Old School Magic: Reanimator Rises to the Top!

Smmenen

http://www.vintagemagic.com/blog/old-school-magic-chapter-9-reanimator-rises-to-the-top/

A primer and tournament report on Reanimator, and a broader look at Old School with Ice Age.

Enjoy!

Stephen

Serracollector

Very nice article steve. Really liked the list. Did you tryout or test Zurs Weirding? Seems interesting since you tutor for most key things, and you can stop keys spells for only 2 life. Also, I might be wrong, but I think Zurs overrides Sindbad, and if they dont pay two life, you draw the card, whether its a land or not? The wording on the two is conflicting, not sure how that works out. Either way, great read, and congrats on the win!

ajfirecracker

A fascinating exercise in both deckbuilding and the philology of Magic

BazaarOfBaghdad

I can't afford to invest in yet another format, but this was a fantastic write-up.

albarkhane

Nice article.

On the same topic, a Reanimator performed quite well at the European EW in october. Here after the deck list (93-94, no Ice Age)

5/8 - Vincent Ruaut - Reanimator
4 Animate Dead
4 All Hallow's Eve
2 Nicol Bolas
4 Triskelion
4 Lord of the Pit
3 Demonic Hordes
4 Hypnotic Specter
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Regrowth
3 Concordant Crossroads
4 Dark Ritual
2 Sylvan Library
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Bayou
2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
3 City of Brass
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Strip Mine

Sideboard
3 Eureka
2 Flash Counter
3 Counterspell
3 Boomerang
3 Underworld Dreams
1 Recall

This was a wonderful read! Old School is starting to get its hooks in me....

Teluin

Another great read. Seems Demonic Consultation should maybe take its spot back on the Restricted List though. I admit though, I haven't played Ice Age Old School since it was just called Magic - based on your experience, what do you think Smennen?

Great article and great read as always. As I talked to you privately, I've been looking forward to this since we've been wanting to start an Old School 95 group here.
Never though about Deep Spawn as a "dredge engine". That's simply amazing. This is why we love old school right?
Have you thought about Mind Bomb? Sindbad seems an awesome CA tech, but Mind Bomb has the merit of being a great discard outlet, while also being faster. Maybe it can make starting hands less dependant of Bazaar? Maybe a great substitute for restricted Consultation? Bolting the opponent can be relevant too.

Smmenen

Thank you, everyone. This deck is a great entry point for Dredge players into Old School, as it is probably the closest analogue, especially the Deep Spawn "dredge engine." So I can see why @Lesbimagical enjoyed this

Mind Bomb is a legitimate consideration, but suffers the same problem as Breakthrough in Vintage Dredge. You need a steady and iterative engine to go big with Ashen Ghouls. In many matchups, all you are trying to do is get 3-4 Ashen Ghouls into play, uncounterable.

Demonic Consultation is a really good card, but it was unrestricted until 2000. If you restrict Consult, it would certainly make this deck less consistent, but I still think it could be viable. I think the jury is out on whether Consult would need to be restricted in 95 Old School.