Reanimator is a deck that has existed in Pauper for a very long time, but has very rarely made a splash in larger events. The idea has always been to use Careful Study to set up an Exhume for Ulamog's Crusher with a Dragon Breath in the graveyard. You can do this all as early as the first turn, depending on whether you’re willing to go all in on things like Dark Ritual and Putrid Imp. Despite the blisteringly fast potential, the deck is fragile, and particularly vulnerable to much of the removal in Pauper, particularly edicts, bounce effects, and spot removal. However, recent sets have given the deck a lot of tools, so it may be time for reanimator to start putting up results:
Blue-Black Reanimator - Pauper | EightSixEightSix
- Creatures (12)
- 4 Delver of Secrets
- 4 Gurmag Angler
- 4 Striped Riverwinder
- Instants (23)
- 1 Rush of Vitality
- 2 Dispel
- 2 Gush
- 3 Mental Note
- 3 Vapor Snag
- 4 Brainstorm
- 4 Counterspell
- 4 Thought Scour
- Artifacts (1)
- 1 Nihil Spellbomb
- Lands (17)
- 9 Island
- 1 Swamp
- 3 Ash Barrens
- 4 Dismal Backwater
- Sideboard (15)
- 1 Aura Flux
- 1 Deep Analysis
- 2 Dispel
- 1 Fangren Marauder
- 2 Nihil Spellbomb
- 2 Shrivel
- 3 Spontaneous Mutation
- 2 Stormbound Geist
- 1 Vampiric Link
This is a really interesting deck that walks a line between tempo and combo. Delver of Secrets plus cheap counters and bounce spells is a tried and true strategy in Pauper. The density of cantrips in this deck means that you’re more able to find the powerful cards that break mirrors or prevent your opponent from getting into the game.
Of course, there’s also the recent improvements to the archetype. Gurmag Angler is a great new direction for the deck. It’s a reasonable reanimation target, but is also a payoff for churning through your deck and stocking your graveyard with good stuff. The newest addition to the deck is Striped Riverwinder, which is absolutely incredible in this deck. It’s a resilient creature that’s easy to get in the graveyard and it solves a huge problem for reanimator. Hexproof is a great keyword to have when you’re looking to cheat monsters into play.
This is a deck that I really like, because it is more than capable of tempoing opponents out with Gurmag Angler and Delver of Secrets. However, you can also crush opponents by cheating Striped Riverwinder. All of this backed up with Dispels and Counterspells means that your opponents will be hard-pressed to keep pace.