Any Given Sunday:  The TGA Commander/EDH League

The National Football League has concluded its business.  Weekends are no longer filled with touchdowns, empty pizza boxes, and chants for the home team.  The Green Bay Packers landed a title after 10 years and we turn our eyes to the next season of importance.    Basketball season?  No.  Baseball season? Nope.  Welcome back to Elder Dragon Highlander (Commander) season!

The Sunday EDH/Commander league is up and running at the Game Academy!  Management has allocated an additional store space in the same complex to grow and develop Sunday Magic: the Gathering tournaments.  Last week we had a dozen players that sleeved up their 100 card highlander decks in hopes of tournament glory and unlocked achievements.

Three Ways to Win

Players are eligible to win in any number of ways.  The multi-player tournaments only cost $3 and all of the entry fees are given back to the players via store credit!  There are winners each week and no tricky rules that have to guide your deck construction.  Rather, players can win one of three ways.  One third of the prize money goes to the player who wins the most “head hunter” points.  Head hunter points are collected by killing off your fellow commanders during game play.  Generally, you earn a single head hunter point per player that you knock out of your pod.  If you are the last player standing, then you land an additional point.  After two rounds of 3-5 player pods, the player with the most knock-outs will land a portion of the prize pool.

Don’t like going for the kills?  If you are a pacifist of sorts or just like to play decks that create fun, extraordinary game states and generate tons of shenanigans, then there is still a place for you in the league!  At the conclusion of each pod, players anonymously vote for the player that demonstrated the highest level of valor and sportsmanship.  Did you hold off on killing a weakened opponent, offer the table a chance to draw some extra cards, or just help everyone conquer a great threat?  If so, you might earn yourself some sportsmanship points.  The secret ballots are tallied and revealed at the conclusion of the tournament to secure the best sportsman one-third of the prize pool.

That takes care of 2/3 of the store credit treasure chest.  However, there is a third way to earn fantastic prizes while having a ton of multiplayer fun.  After the week’s headhunter and sportsmanship trophies have been decided, one random player who has not won the aforementioned prizes is eligible to land the last portion of the prize pool.  Everyone has a chance to win.  If you are just starting out, giving a new deck its trial run, or just not able to capitalize on head hunting or sportsmanship there is still a chance to walk away a winner.

Hopefully, the triple threat prize structure will encourage a couple of things.  Commander is all about fun and relaxation.  We want to sport pimped out decks, show off our creative designs and play with cards that have long been forgotten by Standard tournament goers.  The multiplayer tournaments aim to be casual and to foster an atmosphere of enjoyment.  We don’t want combo players or hardcore grinders trying to win a high stakes tournament.  Those players are free to join, but might not make a living off of their winnings.  We want great sportsmanship and the development of a community.  Players show up early to get in some extra games, to trade cards, work on achievements for the league, or help newer players construct their first decks.  The prize structure represents what we want for the league:  all types of winners.

Unlocking Achievements

What is that?  Achievements!?!?  The Game Academy is running a promotion for the 12 week span of the league.  You can unlock achievements by completing certain tasks inside and outside of league play.  Highlights include some of the following:

-Free entry into the first Commander tournament you attend

-Pack prizes and free cards if you choose to purchase your Commander cards and equipment through The Game Academy

-Candy eating contests, attendance rewards, and deck building challenges

One achievement rewards players for making 10 of the 12 league play days, while others guarantee free drinks or bags of cookies to enjoy during your gaming experience.  Achievements are for everyone.  You don’t have to be a part of the league to unlock the “Buffet” achievement or land free packs along with your regularly scheduled purchases.  However, folks that complete all of the achievements can earn the grand prize and biggest payoff of all:

-First player to unlock the achievements gets a box of the most recent set (yep 36 packs!)

-The second player lands a half box

-The third and fourth player also land a fair amount of packs for their work

I am hoping to win some of that pack, but there are a ton of achievements and it will take dedication and some serious effort to land a spot in the top 4.  I guess technically, there are four ways to win.  Aside from the weekly store credit, players will have a chance to battle throughout the season both in and out of the tournament for pack prizes, t-shirts, and other rewards.

Check in with any staff member if you want to claim your achievement sheet.  Each player is eligible to get one sheet per life time.  No copies will be accepted and no second sheets will be handed out.  The prizes are too lucrative to allow repeats of key achievements.  Thanks for being responsible for your achievement sheets in advance!

Week 1 Results

The Sliver Queen (piloted by Molly) landed the sportsmanship award.  Molly did not collect any headhunter points but played in against 7 other players throughout Sunday’s tournament.  At one point, she was wiped out by the poisonous Skithrix, and fell another round to a large black attack force lead by Titans!

Vorosh ruled the skies (piloted by Jeremy).  The most headhunter points went to the blue, green, black deck that aimed to annihilate other commanders solely through general damage.

Colin was not able to attend the entire tournament.  The tournament starts at 2pm and rounds last for a minimum of 2 hours.  Colin made his way to The Game Academy around 3, played some standard with a friend, and jumped into the tournament before the second round started.  Although he was an improbable hero, he walked away the winner of the random portion of the event.  It seems like players who just want to jump in for the second half of the tournament can still win prizes!

Next Week

We are looking to expand the ranks of the league.  Magic players are provided with their own store and space to play the multiplayer tournament.  We had a dozen players show up for the first week, but are hoping for even more this weekend.  Players that work on achievements might like to know that their first week’s entry into the tournament is free!  Come join us for some fun.  Even if your deck is in the early stages of development, we can help you out.  The atmosphere is casual and we will make sure you have a nice time.  A couple of folks will be arriving around noon to help players build decks, trade for the extra Commander staples that they are seeking, and generally work on some achievements.  It is rumored that Matt will try to unlock the buffet achievement and that should provide enough entertainment to make it worth a trip. See you guys at 2pm this Sunday.

How should I prepare for a Commander/EDH tournament?

Here is a quick bonus guide to help folks get ready for league participation:

-READ the rules for deck construction, banned cards, and hints/tips for deck construction at http://mtgcommander.net/rules.php

-Buy or round up 100 sleeves

-Grab two spin down dice that can track a combined 40 life (and some tokens and other dice)

-Select a general in colors that you love

-Make or research a list of the 99 legal cards that fit your general’s colors

-Locate those cards (try to play at least 30ish land and some mana acceleration)

-Talk to the TGA staff about getting your only copy of the ACHIEVEMENTS sheet

-Play some games with your new deck before you try it at the tournament (see if it works)

-Think about putting in some cards that might help win games through either head hunting or sportsmanship

-Show up a little early on Sunday

If you follow some of the general rules, then the rest will fall in line at your first tournament.  There are players in the league that have played for 15 years and players who played for 2 days.  We have some outstanding female players and players from many different generations.  The tournament will last about 4-5 hours and you can leave or jump in as you like.  We will see you guys around the tournament tables and might just catch you flipping through those foil binders in search of hidden gems!  Thanks for reading.

