Starting to get back into magic. Been out since the end of mirodin block. Been having some fun with Eldrazi so I figured I'd roll with it. First version from just random cards I'd picked up in booster sets turned out decent so I ordered a few more to kind of narrow out all the useless cards. Played against some random friends and was able to put some heat on a friend's pummeler deck and then on a friends Relentless rat deck by keeping them on the defensive. The last two games I've had issues with too much mana and not enough eldrazi.
Here's the revised deck setup. Any tips/tricks would be appreciated. I'm not looking to spend tons and I do plan on throwing in a plainswalker but still trying to decide which one.
Emerge-Eldrazi is a very fun mechanic to build around!
The first thing I noticed is 29 creatures + 10 spells + 1 artifact + 22 lands. That's 62 cards! You should try to cut it down to 60 cards to have better consistency.
I really like your creature base. You have a good mix of Emerge fodder and big Eldrazi.
Your spells could use improvement. Cards I would not play at all:
1) Contingency Plan - This card is meant for Delirium decks, to help them get different card types in the graveyard. You don't really get anything out of it. If you want to rearrange your top cards just to filter your draws, a spell like Ponder or Preordain is much better. They only cost 1 mana and they replace themselves (you draw a card).
3) Nissa's Pilgrimage - It only finds you Forests. Kodama's Reach or Cultivate are better, since they can find either Islands or Forests. Pilgrimage can sometimes find 3 lands instead of 2, but you will not often get Spell Mastery in a deck like this, so the benefit is minor.
4) Eldritch Evolution - It can only find something with cost X+2 or less. In your deck, most of the creatures you want to sacrifice are 3-4 mana but your Eldrazi cost 7+ mana. So you cannot use it to turn a small creature into an Eldrazi. You can just use it to pitch one Eldrazi into another Eldrazi, or one small creature into another small creature. That's probably not good enough to play.
5) Drownyard Behemoth -- The card is not bad, but it doesn't have as nice an ability as Mockery of Nature or Lashweed Lurker, so the main advantage is just having Flash to surprise an enemy attacker. Elder Deep-Fiend is much much better. If you can afford some Deep-Fiend, you should get those instead.
6) Dimensional Infiltrator -- This card is kind of weird and doesn't fit the deck's main strategy. I've played with it before and had mixed results. The ability is kind of cool and lets you return it to your hand to save itself from death. The problem is that even if you have colorless mana to use the ability, you may not exile a land. There's no guarantee you can return it. You might have to activate the ability 2 or 3 times to return it to your hand. That takes a lot of mana. Otherwise it's just a cheap 2/1 flyer, better in a fast aggressive deck than an Eldrazi deck. You're better off running 4 Ulvenwald Captive to have more mana acceleration.
7) Convolute -- This is a lot of mana to conditionally counter a spell. Spells like Mana Leak, Rune Snag, Cancel, or Counterspell are much more efficient. You may not even need any countermagic, since you'll be tapping out most turns to play big creatures. It'll be hard to leave 2-3 mana open for counters.
Those are the big things I would cut.
I would strongly consider playing Duskwatch Recruiter. It's another early drop that can help you find more Eldrazi when you are mana-flooded.
I opted not to run any Nissa's Pilgrimage effects because those help you ramp from 3 to 5 mana, and that's not really what your deck needs. Most of your Eldrazi have Emerge. For those, you just need some Emerge fodder and a few lands. For the big Eldrazi without Emerge (e.g. Ulamog, Ulamog's Crusher), ramping out another 2 lands doesn't seem like enough to get you to 8-10 mana reliably. You'll need a lot more help than that. So instead, I just cut those down to 2 copies (Artisan and Ulamog). Sometimes you will get lucky enough to cast them off your double lands. Otherwise, you're only stuck with at most 2 uncastable cards.
If you run 1 Emrakul, the Promised End, you might find it easier to cast than some of the other big options.
You are AWESOME. I appreciate the response. I posted this elsewhere and they essentially considered it useless. My local friends disagree as they're deathtouch is about the only thing keeping these at bay so early in the game.
I pretty much threw this together with the spare cards I had without reaching out to individual rares/etc. Glad I didn't totally screw it up!!
I liked the Eldritch evolution because as soon as I had someone I emerged on the battlefield, I could sacrifice them to get Ulamog's or Artisan out and start pecking away at their permanents.
and Emrakul is on my list but I'm holding off as I'm trying to figure out a Commander version of Eldrazi and he's banned. :/
You are AWESOME. I appreciate the response. I posted this elsewhere and they essentially considered it useless. My local friends disagree as they're deathtouch is about the only thing keeping these at bay so early in the game.
