Glad to hear you you had some success with the online stores. I've found Sunken Ruins to be very versatile, and it's a lot more affordable than many other non-basics that you'd need for UB. It's not a bad budget solution. As for the other cards you're looking for, the stock at those stores comes and goes - keep an eye out, and you might be able to pick up the others you're after. I definitely think you should hang on to your Elesh - she's a house against weenie decks and most tribals. I'm not a big fan of Magister Sphinx, but it is an option. If you're looking for sphinxes, I'd prefer Sphinx Sovereign. Consecrated Sphinx can also make for some fun times. They're not outright game winners like the targets we've already discussed, but they'll fit better in a casual game.
I'll keep an eye out for your updated list. I'm going to post a revised deck-list of my own in the next couple of days.
Oh, one final thing - I'm sure everyone's by now seen Grafdigger's Cage. For anyone playing Vintage or casual, I think Mental Misstep is more important than ever. Who knows, it might even come off the Legacy banned list when the Cage becomes widespread.
Sorry for not posting my Deck, bud.
I've got some probs at home, internet connection gone to hell.As soon as I arrive home today i post my new deck List, it's still Mono-Black, and i considered putting Elesh Norn.
Another problem i get is when shuffling... maybe a noob issue, but after 3-4 games, i must rearrange all the "combo" cards in order for them to not "stay together" inside library, and not comming into my hand. But, after all it's a minor problem.
Glad to hear you you had some success with the online stores. I've found Sunken Ruins to be very versatile, and it's a lot more affordable than many other non-basics that you'd need for UB. It's not a bad budget solution. As for the other cards you're looking for, the stock at those stores comes and goes - keep an eye out, and you might be able to pick up the others you're after. I definitely think you should hang on to your Elesh - she's a house against weenie decks and most tribals. I'm not a big fan of Magister Sphinx, but it is an option. If you're looking for sphinxes, I'd prefer Sphinx Sovereign. Consecrated Sphinx can also make for some fun times. They're not outright game winners like the targets we've already discussed, but they'll fit better in a casual game.
I'll keep an eye out for your updated list. I'm going to post a revised deck-list of my own in the next couple of days.
Oh, one final thing - I'm sure everyone's by now seen Grafdigger's Cage. For anyone playing Vintage or casual, I think Mental Misstep is more important than ever. Who knows, it might even come off the Legacy banned list when the Cage becomes widespread.
Hey, bud... there's my "brand new" Mono-Black Deck. It remains mono-black 'till I get all the cards i need to convert it to UB. I can't handle using "tokens"/representations to play.
This is the Deck for now, i'm waiting a few cards to arrive for me to finally close this deck on Mono-Black, but as soon as March arrives i will really finish it, as UB, when I will buy some stuff at US. =)
Hey, bud... there's my "brand new" Mono-Black Deck. It remains mono-black 'till I get all the cards i need to convert it to UB. I can't handle using "tokens"/representations to play.
This is the Deck for now, i'm waiting a few cards to arrive for me to finally close this deck on Mono-Black, but as soon as March arrives i will really finish it, as UB, when I will buy some stuff at US. =)
What do you think about it?
This looks a little better to me. There's a few adjustments you might consider - Sickening Dreams isn't as useful as it first appears, because it hits you too, and your life total may already be shaky from playing a Reanimate. I think you'd still have enough discard outlets if you just directly cut it (remember that if you need to, you can flash Cabal Therapy back cheaply). But if you want to replace it with another discard outlet, Zombie Infestation may be a better choice, since it can generate a few chump blockers for you.
I'd also favour Distress in place of Geth's Verdict - the problem with Verdict is that your opponent can choose which creature he loses to it, and the loss of 1 life isn't all that significant. And since you've already got Sheoldred, It that Betrays & Elesh Norn to deal with opposing creatures, rather give yourself more options for removing countermagic or burn spells from your opponent's hand. And Distress is an M12 common, so you shouldn't struggle too much to find a few.
Lastly, even though I have 4 copies of Reanimate, I'm using only 3 in my deck. It's a very powerful spell, but realistically, you can only expect to cast it once per game. If you draw another copy, and you can't afford the life-loss, then it's a dead card in your hand. For that reason, I ran more of Animate Dead - it's weaker, since it's an enchantment, but it only costs 1 more, and no life-loss. And if you're playing off Dark Ritual, then you have enough mana for a first turn Entomb-Animate Dead, or Entomb-Exhume. Perhaps you could even consider replacing those Sickening Dreams with the extra Animate Deads that you already have from your Graveborn decks.
I just bought Graveborn, but I still don't know what to take out and put in.
All I could do was taking out a swamp and putting a Putrid Imp more, since is one of the main discard engines, and since the deck comes with way too much lands, I've been thinking about playing with 16 lands in total.
I was thinking about using 4 Dark Ritual, to get the combos on turn one.
Btw, don't say "put 3 more entombs" since this is practically a budget deck and I can't afford to buy entomb.
Buried Alive is a bit cheaper (money-wise) than Entomb, and grabs you two more creatures. If this is geared toward casual, maybe up the count of Hidden Horror also.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH: It's like a pillow fight, except occasionally someone pulls out a chainsaw.
If you suggest a card to add to a deck, suggest one to take out as well.
Personnaly I think a reanimate deck need to be 2 color: Blue and Black. Why because in blue you can play amazing card like: Carefull Study. Reanimate deck need a lot of card advantage because you have a lot of card disadvantage if you lose the creature you have reanimate.
The card I will cut was the lower version of reanimate spell andd the card that give you the possibility to discard a card without a huge other utility.
Originally, I wanted to go U/B before getting the Graveborn deck. Now, I'm fine with mono-black. Saves me from buying duals and Putrid Imp is a fine discard outlet. Graveyard tutors, like Buried Alive are probably better than any draw-discard spell, though those can be very useful. I'm fine with sticking with mono-black, though I may change the creature base to make it more original. Bogardan Hellkite is going in for sure. Currently, Terastodon is in it's place.
