For Bogles, when on the play, you want T1 hand disruption--they often keep a one creature opener and you can shut them down easily, if so. It is worth 5 life to cast a Thoughtseize on T1 in this match if that is your best way to get into their hand on the first turn.
Zealous Persecution is a good T2 response to their first enchantment spell. EE and Ratchet Bomb can both put in some work, as can Disenchant. Disenchant is good to hold in the hopes of casting in response to them casting their Daybreak Coronet as their second enchantment; if you can make the first one fall off, the Coronet cannot legally attach and will fizzle. Celestial Flare and Runed Halo are both excellent and are relevant on other scenarios. But probably the SB card with the most utility against Bogles and widest application in other match ups would be Spellskite, which completely shuts them down until they can get rid of it.
I haven't run Warping Wail but I do really like Mind Stone. It is making T3 TKS and Smashers much more reliable and cantrips later on. It also helps with keeping mana open for Path, Ghost Quarter, or a Relic graveyard wipe.
Haven't been posting for a while due to lack of time but still very much on this deck. Played in a small modern event yesterday and went 3-1 winning against Abzan midrange, zoo, and Knight tribal but losing to Abzan coco. I still think the deck has power but have noticed that it doesn't seem to be putting up results at a more competitive level. I am not sure why this is, as I would think that the more successful bant versions suffer from being a four color deck (although I'm sure birds and noble help w/ this considerably). The power of this deck I have always felt is that it is able to play so much md hate as part of it's natural gameplan while still functioning as a viable midrange deck. But maybe this strategy is not as viable in a larger metagame than my own? Or perhaps there just isn't a significant amount of people on the deck. I will say that I have gone back on the sculler plan and upped my colored lands dropping any sort of land toolbox or ramp from mind stone/map. My creatures sometimes come out a little slower but between sculler and TKS I sure do enjoy tearing my opponent's hand to shreds.
Out of curiosity, why tidehollow sculler and not brain maggot? It dies to almost all the same removal and is easier on the mana curve, requiring only one color instead of two. Is the extra power/toughness frequently applicable?
In terms of survivability: no, they both die to just about anything and sculler has the added negative of powering up goyf by virtue of being an artifact (although maggot does this as well being an enchantment). That said, on attack I've found the difference between 1 power and 2 to be pretty substantial in terms of a clock. Also, Goyf is pretty weak to our strategy already due to 4 relics and lots of removal/discard/big creatures. Lastly unlike maggot, due to the wording on the card, Sculler can combine with displacer or a poorly timed removal spell from an opponent unfamiliar w/ the card to permanently exile a card from their hand. I think the two cards are roughly interchangeable but I am not playing the land toolbox so getting BW by turn 2 hasn't really been an issue for me, and if mana is no longer an issue I feel Sculler is better if you want this sort of card in your deck.
Private Mod Note
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
The Aether Vial deck is Eldrazi and Taxes, the MTGS discussion for which is being had in the general Wx Death and Taxes thread, I believe. The Processors Midrange build uses Relics and Blight Herders instead of Aether Vials and Flickerwisps etc. They are distinct decks with different game plans.
Goyf is not a problem--at all--for the Relic-based Processor builds.
1-2 vs. Merfolk: I won G1 with two Seers and a Smasher after he mulled to 5 and didn't hit a Vial. But in both G2 and 3 I did not find my sweepers and got out-swarmed; in G3 I Thoughtseized his Vial T1, but then he topdecked one on his opening draw. I made a mistake in this match, in G2, and Thoughtseized him taking his Vial instead of his Kira, Great Glass Spinner, which then made his other creatures essentially unremovable. In general, I think I should be taking a threat instead of an enabler in most cases.
2-1 vs. Esper Death's Shadow/Angel's Grace/Spoils of the Vault brew: He took the play and opened with a tapped Watery Grave. I Thoughtseized him off a Swamp and saw a weird hand with Spoils and Grace; took Grace. On T2 he cast Spoils, naming Death's Shadow, milled 20 cards, and killed himself. In G2 I couldn't draw into removal and gradually ran out of chumps for his huge Shadow. In G3 I was able to keep him off his threats with hand disruption (Thoughtseize, TKS) and swung through with my own big bodies for the win.
2-0 vs. RW Prison: I cast a T2 vanilla Strangler to start the beats and then was able to land a TKS on both T3 and T4. That was too much for him, as I was able to take his Paths and Wraths. In G2 I kept an Anguished Unmaking for all his non-creature permanents and it ended up taking his Assemble the Legion which is slow but deadly if unanswered. A Herder Scion getting me C under his Blood Moon for the second Smasher was what closed that game. Neither game was close.
0-2 vs. Merfolk: In G1 I maxed out at two lands and in G2 I maxed out at 3, two of them Vents. Mana screw = rapid dying to the gilled folk.
2-0 vs. Jeskai Control: In G1 2x Lingering Souls outvalued him and he never hit me. In G2 I Ghost Quartered his tapped Tectonic Edge (later drawing a second GQ to hold back for his Colonnades), which ended up saving my late game Vault of the Archangel and allowed me to turn the corner at 4 life with two Smashers on the field. Two Lingering Souls plus 2 Smashers were too much for his only active threat, which was an Elspeth, Sun's Champion. When he landed it, I happened to have all four Paths in hand so I was able to Path three tokens to ensure Elspeth did not stick around. Ghost Quarter was huge all throughout this match and Caves came in very handy in G1. I did not see Nahiri in this match.
2-0 vs. Merfolk: Having lost twice to Fish already I was pissed to see it again, but as it turns out my excellent draws made it impossible for him to win. In both games I landed a T2 TKS and, later, two or three Smashers, and he simply could not keep up with all the huge, speedy bodies. Ratchet Bomb swept his Master of Waves tokens late in G2 to keep him from going too wide for my big blockers. I was not able to cast any of my three Damnations in any of my Merfolk matches today for some reason.
2-0 vs. BW Death and Taxes: In G1 two Herders for value, plus Lingering Souls, shut him down very effectively. In G2 I again landed a T2 TKS and later Thoughtseizes to keep his game disrupted past the point where he could recover. The life total records in my notes from G1 don't reflect this, but this match was not close and I was in control pretty much all of the time.
Thoughts: Landing a T2 TKS happened several times today and is a backbreaking play. It is broken for real. Especially when combined with a T3 Smasher into swing for 9, it is a near-unbeatable start. Lingering Souls was huge again all day. Blight Herder has been inconsistent for me lately but today it was amazing, even when cast without Processing. The 5 butt is a big deal and getting C for Smasher and TKS can be situationally crucial.
Truthfully, I am looking at the Bant Eldrazi build, which hits this T2 TKS much more reliably. Mind Stone did not play a role even once today (nor did Sorin, nor my Blood Baron, for that matter), but opening Temple into Temple/TKS was amazing every time. Mind Stone cannot power a T2 Seer, but the Bant build has Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise, so they only need one Temple to land the Seer on the second turn. Plus their Displacers and Matter Reshapers are great value. However I may find I miss Lingering Souls and Thoughtseize a lot if I pursue this build.
Thanks to the board for the advice and perspective. Cheers to all.
[edit] There are a couple side angles to Thought-Knot Seer to be aware of. If your opponent has Ensnaring Bridge, you can Path your own TKS to make them draw and get in a swing with your Spirit or Scion tokens. And if your opponent has played Leyline of Sanctity, then he won't reveal when it enters, but he won't draw when it leaves either. And don't forget that processing an exiled but attractive Surgical Extraction target is a thing.
I'm trying out Pherexian one life for funsies. It's only been relevant once, against a burn deck when I was mana screwed and I was dead before I could stabilize, but it bought be an extra turn where I gained half of my life through Smashers and Lifelink. Not sure if it has a serious place in the deck but it's not bad.