This Pro Tour didn’t start off too great after being 0-3. Luckily, I woke up for round 4 and rattled off 9 straight before losing 1, winning two more, and losing the last round to make 27th place!

I Qualified for Pro Tour: San Juan by getting 12th at Grand Prix Houston 2 months ago. I did a lot of testing, and with the help of Adam Fox, Christopher Fennel, and Harrison Greenberg, came up with the Mono Green Eldrazi ramp deck that is very popular on MTGO now. We had the deck almost perfected when it got leaked on MTGO. This was a huge problem, because the reason to play the deck was the surprise factor. Since everyone knew our list and still had a week left to test, they were able to add it to their testing gambit and find a way to beat it. The easiest way was Tajuru Preserver, which was easily splashable in any blue, green, or black deck due to Verdant Catacombs and Misty Rainforest being in the format. All is Dust and the Annihilator keyword cause the opponent to sacrifice permanents and Tajuru Preserver stopped that.

So we were back to square one with 2 days left until the tournament. I was about to leave on my flight to San Juan when I called the testing group and asked if there was any cards they needed me to bring before I left. Their answer was as many Terastodon’s as I could get. That seemed awesome. Instead of ramping to 10 or 11 to play an Eldrazi, we could just get to 8 and blow up all their Eldrazi Temples, or keep them off White mana to prevent a Day of Judgment or Journey to Nowhere. With the addition of Summoning Trap, we had a deck…or so I thought.

This is the list we all ended up playing:

4 Overgrown Battlement

4 Wall of Omens

1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

1 Pelakka Wurm

3 Avenger of Zendikar

4 Terastodon

4 Explore

3 Journey to Nowhere

3 Growth Spasm

3 Day of Judgment

4 Summoning Trap

6 Forest

5 Plains

3 Verdant Catacombs

4 Graypelt Refuge

4 Stirring Wildwood

3 Tectonic Edge

1 Marsh Flats

Sideboard:

4 Mold Shambler

4 Vengevine

2 Kor Skyfisher

1 Pelakka Wurm

3 Kor Firewalker

1 Journey to Nowhere

The problem with the deck is that it didn’t really do anything against a Jace, the Mind Sculptor, or even a Tectonic Edge. It’s also very reliant on Explore and Overgrown Battlement. You HAVE to mulligan any hand with out 1 of those unless you’re playing against an aggro deck. We all talked after each round of the tournament and had similar stories. “Got my Overgrown Battlement Flame Slashed and lost” or “He played a Jace and I got milled 6 turns later after he countered my 1 relevant spell”. We misread the metagame and thought there would be a lot more aggro deck. The deck did beat one the mono green eldrazi monument deck that came out at the PT.

To put it simply, Harrison and I had the best record with the deck at 5-5. The overall record with the deck was 14-16; not too good for a PT. Luckily I was able to 6-0 the limited portion and finish in 27th place, which was a godsend. Every match I played with the deck I felt I had to get lucky in order to win. I could usually steal 1 game out of a match, but winning 2 was near impossible. If you play Magic Online, or a local store is holding a block tournament, I would not suggest trying this deck. After the tournament, I feel the best block decks are Mono Green Eldrazi Monument/Beastmaster’s Ascention and UGR control.

Both drafts I ended up BG. I try and force green since it’s so powerful, and I feel so behind every time I play against a green deck. I usually end up RG and less often BG or GW Aura’s. Both drafts I ended up having the Mortician Beetle/Bloodthrone Vampire/Pawn of Ulamog combo deck. If you have Bloodthrone Vampire in play along with 1 or 2 of the other cards your creatures are so big it puts you’re opponent on an auto abyss. The first draft, I ended up with multiple pieces of the combo cards (Including a splashed Sarkhan the Mad!) but not a single removal spell. This would come back to haunt me in game 3 of the last round of day 1 that I needed to win to make day 2 when my opponent had Dawnglare Invoker in play. I didn’t have my Sarkhan to give him a dragon to give me a chance. He had 10 power in play along with a Battle-Rattle Shaman. On his mainphase, he tapped my team, and went straight to an attack. He tapped all his guys, and then realized he forgot about Battle-Rattle Shaman. He tried to give a guy +2/+0 but I called a judge. He messed up his story 10 minutes in, and I was able to untap and attack for roughly 60 damage and move into day 2. This is my 1st draft deck.

7 Forest

1 Mountain

9 Swamp

2 Bala Ged Scorpion

2 Bloodthrone Vampire

1 Bloodrite Invoker

1 Cadaver Imp

1 Dread Drone

1 Mortician Beetle

1 Mul Daya Channelers

2 Nest Invader

1 Nirkana Cutthroat

1 Null Champion

1 Ondu Giant

2 Pawn of Ulamog

2 Sporecap Spider

1 Essence Feed

1 Growth Spasm

1 Might of the Masses

1 Prey’s Vengeance

1 Sarkhan the Mad

My second draft deck, the 1st 3 rounds of day 2, was a little bit more of what the deck should look like. The rares I opened were 2 Corhelm Commanders and 1 Sphinx of Magosi. I took a Vendetta over the Corhelm Commander pack 1 and 2 and a Corpsehatch over the Sphinx of Magosi pack 3. Vendetta is a straight bomb in this set. I was super grateful for all the removal I got after I didn’t have a single one in my first deck. Another note from the draft is that I got passed the Consume the Meek pack 1 pick 2 after their was a common missing. I asked him when I ran into him what he took over it, and he told me Venerated Teacher. Pack 1 Pick 1 that seems a little greedy to me, because what if there is not many levelers in the packs? That guy did not make day 2.

Here is the 2nd draft list:

6 Forest

12 Swamp

2 Arrogant Bloodlord

2 Bala Ged Scorpion

1 Bloodthrone Vampire

1 Cadaver Imp

1 Dread Drone

1 Gloomhunter

1 Kozilek’s Predator

1 Mortician Beetle

1 Nirkana Revenant (7th pick!!)

1 Null Champion

1 Ondu Giant

1 Ulamog’s Crusher

1 Consume the Meek

1 Corpsehatch

1 Essence Feed

1 Growth Spasm

1 Induce Despair

1 Might of the Masses

2 Vendetta

Overall, I was very happy with my performance at the PT. I got my 10th Pro Point which qualifies me for US Nationals. Also, I qualified for PT Amsterdam with my Top 50 finish and made $1700 after a long weekend. Until next time, look forward to my bi-weekly article right here at thegameacademyonline.com Please feel free to leave any comments below =)

David Sharfman

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Day 2 of Grand Prix Houston

Round 10 Christian Flodstrom-Sconce // Next Level Blue w/Red for Blood Moon and Firespout

Game 1

He plays 2 Scalding Tarns, while I play a turn two Tarmogoyf after going to six cards. I have no clue what he’s playing, so I get dual lands instead of basics. I think he may be some sort of Hive Mind deck or something (you see where this is going). Sure enough, he cracks his fetches, untaps, casts a Blood Moon, and beats me down with some Trinket Mages and a Vendilion Clique after killing my Tarmogoyf.

