How to beat Rakdos Reanimator in Legacy
Over the last 90 days of recorded Legacy matches, the decks with the best results against Rakdos Reanimator are Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White (100% over 6 matches), Sultai Tempo (63% over 8 matches) and Izzet Delver (60% over 5 matches). Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White's 100% sits in a 95% range of 61%–100%, which is the range a 6-match sample actually supports. The decks with the best records against it most often carry Surgical Extraction, Consign to Memory and Force of Negation in the sideboard — those are their sideboards in general, not cards chosen for this matchup.
Best records against Rakdos Reanimator
Matches played in the last 90 days, from events that publish round-by-round pairings. Ranked by the bottom of each 95% range, not by the headline percentage, so a small sample cannot outrank a large one.
| Deck | Win rate vs Rakdos Reanimator | Record | Matches | Sample | 95% range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White | 100.0% | 6-0 | 6 | Low sample | 61%–100% |
| Sultai Tempo | 62.5% | 5-3 | 8 | Medium sample | 31%–86% |
| Izzet Delver | 60.0% | 3-2 | 5 | Low sample | 23%–88% |
- High sample · 20+ matches
- Medium sample · 8–19 matches
- Low sample · 5–7 matches
32 further pairings (59 matches) fall below the 5-match floor and are not given a percentage. Full history, retired archetypes included, is on Rakdos Reanimator's archetype page and in the Legacy matchup matrix.
What the decks that beat Rakdos Reanimator bring
Sideboard cards run by Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White, Sultai Tempo, Izzet Delver. This is not a sideboard guide for this matchup. We record who beat whom, not what either player boarded, so these are whole-sideboard frequencies across every matchup those decks play — a hint about the kind of card that punishes Rakdos Reanimator, not a list to bring in.
| Card | Decks running it | Average copies | Which decks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surgical Extraction | 3 of 3 | 0.7 | Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White, Sultai Tempo, Izzet Delver |
| Consign to Memory | 2 of 3 | 2.0 | Sultai Tempo, Izzet Delver |
| Force of Negation | 2 of 3 | 1.8 | Sultai Tempo, Izzet Delver |
| Hydroblast | 2 of 3 | 0.9 | Sultai Tempo, Izzet Delver |
| Wrath of the Skies | 1 of 3 | 2.7 | Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White |
| Pyroblast | 1 of 3 | 2.6 | Izzet Delver |
| Disruptor Flute | 1 of 3 | 2.3 | Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White |
| Deafening Silence | 1 of 3 | 2.2 | Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White |
| Carpet of Flowers | 1 of 3 | 2.0 | Sultai Tempo |
| Pernicious Deed | 1 of 3 | 2.0 | Sultai Tempo |
| Erode | 1 of 3 | 1.9 | Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White |
| Faerie Macabre | 1 of 3 | 1.6 | Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White |
Average copies is expected copies per deck — average copies played multiplied by the share of that archetype's lists running the card — so a 4-of in half the lists reads as 2.0.
Questions
What beats Rakdos Reanimator in Legacy?
Across the last 90 days, Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White (100% over 6 matches), Sultai Tempo (63% over 8 matches) and Izzet Delver (60% over 5 matches) hold the best recorded results against Rakdos Reanimator. Records come from events that publish round-by-round pairings, and both decks in a match have to be identified for it to count, so these are the pairings we can see rather than every match played.
What should I bring in against Rakdos Reanimator?
We do not have sideboard choices tied to individual matches, so this is not a sideboard guide. What the data supports is narrower: the 3 decks with the best records against Rakdos Reanimator — Death and Taxes (Yorion) - Black/White, Sultai Tempo and Izzet Delver — most commonly run Surgical Extraction, Consign to Memory, Force of Negation, Hydroblast and Wrath of the Skies in their sideboards. Those are whole-sideboard frequencies across every matchup those decks play.
How reliable are these Legacy matchup numbers?
Not very, and the page says so per row rather than in aggregate. Every pairing shows its match count, its sample band and a 95% range; the strongest band we award is 20+ matches, which is still roughly a ±20-point range around the figure shown. Pairings under 5 matches are counted but never given a percentage — there are 32 of those for Rakdos Reanimator right now. Rankings use the bottom of each range rather than the headline percentage, so a small sample cannot outrank a large one it has not earned.
What period does this cover?
Matches played in the last 90 days, filtered on when each match was actually played. Archetypes that have dropped out of the Legacy metagame are excluded from the ranking — their historical records are still on Rakdos Reanimator's own archetype page and in the format matchup matrix.
What each number on this site measures, and where it is least reliable, is set out on the methodology page.