Funeral Charm was initially a budget option for IOK but I managed to pick a couple up. I'm still keeping 2 in because it turns out they're still really relevant. It's so flexible that it's never a dead card it can be pump, removal, discard or make a smasher unblockable, especially since I still run a couple of Urborgs.
It seems that many people have moved on to the taxes version but I enjoy the style of the process version more at the moment.
2-0 vs. UB Homebrew: Tried to be nice to a high school-age young man as I destroyed him. This was a bye, really.
2-0 vs. Jeskai Control: Definitely feel favored in this match, especially with a Cavern of Souls in the mainboard. Ghost Quarter answers Celestial Colonnade and Desolate Lighthouse, and Relics keep Snapcaster at bay. I try never to tap out against these guys if I have either of those cards on board. Thoughtseize is huge in this match; I often hold it 'til the mid-game, to clear the way for a key spell, if possible. In both games, I was able to clear his hand of all his threats using Thoughtseize and Seer. Being able to grab Elspeth with Thoughtseize is critical and I have lost this match before because I had IoK and couldn't get rid of this particular one of their key threats. I got his sole in-hand Verdict, in both games. In neither game was he able to successfully apply any pressure.
2-0 vs. RG Burn: This young man is still optimizing his deck, but he plays well and got to table 1 with some good play. I got lucky in G1 on the play and topdecked Vault to turn the corner at 5 life with one Smasher on deck. I Thoughtseized two of his burn spells in this game, and made hay out of it, saving a net 3 life (I had an opening Swamp) with the card mix I selected to pull and to leave in hand. In G2 I turned the corner at 4. After landing all three Shambling Vents, allowing me to redirect some of his damage to a replaceable resource in my lands. After resolving a Thought-Knot Seer, I was able to slowly gain life while rapidly whittling him down; he was limited to top decks and whiffed. Got a little lucky in this match.
2-1 vs. Kiki Chord: This was a hard match but I made a couple of key plays right, and got lucky, and won. In G1 I couldn't draw the removal or Souls to deal with two Restos and one Reveillark. But in G2, I was able to Pithing Needle his Windswept Heath, eventually hitting three of them in this game and shutting him down. I also held back Path to successfully prevent his combo in the last turn. In G3 I drew a god hand that went T2 TKS --> T3 Smasher --> T4 TKS #2, at which point he scooped.
Seems like this thread has died down pretty well, but I am still liking this build. Tonight I went 4-0-1 for first of 34 players. I did not win a die roll all evening; in fact, in the last match, I predicted my loss, watched him roll a 2 on a D20, and then rolled a 1 myself. (And yes, that actually happened. I was on the draw all night long.)
2-0 vs, Grixis Midrange: Slow blue decks (i.e., blue decks other than Merfolk) generally don't do very well against me and this match was no exception. In neither game was he able to apply any pressure. Thoughtseize is always a live draw against these decks because they like to have cards in hand and we want to bait out or remove their counterspells to make way for threats. Herder and Souls are both amazing in these matches, while Relic messes up Snapcaster very nicely and also is essentially Remand-proof.
2-1 vs. UG Infect: In G1 we both mulled to 5 and I kept a terrible opener, losing rapidly after getting to 2 lands only on T4. For G2 I was able to control his game with Thoughtseize and Path, and then in G3, Pithing Needle naming Nexus, combined with Ratchet Bomb to nuke his Hierarchs, kept me to 9 poison counters so I could swing past him with Spirit tokens.
2-0 vs, Junk: In G1 I kept an opener with 2x Lingering Souls and then drew Vault of the Archangel. Those cards in combination can be pretty tough to beat and he was not able to do so. In G2 I drew into another Souls while he did not see any of this invaluable card. Relic neutered his Goyfs while Path removed a Tasigur and a Rhino. Sorin sealed the deal with the Spirit tokens.
1-1-1 vs. Bant Company: In G1 his Meddling Mage (naming Lingering Souls) whiffed as I drew zero, but he still overwhelmed me with his loads of creatures and double Exalted Hierarch triggers. I won G2 despite a huge punt when I failed to path his Voice during my own turn. Damnation cleared the way for my comeback from 3 life to the win. In G3 I was able to control his board well with disruption and removal and I would have won but we ran out of time in rounds one turn before I could close the deal.
2-0 vs. UG Infect: Lots of disruption won me G1 with Spirit tokens for chumps and threats. In G2 I kept an AWFUL mull to 5 with the only land being one Ghost Quarter. However, after I blew up his Inkmoth Nexus in response to a fetch on his T2, it turned out that that was the only threat he had in hand. He stalled for long enough for me to Pithing Needle his other Nexuses, Thoughtseize away his threats, and then draw into lands enough to resolve threats of my own. I won this one on pure variance, but hey, I have also lost that way so I will take it.
Thoughts: A key characteristic of this deck is its habit of turning the corner late. Some of the hardest match ups are those against decks like 8Whack which come on very fast and wide and don't give you time to do this. Midrange and control decks are weak against this build. Burn is a decent match for us in G2/3 and G1 can be won with a little luck and some skillful play. Both Affinity and Infect are weak to Lingering Souls and Ghost Quarter. Scapeshift variants and RG land-destruction can be very tough, and Tron is also quite hard without some luck. I think Bogles is probably an auto-lose but I have only ever played (and auto-lost) against it once. I was lucky to dodge the hard matches tonight.
I have been playing Blood Baron of Vizkopa in my one flex slot but tonight I tried Kalitas, only to never draw him. Batterskull and Whip of Erebos are also possible options for this slot, though I'm not sold on Whip because I want a threat and it nonbos with Relic. However, lifegain is extremely important, and I've even considered trying a second Vault of the Archangel or Sorin, Solemn Visitor in this slot. But I still am not 100% sold on any of these options.
I am looking forward to the Eldritch Moon spoilers. As I've mentioned before I think this particular build might be positioned extremely well for a set that (I expect) is likely to feature both colorless Eldrazi cards and BW Sorin-flavored cards. I still think this deck is a thing and I really dig the playstyle.
Im still using the B/W processor deck, in modern competitive with great results and the "old version" with Eye of Ugin and some extra legacy cards in casual play with friends ( the list is in my signature ).
The version that im using in modern right now is :
Went 3-0-1 tonight in a field of 26, coming 4th in a EMA win-a-box Modern constructed tourney. All players in the top 4 went 3-0-1 and my standing would have been better if not for my first round opponent losing twice and then dropping. I won 15 Eternal Masters boosters.
2-0 vs. UR Prowess homebrew: This guy's deck was built around a serious mistake. He thought Grapeshot copies would trigger prowess but they do not. He played Slip Through Space and Vapor Snag and lots of cheap cantrips to make his Stormchaser Mages and Monastery Swiftspears big and unblockable but he couldn't compete with the Eldrazi menace.
2-0 vs. Grixis Control: As usual, his counterspells were no match for lots of Thoughtseize and Lingering Souls effects, while I always found removal for his threats. The blue permission builds are pretty easy fodder for Processors and this match was no exception. I finally broke my die-roll-losing streak in this match and was able to play first for once.
1-1-1 vs. Kiki Chord: In G1 I controlled his hand and board easily with Path, Strangler, and TKS while he flooded. In G2 I kept a bad hand with 2 Stranglers but no exile effects and handily lost. G3 went to turns and we were unable to finish; this fella plays kinda slow, which is frustrating for me. I made a major misplay here and cast Damnation while he had Reveillark and some other things on the field, allowing him to use his Reveillark's LTB effect to save a couple of his creatures. Nonetheless he wasn't able to close out after that. Drawing this match meant I won 15 packs instead of a whole box, which was too bad.