EDIT: My list is budget friendly btw. Here are the prices I got them at:
Putrid Imp - $1
Buried Alive - $1
Animate Dead - $1
Blackmail - $0.50
Phantom Nishoba - $1-2
Petradon - $0.50
Magister Sphinx - $1
Artisan of Kozliek - Free because my friend gave it to me, but they're worth like $0.50
Yeah but with blue you can play counterspell to protect the creature you have reanimate. Daze was a amazing card to play in this type of deck. With red you have nothing interesting to play to super this type of deck. With Blue you can play Brainstorm/Ponder for better card advantage.
Yeah but with blue you can play counterspell to protect the creature you have reanimate. Daze was a amazing card to play in this type of deck. With red you have nothing interesting to play to super this type of deck. With Blue you can play Brainstorm/Ponder for better card advantage.
There was a R/B reanimator back in the day. Getting Anger in the GY is pretty helpful, I suppose. However, blue probably is much better for support since card draw is very valuable in reanimator.
Strands of Night is amazing in reanimator decks - I added two to my Graveborn deck and it's become the best reanimation card in the deck.
I'm a big fan of Strands of Night - I used to run two of them in my old Graveyard Recursion deck, many moons before Graveborn was ever conceived. Nostalgia aside though, in this day and age, I don't think it's strong enough to include in a full-blown Reanimator deck. If you're fooling around with something like UB control or permission, and you have tutor effects to find the Strands, I can see it having a purpose - you could spam its ability to abuse some ETB effects or whatnot.
If you're trying to play a purpose-driven Reanimator, I feel Strands of Night falls short, for the following reasons:
It's too expensive to cast, and it's too expensive to use - the mana cost means you're unlikely to get it down and activate it on the same turn, and because it's an enchantment, it's weak to all kinds of removal
Its ability is reusable, which is a great bonus, but it's costly - having to sacrifice a land in a deck built for speedy wins can prove very cumbersome. By the time you're in a comfortable enough place to use it, you should already have the game mostly in the bag
Recurring reanimation effects can be had in other ways - Reya Dawnbringer and Sheoldred, the Whispering One aren't horrifically expensive, and they give you useful bodies plus free animation
Now that it's easy to get your hands on Animate Dead and Reanimate, I'm not sure if Strands still has a place. You could even use something like Doomed Necromancer and then bring him back with Unearth (or even Haunted Crossroads, combined with a cantrip).
The only solid advantage I see to Strands is that it reanimates at instant speed - this means you can cheat an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn into play before he shuffles himself back into your library.
Or, of course, if you want to slow yourself down a little so that your meta can keep up with you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by publicclass
Hey, bud... there's my "brand new" Mono-Black Deck. It remains mono-black 'till I get all the cards i need to convert it to UB. I can't handle using "tokens"/representations to play.
Deck
To-Grave Tutors
4x Buried Alive
3x Entomb
Mana Source
4x Dark Ritual
Reanimators
3x Reanimate
4x Exhume
1x Animate Dead(the lack of Reanimates in the Br market is killing me)
This is the Deck for now, i'm waiting a few cards to arrive for me to finally close this deck on Mono-Black, but as soon as March arrives i will really finish it, as UB, when I will buy some stuff at US. =)
What do you think about it?
This looks a little better to me. There's a few adjustments you might consider - Sickening Dreams isn't as useful as it first appears, because it hits you too, and your life total may already be shaky from playing a Reanimate. I think you'd still have enough discard outlets if you just directly cut it (remember that if you need to, you can flash Cabal Therapy back cheaply). But if you want to replace it with another discard outlet, Zombie Infestation may be a better choice, since it can generate a few chump blockers for you.
I'd also favour Distress in place of Geth's Verdict - the problem with Verdict is that your opponent can choose which creature he loses to it, and the loss of 1 life isn't all that significant. And since you've already got Sheoldred, It that Betrays & Elesh Norn to deal with opposing creatures, rather give yourself more options for removing countermagic or burn spells from your opponent's hand. And Distress is an M12 common, so you shouldn't struggle too much to find a few.
Lastly, even though I have 4 copies of Reanimate, I'm using only 3 in my deck. It's a very powerful spell, but realistically, you can only expect to cast it once per game. If you draw another copy, and you can't afford the life-loss, then it's a dead card in your hand. For that reason, I ran more of Animate Dead - it's weaker, since it's an enchantment, but it only costs more, and no life-loss. And if you're playing off Dark Ritual, then you have enough mana for a first turn Entomb-Animate Dead, or Entomb-Exhume. Perhaps you could even consider replacing those Sickening Dreams with the extra Animate Deads that you already have from your Graveborn decks.
Take care!
Hey, bud!
There is my new deck list.
Pls, take a look and tell me what you think. =)
I was a bit hesitant about the cards quantities, but i think this is the best i could make with my little budget in mind.
I took off FOrce of Will because it costs in here, like a House!! lol
Gonna play this in Multiplayer(All colors except Black. I am the only one using Black :D)
I removed Dark Ritual because most of the time it was only usefull for me in the first 3 turns. After these anyother card would have been better to draw.
Imo if you play Dark Ritual you should also the Lotus Petal(or any other acceleration) and Play with 4 Reanimate. To get higher chance to the first turn Reanimation. Replaced it with Sign of Blood, since its a good card draw and the cheapest to buy and it only cost 2 mana.
There is my new deck list.
Pls, take a look and tell me what you think. =)
I was a bit hesitant about the cards quantities, but i think this is the best i could make with my little budget in mind.
I took off FOrce of Will because it costs in here, like a House!! lol
Please, man, what about this specs?? Nice deck? Worths the money i'm about to spend?
