IntroductionSurvival of the Fittest and Recurring Nightmare have seen play in the same archetype lots of times. During its time in Standard (then known as Type 2) and Extended, or perhaps at some point in Legacy before Vengevine led to Survival of the Fittest being banned, the so-called RecSur list was a well-known competitive MTG archetype, particularly throughout the first few decades of the game. Now, it is back - in Premodern.DecklistThis Midrange Toolbox deck leans into the interaction between Survival of the Fittest and Recurring Nightmare to create value in the long term and control the battlefield by repeatedly returning cards such as Plague Spitter and Bone Shredder into play each turn.The ideal sequence is usually Birds of Paradise on turn 1 into Survival of the Fittest on turn 2, discarding a creature to find Deranged Hermit if you have Recurring Nightmare in hand. From there, you can set up the reanimation loop: discard Deranged Hermit to find Squee, Goblin Nabob, cast Recurring Nightmare, then sacrifice Birds of Paradise to reanimate Hermit.Because Hermit has Echo, you can bring it back every turn, replay Nightmare, and sacrifice a token to create two more while you get even more resources with Squee, Goblin Nabob and Survival of the Fittest. This way, you'll be able to adapt to or answer any situation.MaindeckThis is your engine.Survival of the Fittest is the heart of this deck. It gives you access to a broad toolbox of answers for every situation in the meta. This is the card you want in your opening hand, and usually your first target is Squee, Goblin Nabob. Its ability, which lets you bring it back from the graveyard and put it in your hand, makes it a very useful source of fodder, so you won't have to actually give up any resources when you progress your main game plan.Recurring Nightmare makes this strategy inevitable. Unless your opponent deals with our graveyard, it lets you cheat out mana costs or keep putting creatures in play. Deranged Hermit, one of your main win conditions, is also great in that sense.Your engines need a lot of mana, so you should focus on Birds of Paradise and Wall of Roots early on. Wall of Blossoms will give you more resources and blocks most nonflying creatures in this format. It also often survives long enough for you to sacrifice it with Recurring Nightmare or Cabal Therapy.This is your toolbox.Mesmeric Fiend gives you information about the opponent's hand. Alongside Duress and Cabal Therapy, it will delay them considerably.Withered Wretch is your spot answer to graveyards. Its 2/2 body also makes it reasonably effective against Aggro decks.Plague Spitter removes small creatures from the board every turn. It is ideal against Elves and other go-wide Aggro decks.Bone Shredder handles larger, individual threats. Since it has Echo, you do not need anything to loop it with another creature or Recurring Nightmare if you have enough mana.Uktabi Orangutan and Nantuko Vigilante deal with artifacts and enchantments. Vigilante doesn't have an ETB effect you can set up consistently every time, so you can't loop it.Ravenous Baloth is a respectable body on an empty board and gives you some extra life every turn if you set up your engine. Like so, you'll be able to hold off Burn and Red Aggro.Masticore is a late-game machine gun against Goblins and other aggressive decks. It also clears the board so your creatures can attack freely.Graveborn Muse is a Phyrexian Arena on a body you can tutor. It is perfect in long matches centered around attrition. In those matchups, Blastoderm is also a very resilient win condition.Genesis complements Recurring Nightmare when it comes to bringing back discarded or destroyed creatures every turn.Stiflenought and other archetypes built around specific interactions or lots of noncreature spells are part of the current meta. Duress and Cabal Therapy will buy you a few turns and/or make sure your spells resolve.SideboardDespite its toolbox nature, this deck still needs some spells to interact on the opponent's turn.Naturalize is your answer to Stiflenought, Enchantress, Replenish, and other archetypes that play lots of artifacts and enchantments. Tormod's Crypt deals with Replenish, Reanimator, Psychatog, and Storm.Engineered Plague is still the best tool against Goblins because it plays many X/2 creatures and can play around Plague Spitter more easily.Smother is another answer to Aggro, but it also deals with Phyrexian Dreadnought and makes the matchup against traditional Midrange decks more balanced because it gets you ahead in the late game.Spike Feeder and Spike Weaver complete the toolbox. Feeder is a cheaper way to hold off Burn/Sligh than Ravenous Baloth, while Spike Weaver can prevent the opponent from dealing combat damage indefinitely in the late game.Sideboard GuideStiflenoughtINOUTMono Black MidrangeINOUTGoblinsINOUTElvesINOUTBurnINOUTReplenishINOUTGruul DryadINOUTPsychatogINOUTConclusionThat is all for today!If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!Thank you for reading!
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