Hi gang! My name is Anthony (@Aw3someEveryDay on Twitter). Hopefully some of you know me as the Chef at the Face To Face Games Toronto’s Cafe. Others may have heard me professing my love for the Modern deck Green Machine on the Heavy Meta podcast here on ManaDeprived.com. Maybe a few of you get to jam games with me in store between rounds and Behemoth club sandwiches. I love to brew coffee and Modern decks alike.

Just 36 hours after the official banning of [card]Splinter Twin[/card] and [card]Summer Bloom[/card] I was enrolled in a 6 round Modern event. The feeling I got when I sleeved it up was the same giddy feeling I got when I learned something new in the world of Magic. I felt as though I had some insider information. It was as though I knew something that nobody else did. Say hello to your Eldrazi Overlords!

Deck: Our Eldrazi Overlords

[deck]
[Lands]
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Eye of Ugin
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Llanowar Wastes
3 Tectonic Edge
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Wastes
[/Lands]
[Spells]
2 All Is Dust
4 Ancient Stirrings
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Dismember
4 Expedition Map
2 Mind Stone
2 Relic of Progenitus
[/Spells]
[Creatures]
4 Eldrazi Mimic
4 Matter Reshaper
3 Oblivion Sower
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
[/Creatures]
[Sideboard]
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Natural State
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Ratchet Bomb
1 Sun Droplet
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 All Is Dust
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

The Battle Report

Round 1 vs. Affinity

Game one My opponent had a bit of a slow start, but produced a turn 2 Ravager and a turn three Ravager for back up. I mulliganed to 6 and kept a [card]Ghost Quarter[/card], [card]Eldrazi Mimic[/card], [card]Eldrazi Mimic[/card], [card]Reality Smasher[/card], [card]Eldrazi Temple[/card], [card]Matter Reshaper[/card]. I scry’d leaving [card]Dismember[/card] on the top not knowing what I was facing. Let’s do this. He is on the play. I draw the [card]Dismember[/card] to start my turn, play an [card]Eldrazi Temple[/card] and Cast [card]Eldrazi Mimic[/card]. I draw a third Mimic, play a Ghost quarter, tap out for a [card]Matter Reshaper[/card] triggering the first Mimic and get in for 3. His turn three is all in on an ornithoptor, from his Ravager attempting to move 4 counters, but I had the [card]Dismember[/card]. He [card]Galvanic Blast[/card]s my Reshaper before passing the turn. I flip an Expedition map into play! I can already feel the power. I untap on turn 3 and immediately activate the Map for an [card]Eye of Ugin[/card] then play it. I play two more Mimics for free and ghost quarter his only land in play. He untaps, plays a land and a [card]Cranial Plating[/card] with no creatures in play. He passes. I untap, Draw and play an [card]Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth[/card] tapping it and an [card]Eldrazi Temple[/card] to cast my [card]Reality Smasher[/card]. With three Mimics under my control that is lethal folks! 20 power across four creatures, essentially having my Smasher deal 13 points of damage!

This was my very first sanctioned match with this deck and it felt like taking a tank to a knife fight.

Game two This match was a blow out with my turn two ratchet bomb matched up against his Mox Opal and three ornithoptors. It was closed out quickly with 4/4 and 5/5 eldrazi beaters.

Round 2 vs. U/B Faeries

I was worried about this match up due to the opponent’s massive amount of removal backed by evasive threats, such as [card]Bitterblossom[/card], Vendillion Clique and [card]Scion of Oona[/card]. Many of their threats are cheaper than mine ([card]Bitterblossom[/card], Tasigur) or harder for me to interact with ([card]Creeping Tar Pit[/card], [card]Mutavault[/card]). I figured I’d be in for one heck of a battle.

