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Tags:
OGW Modern
Eldrazi
Modern Eldrazi
Stjepan Sucic
About Stjepan Sučić
Stjepan started his Magic career in 2003, and had some decent finishes over the years, including a World Magic Cup top 8, Pro Tour and Worlds top 32 finishes and a GP top 8 with 61 pro points total.
During the summer months he is also a Magic Online grinder who you can easily find in the draft queues. Stjepan boasts a 74% win rate in his real life Magic career. When he is not playing Magic, Stjepan enjoys watching Starcraft and playing MOBA games.
The Future of Modern
I think we can all agree that Modern is a hot mess at the moment. Anyone who attended a Modern GP on the weekend of March 5th and 6th can probably attest to this. Most of us have our own ideas and suggestions regarding what should or could be done about this, but the general consensus is that something has to change, and fast. Many people demanded action from Wizards of the Coast before the aforementioned GP weekend, but WotC, as usual, decided it was smarter to wait and see, and then act. I can't say if this was a good or a bad decision, but we certainly had an interesting weekend. Well, interesting in some ways at least. Eldrazi decks posted huge numbers in all three GPs held that weekend. To be precise, it went like this:
Top 100 decks at GP Bologna - 39% Eldrazi decks
Top 100 decks at GP Melbourne - 43% Eldrazi decks
Top 100 decks at GP Detroit - 47% Eldrazi decks
Those numbers are pretty damning, no other deck was this dominant in the format, and the worst thing is - people came prepared to these GPs, knowing for a fact that they will be running into a ton of Eldrazi. The problem was that there is not a great deal of efficient hate for the Eldrazi decks. Yes, there are some cards that certainly thwart their game plan, but sometimes even those weren't fast or effective enough. This is the main issue with the Eldrazi deck - it is very hard to stop it effectively, and if Wizards wanted to print hate cards against the deck, those cards would have to be pretty powerful as well, making the disbalance in the format even worse. Things got so bad that even Aaron Forsythe admitted that alarm bells were going off at the WotC headquarters. He also said that the banhammer will fall, but that they don't want to completely 'kill' the Eldrazi in Modern. This last part is the most significant - I believe we can safely assume that Aaron meant that only one card will be banned from the Eldrazi deck. There has been a lot of speculation on that part in the last couple of weeks, and I will try to assess which card is the most likely ban target, and how the deck could still work after the ban.
The three cards that are mentioned as the most likely ban candidates are Eye of Ugin, Eldrazi Temple and Eldrazi Mimic. There are some people who suggest banning two of those cards, or even all of the above, but let's limit our 'What if' section to the most probable options.
Versions:
Modern Masters 2015 (Foil)
Worldwake (Foil)
Future Scenario 1 - Eye of Ugin Gets Banned
Fast mana equals broken plays. This is an unwritten rule in Magic history, back in the days it was the original Moxen and Dark Ritual, Ancient Tomb, Chrome Mox and Rite of Flame, and in March 2016 it’s Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin.
The main argument people have for banning Eye is that it not only provides 2 mana for colorless Eldrazi, but it effectively provides you with more than that if you manage to play more than one spell a turn. For example, playing Eye of Ugin on turn 1 and then playing three Eldrazi Mimics means that Eye provided you with 6 mana on turn one. The same is true for later turns, when you can play multiple Thought-Knot Seers or Eldrazi Displacers thanks to the Eye making them cost only one or two mana. Banning Eye would certainly make the deck far less explosive and more fair, without the potential for turn two or three kills. This certainly seems to be the most likely ban, since that would accomplish exactly what Forsythe said in the interview - it wouldn't kill the deck, but would make it more of a 'fair' deck. Drawing multiple Eldrazi Temples would still be very strong, and would allow you to play turn two Thought-Knot Seer or Reality Smasher in combination with Simian Spirit Guide, but that is far less likely with only four lands that provide you with two mana.
