Reanimator Doesn't Kill People, Dragons Do

Standard* Arena BUG (Sultai) Reanimator

DwaginFodder

Land (24)

• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Forest
• 5x Island
• 2x Overgrown Tomb
• 7x Swamp
• 2x Temple of Malady
• 2x Temple of Mystery
• 4x Watery Grave

Sorcery (16)

• 4x Bond of Revival
• 2x Cry of the Carnarium
• 4x Discovery / Dispersal
• 2x Ritual of Soot
• 4x Thought Erasure

Planeswalker (4)

• 4x Tamiyo, Collector of Tales

Creature (11)

• 4x Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
• 3x Glowspore Shaman
• 4x Tomebound Lich

Instant (5)

• 3x Assassin's Trophy
• 2x Tyrant's Scorn

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Sideboard

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Cry of the Carnarium
• 4x Duress
• 1x Ritual of Soot

Planeswalker (2)

• 2x Ashiok, Dream Render

Instant (5)

• 3x Negate
• 2x Tyrant's Scorn

Creature (2)

• 1x Doom Whisperer
• 1x Rankle, Master of Pranks

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A frame for a Drakuseth (Prooooobably better known as Maw of Flames) reanimator deck has floated around in Core Set 2020 Standard for a while now. However, Rotation is quickly approaching, brutalizing three-color manabases (the deck has bounced between Sultai and Grixis) and the meta is getting stuck into a blender. With only a few cards from original lists (though important ones, like Chart a Course and Search for Azcanta  ) getting the chopping block from rotation, I feel that Drakuseth Reanimator has a real chance to pull ahead.

Until you pull together Drakuseth, Maw of Flames and Bond of Revival , the deck functions a lot like a control deck. The main early-game plays include removal, card selection, and boardwipes. It does very well against slower midrange decks as well as ramp decks like the current scourge of the Arena Standard 2020 event meta, Bant Ramp. The biggest challenge against faster decks like Mono-Red Cavalcade is living until turn 6, but this is mitigated by the sideboard. The deck's weaknesses include stalling out when unable to find its pieces and the mangled manabase from rotation. I originally started with a Dimir list to make the mana better, but adding green makes the deck more consistent in finding its pieces. Another weakness for using Sultai is being unable to cast a Drakuseth stuck in your hand late-game; it is my hope that this will be somewhat mitigated by cards released in Throne of Eldraine.

This list is heavily based upon Martin Juza's Sultai list here: https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/reanimator-in-standard-building-around-drakuseth-maw-of-flames/

Manabase is budgeted appropriately for me; it could probably afford more shocks.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Exclude colors	WR
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	0 - 1 Mythic Rares 24 - 2 Rares 23 - 5 Uncommons 0 - 7 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	3.94