Primer updated 12/15/2022

Reanimating around timing restrictions with Gale

> Introduction

For years I've been brewing UB graveyard decks. Most of them have revolved around The Scarab God, and most of them have felt too slow, tribal, had unreliable win cons, had win cons that had nothing to do with my graveyard strategy, or win cons that were too aggressive for my playgroup. Gale, Waterdeep Prodigy / Scion of Halaster is a pairing that lit up my deckbuilding imagination once I realized that Gale's trigger 1) allowed double mileage out of my graveyard filtering instants and reanimation sorceries and 2) allowed sorceries to get around timing restrictions.

I have been iterating this deck over several months and many games.

There was an extensive conversation on Twitter/Reddit recently about Sam Black’s comments about mana rocks in Commander. I think Sam’s in the right place but ultimately believe Frank Karsten’s analysis addresses the (rough) formula for lands versus “cheap draw” and “cheap ramp”. Using his calculation, I landed at 39.4 lands. With the amount of filtering in the deck, I feel I can run at 38 with no issues.

I was a bit bored of my Necrotic Ooze + Asmodeus the Archfiend + Skirge Familiar combo. Independently the cards aren’t great; it never feels good holding them or seeing them by themselves in the yard. Additionally, I wanted to mix up my reanimator targets. I retooled the deck extensively around the spellslinger theme and replaced my combo and reanimator targets with solid ETBs and Displacer Kitten. The deck includes a failsafe wincon that works in my meta’s powerlevel (Gray Merchant of Asphodel + Rite of Replication or Command the Dreadhorde); both sorceries I feel better synergize with the spellslinging reanimator theme, the ETB creatures in the deck, and the deck overall.

> Overview

This is a spellslinger reanimator deck that runs on a draw/go gameplan. We want to hold our mana up to respond to things that threaten our game state with cheap interaction, using our Gale trigger off the instants to cast our sorcery speed reanimate bombs at otherwise inopportune times for our opponents and ultimately create a control-style game state where our opponents can never really be sure of what we have up our sleeve. While there are some flimsy combos in the deck, please know it is purposely tuned for my meta, which might explain why it’s missing some things you’re expecting. I'll point these out in the Notable Exclusions section. Feel free to power your deck up with these additions. I'm not simply missing them, is the point.

> Strategy

The deck is open in terms of game plan right from the start. A perfect hand would have 2-3 lands, ramp, graveyard filtering, a bomb, and a cheap reanimator spell. Feel free to aggressively mulligan; don't be afraid of getting down to 5 cards in hand to set yourself up, you've got two cards in the command zone that represent a lot of card advantage.

Early game, the goal is simple. Ramp yourself, filter your bombs into the bin, reanimate bombs to apply pressure on your opponents, and set up your win cons. Gale lets you get a lot of mileage out of your instants and sorceries. Recognize that Gale's trigger allows you to sidestep timing restrictions. When you cast an instant, a Gale trigger goes on the stack and you can do things, for example, on your opponent's turn:

1. {Fierce Guardianship cast} > {Gale trigger}

2. {Fierce Guardianship cast} > {Reanimate cast from Graveyard}

3. {Fierce Guardianship cast} > {Reanimate resolves, Agent of Treachery ETBs, steal something}

4. {Fierce Guardianship resolves, opponent's spell is countered}

Just things like that let you get a lot of mileage out of your cards.

You’ve got a pile of high value ETB reanimator targets – get them out with your reanimator spells for cheap. Flicker them with Displacer Kitten. Accrue that value.

> Infinite Combos

Currently I have no (known) infinite combos.

Easy combos to include:

• Astral Dragon + Machine God's Effigy
• Necrotic Ooze + Asmodeus the Archfiend + Skirge Familiar
• Codex Shredder + mana positive rocks + Hullbreaker Horror
• Bolas's Citadel + Sensei's Divining Top

> Wincons

Some combination of kicked Rite of Replication, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Rise of the Dark Realms, and your reanimator targets will be enough to close out most games in mid-power metas. If you find yourself getting blown out by combo, feel free to modify the list to include your own combos.

> Tips

Most of the tips have been outlined above. It's important to stay aware of how Gale triggers layer on top of your cast spell (your spell will not resolve before the spell cast from Gale's trigger does) and how his ability allows you to sidestep timing restrictions and play appropriately. If you don't need to do anything on your turn, then don't! Keep a Draw/Go mentality.

> Single Card Discussion

Let's talk about the reanimation cards I picked and why I picked them.

• Reanimate: Staple. Hits any graveyard and costs a single black mana.

• Persist: Only hits your graveyard, nonlegendary creatures, and the creature comes back with a -1/-1 counter, however it's the second cheapest reanimation spell behind Reanimate. Our deck is built with nonlegendary ETB creatures to synergize with both this card and Rite of Replication.

