Favorite reanimate targets
Legacy Deck Help forum
Posted on June 10, 2017, 1:56 a.m. by Swamy
Looking to break into legacy, I have a long way to go but wanted some opinion on what creatures to put in.
animate re
Standard*
4 VIEWS
Not sure if I want to go red or blue, leaning towards red, so any insight into that would be cool.
Other favorites include Tidespout Tyrant, Inkwell Leviathan is good on the budget, and my favorite Empyrial Archangel.
June 10, 2017 5:15 a.m.
thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into those options and see what I have.
June 10, 2017 11:09 a.m.
For sideboard:
Blazing Archon stops Eldrazi & other creature decks (Shardless, Elves, etc).
Archetype of Endurance comes in against Swords to Plowshares decks like Death and Taxes and W/X control (new Miracles, etc).
Grave Titan is also great against Path decks, can dodge GY hate because it's castable with fast mana, and is good against Karakas.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is great against Deathrite Shaman decks and small creature decks like Elves.
4x Chancellor of the Annex main is standard now for any fast Reanimator deck. Good tax effect, non-legendary so Karakas is less of a problem, and the reveal ability protects a t1 reanimate.
R/B Reanimator is much faster than U/B Reanimator and has better topdeck potential (less dead cards like FoW). Has a better Game 1 percentage and hoses a lot of otherwise difficult matchups (D&T) with fast hands that come down before GY hate can. It can splash Green for Reverent Silence or Abrupt Decay in the side.
U/B Reanimator plays more controlly and has a better chance against other fast combo decks because FoW. It's not really played anymore.
HOWEVER, a "Grixis" variant showed up at the recent GP that plays U over R but is built with the speed of R/B. In this build, the Useas splash for a sideboard Show and Tell plan against GY hate.
Between the R/B/g and the U/B/r splashes really just depends on your budget and your playstyle, whether you like to get in there before GY hate, get around it, or destroy it.
Here's my list, it's a pretty typical R/B/g build that I've been tinkering. NEED 4 T1 GRISELBRAND
R/B builds have strict ratios: 10 reanimate targets (4 CHancellor 4 Grisel 2 other), 18 discard/Entomb effects, and 12 Reanimate effects (4 Reanimate 4 Animate Dead 4 other). They run 12-13 lands with 9-13 fast mana sources (4 Ritual 4 Petal 1-2 Mox or 4 Simian Spirit Guide).
These ratios make the deck very streamlined and easy to mulligan (important since it doesn't run cantrips). The "Grixis" version has similar ratios, but I think drops Animate Dead? I don't have as much info on that one.
ClockworkSwordfish says... #2
The premiere targets are probably Griselbrand, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Sire Of Insanity and Avacyn, Angel of Hope. Nicol Bolas is also a superb option if you're using Shallow Grave.
June 10, 2017 2:34 a.m.