[Deck] Reanimator

[Cavocavi]

Hi. I want to start off with a decklist. I'll explain the card choices after.

Mana:32
5 Moxen
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mox Diamond
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
3 Badlands
4 City of Brass
2 Gemstone Mine

Creatures:9
4 Nicol Bolas
3 Polar Kraken
2 Sutured Ghoul

Spells:15
4 Buried Alive
1 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave
3 Sneak Attack
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk

Counters:4
4 Force of Will

Now I'll take the time to explain the card choices.

4 Nicol Bolas: I run four in the deck because it can be pitched to Force of Will, Sneak Attacked on the first turn and can be imprinted on Chrome Mox for that crucial red mana to cast Sneak Attack with.

4 Buried Alive/Entomb/Shallow Grave: The reanimator part of the deck. The primary kill condition.

3 Sneak Attack: The secondary kill condition. It's good on the first turn with Nicol Bolas or Polar Kraken.

3 Polar Kraken: The beef of the deck proving to be very versatile as either bait for a Sutured Ghoul or a pitch card to a Force of Will. Also works well with Sneak Attack and Shallow Grave.

2 Sutured Ghoul: Works well as a primary kill condition because you can cast Buried Alive with the Ghoul and two Polar Kraken for a first turn 22/22 trample creature with haste usually ending the game.

Note: With all the mana accellerants in this deck it's very likely that you can pull something off on the first turn. either a first turn Buried Alive Shallow Grave or a first turn Sneak Attack.

Well, there's the deck. feel free to post comments or deck suggestions.

[Matt]

There's REALLY no reason to play this over Dragon. I don't like that it has to be that way, because I do love reanimator, but it's true.

[Cavocavi]

Matt: Dragon has more hate cards against it such as Root Maze and Platinum Angel (Welder Mud and TNT), while Reanimator only has Tormod's Crypt and Coffin Purge, etc. that works against it. Reanimator is a pure metagame choice in a tournament where Oshawa Stompy and TNT run rampant and include these extra cards in their sideboard against Dragon. All in all Dragon is superior, but choosing Reanimator over it is a pure metagame choice. Also, Shallow Grave can be cast in reaction to Tormod's Crypt or Coffin Purge at instant speed while hate against Dragon is totally unavoidable.

[Matt]

Yeah, [card]Necromancy[/card] was just a fevered dream of madmen.