cassandra-content/strategies/legacy/edge_1v1_reanimator/1/guide.md

Strategy Specifications

Deck Name And Archetype

Reanimator is a Legacy BR graveyard-combo strategy built to convert a discard outlet or graveyard tutor into an immediate battlefield threat, then protect that threat with hidden-hand disruption and fast mana. The registered shell is closer to stock Legacy BR Reanimator than a rogue brew because it uses the established core of Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Thoughtseize, Unmask, and Faithless Looting; it remains a hybrid test seed because the tags include edge-case, draft-only, graveyard targeting, discard-to-reanimate, replacement hate, and hidden hand disruption, and because the exact target suite and sideboard plan must be validated against Veles card-reference support before competitive use.

The active deck registration is valid at the supplied contract level: 60 main-deck cards, 15 sideboard cards, active format Legacy, no commander, and format-aware validation result passes. The main deck is exactly 4 Griselbrand, 2 Atraxa, Grand Unifier, 1 Archon of Cruelty, 1 Serra's Emissary, 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria, 4 Entomb, 4 Reanimate, 4 Exhume, 4 Animate Dead, 4 Dark Ritual, 4 Lotus Petal, 4 Thoughtseize, 4 Unmask, 4 Faithless Looting, 3 Collective Brutality, 4 Polluted Delta, 4 Bloodstained Mire, 2 Badlands, and 2 Swamp. The sideboard is exactly 3 Meltdown, 3 Leyline of the Void, 2 Feed the Swarm, 2 Dauthi Voidwalker, 2 Chancellor of the Annex, 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, 1 Magus of the Moon, and 1 Shenanigans.

The mana identity is operationally BR even though several reanimation targets are not castable from the registered mana base. Polluted Delta and Bloodstained Mire are mana-fixing lands here because they can find Badlands or Swamp; Badlands provides black and red, Swamp provides black, Lotus Petal supplies one-shot color, and Dark Ritual accelerates black mana. The agent should not plan to hard-cast Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, or Chancellor of the Annex unless the rules engine exposes an actually legal line from visible resources.

The core role concern is that this deck wins by legal graveyard placement plus legal reanimation, not by assuming a target is available. Entomb, Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Thoughtseize targeting self when legal and chosen for that purpose, and Unmask targeting self when legal and chosen for that purpose can create graveyard access, but target choice must respect current legal actions, visible graveyard contents, replacement effects, and opposing graveyard hate. Reanimate, Exhume, and Animate Dead are not interchangeable at runtime: the agent must distinguish life payment, symmetrical graveyard return risk, Aura attachment behavior, target restrictions, and whether the target remains legal when the spell resolves.

The opponent information status is unknown at deck-registration time. The guide should assume no hidden opponent hand knowledge until Thoughtseize, Unmask, or another rules-engine-visible effect reveals it, and it should treat opponent graveyards, battlefield permanents, stack objects, life totals, mana availability, and revealed cards as public information only when the runtime state exposes them. Opponent or metagame examples must stay outside policy card lists unless prefixed as opponent examples, because Veles policy Cards: fields may name only registered cards from this exact main deck or sideboard.

The unresolved support risk is card-reference completeness rather than deck-count legality. If Veles lacks precise metadata for any target, mode, triggered ability, replacement effect, or sideboard card text, the pilot must avoid inventing exact outcomes and mark the decision as requiring card-reference metadata. This matters most for Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Animate Dead, Collective Brutality, Leyline of the Void, Dauthi Voidwalker, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Magus of the Moon, Shenanigans, and any graveyard-hate or replacement-effect interaction that changes where cards go or whether a reanimation target remains available.

Thesis

Reanimator assembles a fast graveyard-to-battlefield sequence: put Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, or a sideboard target into the graveyard, then convert that card into a battlefield threat with Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead before the opponent can deploy stable graveyard hate or stack interaction. The highest priority is not raw card volume; it is a legal, protected reanimation window with a target that matches the visible matchup texture.

Reanimator wins by making the first major threat matter. Griselbrand is the default pressure and refill target when life total and card-reference metadata support the draw engine; Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the slower stabilizing refuel target when the game needs material, resilience, or a lower life-risk reanimation plan; Archon of Cruelty is the high-impact attrition threat when one attack or entry trigger can break board and hand parity; Serra's Emissary and Iona, Shield of Emeria are matchup-locked bullets only when the rules engine exposes the necessary choice and that choice actually constrains the opponent's visible outs.

Reanimator is not trying to play a fair midrange game, hard-cast its large creatures from normal mana, or trade one-for-one until the late game. Dark Ritual and Lotus Petal should be spent to compress the combo turn, Thoughtseize and Unmask should clear or expose the relevant disruption window, and Faithless Looting plus Collective Brutality should turn excess targets, duplicates, or awkward hands into graveyard access and functional spell density. The agent should avoid lines that strand a threat in graveyard against visible hate, cast Exhume when the opponent's graveyard has a higher-impact creature, or pay Reanimate life into an exposed lethal crackback unless the reanimated card immediately changes that race.

Runtime legality beats archetype memory. If Entomb, Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Thoughtseize, Unmask, Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead is not exposed as legal, the agent must not assume the deck can execute the line. If card-reference metadata is missing for a target, mode, replacement effect, or sideboard card, the agent should treat exact text-sensitive claims as unvalidated and prefer lines whose legal action text and public outcome are already visible.

Role Package

• Threats: Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, sideboard Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, sideboard Chancellor of the Annex, sideboard Dauthi Voidwalker, and sideboard Magus of the Moon are the creature package. Main-deck threats are primarily reanimation targets, not cast plans; sideboard creatures either change the hate axis, alter the opener, or punish specific battlefield structures.

• Payoffs: Reanimate, Exhume, and Animate Dead are the payoff spells that transform a graveyard target into the battlefield plan. Reanimate is the fastest but life-sensitive payoff, Exhume is efficient but symmetrical and must check the opponent's graveyard, and Animate Dead creates an Aura-based reanimation object whose legality and failure modes must be respected from rules-engine output.

• Engines: Griselbrand and Atraxa, Grand Unifier are the main resource engines after reanimation. Griselbrand turns life into cards when the life total and board permit it; Atraxa, Grand Unifier reloads by card types only if card-reference metadata and revealed resolution output support that exact selection result. Faithless Looting is the pre-combo smoothing engine because it draws, discards, and later may be usable from graveyard if the rules engine exposes that legal action.

• Velocity: Entomb, Faithless Looting, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Badlands, and Swamp provide the speed and color access that make turn-one or turn-two reanimation realistic. Entomb is the cleanest graveyard placement spell when a specific target is needed; Faithless Looting is better when the hand already contains a target or needs card selection; fetch lands should prioritize black access while preserving red when Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Meltdown, Shenanigans, or Magus of the Moon matters.

• Interaction: Thoughtseize, Unmask, and Collective Brutality are the main-deck disruption suite. Thoughtseize and Unmask should usually inspect or clear the opponent before committing a fragile payoff, but self-targeting can be correct only when the legal action exists and discarding a specific threat is the best visible route. Collective Brutality is both interaction and discard outlet; mode and escalation choices are metadata-sensitive and must be chosen from exposed legal options.

• Protection: Thoughtseize, Unmask, Collective Brutality, and sideboard Chancellor of the Annex protect the combo by constraining the opponent's interaction window. Protection means clearing stack interaction, discard, or hate before the payoff; it does not mean guaranteeing resolution through unknown hand contents.

• Recursion: Reanimate, Exhume, and Animate Dead are the only registered main-deck recursion payoffs. The agent should choose among them based on life total, opponent graveyard contents, target vulnerability, visible permanent hate, and whether the battlefield threat produced is enough to survive the next turn cycle.

• Mana: Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Badlands, and Swamp form a black-heavy fast-mana base with limited red access. The deck should not plan for generic long-game casting of off-color large creatures unless the engine exposes a legal cast action.

• Sideboard modules: Meltdown and Shenanigans pressure artifact-based hate or artifact boards; Leyline of the Void and Dauthi Voidwalker fight opposing graveyard plans; Feed the Swarm answers problematic permanents within its legal target class; Chancellor of the Annex supports protection from the opening hand or as a reanimation target if legal; Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is a creature-board punishment target; Magus of the Moon attacks mana bases when the deck can operate under its own constraint.

Primary Win Conditions

• Primary line: put Griselbrand into the graveyard with Entomb, Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Thoughtseize targeting self only when legal, or Unmask targeting self only when legal, then resolve Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead before the opponent establishes graveyard hate. Prioritize this line when life total is high enough to pay Reanimate safely, the opponent has no visible creature in graveyard that makes Exhume dangerous, and Thoughtseize or Unmask can clear the most relevant hand disruption before the payoff.

• Execution rule: use Griselbrand first when the deck needs both a fast clock and a refill engine. After it enters, attack when combat is legal and safe; use any card-draw ability only when the life payment cannot create an exposed lethal crackback and when rules-engine output confirms the action. If life is low, prefer Animate Dead or Exhume over Reanimate when legal, or shift to Atraxa, Grand Unifier if the available payoff and target produce a safer stabilizing battlefield.

• Refuel line: reanimate Atraxa, Grand Unifier when the game is about cards, stabilization, or rebuilding after discard rather than immediate life-for-cards pressure. Set up with Entomb when a specific target is needed or Faithless Looting when Atraxa, Grand Unifier is already in hand. Prioritize this line when Reanimate life loss on Griselbrand is unsafe, when the opponent is low on visible removal but high on card attrition, or when one resolved threat must generate enough material to survive a second interaction wave.

• Attrition kill: choose Archon of Cruelty when one battlefield entry or attack trigger, if supported by metadata and rules output, can break the opponent's board and hand while adding a large attacker. Prioritize it against creature decks, planeswalker pressure, or low-card opponents where immediate attrition matters more than Griselbrand's draw engine. Avoid it when the opponent's visible graveyard makes Exhume symmetrical in their favor or when the target does not stabilize the next combat.

• Lock target line: reanimate Serra's Emissary or Iona, Shield of Emeria only when the rules engine exposes the required choice and visible matchup information makes that choice meaningfully restrict the opponent. Prioritize these over Griselbrand only when a protected category or color constraint is better than raw cards, such as stopping a known single-axis damage race or cutting off visible interaction. Do not guess a protection choice, color choice, or lock effectiveness from archetype memory alone.

Secondary Win Conditions

• Backup pressure: win with repeated attacks from any reanimated Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, sideboard Chancellor of the Annex, sideboard Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, sideboard Dauthi Voidwalker, or sideboard Magus of the Moon when the first combo turn resolves but the engine portion is unavailable. Treat combat as a real race: preserve life after Reanimate, account for visible blockers, and do not assume a large creature is lethal without legal attack and damage confirmation.

• Disruption-first win: use Thoughtseize, Unmask, and Collective Brutality to create a delayed but safer reanimation turn when the opener has interaction plus payoff but no clean target. This line is correct when the opponent's hand or battlefield contains the only visible blocker to the combo, when waiting one turn improves graveyard access through Faithless Looting or Entomb, or when firing a payoff into open disruption would waste the only Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead.

• Sideboard creature pressure: after sideboarding, Dauthi Voidwalker and Magus of the Moon can become real battlefield plans instead of only reanimation material. Use Dauthi Voidwalker when graveyard replacement pressure is relevant and black mana is available; use Magus of the Moon when the opponent's mana base is visibly punishable and the deck can still operate through its own Badlands, Polluted Delta, and Bloodstained Mire constraints. These are fallback pressure plans, not reasons to abandon a protected fast reanimation line.

• Hate-break line: use Meltdown, Feed the Swarm, Shenanigans, or discard spells to unlock a graveyard plan through opposing hate, then return to the primary target hierarchy. This is secondary because spending turns on answers gives the opponent time; it becomes correct when the hate is visible, the answer is legal, and the hand contains enough follow-up to reanimate after the answer resolves.

Emergency Lines

• Behind on life: stop treating Griselbrand plus Reanimate as automatic. Prefer Exhume or Animate Dead if legal, prioritize Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Archon of Cruelty for stabilization, and use Collective Brutality defensively when its exposed modes help preserve life or remove a dangerous creature. Do not pay life to Thoughtseize, Unmask alternate costs, Reanimate, or Griselbrand abilities when the resulting board still leaves visible lethal.

• Behind on board: choose the target that changes the next combat, not the target with the highest ceiling. Archon of Cruelty and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite are emergency board-swing targets when their text is validated and legal output supports the relevant effect; Serra's Emissary can be correct only when the exposed choice protects against the actual damage or removal axis. If no reanimation line stabilizes, spend discard or removal-mode Collective Brutality to buy a turn for Entomb, Faithless Looting, or another payoff.

• Behind on cards or mana: use Faithless Looting to turn dead extra creatures, redundant lands, or unusable sideboard cards into live combo pieces, and spend Dark Ritual or Lotus Petal only when it produces a real payoff window. Do not sacrifice Lotus Petal for speculative sequencing if the remaining hand cannot cast Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Thoughtseize, Unmask, Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, or a boarded answer.