• Stitch Together: We can pretty easily hit Threshold, and once we do this spell gets better than Persist.

• Victimize: 3CMC reanimate two. Just requires sacrificing a creature. Best case we can sacrifice one of our ETB creatures so we can reanimate them again.

• Connive // Concoct: A lot of flexibility on this card. Connive can steal a creature CMC 2 or less. Concoct comes loaded with Surveil 3 prior to reanimating.

• Extract From Darkness: Everyone at the table Mills 2, then reanimate a creature from any graveyard.

• From the Catacombs: Reanimate from any graveyard. Can be repeatably cast from the graveyard. Introduces the Initiative into the game. Solid card.

• Ghouls’ Night Out: 5 mana to get the best ETB out of everyone’s graveyard. I don’t really care about decayed at that point.

• Incarnation Technique is slept on. Mill 10, reanimate 2 for 4B is a crazy rate.

And now for the rest:

• Saw In Half: Man this card is busted. our deck is filled with ETB creatures or static effects. Is someone going to remove Gale or a value piece? Cast this on your creature as "protection". Gale will go safely into the command zone, 2 copies will ETB (sac one) and you're left with a slightly smaller Gale on the battlefield. Or double your ETBs. Or remove an attacking threat and they're left with smaller ones with summoning sickness.

• Rite of Replication: The deck was rebuilt with non-legendary reanimator targets with great ETBs. Kick it and watch the sparks fly.

• Scholar of the Lost Trove: Scholar + Incarnation Technique or Rise of the Dark Realms is the dream.

• Baral, Chief of Compliance, Haughty Djinn, Primal Amulet, Wizards of Thay: Cost reducers for our instants and sorceries. Potent effects when nearly half our deck is instants and sorceries. Wizards of Thay casually includes the ability to cast sorceries at instant speed (nice redundancy to Gale). Primal Amulet flips to start copying spells and then you’re off to the races. Baral loots off our counterspells.

• Some good modal spells have come out of the D&D sets. White got Your Temple is Under Attack, blue got You Find the Villains' Lair. Modal filter or hard counterspell, excellent.

> Notable Exclusions

• Dread Return: 4CMC reanimation with a flashback. It only sees our graveyard. The flashback cost of sacrificing 3 creatures is tough in this deck, and the flashback is just back up for Gale. Wanted to try out the more flexible 5 mana reanimators with the cost reducers we're running.

• Animate Dead / Dance of the Dead / Necromancy - These are fantastic reanimate spells. I don’t feel I need them in this spellslinger build.

• Razaketh, the Foulblooded, Vilis, Broker of Blood, other Legendary reanimator target - I cycle through reanimator targets to keep it fresh. Run whatever bombs you want. This latest build runs ETBs that synergize with Displacer Kitten and Rite of Replication.

• Codex Shredder - Combo piece with Hullbreaker Horror. Outside of that, felt very low impact. Didn't need the combo to win.

• Pact of Negation / Force of Will - mentioned above. Multiple free counterspells to protect a combo win is probably too strong for my meta. Feel free to make swaps and include them.

• Fast Mana - Feel free to power the deck up. Would allow greater consistency to combo with Hullbreaker Horror

• Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora - These are generically awesome card advantage sources. I don’t feel I need them in this spellslinger build.

• Bolas's Citadel / Sensei's Divining Top / Aetherflux Reservoir - I've done it enough in the past. Cards, while super good, are "goodstuff" and not synergistic with what I'm trying to do Gale-wise or Reanimator-wise.

• cEDH quality UB combos - I'm not interested in running these. Feel free. I wanted to stay on theme with reanimator.

> Change Log

• Revision 12 December 15, 2022: Pretty extensive update around spellslinging and reanimator targets. Rewrote the primer to reflect this.

• Revision 11 November 26, 2022 There's a Twitter thread that's generated a lot of discussion about how mana rocks are a waste in EDH; you should run 40-43 lands and be doing something more impactful with your turns. I'm going to try it out. -1 Arcane Signet -1 Dimir Signet -1 Fellwar Stone -1 Sol Ring -1 Tainted Indulgence -1 Talisman of Dominance +4 Swamp +2 Island +1 Tomb Fortress +1 Guildless Commons. After that, I wanted to add back in several cheap cantrips and more impactful cards <= 3CMC, so I cut out cards I've felt are either too high CMC or not as impactful as I'd like. -1 Ancient Excavation -1 Commit // Memory -1 Disallow -1 Ertai Resurrected -1 Lord of the Forsaken -1 Memory Deluge -1 Obsessive Stitcher -1 Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator -1 Windfall +1 Brainstorm +1 Malevolent Hermit // Benevolent Geist +1 Mystic Remora +1 Opt +1 Otherworldly Gaze +1 Rhystic Study +1 Thought Scour

