JUNK REANIMATOR
All right, this is my very first (attempt of a) primer. Recently I've played and loved this deck. His history is a little old, we all know the good old reanimator. This new iteration was successful until Return to Ravnica, then disappered and now it's back. It's the current boogeyman of standard, the winner of GP Verona.I'm going to present a couple of lists, then go deeper in core cards, choise cards and matchup analysis with a little sideboarding guide. Let's start!
Mike Krasnitski's Junk Reanimator:
[deck]
2 Cavern of Souls
3 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Woodland Cemetery
3 Angel of Serenity
3 Arbor Elf
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Centaur Healer
2
Craterhoof Behemoth
4 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
4 Grisly Salvage
2 Lingering Souls
3 Mulch
4 Unburial Rites
Sideboard
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Acidic Slime
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Rhox Faithmender
1 Sever the Bloodline[/deck]
My take on Junk Reanimator:
[deck]
1 Cavern of Souls
2 Forest
2 Godless Shrine
2 Isolated Chapel
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
1 Gavony Township
4 Woodland Cemetery
3 Angel of Serenity
2 Arbor Elf
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
2 Centaur Healer
2 Lotleth Troll
2 Craterhoof Behemoth
3 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council
4 Grisly Salvage
3 Lingering Souls
3 Mulch
4 Unburial Rites
Sideboard
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Acidic Slime
2 Deathrite Shaman
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Sever the Bloodline[/deck]
So, you have the idea of a typical list. Let's see the core cards in the deck. First of all, creatures:
Angel of Serenity: THE creature of
the deck. Run 3-4x, it's the core of everything. Reanimate this turn 4 it's often good game. It's usefulness is huge: exile opponent's creatures, exile another Angel for loops, exile Thragtusk for... well, multiple Thragtusk. Moreover, it's a 5/6 flying.
Mana dorks: great accelleration and make us possibile to run 23 lands. They become enormous threats with Behemoth and also with Gavony Township late game.
Thragtusk and Restoration Angel: best friends forever. Everyone knows the synergy between this cards. Thragtusk helps us stabilize and it's a double body, the Resto Angel it's a flash blocker and a decent body. Some versions don't use Angel for other utility cards like Sever the Bloodline or Abrupt Decay.
Craterhoof Behemoth: 99% of the time, when he enters the battlefield is gg. He can steal wins from nowhere. There's nothing more to
add.
Centaur Healer: very good creature. Useful against aggro, synergyze well with Resto Angel. It has also a decent body.
Lotleth Troll: I run a 2x, someone run the full set. Great synergy with the deck, allows to discards a fatty if we have rites in hand/graveyard and pump himself. It has also regeneration for B, that's great. If pumped enough, it can win alone.
Spells:
Mulch and Grisly Salvage: half the core of the deck. They allow to mill ourself and at the same time to find what we need. Salvage is an instant, which add value to the card. Mulch is easier to cast for his mana cost and open up the keeping of hands that without are unkeepable.
Unburial Rites: the deck is called reanimator for one reason. The other half core of the deck. Milling it with one of the cards above along with a fatty and with a mana dork
or two on the field is the dream of every Junk pilot. The flashback ability is what makes the card insane.
Lingering Souls: early blockers, early damage, flashback, threats with Gavony Township and silly things with Behemoth. I think that there's not much more to add about why this card should be played.
Options:
Cavern of Souls: someone run a 2x, other a 1x, others 0. It helps fixing the mana for the fatties and prevents counter. It's a useful land, personally I prefer the singleton.
Gavony Township: basically makes every 1/1 a threat late game and pump the other creature. The other choise is:
Vault of the Archangel: lifelink and deathtouch are useful, but not vital in this deck. Of course, both of those lands are 1x, since with cavern we already have a land that produce colorless mana.
Obzedat, Ghost Council:
it can steals wins from nowhere. It's a really strong card and almost impossibile to remove thanks to his ability. I like him as a 1x, but some versions have another in SB.
Griselbrand: another huge threat and insane card advantage. If there's one thing that this deck lacks, it's drawing. He may be the answer to this problem.
Somberwald Sage and Deathrite Shaman: since almost 20% of the MTGO meta is Junk, those cards are getting luck in main as a 2-3x. Basically, they are against the mirror.
Sideboard options:
Abrupt Decay: incounterable removal for graveyard hate, annoying enchantments and/or creatures for aggro.
Acidic Slime: another huge card. Useful against everything but aggro. Between Resto Angel and rites we can destroy the opponent's land and lock him down.
[card]Garruk, Primal Hunter[/card:
e8rwgid5] and Liliana of the Veil: basically against control. The first produces bodies and card advantage. The second destroy their hands, allows us to discard the fatties. Also her -2 can be great against some decks.
Rhox Faithmainder: with our mana dorks, we can place this roadblock early against aggro. And if Thragtusk land, the lifegain is that great that is almost impossible to lose after.
Sever the Bloodline: exile effect is huge against the mirror. It has also flashback, so we won't lose it totally if milled with Mulch/Salvage.
Matchups: the real strength of this deck, it's that doesn't suffer too much graveyard hate. After G1 we can become a Junk Midrange. We have so many angles of attack that we can win from nowhere. Of course, we aren't unbeatable.
vs Aggro: even to poor game 1, better game 2. We really suffer fast decks, in fact the faster the opponent is, the
worst is for us. G2 with decays and faithmander the situation gets much better.
vs Control: good game 1, better game 2. We really don't mind Verdict and so on, what really hurts us is Dissipate, but luckily it's not that common. G2 with Slime and Plainswalker the situation is even more favorable.
vs Bant Auras: be really lucky or lose. There's not much to say here.
vs Midrange Decks: good game 1, better game 2. Our resilency allows us to be well positioned against this kind of deck. As always, Decay and Slime really helps us.
vs the mirror: basically, the first who lands a Shaman or the last to cast Angel of Serenity wins.
Little sideboarding guide:
Against Aggro:
-2 Craterhoof Behemoth
-4 Grisly Salvage
+4 Abrupt Decay
+2 Rhox Faithmender
Against UWR Flash:
+2 Deathrite Shaman
+2 Garruk, Primal Hunter/Liliana of the Veil
+4 Abrupt Decay
-4 Centaur Healer
-3 Arbor Elf
-1 Lingering Souls
Against The Aristocrats:
+4 Abrupt Decay
+1 Sever
the Bloodline
-2 Craterhoof Behemoth
-1 Mulch
-2 Centaur Healer
Against Esper Control:
+4 Acidic Slime
+2 Garruk, Primal Hunter/Liliana of the Veil
-4 Centaur Healer
-2 Lingering Souls
Against Jund Midrange:
+2 Garruk, Primal Hunter/Liliana of the Veil
+1 Sever the Bloodline
+4 Abrupt Decay
-4 Centaur Healer
-2 Lingering Souls
-1 Restoration Angel
Against Naya Midrange:
+4 Abrupt Decay
+1 Sever the Bloodline
+1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
-4 Centaur Healer
-2 Lingering Souls
Well, that's all for now. I'll try to update this primer. Of course, all the criticism and suggestions are appreciated.