• Graveyard blocked or win conditions removed: pivot to visible answers and hard battlefield pressure instead of forcing illegal recursion. Use Feed the Swarm, Meltdown, Shenanigans, Thoughtseize, Unmask, or Collective Brutality according to legal target and mode output, then rebuild with remaining Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, or sideboard creatures. If the graveyard plan is fully shut off, preserve Dauthi Voidwalker, Magus of the Moon, and Chancellor of the Annex as actual attackers or disruption bodies when castable.

Resource Model

• Life is a spendable but capped combo resource. Thoughtseize, Reanimate, and Griselbrand can turn life into information, battlefield power, or cards, but the pilot must stop spending life when visible attacks, damage, or stack pressure can make the resolved creature irrelevant. When life is low, prefer Exhume or Animate Dead over Reanimate if legal, and prefer Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Archon of Cruelty over a life-hungry Griselbrand line when stabilization matters more than reload speed.

• Hand cards are both action density and fuel. Faithless Looting converts stranded Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, or Iona, Shield of Emeria into graveyard targets, while Collective Brutality and Unmask can turn excess black cards or creatures into disruption. Do not discard the only reanimation spell unless another Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead is already available or the game is being lost without immediate disruption.

• Mana converts tempo into a protected graveyard turn. Dark Ritual and Lotus Petal should be spent when they produce Entomb plus Reanimate, Entomb plus Exhume, Animate Dead, discard plus reanimation, or a sideboard answer plus follow-up. Preserve Lotus Petal when it is the only future red or black source for Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Feed the Swarm, Meltdown, Shenanigans, Dauthi Voidwalker, or Magus of the Moon.

• The graveyard is the main staging zone, not a storage zone to fill blindly. Entomb should put the target that matches the current battlefield and opponent hand information into the graveyard; Faithless Looting should discard targets already in hand or redundant pieces. Before choosing Exhume, inspect the opponent's graveyard because the symmetrical return can undo the tempo advantage.

• Exile is mostly a cost and lockout zone. Unmask alternate casting consumes a black card permanently, and opposing replacement hate can make reanimation impossible until answered. After sideboarding, Leyline of the Void and Dauthi Voidwalker can redirect the graveyard fight, but they also change whether Exhume, Animate Dead, and Reanimate have useful legal targets.

• Board presence is concentrated into one huge permanent. A resolved Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Chancellor of the Annex, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Dauthi Voidwalker, or Magus of the Moon must either win quickly, protect the next turn, or buy enough cards to rebuild. Do not trade tempo for a creature that fails to change the current race.

• This deck has almost no sacrifice fodder. Treat Lotus Petal as mana, not disposable material, and treat expendable hand cards as the main discard fuel for Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, and Unmask. Do not spend a card to escalate Collective Brutality unless the selected modes and follow-up spell are worth the lost hand resource.

• Information is a combo shield. Thoughtseize, Unmask, and Collective Brutality should identify whether the pilot can go now, must wait, or must answer hate first. Sideboard bullets are resource converters: Meltdown and Shenanigans trade mana and time for artifact-hate removal, Feed the Swarm trades mana and life exposure for creature or enchantment access, Leyline of the Void and Dauthi Voidwalker fight opposing graveyards, Magus of the Moon attacks mana, and Chancellor of the Annex taxes early interaction when registered after sideboarding.

Mana Guide

• Black mana is the primary requirement. Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Dark Ritual, Thoughtseize, Unmask, Collective Brutality, Dauthi Voidwalker, Feed the Swarm, and Entomb all push the deck toward opening hands with immediate black access. Red mana supports Faithless Looting, Meltdown, Shenanigans, and Magus of the Moon, so Badlands, Bloodstained Mire, Polluted Delta into an available red source, or Lotus Petal matter more after sideboarding or in slower hands.

• Keep hands that produce black mana plus a real path to target and reanimation. A strong opener usually has a land or Lotus Petal, one of Entomb or Faithless Looting plus a creature, and one of Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead. Dark Ritual improves hands only when it accelerates a legal payoff or protected discard turn; it does not rescue a hand with no graveyard access, no reanimation spell, and no meaningful selection.

• Mulligan hands that cannot cast a spell before the opponent's second turn unless they contain a specific sideboard reason. Multiple Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, or Iona, Shield of Emeria without Faithless Looting, Entomb, or discard outlet are not keepable just because they are powerful. One-land hands are keepable when the land casts the current hand's setup spell and Lotus Petal or Dark Ritual bridges the reanimation turn.

• Sequence fetch lands around information and color needs. Polluted Delta and Bloodstained Mire should find a source that casts the spells already in hand before preserving abstract flexibility. Fetch before Faithless Looting when the deck wants to reduce future land draws and has already decided the color requirement; wait until after Thoughtseize or Unmask when opponent information may change whether black, red, or a second mana source matters next.

• Play land before draw effects when the hand already knows its turn line. If Faithless Looting is being cast to find a missing reanimation spell and the hand has only one land, playing the land first may be required to cast the spell. Hold the land until after Faithless Looting only when all current spells are already castable and the discard choice may use an extra land as expendable material.

• Badlands is the cleanest dual-purpose source, but it is vulnerable to visible land interaction and Magus of the Moon changes future land behavior. Swamp is the stable black source for discard, Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Collective Brutality, and Feed the Swarm. Lotus Petal should supply the missing color on decisive turns, not be spent early for mana that a land already provides.

• Sideboard mana must be planned before the first land search. Meltdown and Shenanigans require red access, Feed the Swarm and Dauthi Voidwalker require black access, and Magus of the Moon requires red access while potentially constraining Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, and Badlands afterward. Do not board into red answers and keep a hand that only reliably produces Swamp unless Lotus Petal or a fetchable red source is already present.

Mulligan Guide

• Strong keep: keep black mana plus immediate graveyard access plus reanimation, especially Polluted Delta or Bloodstained Mire with Entomb and Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead. Lotus Petal plus Dark Ritual upgrades this only when it produces a protected turn-one or turn-two reanimation line, not when it merely empties mana into no payoff.

• Strong keep: keep Faithless Looting plus a reanimation target in hand plus Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead when red and black mana are both accounted for. Griselbrand is the default first target when the hand needs cards; Atraxa, Grand Unifier is preferred when life pressure makes Reanimate risky or the hand needs broad reload instead of paying life.

• Medium keep: keep Thoughtseize or Unmask plus Entomb plus a slower reanimation spell when the mana casts both setup and payoff by turn two. This hand should disrupt first when the opponent can visibly interact, but may Entomb first when the hand otherwise loses to missing a discard outlet.

• Risky keep: keep one-land hands only when that land casts the first spell and Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, or Faithless Looting gives a concrete second action. A hand like Badlands, Faithless Looting, Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Reanimate, Thoughtseize, Lotus Petal is keepable; Swamp, Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Exhume, Animate Dead, Reanimate, Dark Ritual is a trap because it lacks Entomb, Faithless Looting, or a discard outlet that places a target in the graveyard.

• Automatic ship: mulligan hands with no black mana source, no first-turn spell, or only large creatures plus reanimation spells. Ship hands that contain Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, or Iona, Shield of Emeria without Entomb, Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality discard, or Unmask self-discard plus a legal follow-up.

• Matchup-dependent keep: keep Leyline of the Void only post-board when opposing graveyard use is a real concern and the remaining six cards still contain mana plus a plan. Keep Meltdown, Feed the Swarm, Shenanigans, Dauthi Voidwalker, Magus of the Moon, or Chancellor of the Annex hands only when their role answers the expected axis and the hand still advances reanimation.

• Play/draw adjustment: on the play, prioritize speed with Thoughtseize or Unmask protection when possible; on the draw, prioritize discard before commitment and avoid hands that fold to one visible hate permanent. A slower hand with Thoughtseize, Entomb, Animate Dead, and stable mana is better on the draw than an all-in Lotus Petal hand with no disruption.

• Trap hand: do not keep multiple reanimation spells plus Exhume when the opponent's graveyard may become better than yours and the hand lacks Entomb or Faithless Looting. Do not keep Dark Ritual-heavy hands that cannot convert the mana into Entomb, discard, or a reanimation spell in the same turn cycle.

Turn Arc

• Turn 1: lead with Thoughtseize or Unmask when the hand already has Entomb plus Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead and needs to clear interaction. Lead with Entomb only when the follow-up reanimation is already available and waiting exposes the line to discard, mana denial, or losing the necessary mana. Lead with Faithless Looting when the hand has a creature target in hand and needs to place it in the graveyard or find the missing payoff.

• Turn 1 deviation: use Dark Ritual and Lotus Petal for a same-turn reanimation only when the target meaningfully changes the game and the visible information does not demand waiting. Griselbrand is the safest generic payoff for rebuilding, while Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, or Atraxa, Grand Unifier should be chosen only when their known role matches the current board and card-reference metadata supports the needed effect.

• Turn 2: execute the first protected reanimation if the graveyard target and spell are ready. Reanimate is most tempo-positive but life-sensitive; Exhume requires checking the opponent's graveyard before choosing it; Animate Dead is slower and permanent-based, so avoid exposing it into visible enchantment removal or replacement hate when another legal line is available.

• Turn 2 deviation: cast Collective Brutality when its discard and selected modes both matter. Use it to put Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, or Iona, Shield of Emeria into the graveyard while stripping an instant or sorcery only when the follow-up reanimation is planned.

• Turn 3: rebuild or protect the second wave. If the first target resolved, use Thoughtseize, Unmask, or Collective Brutality to stop the answer that matters most; if the first attempt failed, use Faithless Looting and Entomb to reset with a target that avoids the hate currently visible.

• Turns 4-5: stop treating speed as the only resource. Sequence discard, sideboard answers, and reanimation so Meltdown, Feed the Swarm, Shenanigans, Dauthi Voidwalker, Magus of the Moon, or Leyline of the Void does not strand the combo. Preserve Lotus Petal when it is the only red or black source for the answer-plus-reanimate turn.

• Late game: convert every draw into either target access, reanimation access, or hate removal. Flashback Faithless Looting when mana permits and the graveyard remains usable; avoid Exhume if the opponent's graveyard returns a creature that races or answers yours. When life is low, prefer Exhume or Animate Dead over Reanimate unless Reanimate creates immediate survival or lethal pressure.

Card Roles

• Griselbrand is the default first Entomb target when the hand needs cards, protection, or a second reanimation spell. Prefer it over narrow bullets unless life total, known removal, or visible graveyard hate makes paying life unsafe.

• Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the stabilizing reload target when Reanimate life loss is costly or broad card selection is better than raw draw. Use her when a resolved body plus one trigger can find discard, mana, and another reanimation line.

• Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, and Iona, Shield of Emeria are matchup bullets, not blind defaults. Choose Archon when sacrifice/discard/life swing matters, Serra's Emissary only when the chosen card type is validated and decisive, and Iona only when a visible or strongly inferred color axis matters.

• Entomb is the cleanest setup spell and should usually be paired with an already available Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead. Do not spend Entomb before knowing which target beats the current hate, clock, and opponent graveyard.

• Reanimate is the fastest payoff but asks for life-total accounting. Use it aggressively for Griselbrand or a lock creature when the life payment does not expose lethal crackback; prefer Exhume or Animate Dead when life is the bottleneck.

• Exhume is explosive but symmetric. Check the opponent's graveyard first; do not cast it when the opponent returns a creature that invalidates or races the selected target.

• Animate Dead is the resilient mana-efficient permanent payoff, but it exposes the creature to enchantment interaction and its own attachment rules. Prefer it when life matters or when Dark Ritual enables a protected same-turn line.

• Dark Ritual and Lotus Petal are acceleration, color smoothing, and protection compression. Spend them to combine discard plus reanimation in one turn; do not burn them into a line missing graveyard access or a payoff.

• Thoughtseize and Unmask are protection before commitment and disruption after a creature resolves. Aim them at counterspells, graveyard hate, removal, or fast combo pieces; self-targeting with Unmask is acceptable only when it creates a legal graveyard target and follow-up.

• Faithless Looting and Collective Brutality are discard outlets with selection or interaction attached. Use Faithless Looting to convert hand targets into graveyard targets; use Collective Brutality when discarding a creature and a chosen mode both matter.

Card Hover Notes

Griselbrand

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core piece and default reanimation target.
• Role type: engine piece; lifegain/stabilization; threat/clock.
• Deck-specific job: Be the fastest target for Entomb, Faithless Looting, or Collective Brutality setup because flying, lifelink, and “Pay 7 life: Draw seven cards” can turn one resolved Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead into more discard, fast mana, and a second reanimation wave.
• Timing: Choose it by default when life is high enough for Reanimate life loss and at least one possible seven-life draw; if life is low, attack or block with lifelink before activating, or prefer Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Exhume, or Animate Dead lines.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes graveyard setup plus a reanimation spell; outputs a 7/7 flying lifelink clock and optional seven-card bursts paid with life.
• Partners / packages: Uses Entomb, Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Thoughtseize, and Unmask.
• Role peers: Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the safer no-life-payment reload target; Archon of Cruelty is the stronger immediate board-and-hand swing.
• Failure modes: Paying seven life into visible lethal, paying Reanimate life before lifelink matters, choosing Exhume when the opponent returns a better creature, or drawing cards when the battlefield already demands blocking.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Best against unknown fair, control, and combo decks when cards and lifelink matter; less automatic against burn-speed pressure or graveyard hate.
• Low-skill guidance: Default to putting Griselbrand in the graveyard first, but do not pay life if the opponent can kill you before lifelink or new cards matter.

