This is a race against a counterspell-heavy control deck. Reanimate or Exhume into Akroma or Spirit of the Night puts a hasty flier on the table before sorcery-speed answers like Wrath of God can come online. Swords to Plowshares can still exile either one at instant speed, since Akroma only has protection from black and red and Spirit of the Night only has protection from black. Diabolic Edict is a narrow answer to their few creatures, such as an animated Mishra's Factory or Faerie Conclave, or a lone Decree of Justice token, though it can still be countered. Life/Death is the weakest reanimation spell here since Death costs us life we can't spare in a race, so it's the easiest cut. Keep Unmask and Cabal Therapy in to strip a Counterspell, Mana Leak or Swords to Plowshares on the way to resolving our own threats first.

Diabolic Edict is a clean, uncounterable-by-Stifle answer to a turn-one Phyrexian Dreadnought, forcing its sacrifice since it's their only creature on board at that point. Our own clock is fast enough to race their counterspell-heavy but light-interaction plan, and Akroma/Spirit of the Night dodge most of their removal entirely since they have none beyond bounce and countermagic. Life/Death is cut because the life-loss mode is too risky against a deck that can occasionally burn us out with Dreadnought damage, and we already have four other reanimation spells. Keep Unmask and Cabal Therapy to strip their counterspells proactively.

Goblins is an aggressive creature swarm backed by burn, and every point of life matters. Spirit of the Night costs 9 mana, so reanimating it with Reanimate costs 9 life, which is far too much against their burn-to-the-face plan. Ihsan's Shade is a 5/5 for 6 mana, so Reanimate costs only 6 life, and it is a sturdy body that blocks their small Goblins well. Its protection from white doesn't matter here, so the point is the cheaper life cost and the big blocker. Phantom Nishoba stays in the sideboard: it needs green and white mana, and this deck only produces black (plus a single Lotus Petal), so it can't be cast. Keep Akroma as the other top-end threat since its first strike and trample dominate combat against their small Goblins.