So I've been researching and theorycrafting with Sefris, because the deck seems fun. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any games with it in yet.
I'd love to see your current list.
Here are some of the things I've come across as I've been working on the list:
I find I fit creatures into 3 basic categories:
[*]Dungeon Support
[*]Graveyard/Triggering Sefris
[*]Big dudes to Reanimate
Now, there are creatures that can fill multiple roles (think
Angel of the Ruins being able to discard itself and trigger Sefris, as well as being a big reanimate target), and that kind of overlap is fantastic, but the three categories are useful as a simplistic starting point.
Dungeon Support - It doesn't seem like you need to go overboard with this.
Sefris of the Hidden Ways does a lot of work.
Radiant Solar is obviously insane. It may be the best Venture card
Midnight Pathlighter is a must
Barrowin of Clan Undurr has a payoff that seems worthwhile.
Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker also seems like a worthwhile payoff
Nadaar, Selfless Paladin and
Triumphant Adventurer seem worthwhile, as they trigger on attacks
Immovable Rod and
Dungeon Map seem ok and worth using, but more about the other effects and venture being secondary with them.
Are there other cards to let you venture that seems worthwhile?
Obviously, you don't want to play draft chaff like
Clattering Skeletons or
Shortcut Seeker. I still can't believe how bad they made
Dungeon Descent .
Thoughts on
Acererak the Archlich? He requires you to go through a specific dungeon, but can make you venture by himself. He seems like a decent enough payoff once he sticks, but in a reanimator shell, if I want a quasi-
Grave Titan, wouldn't I just play
Grave Titan?
Is
Yuan-Ti Malison good? I mean, it seems fine on turn 2. But later game, I am going to want to attack with other creatures and then it seems weak.
Thorough Investigation seems fine, although a bit like a slow value engine that can also venture, because I don't really see clue support playing well with the rest of the deck.
Eccentric Apprentice is the only other card I really consider, as it can turn a formidable blocker into a feeble bird, but I don't think it's worth it. Maybe if you were going to supplement the deck with a blink theme, then ETB Venture is more valuable.
Graveyard/Triggering Sefris - "Whenever one or more creature cards are put into your graveyard from anywhere, venture into the dungeon. This ability triggers only once each turn."
So the key things are the flexibility to trigger on other peoples turns, because you can only trigger once a turn, and the "from anywhere". While sacrifice effects are useful, I think the real engines are from the hand and from the library.
I'm loving the looters:
Merfolk Looter and
Thought Courier are the 2 drop ones and
Obsessive Stitcher seems unexciting, but having the second ability as a backup I guess is worthwhile.
I considered
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy // Jace, Telepath Unbound and
Looter il-Kor as other 2 mana looters, but I worry that Jace will shut off his own ability to loot and I won't get enough use out of his planeswalker side.
The Shadow creature is limited to your own turn for trigger Sefris, so that had me concerned. I think something like
Tomebound Lich is better if you are going to go with one of them, as it can play defense, which the il-kor can't.
One thing that did stand out was
Teferi, Master of Time is just an insane looting engine for this deck. As is
Tortured Existence, a card that I think is normally overrated, but with Sefris is just nuts.
Another thing that caught my eye was mana critters that can trigger Sefris.
Deranged Assistant and
Millikin seem like accelerants that interact well with what the deck wants to do. Speeding up is nice. Added note: Since these guys produce
, they pushed me in the direction of using Ravnica Signets, which I likely would have done anyway.
Those are the main self mill. Surveil works, as you know, with
Doom Whisperer being a worthwhile card for this deck. Unfortunately most other surveil isn't good enough with a few exceptions worth considering:
Connive // Concoct seems versatile enough to maybe try
Dakkon, Shadow Slayer is repeatable kill that also Surveils
Lazav, the Multifarious is one I kind of like. I think he lets you do interesting things.
Master of Death is worth playing as a
Squee, Goblin Nabob for your looters. The fact that he can surveil if you ever want to put him in play is gravy
Big dudes to Reanimate - I think this comes down to whatever you find fun.
Just some things I noticed:
Sun Titan is a common choice and came with the precon, and since
Barrowin of Clan Undurr doubles up on that ability, I decided to go all in with it. That meant adding both
Cavalier of Night and
Sevinne's Reclamation to my list, as I think they both compliment a lot of the other pieces of the deck.
You may be running enough wizards to make
Galecaster Colossus an interesting reanimate target. Maybe not, but an interesting and unusual choice.
Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter was another unusual choice that I was considering, because he can be repeatable kill and a sacrifice outlet if needed. Not sure it's good enough, but thoughts.
Otherwise, I try to think back to what my Legacy Reanimator deck liked to bring back, before
Griselbrand became the default option. Any of the 3 on color Praetor's seem nuts, but most of the other things have been surpassed by new goodies like
Nezahal, Primal Tide,
Archon of Cruelty, and
Serra's Emissary. I do think there is something to be said for some of the classic angels - either
Avacyn, Angel of Hope or
Akroma, Angel of Wrath are good options.
Other miscellaneous thoughts
Incarnation Technique seems strong. It's reanimation that can trigger Sefris, gives your opponents no window to remove one of the 5 cards it mills with hate before it reanimates it. Also, the political aspect of doubling it seems great, as well as it can be very useful if you are playing things like
Grimoire of the Dead or the Primordials to soup up your opponents grave as a bonus.
I'm sure you haven't posted an optimized land base, but
Path of Ancestry should be in your deck before
Arcane Sanctum. It's effectively the same card with bonus scrying, and will trigger more often than you expect.
River Kelpie might be a nice little card advantage engine, especially if you add a few flashback spells to go along with the
Gravebreaker Lamia - things like
Forbidden Alchemy and
Faithful Mending seem worth running anyway, so there have to be more worthwhile flashback spells that fit.
Anyway, I'm still working on and tuning my list. Trying to figure out how much is the right amount of disruption for my opponents, but I'll have something to post soon. I'd love to see your updated list and hear your thoughts.