Best Current Build

Temur reclamation has been putting up a few results recently (see here, here, here). The lists vary a lot, with some being barely changed since the RNA days (a huge mistake IMO) and others using newer tech.

Here's my List. I'm currently playing it at Platinum level and it performs well.

This is clearly a viable deck, and seems to be decently positioned in the meta (seemingly overperforming for its minuscule share). This thread is to include my analysis on the deck and stir some interest/discussion on this archetype.

Card Choices:

1 Drops

• Opt and Shock are staples. Since we play [[Bonecrusher Giant]] as removal, I tend to leave out shock.

• Gilded Goose fits well in the deck both to help resolve reclamation on T3 and as a mana sink (food tokens) that helps save us against aggressive matchups.

• Arboreal Grazer could fit in a build that plays more lands and relies more on shocking the opponent to death as a finisher. Overall I find him lacking.

2 Drops

• [[Improbable Alliance]] is the core of the Arena Decklists build you see up top.

• [[Once Upon a Time]] is the reason this deck can run so many creatures. It helps fix mana, finds the correct answer, and is actually playable late game (since we're often flooding on mana). Builds with fewer adventure creatures can obviously pass on him.

• [[Brazen Borrower]] Should be a staple of the deck. The first ability helps save us time to get the reclamation setup going. Like other adventure cards, his inbuilt card advantage is a huge plus.

• [[Bonecrusher Giant]] While we can't flash his body in, his being two cards in one makes me prefer him overall before shock and [[scorching dragonfire]]. His being a curve by himself on T2 and T3 as removal and a blocker gives us many draws we can keep against aggro decks.

• [[Growth Spiral]] feels very good in this deck, since we mainly plan to play draw-go on turns 2, 3 and 4 and this lets us gain advantage if we're not forced to use removal.

• [[Aether Gust]] is a key sideboard card, since so many decks play green. It acts as proactive removal and as a counterspell, so it helps us survive to turns where we can set up our kill.

3 Drops

• [[Ionize]] and [[Sinister Sabotage]] are the counterspells to play in my opinion. Some might prefer [[mystical dispute]], but I think this is a mistake. We're planning to control and survive to T5 with our deck then find a way to win. Having a glorified [[Quench]] late game in our hand is not what we're looking for.

• One list got a result running 4 copies of [[Irencrag Pyromancer]]. I haven't tried it, but it seems cute.

• [[Flame Sweep]] is necessary sideboard tech agaisnt monored, monoblack and knights decks.

Card Advantage

• [[Escape to the wilds]] is the best card advantage engine. Yes, it's sorcery speed, but you can curve reclamation into this card and untap (with an additional land drop). The only reason we don't run more is that we want instant speed card advantage wherever possible.

• [[Precognitive perception]] and [[Chemister's insight]] are interchangeable. I tend to prefer the former for the same reason we run Escape to the Wilds: We can cast it main phase and safely untap with reclamation afterwards with a full hand.

• [[Mission Briefing]] plays well late game like Chemister's insight. You should read this card as a 4-drop even though it has a CMC of 2, since you'll never play it on curve.

Finishers

• The classic finisher was [[Niv-Mizzet, Parun]]. Generally, if you can untap with him (and this can be on your end step), you win. He's significantly weaker in this meta with [[Oko]] and [[Murderous Rider]] being everywhere. Note that with the mana base in my list he can be hard to cast on curve.

• An alternative to Niv is [[Thousand-Year Storm]]. Similarly to Niv, if you untap with him you'll generally just win the next turn as long as you have some cards in your hand to play.

• The typical win condition is to burn the opponent to death in a single turn with [[expansion//explosion]] or [[electrodominance]]. You can mix and match the two, Electrodominance plays better against faster decks (and helps cast escape to the wilds/thousand year storm at instant speed or on the opponent's end step).

• Some have tried to use the [[Ral, Caller of Storms]] combo as a finisher, I'm not sure I see it without [[doublecast]] being in the format.

Other cards (4 drops)

• I find one flex slot to allocate to a 4 drop creature that can both put pressure and help shore up aggressive matchups. Candidates for this are [[Nightpack Ambusher]] and [[God Eternal Kefnet]]. In a different meta, [[Shifting Ceratops]] might be viable in sideboard.

Currently, I allocate this to a copy of [[Nightpack Ambusher]]. This is an easy to cast alternate win condition and a nice way to clog the board.

• Both [[Oko]] and [[Saheeli]] are potential choices in the 3 drop slot.

Mana Base

• Make sure to have enough sources to run everything correctly

• You want more blue sources than you think, because you ABSOLUTELY want to run 2-3 [[Castle Vantress]], which is hungry for blue mana.

Matchups

Aggro Decks (monored cavalcade, Gruul, Rakdos, Knights)

Out: Thousand Year Storm, Expansion//Explosion, Mission Briefing

In: Nightpack Ambusher, Flame Sweep (not vs Gruul), Aether Gust

We mainly play control here, try to stabilize and resolve wilderness reclamation, then win with either Nightpack, Brazen Borrower hits to face or a huge electrodominance.

This matchup forces you to build the deck with a lower curve than we'd otherwise plan, because it's this deck's natural worst matchup (control and tempo decks being the best).

These are a terrible in best of 1, because you need to mulligan very differently against aggro than other decks. You tend to get stomped here.

In best of 3 we do perfectly fine against these, just mulligan well and play like a control deck until you stabilize. Don't forget to use food tokens to gain life!

Golos Field

Is going to get banned in two days, what do you care?

Out: Bonecrusher Giant, Once upon a Time

In: Flame Sweep, CounterSpells, Aether Gust

This matchup is negative for everyone, including us. Try to counterspell key ramp cards (circuitous route, Golos) and race to your win condition as fast as you can. Alternate win conditions include Brazen Borrower to some extent. Bonecrusher Giant is not useful in this matchup.

Fires/Stax

Out: Bonecrusher Giant

In: counterspells, Nightpack Ambusher, Niv Mizzet (sometimes)

This is our best natural matchup.

Keep counterspells, against simic-based builds, aether gust also works as a counterspell. You can use Niv Mizzet as a finisher against midrange and control builds that don't run enough spot removal. Go over the top of them when you can.

Simic Oko decks

In: aether gust, counterspells, brazen borrower

Out: nightpack, Niv Mizzet, bonecrusher

If they curve out, this can be rough for my build. Game 1 especially. We're mainly relying on counterspells and aether gust post board to control them, which makes the matchup favorable. Niv Mizzet and nightpack are of course useless given Oko