Atraxa, Grand Unifier

• Deck role: main deck, 2 copies, core piece and secondary reanimation target.
• Role type: engine piece; lifegain/stabilization; card selection; threat/clock.
• Deck-specific job: Refill without spending life by revealing the top ten cards and taking up to one card of each type among artifact, battle, creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, and sorcery; in this list the relevant hits are Lotus Petal as artifact, creatures such as Griselbrand or Archon of Cruelty, Animate Dead as enchantment, Entomb or Dark Ritual as instant, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Badlands, or Swamp as land, and sorceries such as Reanimate, Exhume, Thoughtseize, Unmask, Faithless Looting, or Collective Brutality.
• Timing: Prefer it over Griselbrand when life payments from Reanimate, Thoughtseize, fetch lands, or Griselbrand activations would be dangerous, or when one broad reload is better than raw seven-card draw.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes graveyard setup and a reanimation spell; outputs a 7/7 flying vigilance deathtouch lifelink body plus type-limited card selection.
• Partners / packages: Strong with Entomb, Faithless Looting, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Thoughtseize, and Unmask.
• Role peers: Griselbrand draws more cards at the cost of life; Archon of Cruelty has stronger immediate opponent-resource impact.
• Failure modes: Revealing ten does not guarantee the missing card type, and choosing redundant creatures over Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Entomb, or mana can strand the follow-up.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong after discard, removal, or attrition has made life and card diversity more important than maximum speed.
• Low-skill guidance: Choose Atraxa, Grand Unifier when you need cards but cannot safely spend life on Griselbrand.

Archon of Cruelty

• Deck role: main deck, 1 copy, singleton role-player reanimation bullet.
• Role type: threat/clock; lifegain/stabilization; interaction-removal; reach/finisher.
• Deck-specific job: Punish boards and low-resource hands with an enters-or-attacks trigger that makes target opponent sacrifice a creature or planeswalker of their choice, discard a card, lose 3 life, while you draw a card and gain 3 life.
• Timing: Entomb or discard it when the opponent has a key creature or planeswalker, few cards, or a race where the 3-point drain and 3 life gained matter more than Griselbrand draw.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes graveyard placement plus Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead; outputs a 6/6 flying attacker and a repeatable attack trigger if it survives.
• Partners / packages: Uses Entomb, Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Thoughtseize, and Unmask.
• Role peers: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is the sideboard creature-board sweeper target; Serra's Emissary and Iona, Shield of Emeria are lock bullets rather than attrition bullets.
• Failure modes: The opponent chooses what to sacrifice, so it is weaker into expendable creatures; it is also worse than Griselbrand when the deck urgently needs many cards.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against single-threat, planeswalker, creature-midrange, and low-hand-resource boards.
• Low-skill guidance: Use Archon of Cruelty when one sacrifice, discard, and life swing changes the next turn; do not treat it as the blind default over Griselbrand.

Serra's Emissary

• Deck role: main deck, 1 copy, singleton role-player lock reanimation target.
• Role type: protection/evasion; threat/clock; lifegain/stabilization.
• Deck-specific job: Enter, choose a card type, and give you and creatures you control protection from that chosen card type; this is for stopping a known losing axis, not for guessing.
• Timing: Choose it only when public information from battlefield, graveyard, Thoughtseize, Unmask, or Collective Brutality shows which card type matters, such as creature damage, instant removal, or sorcery-speed answers.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes graveyard setup and a reanimation spell; outputs a 7/7 flying body and protection from the chosen card type for you and your creatures.
• Partners / packages: Best enabled by Entomb after hand information from Thoughtseize, Unmask, or Collective Brutality; reanimated by Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead.
• Role peers: Iona, Shield of Emeria locks a color instead of a card type; Griselbrand is better when the correct protection type is unknown.
• Failure modes: Naming the wrong type leaves removal, combat, or combo outs untouched; protection does not stop effects outside the chosen card type.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong when the opponent is visibly relying on one card type to race or answer you.
• Low-skill guidance: Do not pick Serra's Emissary unless you know the exact card type you need to beat.

Iona, Shield of Emeria

• Deck role: main deck, 1 copy, singleton role-player color-lock reanimation target.
• Role type: hate piece; protection/evasion; threat/clock.
• Deck-specific job: Enter, choose a color, and stop opponents from casting spells of that chosen color, which can lock color-concentrated combo or control hands after discard reveals the key color.
• Timing: Use after Thoughtseize, Unmask, or visible game actions show that one color contains the opponent's meaningful spells; avoid guessing against multicolor decks with active colorless or off-color outs.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes graveyard placement plus Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead; outputs a 7-power flying clock and a color-based casting restriction.
• Partners / packages: Entomb finds it as a bullet; Thoughtseize, Unmask, and Collective Brutality provide information before choosing the color.
• Role peers: Serra's Emissary protects by card type; Chancellor of the Annex taxes spells without requiring a color choice.
• Failure modes: Wrong color choice, opponent already has battlefield answers, or opponent can win through artifacts, lands, creatures already in play, or another color.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Best against one-color or clearly color-centered spell combo and control.
• Low-skill guidance: Pick Iona, Shield of Emeria only with visible color evidence; otherwise choose Griselbrand or Atraxa, Grand Unifier.

Entomb

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core piece and graveyard setup spell.
• Role type: tutor/search; mechanic enabler; role glue.
• Deck-specific job: Search your library for the exact card the current line needs, put it into your graveyard, then shuffle; most often this means Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, or post-board Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Chancellor of the Annex, or Shenanigans.
• Timing: Cast near the reanimation turn, often after discard has revealed the opponent's hand, unless waiting lets the opponent discard you, deploy hate, or deny mana.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes one black mana and a library card choice; outputs a stocked graveyard target for Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, or dredge access to Shenanigans.
• Partners / packages: Pairs directly with Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Thoughtseize, and Unmask.
• Role peers: Faithless Looting and Collective Brutality set up creatures already in hand rather than searching the library.
• Failure modes: Putting a creature into graveyard under Leyline of the Void-style opposing replacement hate, selecting a lock target without information, or using it before knowing whether Exhume is safe.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Target map shifts from Griselbrand against unknowns to Archon of Cruelty against boards, Iona, Shield of Emeria against color-locked hands, and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite against small-creature swarms.
• Low-skill guidance: Use Entomb to put the chosen reanimation target in your graveyard only when a legal payoff or clear setup turn exists.

Reanimate

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core piece and fastest reanimation payoff.
• Role type: recursion; combo enabler; lifegain/stabilization.
• Deck-specific job: Put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control and lose life equal to that card's mana value, making turn-one or turn-two Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, or Iona, Shield of Emeria possible.
• Timing: Use when the target is worth the life loss and the opponent cannot punish the lower life total before lifelink, discard, or the creature's trigger stabilizes; switch to Exhume or Animate Dead when life is the bottleneck.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes one black mana, a target creature card in a graveyard, and life equal to mana value; outputs that creature under your control.
• Partners / packages: Set up by Entomb, Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, self-target Thoughtseize only when legal and correct, or self-target Unmask only with immediate follow-up.
• Role peers: Exhume avoids life loss but helps both players; Animate Dead avoids life loss but creates Aura vulnerability and -1/-0.
• Failure modes: Target disappears before resolution, life loss exposes lethal, or choosing an opponent's graveyard creature without checking whether your own target is better.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Best when speed beats hate; risky against burn, fast attackers, or known damage in hand.
• Low-skill guidance: Count your life first; do not cast Reanimate if the life loss lets the opponent kill you before the creature matters.

Exhume

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core piece and life-safe reanimation payoff.
• Role type: recursion; combo enabler; role glue.
• Deck-specific job: Return a creature from your graveyard without paying Reanimate life, but every player may put a creature card from their graveyard onto the battlefield.
• Timing: Cast after checking the opponent's graveyard; it is excellent when they have no relevant creature and dangerous when they can return a creature that races Griselbrand, answers Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or invalidates Archon of Cruelty.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes {1}{B} and a creature card in your graveyard; outputs symmetrical creature returns from graveyards.
• Partners / packages: Set up by Entomb, Faithless Looting, and Collective Brutality; accelerated by Dark Ritual and Lotus Petal.
• Role peers: Reanimate is faster and asymmetric but costs life; Animate Dead is asymmetric but vulnerable as an Aura.
• Failure modes: Opponent returns a better creature, graveyard hate removes your target, or a symmetrical return undoes the tempo advantage.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against decks with empty graveyards; weaker after opposing discard, creature trades, self-mill, or graveyard combo setup.
• Low-skill guidance: Before casting Exhume, inspect the opponent's graveyard and make sure your returned creature still wins the exchange.

Animate Dead

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core piece and Aura-based reanimation payoff.
• Role type: recursion; combo enabler; role glue.
• Deck-specific job: Enchant a creature card in a graveyard, return it under your control, attach Animate Dead, give it -1/-0, and accept that when Animate Dead leaves the battlefield that creature's controller sacrifices it.
• Timing: Prefer when life makes Reanimate unsafe or when Dark Ritual enables setup plus payoff; use discard first if the opponent may have enchantment removal or bounce that breaks the Aura link.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes {1}{B}, a legal creature card in a graveyard, and an enchantment slot; outputs a reanimated creature with -1/-0 and an Aura dependency.
• Partners / packages: Works with Entomb, Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Thoughtseize, and Unmask.
• Role peers: Reanimate is faster but costs life; Exhume avoids Aura exposure but can help the opponent.
• Failure modes: Target becomes illegal, the Aura is removed, Animate Dead leaves battlefield and forces sacrifice, or the -1/-0 changes combat math on Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Archon of Cruelty.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Better in low-life games; worse when revealed hands or battlefields show enchantment interaction.
• Low-skill guidance: Use Animate Dead to save life, but remember the creature depends on the Aura staying on the battlefield.

Dark Ritual

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core piece and fast black mana resource.
• Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; role glue.
• Deck-specific job: Turn one black mana into {B}{B}{B} so one turn can contain Thoughtseize or Unmask, Entomb, and Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead.
• Timing: Cast only when the same turn spends the mana on a real line; do not fire it into an empty pool when the hand lacks graveyard setup, a payoff, or disruption.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes one black mana and a card; outputs three black mana for black-heavy combo sequencing.
• Partners / packages: Casts Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Thoughtseize, Unmask by normal cost, Collective Brutality, Feed the Swarm, and Dauthi Voidwalker.
• Role peers: Lotus Petal fixes any color once but produces only one mana; Badlands and Swamp provide repeat black mana.
• Failure modes: Spending it before knowing the target/payoff line, using it when red is actually missing for Faithless Looting, Meltdown, Shenanigans, or Magus of the Moon, or walking into known discard/countermagic without protection.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Strongest on the play and against combo or control when it compresses discard plus reanimation before the opponent develops.
• Low-skill guidance: Cast Dark Ritual only when you can immediately spend the black mana on named combo or disruption spells.

Lotus Petal

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core piece and one-shot mana resource.
• Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; engine fuel/material; role glue.
• Deck-specific job: Sacrifice for one mana of any color to bridge hands that need black for Entomb, Reanimate, Thoughtseize, or Dark Ritual, red for Faithless Looting, or post-board red/black for Meltdown, Shenanigans, Magus of the Moon, Feed the Swarm, or Dauthi Voidwalker.
• Timing: Hold until the turn it casts a decisive spell unless using it now produces protected same-turn reanimation.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes the artifact permanently by tapping and sacrificing it; outputs one mana of any color.
• Partners / packages: Enables Faithless Looting off black lands, powers Dark Ritual starts, and supplies red for Meltdown, Shenanigans, or Magus of the Moon.
• Role peers: Dark Ritual provides more black mana; Badlands is repeat black/red access; Polluted Delta and Bloodstained Mire find Badlands or Swamp.
• Failure modes: Sacrificing it before knowing whether red or black is missing, losing it to your own Meltdown for X=0 or greater while it remains on battlefield, or treating it as expendable when it is the only colored source.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Preserve it more carefully after sideboarding into red answers or black permanent answers.
• Low-skill guidance: Do not spend Lotus Petal just because you can; save it for the color that unlocks the current line.