I pretty much threw this together with the spare cards I had without reaching out to individual rares/etc. Glad I didn't totally screw it up!!
Did you post it in one of the Competitive forums? People can be meaner over there.
You didn't screw it up at all. The core concept is great. Playing Foul Emissary on turn 3 and then emerging Lashweed Lurker on turn 4, getting rid of their best creature and making a 3/2 token, is a really strong play! You'll have bigger creatures than your opponents and they will be forced onto the defensive early. That's probably what you've already observed in your playgroup. My suggestions are just to help boost the consistency so you can execute that plan better. Turn 4 Elder Deep-Fiend is even more brutal, because you can flash it in on opponent's upkeep and tap all 4 of his lands so he can't play anything that turn! It can also tap down creatures to clear the way for your attackers. Very flexible card. And they're only a dollar or two right now!
If your friends are trying to keep you at bay with Deathtouch, then instead of Prey Upon (which would cause his deathtouch creature to kill your Eldrazi back) I highly recommend Nature's Way. Nature's Way is 1-sided. You hit his creature, but it doesn't hit yours back. There are a few other cards like that (e.g. Rabid Bite), but Nature's Way also gives you Vigilance and Trample so that your big Eldrazi can attack and trample over blockers!
I liked the Eldritch evolution because as soon as I had someone I emerged on the battlefield, I could sacrifice them to get Ulamog's or Artisan out and start pecking away at their permanents.
Huh. I never thought about that. Eldritch Evolution on a turn 4 Emerge creature might be your easiest way to get Ulamog on the battlefield, instead of having to get up to 10 mana somehow. Unfortunately you won't get Ulamog's "cast" trigger, so you can't exile 2 permanents off him. There's same problem with Artisan. But big things with Annihilator are really good. Sure, try it out and see how it does.
Here's the revised deck setup. Any tips/tricks would be appreciated. I'm not looking to spend tons and I do plan on throwing in a plainswalker but still trying to decide which one.
Blue/Green Eldrazi:
Creatures:
2x Dimensional Infiltrator
2x Eldrazi Skyspawner
1x Wretched Gryff
2x Mockery of Nature
2x Lashweed Lurker
2x Drownyard Behemoth
1x Ulamog's Crusher
1x Artisan of Kozilek
1x It That Betrays
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4x Foul Emissary
3x Ulvenwald Captive
2x Tangleclaw Werewolf
3x Enlightened Maniac
2x Exultant Cultist
Instant/Sorcery/Enchantment:
3x Nissa's Pilgrimage
1x Prey Upon
1x Eldritch Evolution
2x Convolute
1x Contingency Plan
2x Spontaneous Mutation
Artifact:
1x Cryptolith Fragment
Lands:
3x Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
2x Eldrazi Temple
1x Nephalia Academy
8x Forest
8x Island
Sideboard so far:
1x Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
1x Ulvenwald Captive
1x Ulamog's Crusher
2x Pathrazer of Ulamog
1x Cryptolith Fragment
Any help would be great. Thanks
Emerge-Eldrazi is a very fun mechanic to build around!
The first thing I noticed is 29 creatures + 10 spells + 1 artifact + 22 lands. That's 62 cards! You should try to cut it down to 60 cards to have better consistency.
I really like your creature base. You have a good mix of Emerge fodder and big Eldrazi.
Your spells could use improvement. Cards I would not play at all:
1) Contingency Plan - This card is meant for Delirium decks, to help them get different card types in the graveyard. You don't really get anything out of it. If you want to rearrange your top cards just to filter your draws, a spell like Ponder or Preordain is much better. They only cost 1 mana and they replace themselves (you draw a card).
2) Cryptolith Fragment - This card is slow at increasing your mana. Sol Ring is a much better replacement!
3) Nissa's Pilgrimage - It only finds you Forests. Kodama's Reach or Cultivate are better, since they can find either Islands or Forests. Pilgrimage can sometimes find 3 lands instead of 2, but you will not often get Spell Mastery in a deck like this, so the benefit is minor.
4) Eldritch Evolution - It can only find something with cost X+2 or less. In your deck, most of the creatures you want to sacrifice are 3-4 mana but your Eldrazi cost 7+ mana. So you cannot use it to turn a small creature into an Eldrazi. You can just use it to pitch one Eldrazi into another Eldrazi, or one small creature into another small creature. That's probably not good enough to play.
