Introduction
This deck was made because it has a personal meaning to Mr Hills (me) . This was one of the decks used when I played competitively, and I have made them again so other people can experience what MTG was like at the time, and can share my passion for the game.
This deck list specifically was taken from Raphael Levy, and was played during the Pro Tour Standard Tournament in 2012.
Key Strategy
The Frites Reanimator Ramp deck is designed to exploit the power of reanimating high-impact creatures by filling your graveyard with them and then bringing them back with Unburial Rites. The deck blends ramping and graveyard strategies to ensure that you can deploy game-changing threats early and effectively.
Early Game Setup
The early game focuses on ramping your mana to enable quick deployment of your big threats. Cards like Avacyn's Pilgrim, Birds of Paradise, and Llanowar Elves provide the mana acceleration needed to cast your heavy hitters faster. With this acceleration, you can potentially cast Unburial Rites from your hand on a powerful target as early as turn 4, or use its flashback ability to reanimate a creature as early as turn 3 if you’ve discarded it.
Graveyard Filling
The deck employs various methods to fill your graveyard with key creatures:
Trackers Instincts and Mulch are crucial for milling cards into your graveyard. These cards help you find and discard high-impact creatures.
Faithless Looting provides additional card filtering, allowing you to discard big creatures you want to reanimate while drawing cards to find your other key pieces.
Reanimation Targets
The primary reanimation targets are:
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite: This powerful creature can decimate your opponent's board by reducing their creatures' power and toughness while boosting your own.
Inferno Titan: A versatile threat that can deal damage directly to creatures or players, helping you clear the way or close out the game.
Wurmcoil Engine: Offers both a large presence on the board and valuable life gain through its lifelink and deathtouch abilities.
Additional potential reanimation targets from the sideboard include Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, which can further disrupt your opponent’s hand and provide card advantage.
Flashback Synergy
Unburial Rites is a key card in your strategy, benefiting from its flashback ability. Casting Unburial Rites from the graveyard is significantly cheaper, allowing you to reanimate creatures more efficiently. This is crucial for accelerating your game plan and maximizing your resources.
Defensive and Utility Cards
To protect your game plan and manage threats:
Lingering Souls provides chump blockers and can be flashbacked for additional value.
Path to Exile (if included) helps deal with troublesome creatures that might interfere with your strategy.
Closing the Game
The deck aims to quickly deploy its big threats and use them to overwhelm your opponent. By reanimating powerful creatures like Elesh Norn or Inferno Titan, you can shift the game in your favor and close out matches efficiently.
Key Cards
Cards to look for in the opening hand