2-1 vs. RG Tron: I am starting to feel a little more positive about the Tron match lately, having beaten the deck the last several times I've faced it. In G1 a stupid keep saw me lose to three (!) Karns quite quickly. In G2 I kept a hand with Thoughtseize, Mind Stone, and Smasher, thinking I might get lucky and get Smasher out by T3. After he mulled to 5, my two Thoughtseizes (I drew another) slowed him down enough to get 4 Smasher beats for the win. In G3 I was again able to disrupt his plans, this time with a Thoughtseize and a Stony Silence before landing Wasteland Strangler and Seer which swung in unopposed for the win. Given a decent draw here with some disruption, the Tron match seems winnable, though I don't ever think I'd consider it favorable, even post-board.
Thoughts: The online meta on cockatrice changes pretty quick and my results there have been mixed lately--lots of land destruction and Scapeshift--but on paper I am killing it, regularly finishing in the money over the past couple of months. Right now the deck is tuned near perfection, for how I'm trying to play it. The only changes I am considering are fiddling with the side and main (tonight I had both Unmakings in the side and my single Ratchet Bomb in the main), plus I am still going back and forth about my one lifegain/threat slot that I have been filling with Batterskull/Blood Baron/Kalitas etc. Other than that I think the deck is optimized.
Because the deck has such a good match against so much of the current Tier 1/2 meta I think it is looking good for the foreseeable future.
Overview of the Deck CBW Processors is a grindy, control-oriented midrange build that is highly interactive, with many favorable matchups, many close or even matchups, and only a few distinctly poor matchups. It uses abundant hand disruption and targeted removal to control the opponent’s game, while beating face mid-to-late game with many large, powerful creatures and lots of 1/1 tokens. It attacks on many axes, including maindeck graveyard hate, land destruction, and even interaction with the opponent’s exile zone (why hello there, Ancestral Vision!). Several lifegain sources offset the painful land and spell mix.
Why to play this deck:
You like a grindy, fair deck that can occasionally play as if it was extremely unfair
You like controlly interaction with many aspects of an opponent’s game plan
You like having some of the bigger creatures in the format on your side of the table
You want to fly under the radar playing a little-known deck with unusual lines of attack
You don’t mind turning the corner late, and games going long sometimes
Why not to play this deck:
You prefer combo, linear decks, and/or T4-5 wins
You’re not interested in the often-subtle art of hand disruption using Thoughtseize-type effects
You don’t like damaging your own life total, sometimes even to the point of game loss
Caves of Koilos Our “tri-land.” Makes all the mana types we need. A mandatory 4-of but can hurt a lot if it’s the only BW source you draw.
Eldrazi Temple Our Sol land, ramping into our fat creatures. Always run no less than the full four.
Marsh Flats Running these gives a workaround for Blood Moon effects as well as fixing our mana base. Run zero to three.
Godless Shrine The staple dual. Run at least two and as many as four.
Shambling Vent Lifelink is necessary in this build and the manland is a good way to get it. ETB tapped is not great but this card’s late game presence is extremely important. Run two to three.
Ghost Quarter This card is necessary for the challenging Tron matchup. It is invaluable against Gavony Township, Kessig Wolf Run, and opposing manlands in general. Having it main greatly improves the game one matchups against Infect and Affinity. Run at least two.
Vault of the Archangel Again this gives important lifegain options mid-to-late game to help turn the corner. When combined with Lingering Souls, the threat of deathtouch can shut down the board until we draw a fatty or some other answer. Run one.
Cavern of Souls A flex slot to improve the already-reasonable match against control. Run 0-1.
Westvale Abbey More flex-slot lifegain potential and a late game mana sink for token generation. 0-1.
Bojuka Bog Bog is an additional option for graveyard hate. Might be best played in a build with Expedition Map. 0-1.
Basics Run at least three for Path, Ghost Quarter, and Blood Moon. Most decks skew towards black because of the desire to be able to cast Thoughtseize on turn 1.
*** An excellent article about the tricky color balance needs for this "three-color" build can be read here.
Creatures:
Wasteland Strangler Part of the deck’s Processor namesake. Acts as creature removal and can often two-for-one an opponent, by removing one of their creatures and then eating removal itself. Can three-for-one if it processes a suspended card. This is an early game play for us; run 2-4.
Blight Herder The other half of the namesake. One of two cards in the deck that can make four bodies by itself. It fixes mana for Seer and Smasher under Blood Moon and walls Tasigur, Kalitas, and Siege Rhino while also chumping the ground battle. Run 2-4.
Reality Smasher A hasty 5/5 trampler that is removal-resistant is amazing and we can (rarely) cast it as early as turn 3, more frequently turn 4. One of the major win conditions. Run at least two, and probably a playset is called for in most builds.
Thought-Knot Seer This card is unbelievable and is the main reason to play Eldrazi in Modern. Exile powers Strangler and Herder and even if it whiffs it is still a 4/4 body, though it also gives the opponent a card when it dies. Run four.
Eldrazi Displacer Flickers Seer and Strangler for value, is a great late game mana sink. Unlike most of the creatures it dies to Bolt and Abrupt Decay, and is removable with Inquisition. Competes with Strangler and Lingering Souls for the 3 CMC spot. Run 0-2.
Matter Reshaper Also competes at 3 CMC but replaces itself when it dies. Like Strangler it is vulnerable to sweepers like Pyroclasm. Run 0-2.
Lingering Souls This is absolutely one of the best cards in the format and a huge part of the reason the deck is so strong against Infect and Affinity. It gives permission decks and one-for-one removal fits, with its flashback and multiple bodies, and it chumps for days while we set up the late game fatties. Flyers push through clogged ground states. Mandatory four-of.
Thoughtseize/Inquisition of Kozilek Early hand disruption is important for many black builds and this is no exception. Run some mix, between 4-6 cards total.
Path to Exile The second most popular removal spell in the format, it turns on Strangler and Herder for one measly mana by removing just about any creature that sees play (well not Bogles, or Geist). Run four but be aware it is not a great T1-3 play in many cases.
Go for the Throat/Dismember/Doom Blade etc. Backup removal, run 1-3. Each card has strengths and weaknesses; players should consider their local meta and playstyle to identify the cards and quantities that work best for them. Don't forget that Wasteland Strangler is also removal for us, so don't go too deep here. Note that Go for the Throat cannot be redirected to Spellskite.
Anguished Unmaking/Oblivion Ring Exilers that target non-creatures as well as creatures. Run 0-1 mainboard and another 1-2 in the side.
Relic of Progenitus Powers Strangler and Herder. Maindecking graveyard hate is part of what sets this build apart and makes it so powerful. There are a large number of decks in Modern that are using the graveyard to a greater or lesser degree, and this card can ruin their day. Cantripping when needed is huge.
Scrabbling Claws Relics 5-6. Few decks run these anymore. Run 0-1 if you have room and a lot of graveyard decks at your LGS.
Mind Stone Eldrazi Temple 5-6. Ramps and cantrips. Gets colorless mana for TKS and Smasher. Run 0-2.
Expedition Map Makes sure we get to 5 Eldrazi mana in time. Tutors for tools like Ghost Quarter and Cavern of Souls. Run 0-2.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor We really want his +1 here but his other two abilities are, rarely, useful too. Makes Spirit tokens amazing. Run a singleton.
Axes of Interaction Lands: The land package is an important interactive axis for Processors. Fully a third of the land package can tamper with an opponent’s plans. Cavern of Souls wrecks the blue decks, Shambling Vent beats face while Ghost Quarter shuts down inconvenient opposing lands, and Vault swings late games, period. Sea Gate Wreckage and Westvale Abbey also do work in some builds. Playing utility lands as one of our “colors” is a major strength of this deck.