5) Drownyard Behemoth -- The card is not bad, but it doesn't have as nice an ability as Mockery of Nature or Lashweed Lurker, so the main advantage is just having Flash to surprise an enemy attacker. Elder Deep-Fiend is much much better. If you can afford some Deep-Fiend, you should get those instead.
6) Dimensional Infiltrator -- This card is kind of weird and doesn't fit the deck's main strategy. I've played with it before and had mixed results. The ability is kind of cool and lets you return it to your hand to save itself from death. The problem is that even if you have colorless mana to use the ability, you may not exile a land. There's no guarantee you can return it. You might have to activate the ability 2 or 3 times to return it to your hand. That takes a lot of mana. Otherwise it's just a cheap 2/1 flyer, better in a fast aggressive deck than an Eldrazi deck. You're better off running 4 Ulvenwald Captive to have more mana acceleration.
7) Convolute -- This is a lot of mana to conditionally counter a spell. Spells like Mana Leak, Rune Snag, Cancel, or Counterspell are much more efficient. You may not even need any countermagic, since you'll be tapping out most turns to play big creatures. It'll be hard to leave 2-3 mana open for counters.
Those are the big things I would cut.
I would strongly consider playing Duskwatch Recruiter. It's another early drop that can help you find more Eldrazi when you are mana-flooded.
I would also want to play more removal spells. More Prey Upon, Rabid Bite, Pit Fight or Nature's Way. Green-blue also has access to spells that turn creatures into dorks: Rapid Hybridization, Pongify, Snakeform or Beast Within.
Here's an example of how I might change your deck:
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
4 Ulvenwald Captive
4 Foul Emissary
3 Exultant Cultist
3 Eldrazi Skyspawner
2 Wretched Gryff
2 Lashweed Lurker
2 Mockery of Nature
2 Elder Deep-Fiend
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4 Ponder
2 Rapid Hybridization
2 Nature's Way
//Artifact: 1
1 Sol Ring
//Lands: 23
4 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
2 Eldrazi Temple
3 Botanical Sanctum
4 Simic Guildgate
5 Forest
5 Island
I opted not to run any Nissa's Pilgrimage effects because those help you ramp from 3 to 5 mana, and that's not really what your deck needs. Most of your Eldrazi have Emerge. For those, you just need some Emerge fodder and a few lands. For the big Eldrazi without Emerge (e.g. Ulamog, Ulamog's Crusher), ramping out another 2 lands doesn't seem like enough to get you to 8-10 mana reliably. You'll need a lot more help than that. So instead, I just cut those down to 2 copies (Artisan and Ulamog). Sometimes you will get lucky enough to cast them off your double lands. Otherwise, you're only stuck with at most 2 uncastable cards.
If you run 1 Emrakul, the Promised End, you might find it easier to cast than some of the other big options.
I pretty much threw this together with the spare cards I had without reaching out to individual rares/etc. Glad I didn't totally screw it up!!
and Emrakul is on my list but I'm holding off as I'm trying to figure out a Commander version of Eldrazi and he's banned. :/
Did you post it in one of the Competitive forums? People can be meaner over there.
You didn't screw it up at all. The core concept is great. Playing Foul Emissary on turn 3 and then emerging Lashweed Lurker on turn 4, getting rid of their best creature and making a 3/2 token, is a really strong play! You'll have bigger creatures than your opponents and they will be forced onto the defensive early. That's probably what you've already observed in your playgroup. My suggestions are just to help boost the consistency so you can execute that plan better. Turn 4 Elder Deep-Fiend is even more brutal, because you can flash it in on opponent's upkeep and tap all 4 of his lands so he can't play anything that turn! It can also tap down creatures to clear the way for your attackers. Very flexible card. And they're only a dollar or two right now!
If your friends are trying to keep you at bay with Deathtouch, then instead of Prey Upon (which would cause his deathtouch creature to kill your Eldrazi back) I highly recommend Nature's Way. Nature's Way is 1-sided. You hit his creature, but it doesn't hit yours back. There are a few other cards like that (e.g. Rabid Bite), but Nature's Way also gives you Vigilance and Trample so that your big Eldrazi can attack and trample over blockers!
Huh. I never thought about that. Eldritch Evolution on a turn 4 Emerge creature might be your easiest way to get Ulamog on the battlefield, instead of having to get up to 10 mana somehow. Unfortunately you won't get Ulamog's "cast" trigger, so you can't exile 2 permanents off him. There's same problem with Artisan. But big things with Annihilator are really good. Sure, try it out and see how it does.
FWIW Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is banned in Commander, but Emrakul, the Promised End is not banned.
I did get ahold of Eldrazi Conscription but that got thrown into my Colorless Commander deck.