Esper Reanimator
Modern keeps giving us more toys and decks to play with. This time it’s Innistrad Midnight Hunt that has brought the final piece of the puzzle to complete a shell that tried to break through – Esper Reanimator.
In the past, people brewed around Gifts Ungiven, Unburial Rites, and some pay-off usually Iona, Shield of Emeria or Elesh Norn. The main idea was to find the Rights and one of the payoffs with Gifts, they’d be automatically ditched into the graveyard, and you could use Rights flashback to cast it and return the payoff. It was played in an otherwise controlly shell to make sure you can stay alive before you execute the combo. However, the current Modern reality wouldn’t allow such a simple, one-dimensional gameplan to work.
Modern Horizons 2 brought a lot of new Reanimator tools to the party – Unmarked Grave, Persist, and Archon of Cruelty. Grave has the restriction that the creature cannot be legendary which makes it impossible to find the obvious bombs such as Griselbrand, Iona, or Elesh Norn. However, Archon seems to be good enough for those shells. Unfortunately, it still left a bit to be desired.
Enter Innistrad Midnight Hunt. There was one card which most people were hyped about for Arclight Phoenix decks, but it completely reanimated this Esper deck – Faithful Mending. The life gain bit gives you a nice stabilisation mechanism, but the true heros are Instant Speed and Flashback. If you ever draw too many of the wrong effects, you can loot them away.
What this deck does is pair the reanimation package with very strong Esper control elements such as Counterspell, Prismatic Ending, and Teferi, Time Raveler. It allows it make sure nothing bad happens. It also lets you defend your own combo with countermagic. Last – some people might not see the combo coming until it’s too late.
This deck has also reinvigorated Mulldrifter in Modern. The card often mocked and laughed at for being a Pauper staple now is making waves here. It can turn your otherwise average Persists into 2 mana draw 2 which is a very strong grinding tool.
Do you want to play Esper Control with a combo finish? Play Mulldrifter and friends.