Graveyard: Graveyard hate is relevant against loads of builds. In the current meta it is powerful against BGx (Goyf, Scooze), URx (Snapcaster, Kolaghan’s Command, flashback in general), Abzan CoCo (can stop the combo if mana is up to activate Relic), Kiki Chord (stops Eternal Witness and Reveillark shenanigans), as well as more peripheral but still not uncommon decks like Dredge, Living End, Storm, Gifts Ungiven builds, UW Tron, Thopter/Sword, etc. It is important to note that the maindeck Relics are good all by themselves; they are not there simply to power Strangler and Herder. They cantrip too so they are never completely dead.
Exile: Exile zone hate comes into play rarely but is always very satisfying when it does. There is nothing quite like the feeling of casting a T2 Strangler, processing a suspended Rift Bolt, killing a Goblin Guide, and then watching it eat a Bolt itself as a 3-for-1 play. Greatly improves the matchup against Ad Nauseam and any deck with Ancestral Vision while sometimes getting an early Search for Tomorrow or a suspended Living End. However, getting two cards into exile for Herder is not always possible, and sometimes Strangler needs to be played before he has a card to process or a target to hit.
Creatures: The large majority of the creatures are Bolt, Abrupt Decay, and Inquisition of Kozilek-proof. They also tend to be bigger and more numerous than most opponents’ big creatures. With lots of tokens as well, the deck plays both tall and wide, and powerfully taxes opponents’ removal.
Disruption: Thoughtseize/IoK/Thought-Knot Seer are a key aspect of the gameplan. Knowing when to cast these and what to take is a skill developed through lots of practice, and players will benefit from extensive knowledge of the format and opposing decks’ gameplans. Good disruption play can be difficult to execute but also extremely powerful. A seminal article on the topic can be found here: http://www.starcitygames.com/article/26855_Thoughtseize-You.html
Card Advantage: Blight Herder and Lingering Souls both create multiple bodies. Relic and Mind Stone cantrip. Reality Smasher requires discard to remove. Strangler can frequently be a 2-for-1 and sometimes even a 3-for-1. There are several sweepers in the sideboard.
Matchups BGx builds: Processors is strongly favored. Relic takes care of Goyf and Scooze while Spirit tokens resist removal and push through damage. Lingering Souls discards to Liliana while our Eldrazi are as big or bigger than their creatures and are resistant to many forms of their removal. Ghost Quarter takes care of Raging Ravine and Stirring Wildwood.
URx/UWx builds: Processors is strongly favored. These decks’ generally slow gameplan allows us to develop our own resources with plenty of time--Shambling Vent shines in these matches. Relic nukes Snapcaster Mage, K Command, and flashback in general, while Lingering Souls and Blight Herder push tokens through counterspells. When they delve their graveyards away they turn on our processors for us. Landing a Cavern of Souls can be game over because resolved Eldrazi can be hard to remove for these decks. Ghost Quarter answers their main late-game manland win cons, Celestial Colonnade and Creeping Tar Pit. Watch out not to overextend into sweepers, especially against UW Control. Thoughtseize is always a live draw against these decks and clears the way for our actual threats.
Graveyard decks (Living End, Dredge, Storm etc.): Processors is strongly favored. Four maindeck Relics, plus some number of Surgical Extraction out of the side, means we are pre-boarded in G1 and then very strongly boarded in G2/3.
Affinity/Infect: Processors is favored. Though fast starts from these decks can be tough to handle, our Ghost Quarters are very good against Inkmoth Nexus, and our Spirit tokens defend us very effectively. Abundant targeted removal deals with their important creatures. Both matchups get even better in G2/3; bring in Pithing Needle for both, if you have it. The top removal targets in Affinity are Arcbound Ravager and Steel Overseer, as Etched Champion is very bad against us. While playing Infect you should prioritize removing Blighted Agent. Our deck makes Apostle's Blessing a near-dead draw for them.
Burn: Even matchup. Careful management of life is important and mulling for lifegain in G2/3 is not a bad idea if the opening seven has none and isn’t otherwise amazing (e.g., two Temples plus a Thought-Knot Seer and a Smasher). Side out pain cards like Thoughtseize and Unmaking in this match.
Abzan CoCo/Kiki Chord/Bant CoCo: Even matchup. Graveyard hate is relevant against all three decks and sweepers from the board improve G2/3. It is smart to sandbag a Path, if possible, to stop the combo plans of the first couple of decks. Pithing Needle can be very good in these matchups. Ghost Quarter is relevant for Gavony Township.
Bant Eldrazi/RG Eldrazi: I haven't played against these builds very much yet, but right now my sense is that they are roughly even--Damnation will be a big help post-board. Tokens are terrible against opposing Reality Smashers but we have a lot more hand disruption and our removal outperforms their limited (Bant's four Paths) or small-scale (RG's four Bolts) removal options.
Death and Taxes variants: Variable; if they get Vial T1 and a good mix of creatures this can be quite tough; on the other hand, if they miss their Vial drop and we get early hand disruption they are usually pretty easy to beat. Pithing Needle and Ratchet Bomb are stars here but it is probably not right to side in Stony Silence for Vial.
Combo (Ad Nauseam/Scapeshift variants): Processors is favored to unfavored depending on which deck you are facing. Ad Nauseam is weaker to us than Scapeshift is, because they are slower and vulnerable to processing and Stony Silence. Hand disruption is key across all of these matches, and Surgical Extraction is very important out of the side. Scapeshift comes in several versions that require different approaches, and can be hard to disrupt when piloted well.
Tron: Favorable to unfavorable for Processors. Mono-U and UW Tron are easy because of their slowness and over-reliance on counterspells. RG Tron is very unfavorable G1 without a very fast clock and a good amount of hand disruption; Lingering Souls is very bad here. In G2/3, Stony Silence, Surgical Extraction, Pithing Needle and Anguished Unmaking/O-Ring are all very good options and greatly improve the RG Tron matchup. Important note: Ghost Quarter is not enough by itself! They are too consistent, and they can easily fight through one or even two removed Tron lands unless we can both strongly pressure their life total and keep Karn from resolving.
Elves/Merfolk/Zoo/BW Tokens: Variably unfavorable for Processors. Elves and Fish tend not to fill the graveyard, making Relic (and Herder and Strangler) much worse. Tokens neuters our targeted removal plans. These matchups get better with more sweeper effects in the board. Damnation may be better than Flaying Tendrils here, as a general rule. Ratchet Bomb is good against all these decks, and Pithing Needle shines against Fish and against Ezuri, Renegade Leader, and may be good against Naya Zoo build (name a fetchland, or possibly Grim Lavamancer). Hard G1s, and we need to find sideboard hate G2 in most cases.
Lantern Control: Unfavorable for Processors. We need to remove their Ensnaring Bridge which is their main win con against us. Stony Silence, Ratchet Bomb (though a nonbo with Stony), Pithing Needle and Anguished Unmaking/O-Ring are strong out of the board, but you want them in your opening hand so they don’t get milled away. A little trick here is Pathing your own Thought-Knot Seer, making them draw so you can get a swing in under their Bridge with your Spirit and Scion tokens.
8Whack: Strongly unfavorable for Processors. They are too fast and wide and are killing us while we are still setting up. Legion Loyalist is a nightmare for our chump-blocker plan and our sweepers can be too slow. Flaying Tendrils and Ratchet Bomb are much better than Damnation in this match.