I board out:

3 Lightning Helix

4 Path to Exile

1 Bant Charm

I board in:

3 Negate

4 Meddling Mage

1 Ranger of Eos

Game 2

I cast a turn 3 Knight of the Reliquary after negating a turn two Blood Moon from him. Sure enough, the knight is a huge problem for him as he has no way to kill it, and it goes the distance.

I leave the board the same.

Game 3

I mulligan to a hand with a Meddling Mage, Knight of the Reliquary, Tarmogoyf, Negate, and two lands. On his first turn, he plays a land, Chrome Mox, and plays Chalice for one. At this point, I’m amused because of the lack of one drops in my deck. On turn two I play a Meddling mage and name Threads of Disloyalty, because I don’t want him stealing my Tarmogoyf. The game ends with him playing Thirst for Knowledge, discarding two Threads of Disloyalty, and casting Jace, the Mindsculptor. He concedes shortly thereafter.

9-1

Round 11 Pete Pickard // Boros Deck Wins

Pete ended up squeezing into 8th place thanks to my tiebreakers ; )

Game 1

We both take turns playing and killing creatures, but he ends up drawing enough burn spells to finish me off. Not to mention, my opening hand of Stomping Ground, 3 Wild Nacatl ,2 Lightning Bolt and Kird Ape never draws another land. An uneventful game, but I actually like this matchup since I know that the deck has a hard time winning if you kill the one or two creatures they draw each game. Also, my list with 4 knight of the reliquary gives them problems since they only have 4 paths for my 4 goyfs and 4 knights that are too big.

I board out:

1 Lignting Helix

1 Bant Charm

1 Ranger of Eos

I board in:

3 Qasali Pridemage

Game 2

He goes down to four cards and I easily take this game on the back of my two Tarmogoyfs and Knight of the Reliquary.

Game 3

He plays a steppe lynx, and I path it. He plays geopede, and I play Nacatl and Bolt it. His helix kills my nacatl, and I play a knight, which he also paths. My next play involves me casting two tarmogoyfs. He uses two burn spells to kill one of my goyf’s, but I untap and play a 5/5 knight to match his lone geopede. At this point, I’m low on life because of my lands and the few burn spells he’s thrown at me. My hand consists of bant charm and lightning helix at 5 life, while he only has one card in hand. I attack and bring him to lethal in two turns. After his draw step, he has two cards in hand and passes the turn. After I untap, he throws six points of burn to my face, but I have the bant charm to stop one of them, and take the other one going down to two life. I still have the lightning helix in hand, an untapped sacred foundry, and an untapped knight with some other creatures. I attack with everything except the knight, and he’s dead next turn no matter what. He’s excited after drawing a burn spell on his turn, but my lightning helix keeps me alive in order to be able to attack next turn for the win. Very exciting game!

10-1

Round 12 David Daniel // Thopter Depths

Game 1

I keep a one land hand with all one drops, while he plays turn one sword, turn two he transmutes muddle, and turn three has the thopter foundry. I die shortly after.

I board out:

1 Forest

2 Path to Exile

3 Lightning Helix

4 Tarmogoyf

I board in:

3 Negate

4 Meddling Mage

1 Ranger of Eos

1 Bant Charm

1 Ghost Quarter

Game 2

He leaves in the hexmage//depths combo and kills me on turn 3 after drawing a thoughtseize to steal the path out of my hand.

This was the quickest match out of the tournament, and at this point I was pretty upset to lose so quickly to nut draws.

10-2

Round 13 Patrick Chapin // Grixis Control

Pat is a cool guy, and a well known pro. I know what he’s playing after watching one of his feature matches, and I know this has to be a bad matchup for me.

Game 1

I cast creatures, and he kills them one by one. Eventually, he casts two cruel ultimatums, knocking me completely out of the game. I end up drawing all four path to exiles after starting with only one in my hand.

I board out:

4 Path to Exile

3 Lightning Helix

3 Bant Charm

I board in:

3 Negate

4 Meddling Mage

1 Ranger of Eos

2 Elspeth, Knight Errant

Game 2

I start too quickly for his deck to handle, and get ahead by resolving a Ranger of Eos. It helped that he started this game off with his first three lands being Sunken Ruins.

Game 3

I have my usual start of animal, animal, animal, animal, and he gets stuck on only blue and black mana with four lands in play. He can cast his damnations and cryptic commands, but those can only stall. Cruel Ultimatum is what he needs to get the card advantage to beat me. There is a turn in the game where he taps out to do something and I cast two Meddling Mage’s on Damnation as well as cast 2 Nacatl’s that I searched out earlier with Ranger of Eos. He dies on the next turn. He was a nice guy to play against and we wished each other luck in the last few rounds.

11-2

Round 14 Adam Yurchick // Thepths

I’ve never played against Adam before, but I know he’s very good. I’m also playing for top 8 because if I win I’m guaranteed to draw in, whereas he (since I got paired down..AGAIN..) is 11-2-1 and has to win win to make it.

Game 1

He has a turn one Dark Confidant and I don’t have a one drop or removal. He ends up hitting all 4 confidants, and one turn even has 3 in play at 7 life. Of course he doesn’t die, and sets up Thopter Foundry/Sword of the Meek that turn at 4 life! It was even more awkward that the Dark Confidants revealed Dark Depths, Dark Depths, Thirst for Knowledge. Then the next turn reveal Dark Depths again, Tolaria West. How Lucky!

I board the same as every other Thepths matchup.

Game 2

It gets pretty close but he eventually puts me on top deck mode by killing my last guy. He plays Hexmage with a Depths in play and I draw the 1 ghost quarter and quickly cast it. He can’t make the token! How lucky. He plays another hexmage and starts beating me down. I finally draw a guy and pass. On his turn he hexmages the Dark Depths, I let the counters come off and ghost quarter, he thinks about calling a judge to ask if he hexmages again will he get it which I know he doesn’t. He decides not too and just reveals his hand of tolaria west(to search for Dark Depths) and Rite of Consumption to kill me out of the game and top 8 contention. :[

11-3

Round 15 Josh Utter-Leyton // Thepths

I know what he’s playing because he won a modo ptq the week before and wrote about it in an article for another MTG strategy site.

Game 1

I play some Cats and Goyfs and he sets up the thopter combo with 5 lands open, and 9 life. I attack with 1 Nacatl and 2 4/5 goyfs. He makes 3 guys and double blocks Nacatyl and puts 1 on a goyf?!? He takes 4 and goes to 5. EOT he has 2 lands open and tries to make a Thopter. In response, I throw a Helix and a Bolt at his face as he shakes his head. HOW LUCKY. He could have just blocked all 3 of my guys or not made tokens at EOT and I would have had no chance.

I board out 1 Forest 2 Path 3 Lightning Helix 4 Goyf for 3 Negate 4 Meddling Mage 1 Ranger 1 Bant Charm 1 Ghost Quarter

Game 2

He has the god draw and kills me in four turns.

