James is a budget Magic connoisseur who values silly strategies and rogue decks. He has been playing Magic since 1998, and competing in Legacy events since 2010. When he is not teaching high school English, he can be found brewing Casual and Legacy decks to play with his students and peers. Always appreciative of feedback, he loves it when people send suggestions and share crazy decks with him!

Cabal Therapy and Skull Fracture are interesting discard outlets. Because they have flashback, you can potentially discard them to Imp or Heir and still use them later on. Buried Alive slows you down a bit, but gives you more of a reason to play a variety of one-ofs. Simply find three creatures to answer whatever your opponent’s deck can throw at you, and reanimate each of them in turn. Entomb is harder on your wallet, but is likely better, even though it only finds one creature.

Despite their price tags, I have included almost every alternative reanimation spell for reference. In the right lists, it can be very important for your rez spells to be auras (think Worldgorger Dragon or Kederekt Leviathan). If you want to spend the extra cash, I suggest Reanimate and Exhume, though.

There are countless possible fatties to play, especially if the price is less of an issue for you. I have included some of my favorites, but this is nowhere near a complete list. Avatar of Woe can snipe opposing threats away, Terastodon destroys pesky permanents, and Sire of Insanity puts both players in topdeck mode. Which you choose just depends on what you want your games to look like. I used to play four Petradon, for example, but it quickly became clear that no one has fun when your opponent has no lands in play for most of the game.

Conclusion

Reanimator is one of the first decks I ever designed which had a clear strategy. I remember finding Exhume, Avatar of Woe, and Buried Alive in my cousin’s collection. Everything clicking in my head when I saw them. This was back when my mono-red Crimson Hellkite deck was my “best deck”. Returning to the strategy brought back a lot of memories for me. What was the first “good” deck you ever built? What did you think of today’s list? Tell me about it on my facebook page. You can also send me an email at Spooky386@gmail.com. Wondering how my decks have changed since I last wrote about them? Check out all of my updated deck lists here!