Here is my first attempt at a true ramp deck featuring the spoopy Eldrazi.
NOTICE: This deck is still in planning.
The strength of this deck comes from using
Expedition Map
to search for
Urza's Mine
,
Urza's Power Plant
, and
Urza's Tower
. If you can get these three lands out on your first three land drops, you already have a mana pool of 7 by turn 3! This can ramp even more if you draw an
Eldrazi Temple
or another
Urza's Tower
(each tower will give you three mana if you have all three Urza cards). Then
Ugin, the Ineffable
can be used to further reduce the cost of all your cards by 2, and allowing you to play
Eldrazi Mimic
and
Expedition Map
for free.
You are vulnerable early game while you ramp, but once the mid-game starts it is very difficult to prevent this deck from molly-whopping your opponent in one or two turns from full life.
Contingency plans will be elaborated on later.
Early Game
Focus on utilizing
Expedition Map
to search your library for lands which will synergize with your opening hand. Since half your lands are Urza lands, there isn't much luck involved in getting
Urza's Mine
,
Urza's Power Plant
, and
Urza's Tower
all down. In the meantime
Eldrazi Mimic
and
Matter Reshaper
can serve as fodder while your ramp up. Don't be afraid to lose
Matter Reshaper
: Once he dies, his ability allows you to ramp up even more and put down another land if you are lucky. At the very least, you get to draw to prevent your hand from starving for cards. It makes more sense to save
Eldrazi Mimic
for later when you start casting your powerful creature spells.
Getting
Ugin, the Ineffable
down late-early game can be extremely advantageous. He reduces the mana cost of all cards in this library by 2, and allows you to draw more cards through the tokens which serve as useful fodder while trying to survive. Additionally, his -3 gives good board control against your opponent.
Mid Game
Once you have a sizeable mana pool (collective mana pool > 7), you can start playing your "mid-range" creatures.
Thought-Knot Seer
is the cheapest of these boys and allows you to get an idea of what your opponent has in hand and is planning while possibly denying them of said plan.
Reality Smasher
allows you to surprise your opponent while dishing out some good damage to their frontline or exposed lack thereof. It will also be difficult for your opponent to deal with this card due to its ability which acts as a deterrent from being the target of spells.
Endbringer
gives you an excellent amount of utility. It untaps during every player's untap step, and has three different abilities you can activate every player's turn. These abilities are low cost and shouldn't be difficult to afford at this stage of the game.
Conduit of Ruin
has extreme utility as it allows you to prepare for the end game by searching for any of your heavy hitters in your library - if you haven't already drawn one - and reducing the cost of your first creature spell every turn by two.
Try to conserve
All Is Dust
to maximize its effectiveness and further stretch your advantage. If your opponent is playing any color deck, most likely all their cards will be sacrificed - not including lands since those are technically colorless. During this stage, instead use
Spatial Contortion
or
Titan's Presence
as removal options if you can.
Late Game
Here comes the fun part where you get to disrespect your opponent. As well as casting
All Is Dust
to potentially wipe your opponents board, all of the legendary Eldrazi are extremely powerful. However each card has it's own character and are better in specific situations. These factors should be considered if you play
Conduit of Ruin
and have a choice of picking from one of them.
-
Void Winnower
allows you to stifle your opponent by rendering all their even mana-cost spells useless. If you are worried about your opponent using counters like
Mana Drain
, this card is the cheapest of the big-hitters and can be more easily rushed onto the field.
-
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
is great if you are having trouble getting your effective mana pool up to 11. Kozilek allows you to draw 4 cards building your hand up and annihilator 4 allows you to put an opponent who has a creature advantage in a tricky position.
-
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
is great if you are worried about your opponent using destroy instead of counter mechanics against your big-hitters. Additionally, the power to exile two target permanents is huge and causing your opponent to discard 20 cards every turn can quickly lead to a mill victory even if they can defend the damage.
-
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
costs 1 more than
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
, has the same annihilator strength, and does less damage. However, the strength of
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
is that you get to choose a permanent of your opponent's to exile. You can play this card, exile your opponents strongest permanent, and tip the balance of power into your favor.
-
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
is the most expensive of the legionaries as well as the most powerful. He has the highest power and toughness, has the highest annihilator stat, is flying, has protection from all colored spells, and allows you to take an additional turn afterwards! If you are lucky and have a few
Urza's Tower
, this is the obvious choice.
These cards offer you a bit of flexibility depending on the type of deck you are facing.
Contingency Plans
If things aren't quite going your way,
Warping Wail
and
Eldrazi Conscription
offer you a way to stay in the game.
Warping Wail
is three different spells in one. It can be used as removal for certain cards, as a sorcery counter, or as a cheap fodder piece which can be used for in a pinch.
Eldrazi Conscription
allows you to transform any of your early or mid-game creatures into a full-fledged monster if you don't draw any of the legionaries or
Conduit of Ruin
.
