As most of you well know, the Eldrazi archetype took over Modern about a year ago due to the overwhelming power of its cards and its potential to go crazy. Now I am aware that having no Eye of Ugin makes this deck comparatively worse, but I have decided to take a different approach to revitalizing the Eldrazi shell than Bant Company. After spending a lot of time coming up with my own take on Thing in the Ice
Aggro, I stumbled upon a potential merge between these two archetypes. I thought that if I could find a way to ramp and consistently grab Eldrazi Temple with instants and sorceries then I would not only develop a strong ramp shell, but occasionally flip a Thing in the Ice
which I am dying to do.
Going with the ramp theme, I decided to add in only the strongest Eldrazi cards which I believe are: Thought-Knot Seer, Reality Smasher, and Elder Deep-Fiend. Now, a rather unconventional card which could become an all-star in this deck is Decimator of the Provinces as I can sacrifice large Eldrazi for an upgrade and swing in for lethal. The reason I have chosen only midrange-high end creatures is that Thing in the Ice
doesn't synergize well with certain types of aggro as it resets you by bouncing most of your board. Similarly, the best ramp shells in modern currently run Birds of Paradise and Noble Hierarch, but since these are both expensive and counteractive to my game plan, I don't run them (if you think otherwise, let me know). As a result, I decided to add Explore and
Search for Tomorrow
for straight ramp and Ancient Stirrings for finding creatures and lands. Note that Simic Growth Chambers work very well with these cards as I can grab them when they are good (less lands for more mana), and bottom them when they are not. Serum Visions helps smooth out draws and synergizes with Thing in the Ice
while Lightning Bolt stalls the board, gets in the last points of damage, and is an instant.
I considered adding Remand as a way to stall my opponent, but the problem is that all of my noncreature spells are sorceries, so if I am unable to counter, then I make no progress towards ramping. Sakura-Tribe Elder is a great option for this deck, but at the moment I am not too keen on it as it is a non-colorless creature which doesn't work well with Ancient Stirrings or Thing in the Ice
. Also, note that
Search for Tomorrow
gives me a great turn 1 play as it sets up for a huge spell on turn 3 and when I get to remove a counter if I go turn 1: suspend
Search for Tomorrow
, turn 2: Thing in the Ice
, turn 3: cast Searcch for Tomorrow.
As stated previously, Simic Growth Chamber and Eldrazi Temple add ramp. The fetches and shocks fix mana, so I can cast my spells, and the Aether Hub lets me cast a spell when I am missing the color, and adds colorless. The Sanctum of Ugins tutor for fatties, and the basics are there to grab with
Search for Tomorrow
and the fetchland.
Please leave your questions and comments below, and remember: don't break the ice. (This one: Thing in the Ice
)
