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Gamekeeper
Tier roguecomboadvanced

Gamekeeper

Sacrifice Gamekeeper, mill your library, and slam a free fatty into play.

Oath Reanimator Combo

Featured list~$1495Pastimes Premodern Showdown - 05/30

Overview

"Gamekeeper is a green-based reanimator combo deck that abuses Gamekeeper's death trigger: when it dies it digs through your library and puts the first creature it hits directly into play, sidestepping the mana cost entirely. The deck pairs that engine with Oath of Druids, which flips a creature into play for free when an opponent has more creatures, and an artifact-and-spell shell of Lotus Petal, Lion's Eye Diamond, Claws of Gix, and Altar of Dementia that lets it sacrifice Gamekeeper at instant speed and stock the graveyard. Intuition assembles the right pieces, Animate Dead and Dance of the Dead recur whatever lands in the bin, and a Duress plus Cabal Therapy disruption package clears the way so the combo resolves before the opponent can answer it."

Game Plan

The deck's core loop is to get Gamekeeper into play, then kill it on your own terms so its death trigger exiles cards until it puts a creature directly onto the battlefield. Lotus Petal and Lion's Eye Diamond provide the fast mana to deploy Gamekeeper a turn early, while Claws of Gix and Altar of Dementia are free sacrifice outlets that fire the death trigger immediately. Altar of Dementia doubles as a mill engine and a kill condition, since you can sacrifice the giant creature you just cheated out to deck the opponent. Saprazzan Bailiff is a recurring body the engine can keep rebuying when it needs an evasive clock.

Oath of Druids is the redundant combo half: with the opponent ahead on creatures it triggers each upkeep and flips your library until a creature enters play, so even a lone Gamekeeper or fatty becomes a free cheat-into-play. Intuition is the glue: fetch three copies of a combo piece, or grab Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, and a target so whatever gets binned (by Altar of Dementia mill or the Oath/Gamekeeper dig) comes straight back. The reanimation suite turns milled creatures into resolved threats, so the deck rarely needs to hard-cast anything expensive.

The disruption package is what makes the combo reliable rather than fragile. Duress and Cabal Therapy strip counterspells, removal, and graveyard hate before you go off, and Cabal Therapy's flashback (paid by sacrificing a creature) lines up perfectly with the deck's sacrifice-everything plan, letting one Therapy hit twice while also triggering Gamekeeper. Against decks that can't pressure the board you slow-roll the combo behind disruption; against fast decks you assemble the fast mana and combo out as early as possible.

Key Cards

Core engine & flex

GamekeeperSignature
Engine

The deck's namesake and heart: when it dies, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a creature, then put that creature into play. Sacrificing it to a free outlet cheats an otherwise-uncastable threat directly onto the battlefield, and the death trigger doesn't care how big the creature is.

$0.33
Oath of Druids
Engine

The redundant combo half. When an opponent controls more creatures than you, on your upkeep you may dig through your library until a creature enters play. It turns the deck's lone Gamekeeper or fatty into a free cheat-into-play without even needing a sacrifice outlet, giving the deck two independent routes to the same payoff.

$30.86
Altar of Dementia
sacrifice outlet

A free sacrifice outlet that fires Gamekeeper's death trigger at instant speed while milling. It doubles as a kill condition: sacrifice the giant creature you just cheated into play to mill the opponent for its power, often decking them in a turn or two.

$27.16
Intuition
tutor

The deck's assembly engine. Fetch three copies of a combo piece to guarantee one resolves, or grab a reanimation spell plus a target so whatever gets milled or exiled comes straight back. It converts a generic hand into the exact pieces the combo turn needs.

$343.15
Cabal Therapy
disruption

Tears the key answer out of the opponent's hand before you combo, and its flashback is paid by sacrificing a creature, which also triggers Gamekeeper's death ability. One Therapy can strip two cards while advancing the deck's own sacrifice plan, making it both protection and enabler.

$24.73
Duress
disruption

A turn-one play that pre-emptively clears the counterspell, removal, or graveyard hate that would otherwise break up the combo. Against control and combo it buys the window the deck needs to assemble and resolve Gamekeeper or Oath of Druids unanswered.

$3.70

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Sample Decklists

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Adam Reiser

Adam Reiser

TCG

Mainboard (60)

$1413
Creature (6)
$79.11
3Gamekeeper
$0.993G
3Terravore
$78.121GG
Instant (1)
$3.98
1Smother
$3.981B
Sorcery (15)
$188
4Duress
$14.80B
3Living Wish
$26.551G
Enchantment (11)
$286

Sideboard (15)

$81.52
2Zuran Orb
$15.560
2Phantom Nishoba
$14.485GW
2Naturalize
$4.321G
1Terravore
$26.041GG
1Smother
$3.981B
1Infest
$0.401BB
1Gamekeeper
$0.333G
Est. Total$1495

