Reanimator Fine Tuning Advice

[adpro76]

I have just recently started playing again after about a five year hiatus, so its hard for me to say what the metagame is in my area. But, from what I can tell, every constructed tournament in the area is Type II. One local shop got their hands on a played Timetwister and has decided to shake things up and have a Type I tournament with that as the grand prize.

Since I just started playing again and don't have a lot of cards anymore, I'm building on a budget. This is what I've come up with so far:

9 Island
1 Strip Mine
8 Swamp
2 City of Brass
1 Chrome Mox
1 Lotus Petal
3 Mana Leak
2 Shadow Rift
4 Counterspell
4 Careful Study
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Reanimate
2 Exhume
4 Dark Ritual
4 Buried Alive
4 Leveler
2 Sutured Ghoul
1 Dark Hatchling
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Aven Cloudchaser
1 Viridian Shaman

The idea is to get a 20/20 Sutured Ghoul out early and kill my opponent in one shot. If the combo is delayed a few rounds, then I'll use a Shadowrift (or infiltrate, but you don't get to draw a card) to make the ghoul unblockable.

I want to know how I can make the deck tighter, but please keep in mind that I'm working on a budget, so there's no need to point out that I need four Underground Seas and the Power 9.

I have the Dark Hatchling, Avalanche Riders, Aven Cloudchaser and Viridian Shaman in to deal with misclleaneous problems that come up, and I was planning on having more in the sideboard. Should they all be relegated to the sideboard?

I worry about getting run over by an aggro or a weenie deck. Should I add defenses like Propaganda, or should that be a sideboard card?

When testing the deck solitaire I've gotten the 20/20 Sutured Ghoul out on or before Turn 3 quite a bit (even turn one a couple of times) which makes me think I don't need to worry too much about defense, but then again....

Anyway, since I haven't played in a tournament in so long I thought I would seek the advice of some more experienced players. Any help is appreciated.

thanks

[One-of-chaos]

run krosan cloudscaper over leveler

[No_Limitz]

using hermit druid is better and easier.
If you're afraid of being decked put a DSC in the deck and a constant discard engine.
4 duress is a must in any fragile deck.

[Engine_number_9]

Counterspell is not the way to go in this deck. Especially if you don't have acces to either Seas or fetches. You'll have to cut these. Instead add Force of Wills. These do not require open UU on your opponent's turn.
So as protection for the ghoul I suggest:

4 duress
4 FoW

Another thing I think you should test is running brainstorms or impulse. Brainstorms if you have acces to 4 or more fetches, if not run impulse. This will smoothen out your draws a lot.
As draw/search:
4 BS / impulse
1 D tutor
1 V tutor
1 M tutor

If you add DSC as way not to deck yourself I think that Tinker could be a solid card in this deck aswell.

In your side board you might consider running a few BtB since you have no duals.

[moses]

if your really worried about weenie decks, run verdant force. He makes quick little tokens and he is a 7/7 to boot. I would also agree on going the path of the hermit druid. It is much quicker, easier and I would think more consistant.

You also might think about adding platinum angel. Granted she is only a 4/4 and wouldnt be very useful for the ghoul she still makes it so you cant lose the game, which is very helpful against some combo.

You may also want to think about dragon's breath. This would give you a hasted ghoul if you could manage to get it your yard.

Also cabal theorpy is an excellant card chioce to help protect your ghoul.

That would be my 2 cents on things.

[adpro76]

I'm working on some different builds. thank you for your suggestions. I think I will definately include Duress in the deck for disruption instead of just relying on counters.

A couple of people mentioned hermit druid might be more reliable and efficient, but I don't see how. With a dark ritual I can get the ghoul and two levelers in the graveyard on turn one and reanimate on turn two. Or turn one with the lotus petal or a chrome mox (I've added a second chrome mox). How does the hermit druid top that?

FoW was another good suggestion and if I had them, they would definately be in. But unfortunately I don't, and probably won't by the time the tournament rolls around in two weeks. I also liked the suggestion of using brainstorms instead of careful study and it tested well. I may post a revised build by the weekend. Please keep the suggestions coming, they are helpful and appreciated.

[Engine_number_9]

Adding another Chrome Mox is a rather bad idea, as it is restricted. About the druid I think that if it doesnt show that it is much more realible in testing then stick to your current build. The reasoning behind not running druid is that there are a lot of lava darts around atm.

[adpro76]

I finally figured out what makes the hermit druid so powerful. You have to build the deck with all nonbasic lands save for a few. Then the druid lets you drop most of your library into your yard in one shot.

Here's the latest build:

sutured ghoul reanimator
4 Mana Leak
4 Duress
2 Exhaustion
3 Peer Through Depths
3 Careful Study
1 Shadow Rift
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Reanimate
2 Exhume
4 Buried Alive
4 Leveler
2 Sutured Ghoul
1 Chrome Mox
1 Lotus Petal
4 Dark Ritual
2 City of Brass
8 Island
1 Strip Mine
8 Swamp
SB: 2 Propaganda
SB: 2 Pestilence
SB: 3 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Annul
SB: 1 Viridian Shaman
SB: 1 Aven Cloudchaser
SB: 1 Dark Hatchling
SB: 2 Black Knight
SB: 1 Wrath of Marit Lage