Reanimator

Gameplan

Reanimator wins by powering out threats far ahead of curve, via reanimation from the graveyard. Certain perennial all star cards like Entomb, Life // Death, and Reanimate have made names for themselves in a variety of eternal formats in this list. This combo can be executed for as little as 2 black mana, making it slightly cheaper than the similarly common Show and Tell strategies.

Win Conditions

There are a variety of reanimation targets that have come and gone over the years - Simple creatures like Griselbrand, or their more modern reprints like Atraxa, Grand Unifier have made way for one turn kills like Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers, which can fetch out a Worldspine Wurm or Emrakul, the Aeons Torn to present a lethal attack, sometimes even through blockers. With blazing fast starts powered by Dark Ritual.

Protecting the Combo

This deck runs te full suite of free interaciton - Force of Will, Daze, Pact of Negation, and a flex slot Consign to Memory — so we can push the combo through open mana without slowing our own clock. It is up to the pilot's discretion to dig for combo protection or to perform an unprotected "force check" of the opponent depending on metagame knowledge of their strategy of list.

Finding the Pieces

Consistency comes from a heavy tutor package. Mystical Tutor fetches Reanimate or Entomb, Vampiric Tutor and Demonic Tutor find any piece, and Entomb itself doubles as a tutor that puts the payoff exactly where we want it. Brainstorm and Ponder smooth draws and, with fetchlands, let us bin dead cards. This density means most games open on a functional combo hand or a cantrip that digs to one. One concern is life totals, which get strained in games where you must shock multiple Watery Graves and cast a Vampiric Tutor or two.

Sideboard

Leyline of Sanctity blanks discard and targeted disruption from other combo and hand-attack decks. Library of Alexandria and Ancient Tomb pivot us toward a grindier, mana-advantaged plan against decks that interact heavily with the graveyard.

The deck also features a Show & Tell sideboard juke, boarding in copies of Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Into the Flood Maw comes in for decks sideboarding Leyline of the Void if you are avoiding the sideboard juke, or against decks running a post-board Show and Tell mirror.

Updates

July 16, 2026 | Initial List

Published the starting configuration.