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Joserra Soler

Joserra Soler

TCG

Mainboard (61)61-card deck

$939
Creature (8)
$105
4Gamekeeper
$1.323G
4Terravore
$1041GG
Instant (7)
$41.86
2Fling
$0.721R
2Smother
$7.961B
1Corpse Dance
$28.782B
Sorcery (16)
$209
Enchantment (4)
$63.08
4Pernicious Deed
$63.081BG

Sideboard (15)

$142
Est. Total$1081

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smogon

smogon

TCG

Mainboard (60)

$1414
Creature (6)
$79.11
3Gamekeeper
$0.993G
3Terravore
$78.121GG
Instant (2)
$29.25
Sorcery (15)
$188
4Duress
$14.80B
3Living Wish
$26.551G
Enchantment (10)
$257

Sideboard (15)

$74.94
3Phantom Nishoba
$21.725GW
3Naturalize
$6.481G
2Infest
$0.801BB
1Zuran Orb
$7.780
1Gamekeeper
$0.333G
1Dust Bowl
$32.99
Est. Total$1488

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Archetype Anatomy

Based on 33 decks with known dates2021-06-30 to 2026-06-14

Mana Base

Average25.7lands
Median27lands
Range19–28lands
Spells34.3avg non-land
Based on 33 decks (All-time)

core Cards(>80%)

flex Cards(30-80%)

fringe Cards(<30%)

21%
4.0x
21%
1.4x
15%
2.2x
12%
4.0x
9%
1.0x
3%
4.0x
3%
4.0x
3%
3.0x
3%
2.0x
3%
1.0x
3%
1.0x
3%
1.0x
3%
1.0x

Sideboard Anatomy

core Sideboard Options(>80%)

Naturalize
91.9%
2.8x

flex Sideboard Options(30-80%)

Engineered Plague
54.9%
3.3x
Tranquil Domain
49.7%
1.1x
Phyrexian Furnace
45%
2.0x
Phantom Nishoba
44.9%
1.8x
Infest
40.1%
1.6x
Gamekeeper
36.3%
1.0x
Smother
32%
1.3x
Haunting Echoes
31%
1.1x
Ravenous Baloth
30.9%
2.6x
Terravore
30.6%
1.0x

fringe Sideboard Options(<30%)

Tormod'S Crypt
27.6%
1.9x
Diabolic Edict
23.5%
1.0x
Uktabi Orangutan
20.8%
1.0x
Bone Shredder
20.7%
1.0x
Dust Bowl
20.7%
1.0x
Plague Spitter
18%
1.0x
Skeletal Scrying
17.7%
1.2x
Zuran Orb
15.7%
1.3x
Withered Wretch
13.2%
1.0x
Volrath'S Stronghold
11.4%
1.0x
Sylvan Library
10.6%
2.0x
Pyroblast
7.8%
2.0x
Red Elemental Blast
7.5%
1.5x
Coffin Purge
7.4%
2.2x
Simoon
7.4%
2.5x
Hidden Gibbons
7%
3.5x
Oath Of Druids
6.8%
3.0x
Ray Of Revelation
5.9%
1.5x
Mesmeric Fiend
5.6%
1.0x
Crumble
4.6%
1.7x
Pernicious Deed
4.3%
1.0x
Duress
4.1%
1.8x
Mishra'S Factory
4%
1.0x
Krosan Reclamation
3.9%
1.0x
Vindicate
3.8%
4.0x
Petradon
3.8%
2.0x
Wasteland
3.8%
1.0x
Volcanic Spray
3.8%
1.0x
High Market
3.8%
1.0x
Crippling Fatigue
3.8%
1.0x
Battlefield Scrounger
3.8%
1.0x
Chainer'S Edict
3.8%
1.0x
Harmonic Convergence
3.6%
2.0x
Vendetta
3.6%
1.0x
Null Rod
3.6%
2.0x
Gloom
3.6%
2.0x
Blastoderm
3.4%
1.0x
Blackmail
3.4%
2.0x
Symbiotic Wurm
2.8%
3.6x
Compost
2.8%
1.0x
Terminate
2.1%
1.0x
Powder Keg
2.1%
4.0x
Stronghold Gambit
1.8%
4.0x
Gigapede
1.6%
1.0x
Masticore
1.6%
1.0x
Monk Realist
1.6%
1.0x
Anarchy
1.5%
1.0x
Cabal Therapy
1.5%
1.0x
Earthquake
1.5%
1.0x
Grizzly Fate
1.5%
1.0x
Hull Breach
1.5%
1.0x
Kaervek'S Torch
1.5%
1.0x
Nostalgic Dreams
1.5%
1.0x
Perish
1.5%
1.0x
Persecute
1.5%
1.0x
Pillage
1.5%
1.0x
Pyroclasm
1.5%
1.0x
Reanimate
1.5%
1.0x
Void
1.5%
1.0x
Ihsan'S Shade
1%
1.0x

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