to accommodate cards that you aren't running. Also, though Abrupt Decay is an amazing card, it's really not worth splashing green for in this deck.
December 15, 2014 9:47 p.m.
@Saljen, yeah I'll probably throw another basic in there when playing for prizes. I like how my sideboard runs, turning it into a completely different deck :)
December 15, 2014 9:50 p.m.
fightman69 says... #25
i would put in 3 Abrupt Decay for 1 elsh norn and two Daze
Pilz_753 says... #2
Mystical Tutor is banned. In it's place you could add the two Thoughtseize you want to make room for and maybe two Ponder for additional card selection.
November 25, 2014 10:49 a.m.