Bogles: Strongly unfavorable for Processors. This match gets a lot better if you side a couple Spellskites and/or more Ratchet Bombs or even Engineered Explosives. Best hope here is to Thoughtseize away their guy after winning the die roll.
RG Land Destruction/RW Prison: Strongly unfavorable for Processors. If these decks see play in your meta, consider Crucible of Worlds and/or Sacred Ground. But these cards are probably too narrow for a general meta.
Sideboarding Overview Sweepers:Damnation/Wrath of God/Flaying Tendrils/Engineered Explosives/Ratchet Bomb. Damnation and Wrath hit every creature, but leave behind Persist/Undying creatures, are slow, and cost WW or BB. Tendrils exiles, which is good, but misses important X/3+ creatures and also needs BB. Ratchet Bomb is slow but can get Blood Moon and Ensnaring Bridge and is very good against tokens and mana dorks. In this deck, Engineered Explosives can only get to 2 in most circumstances and should be avoided. Play 2-4 sweepers depending on meta expectations.
Artifact Hate:Stony Silence is invaluable against Affinity, Tron, Lantern Control, and Thopter Foundry builds. Like other white decks, we should play 2-3. Watch out for nerfing your own artifacts like Relic, Mind Stone, Ratchet Bomb, etc.
Lifegain:Timely Reinforcements can help against aggro, while both it and Rest for the Weary come in against Burn. Rest works better in a deck that runs fetch lands. Run at least three; early iterations of Processors had as many as five of these effects.
Combo Hate:Surgical Extraction is a good way to get key cards out of play altogether. Use with Ghost Quarter for Tron or Scapeshift, and with Thoughtseize for all combo decks. Run 2-4 in the 75.
Other sideboard options: Depending on local meta and personal play style, you may want to consider Ghostly Prison for metas with lots of aggro, or Spellskite for Bogles and/or lots of targeted removal (but this is not usually necessary, because Processors already taxes removal with lots of tokens and big creatures). More peripheral choices like Worship, Runed Halo, or Aven Mindcensor might make sense for some players. White has a ton of good SB options to tune the deck for small and/or unique local metagames.
The updated primer can be found in the first page, here.
Great post, right now BW is pretty understimating, many people still think that is a Grind deck and is dead without Eye of Ugin when after Oath was the Eldrazi deck
less dependent from it.
Thanks guys. Let me know if you have suggestions for additions (like to the matchup analysis for instance) or changes. I have a query in to Beautox (the thread creator) and to the mods to add this to the first page as the new primer.
Zealous Persecution is a good T2 response to their first enchantment spell. EE and Ratchet Bomb can both put in some work, as can Disenchant. Disenchant is good to hold in the hopes of casting in response to them casting their Daybreak Coronet as their second enchantment; if you can make the first one fall off, the Coronet cannot legally attach and will fizzle. Celestial Flare and Runed Halo are both excellent and are relevant on other scenarios. But probably the SB card with the most utility against Bogles and widest application in other match ups would be Spellskite, which completely shuts them down until they can get rid of it.
I haven't run Warping Wail but I do really like Mind Stone. It is making T3 TKS and Smashers much more reliable and cantrips later on. It also helps with keeping mana open for Path, Ghost Quarter, or a Relic graveyard wipe.
Out of curiosity, why tidehollow sculler and not brain maggot? It dies to almost all the same removal and is easier on the mana curve, requiring only one color instead of two. Is the extra power/toughness frequently applicable?
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
A deck could play both of these cards, but it seems unlikely
Goyf is not a problem--at all--for the Relic-based Processor builds.
1x Cavern of Souls
4x Caves of Koilos
4x Eldrazi Temple
3x Ghost Quarter
2x Godless Shrine
3x Marsh Flats
1x Plains
3x Shambling Vent
2x Swamp
1x Vault of the Archangel
Planeswalker (1)
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
3x Blight Herder
1x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
4x Reality Smasher
4x Thought-Knot Seer
3x Wasteland Strangler
Instant (6)
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Go for the Throat
4x Path to Exile
Sorcery (8)
4x Lingering Souls
4x Thoughtseize
Artifact (6)
2x Mind Stone
4x Relic of Progenitus
1x Anguished Unmaking
3x Damnation
1x Pithing Needle
1x Ratchet Bomb
2x Rest for the Weary
2x Stony Silence
3x Surgical Extraction
2x Timely Reinforcements
2-1 vs. Esper Death's Shadow/Angel's Grace/Spoils of the Vault brew: He took the play and opened with a tapped Watery Grave. I Thoughtseized him off a Swamp and saw a weird hand with Spoils and Grace; took Grace. On T2 he cast Spoils, naming Death's Shadow, milled 20 cards, and killed himself. In G2 I couldn't draw into removal and gradually ran out of chumps for his huge Shadow. In G3 I was able to keep him off his threats with hand disruption (Thoughtseize, TKS) and swung through with my own big bodies for the win.
2-0 vs. RW Prison: I cast a T2 vanilla Strangler to start the beats and then was able to land a TKS on both T3 and T4. That was too much for him, as I was able to take his Paths and Wraths. In G2 I kept an Anguished Unmaking for all his non-creature permanents and it ended up taking his Assemble the Legion which is slow but deadly if unanswered. A Herder Scion getting me C under his Blood Moon for the second Smasher was what closed that game. Neither game was close.
0-2 vs. Merfolk: In G1 I maxed out at two lands and in G2 I maxed out at 3, two of them Vents. Mana screw = rapid dying to the gilled folk.
2-0 vs. Jeskai Control: In G1 2x Lingering Souls outvalued him and he never hit me. In G2 I Ghost Quartered his tapped Tectonic Edge (later drawing a second GQ to hold back for his Colonnades), which ended up saving my late game Vault of the Archangel and allowed me to turn the corner at 4 life with two Smashers on the field. Two Lingering Souls plus 2 Smashers were too much for his only active threat, which was an Elspeth, Sun's Champion. When he landed it, I happened to have all four Paths in hand so I was able to Path three tokens to ensure Elspeth did not stick around. Ghost Quarter was huge all throughout this match and Caves came in very handy in G1. I did not see Nahiri in this match.
2-0 vs. Merfolk: Having lost twice to Fish already I was pissed to see it again, but as it turns out my excellent draws made it impossible for him to win. In both games I landed a T2 TKS and, later, two or three Smashers, and he simply could not keep up with all the huge, speedy bodies. Ratchet Bomb swept his Master of Waves tokens late in G2 to keep him from going too wide for my big blockers. I was not able to cast any of my three Damnations in any of my Merfolk matches today for some reason.
2-0 vs. BW Death and Taxes: In G1 two Herders for value, plus Lingering Souls, shut him down very effectively. In G2 I again landed a T2 TKS and later Thoughtseizes to keep his game disrupted past the point where he could recover. The life total records in my notes from G1 don't reflect this, but this match was not close and I was in control pretty much all of the time.
Thoughts: Landing a T2 TKS happened several times today and is a backbreaking play. It is broken for real. Especially when combined with a T3 Smasher into swing for 9, it is a near-unbeatable start. Lingering Souls was huge again all day. Blight Herder has been inconsistent for me lately but today it was amazing, even when cast without Processing. The 5 butt is a big deal and getting C for Smasher and TKS can be situationally crucial.
Truthfully, I am looking at the Bant Eldrazi build, which hits this T2 TKS much more reliably. Mind Stone did not play a role even once today (nor did Sorin, nor my Blood Baron, for that matter), but opening Temple into Temple/TKS was amazing every time. Mind Stone cannot power a T2 Seer, but the Bant build has Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise, so they only need one Temple to land the Seer on the second turn. Plus their Displacers and Matter Reshapers are great value. However I may find I miss Lingering Souls and Thoughtseize a lot if I pursue this build.