Game 3

He turn 1 thoughtseizes me. (18) I play a Nacatyl. He plays a land and sword, I attack with Nacatl (15) and play a kird ape. He deathmarks my Nacatl. I attack with Kird Ape (13). He mainphase smothers. I play a Pridemage. He plays another draw spell. I attack with pridemage (10) he plays a land and a confidant. I bolt it. I attack with Pridemage. (7) He plays another Confidant. I draw Bolt and attack with Pridemage (4) I think for a while and eventually decide to lightning bolt his head (1!) since he has Dark Confidant in play. I end up making the right choice, as he untaps and reveals Sword of the Meek! Got there!

I’m really excited now. I got 12th place which is $600 and a slot at Pro Tour San Juan which I’ve been trying to get qualified for all season. Also, I had to be back in Orlando Monday morning, so if I made top 8 I’d have to leave. Getting 12th was the best possible situation! Tune in, where in a few weeks I will report on how I do in San Juan!

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*Editor’s Note* – The Game Academy hosts an EDH league every Sunday; tournament signups begin @ 2 PM and tournament entry is $7. All entry will be given back to top finishers in store credit to use towards anything in the store. Jeremy is always in attendance to play EDH in our league, offer deck advice, and record matches for his popular YouTube channel. If you don’t have an EDH deck, don’t worry, we normally have a few extras if you want to play. See you here!
Elder Dragon Highlander:  Collector’s Edition Part II

This week we will pick up where last week left us.  We embarked on the journey into Magic the Gathering.  Some follow the path for competitive purposes, others will to amass a giant collection.  Many players seek fun and most of us are in for a little of each.  We perused a list of the top EDH cards for each color.  If you did not get a chance to catch the list, I have decided to copy it here one more time.

When I first started playing EDH, I found deck lists mind boggling.  Hundred card singleton lists are very difficult to comprehend without some framing or explanation about card choices and synergies.  Some folks try to assemble a good stuff type list that just plays a bunch of powerful cards, but this is nearly almost always a sure-fire way to end up with a suboptimal list.  Synergies and card interactions put EDH decks over-the-proverbial-top.  Therefore, you need to identify the most amazing cards that fit together to accomplish your given game plan.

With that disclaimer, it still seems relevant to create lists that collect the most powerful cards.  I love these lists and having discussions about the best cards in a color.  These discussions can help players consider cards they might have missed or may allow a deck builder to double up on effects that fit a deck’s theme or enhance the function.

Back in the day (you know the one), when I started playing EDH.  If followed deck construction advice from community forum members like Zerg (may he rest in peace) and others on various EDH forums.  I would follow Sheldon Menery’s columns and updates on the banned list, and would scour the internets for a reasonable explanation of popular deck lists.  Here are some interesting words of advice from Zerg in his forum post concerning some of the most important card to include in your EDH decks.  His descriptions are brief, but you get the general idea.

“Colorless

• Sensei’s Divining Top – anywhere. Period. Unless your playgroup is excessively annoyed by it.
• Lightning Greaves – for any deck that plans on attacking or has creatures that need to stay alive.
• Journeyer’s Kite – supplies you with lands forever, or until blown up. Mandatory in any nongreen deck.
• Gauntlet of Power and Extraplanar Lens – any monocolored deck. These cards are stupidgood.
• Nevinyrral’s Disk and Oblivion Stone – essential effect in any EDH deck and only available on two cards outside of white.
• Mind’s Eye – one of the best card draw engines in multiplayer, and available to any color.
• Solemn Simulacrum – Just really, really good.
• Sol Ring – Best artifact mana accel in the game.
• Thawing Glaciers – fills the same role as kite, every other turn.
• Maze of Ith – Surprisingly few creatures can get around it, it’s hard to remove (being a land) and fits in every deck.
• Strip Mine – utility nonbasics come with a lot of drawbacks, such as not being not fetchable by most land search cards, not benefitting from gauntlet/lens/etc, and usually not producing colored mana. However, some utility is just too strong to ignore. Same applies to every other land that made a cut to be on this list.

Black

• Yawgmoth’s Will – best card in Magic.
• Necropotence – best card draw spell in EDH.
• Cabal Coffers – Gauntlet of Power #3 in monoblack.
• Volrath’s Stronghold – Many decks would spend an actual card slot on this effect. Stronghold doesn’t even cost you a slot.
• Demonic Tutor &Co. – obvious card is obvious.
• Myojin of Night’s Reach – everyone’s hand goes “bye”. 9000 style points if whoever played it doesn’t activate the ability immediately, passes priority, and you sudden death it.
• Transmute cards – Yes, any card that merely searches for Yawgwin is good enough to make the “best of the best” list.
• Reanimation – one of the key strengths of black. Reanimation is often cheaper, more flexible, and more powerful than that creature you were thinking of adding to your deck.

Blue

• Control Magic &Co. – just like reanimation, it saves you mana, but also serves as removal, albeit usually less flexible than reanimation
• Countermagic –  often underrated in multiplayer because you “can’t counter everything”. The key is to use it to protect your other cards, not try to remove every threat.
• Magus of the Future / Future Sight – absurdity is directly proportional to the amount of mana you have, multiplied by the number of shuffle effects and tripled with Divining Top in play. The only two cards that have the potential to be dumber than Yawgwin.
• Hinder –  the easiest way in the game to say “bye, general!”
• [s]Gifts Ungiven[/s] – combo deck wins (for best results combine with Yawgwin or Eternal Witness in hand).
• Academy Ruins – See Volrath’s Stronghold.

White

• Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer – these can be as good as green’s land search, but it’s only two cards.
• Sweepers – being able to remove anything and everything at once is white’s main strength. Be sure to include some, this is the only color that has plenty of options. Final Judgment, Hallowed Burial, Austere Command, and Rout, are usually the best.
• Condemn – Right below Hinder.
• Return to Dust – It might be silly to include a random artifact removal spell in this list, but I’ve been owned by this card so many times.
• Mistveil Plains – Probably one of the most underrated cards in the game. Combined with a tutor, you have the ability to fetch anything back from your graveyard. Also searcheable with fetchlands and hoses reanimation targeting your graveyard.

Green

• Eternal Witness – green is the only color with “return any card” effects, which are incredibly strong. Witness is by far the most abuseable of these.
• Far Wanderings – I have no idea why this isn’t in every green deck. Fetching 3 lands for 3 mana is nuts. (Keep in mind that you have threshold for about 80% of the duration of the game).
• Mana Reflection – see Gauntlet of Power.
• Tooth and Nail and Chord of Calling – chances are you have some fat creatures in your deck that you’d like in play. These are the best ways to do that.

Red

• Wheel of Fortune – the only card in red that’s on par with blue and black card draw. It’s damn good, but sadly, it’s the only thing red has.
• Reiterate – redirection/copy effects are great in general, but reiterate is head and shoulders above the rest. Nothing like copying an opponent’s cruel ultimatum. Twice. And still keeping the reiterate. In fact, this card is pretty much the only reason I want to play red.
• Gauntlet of Might – monored red gets an extra gauntlet of power, if you can afford one.
• Insurrection – usually enough to kill one opponent in multiplayer.

