Sultai Gravebound Reanimator
AlchemyDeck Strategy
A Sultai midrange-reanimator deck that fills its own graveyard with Titan-sized threats, then returns them to the battlefield for far less mana than their printed cost.
World Shaper attacks to mill cards into your graveyard and, when it dies, returns every land from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped, so it fuels reanimation and ramps you at the same time. Dread Summons mills each player and turns your milled creature cards into 2/2 Zombie tokens, giving you both reanimation fuel and blockers in one card. Once the yard is loaded, Zul Ashur, Lich Lord and the back side of Funeral Room // Awakening Hall pull creatures back onto the battlefield, and Mimeoplasm, Revered One exiles the scariest creature in any graveyard and enters as a copy with extra +1/+1 counters, often the biggest threat on board. Scavenging Ooze gives you incidental graveyard control against opposing reanimation decks, Massacre Wurm punishes opponents the moment your reanimated board clashes with theirs, and Rise of the Dark Realms is the late-game finisher that returns every creature in every graveyard to your side for a lethal alpha strike. Opt and Duress smooth your draws and strip opposing interaction before you commit your key spells, while Hero's Downfall clears the way for your huge attackers.
Keep hands with two to four lands that include at least one green and one black source, plus an early play such as Opt, Duress, or a cheap creature. Mulligan any hand with no black or green source, no play before turn three, or an opening seven made up only of five-plus-mana payoffs. Six-card hands with a workable curve and at least one graveyard-filling card are fine to keep.
Early game: fix your mana with Evolving Wilds and the Temples, develop cheap creatures, use Opt to dig deeper, and use Duress to strip opposing removal or graveyard hate. Mid game: build your graveyard with Dread Summons and by attacking with World Shaper, then begin cheating threats onto the battlefield with Zul Ashur, Lich Lord, Funeral Room // Awakening Hall, and Mimeoplasm, Revered One. Late game: close with Gigantosaurus, Demon of Loathing, Massacre Wurm, Agonasaur Rex, and Teval, Arbiter of Virtue, and if the board stalls, resolve Rise of the Dark Realms for an overwhelming lethal swing.
Graveyard hate such as Scavenging Ooze, Rest in Peace, or Leyline of the Void can blank your entire plan, so use Duress and your removal to clear the way before committing. The deck is a three-color, mana-hungry build, so color screw and fast aggro decks that kill you before reanimation comes online are the biggest dangers; countermagic aimed at your reanimation spells also sets you back a full turn, so sandbag key plays until you have a window.
| Type | Rarity | Card Name | Mana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creatures (17) | Rare | Aatchik, Emerald Radian | |
| Rare | Abyssal Harvester | ||
| Rare | Agonasaur Rex | ||
| Rare | Demon of Loathing | ||
| Rare | Gigantosaurus | ||
| Rare | Keen-Eyed Curator | ||
| Mythic Rare | Massacre Wurm | ||
| Mythic Rare | Mimeoplasm, Revered One | ||
| Rare | Scavenging Ooze | ||
| Rare | Sidisi, Regent of the Mire | ||
| Mythic Rare | Teval, Arbiter of Virtue | ||
| Rare | World Shaper | ||
| Rare | Zul Ashur, Lich Lord | ||
| Instants (8) | Uncommon | Hero's Downfall | |
| Common | Opt | ||
| Sorceries (8) | Rare | Dread Summons | |
| Common | Duress | ||
| Mythic Rare | Rise of the Dark Realms | ||
| Enchantments (2) | Mythic Rare | Funeral Room // Awakening Hall | |
| Lands (25) | Rare | Deathcap Glade | |
| Common | Evolving Wilds | ||
| Basic Land | Forest | ||
| Basic Land | Island | ||
| Rare | Overgrown Tomb | ||
| Basic Land | Swamp | ||
| Rare | Temple of Deceit | ||
| Rare | Temple of Malady | ||
| Rare | Temple of Mystery | ||
| Rare | Watery Grave |