Dragon's Maze: Junk Reanimator

Junk Reanimator -  PTQ Theros: Maitland, Fl

Creatures (26):

4x Arbor Elf
4x Avacyn's Pilgrim
2x Fiend Hunter
3x Sin Collector
4x Restoration Angel
3x Acidic Slime
3x Thragtusk
3x Angel of Serenity

Spells (11):
4x Unburial Rites
4x Grisly Salvage
3x Mulch

Lands (23):
4x Temple Garden
4x Overgrown Tomb
3x Godless Shrine
2x Isolated Chapel
2x Woodland Cemetery
2x Sunpetal Grove
2x Cavern of Souls
4x Forest

Sideboard (15):
2x Deathrite Shaman
3x Voice of Resurgence
2x Obzedat, Ghost Council
1x Abrupt Decay
1x Gaze of Granite
1x Garruk Relentless
1x Thragtusk
1x Ray of Revelation
2x Sever the Bloodline
1x Acidic Slime

This was my Junk Reanimator list I took to PTQ Theros in Maitland, Fl in 2013 shortly after the release of Dragon's Maze. This list full of mana accelerating creatures would ramp into an early Thragtusk to fight against aggressive decks or an early Acidic Slime to punish decks that ran 3 or more colors, which was common in the Standard Metagame of its time. Shortly before this PTQ, Junk Reanimator was heralded as the 'best' deck in the format with multiple angles of attack and was relatively difficult to sideboard against. The Sideboard is versatile and contains extra removal spells for the aggro matchup, difficult-to-kill win conditions like Obzedat, Ghost Council and the newly printed Voice of Resurgence to prevent opponents from interacting with your spells on your turn. Furthermore, Ray of Revelation and Gaze of Granite are both nods to Junk Reanimator's most difficult matchup, Bant Hexproof.

In hindsight, the rise of aggro decks and decline of Sphinx's Revelation decks would warrant decreasing the number of Sin Collectors and increasing the number of Fiend Hunters and Garruk Relentless because they are both removal for the aggro matchups and are also good against other Junk Reanimator decks. Because of the rise of Junk Reanimator at this PTQ, switching back to a version of the deck that ran both Lingering Souls and Craterhoof Behemoth also would have been sufficient enough to break through the grindy midrange mirrors.

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-David J.