Multicolored

• Mirari’s Wake – Mana reflection, but better.
• Cruel Ultimatum – Just reminding you this card exists. If you don’t know what it does, click the link and read it.
• Vindicate – Tie fighters.
• Maelstrom Pulse – Not quite tie fighters.
• Terminate / Mortify / Putrefy – no reason not to have these.
• Debtor’s Knell – You’ll find something ridiculous to do with this every time you play it.

Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion – double strike is potentially very powerful and having it on a land means it’s reusable, doesn’t cost you a card, and wastes no slots in the deck.”

These thoughts do not totally match up with my thinking about EDH deck construction.  Some of the cards I find to be underpowered, too specific, or generally outclassed (e.g. Cruel Ultimatum, Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion, and Journeyer’s Kite).  However, the advice runs fairly consistent and helped shape my early thinking.  Eventually, I made it a goal to form a collection of EDH staples and core cards that would serve as the foundation for my deck construction.  I made this decision some time ago along with the idea that I would snatch up foils of my favorite staples and copies of the dual lands and older cards.  Subsequently, the Legacy format has jumped off and my collection of staples has turned into a nice investment rewarding not only in terms of the playability and fantastic aid in deck construction but also financially.

I would like to share some of the hottest movers on the EDH scene and would emplore those wishing to build a similar style collection to act fast.  Every couple of months the cards seem to take a dramatic leap in cost/value.

Buy Now:  For Fun and Profit

Let’s start with some of the cards that are both going to bowl you over and that might be a little obvious.  They might be apparent, but some folks are still out there with holes in their collections.  These are among the first cards that I would obtain and should always be on the “needed” or “wanted” lists.  At times these cards trade like a second currency, but time has proven them to be a stable investment that offers little risk.  If you are ever done with these cards you can ship them for about what you paid or more.

Dual Lands

You don’t have to play with dual lands to be successful in EDH.  However, they are simply the best lands that you can play with if you are looking to fix colors and diversify your mana-base.  If you need to be in both Blue and Black, then you have some options.  The pimped out choice is Underground Sea.  The runner up is Watery Grave, and somewhere following are cards like Underground River, Sunken Ruins, and tap lands that generate the needed colors. Here is the hitch:  as of March 24, 2010 the most inexpensive Underground Sea on popular retail sites (in near mint condition) will cost about $85.  Twelve months ago, you could have landed them for around $60.  Some of the dual lands have nearly doubled in price.  The lands with “less popular” (read as non-blue) colors have shot up from around $25 to over $40.  In early March, Wizards of the Coast announced that they will never reprint the revised (original) dual lands.  Therefore, they are likely going to continue their rise in price.  Pick these up now.

3^rd Edition/Revised

Badlands                    $40

Bayou                         $50

Plateau                       $40

Savannah                   $40+

Scrubland                   $40

Taiga                           $50

Tropical Island          $60+

Tundra                       $70

Underground Sea      $90

Judge Foils/Promo Foils

The DCI and folks at Wizards of the Coast have had their eye on EDH for a long time.  The format expanded its popularity in the judge community and Aaron Forsythe, head of Magic’s research and development, explained in an interview conducted on Youtube (Elderdragonhighlandr Interview Series) that EDH has been on the mind of developers for some time now.  Evidence pops up when you see a hefty multi-colored legendary general or giant octopus like Lorthos.  Further evidence can be found in the printing of the Judge promo cards released as payment and thanks for judges working at sanctioned events.

If you look over some of the staples listed in the format, you can nearly cross reference some of the most popular cards with the Judge promo list.  Let’s browse a couple of selections:

Promo Versions

Sol Ring                      $50+

Maze of Ith                 $40

Yawgmoth’s Will       $20

Demonic Tutor          $40

Wheel of Fortune      Unreleased (coming soon)

Foil Fetch Lands        $30-60

Aside from these judge foils, there are any number of FNM foils and promotional foils that cover the staple cards in EDH.  Eternal Witness and Necropotence can each be found reasonably.  Basically, any of these foil, promotional staples are desirable for EDH collectors.

From the Vault:  EDH Staples

Another area that Wizards has shown love to the EDH community involves the limited release, From the Vault series.  The first set was dragons and offered foil versions of some of the game’s most desirable foil dragon generals.  My favorite is Nicol Bolas.  However, the second From the Vault release secured foil versions of cards that were either impossible or improbable to find in foil.  Examples include the now banned Gifts Ungiven and the oft used staples of Mystical Tutor and Sensi’s Divining Top.  If you can find these products they are surefire EDH winners.  I keep a set and open a set for play in my decks.  Make sure to check out the upcoming From the Vault: Artifacts.  There are going to be even more EDH staples in that set.

Foreign Black Border and Rare Foils

Some cards cannot be found in foil.  For those cards, many players chase the foreign black border versions or original Alpha/Beta cards.  My dream is to own a complete collection of foreign black border dual lands.  If you are chasing the dream, you will have to be vigilant.  Stores might take a wants list and could notify you if the chase cards come through the doors.  You might happen upon them on eBay, but they are hard to find.  Occasionally, there are EDH staples or great cards that were in very short print like Moat and Mana Drain from Legends and the ever-popular Force of Will.  Those cards are likely going to increase in price and should be eventual additions to your collections.

Finally, folks should take the time to note that some cards are barely found in foil.  Merchant Scroll is a great edition for an EDH deck, but the 8^th edition foil is the only foil printing.  The uncommon is worth about $1 but its foil version is worth $25.  This situation happens occasionally.  Some promo cards are rare (like Swords to Plowshares) or the foil just drives the price.  You might watch for deals on these cards or find them in a foil bin for a great price.

I hope this series has been helpful and informative.  Thanks to the forum posters and folks who chase all of these amazing cards.  The hunt is half of the fun.

15 hours of driving is A LOT of driving. Last Friday, my parents left town for a week on a vacation to Jamaica. Little did they know that when they returned, their son would be 2K richer just from playing some “stupid” card game. I knew that I was going to the $500 FNM, the Star City events on Saturday and Sunday, but that was all I told them. You can read about those two events in my last article. Tuesday comes around, and I bring my trophy up to my local card shop and play in some drafts, when I overhear some of my friends talking about a Grand Prix coming up in Houston. I take interest, until I find out that the format is extended.

I hate the current extended format!

I’ve played every deck under the moon in at least 10 different events between PTQ’s, Saturday tournaments, and MTGO 8 mans. I had not found one I liked. Since my parents were out of town and I had nothing to do anyways I said what the hell and decided I would be partaking on this 15 hour adventure. I had no clue what I was going to play; I just knew I was going.

