Many people are worried the Modern format is broken, but I say this is the hottest time to revisit old ideas. In years past, I had so many brews that couldn't beat Splinter Twin and weren't right for the metagame. I thought that they were generally just bad ideas. Now, however, I think these ideas might be great. I've been going through my binder, picking out cards I love, and realizing they have greater value in the new modern landscape. In February, Chris Lansdell wrote a Top 10 list for beating the Eldrazi for this newsletter, and it inspired me to continue on that idea. He had some excellent picks, but I think a lot of them are sideboard cards. Here, I present my top 10 cards for beating Eldrazi that you can have in your main deck. Some of these may even allow you to brew completely new archetypes! #10 Worship We have seen this card in the sideboard to break the Eldrazi mirror, and quite frankly, there are a lot of Modern decks that would flat out lose to this card game 1. I haven't seen a brew based on Worship, but maybe the time has come! #9 Supreme Verdict The Eldrazi deck, simply put, is a basic but efficient stompy deck. It doesn't have card advantage, it's light on interaction, and it wants to deploy multiple creatures to the board. Sweepers have not been popular in Modern, but I think it's time for a comeback. Living End also fits this idea. #8 Elspeth, Sun's Champion We have seen a few people play this card as a one-of in various U/W/x control decks. Elspeth is expensive, but I am not sure there is a better card to cast against Eldrazi. Elspeth can answer their threats, build a board, and flat out kill them on her own. #7 Æther Vial This one goes hand-in-hand with No. 6. If you can have access to the same amount of mana as the Eldrazi menace, you're likely to have access to equally powerful plays. I wanted to highlight Æther Vial separately because it can be played in more diverse ways than the green creature-based acceleration like the next one up. #6 Noble Hierarch Much of Eldrazi's power lies in the fact that they get ahead on mana. Without this advantage, their cards aren't actually that powerful. Leatherback Baloth and Polukranos aren't great Modern cards, but if you play an accelerator on turn 1 they can beat a turn 2 Thought-Knot Seer and turn 3 Reality Smasher. Splinter Twin was extremely oppressive for anyone who wanted to play Noble Hierarch, Birds of Paradise, and Elvish Mystic, but now is the perfect time to sleeve those up. #5 Master of the Pearl Trident In addition to creatures that have an engine component, you can look to cards that have tribal synergies. We've seen Merfolk and Elves keep pace and then overpower their Eldrazi opponents, but it could be time look at other tribes as well. What would Eldrazi do if you got a Captivating Vampire online? #4 Kor Spiritdancer I don't just want to highlight Bogles, but any deck that has an engine component is likely to surpass the power of Eldrazi. If they don't kill your creatures, punish them for it. Play the creatures that can do the most powerful things if left alive. Think of cards like Goblin Electromancer, Fauna Shaman, and Archangel of Thune. #3 Kiki Jiki Mirror Breaker Once again, the lack of removal is something on which you can capitalize. Jeff Hoogland has been tearing up Modern with his Kiki-Chord deck, and any kind of creature-based combo is something that should be revisited. This goes for Melira, Sylvok Outcast, and Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, but there are some other forgotten combos if you look hard enough. #2 Baneslayer Angel The Eldrazi deck is light on removal so there are certain cards through which they simply cannot attack. Baneslayer is my favorite to lock up the ground. It has the advantage of evasion and is nearly impossible to race. Glissa, the Traitor also locks the ground up quite nicely, and has done some sweet shenanigans in the past with cards like Ratchet Bomb. #1 Knight Of The Reliquary Often a game will come down to who has the biggest creature. Knight of the Reliquary not only has the potential to keep pace with Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher, but while it's playing defense you can use it to find cards like Tectonic Edge and Gavony Township with which you can attack their mana and trump their threats. — Andrew Boswell @KaolinTiger |
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