Since without Eye, those insane multiple Mimics into anything hands wouldn't be possible, I believe that Eldrazi Mimic would fall out of favor, with players going for more consistency by adding green and mana creatures like Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise, allowing for fast starts, even if you don't draw Eldrazi Temple. The deck’s main enemy would probably remain Affinity (provided it doesn't suffer from incoming changes to the banned list, but let's talk about that a bit later in the article) so this means that other than green, your second color should probably be white for cards like Path to Exile and sideboard slots like Stony Silence. Both Birds and Hierarch can provide you with white mana, so those and some number of Brushland should do the trick. A card that is very good versus Affinity and is compatible with the shell, is Lingering Souls, but I am unsure if it is worth it to splash black for the flashback. Once I settled on playing white, the obvious addition to the deck was Eldrazi Displacer, which further motivated me to fit in Drowner of Hope. World Breaker was an obvious addition as well, but it was very hard to decide on the numbers, so I settled on keeping a few in the sideboard. This means that all the powerful Eldrazi options are still in the deck, The mana is a bit slower, but we can fix that with some green mana dorks, and all we need to finish this up is a bit of glue. Ancient Stirrings is as good as the glue gets, but I had some other ideas as well. This is what I came up with:
Newdrazi
Deck by Stjepan Sucic on Thu, 03/17/2016 - 15:11
Main Deck
(60 cards)
4
Yavimaya Coast
3
Windswept Heath
1
Temple Garden
3
Horizon Canopy
1
Forest
4
Eldrazi Temple
4
Brushland
1
Breeding Pool
2
Adarkar Wastes
4
Path to Exile
4
Ancient Stirrings
3
Birds of Paradise
4
Noble Hierarch
4
Eldrazi Displacer
4
Eldrazi Skyspawner
1
Eternal Witness
4
Thought-Knot Seer
4
Reality Smasher
1
World Breaker
4
Drowner of Hope
Colors
Blue
8
Colorless
8
Green
13
Land
23
White
8
Converted Mana Cost
1
15
3
9
4
4
5
4
6
4
7
1
Type
Basic Land
1
Creature
29
Instant
4
Land
22
Sorcery
4
Tags:
OGW Modern
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The sideboard is obviously very dependant on the metagame you are expecting, but some graveyard and affinity hate should be present. Other than that, four Leyline of Sanctity might be a great idea as well, since Burn and Jund will become more popular for sure.
The maindeck is not set in stone either, options are plentiful, and it is very hard to say which numbers are the best. I was considering going more of a combo route with Training Grounds and Eldrazi Displacer + Drowner of Hope combo, but it is probably better to just keep Training Grounds as a one or two of in the sideboard as a surprise factor against decks that are ill-prepared to deal with the combination.
It is possible that a more control-ish route is even better, with more top end and fewer mana creatures and more Dismembers, but I think this is a good starting point for an Eye-less Eldrazi deck.
Future Scenario 2 - Eldrazi Temple Gets Banned
Eldrazi without Eye of Ugin become slower, and Eldrazi without Eldrazi Temple become less consistent. This version certainly would still allow for some insane plays and turn two kills, but it will be extremely unlikely, similar to what infect is capable of right now. I believe that inconsistency in this scenario has to be embraced. Something similar to the Rakdos guild on Ravnica, they know they are mad, but if they succeed, they are going to destroy everything in their way. Inspired by the Rakdos guild, I concocted the following list:
Madrazi
Deck by Stjepan Sucic on Thu, 03/17/2016 - 15:17
Main Deck
(60 cards)
4
Blinkmoth Nexus
4
Eye of Ugin
4
Gemstone Caverns
4
Ghost Quarter
2
Mutavault
4
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3
Wastes
4
Eldrazi Mimic
1
Spellskite
4
Matter Reshaper
4
Simian Spirit Guide
4
Thought-Knot Seer
4
Reality Smasher
4
Endless One
4
Chalice of the Void
4
Dismember
2
Mask of Memory
Colors
Artifact
7
Black
4
Colorless
20
Land
25
Red
4
Converted Mana Cost
0
8
2
7
3
12
4
4
5
4
Type
Artifact
6
Artifact Creature
1
Basic Land
3
Creature
24
Instant
4
Land
22
Tags:
OGW Modern
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Versions:
Time Spiral (Foil)
At first glance, it looks pretty much like the old colorless Eldrazi list from the Pro Tour. If you thought that, you are right. Well, almost right, there is just a hint of insanity - this deck runs three full sets of legendary lands. Four Eye of Ugin, four Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, four Gemstone Caverns. I thought this setup required some way to filter through the cards, so you can get rid of the extra legendary lands, replacing them with some gas, and I first thought that Faithless Looting was the perfect card for that. I quickly realized that running a colored card is a bit sketchy, since it might be a problem to cast it, which means I would have to add lands that actually produce red (other than Gemstone Caverns with a luck counter on it) and that didn't seem like a good idea. The final nail in Faithless Looting's coffin was the fact that it gets countered by Chalice of the Void. I looked further for cards that would let me sift through my library and/or get rid of extra legendary lands from my hand. The only requirement was that the card wouldn’t make me do anything silly with my mana base. After a short search, I found a couple of options. I considered Molten-Tail Masticore and Gathan Raiders, but in the end decided on Mask of Memory. Mask of Memory was a card that I really liked - it has a cheap equip and casting cost, it is very good with both Blinkmoth Nexus and Reality Smasher. The only issue I had with this card, was the fact that this deck wanted to kill rather quickly, and Mask of Memory wasn't helping a whole lot in that regard. Still, it did what needed to be done, so I kept a few in the maindeck.