• Revision 10 September 19, 2022 Slight adjustment. I like flexible cards in commander. Vohar doubles as a (sorcery speed) spell recursion and a looting effect on a 2 mana body, and doesn't need to transform to a planeswalker like baby Jace. Ertai is a flexible removal spell or Disallow. The "downside" of letting an opponent draw off the removal (in my opinion) removes the sting. I think he's fantastic. Finally, I wanted to try Commit // Memory. Double tuck on a spell or a permanent is fantastic. You might be saying "4 mana is a lot" and you're probably right. I find myself heavily playing "Draw, Go" style magic with Gale as you really do your best work during other people's turns. I often find myself open with 4 mana for this to be an effective removal option, but we will see. Memory is a good reset, but note it also doubles as a wheel which is brutal with Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. I removed Reality Shift (less flexible, more direct and cheaper removal... we will see), Archon of Cruelty (fantastic reanimator target, but I think it shines in value reanimator lists), and Silver Scrutiny (low impact card draw that enables some shenanigans).

• Revision 9 September 16, 2022 Updated manabase. Tolaria West can grab a utility land, such as the recently included Blast Zone, which I added to continue to help deal with problem permanents. Added Port of Karfell, which is an instant speed Reanimate on a land.

• Revision 8 September 9, 2022 DMU Update. I want to start running less Cyclonic Rift. Although it's obviously one of the best board wipes in the format, it's just not fun anymore. It's such a blow out after it resolves. Kind of like running the same 2 card combo over and over again. I decided to replace it with Karn's Sylex, which has some interesting hate stapled to a solution against things Dimir is weak against (enchantment-based stax pieces) (-1 Cyclonic Rift +1 Karn's Sylex). I felt that rituals feel good in a deck that wants to do spell slinging and can get double use out of them from the graveyard. I also wanted to try out the new Haughty Djinn and Wizards of Thay. The Djinn can become a flying beater with a static cost reduction for instants and sorceries, while Wizards of Thay allow instant speed Sorcery > Instant shenanigans with a Gale trigger, in addition to the potential burst -3 cost reduction with Myriad. I removed what I felt were low impact / underperforming ramp pieces (-1 Deranged Assistant -1 Millikin -1 Mind Stone -1 Thought Vessel +1 Cabal Ritual +1 Dark Ritual +1 Haughty Djinn +1 Wizards of Thay. Updated card advantage to try out some interesting / synergistic pieces. Archon of Cruelty felt great to drop previously, and I did miss it as a reanimator target. Silver Scrutiny allows some instant speed Sorcery > Instant shenanigans with a Gale trigger. Windfall synergizes obviously with Sheoldred, the Apocalypse as a potential wincon. Astral Dragon, while interesting, never seemed to do anything useful. Bolas's Citadel is just a goodstuff card, having no real synergy with the deck. We will see if I miss the cheap cantrips I removed. (-1 Astral Dragon -1 Brainstorm -1 Bolas's Citadel -1 Thought Scour +1 Archon of Cruelty +1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse +1 Silver Scrutiny +1 Windfall). Finally, updated the protection / reanimation packages. Narset's Reversal and Twincast are situational, I just removed them and replaced with a good old Swan Song. Codex Shredder just wasn't really doing anything for me besides being an infinite combo piece, which I didn't need. Connive // Concoct felt real bad every time it was in my hand. The only 5 mana reanimator spell I want to be playing is Incarnation Technique. I added in the remaining enchantment based reanimator spells and Obsessive Stitcher, which does two things we want to be doing, looting and reanimating. (-1 Codex Shredder -1 Connive // Concoct -1 Narset's Reversal -1 Twincast +1 Animate Dead +1 Dance of the Dead +1 Obsessive Stitcher +1 Swan Song).

• Revision 6 August 13, 2022 Readjusted the land base - All my fetches are in Yarok Landfall. Reflected what I built in paper.

• Revision 5 August 11, 2022 Wanted to try out Ancient Excavation - Filter my hand for 4 mana or cycle it for a land with my low land count feels good.

• Revision 4 August 4, 2022 There's really only 2 or 3 targets in the deck that I'm excited to hit with Scholar of the Lost Trove, so I removed it. Demilich felt WAY too slow in playtesting. I thought on combat damage it let you cast the spell for free, which was worth the hoops. Removed it. Added back in Necromancy and Animate Dead - just solid reanimator spells, even if they don't fit into the spellslinging gameplan. I'm finding Gale's triggers are a nice spice for the deck, but not something that should be built around.

• Revision 3 July 29, 2022 Expropriate just isn't that "fun", YMMV. Replaced it with Astral Dragon, which is a reanimation target that can enable a lot of shenanigans.

• Revision 2 July 15, 2022 Decided I should have at least one big X spell in the deck to dump mana into from either combo or Lord of the Forsaken (-1 Aminatou's Augury +1 Exsanguinate)

• Revision 1 July 15, 2022 Resnap a new baseline from another decklist