Ok, let's go bit by bit...
Your mana base looks reasonable. I'd still consider Creeping Tar Pit in place of Underground River, I think it's in the same price range, and it has the added bonus of giving you an unblockable creature that you can use when your reanimation techniques are failing you.
Creatures: I'm glad to see Iona in there. I would say keep Avatar of Woe instead of Visara, the Dreadful, since you already have it from your PDS decks, and Visara doesn't offer too much benefit over the Avatar. I still don't like Magister Sphinx very much - it's so situation-dependent that I don't think it merits inclusion. You have enough reanimation targets that you could just remove it. Otherwise replace it with an additional Sphinx of the Steel Wind that you already have, or one of your Terastodons.
As for your other spells, remember that Mental Misstep is banned in Legacy. Brainstorm and Ponder are restricted in Vintage. I know your deck is primarily for casual play, but just keep those in mind if there's any possibility you might want to play in those formats. The rest looks good, but I'd try to squeeze in another 2 of Animate Dead, even if it means removing something else.
Whether it's worth the money depends on how much money you'll be spending. I definitely feel that the UB is far stronger than the mono-B Reanimator, and you have the building blocks of a very strong deck there. If your metagame isn't playing with power 9s, dual lands or FoW, your deck will serve you very well.
Gonna play this in Multiplayer(All colors except Black. I am the only one using Black :D)
I removed Dark Ritual because most of the time it was only usefull for me in the first 3 turns. After these anyother card would have been better to draw.
Imo if you play Dark Ritual you should also the Lotus Petal(or any other acceleration) and Play with 4 Reanimate. To get higher chance to the first turn Reanimation. Replaced it with Sign of Blood, since its a good card draw and the cheapest to buy and it only cost 2 mana.
I disagree with you on the Dark Ritual point - I play them as a 4-of, and very often I'll be able to bring out a first turn creature, either with Entomb+Reanimate/Exhume/Animate Dead or with Putrid Imp+Reanimate/Exhume/Animate Dead. If you bring out a first turn Iona or Jin, your opponent is just about totally locked down.
I think that you're short on ways to get your creatures from library to graveyard - more copies of Entomb would be good, if you can get your hands on them.
I disagree with you on the Dark Ritual point - I play them as a 4-of, and very often I'll be able to bring out a first turn creature, either with Entomb+Reanimate/Exhume/Animate Dead or with Putrid Imp+Reanimate/Exhume/Animate Dead. If you bring out a first turn Iona or Jin, your opponent is just about totally locked down.
I think that you're short on ways to get your creatures from library to graveyard - more copies of Entomb would be good, if you can get your hands on them.
Thanks for your feedback. I know that i cant use animated dead for akroma, but that should not matter so much^^
I could change Cabal Therapy for Duress, but imo Hymn of Tourach is just better. And Cabal Therapy is also quit expensive to buy.
With Dark Ritual, i think the only way is to try it and see while playing(dont have all the cards yet).
and Entomb is just too expensive right now.
How do you think about the number of Lands(without Dark Ritual) and the cardnumbers overall. And Sign of Blood(which i maybe Replace with Dark Ritual)
Thanks for your feedback. I know that i cant use animated dead for akroma, but that should not matter so much^^
I could change Cabal Therapy for Duress, but imo Hymn of Tourach is just better. And Cabal Therapy is also quit expensive to buy.
With Dark Ritual, i think the only way is to try it and see while playing(dont have all the cards yet).
and Entomb is just too expensive right now.
How do you think about the number of Lands(without Dark Ritual) and the cardnumbers overall. And Sign of Blood(which i maybe Replace with Dark Ritual)
Hi again
Cabal Therapy is expensive, though Graveborn has made them somewhat more accessible. I prefer Cabal Therapy and Duress to Hymn to Tourach because they let you see your opponent's hand, which is very valuable when you're playing something like Reanimator. You don't want to spend 10 life playing Reanimate on your heavy hitter, only to have it Vapor Snagged back to your hand, and if you've seen what your opponent's holding, you'll be prepared. If you're not going for Cabal Therapy, I think the best choice would be to replace Hymn with Distress - they're dirt cheap, and they show you your opponent's hand.
People are divided about Dark Ritual - I think it's a must have, and I've proven it to myself many times over while playing. I would possibly remove Akroma, Angel of Fury and Oona's Prowler. If you feel you're low on creatures that you can hard-cast, consider Hidden Horror - 4/4 for three mana is unbelievably efficient, and the discard requirement works in your favour.
You may be a bit low on land, especially since your deck is reliant on Buried Alive and Dread Return. I'd be tempted to push to 20 Swamps, but you could probably cut that to 16-17 if you ran Dark Rituals.
I think the hardest thing for your build is to get your creatures into the graveyard. Rune-scarred Demon isn't too expensive, and it can tutor anything into your hand, while providing a strong body, and if you get it late game you can even hard-cast it if you need to. It's useful, because you can tutor for a creature, or a reanimation spell when you need it most. If you tutored for Dread Return, you could then discard it and use its flashback cost to play it from your graveyard. If you want something to generate tokens for you so that you can flashback Dread Return, think about Zombie Infestation.
Sign in Blood is a tricky one. It's a strong cantrip, considering that black doesn't have access to too many. Reanimator works best in UB, but it means you'll have to fork out for an expensive mana-base. If you're not ready to do that, then hang on to Sign in Blood for now.
Your mana base looks reasonable. I'd still consider Creeping Tar Pit in place of Underground River, I think it's in the same price range, and it has the added bonus of giving you an unblockable creature that you can use when your reanimation techniques are failing you.