Game one My opponent kicks off the match with a turn one serum visions. I play an [card]Eye of Ugin[/card] and pass. He plays a second land untapped and passes. I play an [card]Eldrazi Temple[/card] and float two mana for an eldrazi spell and use just one of them to cast a [card]Matter Reshaper[/card]. He [card]Mana Leak[/card]s it. That’s alright though because I cast a second [card]Matter Reshaper[/card] off of my floating mana. Sighing, he untaps and plays a third untapped land then passes. I don’t have a land to play so I attack, he goes into the tank. I can tell he doesn’t want to kill this thing, but since he didn’t Vendillion Clique me he’s committed to this line. He casts [card]Go for the Throat[/card] and the Reshaper goes down. Trigger. Reveal… [card]Matter Reshaper[/card]. Achievement Unlocked, my opponent sighs and we chuckle. With his last mana he casts a [card]Murderous Cut[/card] to take out the new Reshaper. An Urborg, tomb of Yawgmoth flips into play. I count my mana, six. I cast [card]Oblivion Sower[/card] in my second Main Phase of turn three. It’s a good one. Two lands exiled with murderous Cut plus [card]Mutavault[/card] and another land. With my Urborg in play and the colorless mana from [card]Mutavault[/card] I cast a [card]Reality Smasher[/card] and pass. This can’t be real life.

Game two This game felt like a repeat of the first. I played a turn three [card]Oblivion Sower[/card], which he Mana Leaked, but the cast trigger was just too much. Having access to 7+ mana on turn four is unreal and exceedingly difficult for a tempo deck to come back from.

Round 3 vs. Living End

This is our best match up. We have haste creatures. We have hand disruption. Of course, the multiple copies of [card]Relic of Progenitus[/card] don’t hurt. Even on a build with little to no processing these cards are invaluable. You can flip them off of your [card]Matter Reshaper[/card] for card advantage, but being able to manage the graveyard in the Modern format is critical to limiting our opponent’s options.

I mulligan to four cards game one, but with the help of a turn one Relic I put up a fight. Alas I was not invincible. Game two went according to plan with a turn one Relic and [card]Chalice of the Void[/card] for 0 with game three repeating. Multiple relics feels unbeatable when your creatures outclass the cyclers that [card]Living End[/card] can produce.

Round 4 vs. B/G Combo Elves

Game one This game demonstrated that I had a superior game plan with my creature ramp strategy over his synergy driven elf deck. He started with turn one mana Elf, into turn two [card]Elvish Archdruid[/card] setting up for the turn three go-big. My game plan was a bit more direct. Turn one [card]Eye of Ugin[/card], Mimic, Mimic. Turn two [card]Eldrazi Temple[/card] into [card]Thought-Knot Seer[/card] taking [card]Collected Company[/card]. Then, on turn two, I attacked for 8! He empties his hand on turn three giving him 6 creatures in play but with no mana to spare. I cast a turn three [card]Reality Smasher[/card] and attack for 19.

Game two This was a text book game for me. I played a turn one [card]Eye of Ugin[/card] into a turn two [card]Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth[/card] with a [card]Mind Stone[/card] and a [card]Matter Reshaper[/card]. Turn three arrives and he once more empties his hand. He was hell-bent but poised to kill me if he untaps with his [card]Ezuri, Renegade Leader[/card]. I quickly untap, play an [card]Eldrazi Temple[/card], and cast All is Dust, collecting a 7-for-1. I attack for three. A couple of turns later and the little green folks are eaten by the colorless horde.

Ending the Day

Rounds 5 and 6 were the cut to top four matches in which I played against [card]Living End[/card] again. The Relics and [card]Chalice of the Void[/card] just take over that match up post board. be sure to bring them in. I conceded in the finals as I am going to be in the booth on the day of the Open. I can’t wait to see you there.

Conclusion

At the end of the day I felt like I had found something powerful, not quite the One Ring powerful, but good. Something that can fight from multiple angles, is resilient to land destruction, ignores graveyard hate, completely outclasses all non-flying creatures on curve with them, can cast through counter magic and has hasty tramplers!! This is my OTP. I will happily continue to explore this new Twin-less frontier with my new Eldrazi overlords at my side.

Please feel free to share all your fresh brews with me on Twitter!
@Aw3someEveryDay
@ChefFace2Face