The Deep End of the Pool – The Reality of an Eldrazi Endgame

Tonight I spent some time testing the UW control list from the previous post and learned the following:

The slowest, longest long-game axis of the Standard format will not be defined by manlands crashing through on empty boards after control has been established, but by this 6-8 card package: 4 Eldrazi Temple, 1 Eye of Ugin, 1 Ulamog/Kozilek/Emrakul. It’s possible that an extra Eye become necessary as the format adopts the package. It’s possible that you want 2 of the Eldrazi overlords. It’s also probable that the 15-drop becomes the finisher of choice as Path to Exile returns to vogue as the best answer for this Eye powered onslaught.

Everflowing Chalice is especially valuable once you decide to leverage the Eldrazi mana package.

The decks I have tinkered with in the last two days, even in their crude forms, have plenty of tools to withstand the early rush of current aggro decks. One of the key tools is the pair of walls (Omens and Battlements) which fill early- and late-game roles so ably. If you are battling against these things with Hellspark Elementals, try not to cry on the outside. But also remember to Bolt before damage, so you can trample over for 2. You’re only losing a point (from the Bolt) in the exchange. You’re Hellspark has been completely soaked, but Sprouting Thrinax has been doing that work for a while, so I expect you to expect that kind of value out of your elemental.

Spending 10, 11, or 15 mana to draw out your opponent’s Essence Scatter seems like a terrible deal; and it is, if your opponent is also in the know, and spends his 7 left over to tutor up his own behemoth which you are too tapped out to answer before it draws 4 cards, vindicates your Jace/Temple/cetera, or takes an extra turn and starts eating your board and your life in huge un-Pathable chunks. If your opponent is stuck with the old “tap out” standbys. There’s not much he can threaten you with that can’t be dealt with by Wrath/Path/”The New Disk”/Wall of Denial. And then you tutor up your singleton Game Changer, the one he just countered, again. Inevitability.

For demonstration purposes only: a 2-counter Chalice on turn 5 (turn 4 if you cast a one-shot earlier) with blue mana still up to Flash Freeze a Blightning or Maelstrom Pulse; an Eye on turn 6 with a Temple in play already and now you’re hardcasting Kozilek. Even if they Path him…more like, only if they Path him. And one- or two-colored decks give up almost nothing for this opportunity.

I don’t see All is Dust being a format defining card. I think it’s nice to have as part of you’re Wrath package along with Day of Judgment and Martial Coup, but 7 mana is a lot for this type of effect (aka an effect that doesn’t rock your opponent back in his seat). It costs 5 with an Eye in play, which I thought was awesome (and it kinda is) until Evan pointed out that Eye doesn’t make mana itself. So you still can’t Dust ’em until turn 6 (or 5 with Chalice). Far from shabby, but not a 4-of format definer.

Having a general idea of what the deep side of the pool looks like, I’ll probably make my next deck an aggro one. See what it takes to survive headfirst dives into buckets of 0/4’s.