So Emrakul is on Innistrad now, right? She’s probably the Eldritch Moon? I am more and more convinced that my three-act story theory, that Emrakul is going to win on Innistrad but leave at the conclusion, heading off to New Phyrexia, might have some merit. One of the things that has me really excited about this is that we get another bite at a great Emrakul version, and that would be cool.
Preferably one that doesn’t get instabanned in Commander, for what it’s worth.
All in all, I ended up bringing in 37 different Eldrazi cards. I am not planning on going over them all in this article, though I will clarify that my use of the “Eldrazi cards” phrasing is due to the presence of Skittering Invasion and All Is Dust. (God, Rise of the Eldrazi had some metal card names.) They’re both great Tribal Sorceries, a mechanic which I wish had returned so that Warping Wail and Brutal Explosion could be properly typed.
But I digress. Here are how the creatures broke down:
The Mulldrifters
(Bearer of Silence; Wasteland Strangler; Eldrazi Obligator; Vile Redeemer; Catacomb Sifter; Void Grafter; Ulamog’s Nullifier; Blight Herder; Conduit of Ruin; Oblivion Sower; Brood Monitor; Birthing Hulk; World Breaker; Artisan of Kozilek; Desolation Twin)
This is an interesting mix of cast triggers and enters the battlefield triggers. While many of these cards do little more than create some extra bodies, there’s also a Diabolic Edict, a Threaten, a Caller of the Claw, a scrying machine, a Counterspell, a Plaxmanta, a Worldly Tutor, a removal spell, a Resurrection, and a card that I can’t even describe, it is so unique.
Oblivion Sower was a really good choice for Duel Deck promo, for what it’s worth. It’s a shame the foil ended up looking so muddy. And warped.
There’s beef and interaction here, which is good because I don’t think this deck is going to be skipping to the endgame all that much. That having been said, I could just be underestimating the Eldrazi manabase; such a thing has been known to happen!
One of the things I like about this deck is I don’t feel obligated to run Vedalken Orrery. In some of my creature-heavy decks my demand that I stick to the theme means that some decks only play at sorcery speed. It gets old pretty quickly.
The Utility Creatures
(Dimensional Infiltrator; Immobilizer Eldrazi; Eldrazi Displacer; Void Attendant; Barrage Tyrant; Brood Butcher; Dread Defiler; Spawnsire of Ulamog)
Activated abilities are another way to get around the sorcery-speed issue. A couple of these play around with the exile zone; Dimensional Infiltrator exiles things in opposing libraries while Void Attendant drops them back into the graveyard after turning them into Eldrazi Scions. Synergy! Process!
Immobilizer Eldrazi, which for some reason I keep wanting to call “Immobilizer Exarch,” is in there because it has a relatively unique effect that helps bring down blocker density without causing a total defensive breakdown. If all your creatures Falter, you’re going to kill the effect; if only some of them do, you might hold back that removal spell for something more threatening than a 2/1 for two mana.
Eldrazi Displacer is versatile. On the first level, it flickers Mulldrifters. While many in this deck don’t have enters the battlefield triggers, there are still one or two that will benefit. You can use that flicker politically, earning praise from the player whose Mulldrifter is actually Mulldrifter. But, beyond that it functions as a tapper, since you return the creature to the battlefield tapped, and a token killer, since tokens just never return. In short, it’s a lot of things in a little package, and that’s good!
Barrage Tyrant and Dread Defiler both can hit an opponent’s face, which makes them useful finishers. Barrage Tyrant, like Brood Butcher, also has a removal function. Finally, there’s Spawnsire of Ulamog. While you’ll never be able to use its ultimate, the ability to bank mana is useful, as is the ability to have a colorless Eldrazi enter the battlefield whenever you have four mana to spare.
The Draw Engines
(Prophet of Distortion; Fathom Feeder; Smothering Abomination; Endbringer; Deepfathom Skulker)
Hi, my name is Jess Stirba and I like to draw cards.
The Force Multipliers
(Ruination Guide; Flayer Drone; Sifter of Skulls; Deceiver of Form; It That Betrays)
Some of these work better with the tokens that Eldrazi like to create. Ruination Guide boosts all their power, turning Spawn into Scions and Scions into Pikers. Flayer Drone makes every battlefield entrance painful for a target opponent, which can be politically useful. Sifter of Skulls means every nontoken death gets a rebirth, potentially doubling the number of Eldrazi you see in a single game. And Deceiver of Form is like Overrun roulette, occasionally blanking altogether, but occasionally turning your team into a bunch of Ruination Guides, for power boosts, or god knows what else.
That they all have decent bodies is just gravy.
It That Betrays, though, is a different beast. While it has a fearsome bite, it’s its ability to disrupt sacrificial shenanigans where it shines. Players in Commander like to sacrifice things, and it is occasionally nice to be able to respond to a sacrifice with, “No, mine!”
Conclusion
(Herald of Kozilek; Breaker of Armies)
All in all I’m feeling pretty good about this deck, but it’s yet to experience the true test of battle. I’m worried about its mana, its speed, and its ability to stay at card parity with other decks, but those concerns are eternal. I will try them out at GP DC this upcoming weekend, where I will be playing with my lovely partner Dana and friend of the blog Rob. I have no expectation that we will do well, but I’ve decided to take my Commander build instincts out of the mix this time. Rob and Dana can build the three decks, and I’ll take whatever they give me.
It’s gotta be better than arguing over whether or not each Eldrazi is playable just because it’s amazing in Commander, right?
Jess Stirba has control issues.