Thoughtseize

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core piece and hidden-hand disruption.
• Role type: interaction-discard; protection/evasion; role glue.
• Deck-specific job: Target player reveals their hand, you choose a nonland card from it, that player discards it, and you lose 2 life; usually this clears the card that stops Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead.
• Timing: Lead with it before commitment when the opponent may have permission, graveyard hate, removal for an Animate Dead creature, or a faster combo kill; self-target only if the rules engine offers it and discarding your own creature is worth the 2 life.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes one black mana, a card, and 2 life; outputs hand information and one chosen nonland card discarded.
• Partners / packages: Protects Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, and Archon of Cruelty.
• Role peers: Unmask can be free but costs an exiled black card; Collective Brutality hits only instant or sorcery cards with its discard mode.
• Failure modes: Taking a powerful but irrelevant card while leaving the actual counterspell, graveyard hate, or lethal combo piece; losing 2 life when Reanimate or Griselbrand life payments are already tight.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Best against unknown interaction, combo, and control; update the reanimation target after seeing the hand.
• Low-skill guidance: Use Thoughtseize to take the card that stops your next exact line, not the biggest-looking card.

Unmask

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core piece and free hidden-hand disruption.
• Role type: interaction-discard; protection/evasion; engine fuel/material.
• Deck-specific job: Reveal target player's hand and choose a nonland card for that player to discard, either for {3}{B} or by exiling a black card from your hand rather than paying the mana cost.
• Timing: Use before all-in Entomb plus payoff turns when mana is tight; self-target only when legal and when discarding a creature immediately enables Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead.
• Inputs / outputs: Normal cast consumes four mana including one black; alternate cost consumes an exiled black card from hand; both output hand information and one chosen nonland discard.
• Mode map: Normal cast is for slower games with spare mana; alternate cast is for turn-one protection using expendable black cards such as redundant Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Thoughtseize, or Collective Brutality only when that exact card is not needed.
• Partners / packages: Protects Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, and Animate Dead; can pair with Dark Ritual when hard-cast.
• Role peers: Thoughtseize costs life and mana but no exiled card; Collective Brutality can discard your own creature as escalation.
• Failure modes: Exiling the only reanimation target, only payoff, or only black card that keeps the hand functional; self-targeting with no immediate graveyard payoff.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: High value against blue permission, fast combo, and hands where one hate card beats the reanimation turn.
• Low-skill guidance: Free does not mean free of cost; pitch only a black card you can afford to lose.

Faithless Looting

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core piece and red discard-selection enabler.
• Role type: discard outlet; card selection; mechanic enabler.
• Deck-specific job: Draw two cards, then discard two cards, turning in-hand Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, or Iona, Shield of Emeria into graveyard targets while digging toward Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Entomb, Dark Ritual, or Lotus Petal.
• Timing: Cast early when you have a creature to discard or need to find a missing payoff; flash back later only when paying {2}{R} from graveyard is better than preserving red mana for Meltdown, Shenanigans, or Magus of the Moon.
• Inputs / outputs: Hand cast consumes {R} and one card; flashback consumes {2}{R} from graveyard and exiles Faithless Looting after it resolves; both draw two then discard two.
• Mode map: Hand cast sets up the first graveyard target; flashback rebuilds after a stopped first attempt but requires three mana including one red and graveyard access.
• Partners / packages: Discards Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, and post-board Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Chancellor of the Annex.
• Role peers: Collective Brutality discards through escalation while interacting; Entomb searches directly rather than drawing.
• Failure modes: Discarding the only payoff, only black source, or only protection spell; assuming flashback works through graveyard hate.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in hands with creatures already drawn; weaker when red access is absent or graveyard replacement effects are active.
• Low-skill guidance: Use Faithless Looting to put a big creature from hand into the graveyard while keeping the spell that brings it back.

Collective Brutality

• Deck role: main deck, 3 copies, role player discard outlet and flexible sorcery interaction.
• Role type: modal utility; discard outlet; interaction-discard; interaction-removal; lifegain/stabilization.
• Deck-specific job: Use escalate by discarding cards to combine graveyard setup with one or more of: stripping an instant or sorcery from target opponent, giving target creature -2/-2 until end of turn, and draining target opponent for 2 while gaining 2.
• Timing: Choose modes that matter immediately; escalate when discarding Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, or Iona, Shield of Emeria unlocks a follow-up Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes {1}{B} plus one discarded card for each mode beyond the first; outputs exact chosen-mode effects at sorcery speed.
• Mode map: Hand-disruption mode hits only an instant or sorcery card from target opponent's revealed hand; creature mode gives target creature -2/-2 until end of turn; drain mode makes target opponent lose 2 life and you gain 2 life.
• Partners / packages: Fuels Reanimate, Exhume, and Animate Dead; complements Thoughtseize and Unmask against interaction; cushions life after Thoughtseize, fetch lands, Reanimate, or Griselbrand.
• Role peers: Faithless Looting is better pure selection; Thoughtseize and Unmask can take any nonland card, not just instant or sorcery.
• Failure modes: Discarding required mana or the only payoff, picking a mode with no legal target, or using sorcery-speed removal too late to stop combat.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against low-toughness attackers, burn races, and instant/sorcery-heavy hands.
• Low-skill guidance: Escalate only when both the discarded card and every chosen mode help the current turn.

Polluted Delta

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, mana resource and fetch land.
• Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; engine fuel/material.
• Deck-specific job: Pay 1 life, tap, and sacrifice to search for an Island or Swamp card; in this registered list the relevant targets are Swamp and Badlands because Badlands has land types Swamp Mountain.
• Timing: Fetch Swamp when black is enough or nonbasic pressure matters; fetch Badlands when red is needed for Faithless Looting, Meltdown, Shenanigans, or Magus of the Moon.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes the land and 1 life; outputs Swamp or Badlands onto the battlefield, then shuffles.
• Partners / packages: Casts Entomb, Reanimate, Thoughtseize, Dark Ritual, Animate Dead, Exhume, and through Badlands enables Faithless Looting.
• Role peers: Bloodstained Mire finds the same practical registered targets here; Badlands and Swamp are the actual mana-producing lands.
• Failure modes: Paying life into a tight Reanimate or Griselbrand plan, fetching Swamp and stranding red spells, or fetching Badlands into nonbasic punishment.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Fetch before resolving your own Magus of the Moon; preserve life against burn-speed pressure.
• Low-skill guidance: If you need red, get Badlands; if you only need stable black, get Swamp.

Bloodstained Mire

• Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, mana resource and fetch land.
• Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; engine fuel/material.
• Deck-specific job: Pay 1 life, tap, and sacrifice to search for a Swamp or Mountain card; in this registered list the relevant targets are Swamp and Badlands because Badlands is a Swamp Mountain.
• Timing: Fetch Badlands when the hand needs both black and red, especially Faithless Looting plus black reanimation; fetch Swamp when black stability beats red access.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes the land and 1 life; outputs Swamp or Badlands onto battlefield and shuffles.
• Partners / packages: Enables Thoughtseize, Entomb, Reanimate, Dark Ritual, Faithless Looting, Meltdown, Shenanigans, and Magus of the Moon.
• Role peers: Polluted Delta has the same practical target map in this list; Lotus Petal can temporarily replace a missing color.
• Failure modes: Fetching the wrong target for a post-board red card, overpaying life before Reanimate, or leaving fetches unused before your own Magus of the Moon.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong for post-board red-answer hands because it can find Badlands.
• Low-skill guidance: Use Bloodstained Mire to get the color your next spell actually needs.

Badlands

• Deck role: main deck, 2 copies, mana resource and dual land.
• Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
• Deck-specific job: As a Land — Swamp Mountain, tap for {B} or {R} and let the deck cast black combo spells while also enabling Faithless Looting, Meltdown, Shenanigans, and Magus of the Moon.
• Timing: Fetch or play it when red matters this turn or when one source must cast both black setup and red selection/answers; prefer Swamp when nonbasic hate or your own Magus of the Moon plan makes red less urgent.
• Inputs / outputs: Produces black or red mana repeatedly until constrained by effects such as Magus of the Moon.
• Partners / packages: Casts Entomb, Reanimate, Thoughtseize, Dark Ritual, Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Meltdown, Shenanigans, and Magus of the Moon.
• Role peers: Swamp is safer black-only access; Lotus Petal gives one-shot any-color access.
• Failure modes: Being turned into only a Mountain by Magus of the Moon, being exposed to nonbasic hate, or fetching it when a basic Swamp would cast the entire hand.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Essential for Meltdown, Shenanigans, and Magus of the Moon; risky against mana denial and when black requirements continue after Magus of the Moon.
• Low-skill guidance: Badlands is your clean black/red land, but do not let it be your only black plan under Magus of the Moon.

Swamp

• Deck role: main deck, 2 copies, basic mana resource.
• Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
• Deck-specific job: Provide stable black mana for the deck's core spells: Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Dark Ritual, Thoughtseize, Unmask, Collective Brutality, Feed the Swarm, and Dauthi Voidwalker.
• Timing: Fetch it when black is enough, life and nonbasic exposure matter, or a later Magus of the Moon would otherwise cut off black mana.
• Inputs / outputs: Taps for {B} and does not provide red.
• Partners / packages: Works with Dark Ritual for fast combo turns and with Polluted Delta or Bloodstained Mire as a fetch target.
• Role peers: Badlands adds red but is nonbasic; Lotus Petal supplies one-shot red when Swamp cannot.
• Failure modes: Keeping a Swamp-only hand that needs Faithless Looting, Meltdown, Shenanigans, or Magus of the Moon; fetching Swamp when the actual line requires red immediately.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against nonbasic pressure and before casting your own Magus of the Moon.
• Low-skill guidance: Fetch Swamp for safe black starts, but remember it cannot cast your red spells.

Meltdown

• Deck role: sideboard, 3 copies, sideboard bullet and artifact sweeper.
• Role type: interaction-sweeper; sideboard bullet; hate piece.
• Deck-specific job: Destroy each artifact with mana value X or less, clearing artifact graveyard hate, artifact mana, cheap lock pieces, or artifact creature boards that prevent Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead from mattering.
• Timing: Sorcery-speed; choose X from visible artifacts and your available red mana, and decide whether your own Lotus Petal should be sacrificed first because X=0 or greater destroys zero-mana artifacts too.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes {X}{R} and destroys each artifact with mana value X or less, including yours if they qualify.
• Partners / packages: Needs red from Badlands, Bloodstained Mire finding Badlands, Polluted Delta finding Badlands, or Lotus Petal.
• Role peers: Shenanigans destroys one target artifact and can dredge back; Feed the Swarm answers opposing creature or enchantment permanents, not ordinary artifacts.
• Failure modes: Spending too much mana before a follow-up reanimation, missing nonartifact hate, or destroying your own Lotus Petal before it supplies needed mana.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against artifact prison, artifact-heavy tempo, and artifact graveyard hate.
• Low-skill guidance: Pick X to match the artifacts you must kill and plan your own Lotus Petal before casting.

Leyline of the Void

• Deck role: sideboard, 3 copies, sideboard bullet and graveyard replacement hate.
• Role type: hate piece; sideboard bullet.
• Deck-specific job: If in your opening hand, it may begin on the battlefield; while there, cards that would go to an opponent's graveyard from anywhere are exiled instead, disrupting opposing graveyard decks while leaving your own graveyard plan intact.
• Timing: Use the pregame placement only when the legal action exists from an opening hand; later hard-cast only when {2}{B}{B} is realistic and the opponent's graveyard matters more than advancing reanimation.
• Inputs / outputs: Opening-hand mode costs no mana through the pregame effect; hard-cast consumes four mana including two black; outputs a one-sided opponent graveyard replacement effect.
• Mode map: Opening-hand placement is a special pregame permission; normal casting is an enchantment spell for {2}{B}{B}.
• Partners / packages: Pairs with Dauthi Voidwalker against opposing graveyard plans and with Thoughtseize or Unmask to strip answers.
• Role peers: Dauthi Voidwalker is slower but attacks and can sacrifice to play an exiled opponent-owned card with a void counter.
• Failure modes: Drawing it late without enough black mana, boarding it when the opponent's graveyard is irrelevant, or forgetting it does not exile your own discarded Griselbrand for protection.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against Reanimator mirrors, Dredge-style decks, delve/escape/flashback-heavy opponents, or graveyard combo.
• Low-skill guidance: Put Leyline of the Void onto the battlefield only from the legal opening-hand action; do not treat later copies as free.

Feed the Swarm

• Deck role: sideboard, 2 copies, sideboard bullet and black permanent answer.
• Role type: interaction-removal; sideboard bullet.
• Deck-specific job: Destroy target creature or enchantment an opponent controls, giving this BR deck an answer to hate creatures and enchantments that stop graveyard setup or reanimation.
• Timing: Sorcery-speed; cast before committing Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead when the target permanent actually blocks the combo.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes {1}{B} and life equal to the destroyed permanent's mana value; outputs removal of a legal opposing creature or enchantment.
• Partners / packages: Protected by Thoughtseize or Unmask; cast from Swamp, Badlands, Dark Ritual, or Lotus Petal.
• Role peers: Meltdown and Shenanigans answer artifacts; Collective Brutality can remove only a creature small enough for -2/-2.
• Failure modes: Losing too much life before Reanimate or Griselbrand, targeting a low-impact permanent while real graveyard hate remains, or trying to hit an artifact that is not also a creature or enchantment.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring for creature hate, enchantment hate, and problematic opposing creatures that must die before a reanimation turn.
• Low-skill guidance: Check both target class and life loss; Feed the Swarm is not the artifact answer unless the artifact is also a creature or enchantment.

