So here we are.
The end times.
The unstoppable force meets a high powered rocket launcher! Just as the Phyrexians invaded Mirrodin to completely overthrow life as we knew it; the Eldrazi are here and it is a new dawn. Are you prepared?
[deck]
[Lands]
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Eye of Ugin
1 Forest
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Tower
1 Wastes
[/Lands]
[Spells]
3 All Is Dust
4 Ancient Stirrings
2 Chromatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star
4 Expedition Map
3 Karn Liberated
2 Relic of Progenitus
[/Spells]
[Creatures]
1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion
4 Oblivion Sower
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1 Wurmcoil Engine
[/Creatures]
[Sideboard]
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
Introduction:
BUAH! HAH! HA! HA! HA! HA! (Obligatory mad cackle)
It’s ALIVE! Holy smokes this deck is fun. This is by far, the most fun I’ve had brewing with my playtest group. We may just be onto something here…
When it comes to casual competitive Magic I feel like I’m a kid in a candy store at Face To Face Games Toronto. We have an amazing community and I plan on taking full advantage of the opinions and clever minds at the shop. Playing against the folks here challenge you to improve not only your technical play but your abilities as a deck builder.
On any Wednesday or Thursday afternoon at the shop, starting at 4 pm, you can play in a FREE 3 round, single elimination tournament where the winner gets a free meal (Duels for Dinner). This event is immediately followed by a 4 round tournament with some of the city’s best and brightest Modern players Toronto has to offer. They are my extended playtest group; my gauntlet.
What I really love about this particular Tron/Eldrazi brew is just how BIG it really goes. Clearly we have adopted the classic Tron opening around two pieces, [card]Urza’s Mine[/card], Tower and Power Plant and an [card]Expedition Map[/card] to leverage big mana spells way ahead of curve, but this time we are ramping even harder with turn three Oblivion Sowers to clog up the ground and start chomping their libraries (a la Stephen King’s The Langoliers) or turn three Reality Smashers to do exactly that, smash. Who doesn’t love turn three [card]Karn Liberated[/card] followed by turn four Ulamogs to exile every pesky permanent your opponent has played so far. I sure do!
Picture this…
Turn one, [card]Urza’s Power Plant[/card]. Play [card]Expedition Map[/card]. Turn two, [card]Urza’s Tower[/card]. Activate Map for [card]Urza’s Mine[/card]. Turn three, play Mine, float 7 to cast Oblivion Sower exiling three lands allowing you to cast a Thought-Knot Seer. That is what we call “Magical Christmas Land”. Against any other Eldrazi or Tron deck though, no matter the flavour, hitting a Sol Land is back breaking and happens often enough. Let’s re-imagine that last situation except on turn three we hit only a single [card]Urza’s Tower[/card]. We cast that same Thought-Knot Seer, with the potential for a greater return on our ramp spells. Even [card]Primeval Titan[/card] can’t keep up with us.
Some more possible lines of play starting at turn one can look like this. Play Eldrazi temple and [card]Chromatic Star[/card]. Turn two, cycle the star for G, draw a card, cast [card]Ancient Stirrings[/card] to find a Reality Smasher. Play an [card]Urza’s Tower[/card] and cast another Star. Turn three, Cycle star for G, draw an [card]Eldrazi Temple[/card] or [card]Eye of Ugin[/card] and cast our Smasher. Let’s say this time we are less fortunate and don’t draw the second Temple or Eye, instead we hit a Thought-Knot Seer. With any other land in hand we are casting our version of Vendilion Clique on turn three. Right on curve again.
I had the pleasure of test driving this baby through the seven straight rounds on a Wednesday afternoon/evening at Face To Face Games Toronto. With a roughed out sideboard plan and my friends all around me I was ready.
The Highlights from the Evening
I played against Burn with two Eidolon of the Great Revels in play. It went well as I didn’t cast a spell with CMC three or less past my first turn. That turn went like so, [card]Chromatic Star[/card] off of an [card]Eldrazi Temple[/card] followed up by a Thought-Knot Seer on turn two thanks to [card]Eye of Ugin[/card].
Our Tron side came out to play in one game with us curving into a natural turn three Tron with [card]Karn Liberated[/card] at the ready. A -3 targeting an opponent’s land followed up by a second Tower into Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, taking two more lands, quickly wrapped up the game.
It was sad to be paired against my U/B Eldrazi brethren but I like to take a New Phyrexian approach; the strong survive. We were late into the game when in one turn I activated [card]Eye of Ugin[/card] to fetch Ulamog (seven mana, plus the Eye) then cast said Ulamog (ten mana) followed by another Ulamog (another ten mana) for double [card]Vindicate[/card]. That’s what twenty seven colourless mana and an Eye will get you these days in Modern. Now to be real about it, the Ulamogs only cost eight mana each, but who cares!?
Finally, in the final round with my record of 5-1, and all the marbles on the line, I sit down to play against Tron. It was hard not to smile and chuckle with glee. In game two my opponent started on the play. It’s a race to Tron, or so he thinks. He starts off with a Mine and a Map. Here we go. I play a Mine and a Map. He plays another Mine, cracks his Map for a [card]Ghost Quarter[/card] to fight me, instead of building his own Tron. I carry on as planned, play my Power Plant and crack my map for my tower. On the next turn we’ll show our strength. His hand is forced to [card]Ghost Quarter[/card] me and I go get my basic Wastes, untap and play an [card]Eldrazi Temple[/card]. Thought-Knot Seer. Target him. Now he has no Tron, no payoff spell, and no way to remove my creature.
Conclusion:
I was so excited to see local heroes like Paul Dean, Omar Beldon and Andy at Pro Tour: Oath of the Gatewatch and see where some of the guys landed on these under-costed, overpowered Eldrazi overlords.
You can find me on Twitter, @Aw3someEveryDay, sharing my brews and thoughts on Modern and coffee. Come visit me at Face To Face Games Toronto where I’ll be serving up a burrito “probably better than Chipotle’s” -Anonymous (Paul Dean, Semi-finalist, Pro Tour: Battle for Zendikar)