The Legacy format brings with it many options for deck building. It has the potential to be one of the most diverse tournament formats that exists. One archetype that is commonly played in the format is Reanimator. While there are many traditional Reanimator lists out there, today we are going to be taking a closer look at a very different type of deck. This deck is of course Tin Fins, or as some call it GriselStorm.
Much like a traditional Reanimator deck, the goal of Tin Fins is to reanimate Griselbrand for the win. However it does so in a much different way. Utilizing cards that reanimate the demon with haste, the deck can very easily utilize the draw seven ability the turn Griselbrand comes into play by attacking with him right away. Additionally there is the added benefit of not loosing life to cards such as Reanimate.
Here is a list that got 5-1 in a recent tournament. Piloted by Inamura Sachio.
Legacy Tin Fins
| Lands (14) 1 Island 3 Marsh Flats 3 Polluted Delta 2 Scrubland 3 Swamp 2 Underground Sea Creatures (6) 4 Griselbrand 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 1 Children of Korlis Other Spells (39) 4 Brainstorm 4 Entomb 2 Goryo’s Vengence 4 Shallow Grave 4 Dark Ritual 2 Cabal Therapy 2 Collective Brutality 4 Ponder 3 Reanimate 1 Tendrils of Agony 2 Thoughtseize 3 Unmask 4 Lotus Petal |
To be completely frank most Tin Fins Lists at first glance look akin to a Storm list mashed together with a Reanimator list. While in hind sight this is technically true, the deck does not play like a mashed deck. In fact it has been heavily refined to be as efficient as possible. It attempts to utilize the best of both worlds from both Storm and Reanimtor to create an all encompassing deck. While the deck may not be as inherently powerful as either of the two, it is definitely a blast to play and can steal wins from seemingly out of no where.
Utilizing Griselbrand as a draw engine is just incredibly powerful, allowing a player to draw innumerable amounts of cards in one turn. By playing Children of Korlis the deck can even regain all of the life it lost and use Griselbrand’s ability again and again. This is done by sacrificing Children of Korlis and then Reanimating it. Additionally because Children of Korlis remembers the damage throughout the entire turn, it is possible to actually gain life through this process.
Tin Fin’s has additionally begun to run multiple win conditions. Many lists have a variety of options to win with depending on the current situation a pilot is in. For example the list can reanimate Emrakul from the graveyard at instant speed with Goryo’s Vengeance and Shallow Grave in response to Emrakul’s trigger if need be. The deck can also Storm out on an opponent with its single copy of Tendrils. Or it can even simply win with Griselbrand beatdowns and card draw. Utilizing its many discard spells to keep an opponent’s answers and threats at bay.
The color black in Legacy is the best color for discard and hand disruption, and Tin Fins is no exception to this. The deck typically runs around six to eight discard spells. Such a high volume of discard is necessary for this deck to work correctly since cards such as Force of Will so heavily permeate the format. One of the most effective discard spells in the deck is Unmask because it not only acts as a free Thoughtseize, but it allows a pilot to fill their graveyard with Griselbrands for later reanimating.
Moving on, you may be wondering why there are 4 Griselbrands in the deck, typically it would be a disadvantage to run so many. However in this deck it works just perfectly. As mentioned before not only does Griselbrand synergize with our disruption spells, but it is also the decks draw engine. Essentially Griselbrand is key in making this deck work properly, and it is not a downside to run so many. However even so, if Griselbrand is Surgical Extractioned away it is still very possible for the deck to steal a win using a normal Storm strategy (This can be difficult to do at times however).
Overall Legacy Tin Fins serves as a homage to the diversity that can exist within the format. While it is not the most powerful combo deck to ever exist, it can definitely hold its own and still puts up results even to this day. Its unique play style provides a nice contrast to the typical Storm and Reanimator lists that pop up everywhere. Its definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of either deck.
But what do you think? Do you have any experiences playing against or piloting Tin Fins? If so feel free to leave any questions, comments, or concerns in the section below.
And as always, happy gaming!
zebotc
- A swords a day keeps the goyfs away.
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