Thanks to the board for the advice and perspective. Cheers to all.
[edit] There are a couple side angles to Thought-Knot Seer to be aware of. If your opponent has Ensnaring Bridge, you can Path your own TKS to make them draw and get in a swing with your Spirit or Scion tokens. And if your opponent has played Leyline of Sanctity, then he won't reveal when it enters, but he won't draw when it leaves either. And don't forget that processing an exiled but attractive Surgical Extraction target is a thing.
4 Relic of Progenitus
//Creature
2 Blight Herder
1 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Wasteland Strangler
//Enchantment
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Phyrexian Unlife
2 Funeral Charm
4 Path to Exile
1 Surgical Extraction
//Enchantment Artifact
1 Whip of Erebos
//Planeswalker
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
//Sorcery
1 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Godless Shrine
3 Plains
2 Shambling Vent
2 Swamp
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Wastes
I'm trying out Pherexian one life for funsies. It's only been relevant once, against a burn deck when I was mana screwed and I was dead before I could stabilize, but it bought be an extra turn where I gained half of my life through Smashers and Lifelink. Not sure if it has a serious place in the deck but it's not bad.
Funeral Charm was initially a budget option for IOK but I managed to pick a couple up. I'm still keeping 2 in because it turns out they're still really relevant. It's so flexible that it's never a dead card it can be pump, removal, discard or make a smasher unblockable, especially since I still run a couple of Urborgs.
It seems that many people have moved on to the taxes version but I enjoy the style of the process version more at the moment.
2-0 vs. UB Homebrew: Tried to be nice to a high school-age young man as I destroyed him. This was a bye, really.
2-0 vs. Jeskai Control: Definitely feel favored in this match, especially with a Cavern of Souls in the mainboard. Ghost Quarter answers Celestial Colonnade and Desolate Lighthouse, and Relics keep Snapcaster at bay. I try never to tap out against these guys if I have either of those cards on board. Thoughtseize is huge in this match; I often hold it 'til the mid-game, to clear the way for a key spell, if possible. In both games, I was able to clear his hand of all his threats using Thoughtseize and Seer. Being able to grab Elspeth with Thoughtseize is critical and I have lost this match before because I had IoK and couldn't get rid of this particular one of their key threats. I got his sole in-hand Verdict, in both games. In neither game was he able to successfully apply any pressure.
2-0 vs. RG Burn: This young man is still optimizing his deck, but he plays well and got to table 1 with some good play. I got lucky in G1 on the play and topdecked Vault to turn the corner at 5 life with one Smasher on deck. I Thoughtseized two of his burn spells in this game, and made hay out of it, saving a net 3 life (I had an opening Swamp) with the card mix I selected to pull and to leave in hand. In G2 I turned the corner at 4. After landing all three Shambling Vents, allowing me to redirect some of his damage to a replaceable resource in my lands. After resolving a Thought-Knot Seer, I was able to slowly gain life while rapidly whittling him down; he was limited to top decks and whiffed. Got a little lucky in this match.
2-1 vs. Kiki Chord: This was a hard match but I made a couple of key plays right, and got lucky, and won. In G1 I couldn't draw the removal or Souls to deal with two Restos and one Reveillark. But in G2, I was able to Pithing Needle his Windswept Heath, eventually hitting three of them in this game and shutting him down. I also held back Path to successfully prevent his combo in the last turn. In G3 I drew a god hand that went T2 TKS --> T3 Smasher --> T4 TKS #2, at which point he scooped.
The list that I am building toward is this one:
4 Reality Smasher
3 Matter Reshaper
3 Wall of Omens
2 Wasteland Strangler
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Path to Exile
3 Smother
1 Doom Blade
1 Go for the Throat
4 Lingering Souls
2 Flooded Strand
2 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Underground River
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Sea Gate Wreckage
2 Godless Shrine
2 Shambling Vent
2-0 vs, Grixis Midrange: Slow blue decks (i.e., blue decks other than Merfolk) generally don't do very well against me and this match was no exception. In neither game was he able to apply any pressure. Thoughtseize is always a live draw against these decks because they like to have cards in hand and we want to bait out or remove their counterspells to make way for threats. Herder and Souls are both amazing in these matches, while Relic messes up Snapcaster very nicely and also is essentially Remand-proof.
2-1 vs. UG Infect: In G1 we both mulled to 5 and I kept a terrible opener, losing rapidly after getting to 2 lands only on T4. For G2 I was able to control his game with Thoughtseize and Path, and then in G3, Pithing Needle naming Nexus, combined with Ratchet Bomb to nuke his Hierarchs, kept me to 9 poison counters so I could swing past him with Spirit tokens.
2-0 vs, Junk: In G1 I kept an opener with 2x Lingering Souls and then drew Vault of the Archangel. Those cards in combination can be pretty tough to beat and he was not able to do so. In G2 I drew into another Souls while he did not see any of this invaluable card. Relic neutered his Goyfs while Path removed a Tasigur and a Rhino. Sorin sealed the deal with the Spirit tokens.
1-1-1 vs. Bant Company: In G1 his Meddling Mage (naming Lingering Souls) whiffed as I drew zero, but he still overwhelmed me with his loads of creatures and double Exalted Hierarch triggers. I won G2 despite a huge punt when I failed to path his Voice during my own turn. Damnation cleared the way for my comeback from 3 life to the win. In G3 I was able to control his board well with disruption and removal and I would have won but we ran out of time in rounds one turn before I could close the deal.
2-0 vs. UG Infect: Lots of disruption won me G1 with Spirit tokens for chumps and threats. In G2 I kept an AWFUL mull to 5 with the only land being one Ghost Quarter. However, after I blew up his Inkmoth Nexus in response to a fetch on his T2, it turned out that that was the only threat he had in hand. He stalled for long enough for me to Pithing Needle his other Nexuses, Thoughtseize away his threats, and then draw into lands enough to resolve threats of my own. I won this one on pure variance, but hey, I have also lost that way so I will take it.
Thoughts: A key characteristic of this deck is its habit of turning the corner late. Some of the hardest match ups are those against decks like 8Whack which come on very fast and wide and don't give you time to do this. Midrange and control decks are weak against this build. Burn is a decent match for us in G2/3 and G1 can be won with a little luck and some skillful play. Both Affinity and Infect are weak to Lingering Souls and Ghost Quarter. Scapeshift variants and RG land-destruction can be very tough, and Tron is also quite hard without some luck. I think Bogles is probably an auto-lose but I have only ever played (and auto-lost) against it once. I was lucky to dodge the hard matches tonight.
I have been playing Blood Baron of Vizkopa in my one flex slot but tonight I tried Kalitas, only to never draw him. Batterskull and Whip of Erebos are also possible options for this slot, though I'm not sold on Whip because I want a threat and it nonbos with Relic. However, lifegain is extremely important, and I've even considered trying a second Vault of the Archangel or Sorin, Solemn Visitor in this slot. But I still am not 100% sold on any of these options.
I am looking forward to the Eldritch Moon spoilers. As I've mentioned before I think this particular build might be positioned extremely well for a set that (I expect) is likely to feature both colorless Eldrazi cards and BW Sorin-flavored cards. I still think this deck is a thing and I really dig the playstyle.
The version that im using in modern right now is :
2x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Godless Shrine
4x Eldrazi Temple
2x Marsh Flats
4x Caves of Koilos
2x Ghost Quarter
1x Vault of the Archangel
2x Plain
2x Swamp
2x Go for the throat
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Duress
4x Path to exile
4x Lingering Souls
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
4x Relic of Progenitus
3x Reality Smasher
4x Thought-Knot Seer
3x Blight Herder
4x Wasteland Strangler
Thinking in add a 2x Eldrazi Displacer for his versatility in Eldrazi decks but not sure if will fix with alredy 8 cards in with 3 mana cost.
