While persist is an interesting card, I wanted to take a look and see if I could produce a different sort of reanimation spell.
Grueling Return
Sorcery (M)
As an additional cost to casting Grueling Return, pay X life.
Return a creature card from any graveyard with power X to the battlefield tapped under your control. It loses all abilities until your next turn.
I have noticed that reanimation is generally used in an effort to instantly close out the game (via Emrakul, Griselbrand, etc). Would a reanimation spell be worth considering if it flat-out did not let you do so and robbed the creature of any immediate value or self-protection?
I think it is still likely too powerful. Griselbrand wins right away with Goryo's Vengeance because it has too thanks to the Sacrifice clause. The opponent already needs spot removal to stop it. I think giving the player an extra turn to get to that removal but also letting you keep Griselbrand for more than a turn is a fair trade off and opens up some deckbuilding options. At the very least, this eliminates the potential of "fizzling" since you have more than a turn to go off.
Grueling Return
Sorcery (M)
As an additional cost to casting Grueling Return, pay X life.
Return a creature card from any graveyard with power X to the battlefield tapped under your control. It loses all abilities until your next turn.
I have noticed that reanimation is generally used in an effort to instantly close out the game (via Emrakul, Griselbrand, etc). Would a reanimation spell be worth considering if it flat-out did not let you do so and robbed the creature of any immediate value or self-protection?