Dauthi Voidwalker

• Deck role: sideboard, 2 copies, sideboard bullet and disruptive threat.
• Role type: hate piece; threat/clock; sideboard bullet.
• Deck-specific job: Use shadow to attack through most creatures, exile opponent cards that would go to graveyard with void counters, and threaten to tap and sacrifice itself to play an opponent-owned exiled card with a void counter this turn without paying its mana cost.
• Timing: Cast when slowing the opponent's graveyard is worth delaying the fastest reanimation line, or when a disruptive two-mana creature is better than a narrow reanimation target.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes {B}{B}; outputs a 3/2 shadow attacker, opponent graveyard replacement, and a one-shot stolen-card access if it survives untapped.
• Partners / packages: Works with Thoughtseize and Unmask because discarded opponent cards get exiled with void counters while Dauthi Voidwalker is active.
• Role peers: Leyline of the Void is stronger from the opening hand but does not attack or cast exiled cards.
• Failure modes: Requires double black, dies to creature removal, and can be too slow if the only winning line is turn-one Entomb plus Reanimate.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against graveyard mirrors, spell decks where exiled cards matter, and opponents relying on flashback, delve, escape, or recursion.
• Low-skill guidance: Play Dauthi Voidwalker as hate first and attacker second; sacrifice it only when the chosen exiled card is worth losing the replacement effect.

Chancellor of the Annex

• Deck role: sideboard, 2 copies, sideboard bullet, opening-hand protection piece, and reanimation target.
• Role type: protection/evasion; hate piece; threat/clock; sideboard bullet.
• Deck-specific job: Reveal from opening hand to tax the opponent's first spell of the game unless they pay {1}, or reanimate it as a 5/6 flying body that taxes every opponent spell unless they pay {1}.
• Timing: Reveal only in the opening-hand window if the legal action exists; reanimate when taxing interaction or fast combo matters more than Griselbrand cards.
• Inputs / outputs: Opening reveal costs no mana and creates a delayed tax on the opponent's first spell; reanimation consumes graveyard setup and Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead; hard-casting is not realistic in this BR mana base.
• Mode map: Pregame reveal protects the early turn; battlefield mode is a continuing spell-tax effect attached to a flying creature.
• Partners / packages: Supports Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Thoughtseize, and Unmask by making opposing first interaction more expensive.
• Role peers: Iona, Shield of Emeria can stop one chosen color; Unmask and Thoughtseize proactively remove specific cards.
• Failure modes: Weak when drawn after the opener with no discard outlet, lower card-flow ceiling than Griselbrand, and tax can be paid if the opponent has spare mana.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against fast combo, mirror starts, and low-mana blue interaction.
• Low-skill guidance: Reveal it only at the start if offered; otherwise treat it as a possible discard-to-reanimate target, not a cast plan.

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

• Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, sideboard bullet and creature-board reanimation target.
• Role type: interaction-sweeper; threat/clock; sideboard bullet.
• Deck-specific job: Reanimate to give other creatures you control +2/+2 and opposing creatures -2/-2, often clearing small boards while making any additional creatures larger.
• Timing: Entomb, loot, or discard it when the opponent's battlefield is full of creatures with toughness low enough that -2/-2 matters, or when combat dominance is more important than drawing with Griselbrand.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes graveyard setup and Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead; outputs a 4/7 vigilance body and static power/toughness changes.
• Partners / packages: Found by Entomb, discarded by Faithless Looting or Collective Brutality, and returned by Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead.
• Role peers: Archon of Cruelty attacks one opponent resource at a time; Serra's Emissary protects against a chosen card type instead of shrinking creatures.
• Failure modes: Poor against noncreature combo, large creatures that survive -2/-2, or removal-heavy hands where Griselbrand or Atraxa, Grand Unifier would replace resources.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against small-creature swarms, tribal boards, and battlefield races.
• Low-skill guidance: Choose Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite when the opponent's creatures are the problem and -2/-2 will actually change the board.

Magus of the Moon

• Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, sideboard bullet and mana-denial creature.
• Role type: hate piece; threat/clock; sideboard bullet.
• Deck-specific job: Make nonbasic lands Mountains, punishing opponents built around nonbasic mana while requiring this deck to secure black mana or complete graveyard setup first.
• Timing: Cast for {2}{R} only after deciding how you will still cast black spells from Swamp, existing black mana, Lotus Petal, or already-resolved setup; do not strand Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Thoughtseize, or Feed the Swarm.
• Inputs / outputs: Consumes three mana including one red; outputs a 2/2 creature and a static nonbasic-land-changing effect.
• Partners / packages: Needs red from Badlands or Lotus Petal; pairs with pre-fetched Swamp and discard from Thoughtseize or Unmask.
• Role peers: Chancellor of the Annex taxes spells; Iona, Shield of Emeria restricts one chosen color after reanimation.
• Failure modes: Locking your own Badlands, Polluted Delta, and Bloodstained Mire into Mountains before black requirements are met, or choosing it against opponents with basics and cheap removal.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against nonbasic-heavy control, prison, or big-mana decks where mana denial buys the reanimation turn.
• Low-skill guidance: Fetch or play your black source first; Magus of the Moon can hurt you too.

Shenanigans

• Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, sideboard bullet and repeatable artifact answer.
• Role type: interaction-removal; recursion; sideboard bullet.
• Deck-specific job: Destroy target artifact for {1}{R}, and use dredge 1 to replace a draw by milling one card and returning Shenanigans from graveyard to hand when repeated artifact removal is better than drawing normally.
• Timing: Cast at sorcery speed when a specific artifact matters; dredge only when you need another artifact answer more than a fresh draw toward Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Thoughtseize, or mana.
• Inputs / outputs: Normal cast consumes two mana including one red and destroys target artifact; dredge consumes a draw replacement and mills one card to return it from graveyard to hand.
• Mode map: Cast mode answers one target artifact now; dredge mode recurs Shenanigans from graveyard instead of drawing, enabling repeated artifact answers but slowing card flow.
• Partners / packages: Can be put into graveyard by Entomb when dredge access is useful; needs red from Badlands or Lotus Petal.
• Role peers: Meltdown answers multiple low-mana-value artifacts at once; Feed the Swarm answers opposing creatures or enchantments.
• Failure modes: Cannot hit nonartifact hate, dredge can replace a needed draw, and opposing graveyard hate can stop the recursion plan.
• Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against artifact prison, artifact graveyard hate, and decks presenting repeated artifact threats.
• Low-skill guidance: Use Shenanigans for artifacts only, and dredge it back only when another artifact must die.

Interaction Priorities

• Discard first from the opponent's hand before committing the only reanimation spell. Use Thoughtseize or Unmask to clear stack interaction, graveyard hate, fast-combo payoff pieces, or removal that matters against the intended target; when the hand contains both a discard spell and Entomb plus Reanimate, lead with discard unless the opponent is tapped out or losing the target window would be worse.
• Remove hate permanents before forcing a graveyard line through them. Feed the Swarm should answer enchantment or creature hate that actually stops Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, or graveyard access; Meltdown and Shenanigans should answer artifact hate or prison artifacts, with Shenanigans preferred when repeated artifact removal is worth the draw-replacement cost.
• Exile opposing graveyard resources only when the opposing graveyard is part of their engine. Leyline of the Void is pregame pressure for graveyard mirrors; Dauthi Voidwalker is slower but also attacks hands and graveyards through normal play. Do not overvalue graveyard hate against fair decks whose visible plan is battlefield pressure and stack interaction.
• Prioritize target selection as interaction. Griselbrand is the default stabilizer and reload target when life total supports activation; Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the safer reload target when life is pressured; Archon of Cruelty pressures hand, board, and life totals; Serra's Emissary is the protection target when the relevant card type is clear; Iona, Shield of Emeria is the color-lock target when the opponent's visible resources are color-constrained.
• Treat Collective Brutality as flexible interaction, not generic cleanup. Use discard mode to put Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, or Iona, Shield of Emeria into the graveyard when that unlocks reanimation; use hand-disruption mode when a specific instant or sorcery matters; use removal or drain modes only when the legal target and life swing materially affect survival or a race.
• Bait with redundant enablers before exposing the only payoff chain. Faithless Looting, extra Entomb, or a lower-value reanimation spell can draw out interaction when there is redundancy; do not bait with the only Reanimate or Animate Dead if the graveyard has exactly one critical target and no second route.
• Ignore low-impact battlefield pressure when a protected reanimation line wins faster. Small attackers, nonlethal value creatures, and slow engines are lower priority than cards that stop the graveyard, counter the reanimation spell, exile the target, or kill through the next attack step.
• Change priorities by archetype. Against fast combo, discard the payoff or enabler that creates the earliest kill and consider Chancellor of the Annex; against blue control, clear stack interaction before reanimation and prefer reload targets; against artifact prison, preserve red mana for Meltdown or Shenanigans; against creature swarms, prioritize Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Archon of Cruelty lines over pure card draw.

Combat And Trading Rules

• Attack with reanimated creatures unless blocking is required for survival. Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Chancellor of the Annex, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Dauthi Voidwalker, and Magus of the Moon should pressure life totals when attacks are legal and do not expose a needed blocker to a worse crackback.
• Preserve the engine creature over minor combat damage. Do not trade Griselbrand or Atraxa, Grand Unifier for ordinary attackers when their next attack, lifelink, draw, or card-selection impact is likely to dominate; block only when life total, lethal pressure, or a known combat rule makes blocking necessary.
• Use Griselbrand lifelink as a life-total reset, but respect Reanimate and draw costs. If life is low after Reanimate, attacking or blocking with Griselbrand may be more important than activating immediately; if life is high enough, drawing before choosing the next line can find discard, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, or another reanimation spell.
• Treat Atraxa, Grand Unifier as a stabilizing body when life payment is unsafe. Atraxa is often the better target when the deck needs cards without paying life, or when the opponent can punish a low-life Griselbrand line before lifelink connects.
• Use Archon of Cruelty to convert combat into resource denial. Attacking with Archon is usually better than holding it back unless the opponent can present lethal, because the attack trigger pressures life, hand, board, and recovery at once.
• Name protection with Serra's Emissary according to the visible losing axis. Choose the card type that stops the opponent's actual route through the board or interaction; do not assume it protects against every answer, and do not choose a type based on hidden cards unless discard or public information revealed the need.
• Let Iona, Shield of Emeria end games by constraining the opponent, not by racing alone. Attack when safe, but the main combat rule is to avoid unnecessary trades if the named color is locking the opponent out of relevant spells.
• Trade sideboard creatures only when their hate job is finished or survival demands it. Dauthi Voidwalker should usually stay alive while opposing graveyard use matters; Magus of the Moon should not enter combat if its static effect is the reason the opponent is constrained; Chancellor of the Annex can trade more freely once its tax role is no longer decisive.
• Shift blocking by matchup. Against creature swarms, prioritize stabilizing blocks and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite lines; against control, keep pressure high and avoid giving removal a clean tempo window; against combo, combat is secondary to discard, tax, and the fastest reanimation clock.

Selection And Tutor Rules

• Entomb selects the creature that solves the current visible problem, not the most expensive creature by default. Search for Griselbrand when life total supports card draw or lifelink stabilization, Atraxa, Grand Unifier when paying life is unsafe and a reload body is needed, Archon of Cruelty when the opponent's board or hand must be compressed, Serra's Emissary when one known card type is the losing axis, and Iona, Shield of Emeria when public information shows a color lock will matter.
• Entomb should usually wait until the reanimation turn if the opponent can exile graveyards or use the information. Cast Entomb in the opponent's end step or immediately before Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead when mana and priority allow; cast it earlier only when Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, discard protection, or available mana requires committing the graveyard first.
• Faithless Looting is selection plus discard setup, not generic card advantage. Keep hands that can draw two and discard Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, or Iona, Shield of Emeria into an immediate or protected reanimation line; discard redundant lands, extra large creatures, or duplicate enablers only after preserving enough mana and reanimation spells.
• Faithless Looting flashback consumes three mana including one red and the card from graveyard. Use flashback after the first reanimation attempt is stopped, after Griselbrand or Atraxa, Grand Unifier refills into mana, or when the hand lacks both a target and a reanimation spell; do not spend the flashback window if red mana is needed for Meltdown, Shenanigans, or Magus of the Moon post-sideboard.
• Atraxa, Grand Unifier selection should rebuild the next protected chain. When the engine presents revealed card-type choices, prioritize a reanimation spell if the first creature may die, then discard protection such as Thoughtseize or Unmask, then mana from Lotus Petal or Dark Ritual, then a second target; do not choose a redundant creature over the only available enabler unless the current battlefield creature already wins without more spells.
• Fetch lands should preserve access before filtering. Polluted Delta can find Badlands or Swamp in this registered deck, and Bloodstained Mire can find Badlands or Swamp; fetch Badlands when red is needed for Faithless Looting or sideboard cards, fetch Swamp when life total, Wasteland exposure, or black-density sequencing is more important.
• Land-drop timing should follow known mana needs. Delay Polluted Delta or Bloodstained Mire briefly when Faithless Looting, discard, or Atraxa, Grand Unifier information could change which land is needed, but make the land drop before casting Dark Ritual, Thoughtseize, Entomb, or a reanimation spell if missing the mana would pass a winning turn.
• Collective Brutality discards selected cards as an escalation cost, so choose modes and discard payload together. Escalate when the discarded creature immediately enables Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead, or when discarding an extra card strips a relevant instant or sorcery; avoid discarding the only reanimation spell or only red source just to add a low-impact mode.
• Unmask selection should remove the card that blocks the next committed line. If the hand contains graveyard hate, stack interaction, and pressure, choose the hate or counter that interacts with Entomb or the reanimation spell before taking a slower threat; if the line relies on Exhume, also account for the opponent's best creature already in graveyard.

