This is my take on the ever popular BW Eldrazi and Taxes list for modern. It runs the usual hatebear pieces in
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
and
Leonin Arbiter
(Cat Jesus), but there are some choice cuts both mainboard and sideboard which is adapted for my local meta as well as the new modern meta which is still filled with Drakes.
There's intrinsically nothing new that this deck really does. Most of it is the usual plays of Vial, Arbiter and Thalia and then smacking your opponent till they die. Being in black lets you use Wasteland Stranglers, which when paired with a
Flickerwisp
, allows you to remove two things at once. I heard that's pretty good.
Gideon Blackblade
isn't super powerful, and he can't be vialed in unlike most of our hate pieces, but he benefits from being a 4/4 that's indestructible that can swing in every turn. Of the 3 modes in his uptick, giving a creature vigilance is probably the most relevant, because it leaves behind a blocker for Gideon. Lifelink... is something you praise Bolas for when burn hits you too hard, and indestructibility might as well not be there. His downtick is where things get spicy. After 2 turns, Gideon will tick up to 6 loyalty and is ready to use his downtick ability. As he's permanently a creature on your turn, you can respond to that ability by displacing him with
Eldrazi Displacer
, meaning he comes back with a fresh set of loyalty counters, exiles something, and can tick up once more. #walue.
Alright,
Giver of Runes
. She's no mom, sure, but... absolutely playable in modern. Where in Legacy, the turn
Mother of Runes
comes out is the only real window your opponent has at killing her without wasting two spells later makes her very quite good. Giver can only protect another creature, but it still forces an opponent to waste removal on her, which is one less spent on your other important creatures, plus she works against the mirror, protecting against the likes of
Eldrazi Displacer
. Additionally, being a 1/2 absolutely helps. Now she can't be
Gut Shot
.
Of the sideboard pieces:
Orzhov Pontiff
is a very good answer to tokens as well as
Lingering Souls
and any weenie creatures an opponent would play. (Elves, Humans, other Thalias) I was a fool to think
Declaration in Stone
would be better, but it just doesn't answer enough.
Kataki, War's Wage
is there to stop Whir Prison decks and slows down affinity too. Just a good hatebear, really.
Karn, Scion of Urza
is a good card when it comes to giving card advantage over slower, control-based decks. Even if his uptick nets you a land, that's one less land you'd draw into, and better chances of being gas.
Disenchant
is a very good catch-all card that answers a multitude of problems, that sometimes our little Displacer can't fix, and
Flickerwisp
is missing it's big Eldrazi Friend. It removes a problem chalice, and also Worship, in the mono-white mirrors, which might be the difference between winning and losing out.
Phyrexian Revoker
is a decent catch-all card that stops anything with an activated ability, and it too, can be Vialed in, and even when hard cast, would cost the same as a
Pithing Needle
with a Thalia on the board.
Eidolon of Rhetoric
stops anything. It is the all powerful uncommon from a not-so-powerful set, and kills Phoenix decks, Storm and other lesser decks out there that just want to play spells because spells are fun. I decided to use these as opposed to Kambal, like other Taxes lists, because we already have a mainboard Gideon, Vents and Vault of the Archangel. Plenty of lifegain.