Creatures: I'm glad to see Iona in there. I would say keep Avatar of Woe instead of Visara, the Dreadful, since you already have it from your PDS decks, and Visara doesn't offer too much benefit over the Avatar. I still don't like Magister Sphinx very much - it's so situation-dependent that I don't think it merits inclusion. You have enough reanimation targets that you could just remove it. Otherwise replace it with an additional Sphinx of the Steel Wind that you already have, or one of your Terastodons.
As for your other spells, remember that Mental Misstep is banned in Legacy. Brainstorm and Ponder are restricted in Vintage. I know your deck is primarily for casual play, but just keep those in mind if there's any possibility you might want to play in those formats. The rest looks good, but I'd try to squeeze in another 2 of Animate Dead, even if it means removing something else.
Whether it's worth the money depends on how much money you'll be spending. I definitely feel that the UB is far stronger than the mono-B Reanimator, and you have the building blocks of a very strong deck there. If your metagame isn't playing with power 9s, dual lands or FoW, your deck will serve you very well.
Hey, bud...
Once more, thanks a lot for the help.
YOu're becoming my Reanimator Tutor, bro.
=)
First of all...
I modified this deck since the last reply, I putted in 2x Gitaxian Probes, and took out 2x Duress. Because if it would let me see opponents hands and he discards a card, at the first turn, i could see my opponents hands, use 2 life to do it, and, with a Swamp kill a threat with Cabal Therapy, that is now at 4x.
I'm considering taking out some of my creatures, specially the Magister(that was lost by the Postal service on rout to my home), but i should consider some of them.
Something I noticed while playing was that the Mono-black is a rapid shot, but is totally *****ed up by rapid decks, and that ones that have a lot of removal/destroy cantrips. But, for this I use Iona, this is why I firstly call her to the game. I prefer her to Jin-Gitaxias, cause he's the favorite target by most of my opponent's, so, I use her to protect me.
About the Black splash of the deck...
It's mostly Reanimation spells for now, and Dark Ritual, to eventually accelerate the deck. But with blue Counterspells(like Daze, and Mana Leak, and Counterspell), I do not wait the opponent to f**k me up, in late turns, nor to take out my fatties.
The problem is, with the Blue splash the deck showed up to be more versatille and "safe", but decreased its speed a lot. For example: at most of my battles, with the Mono-Black, I stopped the game on turn 4 or 3, by reanimating Iona, and then, putting Jin on the ground and waiting to attack with a big one i've got from Entombing or BAlive. Now, I take up to 6-7 turns to be able to put some Monsters in game, but more safelly, of course.
Against "normal speed" decks, it's not a problem at all, but against Decks like goblin decks, or Treefolks, or even Knights, or artifacts, it's a problem.
I'm trying to fix this, by switching the quantities of cards, or maneging the deck. And it's the reason I did not came up with my new decklist, and the reason i don't have a solid sideboard yet.
About the Lands, I'm using Tainted Isle, because it only generate B or U, when i have a Swamp, and i only need a Blue, mostly if i've got a swamp and not a island. You know what I mean?
And i'm trying some Counterspells aswell, but they are not that hard to find in here, otherwise, they are easier than Chain of Vapor or Mana leak.
The problems for me are:
1- The Dual/Shock/etc Lands costs like Hell, and are hard aswell to find. My list of "needs" is:
3xTainted isle
4xDarkslick Shores(They are the best for the first turns, but are **** for the rest, and costs like hell)
4xDrowned Catacombs(I almost gave up on them, I cannot find them anywhere in here, and the ones I found the motherfu**ers wants like the double of the real price)
With them + Daze + 4x or 2xCounterspell and + 4x or 2x Mana Leak, in hand, i can think on finishing the deck.
For the SB, I was thinking on some creatures, like sundering Titan, and some other "opponent f**king" spells, like"mass-basic-Land-destruction", and this kinda stuff.
For now, bud, i think it's only this.
I'm working hard on this deck to build a nice, fast and worthy(cheap) Legacy Reanimator. For me to work on my next target; a Karn Liberated proliferation BU Legacy Deck. (I don't like planeswalkers, but this one made me reconsider my hatred a little bit) =)
p.s.: In here it's "Carnaval", so, it's hard for me to work on the deck and to get online, then, I should only come in by February 22 or so. Because of it, i don't know if I can at last get closer to finish the deck. But i'll try. As soon as i get my (almost)definitive list, i show it to you. =)
I pretty much followed the primer basics, however, I'm thinking about cutting out Rorix Bladewing for Platinum Emperion. That way my life wouldn't be affected by the Reanimate costs.
Hi,
i need some feedback for my graveyard deck. once i get my cards out i'm almost unstopable. my main problem is that i'm still a bit slow to get started.
any suggestions or comments???
Well, this fits most in casual i believe, as for the circle i play at is mostly casual (and dark rituals exclude this from Modern as i see it, and deck seems too slow for any other eternal format).
I'd like to request a few tips/hints on how to make this deck a bit better (especially countering Leyline of the Void and other graveyard hate, as they ultimately lockdown this deck).
Originally it's a deck of 80 cards, but i've come up to the challenge and made it into neat 60 (success!)
I have the advantage of knowing most decks in my playcircle, so i can mulligan accordingly:
- usually keep either 2+ lands, best with ritual, at least one reanimator and yard tutor.
- in case i have reanimator + ritual/land + satisfying fattie on hand i miss land drop on t1 and proceed later.
Urabrask, the Hidden - usually i use him with pathrazer for annihilator haste
Sheoldred, Whispering One -
Sphinx of the Steel Wind - vs burn, or red
Pathrazer of Ulamog - he works fun early if they have no responses
Terastodon - for those pesky enchants/artifacts
Moldgraf Monstrosity - when i have urabrask +pathrazer/other in yard and expect enemy either to take 8 to the face or donate me two better beaters
Blazing Archon - vs aggro
Inkwell Leviathan - vs U decks, shroud helps vs bounces
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur - he's fun if i can discard loads of stuff into living death :3
Akroma, Angel of Fury - blue counter
As i see it right now - the only counter for yard hate is quicksilver amulet, and it's a bit too unreliable (and if leyline is already on field, the damage is already done in being stalled).