Priority And Stack Rules

• Cast discard before the commitment spell when priority and mana permit. Thoughtseize or Unmask should clear known counterspells, graveyard hate, or surgical effects before Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead; skip that step only when the opponent is tapped out, the discard is unavailable, or waiting exposes the target to a worse public risk.
• Use Entomb at instant speed to minimize exposure. The clean window is after the opponent passes with no relevant action, on their end step, or in the same main phase immediately before the reanimation spell; do not Entomb a key target into an active graveyard-hate permanent unless the next legal action can answer the hate or win through it.
• Respond to graveyard interaction with legal available tools only. If the opponent targets the graveyard or chosen creature and Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead is still legal in response, evaluate whether moving first saves the line; if the hate effect already prevents graveyard use or exiles the target as part of a resolving spell or ability, do not assume the target remains available.
• Let your own discard spell fully resolve before choosing the reanimation target when possible. Revealed-hand information can change Entomb from Griselbrand to Iona, Shield of Emeria, Serra's Emissary, Archon of Cruelty, or Atraxa, Grand Unifier, so avoid locking in a graveyard target before seeing whether the opponent's hand contains removal, counterplay, or a color-constrained plan.
• Treat Exhume as symmetrical on resolution. Cast Exhume when the opponent has no meaningful creature in graveyard, when your returned target beats their return, or when speed matters more than their resource; prefer Reanimate or Animate Dead if the opponent's graveyard contains a creature that races, removes, or invalidates your target.
• Animate Dead exposes both the graveyard target and the enchantment. Prefer it when life loss from Reanimate is unsafe or mana supports a slower line; avoid relying on it when visible enchantment removal or a known stack answer makes the reanimated creature less secure than a Reanimate line.
• Reanimate spends life equal to the target's mana value. Use it aggressively for early Griselbrand or Atraxa, Grand Unifier when life remains above the opponent's visible damage, but switch targets or use Exhume or Animate Dead when Reanimate would put the pilot into known lethal range.
• Griselbrand activation is a priority decision, not automatic. Draw seven when life total remains safe after the payment and cards are needed before passing priority; delay activation when lifelink combat, known damage, or Reanimate life loss makes the payment dangerous.
• Sideboard hate changes priority windows. Leyline of the Void matters before the game begins if in opening hand; Dauthi Voidwalker must be deployed before the opposing graveyard turn when possible; Meltdown is a sorcery-speed artifact answer, Feed the Swarm is a sorcery-speed creature or enchantment answer, and Shenanigans can replace a draw with dredge only when repeated artifact removal is worth losing that draw.

Sideboard Map

• Artifact pressure and prison should add Meltdown as the cleanest broad answer to artifact mana, cheap lock pieces, and artifact creature boards. Meltdown is a sorcery, so plan the turn around red mana and its X value; it also destroys your own Lotus Petal when X is high enough for zero-mana artifacts, so spend or preserve Lotus Petal intentionally before casting it.
• Graveyard mirrors and graveyard combo should add Leyline of the Void when opening-hand hate changes the first turn. Leyline of the Void is strongest before the game begins and weaker as a late draw; it also conflicts with Exhume lines that expect opposing graveyards to matter less, so treat it as matchup hate, not a default protection piece.
• Creature or enchantment hate permanents should add Feed the Swarm when the opposing card can stop Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Entomb, or graveyard access. Feed the Swarm is a sorcery and costs life equal to the destroyed permanent's mana value, so do not point it at a low-impact permanent when Reanimate life payments or opposing damage make life the bottleneck.
• Graveyard decks that also fight on board should add Dauthi Voidwalker when a permanent hate body is better than only opening-hand Leyline of the Void. Dauthi Voidwalker changes the deck toward a disruptive creature plan; it is weaker when the opponent can remove creatures easily before using the graveyard or when the pilot must maximize turn-one reanimation density.
• Fast stack-combo or turn-one mirrors should add Chancellor of the Annex when pregame pressure on the opponent's first spell matters. Chancellor of the Annex is not a reanimation enabler by itself, but it can be a reanimation target in games where taxing the first opposing action buys the turn needed for Entomb plus Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead.
• Small-creature battlefields should add Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite when the reanimation target must stabilize the board immediately. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is poor when the opponent wins through stack interaction, graveyard hate, noncreature permanents, or large threats that ignore the stat swing.
• Nonbasic-land-dependent opponents should add Magus of the Moon when the game can be won by constraining mana before or after a large creature arrives. Magus of the Moon changes this deck into a light prison-threat deck; it is risky when the pilot still needs Badlands plus fetch sequencing, when red mana is not available early, or when the opponent has basic lands and creature removal.
• Repeatable artifact hate should add Shenanigans when the opponent presents multiple artifacts over time and a single Meltdown is either too slow, too symmetrical, or too likely to be countered. Shenanigans can use dredge instead of a draw, so choose dredge only when repeated artifact destruction is worth delaying fresh cards toward Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, or discard.

Artifact prison / 8-Cast / artifact-heavy tempo Side in: 3 Meltdown; 1 Shenanigans; 2 Feed the Swarm Cut: 1 Serra's Emissary; 1 Animate Dead; 1 Archon of Cruelty; 1 Collective Brutality; 1 Exhume; 1 Faithless Looting

Graveyard mirror / Dredge / Reanimator-style opponent Side in: 3 Leyline of the Void; 2 Dauthi Voidwalker; 2 Chancellor of the Annex Cut: 3 Collective Brutality; 1 Serra's Emissary; 1 Reanimate; 1 Animate Dead; 1 Faithless Looting

Creature swarm or tribal battlefield deck Side in: 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite; 2 Feed the Swarm; 2 Chancellor of the Annex Cut: 1 Exhume; 1 Serra's Emissary; 1 Collective Brutality; 1 Unmask; 1 Faithless Looting

Nonbasic mana-control target Side in: 1 Magus of the Moon; 2 Chancellor of the Annex; 2 Feed the Swarm Cut: 1 Serra's Emissary; 1 Archon of Cruelty; 1 Collective Brutality; 1 Exhume; 1 Faithless Looting

• Against blue tempo and counterspell decks, add role cards: Chancellor of the Annex when the first opposing spell tax matters, Dauthi Voidwalker when graveyard pressure or flashback-style resources are relevant, and Feed the Swarm only for visible permanent hate that must be answered at sorcery speed. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower duplicate targets and some Collective Brutality when the opposing deck has few important instants or sorceries beyond stack interaction already handled by Thoughtseize and Unmask.
• Against fast combo, add role cards: Chancellor of the Annex for pregame and reanimation-target tax pressure, Thoughtseize and Unmask remain central, and Leyline of the Void enters only when the opposing combo materially uses the graveyard. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-only stabilization targets such as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite unless the combo wins through creatures on board.
• Against artifact lock decks, add role cards: Meltdown, Shenanigans, and Feed the Swarm for artifacts, enchantments, and creature hate that prevent the graveyard plan. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Exhume when the opponent can place meaningful artifact creatures or other creatures in graveyard, and the least matchup-specific singleton reanimation targets.
• Against graveyard hate decks with Leyline of the Void, Rest in Peace-style enchantments, or creature-based hate, add role cards: Feed the Swarm for creature or enchantment hate, Dauthi Voidwalker when opposing graveyard use is also important, and Chancellor of the Annex when forcing the opponent to spend extra mana before hate resolves matters. Reduce main-deck emphasis: all-in Entomb exposure before the hate card is answered.
• Against fair creature decks, add role cards: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite when the battlefield is the axis, Feed the Swarm for disruptive creatures or enchantments, and Chancellor of the Annex when the opponent's first removal or hate spell is the key blocker. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Iona, Shield of Emeria when the opponent has multiple colors of removal or threats, and Serra's Emissary when the relevant card type is unclear from public information.
• Against nonbasic-heavy control or prison, add role cards: Magus of the Moon when the pilot can fetch Swamp or secure red mana first, Chancellor of the Annex to protect the first decisive turn, and Feed the Swarm for enchantment hate. Reduce main-deck emphasis: red flashback plans from Faithless Looting if Magus of the Moon will constrain Badlands access and the pilot lacks Lotus Petal.
• Keep the core reanimation density high unless the sideboard card directly answers a card that prevents the deck from functioning. Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Entomb, Faithless Looting, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Thoughtseize, and Unmask are the deck's speed engine; sideboarding should usually adjust target mix and narrow support before weakening the ability to present a turn-one or turn-two large creature.
• Choose target mix after seeing the opposing axis. Griselbrand remains the default engine target in most post-board games, Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the rebuild target when card type selection matters, Archon of Cruelty is the pressure-and-resource target, Serra's Emissary is for a known card-type shield, Iona, Shield of Emeria is for color-constrained opponents, and sideboard targets fill narrow battlefield or tax roles.

Matchup Guidance

• Aggro: Prioritize a fast reanimation line over incremental filtering because the opponent is trying to make life total matter before Griselbrand can stabilize. Griselbrand is still the default target when Reanimate life loss is survivable; Atraxa, Grand Unifier is better when the pilot needs a large stabilizer plus replacement resources; Archon of Cruelty is strong when one opposing creature or one card in hand matters. Add role cards: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite against small-creature battlefields, Feed the Swarm when a hate creature or enchantment must be answered, and Chancellor of the Annex when taxing the first opposing spell protects the setup turn. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow singletons whose protection or color-lock text is not clearly aligned with public information.

• Control: Lead with discard before committing Entomb or a reanimation spell whenever the hand can afford the delay. Thoughtseize and Unmask should clear permission, graveyard hate, or a removal answer that matters against Animate Dead; Collective Brutality is useful only when its visible modes line up with the opponent's hand, creature, or life-total pressure. Griselbrand is the best default because drawing into another discard spell, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, or reanimation effect can overpower one-for-one answers. Add role cards: Chancellor of the Annex for first-spell pressure, Magus of the Moon against nonbasic-dependent control when this deck can preserve Swamp or red access first, and Feed the Swarm for resolved enchantment hate. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-only stabilizers and redundant high-cost targets.

• Combo: Treat the matchup as a race plus hand-disruption check, not as a fair resource game. Thoughtseize and Unmask should take the card that allows the opponent to win before the reanimated creature attacks or draws into more disruption. Griselbrand is usually preferred because it can find another discard spell or a second reanimation line; Iona, Shield of Emeria is only preferred when public information shows the opponent is strongly constrained by one color. Add role cards: Chancellor of the Annex against fast spell-based starts and Leyline of the Void or Dauthi Voidwalker only when the opposing combo actually uses the graveyard. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and other battlefield-only cards unless the combo wins through creatures.

• Tempo: Respect that the opponent may combine a fast clock with stack interaction, so do not spend Lotus Petal or Dark Ritual on a line that loses to one known or likely answer when a discard-first line is available. Thoughtseize is usually better before Entomb if the hand already has a reanimation spell; Faithless Looting is better when the hand lacks a target or needs to convert extra large creatures into graveyard setup. Griselbrand is the default stabilizer, while Archon of Cruelty can be better when one threat and one card in hand are the opponent's whole pressure plan. Add role cards: Chancellor of the Annex and Dauthi Voidwalker when the opponent uses graveyard resources. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow duplicate setup pieces that expose the pilot to soft permission without adding a second threat.

• Midrange: Force the opponent to answer a must-answer creature before their discard, removal, and hate pieces accumulate. Griselbrand is the best snowball target when life total allows a draw burst; Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the better rebuild target after discard or removal; Archon of Cruelty is strong when the opponent is playing one creature at a time. Add role cards: Feed the Swarm for hate permanents, Dauthi Voidwalker when graveyards matter on both sides, and Magus of the Moon when nonbasic mana is the opponent's structural weakness. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Iona, Shield of Emeria if the opponent's threats and answers span multiple colors.

• Big mana: Race first and disrupt the enabler that changes the clock, because this deck normally wins before expensive battlefield plans matter. Thoughtseize and Unmask should take the opponent's fastest payoff, mana burst, or hate piece depending on visible hand contents. Griselbrand is the default target because it can chain into additional disruption; Iona, Shield of Emeria is only attractive when one color clearly contains the opponent's relevant castable spells. Add role cards: Magus of the Moon when nonbasic lands are central, Chancellor of the Annex when the opponent's first spell is pivotal, and Feed the Swarm only for visible permanent hate. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-combat stabilizers.