BWC Processors Eldrazi CWB
UBC Emerge EldraziCBU
C Tron Eldrazi C
RBC Meld Eldrazi CBR
GU Tokens Eldrazi UG
2-0 vs. UR Prowess homebrew: This guy's deck was built around a serious mistake. He thought Grapeshot copies would trigger prowess but they do not. He played Slip Through Space and Vapor Snag and lots of cheap cantrips to make his Stormchaser Mages and Monastery Swiftspears big and unblockable but he couldn't compete with the Eldrazi menace.
2-0 vs. Grixis Control: As usual, his counterspells were no match for lots of Thoughtseize and Lingering Souls effects, while I always found removal for his threats. The blue permission builds are pretty easy fodder for Processors and this match was no exception. I finally broke my die-roll-losing streak in this match and was able to play first for once.
1-1-1 vs. Kiki Chord: In G1 I controlled his hand and board easily with Path, Strangler, and TKS while he flooded. In G2 I kept a bad hand with 2 Stranglers but no exile effects and handily lost. G3 went to turns and we were unable to finish; this fella plays kinda slow, which is frustrating for me. I made a major misplay here and cast Damnation while he had Reveillark and some other things on the field, allowing him to use his Reveillark's LTB effect to save a couple of his creatures. Nonetheless he wasn't able to close out after that. Drawing this match meant I won 15 packs instead of a whole box, which was too bad.
2-1 vs. RG Tron: I am starting to feel a little more positive about the Tron match lately, having beaten the deck the last several times I've faced it. In G1 a stupid keep saw me lose to three (!) Karns quite quickly. In G2 I kept a hand with Thoughtseize, Mind Stone, and Smasher, thinking I might get lucky and get Smasher out by T3. After he mulled to 5, my two Thoughtseizes (I drew another) slowed him down enough to get 4 Smasher beats for the win. In G3 I was again able to disrupt his plans, this time with a Thoughtseize and a Stony Silence before landing Wasteland Strangler and Seer which swung in unopposed for the win. Given a decent draw here with some disruption, the Tron match seems winnable, though I don't ever think I'd consider it favorable, even post-board.
Thoughts: The online meta on cockatrice changes pretty quick and my results there have been mixed lately--lots of land destruction and Scapeshift--but on paper I am killing it, regularly finishing in the money over the past couple of months. Right now the deck is tuned near perfection, for how I'm trying to play it. The only changes I am considering are fiddling with the side and main (tonight I had both Unmakings in the side and my single Ratchet Bomb in the main), plus I am still going back and forth about my one lifegain/threat slot that I have been filling with Batterskull/Blood Baron/Kalitas etc. Other than that I think the deck is optimized.
Because the deck has such a good match against so much of the current Tier 1/2 meta I think it is looking good for the foreseeable future.
For more information on the May metagame update, please check this post in the Metagame Thread:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/566735-modern-metagame-discussion-thread-updated-6-7-2016?comment=1210
Overview of the Deck
CBW Processors is a grindy, control-oriented midrange build that is highly interactive, with many favorable matchups, many close or even matchups, and only a few distinctly poor matchups. It uses abundant hand disruption and targeted removal to control the opponent’s game, while beating face mid-to-late game with many large, powerful creatures and lots of 1/1 tokens. It attacks on many axes, including maindeck graveyard hate, land destruction, and even interaction with the opponent’s exile zone (why hello there, Ancestral Vision!). Several lifegain sources offset the painful land and spell mix.
Why to play this deck:
Sample Decklist
1x Cavern of Souls
4x Caves of Koilos
4x Eldrazi Temple
3x Ghost Quarter
2x Godless Shrine
3x Marsh Flats
1x Plains
3x Shambling Vent
2x Swamp
1x Vault of the Archangel
Planeswalker (1)
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
3x Blight Herder
1x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
4x Reality Smasher
4x Thought-Knot Seer
3x Wasteland Strangler
Instant (6)
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Go for the Throat
4x Path to Exile
Sorcery (8)
4x Lingering Souls
4x Thoughtseize
Artifact (6)
2x Mind Stone
4x Relic of Progenitus
1x Anguished Unmaking
3x Damnation
1x Pithing Needle
1x Ratchet Bomb
2x Rest for the Weary
2x Stony Silence
3x Surgical Extraction
2x Timely Reinforcements
Card Choices
Lands:
Creatures:
Axes of Interaction
Lands: The land package is an important interactive axis for Processors. Fully a third of the land package can tamper with an opponent’s plans. Cavern of Souls wrecks the blue decks, Shambling Vent beats face while Ghost Quarter shuts down inconvenient opposing lands, and Vault swings late games, period. Sea Gate Wreckage and Westvale Abbey also do work in some builds. Playing utility lands as one of our “colors” is a major strength of this deck.
Graveyard: Graveyard hate is relevant against loads of builds. In the current meta it is powerful against BGx (Goyf, Scooze), URx (Snapcaster, Kolaghan’s Command, flashback in general), Abzan CoCo (can stop the combo if mana is up to activate Relic), Kiki Chord (stops Eternal Witness and Reveillark shenanigans), as well as more peripheral but still not uncommon decks like Dredge, Living End, Storm, Gifts Ungiven builds, UW Tron, Thopter/Sword, etc. It is important to note that the maindeck Relics are good all by themselves; they are not there simply to power Strangler and Herder. They cantrip too so they are never completely dead.
Exile: Exile zone hate comes into play rarely but is always very satisfying when it does. There is nothing quite like the feeling of casting a T2 Strangler, processing a suspended Rift Bolt, killing a Goblin Guide, and then watching it eat a Bolt itself as a 3-for-1 play. Greatly improves the matchup against Ad Nauseam and any deck with Ancestral Vision while sometimes getting an early Search for Tomorrow or a suspended Living End. However, getting two cards into exile for Herder is not always possible, and sometimes Strangler needs to be played before he has a card to process or a target to hit.
Creatures: The large majority of the creatures are Bolt, Abrupt Decay, and Inquisition of Kozilek-proof. They also tend to be bigger and more numerous than most opponents’ big creatures. With lots of tokens as well, the deck plays both tall and wide, and powerfully taxes opponents’ removal.
Disruption: Thoughtseize/IoK/Thought-Knot Seer are a key aspect of the gameplan. Knowing when to cast these and what to take is a skill developed through lots of practice, and players will benefit from extensive knowledge of the format and opposing decks’ gameplans. Good disruption play can be difficult to execute but also extremely powerful. A seminal article on the topic can be found here: http://www.starcitygames.com/article/26855_Thoughtseize-You.html
Card Advantage: Blight Herder and Lingering Souls both create multiple bodies. Relic and Mind Stone cantrip. Reality Smasher requires discard to remove. Strangler can frequently be a 2-for-1 and sometimes even a 3-for-1. There are several sweepers in the sideboard.
Guide to Playing the Deck
See this post for a general overview of what the deck is trying to do in the first several turns.
Matchups
BGx builds: Processors is strongly favored. Relic takes care of Goyf and Scooze while Spirit tokens resist removal and push through damage. Lingering Souls discards to Liliana while our Eldrazi are as big or bigger than their creatures and are resistant to many forms of their removal. Ghost Quarter takes care of Raging Ravine and Stirring Wildwood.