I borrowed a Dark Depths /Thopter Foundry deck and a Bant deck from my friends Jimmy and Melvin, and I also sleeved up a Boom/Bust zoo deck. Those are pretty much the triangle decks of the format. When I finally decided what I wanted to play, at least I would already have the cards!

Harrison kept on telling me to make a decision so he could get his friend a deck, but he obviously doesn’t know me if he’s asking that question. I’m known for sitting down at the player meeting with one deck and by the time they are coming around to collect lists, I change to a completely different deck. I’m not proud of being indecisive, but I like taking everything into account when I make my decision. This trip was nothing different.

Taylor R., James W. Harry G., and I all leave Orlando at 5 o’ clock, which is cutting it a little tight on time for Houston. Harry decides he doesn’t want to go 5 minutes into the trip, so we turn around, drop him back off with his car, get in my car, and get another 20 dollars a piece out of our wallets to cover the extra expenses. I take the first shift driving while I tell James to sleep so he can be awake for the next shift. My car is manual and Taylor doesn’t know how to drive stick so he definitely got the best deal. We get on the road, James’ cold gets worse, I get his cold, and Taylor sleeps practically the entire way. Somehow, I end up driving the entire trip.

Shoot me now.

We pull up at the hotel at 7:30 in the morning, get a room, take a shower, and have to go right to the tournament site, which is connected to our hotel. I bring my Boom//Bust zoo deck down with me since I’m running on zero sleep, and DDT takes too much thinking to play perfectly. I sit down with Pat Cox and Zach Efland to get my deck together. Pat’s playing the same Zoo deck he’s been playing all season with the exception of about 5 cards from the list he top 8′d Oakland with. Todd Anderson and Pat both tell me how you have to run good with Boom/Bust for it to work, and how they both don’t like how the deck has 7 situational cards being Boom/Bust and Blood Moon. Also, everyone is prepared for Blood Moon now, so even DDT has 5 basics in it. It kind of reminds me of Legacy, how people fetch for basics first just in case their opponent has Wasteland, in this case Blood Moon. I end up copying Pat Cox’s list, change 2 cards in the main, and move them to the sideboard. We basically have the same list, but I have +1 Knight of the Reliquary, -1 Loam Lion and switched the Bant Charm and Lightning Helix slots from main to board. (I have 3 Bant Charm 3 Lightning Helix main with 1 and 1 in board where he has 2 Bant Charm and 4 Lightning Helix main with 2 Bant Charm in the board). Overall, I was happy with the changes I made, considering how Bant Charm is awesome in every matchup whereas Lightning Helix gets boarded out a lot. I boarded in my 4th Bant Charm in every matchup with the exception of maybe one or two. Here’s what I ended up playing:

4 Kird Ape
3 Loam Lion
4 Wild Nacatl
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Ranger of Eos
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
3 Lightning Helix
3 Bant Charm
1 Breeding Pool
1 Stomping Ground
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Stirring Wildwood

Sideboard:
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Ranger of Eos
3 Negate
4 Meddling Mage
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Bant Charm
1 Lightning Helix
1 Ghost Quarter

The only changes I’d make from this list are in the board. I would get rid of 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant for the fourth Ranger of Eos. Ranger was a blowout every time I cast it, where as Elspeth was just kind of meh. I might also take out the Ghost Quarter in the board because I never wanted to search with it with knight and DDT USUALLY (foreshadow) boards out the hexmage part of the deck for removal spells, so knight never lives anyways. I also never searched for the manland in any match; I only activated it if I drew it. Don’t get me wrong, Knight of the Reliquary is ridiculous; you just don’t want to waste a turn of attacking with your 5/5. The reason the Bojuka Bog is not in the sideboard is because against dredge, turn 4 activate knight is usually too late. In zoo decks with Noble Hierarch, it makes sense because you can do it turn 3, but in this list that is not the case. If dredge is popular in your area, cut the other elspeth and the Ghost Quarter for 2 Bojuka Bog so you can draw them if turn 4 activate knight is too slow. I pretty much conceded to dredge with this list which I am fine with for a GP because of how few of them there are.

On to the report…

Round 1 & 2 **Awarded Bye**
I got lucky and my rating hit 1954 because of the legacy event, so I barely got that 2nd Bye.

Round 3 – Jeremy // Zoo Mirror

Game 1
We both play some cats, trade, then I play a goyf, it’s a 2/3 since there is a creature and a land in the yard. He plays helix on my goyf. What a great way to start this GP. Needless to say I win easily from there, even though he tries to mount an offense with a figure of destiny.

I board in:
1 Lightning Helix
2 Elspeth Knight-Errant
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Bant Charm

I board out:
2 Loam Lion
3 Kird Ape (2/3′s aren’t good in the mirror when they have 3/3 Wild Nacatls)
.
Game 2
We’re both stuck on lands casting dorks when he Path to Exiles one of my guys that’s beating him down. That gives me land #4 to cast a seemingly endless supply of rangers and elspeths.

3-0

Round 4 – Bobby // Boom Bust Zoo

Bobby’s a nice guy who I continued to talk to about my progress for the rest of the GP.

Game 1
Most of my games start with me playing random dorks so ill leave that part out in the future. It gets to the point where I have 5 guys against his 2 goyfs and 1 knight with 1 card in hand. I have 2 burn spells in my hand so I go all in, if he has a helix I’m dead, if he doesn’t then he’s dead. I take the chance and he doesn’t. I board the same as the last zoo mirror.

Game 2
He get’s stuck on 2 lands while I play guys; he’s never really in it. My goyf and pridemage go the distance. He plays a Blood Moon and I’m never really pressured to kill it with my pridemage.

4-0

Round 5 – Phillip Yam // Tribal Zoo

Game 1
We both play guys and trade early. Turn 4 he attacks with a Loam Lion, I elect to take it, and end up taking 12 due to double Might of Alara! I go to 7, and stay there for the rest of the game as he draws lands and I draw spells. I end the game with a Bant Charm in hand to counter a bolt, so his only real outs were consecutive Tribal Flames.

I board in:
1 Lightning Helix
2 Elspeth Knight-Errant
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Bant Charm

I board out:
2 Loam Lion
3 Kird Ape

Game 2
He keeps Loam Lion and 5 Lands after he mulls. My hand was awesome, involving Nacatl Goyf Burn Ranger and Lands. I make short work of him.

5-0
Round 6 – Mon Lee // Bant

Game 1
We go back and forth. He has War Monks and Goyfs and keeps getting around my guys with Path to Exile and Bant Charm. He puts Sword of Fire and Ice on a War Monk which I double block it with a Cat and the Stirring Wildwood. That leaves him with a goyf and 1 more War Monk. I draw a second removal spell and put the goyf on the bottom and path the War Monk. My animals deal the remaining 17 damage.

I board in:
2 Elspeth Knight-Errant
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Bant Charm

I board out:
3 Lightning Helix (all his guys were too big for me to kill with it, and on the draw it doesn’t kill noble hierarch quick enough)
2 Kird Ape

Game 2
I start way too fast for him. He doesn’t cast any guys on the first few turns, while I curve out with Nacatl, Goyf, and Knight. To deal with my threats, he plays path, Bant Charm, and Engineered Explosives. I then play Ranger of Eos and reload. Ranger was too much card advantage for his Bant deck to handle and I remain undefeated.