• Graveyard decks: Do not cast Exhume casually when the opponent can return a creature that races, answers, or invalidates this deck's target. Thoughtseize and Unmask should identify whether the opponent is faster, has graveyard hate, or can benefit from both graveyards. Add role cards: Leyline of the Void for opening-hand graveyard suppression, Dauthi Voidwalker for an on-board graveyard replacement threat, and Chancellor of the Annex when the first turn matters. Griselbrand is still the default target if the pilot can immediately convert cards into protection; Archon of Cruelty is better when forcing sacrifice or discard is tactically relevant. Reduce main-deck emphasis: some Exhume exposure and slow non-engine targets.

• Artifact/enchantment decks: Identify whether the artifact or enchantment is a lock piece, graveyard hate, mana engine, or creature threat before choosing a sideboard answer. Meltdown is for artifact clusters, Shenanigans is for repeated artifact pressure over multiple turns, and Feed the Swarm is the registered answer that can address enchantment hate or a creature that stops the plan. Do not dilute the reanimation core more than necessary; a fast Griselbrand or Atraxa, Grand Unifier can beat many artifact boards if the hate piece is removed first. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Exhume when opposing artifact creatures or graveyard creatures make it risky, and the least aligned singleton target.

• Go-wide: Stabilize with a target that changes combat immediately instead of relying on one large blocker when the opponent can attack around it. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is the sideboard target for small-creature swarms; Griselbrand is still acceptable when lifelink combat and extra cards are enough; Serra's Emissary is only correct when the relevant card type is known from public information and protects the actual losing axis. Add role cards: Feed the Swarm for disruptive permanents and Chancellor of the Annex when the opponent's first post-board hate spell is the key obstacle. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Iona, Shield of Emeria against multicolor creature decks.

• Single-threat decks: Target the opponent's narrow pressure plan with discard and choose a creature that either dominates combat or attacks their hand and board. Archon of Cruelty is strong when one creature or one card is the opponent's main resource; Griselbrand is strong when the pilot needs to draw into more disruption; Atraxa, Grand Unifier is better after both players trade resources. Add role cards: Feed the Swarm if the single threat is a creature that must be removed or if an enchantment hate piece is visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: swarm-specific cards such as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite unless the opponent can pivot wide.

• Burn: Treat Reanimate life payment as a resource with a hard survival gate, not as automatic speed. Griselbrand can stabilize if the pilot survives the payment and combat step, while Animate Dead or Exhume may be safer than Reanimate when life total is already pressured. Collective Brutality is high-value when its modes can trade with a spell, a small creature, or life-total pressure without weakening the reanimation line. Add role cards: Chancellor of the Annex when taxing the first spell matters and Feed the Swarm only for specific permanents that must be answered. Reduce main-deck emphasis: painful or slow lines when a non-Reanimate route is available.

• Removal-heavy decks: Prefer Griselbrand or Atraxa, Grand Unifier when the first creature may die, because they can replace resources before or after the exchange. Animate Dead is vulnerable to enchantment interaction and creature removal sequences, so use discard first when visible or likely answers matter. Serra's Emissary and Iona, Shield of Emeria require precise public-information alignment; do not name or choose a shield axis blindly. Add role cards: Chancellor of the Annex to tax the first answer, Dauthi Voidwalker when graveyard exchange matters, and Magus of the Moon if mana denial constrains removal colors. Reduce main-deck emphasis: all-in lines that produce one fragile creature with no follow-up.

Specific Matchup Notes

• General note: These notes are archetype-only because no exact opposing decklists are supplied, and revealed cards must override assumptions. Use Thoughtseize and Unmask to identify whether the opponent is presenting graveyard hate, stack interaction, faster pressure, or a permanent lock piece before committing Entomb, Reanimate, Exhume, or Animate Dead.

• Fast combo: Prioritize the opponent's enabler or protection spell over a slower payoff when discard sees both, because this deck can often win on the next turn if the opposing first kill attempt is broken. Griselbrand is the preferred target when it can draw into more discard or another reanimation line. Add role cards: Chancellor of the Annex and Dauthi Voidwalker. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower singleton targets that do not disrupt the opponent immediately.

• Blue permission: Lead with discard when possible, then reanimate in the same turn if mana allows, because giving the opponent another draw step increases the chance that one answer becomes two. Dark Ritual and Lotus Petal are strongest when they compress discard plus Entomb plus Reanimate or Animate Dead into one turn. Add role cards: Chancellor of the Annex and, when graveyards matter, Dauthi Voidwalker. Reduce main-deck emphasis: exposed Exhume lines if the opponent can profit from a graveyard creature.

• Graveyard hate decks: Treat the first visible hate permanent or replacement effect as the priority target unless the current hand can win before it matters. Feed the Swarm answers relevant permanent hate within its legal target range, while Meltdown and Shenanigans are for artifact-based obstruction or artifact-heavy boards. Add role cards: Feed the Swarm, Meltdown, Shenanigans, and Dauthi Voidwalker as appropriate to the revealed hate type. Reduce main-deck emphasis: all-in Entomb lines without an answer already available.

• Creature swarms: Choose a target that changes the battlefield immediately rather than a target that only draws cards if the pilot is already under lethal pressure. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is the sideboard reanimation target for small-creature boards, while Griselbrand can stabilize when lifelink combat and extra cards are enough. Add role cards: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and Feed the Swarm. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Iona, Shield of Emeria against multicolor creature pressure.

• Artifact mana or artifact prison: Remove the artifact cluster before spending the only reanimation window if the artifact board prevents the creature from mattering. Meltdown is the burst answer to multiple artifacts, while Shenanigans is the repeat-pressure answer when the game will extend. Add role cards: Meltdown and Shenanigans, with Feed the Swarm only for nonartifact permanent problems it can legally answer. Reduce main-deck emphasis: fragile one-threat lines that lose to a still-active lock piece.

• Fair black or red removal: Prefer Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Archon of Cruelty depending on whether the game is about drawing through answers, rebuilding resources, or attacking one card and one creature. Animate Dead exposes the plan to both creature removal and enchantment interaction, so discard first when the opponent's hand is unknown and time permits. Add role cards: Chancellor of the Annex, Feed the Swarm for hate permanents, and Magus of the Moon when nonbasic mana is the opponent's weak point. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow shield targets chosen without public information.

Risk Summary

• Mana risk: The deck has few lands and depends heavily on Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Badlands, and Swamp to assemble black mana on time. Mulligans and sequencing must respect that Faithless Looting needs red access, while most reanimation, discard, and setup lines require black mana immediately.

• Matchup risk: The deck is powerful but narrow, so opponents with fast clocks plus disruption can punish any hand that has only setup or only payoff. Thoughtseize and Unmask must identify whether the matchup is a race, a hate-piece fight, or a stack-interaction fight before the pilot spends its graveyard enabler.

• Draw risk: Griselbrand and Faithless Looting can convert cards into velocity, but hands with too many large creatures and no discard outlet or Entomb can stall. Atraxa, Grand Unifier is a strong rebuild target, but it should not be treated as a guaranteed immediate kill.

• Over-sideboarding risk: Sideboarding too many Meltdown, Leyline of the Void, Feed the Swarm, Dauthi Voidwalker, Chancellor of the Annex, Magus of the Moon, Shenanigans, or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite can reduce the density of Entomb plus reanimation starts. Keep the core plan intact unless revealed cards prove that a specific hate axis must be answered.

• Graveyard risk: Exhume is symmetrical and can help the opponent if their graveyard contains a relevant creature. Leyline of the Void and Dauthi Voidwalker can change graveyard texture post-board, but they also require opening-hand or battlefield timing discipline.

• Sweeper/removal risk: A single reanimated creature can lose to removal, bounce, sacrifice effects, or enchantment interaction with Animate Dead. Use discard before committing when the opponent is likely to hold an answer, and prefer resource-generating targets when the first creature may not survive.

• Closer risk: Serra's Emissary and Iona, Shield of Emeria are high-impact only when the chosen axis is known from public information and actually blocks the opponent's relevant actions. Default to Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Archon of Cruelty when the opponent's colors, card types, or answer mix are uncertain.

• Interaction risk: Collective Brutality is flexible but can weaken the reanimation plan if it discards the wrong card or spends too many resources for a low-impact exchange. Use it to bridge discard, removal, and life pressure only when the selected modes advance the current plan.

• Sequencing risk: Entomb before discard can expose the exact plan, while discard before Entomb can miss a chance to act before the opponent draws or deploys hate. Choose the order from visible mana, current hand redundancy, opponent hand knowledge, and whether the pilot can reanimate in the same turn.

Test Feedback Checklist

• Deciding factor: Record whether the match was decided by speed, graveyard access, hand disruption, mana, a hate permanent, stack interaction, or the first reanimated creature failing to close. Tie the answer to the exact cards involved, such as Entomb, Faithless Looting, Reanimate, Exhume, Animate Dead, Thoughtseize, Unmask, or Collective Brutality.

• Mulligans: Identify each keep that lacked one of three essentials: a graveyard enabler, a reanimation spell, or black mana from Swamp, Badlands, Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Lotus Petal, or Dark Ritual. Mark whether the hand was kept because it had disruption, velocity, or a sideboard card, and whether that reason actually mattered.

• Mana: Check whether Dark Ritual and Lotus Petal produced a compressed winning turn or were stranded by color, sequencing, or missing payoff. Note any game where Faithless Looting required red access but the hand only functioned as a black-mana hand.

• Velocity: Track whether Faithless Looting, Griselbrand, and Atraxa, Grand Unifier converted into a second wave after the first threat. If the deck drew cards but failed to produce a legal reanimation line, record whether the bottleneck was creature density, graveyard access, reanimation spell count, or mana.

• Engine execution: Record whether Entomb selected the correct target for the revealed matchup and board state. Flag cases where Griselbrand was chosen but immediate cards were less important than a lock-style creature, or where Serra's Emissary or Iona, Shield of Emeria was chosen without enough public information to justify the protected axis.

• Disruption timing: Review whether Thoughtseize, Unmask, and Collective Brutality were used before the commitment turn when the opponent had unknown interaction. Mark any game where discard was spent on a lower-impact card while a visible hate piece, permission spell, or faster kill remained the real constraint.

• Removal and utility: Note whether Collective Brutality, Feed the Swarm, Meltdown, and Shenanigans answered the problem they were brought to solve. Separate failures caused by missing the answer from failures caused by drawing the answer after the legal window had passed.

• Sideboard impact: Record which sideboard cards were drawn, cast, or stranded: Meltdown, Leyline of the Void, Feed the Swarm, Dauthi Voidwalker, Chancellor of the Annex, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Magus of the Moon, and Shenanigans. Mark whether sideboarding reduced the main plan so much that Entomb plus reanimation density fell below functional levels.

• Closing: Track whether Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite ended the game from the position where it was chosen. If the opponent stabilized, record whether the failure was removal, racing, blockers, graveyard hate, or insufficient follow-up.

• Role assignment: After each match, state whether Reanimator was the faster combo deck, the disruption deck, or the answer-seeking deck. Flag mistakes where the pilot played for a long game with a hand built to race, or raced into a known answer when discard or Feed the Swarm was available.

• Stranded cards: List every card stranded in hand for two or more turns and why it was stranded. Common categories are uncastable large creatures, excess Exhume without a safe graveyard texture, Animate Dead exposed to removal, or sideboard cards with no legal target.

• Over/underperformers: Name exact cards that exceeded or missed expectations in the match. Prioritize repeat patterns over single-game variance, especially for Collective Brutality, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Magus of the Moon, and Chancellor of the Annex.

First Tuning Questions

• Reanimation density: Is the full set of Reanimate, Exhume, and Animate Dead producing too many redundant spells, or is the deck still losing because the first reanimation attempt is answered? If redundancy is excessive, test whether the weak point is actually target quality or protection timing before reducing engine cards.

• Target mix: Are Griselbrand and Atraxa, Grand Unifier enough as default resource targets, or does the deck need more copies of a battlefield-swinging target like Archon of Cruelty or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite? If Serra's Emissary or Iona, Shield of Emeria is often chosen incorrectly, consider whether those slots are too matchup-dependent for current pilot accuracy.

• Discard balance: Are Thoughtseize, Unmask, and Collective Brutality creating enough protected commitment turns, or are they leaving the deck too low on cards after a failed reanimation attempt? If Unmask is strong only with redundant black cards, track how often it consumes the only reanimation target or necessary follow-up.

• Mana configuration: Are Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Badlands, Swamp, Lotus Petal, and Dark Ritual enough to support both black-heavy starts and Faithless Looting turns? If red access is late too often, evaluate whether the fetchable mana mix is the failure rather than the spell package.

• Aggro plan: Against creature pressure, is Griselbrand lifelink stabilizing often enough, or is Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite needed more frequently as a reanimation target? If small-creature boards remain a problem, decide whether the sideboard wants more board-impact targets or more early interaction.

• Control plan: Against discard-resistant or permission-heavy opponents, is Chancellor of the Annex meaningfully protecting the first turn, or would more resilient follow-up threats be better? Track whether losses happen before the first creature resolves or after it resolves and is answered.

