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Maybeboard


This deck has been sitting in the depths of my profile for a few years now, so I'm pulling it out, tuning it up, and Refurbishing it.

Reanimator decks got some pushes with the Modern Horizons sets, but nothing quite like this. Trash for Treasure is just as fast and more flexible than Goryo's Vengeance + Ephemerate, and Sphinx of the Steel Wind can tank Atraxa, Grand Unifier all day. Realistically, this deck probably isn't going to break the Modern tier list, but it's fun, unique, and very affordable for Modern, and that's more important to me right now.

Your perfect starting hand has, in order of importance: two lands, a discard spell, a big artifact, a reanimator, and a trash artifact.

This deck churns through its cards pretty fast, so this isn't a hard requirement, but the more of these, the better. You don't want to be stuck acting like a bad burn deck. Use mulligans; they're there for a reason.

Start off with a Faithless Looting or Lightning Axe to discard your beater, pretty standard options for reanimator decks. If you toss Unburial Rites, you can get a discount on that later.

There are a couple options here.

If you have a 0-cost artifact like Welding Jar or Darksteel Citadel in your hand, you can take the time to Bolt or Helix out a problem or two, or dig deep and toss more with Thrilling Discovery.

Otherwise, Pentad Prism sets up turn 3 with extra mana and a trash artifact.

Play an artifact if you need it, then throw out your reanimator. This is usually going to be Trash for Treasure, but a full Pentad Prism can power out Unburial Rites from wherever it is, or Cataclysmic Gearhulk from your hand in a pinch.

The artifacts are creatures mostly chosen for evasion, control, and what I wanted to play with, so pick your favorites. Some other thoughts are in the maybeboard.

Sundering Titan punishes shock lands and surveil lands, Cataclysmic Gearhulk is a solid imitation of a boardwipe, and Inkwell Leviathan and Sphinx of the Steel Wind handle the popular blue and red decks.

For color, start with the basic Plains and Mountains and work out from there. The speed of this deck lets Inspiring Vantage come in with no drawback. Sacred Foundry and Clifftop Retreat fill out the rest of the core, and the Foundry can be given to Sundering Titan as needed.

For utility, Darksteel Citadel is an artifact land that enters untapped for a turn 3 T4T, and the +2/+0 and vigilance from Slayers' Stronghold give some inevitability.

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Revision 1 See all

(3 weeks ago)

-2 Aether Hub main
+1 Darksteel Citadel main
+4 Faithless Looting main
-1 Geier Reach Sanitarium main
+1 Inkwell Leviathan main
-2 Insolent Neonate main
+2 Karn, the Great Creator side
+3 Lightning Axe main
+1 Lightning Bolt main
-4 Merchant of the Vale main
-1 Mind Stone maybe
-2 Ornithopter main
-3 Path to Exile main
+1 Pentad Prism main
-1 Persist maybe
-1 Phyrexian Dragon Engine  Meld maybe
+1 Phyrexian Fleshgorger maybe
+1 Portal to Phyrexia maybe
-2 Pull from Eternity side
-1 Rust Goliath maybe
and 28 other change(s)