6-0

Round 7 – Dwayne St.Arnauld // Living End

This matchup is horrendous. Even with 9 cards in the board, it’s so easy for them to win.

Game 1
This game goes as planned. I play guys, he cycles and turn 4 Living Ends some Fulminator Mages, Deadshot Minotaurs, Street Wraiths, and Monstrous Carabids into play and I die quick and painfully.

I board in:
4 Meddling Mage
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Elspeth
3 Negate

I board out:
3 Bant Charm
4 Path to Exile
1 Lightning Helix
2 Knight of the Reliquary

Game 2
I play turn 1 Cat, he land goes, and I play Kird Ape and another cat. He shriekmaws my Kird Ape. That leaves me with 2 Cats, leading me to believe that he’s telegraphing Maelstrom Pulse. I play a Meddling Mage on Pulse since if he Living Ends, its just a wrath and he doesn’t get any guys other than Shriek back. He plays a Finks, I play another Mage on Living End and he fails to draw a Shriekmaw before my Rangers and Animals get him. First game I’ve ever beat Living End.

Game 3
He mulls into a 1 lander with 2 cyclers and 3 finks. I have a very quick start with turn one Nacatl and turn two Canonist with some more dorks. He draws land 2 but stalls a turn on a land which is exactly what I need. When he draws his 3rd land and plays finks, but the damage has already been dealt and I’m able to double Helix him out of the game, match, and undefeated bracket.

7-0

Round 8 – Matt Costa // DDT

This was a feature match covered here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gphou10/day1#11

I board in:
3 Negate
4 Meddling Mage
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Bant Charm

I board out:
2 Loam Lion
3 Lightning Helix
4 Tarmogoyf

Tarmogoyf and Meddling Mage switch slots in this matchup as the 2 drop because goyf really isn’t that spectacular against them, whereas Meddling Mage can be very awkward for them to play against. Meddling Mage can be a very skill intensive card, so I suggest testing with him a bunch before playing with him at a big tournament.

I end up winning and advance to 8-0

I’m pretty excited at this point. All the pros keep coming up to me and asking how I’m doing which I’m very happy to tell them “yeah, I’m X-0.”

Round 9 – Jonathon Morse // DDT

Game 1
I mull to an awful hand with no little guys, Bant Charms, and a Ranger and somehow get there. Very awkward. I board the same as in the match the round before:

3 Negate
4 Meddling Mage
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Bant Charm

I board out:
2 Loam Lion
3 Lightning Helix
4 Tarmogoyf

Game 2
He plays turn 1 Thopter Foundry off a Chrome Mox and Turn 2 Sword of the Meek. I have no Artifact Destruction and he kills me shortly after.

Game 3
I have another awkward mulligan. 2 lands 2 Meddling Mage and some rangers and negates. I play land go, and he plays land, Mox, Sword of the Meek go. I see where this game is going. I play a Meddling Mage on Thopter Foundry. He plays Dark Depths Hexmage, makes a 20/20 and says go. I have no Path or Bant Charm and I pick up my first loss. He shows me his hand after the game and he has the Thopter Foundry also. Pretty much the Nuts.

Zach Efland, Ben Stark, Faddy J, Matt Nass, Trevor, Taylor Raflowitz and 1 other guy that I don’t know go out for a filling dinner at Fogo de Chao. Yum. Taylor and I head back to the hotel room where I get my first few hours of sleep in the last 2 days. YEAHHHHH! Visit thegameacademyonline.com in a few days where I’ll go over my day 2 matchups and the rest of my top 12 finish.

Don’t pay those ridiculous prices other stores try to charge, ours are only 84.99!! Order now by clicking HERE

*Editor’s Note* – The Game Academy hosts an EDH league every Sunday; tournament signups begin @ 2 PM and tournament entry is $7. All entry will be given back to top finishers in store credit to use towards anything in the store. Jeremy is always in attendance to play EDH in our league, offer deck advice, and record matches for his popular YouTube channel. If you don’t have an EDH deck, don’t worry, we normally have a few extras if you want to play. See you here!

Impact of the Eldrazi on Elder Dragon Highlander

I am writing this article on 3/31/2010. The first week of spoilers on www.magicthegathering.com have revealed some interesting new mechanics and particularly interesting new creatures. The Eldrazi monument promises a flood of playable creatures that are seemingly destined for play in the Elder Dragon Highlander format. At the onset of each set release, I typically scour the spoilers and preview articles in search of legendary creatures that might serve as the basis for a new deck idea. At this point, there do not appear to be any Eldrazi that seem fit to serve as general for an entire deck.

Don’t get me wrong. We are looking at some outstanding effects and really interesting monstrosities, but the drawback of being colorless is particularly limiting in EDH. Some folks build decks around legends like Karn, but they are very narrow. I like to keep my options open and tend to have spells that cost colored mana in my heart. However, the previews and spoilers have dropped enough information at this point that most EDH players are seriously awaiting the opportunity to splash some of these titans in current builds.

We will walk through some of the cards that have been leaked at this point. Many of the cards have been officially spoiled, while others have not. I am only going to discuss Eldrazi spells that have sufficient evidence backing up their existence. Therefore, we are sticking to officially spoiled cards or cards with visual proof (such as the prerelease foil/oversized Emrakul).

All is Dust

There are several interesting aspects to All is Dust. First and foremost is the card type. The card is a Tribal Sorcery and represents a board clearing color spell the likes that Magic players have never seen. This card has some advantages and disadvantages in EDH. The advantages are somewhat obvious. This Tribal Sorcery will wipe out all colored creatures, enchantments, planeswalkers, and the few colored artifacts that might see play. Boom. That is huge. The multiplayer format is pretty slow and paying 7 mana for a spell that is a likely 3+ (or more)-for-1 is very profitable. All is Dust also fills a sort of gap that different deck types needed: an answer to planeswalkers. This card should have 5-color decks shaking in their proverbial boots. I have seen decks that try to play every planeswalker hoping to capitalize on the fact that there will not be enough removal to deal with the threats. In many cases this is a safe assumption. However, All is Dust will serve as a good violation of that assumption.

The card is Mythic which will drive the price up a bit. It has good interactions with your own colorless Eldrazi spells. I imagine this card might make its way into a number of decks and could serve as a solid reset when you fall behind.

Artisan of Kazilek

This is one of the “little” Eldrazi. There seems to be an awesome X-for-1 theme running throughout the Eldrazi tribe. This theme tends to contribute to playability. However, the card advantage offered by the Eldrazi appear to be somewhat mitigated by casting cost. In the standard environment, this might make some of the cards nearly unplayable (assuming that there are not tons of reasonable and playable ways of offsetting the expensive casting costs).

