Chapter I
The Design
what this deck wants
A BGR reanimator/big-creature midrange deck fronted by Eddie Brock // Venom, Lethal Protector. Eddie's ETB reanimates a 1-or-less creature, but the real engine is the graveyard-and-ramp shell: dump fatties like Worldspine Wurm, Ghalta, Etali, and Protean Hulk into the yard and cheat them onto the battlefield with Reanimate, Animate Dead, Persist, Sneak Attack, or Junji. Once a giant is down, you win with combat damage, ETB burn from Terror of the Peaks/Warstorm Surge, or the Aggravated Assault infinite-combat lines with Old Gnawbone or Selvala.
Card Draw
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Chapter II
Vital Signs
power, speed, and what the deck is made of
- Power
- 7.8 / 10
- Above its bracket · bracket 4
- Speed
- fast
- threatening by turn 3–4
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Lands
- 35
- of 100
- Avg. MV
- 3.68
- nonland
- Spells
- 65
- nonland
Power is the Analysis tab’s score. The six deck-health scores below are the same ones the deck page and the Familiar use.
Deck health · the same six scores as the deck page
Computed from deck data
Chapter III
The Arsenal
the cards that carry the deck
The commander: ETB reanimates a 1-or-less creature (rebuy a dork or utility body), and the Venom flip gives a payoff — but the deck is really a reanimator shell that happens to be in his colors.
The combo engine: pairs with Old Gnawbone or Selvala for infinite combats, or just doubles up your fatties for lethal.
Unconditional tutor that finds Aggravated Assault, a combo piece, or a reanimation spell as needed.
Sacrifice a fatty for a fistful of cards, then Reanimate it — the deck's main refuel engine given only 3 dedicated draw.
Ramp, card draw, and the second Aggravated Assault combo half — scales with your huge creatures.
Combo half with Aggravated Assault and a standalone Treasure engine that ramps hard the turn it lands.
Computed from deck data
Chapter IV
Sequence
how the game unfolds
EARLY (T1–3): land plus a dork — Birds of Paradise, Ignoble Hierarch, Delighted Halfling, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, or a Farseek/Nature's Lore/Three Visits fetch. Set up the yard with Entomb, a self-mill, or just discarding value. MID (T4–6): fire a reanimation spell (Reanimate, Animate Dead, Persist) or a ramp payoff (Selvala, Goreclaw) to land a threat well ahead of curve; Sneak Attack flickers fatties in for a swing. Cast Eddie to rebuy a small utility creature and set up the Venom flip. LATE: convert a stuck board into a win — Aggravated Assault with Old Gnawbone or Selvala for infinite combats, or just beat down with a reanimated Worldspine Wurm/Ghalta backed by Terror of the Peaks and Warstorm Surge burn.
Ramp 12, repeatable and strong: mana dorks (Birds of Paradise, Ignoble Hierarch, Delighted Halfling, Fanatic of Rhonas, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds), rocks (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Talisman of Resilience, The Soul Stone), and land-fetch (Farseek, Nature's Lore, Three Visits) — every one makes future turns bigger and helps hit color-hungry BGR. Burst mana 3, one-shot: Dark Ritual, Jeska's Will, and Old Gnawbone's Treasures spike a single explosive turn. The curve is barbell-shaped: 27 cards at 1–3 CMC (all your ramp and enablers) and 14 cards at 6+ (the fatties you're cheating out), so you almost never hardcast the top end — ramp fuels reanimation, not fair casting. Gas comes from Selvala, Greater Good, Vaultborn Tyrant, and tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Worldly Tutor, Sylvan Tutor, Fierce Empath, Burning-Rune Demon).
Ramp
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Chapter V
The Opening
what to keep, what to ship
Keep 2–4 lands with at least one accelerant (a dork or Sol Ring/Arcane Signet) AND a way to use it — either a reanimation spell (Reanimate/Animate Dead/Persist) with a fat target or a graveyard-filler (Entomb), or a tutor to find one. A hand of only fatties with no ramp and no reanimation is a mulligan — you can't hardcast 7–11 drops on time. Ship all-land and no-land hands; three lands + a dork + Demonic Tutor or Entomb is a snap keep.
Ramp
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Chapter VI
The Close
how it ends
- Reanimate a giant — Reanimate, Animate Dead, Persist, or Junji put Worldspine Wurm, Ghalta, or Vaultborn Tyrant onto the battlefield years early, then swing (buff/haste from Goreclaw, Rhythm of the Wild, Lightning Greaves).
- Infinite combats — Aggravated Assault + Old Gnawbone or Selvala, Heart of the Wilds untaps and attacks forever, ending with a large trampler.
- ETB burn — Terror of the Peaks and Warstorm Surge deal damage equal to power whenever a big creature enters; reanimating/flickering fatties pings the table down.
- Sneak Attack into fatties for repeated hasty alpha strikes, or Etali, Primal Conqueror flipping to close the game.
Utility
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Chapter VII
Assemblies
pieces that lock together
Aggravated Assault + Old Gnawbone → infinite combat phases, infinite Treasure/mana, infinite untaps
- Have Old Gnawbone on the battlefield and attack with creatures.
- Combat damage triggers Old Gnawbone, generating Treasure tokens (2 per attacker that deals combat damage).
- After combat, pay {5} to activate Aggravated Assault for an additional combat phase using the Treasures.
- Attack again — more Old Gnawbone Treasures than the {5} cost, so repeat indefinitely.
- Loop for infinite combats and mana, then close with a trampling fatty.
Aggravated Assault + Selvala, Heart of the Wilds → infinite combat phases and infinite mana/untaps
- Resolve Aggravated Assault and have Selvala, Heart of the Wilds with a large creature to tap for mana.
- Tap Selvala to draw mana equal to the greatest power among creatures (at least {5}).
- Pay {5} to activate Aggravated Assault for an extra combat phase, which untaps Selvala.
- Tap Selvala again for {5}+ and repeat for infinite combats and mana.
- End the loop swinging with your untapped board.
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Chapter VIII
Handling
counsel and common errors
- Fill the graveyard before you commit to a reanimation spell — Entomb or a discard outlet turns a dead 11-drop into a turn-3 threat; don't slow-roll it in hand.
- Hold Heroic Intervention and Bolt Bend/Imp's Mischief to protect a reanimated fatty from spot removal — losing your one big body to a two-mana kill spell is the deck's biggest blowout.
- Don't hardcast the top end — Ghalta at 12 and Worldspine Wurm at 11 exist to be cheated; treat them as reanimation fuel, not cast targets unless Goreclaw is out.
- Sequence ramp before tutors so you can immediately cast what you find; a dork on turn 1–2 is what makes turn-3 reanimation possible.
- When assembling infinite combats, confirm your attacker can actually connect (evasion, or the table is tapped out) — Rogue's Passage and trample make the loop lethal.
- Toxic Deluge and Damnation are your only wipes and they kill your own board — use them to reset before you go off, not after you've reanimated a threat.
Tutors
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