Gemstone Caverns are hardly as good as the Eldrazi Temples are, but certainly help. In a format where playing first is super important, it is always nice to have something that makes the fact that you are playing second feel good. All in all, the whole point is that banning Eldrazi Temple wouldn't destroy the deck completely, but would certainly make it far less consistent, if not less powerful.
Future Scenario 3 - Eldrazi Mimic/Thought-Knot Seer/ Reality Smasher Gets Banned
I believe this to be the least likely outcome, mainly because I don't believe banning any one of these cards would weaken the deck enough. Banning two or all three of these would revert the deck to its pre-OGW state (a deck that I wrote about previously) and that was still a very strong deck. Most people agree (myself included) that it is not a problem that the creatures are too strong, it is the fast mana that makes them 'broken'. I have to say that banning anything other than Eldrazi Temple and/or Eye of Ugin would be a mistake.
Are the Eldrazi the Only Offenders?
I would have to say no to that one. I do understand that the Eldrazi are in the spotlight at the moment, and it is hard to make a case for anything else to be banned, but Affinity is just as broken as the Eldrazi. We weren't noticing that as much, since there are tons of cards that hose the deck. A good question to ask ourselves here is: Would WotC ever print cards like Shattering Spree, Stony Silence, or Kataki, War's Wage if Affinity wasn't broken in the first place? We were given many tools to fight the artifact menace, and every deck in Modern has at least a couple of sideboard slots reserved for Affinity. This isn't very healthy for the format, since with such great diversity, every sideboard slot is super important, and Affinity’s existence makes your sideboard considerably smaller.
Versions:
Modern Masters 2015 (Foil)
Scars of Mirrodin (Foil)
Why is Affinity broken? The answer is pretty much the same as with the Eldrazi - Fast mana = broken plays. Mox Opal is one of the culprits, since it allows Affinity to play out its hand on turn one, which is often almost impossible to deal with. Mox Opal was quite often the subject of ban-talk (ban-ter, eh?) since Chrome Mox has been on the banned list since the start of the format, and Chrome Mox is arguably the 'weaker' of the two moxen.
The other card that makes Affinity a bit harder to counteract is Inkmoth Nexus. This card allows Affinity to circumvent all kinds of lifegain strategies, which would usually work well against an aggressive deck. Banning Inkmoth Nexus would effectively 'kill' Infect as an archetype as well, which is also one of the decks that no one really wants to play against, due to its potential to get a really fast kill. Infect is not very stable, and sometimes just does nothing, but it is also super powerful when it does what it is designed to do.
One other card many people want to see eliminated from the format is Blood Moon. This card was crucial in (somewhat) stopping the Eldrazi invasion, but many other decks felt its glorious transforming power and didn't really like it. The main reason people cite for banning Blood Moon is the fact that it is a single card that unfairly turns games into non-games for just three mana.
I strongly dislike the idea of banning Blood Moon. We became super greedy with the mana bases, and there ought to be some cards that punish that. Other than that, Blood Moon isn't that hard to play against, every deck runs a couple of basic lands, and fetching those can help you cast a card that can destroy the Blood Moon once it hits the table. Sure, some decks don't have that luxury, but that is a risk you have to take. Some power for some consistency, and vice versa.
One more thing to keep in mind: The recent Splinter Twin ban confirms that the often speculated about “2 year policy” from Wizards is a thing. It is a theory that Wizards always bans a card from a deck that is constantly tier 1 for two years. The same thing happened with Birthing Pod, and now with Splinter Twin. It seems that Wizards wants the format to change constantly, and that is why they try to 'freshen it up' with bans. This means we could expect some Affinity bans, if not this April, then in a year's time for sure.
Conclusion
Wizards wants Modern to be constantly shifting and changing, but they also want it to be relatively fair, and this means regular bans. I am unsure how this will affect the format in the long run, since people like consistency and dislike the fact that they have to fear investing in a deck that might get banned at some point. To remedy that, WotC is trying not to completely kill decks with their bans, so players can keep playing the deck even after it gets 'nerfed', as gamers would say. This scenario is what will happen with Eldrazi as well, and I am pretty sure that even post-ban, it will be possible to play the deck in a slightly adapted form, so don't sell your Eldrazi cards just yet!
Good luck and have fun!
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