URx/UWx builds: Processors is strongly favored. These decks’ generally slow gameplan allows us to develop our own resources with plenty of time--Shambling Vent shines in these matches. Relic nukes Snapcaster Mage, K Command, and flashback in general, while Lingering Souls and Blight Herder push tokens through counterspells. When they delve their graveyards away they turn on our processors for us. Landing a Cavern of Souls can be game over because resolved Eldrazi can be hard to remove for these decks. Ghost Quarter answers their main late-game manland win cons, Celestial Colonnade and Creeping Tar Pit. Watch out not to overextend into sweepers, especially against UW Control. Thoughtseize is always a live draw against these decks and clears the way for our actual threats.
Graveyard decks (Living End, Dredge, Storm etc.): Processors is strongly favored. Four maindeck Relics, plus some number of Surgical Extraction out of the side, means we are pre-boarded in G1 and then very strongly boarded in G2/3.
Affinity/Infect: Processors is favored. Though fast starts from these decks can be tough to handle, our Ghost Quarters are very good against Inkmoth Nexus, and our Spirit tokens defend us very effectively. Abundant targeted removal deals with their important creatures. Both matchups get even better in G2/3; bring in Pithing Needle for both, if you have it. The top removal targets in Affinity are Arcbound Ravager and Steel Overseer, as Etched Champion is very bad against us. While playing Infect you should prioritize removing Blighted Agent. Our deck makes Apostle's Blessing a near-dead draw for them.
Burn: Even matchup. Careful management of life is important and mulling for lifegain in G2/3 is not a bad idea if the opening seven has none and isn’t otherwise amazing (e.g., two Temples plus a Thought-Knot Seer and a Smasher). Side out pain cards like Thoughtseize and Unmaking in this match.
Abzan CoCo/Kiki Chord/Bant CoCo: Even matchup. Graveyard hate is relevant against all three decks and sweepers from the board improve G2/3. It is smart to sandbag a Path, if possible, to stop the combo plans of the first couple of decks. Pithing Needle can be very good in these matchups. Ghost Quarter is relevant for Gavony Township.
Bant Eldrazi/RG Eldrazi: I haven't played against these builds very much yet, but right now my sense is that they are roughly even--Damnation will be a big help post-board. Tokens are terrible against opposing Reality Smashers but we have a lot more hand disruption and our removal outperforms their limited (Bant's four Paths) or small-scale (RG's four Bolts) removal options.
Death and Taxes variants: Variable; if they get Vial T1 and a good mix of creatures this can be quite tough; on the other hand, if they miss their Vial drop and we get early hand disruption they are usually pretty easy to beat. Pithing Needle and Ratchet Bomb are stars here but it is probably not right to side in Stony Silence for Vial.
Combo (Ad Nauseam/Scapeshift variants): Processors is favored to unfavored depending on which deck you are facing. Ad Nauseam is weaker to us than Scapeshift is, because they are slower and vulnerable to processing and Stony Silence. Hand disruption is key across all of these matches, and Surgical Extraction is very important out of the side. Scapeshift comes in several versions that require different approaches, and can be hard to disrupt when piloted well.
Tron: Favorable to unfavorable for Processors. Mono-U and UW Tron are easy because of their slowness and over-reliance on counterspells. RG Tron is very unfavorable G1 without a very fast clock and a good amount of hand disruption; Lingering Souls is very bad here. In G2/3, Stony Silence, Surgical Extraction, Pithing Needle and Anguished Unmaking/O-Ring are all very good options and greatly improve the RG Tron matchup. Important note: Ghost Quarter is not enough by itself! They are too consistent, and they can easily fight through one or even two removed Tron lands unless we can both strongly pressure their life total and keep Karn from resolving.
Elves/Merfolk/Zoo/BW Tokens: Variably unfavorable for Processors. Elves and Fish tend not to fill the graveyard, making Relic (and Herder and Strangler) much worse. Tokens neuters our targeted removal plans. These matchups get better with more sweeper effects in the board. Damnation may be better than Flaying Tendrils here, as a general rule. Ratchet Bomb is good against all these decks, and Pithing Needle shines against Fish and against Ezuri, Renegade Leader, and may be good against Naya Zoo build (name a fetchland, or possibly Grim Lavamancer). Hard G1s, and we need to find sideboard hate G2 in most cases.
Lantern Control: Unfavorable for Processors. We need to remove their Ensnaring Bridge which is their main win con against us. Stony Silence, Ratchet Bomb (though a nonbo with Stony), Pithing Needle and Anguished Unmaking/O-Ring are strong out of the board, but you want them in your opening hand so they don’t get milled away. A little trick here is Pathing your own Thought-Knot Seer, making them draw so you can get a swing in under their Bridge with your Spirit and Scion tokens.
8Whack: Strongly unfavorable for Processors. They are too fast and wide and are killing us while we are still setting up. Legion Loyalist is a nightmare for our chump-blocker plan and our sweepers can be too slow. Flaying Tendrils and Ratchet Bomb are much better than Damnation in this match.
Bogles: Strongly unfavorable for Processors. This match gets a lot better if you side a couple Spellskites and/or more Ratchet Bombs or even Engineered Explosives. Best hope here is to Thoughtseize away their guy after winning the die roll.
RG Land Destruction/RW Prison: Strongly unfavorable for Processors. If these decks see play in your meta, consider Crucible of Worlds and/or Sacred Ground. But these cards are probably too narrow for a general meta.
Sideboarding Overview
Sweepers: Damnation/Wrath of God/Flaying Tendrils/Engineered Explosives/Ratchet Bomb. Damnation and Wrath hit every creature, but leave behind Persist/Undying creatures, are slow, and cost WW or BB. Tendrils exiles, which is good, but misses important X/3+ creatures and also needs BB. Ratchet Bomb is slow but can get Blood Moon and Ensnaring Bridge and is very good against tokens and mana dorks. In this deck, Engineered Explosives can only get to 2 in most circumstances and should be avoided. Play 2-4 sweepers depending on meta expectations.
Artifact Hate: Stony Silence is invaluable against Affinity, Tron, Lantern Control, and Thopter Foundry builds. Like other white decks, we should play 2-3. Watch out for nerfing your own artifacts like Relic, Mind Stone, Ratchet Bomb, etc.
Lifegain: Timely Reinforcements can help against aggro, while both it and Rest for the Weary come in against Burn. Rest works better in a deck that runs fetch lands. Run at least three; early iterations of Processors had as many as five of these effects.
Combo Hate: Surgical Extraction is a good way to get key cards out of play altogether. Use with Ghost Quarter for Tron or Scapeshift, and with Thoughtseize for all combo decks. Run 2-4 in the 75.
Utility: Anguished Unmaking, Oblivion Ring, Disenchant, Celestial Purge, Pithing Needle, and Ratchet Bomb, can all come in for a wide variety of catch-all reasons. Some mix of these cards should be present in the 75 in at least a quantity of 3-4.
Other sideboard options: Depending on local meta and personal play style, you may want to consider Ghostly Prison for metas with lots of aggro, or Spellskite for Bogles and/or lots of targeted removal (but this is not usually necessary, because Processors already taxes removal with lots of tokens and big creatures). More peripheral choices like Worship, Runed Halo, or Aven Mindcensor might make sense for some players. White has a ton of good SB options to tune the deck for small and/or unique local metagames.
GXTronGX
RWxBurnRWx
less dependent from it.
BWC Processors Eldrazi CWB
UBC Emerge EldraziCBU
C Tron Eldrazi C
RBC Meld Eldrazi CBR
GU Tokens Eldrazi UG
Again, also interested in feedback about my perspective on the matchups listed, and others' thoughts about matchups I overlooked.
I higly prefer midrange/slow deck that has a lot of interactions. This deck certanly has that.
Why not the 4th blight herder, and how is the blood vampier working out?