- 1 Island
- 1 Swamp
- 2 Bloodstained Mire
- 2 Flooded Strand
- 1 Misty Rainforest
- 4 Polluted Delta
- 4 Underground Sea
Creatures (7)
Spells (38)
- 4 Lotus Petal
- 4 Brainstorm
- 2 Daze
- 4 Entomb
- 4 Force of Will
- 4 Careful Study
- 4 Exhume
- 4 Ponder
- 4 Reanimate
- 2 Show and Tell
- 2 Thoughtseize
Sideboard
- 2 Engineered Explosives
- 2 Pithing Needle
- 1 Ashen Rider
- 1 Chain of Vapor
- 1 Coffin Purge
- 1 Flusterstorm
- 1 Spell Pierce
- 2 Show and Tell
- 2 Thoughtseize
- 2 City of Traitors
Since the dawn of magic a recurring theme in black decks is the necromantic flavor of reanimation. The ability to make creatures rise from the grave is a very powerful ability indeed. Over the years more and more cards have been printed on that same motif constantly improving in quality and scope. Coupled with ways to search particular creatures from your deck then either discard them to the grave or put them directly there and better more powerful creatures themselves we have an engine designed to crush opponents with relative ease.
The creature package is the most important aspect of the deck and rising to the top we have one of the best creatures ever printed Griselbrand the focus with a full set to ensure his timely arrival. The are also singleton targets with Iona, Shield of Emeria to lock down a particular color of the opponent, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite to hamper any creature based strategies, and Tidespout Tyrant to wreck and permanent centric plans. To get your target into the graveyard there are two packages with either Careful Study to not only dig through your deck but also discard a creature to raise or Entomb which will seek a specific target directly to the graveyard depending on your need. Once you have your target ready you are able to either use Reanimate or Exhume to bring your creature back from the dead. There is also a pair of Show and Tell as a secondary way to get a creature into play, but be wary that your opponent won’t be able to trump with a card of his own. As the deck has blue there is the standard draw engine with full sets both of Brainstorm and Ponder to get the cards you need quickly to your hand as you want to ‘go off’ as quickly as possible. To protect yourself as much as possible you have Force of Will and Daze as counter backup with a pair of Thoughtseize as well that can either strip the opponent or serve as a discard outlet in a pinch. Your land count is low at 15 but you couple that with a set of Lotus Petal which allow for some explosive starts with a deck that is very very powerful.
This is a deck that will no doubt continue to be a force within Legacy as it is capable of doing some very broken things. The true power of this deck lies in the new creatures that are printed and as we saw with the printing of Griselbrand as the continue to push the envelope the power will just continue to grow. I for one am very excited to see how it will continue to grow going forward.
Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on Twitter
