Salutations!
Thank you to everyone for helping with this deck, and I'm glad the community has enjoyed my little creation.
This had all started with me wanting to create a modern competitive deck. I prefer control strategies, and I'd been wanting to make a crushing lockout deck for a while.
I'm also fond of the artwork for Eldrazi, the feel has always fascinated me. With the new blue/black Eldrazi I decided it would be fun making a deck with Sire of Stagnation and
Fathom Feeder
. This fits in with my vorthos style of play, and I have always enjoyed making decks that break from the mold
Basic Strategy
To start I needed to decide how I wanted to capitalize on my two key Eldrazi. First lets define stagnation and fathom.
Stagnation: a failure to develop, progress, or advance
Fathom: to penetrate to the truth of; comprehend; understand
There are other ways to define those two words, but these were the two I focused on. I wanted to stifle my opponents, while at the same time revealing their entire strategy without compromising my own deck's tricks. The Eldrazi are incomprehensible, yet they are unphased by anything their prey does to harm them. I wanted a deck that would portray this.
Card Breakdown
Fathom Feeder
- A small, but useful little buddy. Being a 1/1 with deathtouch makes it a powerful defender who can also set up a graveyard for Extirpate and Surgical Extraction when it blocks. It can ingest if the opponent has no defenders, and late game once my hand begins to get small it can refuel me while simultaneously milling opponents.
Sire of Stagnation- The main bomb of this deck. This inclines my opponents to not play lands which can limit their playing options. If they do play a land they give me card advantage and mill themselves. This helps me establish my lock out conditions, while giving me card advantage to keep my opponents suppressed.
Wasteland Strangler
- Provides a colorless spot removal thanks to devoid that takes care of most aggro strategies pretty effectively.
Oblivion Sower- Late game ramp that mills opponents solidly. The second of my bombs, and the last of my Eldrazi. The extra mana earned by him can be spent on
Fathom Feeder
's mana abilty.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver- A decent mill engine that can allow me to use their creatures against them and distract them from my life total while I lock them out. If he ults, it gives me complete card advantage over my opponents.
Tormod's Crypt- I'm running just enough mill that I risk setting up a graveyard deck. This not only protects me from that, but I can insta-exile a graveyard right before playing Oblivion Sower providing a nice burst of mana.
Extirpate and Surgical Extraction- Split second is always good, especially considering that this locks out an entire playset of a card, which can be used to take out key cards for the opponents win con. Being to play this effect for no mana can also make a huge difference at the right moment.
Glimpse the Unthinkable- This is used to quickly take a massive look at what my opponent is running. From there I can figure out their general strategy very effectively helping with Extirpate, Surgical Extraction, and figuring out what to sideboard.
Nightveil Specter- A clever little mill creature, I can use him to play their cards, which depending on the situation I can then use that to remove it completely from their deck. Regardless helps ensure I get my land drop every turn.
Archive Trap- Some decks try to maintain consistency via tutors, and most decks utilize fetchlands in modern. This greatly punishes them for it, and makes it incredibly easy to mill them to death as well. Best part is when you manage to mill out what they were looking for in the first place.
Cyclonic Rift- This is a two mana bounce that isn't very color intensive and can target a wide variety of targets. Oh, and it can be a one sided field clear for five more mana that is guaranteed to leave them clear for my large Eldrazi to consume my opponent. Oh, and I can then combine this with Surgical Extraction or its kin to take care of the problem permanently. Very nice ace in the hole.
Sideboard
Dimir Charm- Admittedly each of its effects are situational. However, whenever it does become pertinent, it becomes very powerful making it perfect for sideboarding.
Perplex- Doubles as an insane counter and a tutor. Perplex is perfect against decks unwilling to give you the card advantage, and can trip players up when combined with Spell Pierce.
Spell Pierce- I had some dilemma on which low cost counter to run. I decided on this one due to the lock out nature of this deck making late game counters much less pertinent.
Trickbind- Can help delay the game just long enough to grant you a win. This can be especially important against combo decks whom you need to shut down until end of turn, especially if they were going for infinite.
Suggestions
This deck has progressed phenomenally. I love the feel of the deck, and despite its strong Vorthos theme it has shaped up well into a competitive deck. I don't claim its the best, but it holds up well against many modern decks, and I appreciate the help I've received in making this deck.
If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. I want to make this deck as good as possible while being true to its concept. Thanks for looking at my deck, and +1 if you enjoyed the deck.
