Concept

Reanimation is one of the subthemes supported in Abyssian. Unfortunately, most of the cards aren’t very good (with the exception of Death Knell, who is a solid roleplayer in Arcanyst tribal). Here, we try out the simplest strategy based around reanimation: run all the resurrection cards together with huge fatties and try to recur them enough times to win the game. This deck was never the strongest, and since it was first built it’s suffered nerfs to most of its big finishers (EMP and Spectral Revenant). Still, with some lucky draws, it can win some games.

Cards

Reanimation

• The Releaser
• Keeper of the Vale
• Nether Summoning

These loop your big things. You may have to equip Releaser early just to have something to do, so try to play defensively with your general (a good idea anyways, since you need to stay alive in order to get to the lategame). The other effects each have their own upside: Keeper allows you to choose the space to summon, while Nether Summoning is a little more random but can potentially get you something big of your opponent’s as well.

Fatties

• Bonecrusher
• Vorpal Reaver
• EMP
• Spectral Revenant

Bonecrusher is something that can be played early and isn’t the worst thing in the world to reanimate,  getting you at least a Razorcrag Golem. EMP’s dispelling pulse is antisynergystic with your other big minions, so be sure to trade them in first before playing it. However, it works great with the Releaser, breaking it on demand and producing a lot off beef on board. The other minions (Reaver and Revenant) are Abyssian’s best big things, and are threatening on their own while also being tricky to remove cleanly.

Tokens

• Inkling Surge
• Wraithling Swarm

These give you something to play early that won’t pollute your resurrection pool, due to non-token clauses on the rez effects. If you’re desperate for more token generation, you could try running Horn of the Forsaken.

Removal

• Inkhorn Gaze
• Demonic Lure
• Ritual Banishing

Lure and Banishing are Lillithe’s staple removal spells. The last slot is a flex. It used to be Sphere of Darkness pre-nerf, but now Gaze seems like the best option: it helps kill early-game minions, provides replace fodder, and most of the Battle Pets it generates are tokens which means you can play them if necessary. Alternative options are Spectral Blade for up-close removal and healing, or Necrotic Sphere for a more powerful later-game clear.

Miscellaneous

• Darkfire Sacrifice

Your best openings come  from playing a Wraithling turn 1 into mana tile and Darkfire turn 2 to get out an early big minion.

GamePlay

Use Wraithlings and removal spells early to stay alive. Once you get out your first big minion, your opponent will usually have removal for it, but then all of your reanimation effects are turned on and give you the potential for some really powerful plays. Try to go face with your fatties and rely on spells to keep the pressure off, since you have Revenant as a source of out-of-hand burst that can finish your opponent off if they’re at a low enough life total.