Could you please help me get this deck better? (i'd be happiest if it'd stick to pure B, and yes i'm aware of limiting options by this) and rather budgety (as you noticed i used two graveborns in there as base).
And if possible, what could i drop/get to make this modern legal? (except obvious dark rituals).
Ok, it's been a while since I played or posted but I recently got back into the hobby and got the cards needed to finish my deck, I am now having problems deciding what to sideboard/mainboard. For matchups where I need speed over control I put in rituals and imps, for control matchups I run the duress/daze/whatnot. How should my generic deck look before changes?
(Let's hope I remember how to use the tags and whatnot)
Sorry for not posting my Deck, bud.
I've got some probs at home, internet connection gone to hell.As soon as I arrive home today i post my new deck List, it's still Mono-Black, and i considered putting Elesh Norn.
Another problem i get is when shuffling... maybe a noob issue, but after 3-4 games, i must rearrange all the "combo" cards in order for them to not "stay together" inside library, and not comming into my hand. But, after all it's a minor problem.
Hey, bud... there's my "brand new" Mono-Black Deck. It remains mono-black 'till I get all the cards i need to convert it to UB. I can't handle using "tokens"/representations to play.
4x Buried Alive
3x Entomb
Mana Source
4x Dark Ritual
Reanimators
3x Reanimate
4x Exhume
1x Animate Dead(the lack of Reanimates in the Br market is killing me)
Discard Stuff
4x Duress
3x Cabal Therapy
4x Putrid Imp
2x Sickening Dreams
2x Geth's Verdict(waiting my Terror's to arrive)
The Fatties
1x Jin-Gitaxias
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Sheoldred
1x It that Betrays
1x Blazing Archon
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1x Terastodon
1x Elesh Norn
12x Swamp
2x Ebon Stronghold
2x Crystal Vein
This is the Deck for now, i'm waiting a few cards to arrive for me to finally close this deck on Mono-Black, but as soon as March arrives i will really finish it, as UB, when I will buy some stuff at US. =)
What do you think about it?
This looks a little better to me. There's a few adjustments you might consider - Sickening Dreams isn't as useful as it first appears, because it hits you too, and your life total may already be shaky from playing a Reanimate. I think you'd still have enough discard outlets if you just directly cut it (remember that if you need to, you can flash Cabal Therapy back cheaply). But if you want to replace it with another discard outlet, Zombie Infestation may be a better choice, since it can generate a few chump blockers for you.
I'd also favour Distress in place of Geth's Verdict - the problem with Verdict is that your opponent can choose which creature he loses to it, and the loss of 1 life isn't all that significant. And since you've already got Sheoldred, It that Betrays & Elesh Norn to deal with opposing creatures, rather give yourself more options for removing countermagic or burn spells from your opponent's hand. And Distress is an M12 common, so you shouldn't struggle too much to find a few.
Lastly, even though I have 4 copies of Reanimate, I'm using only 3 in my deck. It's a very powerful spell, but realistically, you can only expect to cast it once per game. If you draw another copy, and you can't afford the life-loss, then it's a dead card in your hand. For that reason, I ran more of Animate Dead - it's weaker, since it's an enchantment, but it only costs 1 more, and no life-loss. And if you're playing off Dark Ritual, then you have enough mana for a first turn Entomb-Animate Dead, or Entomb-Exhume. Perhaps you could even consider replacing those Sickening Dreams with the extra Animate Deads that you already have from your Graveborn decks.
Take care!
All I could do was taking out a swamp and putting a Putrid Imp more, since is one of the main discard engines, and since the deck comes with way too much lands, I've been thinking about playing with 16 lands in total.
I was thinking about using 4 Dark Ritual, to get the combos on turn one.
Btw, don't say "put 3 more entombs" since this is practically a budget deck and I can't afford to buy entomb.
1 Crosis, the Purger
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Terastodon
1 Verdant Force
1 Blazing Archon
2 Putrid Imp
2 Hidden Horror
1 Faceless Butcher
1 Twisted Abomination
1 Entomb
1 Zombie Infestation
1 Cabal Therapy
2 Last Rites
2 Sickening Dreams
3 Exhume
3 Duress
3 Animate Dead
2 Buried Alive
2 Diabolic Servitude
2 Dread Return
1 Polluted Mire
1 Ebon Stronghold
1 Crystal Vein
Buried Alive is a bit cheaper (money-wise) than Entomb, and grabs you two more creatures. If this is geared toward casual, maybe up the count of Hidden Horror also.
If you suggest a card to add to a deck, suggest one to take out as well.
The card I will cut was the lower version of reanimate spell andd the card that give you the possibility to discard a card without a huge other utility.
WBGhost Council of OrzhovaBW
GUBThe MimeoplasmBUG
RGWort, the RaidmotherGR
UGRRiku of Two ReflectionsRGU
Casual
WGBJunkStone DeckBGW
BMonoBlack VampireB
Required though 4 Buried Alive, 4 Animate Dead and 4 Dread Return, if your going low land 16-17 easy.
EDH:1 vs 1
Talrand, Sky Summoner Retired.