• Hate plan: Are Feed the Swarm, Meltdown, Shenanigans, Dauthi Voidwalker, and Leyline of the Void covering the actual hate being faced? If artifact hate is common, compare Meltdown's burst role against Shenanigans's repeat role; if permanent hate is varied, check whether Feed the Swarm is too few.

• Closer conflict: Are Magus of the Moon, Leyline of the Void, and Dauthi Voidwalker helping specific matchups without pulling the deck away from Entomb plus reanimation? If fair-plan sideboard cards win slowly, track whether they buy enough time for the core engine or merely create a weaker midrange deck.

• Quantity pressure: Which card is most often the fourth copy too many or the singleton too narrow: Collective Brutality, Faithless Looting, Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Serra's Emissary, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Meltdown, or Chancellor of the Annex? Tune only after repeated logs show the same failure mode.

Veles Tactical Policy

Policy: Opening Hand Engine Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: mulligan
• Cards: Entomb; Faithless Looting; Reanimate; Exhume; Animate Dead; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Dark Ritual; Lotus Petal; Thoughtseize; Unmask
• Phase windows: pregame
• Runtime cues: opening hand; mulligan decision
• Use when: deciding whether the hand can produce a protected or redundant reanimation line by turn one or two.
• Avoid when: keeping a hand with only large creatures and no discard outlet, no Entomb, and no reanimation spell.
• Instructions: Keep hands with mana, graveyard access, and reanimation; value discard protection against unknown blue or fast combo opponents. Faithless Looting hands need red access or enough black action to function without it.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 2
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Early Mana Setup

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana
• Cards: Polluted Delta; Bloodstained Mire; Badlands; Swamp; Lotus Petal; Dark Ritual; Faithless Looting; Entomb; Thoughtseize; Reanimate; Animate Dead; Exhume
• Phase windows: precombat main; opponent end step
• Runtime cues: land play; mana ability; fetch action
• Use when: choosing first land, fetch target, or fast mana sequence.
• Avoid when: sacrificing Lotus Petal before the line needs its color.
• Instructions: Fetch Swamp when black is enough and life matters; fetch Badlands when Faithless Looting or sideboard red cards are part of the visible line. Spend Dark Ritual on same-turn discard plus Entomb plus reanimation, not on isolated setup that leaves no payoff.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 2
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: First Graveyard Enabler

• Priority: High
• Decision families: selection; priority
• Cards: Entomb; Faithless Looting; Collective Brutality; Unmask; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Serra's Emissary; Iona, Shield of Emeria
• Phase windows: precombat main; opponent end step
• Runtime cues: action:cast Entomb; action:cast Faithless Looting; action:cast Collective Brutality
• Use when: the deck needs the first creature in its graveyard.
• Avoid when: public graveyard hate prevents the creature from remaining available for the selected reanimation spell.
• Instructions: Entomb is the clean setup card; Faithless Looting and Collective Brutality can discard drawn targets. Default to Griselbrand for cards and lifelink unless public information points to Atraxa, Grand Unifier for recovery, Archon of Cruelty for board pressure, Serra's Emissary for a known damage axis, or Iona, Shield of Emeria for a known color lock.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 2
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Target Self With Entomb After Commitment

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: selection
• Cards: Entomb; Griselbrand
• Phase windows: opponent end step; precombat main
• Runtime cues: action:target self Griselbrand
• Use when: Entomb is resolving, Griselbrand is a legal library search or target choice in visible action text, and the selected plan already committed to Griselbrand.
• Avoid when: the selected plan names Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Serra's Emissary; Iona, Shield of Emeria; or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite instead.
• Instructions: Choose the visible self Griselbrand target action exactly when the prior commitment selected Griselbrand as the reanimation target.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 1
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Reanimation Commitment Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority; interaction
• Cards: Reanimate; Exhume; Animate Dead; Thoughtseize; Unmask; Collective Brutality; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Serra's Emissary; Iona, Shield of Emeria
• Phase windows: precombat main; postcombat main
• Runtime cues: action:cast Reanimate; action:cast Exhume; action:cast Animate Dead
• Use when: choosing whether to start the first reanimation attempt.
• Avoid when: known opposing hand, battlefield, or graveyard state shows an answer that should be stripped or answered first.
• Instructions: Lead with Thoughtseize, Unmask, or Collective Brutality before committing when the opponent may have permission, graveyard hate, or instant-speed removal. Prefer same-turn commitment when waiting exposes the graveyard creature or gives the opponent a draw step to find hate.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 3
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Cast Reanimate On Selected Creature

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority
• Cards: Reanimate; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Serra's Emissary; Iona, Shield of Emeria; Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• Phase windows: precombat main
• Runtime cues: action:cast Reanimate
• Use when: Reanimate is legal, the selected creature card is in a graveyard, and life total remains above the selected creature card's mana value plus expected visible damage this turn.
• Avoid when: Reanimate life loss makes visible lethal damage possible before Griselbrand lifelink or another stabilizing effect can matter.
• Instructions: Use Reanimate for the fastest kill or recovery line; account for life loss as a real cost, especially after Thoughtseize and fetchlands.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 2
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Cast Exhume Only With Graveyard Texture Checked

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority; interaction
• Cards: Exhume; Entomb; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Serra's Emissary; Iona, Shield of Emeria; Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• Phase windows: precombat main
• Runtime cues: action:cast Exhume
• Use when: Exhume is legal and the opponent has no creature card in graveyard that visibly races, answers, or invalidates the selected threat.
• Avoid when: the opponent graveyard contains a creature that creates a worse battlefield than waiting or using Reanimate or Animate Dead.
• Instructions: Treat Exhume as symmetrical; check both graveyards before choosing it. If the opponent gains a creature, make sure your reanimated creature still wins the exchange.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 3
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Animate Dead Exposure Check

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority; interaction
• Cards: Animate Dead; Thoughtseize; Unmask; Collective Brutality; Feed the Swarm
• Phase windows: precombat main; postcombat main
• Runtime cues: action:cast Animate Dead
• Use when: Animate Dead is the available reanimation spell and the target creature is worth exposing to enchantment removal.
• Avoid when: visible or known enchantment interaction will remove Animate Dead before the creature produces value.
• Instructions: Prefer discard before Animate Dead when the opponent may answer the Aura. Use it confidently when the target has immediate impact or the opponent is constrained on mana.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 3
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Hidden Hand Disruption Before Combo

• Priority: High
• Decision families: interaction; selection
• Cards: Thoughtseize; Unmask; Collective Brutality
• Phase windows: precombat main
• Runtime cues: action:cast Thoughtseize; action:cast Unmask; action:cast Collective Brutality
• Use when: the opponent has unknown hand cards and the turn can support disruption before reanimation.
• Avoid when: spending the disruption card removes the only black card, discard outlet, mana, or reanimation spell needed for the turn.
• Instructions: Take the card that stops the current line, not the card with the highest generic power. Prioritize permission, graveyard hate, instant-speed removal for Animate Dead, and faster combo pieces.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 3
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Unmask Pitch Discipline

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: interaction; selection
• Cards: Unmask; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Serra's Emissary; Iona, Shield of Emeria; Reanimate; Exhume; Animate Dead
• Phase windows: precombat main
• Runtime cues: action:cast Unmask
• Use when: Unmask protects a same-turn or next-turn reanimation attempt.
• Avoid when: exiling the only reanimation target, only reanimation spell, or only card that keeps the hand functional.
• Instructions: Pitch redundant black cards first. Do not exile the sole large creature unless Entomb or Faithless Looting already supplies another legal target path.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 3
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Collective Brutality Mode Commitment

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: interaction; selection
• Cards: Collective Brutality; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Serra's Emissary; Iona, Shield of Emeria
• Phase windows: precombat main
• Runtime cues: action:cast Collective Brutality
• Use when: Collective Brutality can both discard a reanimation target and disrupt a relevant instant or sorcery, kill a small creature, or buffer life.
• Avoid when: escalating discards required engine pieces without a reanimation spell ready.
• Instructions: Use escalation to convert stranded large creatures into graveyard resources. Choose modes from visible legal text and public needs; do not assume a mode hits an unknown permanent type.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 3
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Griselbrand Draw Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority; selection
• Cards: Griselbrand; Reanimate; Faithless Looting; Lotus Petal; Dark Ritual
• Phase windows: precombat main; combat; end step; opponent turn
• Runtime cues: action:activate Griselbrand
• Use when: paying 7 life is legal and the cards are needed to find protection, another reanimation spell, mana, or a closing line.
• Avoid when: paying 7 life exposes visible lethal before lifelink combat or before the next priority window.
• Instructions: Activate aggressively when the first threat must snowball through interaction; hold when attacking with lifelink first changes the life math.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 3
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Attack With Reanimated Lifelink Threat

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: combat
• Cards: Griselbrand; Archon of Cruelty; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• Phase windows: beginning of combat; declare attackers
• Runtime cues: action:attack
• Use when: attacking advances lethal, stabilizes life, or triggers the selected threat without losing to visible crackback.
• Avoid when: the creature must remain untapped to block a visible lethal attack or when public effects make attacking illegal or ineffective.
• Instructions: Griselbrand attacks are often stabilization, not only damage. Archon of Cruelty pressure is valuable when repeated attacks compound sacrifice, discard, and life swing.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 2
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Block To Preserve The Engine

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: combat
• Cards: Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Serra's Emissary; Iona, Shield of Emeria; Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• Phase windows: declare blockers
• Runtime cues: action:block
• Use when: blocking prevents lethal damage or preserves enough life to use Griselbrand or Reanimate later.
• Avoid when: trading the only reanimated threat for a nonlethal attacker lets the opponent escape the lock or race.
• Instructions: Preserve dominant threats unless life total forces a block. Do not assume damage shrinks creatures; evaluate lethal damage and combat rules from engine output.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 2
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Anti-Hate Sideboard Entry

• Priority: High
• Decision families: sideboard
• Cards: Feed the Swarm; Meltdown; Shenanigans; Magus of the Moon; Dauthi Voidwalker; Leyline of the Void; Chancellor of the Annex; Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• Phase windows: sideboard
• Runtime cues: sideboarding decision
• Use when: post-game public information shows graveyard hate, artifact hate targets, faster graveyard decks, low-resource blue decks, or creature swarms.
• Avoid when: adding answers lowers reanimation density below a functional plan.
• Instructions: Add Feed the Swarm for enchantment or creature hate, Meltdown for artifact-heavy hate and mana, Shenanigans for repeat artifact pressure, Leyline of the Void and Dauthi Voidwalker for graveyard mirrors, Chancellor of the Annex for early protection, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite for creature boards, and Magus of the Moon for vulnerable mana bases.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 3
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Leyline Pregame Reveal

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: pregame; sideboard
• Cards: Leyline of the Void
• Phase windows: pregame
• Runtime cues: action:begin game with Leyline of the Void
• Use when: Leyline of the Void is in opening hand and the engine presents a legal pregame placement action.
• Avoid when: no legal pregame action is offered.
• Instructions: Put Leyline of the Void onto the battlefield only through the legal pregame action. Do not treat drawn later copies as free permanents.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 1
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Answer Resolved Hate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: interaction; priority
• Cards: Feed the Swarm; Meltdown; Shenanigans; Dauthi Voidwalker; Leyline of the Void
• Phase windows: precombat main; postcombat main
• Runtime cues: action:cast Feed the Swarm; action:cast Meltdown; action:cast Shenanigans
• Use when: a resolved permanent prevents graveyard setup, reanimation, or mana execution.
• Avoid when: the answer does not legally affect the hate permanent shown by the rules engine.
• Instructions: Use Feed the Swarm for legal creature or enchantment targets; use Meltdown for artifact clusters; use Shenanigans for recurring artifact pressure. Graveyard hate must be removed before committing Entomb or reanimation into it.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 3
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Lock Creature Selection

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: selection
• Cards: Serra's Emissary; Iona, Shield of Emeria; Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite; Archon of Cruelty; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier
• Phase windows: precombat main; opponent end step
• Runtime cues: reanimation target selection; Entomb selection
• Use when: the matchup or visible battlefield makes a lock or sweeper body better than raw cards.
• Avoid when: public information does not identify the damage type, color, or creature-board axis needed for the lock target.
• Instructions: Choose Serra's Emissary only with enough information to name a relevant protection axis through legal prompts. Choose Iona, Shield of Emeria only when a color restriction is tactically justified. Choose Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite for creature boards when it is available from sideboarded configuration.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 4
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Preserve Legal Runtime Boundaries

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority; selection; interaction
• Cards: none
• Phase windows: all phases
• Runtime cues: legal action list; target prompt; mode prompt
• Use when: generated strategy text and engine legal actions appear to conflict.
• Avoid when: choosing actions not present in the legal action list.
• Instructions: Follow rules-engine legal actions, visible board state, public zones, and prompt wording. Do not invent hidden cards, unlisted targets, unoffered modes, or certainty about opponent hand contents.
• Pilot skill floor: Level 1
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes