Modern: Esper Reanimator is the Real Deal | AnnihilatorMTG

What's up KZbin. This week we are going to be playing some more Modern. The deck in question is Esper Reanimator, a build that has been increasing in popularity at a dramatic rate. This in no small part, is thanks to some of the new Innistrad cards (Consider and Faithful Mending). Let's see if this build is the real deal.
As always, if you like my content, feel free to like, comment, subscribe, and hit the bell icon. Have a lovely day!
Decklist: 75
Lands: 23
4x Flooded Strand
4x Polluted Delta
2x Marsh Flats
2x Darkslick Shores
1x Mystic Gate
2x Hallowed Fountain
2x Watery Grave
1x Godless Shrine
1x Zagoth Triome
2x Island
1x Swamp
1x Plains
Creatures: 5
4x Archon of Cruelty
1x Serra's Emissary
Planeswalkers: 3
3x Teferi, Time Raveler
Instants & Sorceries: 29
4x Consider
4x Thoughtseize
4x Prismatic Ending
4x Counterspell
4x Faithful Mending
4x Unmarked Grave
4x Persist
1x Unburial Rites
Sideboard: 15
4x Leyline of the Void
3x Spell Pierce
3x Chalice of the Void
2x Damn
2x Fatal Push
1x Terastodon

[@fabioarturospada4178]

I love that this deck is so adaptive. It *can* drop a huge threat on turn two, but it can also do so on turns three or four while interacting with the opponent's hand, board, and/or spells, and it can play longer games, squeezing a win almost out of nowhere over a couple of turns.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

It also helps that the mana curve feels wonderful. Turns 1-4 it always feels like we have some sort of option. And that even expands past that with Unburial Rites and other flashback shenanigans. I hope this build sticks around. It’s a fantastic platform for the style of magic I enjoy. Thanks for the comment!

[@coolColombianguy]

As usual its a pleasure to see you play!!!

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Such kind words. Really appreciate it!

[@packfiend3732]

Part 2! Part 2! We want Part 2

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Cheers. I’ll be sure to do so!

[@Schpacky]

Cannot wait to see part 2! I love this archetype! How do you feel about a mardu version with running x4 grief and x4 ephemerates?

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Grief and Ephemerate are absolutely grand, so I’d be totally willing to try.

[@shinkuma45]

Nice to see that midnight hunt brought some fun new toys for reanimator. That Siege Rhino was also amazing to see haha

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Mad respect, and even some tears for Siege Rhino. I remember being in the “pro Abzan” corner years and years ago when midrange debates were going on. Such a fun card when you are casting it yourself. Thanks for commenting!

[@sergiosanmuahahaha]

Amazing content as usual, keep it up

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Cheers I appreciate the support! Have a lovely weekend.

[@cross25011990]

very good video and explanation at the beginning :)

[@cmosk6088]

RIP to rakdos goryos 😢. esper is fun thought, good vid

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

I always admired the older Goryo’s lists. Not a huge fan of Neobrand, but man was that list cool.

[@MrDarla.]

great content!

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Many thanks!

[@charliecritical96]

Part 2 with Stoneforge sideboard!

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Now THAT is an idea. I absolutely love it!

[@christopherhill9933]

@@AnnihilatorMTG please do this. This is what I want to build.

[@fabioarturospada4178]

Ryan, you mentioned the possibility of adding cheaper threats in the SB. What cards are you thinking about? Things like Brazen Borrower, Esper Sentinel, or Skyclave apparition? Maybe Goyf since you run a triome already?

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

These are all great suggestions. I’m a little torn of where we should go with that. I’m partial to Brazen Borrower since I love the card so much. It flies, has an amazing spell stapled onto it, and fits in a good place in the mana curve. It might be wise to include some cheaper reanimation targets that give us a win quickly but can be hard casted easier. Grave Titan is a lot easier to cast than Archon. Granted, Archon is probably better so replacing it is a non-option. There’s a ton of room for debate on where this deck should go and I’m open to any and all suggestions.

[@personstuff3049]

@@AnnihilatorMTG I've been sideboarding a copy of grave Titan myself. It is fantastic and really gives you another angle to take things

[@Isin01]

Would using gifts ungiven be worth a shot? Always been a fan of it but seems like it could mesh well. Have to brew something like this.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

It can definitely work here. I'm not sure how many copies we'd want, and subsequently what would have to be cut to make that happen, but I have seen it online and I kinda like it.

[@vontszemu2166]

Hello, you mentioned cheap threats, I don't know if you remembered my suggestion, but with the meta shift, do you think it's time for Faeries? They are the definition of cheap threats :D Maybe in esper colors for Ending and T3Faerie.

[@WilhelmScreamer]

Choosing which version of this shell to build is just so difficult

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Not sure if this’ll help, but my take is to play the version you enjoy more. Competitive viability is less important in my experience to something you’re both comfortable with / like playing.

[@jasonkegarise2677]

Is it bad i use the thought scour turbo idea? I don't own chalice of the voids.

[@chrisconcord]

in match 2 vs the liliana, would holding the unburial rites until opp's end step have been better? since you used teferi's +1, you could dodge the edict and kill off liliana afterwards? to be fair, they did just have another one in hand

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

Good point. I tend to forget the whole instant speed aspect of the Teferi uptick. I appreciate your patience for sure tho.

[@ecpracticesquad4674]

Specifically came to the comments to see if anyone caught that as well.

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

@@ecpracticesquad4674 My bad lol

[@jkp245]

deck looks great but how you win if opponent have gravayeard hate like rest in peace or something like that?

[@AnnihilatorMTG]

It’s shockingly not uncommon to just hard cast your threats, but this is partially why towards the end I mentioned that having some lower CMC threats might be worthwhile. This is definitely a build that will reward tuning, and I think it has a ton of potential given the right pilot.

[@jkp245]

@@AnnihilatorMTG great deck i thik i will build this :D ty

[@SeniorAdrian]

any links to a clickeable and pastable list? im on mobile and cant copy paste in yt app

[@BapapojeTv]

Part 2/3/4/5 please