Standard: Dimir Reanimator (Foundations) - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

In recent weeks, archetypes that cheat on mana costs have gained a bit more prominence in Standard and Pioneer. During my tests with Jund Creativity, another archetype caught my attention in Magic Arena's Standard ranked games: Dimir Reanimator.

Empowered by the inclusion of Zombify in Foundations and the ability of Valgavoth, Terror Eater to take over games, this archetype has been standing out in Magic Online Leagues, even without achieving very expressive results in Challenges.

In this article, we explore the most recent iteration of the deck and how it behaves in the main matchups of the current Metagame.

This is the list I ran in Magic Arena's ranked games.

Since Reanimator is not a Tier 1 deck, there is no “correct” way to build it yet, with many options being experimental ideas. Some versions follow an Esper line, others try to use Urborg Scavengers as a pseudo-Soulflayer, and my version aims to increase the amount of interactions and create a more relevant plan B.

Because we want to feed the graveyard, Kiora, the Rising Tide is an easy card to trigger Threshold while also being an enabler for Zombify, and its insertion brings with it two other interactive pieces: Overlord of the Balemurk to increase the number of cards in the graveyard earlier and Nullpriest of Oblivion, a reprint of Foundations that operates as a 5-8 reanimation spell while interacting with Overlord for recursion.

The rest of the deck is classic Midrange with cheap removal and disruption, but our deckbuilding choices come with a consequence. On the one hand, we have an unfair plan that wins games for free, especially against Aggro. On the other hand, we are using worse cards than Dimir Midrange would use, since we require them for the “combo” to work.

Maindeck

Our bombs. Given the nature of the Metagame today and the number of dead draws we can give, I don't like the idea of ​​having more than six reanimation targets for eight cards to reanimate. The 3-3 split is due to how they excel in different games.

Atraxa, Grand Unifier is best in games where we don't need to protect our threats and/or where we want to generate a lot of card advantage. Against Aggro, combo or White Tokens, it is our primary target.

Valgavoth, Terror Eater excels in games where the opponent has a lot of spot removal while also generating card advantage with the opponent's cards, and is our primary target against Midrange.

Our reanimation spells. Eight seems like the ideal number, we can go up to 10 if we consider Virtue of Persistence as removal.

Zombify is the cheapest card we have in this category, but it's also the most linear. Sometimes it's worth reanimating Kiora, The Rising Tide or Overlord of the Balemurk with it, but the priority should be on the big creatures. A card I'd like to test with Zombify eventually is Sphinx of Forgotten Lore, which also interacts with our proposal of throwing things to the graveyard and allows us to reuse our spells every turn.

Virtue of Persistence is expensive as a reanimation effect, but it's a cheap removal in the early game. Because we have a lot of removal and hand filtering, we can prolong the game long enough to cast it for seven mana.

Nullpriest of Oblivion is on the list because it's a reanimation effect that we can find and recur with Overlord of the Balemurk. Six mana is also a high cost, but our other options involve The Cruelty of Gix or a splash to other colors, and its 2/1 body with Lifelink early in the game can make a difference.

Our enablers.

Evangel of Synthesis is a cheap looting deck that, because of Kiora, the Rising Tide and extra copies of it, we can turn it into a 3/3 with Menace often, ensuring some early game pressure.

Kiora, the Rising Tide is another way to filter our draws in addition to being an alternative game plan. The token created by her wins the game in a few turns if we keep the board empty, and even if we don't, Kiora will always force a removal from the opponent.

Overlord of the Balemurk is a strong threat in a list that has both creatures to reanimate, creatures that reanimate, and an alternative game plan involving another creature: its attack trigger and ETB ensure that we can always return Kiora or Nullpriest of Oblivion to our hand, giving our game plan more resilience.

Our interactions.

Bitter Triumph has some synergies with our deck by discarding cards from our hand, but its main utility is to provide an efficient response against both creatures and Planeswalkers.

Cut Down and Anoint with Affliction deals with smaller creatures for a low cost. Affliction also has the advantage of dealing with Unstoppable Slasher and Enduring Innocence permanently.

Go for the Throat is the standard response against everything that the other cards don't deal with. Because we have Bitter Triumph, there is no need to use four copies.

The two copies of Duress in the maindeck guarantee protection against counterspells when we want to execute the combo, but another option in these cases involves pressuring the opponent with a “fair” plan to force removals and the use of mana on the opponent's turn.

A set of each land that generates and that come into play untapped is essential. But we can supplement it with a few other options.

Restless Reef is an additional threat and blocker that interacts with our game plan, while Undercity Sewers helps filter the top and put reanimation targets in the graveyard and/or feed Kiora, the Rising Tide.

While we don't have much interaction with it, Fountainport still offers ways to ramp with Treasure tokens or create blockers each turn when needed.

Sideboard

The extra copies of Cut Down and Anoint with Affliction come into play in games where we need more interaction. One of the biggest problems with Reanimator, however, is deciding which cards to take, so sometimes we need to reduce the number of targets and enablers in favor of more ways to hold the game.

Malicious Eclipse is our answer to go-wide and has become increasingly necessary due to the presence of Jeskai Convoke and Azorius Aggro in the current Metagame.

Blot Out is our answer to Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, but it can also be used against Domain Ramp and/or other archetypes where Hexproof is relevant, such as in the mirror or against Four-Color Zur.

Withering Torment deals with larger creatures in Midrange and Ramp, and also answers troublesome enchantments like Unholy Annex and Leyline Binding. It is an essential piece in games where we expect Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void.

Negate and Disdainful Stroke complement Duress in our disruption package. It's worth remembering that in some games, our best targets for counterspells are the spells that prevent our combo from working, but we should also consider the types of responses our opponents may have after we reanimate a creature.

Ghost Vacuum is mainly used against Azorius Tempo, but it's an essential piece in the mirror. A little trick that can be worth it in games where it's a side-in is to use it in response to the opponent's Ghost Vacuum to exile our cards so that, in the late game, we can pop the artifact and put a 1/1 Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Kiora, The Rising Tide into play.

Gruul Prowess / Boros Prowess

IN

OUT

Golgari Midrange

IN

OUT

Jeskai Convoke

IN

OUT

Azorius Tempo

IN

OUT

Temur Otters

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!