EDH Multiplayer
Drana. Kalastria Bloodchief
Talrand, Sky Summoner
My Blog -
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16 Swamp
2 Barren Moor
1 Ebon Stronghold
1 Crystal Vein
Creatures:
4 Putrid Imp
1 Crosis, the Purger
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Blazing Archon
1 Petradon
1 Magister Sphinx
1 Phantom Nishoba
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Borgardan Hellkite
4 Animate Dead
4 Buried Alive
4 Exhume
1 Reanimate
2 Dread Return
1 Entomb
1 Cabal Therapy
2 Blackmail
4 Duress
4 Dark Ritual
Originally, I wanted to go U/B before getting the Graveborn deck. Now, I'm fine with mono-black. Saves me from buying duals and Putrid Imp is a fine discard outlet. Graveyard tutors, like Buried Alive are probably better than any draw-discard spell, though those can be very useful. I'm fine with sticking with mono-black, though I may change the creature base to make it more original. Bogardan Hellkite is going in for sure. Currently, Terastodon is in it's place.
EDIT: My list is budget friendly btw. Here are the prices I got them at:
Putrid Imp - $1
Buried Alive - $1
Animate Dead - $1
Blackmail - $0.50
Phantom Nishoba - $1-2
Petradon - $0.50
Magister Sphinx - $1
Artisan of Kozliek - Free because my friend gave it to me, but they're worth like $0.50
RGGruul Aggro
WSoul Sisters
WBTokens
BUGRRestore Balance
BMono-Black Infect
EDH:
RGWMayael, the Anima
GWURoon of the Hidden Realm
BDrana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Yeah but with blue you can play counterspell to protect the creature you have reanimate. Daze was a amazing card to play in this type of deck. With red you have nothing interesting to play to super this type of deck. With Blue you can play Brainstorm/Ponder for better card advantage.
WBGhost Council of OrzhovaBW
GUBThe MimeoplasmBUG
RGWort, the RaidmotherGR
UGRRiku of Two ReflectionsRGU
Casual
WGBJunkStone DeckBGW
BMonoBlack VampireB
RGGruul Aggro
WSoul Sisters
WBTokens
BUGRRestore Balance
BMono-Black Infect
EDH:
RGWMayael, the Anima
GWURoon of the Hidden Realm
BDrana, Kalastria Bloodchief
I'm a big fan of Strands of Night - I used to run two of them in my old Graveyard Recursion deck, many moons before Graveborn was ever conceived. Nostalgia aside though, in this day and age, I don't think it's strong enough to include in a full-blown Reanimator deck. If you're fooling around with something like UB control or permission, and you have tutor effects to find the Strands, I can see it having a purpose - you could spam its ability to abuse some ETB effects or whatnot.
If you're trying to play a purpose-driven Reanimator, I feel Strands of Night falls short, for the following reasons:
Now that it's easy to get your hands on Animate Dead and Reanimate, I'm not sure if Strands still has a place. You could even use something like Doomed Necromancer and then bring him back with Unearth (or even Haunted Crossroads, combined with a cantrip).
The only solid advantage I see to Strands is that it reanimates at instant speed - this means you can cheat an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn into play before he shuffles himself back into your library.
Or, of course, if you want to slow yourself down a little so that your meta can keep up with you!
Hey, bud!
There is my new deck list.
Pls, take a look and tell me what you think. =)
I was a bit hesitant about the cards quantities, but i think this is the best i could make with my little budget in mind.
I took off FOrce of Will because it costs in here, like a House!! lol
4x Island
6x Swamp
4x Tainted Isle
4x Underground River
1x Inkwell Leviathan
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1x Blazing Archon
1x Jin-Gitaxias
1x Sheoldred, Whispering one
1x Avatar of Woe or Visara, the Dreadful
1x Magister Sphinx
3 Daze
3 Dark Ritual
2 Brainstorm
3 Entomb
2 Mental Misstep
2 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Ponder
2 Cabal Therapy
4 Careful Study
4 Exhume
2 Reanimate
2 Duress
2 Buried Alive
And there they are!! =)
Please, man, what about this specs?? Nice deck? Worths the money i'm about to spend?
18 Swamp
Targets:
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Hellkite Overlord
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augure
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Sheoldred, Whispering one
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Blazing Archon
1 Reanimate
4 Exhume
4 Animated Dead
2 Dread Return
Discard:
4 Putrid Imp
2 Oona's Prowler
Control:
3 Hymn to Turach
3 Duress
4 Buried Alive
1 Entomb
Carddraw:
4 Sign in Blood
Gonna play this in Multiplayer(All colors except Black. I am the only one using Black :D)
I removed Dark Ritual because most of the time it was only usefull for me in the first 3 turns. After these anyother card would have been better to draw.
Imo if you play Dark Ritual you should also the Lotus Petal(or any other acceleration) and Play with 4 Reanimate. To get higher chance to the first turn Reanimation. Replaced it with Sign of Blood, since its a good card draw and the cheapest to buy and it only cost 2 mana.
Any suggestions?
i tweaked this deck with some of cards in my pool and played it using MWS.. since i don't have time due to my work..
and i don't use the UB Reanimator List due to budget constraints...
The List:
// Lands
14 Swamp
2 Crystal Vein
// Creatures
3 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Putrid Imp
1 Terastodon
1 Blazing Archon
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
// Spells
3 Reanimate
3 Duress
2 Sickening Dreams
4 Exhume
3 Entomb
4 Animate Dead
3 Zombie Infestation
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Dark Ritual
2 Buried Alive
// Sideboard
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 3 Ratchet Bomb
SB: 2 Nevinyrral's Disk
SB: 3 Hymn to Tourach
-- any comments/suggestions on how to improve the main and sideboard list would be greatly appreciated.. thanks
Ok, let's go bit by bit...
Your mana base looks reasonable. I'd still consider Creeping Tar Pit in place of Underground River, I think it's in the same price range, and it has the added bonus of giving you an unblockable creature that you can use when your reanimation techniques are failing you.
Creatures: I'm glad to see Iona in there. I would say keep Avatar of Woe instead of Visara, the Dreadful, since you already have it from your PDS decks, and Visara doesn't offer too much benefit over the Avatar. I still don't like Magister Sphinx very much - it's so situation-dependent that I don't think it merits inclusion. You have enough reanimation targets that you could just remove it. Otherwise replace it with an additional Sphinx of the Steel Wind that you already have, or one of your Terastodons.
