One of the easiest ways to steal a game of MTG is to cheat a huge haymaker into play ahead of schedule. There are a variety of ways to do this, but reanimating from the graveyard is usually the most efficient and backbreaking option.
Not all bombs are created equal, however, so if you’re looking to craft a Reanimator deck, it’s important to know your best options. Luckily for you, we’ve put together a list of the best Reanimator targets in MTG to give you a good starting point.
5 | MTG Etali, Primal Conqueror
Many of the best cards to Reanimate have obscene enter-the-battlefield effects, and it’s hard to do better than Etali’s. The upside of casting multiple other heavy hitters for free, on top of putting a huge Trampling Dino into play, is incredibly high.
While the cards you reveal from Etali’s trigger are admittedly random, in a four-player Commander pod, the odds are in your favor that you’ll hit something good. Plus, if you ever pair this monster with a deck-manipulation effect, like Worldly Tutor, you can guarantee your money’s worth.
Then, if Etali doesn’t get removed immediately, you can threaten to start blinking it and burying your opponents in value. You even have the potential to transform Etali and threaten lethal poison damage in one hit.
This Dinosaur’s only major flaw is its Gruul color combination, which limits its use in a wider range of Reanimator EDH decks. Fortunately, Slimefoot and Squee makes for a great home.
4 | MTG Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers
The newest premium Reanimator target, Raph & Mikey is a brutal build-around. So long as you fill your deck exclusively with other creatures, one attack from this duo will easily end the game.
With this in mind, Raph & Mikey has become a common inclusion in Legacy Rakdos Reanimator shells. Once you reanimate Raph & Mikey and attack, you’re guaranteed to put another behemoth, like Griselbrand, into play tapped and attacking thanks to this deck’s construction.
This particular play pattern not only puts your opponent under a ton of pressure immediately, but it also helps you gain seven extra life from the Hasty Griselbrand. This life swing lets you draw an extra seven cards, increasing your chances of finding Unmask or Thoughtseize to disrupt the opponent.
Timeless Turbo Reanimator takes things a step further, using Raph & Mikey alongside Worldspine Wurm as the only creatures in the deck. With the help of Entomb, Reanimate, and a bunch of tutors, you can consistently get the Turtle into play early and get a 22-damage attack in right away!
Raph & Mikey’s Constructed impact also extends to Pioneer Indomitable Creativity and Vintage Oath of Druids shells, which do a good job cheating the creature into play in their own way. This card not being higher on the list speaks more to how broken the upcoming options are than to this threat’s lack of power.
3 | MTG Archon of Cruelty
Since its debut in Modern Horizons 2, Archon of Cruelty has become a Reanimator staple in a variety of different formats. The best way to use this tool is to pair it with a reanimation effect that grants Haste, so you can double up on its triggered ability.
In Legacy Reanimator, the easiest way to do this is to resurrect it with Shallow Grave. While Archon doesn’t stick around long-term this way, you should end up ahead on cards and life in the exchange while obliterating the opponent’s board.
Modern Reanimator shells accomplish a similar task with Emperor of Bones, setting up a fast kill. These decks also benefit a lot from the fact that Archon isn’t legendary, making it a prime target for Persist.
There are even Duel Commander Reanimator decks that take advantage of Archon’s non-legendary status by tutoring for it with Unmarked Grave. Combined with Archon’s appearance in over 160,000 traditional Commander decks, according to EDHREC, it’s clear Archon is incredibly versatile.
2 | MTG Atraxa, Grand Unifier
Atraxa, Grand Unifier’s biggest selling point is that it provides a huge advantage no matter how the opponent reacts. Right off the bat, an enormous body with Lifelink and Vigilance is impossible to race, so it demands a removal spell. Yet, even if the opponent kills the Angel, they still have to contend with all the cards it gifts you.
In Legacy, digging 10 cards deep gives you a good chance of finding another reanimation spell, not to mention some free countermagic in the decks that play it. This way, you can just repeat the same song and dance, grinding through your opponent’s removal.
On a different axis, Esper Goryo’s Vengeance decks in Modern have the luxury of finding Ephemerate off Atraxa’s trigger and blinking it before it gets exiled forever from the namesake spell. With another fresh set of cards and an Ephemerate ready to be rebounded, winning the game is trivial.
Atraxa’s only real weakness is Stifle effects, but even then, the opponent still has to deal with the 7/7 body. There’s no doubt this card is the best Reanimator tool to come out of a Standard set in the last five years, but one card still beats it.
1 | MTG Griselbrand
Griselbrand is one of the most iconic creatures in MTG history, and boy, has it stood the test of time. As long as you have some life to play with, the card advantage this Demon provides will be insurmountable.
As such, Legacy Reanimator decks often incorporate a playset of this card for maximum consistency. After drawing seven or potentially fourteen extra cards, you’ll often find Lotus Petal
Lotus Petal{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color. and Dark Ritual, giving you the mana to reanimate another creature into play.
While Modern doesn’t have access to these fast mana sources, you’ll often still find Griselbrand in small numbers in Esper Goryo’s shells. With all the lifegain in this deck, Griselbrand can easily draw tons of cards while coming down early.
What really puts Griselbrand in its own category, however, is that it’s simply way too good for Commander. It didn’t take long for players to realize this card was obnoxious in a 40-life format, rightfully earning a likely permanent residence on the format’s ban list.
With these factors in mind, Grislebrand earns the title of best MTG Reanimator target.
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