One of my Arena decks. This is what I'm working towards, at least. I still need two more Woodland Cemetery, but otherwise the main deck is accurate.
The deck performs well against other midrange and control. Its biggest weak points are aggro and burn -- basically any red and/or white deck. But it can win those matchups too. Aggro decks are the reason Plague Mare is in the main deck. It can be good early, but it can also work as a reanimation target in the late game to answer a March of the Multitudes or something like that.
The plan of the deck is midrange/reanimator/toolbox. The key synergy -- though you can win games just grinding without it -- is Muldrotha, the Gravetide and The Eldest Reborn. Pitch Muldrotha into your graveyard early, get it back with Eldest, then replay the saga with Muldrotha. Repeat.
Apart from exile effects like Conclave Tribunal or Vraska's Contempt, it is nearly impossible to permanently remove Muldrotha if you get a loop with Eldest Reborn set up. In the meantime, you can cast and recast Eldest Reborn, Plaguecrafter, and a few utility one-ofs in the deck, such as Reclamation Sage, Ravenous Chupacabra, and Hostage Taker, to control the board and even steal your opponents stuff from time to time. I've won games with Doom Whisperer, Venerated Loxodon, and Niv-Mizzet, Parun.
Thus, the simplified gameplan is as follows:
- Early game: Ramp and fill your graveyard.
- Mid game: Remove your opponent's threats.
- Late game: Reanimate with Muldrotha and Eldest Reborn.
Apart from beatdown with your random value creatures, Sylvan Awakening is a great surprise finisher too. The deck ramps effectively, so you tend to get a lot of damage out of it. It's not a bad defensive play in a bind as well.
It is a fun, grindy deck, and it gives more than a few solid Standard decks a run for their money. I think it tends to win more than lose against Golgari and Dimir midrange, as well as Izzet drakes. I've also won quite a few control matchups (against Azorius, Jeskai, and Esper), but I'm not sure how it performs overall against control as I've faced that matchup fewer times so far.
The sideboard is aspirational at this point. I've only been testing it on single game matches, so I included here the sideboard I wish I had, rather than the one I actually have. About half the cards are the same though. I don't have the other cards because I'm stubbornly trying to earn all the cards in-game rather than spending any real money.
Suggestions welcome!