As for your other spells, remember that Mental Misstep is banned in Legacy. Brainstorm and Ponder are restricted in Vintage. I know your deck is primarily for casual play, but just keep those in mind if there's any possibility you might want to play in those formats. The rest looks good, but I'd try to squeeze in another 2 of Animate Dead, even if it means removing something else.
Where is your sideboard? You should strongly consider having access to Echoing Truth or Chain of Vapor, they're cheap and they'll save you from Grafdigger's Cage and Leyline of the Void, especially if you couple them with a Cabal Therapy or Duress. Counterspell is a bit difficult to find, but Mana Leak might be a good SB choice. I'm glad to see Daze in your list, it's a very strong card.
Whether it's worth the money depends on how much money you'll be spending. I definitely feel that the UB is far stronger than the mono-B Reanimator, and you have the building blocks of a very strong deck there. If your metagame isn't playing with power 9s, dual lands or FoW, your deck will serve you very well.
I have a few...
Please remember that your Akroma, Angel of Wrath won't work with Animate Dead.
Hymn to Tourach and Duress are good, but if you have access to Cabal Therapy, I feel it's more versatile.
I disagree with you on the Dark Ritual point - I play them as a 4-of, and very often I'll be able to bring out a first turn creature, either with Entomb+Reanimate/Exhume/Animate Dead or with Putrid Imp+Reanimate/Exhume/Animate Dead. If you bring out a first turn Iona or Jin, your opponent is just about totally locked down.
I think that you're short on ways to get your creatures from library to graveyard - more copies of Entomb would be good, if you can get your hands on them.
Thanks for your feedback. I know that i cant use animated dead for akroma, but that should not matter so much^^
I could change Cabal Therapy for Duress, but imo Hymn of Tourach is just better. And Cabal Therapy is also quit expensive to buy.
With Dark Ritual, i think the only way is to try it and see while playing(dont have all the cards yet).
and Entomb is just too expensive right now.
How do you think about the number of Lands(without Dark Ritual) and the cardnumbers overall. And Sign of Blood(which i maybe Replace with Dark Ritual)
Hi again
Cabal Therapy is expensive, though Graveborn has made them somewhat more accessible. I prefer Cabal Therapy and Duress to Hymn to Tourach because they let you see your opponent's hand, which is very valuable when you're playing something like Reanimator. You don't want to spend 10 life playing Reanimate on your heavy hitter, only to have it Vapor Snagged back to your hand, and if you've seen what your opponent's holding, you'll be prepared. If you're not going for Cabal Therapy, I think the best choice would be to replace Hymn with Distress - they're dirt cheap, and they show you your opponent's hand.
People are divided about Dark Ritual - I think it's a must have, and I've proven it to myself many times over while playing. I would possibly remove Akroma, Angel of Fury and Oona's Prowler. If you feel you're low on creatures that you can hard-cast, consider Hidden Horror - 4/4 for three mana is unbelievably efficient, and the discard requirement works in your favour.
You may be a bit low on land, especially since your deck is reliant on Buried Alive and Dread Return. I'd be tempted to push to 20 Swamps, but you could probably cut that to 16-17 if you ran Dark Rituals.
I think the hardest thing for your build is to get your creatures into the graveyard. Rune-scarred Demon isn't too expensive, and it can tutor anything into your hand, while providing a strong body, and if you get it late game you can even hard-cast it if you need to. It's useful, because you can tutor for a creature, or a reanimation spell when you need it most. If you tutored for Dread Return, you could then discard it and use its flashback cost to play it from your graveyard. If you want something to generate tokens for you so that you can flashback Dread Return, think about Zombie Infestation.
Sign in Blood is a tricky one. It's a strong cantrip, considering that black doesn't have access to too many. Reanimator works best in UB, but it means you'll have to fork out for an expensive mana-base. If you're not ready to do that, then hang on to Sign in Blood for now.
Hey, bud...
Once more, thanks a lot for the help.
YOu're becoming my Reanimator Tutor, bro.
=)
First of all...
I modified this deck since the last reply, I putted in 2x Gitaxian Probes, and took out 2x Duress. Because if it would let me see opponents hands and he discards a card, at the first turn, i could see my opponents hands, use 2 life to do it, and, with a Swamp kill a threat with Cabal Therapy, that is now at 4x.
I'm considering taking out some of my creatures, specially the Magister(that was lost by the Postal service on rout to my home), but i should consider some of them.
Something I noticed while playing was that the Mono-black is a rapid shot, but is totally *****ed up by rapid decks, and that ones that have a lot of removal/destroy cantrips. But, for this I use Iona, this is why I firstly call her to the game. I prefer her to Jin-Gitaxias, cause he's the favorite target by most of my opponent's, so, I use her to protect me.
About the Black splash of the deck...
It's mostly Reanimation spells for now, and Dark Ritual, to eventually accelerate the deck. But with blue Counterspells(like Daze, and Mana Leak, and Counterspell), I do not wait the opponent to f**k me up, in late turns, nor to take out my fatties.
The problem is, with the Blue splash the deck showed up to be more versatille and "safe", but decreased its speed a lot. For example: at most of my battles, with the Mono-Black, I stopped the game on turn 4 or 3, by reanimating Iona, and then, putting Jin on the ground and waiting to attack with a big one i've got from Entombing or BAlive. Now, I take up to 6-7 turns to be able to put some Monsters in game, but more safelly, of course.
Against "normal speed" decks, it's not a problem at all, but against Decks like goblin decks, or Treefolks, or even Knights, or artifacts, it's a problem.