In our slower format, the casting cost of creatures and expensive spells is not always such a big deal. Most players jump into the format because you can regularly be found casting 8, 9, 10 or more casting cost spells. We like our games to be epic and we like to throw our pricey legends into battle against other mythic giants. That is, simply, how we roll. It is entirely possible that this Eldrazi tribe was meant for us!

Artisan is an uncommon. He will be easily obtainable. Relative to his brethren, he is not so impressive. He packs Annihilator 2 (which might end up being a sort of annoying ability), and does grab back a creature from the grave. In a theme deck, this Eldrazi will only have a chance to return some of the less impressive creatures. All of the great tribesman have the Colossus/Progenitus clause: shuffle giant dude back into the deck so you can not attempt cheaty reanimation! Overall, this guy is okay but not that playable. He might find a niche, but I would hold out for more impressive Eldrazi.

Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

Here is a clear example of a “more impressive Eldrazi.” He costs a 2 more colorless man than Artizan but you get a lot for that small increase in investment. He destroys a target planeswalker…er, permanent when he is cast. He grabs 2 more points of Annihilator and is indestructible. There are only a few ways to get rid of indestructible creatures in the game and they are mostly blue and white. Think about that for a minute. When this guy hits, he will be a total wrecking ball when he is cast and when he starts swinging and there is not a whole lot that folks are going to be able to do about it. His impact will be critical and I imagine he will find a place in many decks.

His drawbacks include the fact that he is 11 to cast, he is Mythic and will be a little pricey and aside from his dual types of expense, he is only a 10/10 who might not battle through the biggest of the Eldrazi. I cannot imagine too many of these guys being on the board at once, but the Eldrazi will force a sort of quickly degenerative game state the longer they are on the board. Conceptualize two or three of these guys spread across 3-4 players. As they attack, folks will be sacking off lands and maybe tokens to keep their Eldrazi in the game. One might meet a Path to Exile, but the other two will quickly wipe the board of possible answers and remaining permanent as they battle like those monsters in Nintendo’s Rampage! Pretty sick.

Skittering Invasion

Skittering Invasion is not that exciting for EDH. It is an Eldrazi Tribal Sorcery and will help accelerate bigger spells into play. However, it already seems like a pretty big spell at 7 and does not seem to do quite enough. This card might be the type of card that contributes to playability of the tribe in standard constructed, but does not appear to offer that much as a singleton copy in EDH. If you are building with the tribe, then it might be something to consider as it could feed into the overall synergy.

Ulamog’s Crusher

This guy is one of the “little” Eldrazi. Her (who knows right?) impact might be far less than some of the other giants. At a common slot, you are not really getting the typical x-for-1 nature like the rest of the tribe. I don’t see this guy getting many looks outside of the tribal theme decks. However, it may contribute in some way to pauper EDH decks. She is an 8/8 and makes a player sacrifice two permanents with each attack. I might not be pimping this one in my decks but I am sure it could find a place in variant formats.

Pathrazer of Ulamog

This guy rounds out the uncommon members of the tribe. For the investment of 3 more colorless mana you pick up an additional Annihilator point over the common Ulamog’s Crusher. The Pathrazer costs 11. If you have a choice, you might want to ignore these underlings and just play Ulamog! Ulamog is the same cost and seems to offer so much more. If you are seeking diversity or need this 9/9, you can pick up a sort of evasion with the “3 creature or more must block” ability. That might turn out to be pretty great. Suit this guy up with a Basilisk Collar or Loxodon Warhammer and he is likely going to cause some problems. I like the concept, but think that EDH players might want to chase some of the Mythic Eldrazi if they only have a spot open for 1 or 2 fatties.

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

Speaking of fatties…Kozilek is one of the few Legendary Eldrazi that offers more power and toughness than the total investment of your colorless mana. For a casting cost of 10 you are enjoy a body that will shame Darksteel Colossus. Pretty sweet. I like the fact that this card is at least a 4-for-1. This is what you get when a Stroke of Genius, a Darksteel Colossus, and a Eldrazi have on offspring from their devil’s three-way! He packs the Annihilator 4, draws 4 and will be a Mythic that you will want to play in foil!. I imagine he was spoiled first for very good reason. This guy will find a perfect place in many EDH decks.

Emrakul, the Aoens Torn

So this guy has not been officially spoiled, but this picture confirms that this giant Eldrazi mythic will be unleashed from his dark prison with the next set’s release. It is rumored that this card will be the prerelease foil. That is a great thing for EDH players. We will get foil copies of the mythic for a reasonable price! This seems like a great gift from Wizard’s of the Coast to the EDH community. So far this guy is the biggest and baddest of them all. He offers a 15/15 frame with a built in Time Warp, Annihilator 6, flying, and protection from the colorless spells that would intend to end his reign. This card narrow’s an opponents ability to remove his threat in many ways. He is uncounterable and will only be vulnerable to Jace’s bounce ability, and universal board wiping. He does cost 15, but the investment seems to promise quite a high reward! I will definitely be playing around with this guy.

A Bonus Card and Other EDH Strategies Impacted by the Eldrazi

Realms Uncharted

I did not really want to get into preview cards outside of the Eldrazi tribe, but this one was just too amazing to pass up. It seems like one of the best prospects for EDH in a very long time. The picture is a tribute to one of the most amazing EDH cards of all time: Gifts Ungiven. This card seems well positioned to become a green staple in the form. It has all kinds of synergy with Life from the Loam and will offer players a chance to search out specific land cards. I like its interactions with Knight of the Reliquary, Crucible of Worlds, and generally strategies that wish to play lands. This card will be played in Rofellos through 5-color builds. I would pick this one up early. It might get a bit pricey due to applications in constructed, but it will be worth it.

Advancing Strategies

There are any number of older cards and strategies that might excel if the Eldrazi see a large amount of play in EDH. I could imagine playing red cards like Anger that offer haste to newly cast creatures being very strong. Instant Annihilator seems busted. Whether you are playing Into War’s Web or packing Lightning Greaves, it seems like giving these guys a quick attack strategy would be game breaking.

Blue cards that steal creatures just got better. I would always tend to Bribery the guy playing Emrakul. How about you? Mind Control and other card might also work. Swaying the loyalty of these giants might pay dividends.

The necessity and importance of non-targeted removal has always been huge in EDH; however, with the invasion of the Eldrazi, this will be paramount. As the Eldrazi make it into more and more decks, playgroups will have to adjust by increasing the amount of answers.

To conclude we will close with a strategy to use against the Eldrazi. As players attempt to equip Power Artifact on a monolith to prematurely power out these gods of war, EDH players should consider returning the monsters to the prisons from which they awoke. Cards that restrict attacking a given player or even attacking at all might be a significant way to suppress the new threat found in EDH. I am partial to cards like Meek Stone or Ensaring Bridge. I typically don’t love playing prison style cards, but I do not like being on the business end of Annihilator 6 either. It is clear that as the Eldrazi rise in popularity, the metagame will have to shift to account for their potential invasion.