I'm trying to fix this, by switching the quantities of cards, or maneging the deck. And it's the reason I did not came up with my new decklist, and the reason i don't have a solid sideboard yet.
About the Lands, I'm using Tainted Isle, because it only generate B or U, when i have a Swamp, and i only need a Blue, mostly if i've got a swamp and not a island. You know what I mean?
And i'm trying some Counterspells aswell, but they are not that hard to find in here, otherwise, they are easier than Chain of Vapor or Mana leak.
The problems for me are:
1- The Dual/Shock/etc Lands costs like Hell, and are hard aswell to find. My list of "needs" is:
3xTainted isle
4xDarkslick Shores(They are the best for the first turns, but are **** for the rest, and costs like hell)
4xDrowned Catacombs(I almost gave up on them, I cannot find them anywhere in here, and the ones I found the motherfu**ers wants like the double of the real price)
With them + Daze + 4x or 2xCounterspell and + 4x or 2x Mana Leak, in hand, i can think on finishing the deck.
For the SB, I was thinking on some creatures, like sundering Titan, and some other "opponent f**king" spells, like"mass-basic-Land-destruction", and this kinda stuff.
For now, bud, i think it's only this.
I'm working hard on this deck to build a nice, fast and worthy(cheap) Legacy Reanimator. For me to work on my next target; a Karn Liberated proliferation BU Legacy Deck. (I don't like planeswalkers, but this one made me reconsider my hatred a little bit) =)
p.s.: In here it's "Carnaval", so, it's hard for me to work on the deck and to get online, then, I should only come in by February 22 or so. Because of it, i don't know if I can at last get closer to finish the deck. But i'll try. As soon as i get my (almost)definitive list, i show it to you. =)
http://mtgdeckbuilder.net/Decks/ViewDeck/394375
I pretty much followed the primer basics, however, I'm thinking about cutting out Rorix Bladewing for Platinum Emperion. That way my life wouldn't be affected by the Reanimate costs.
i need some feedback for my graveyard deck. once i get my cards out i'm almost unstopable. my main problem is that i'm still a bit slow to get started.
any suggestions or comments???
22 SWAMPS
1 EBON STRONGHOLD
CREATURES
3 BOG WITCH
3 DOOMED NECROMANCER
1 ARCHON OF JUSTICE
1 CHILD OF ALARA
1 GRAVE TITAN
1 ANGEL OF DESPAIR
1 SHEOLDRED, WHISPERING ONE
1 HELLKITE OVERLORD
1 BLAZING ARCHON
1 IONA, SHIELD OF EMERIA
1 JIN-GITAXIAS, CORE AUGUR
1 IT THAT BETRAYS
4 DARK RITUAL
1 ENTOMB
4 ANIMATE DEAD
1 DEMONIC TUTOR
4 BURIED ALIVE
4 RECURRING NIGHTMARE
1 DIABOLIC TUTOR
3 GRAVE PACT
Priest of gix is also a good target.
I'd like to request a few tips/hints on how to make this deck a bit better (especially countering Leyline of the Void and other graveyard hate, as they ultimately lockdown this deck).
Originally it's a deck of 80 cards, but i've come up to the challenge and made it into neat 60 (success!)
21 Swamp
1 Crystal Vein
1 Polluted Mire
1 Ebon Stronghold
Creatures
1 Urabrask, the Hidden
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Pathrazer of Ulamog
1 Terastodon
1 Moldgraf Monstrosity
1 Blazing Archon
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
4 Dark Ritual
4 Buried Rites
2 Entomb
2 Reanimate
3 Exhume
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Animate Dead
1 Stitch Together
1 Living Death
2 Despise
1 Duress
1 Sickening Dreams
1 Last Rites
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Crosis, the Purger
1 Ulamog's Crusher
2 Animate Dead
2 Dread Return
2 Duress
1 Quicksilver Amulet
I have the advantage of knowing most decks in my playcircle, so i can mulligan accordingly:
- usually keep either 2+ lands, best with ritual, at least one reanimator and yard tutor.
- in case i have reanimator + ritual/land + satisfying fattie on hand i miss land drop on t1 and proceed later.
Urabrask, the Hidden - usually i use him with pathrazer for annihilator haste
Sheoldred, Whispering One -
Sphinx of the Steel Wind - vs burn, or red
Pathrazer of Ulamog - he works fun early if they have no responses
Terastodon - for those pesky enchants/artifacts
Moldgraf Monstrosity - when i have urabrask +pathrazer/other in yard and expect enemy either to take 8 to the face or donate me two better beaters
Blazing Archon - vs aggro
Inkwell Leviathan - vs U decks, shroud helps vs bounces
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur - he's fun if i can discard loads of stuff into living death :3
Akroma, Angel of Fury - blue counter
As i see it right now - the only counter for yard hate is quicksilver amulet, and it's a bit too unreliable (and if leyline is already on field, the damage is already done in being stalled).
Could you please help me get this deck better? (i'd be happiest if it'd stick to pure B, and yes i'm aware of limiting options by this) and rather budgety (as you noticed i used two graveborns in there as base).
And if possible, what could i drop/get to make this modern legal? (except obvious dark rituals).
Thanks in advance!
(Let's hope I remember how to use the tags and whatnot)
2 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
2 Griselbrand
1 Empyrial Archangel
1 Angel of Despair
Enablers
4 Entomb
4 Careful Study
4 Mystical Tutor
4 Brainstorm
Animation
4 Exhume
4 Reanimate
1 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
3 Mental Misstep
Land
1 Underground Sea
3 Darkslick Shores
4 Watery Grave
4 Marsh Flats
1 Verdant Catacomb
3 Island
2 Swamp
1 Blazing Archon
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Inkwell Leviathan
3 Dark Ritual
1 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Ponder
2 Chain of Vapor
3 Pithing Needle
Edit: Threw in some changes