We’ve seen a myriad of takes on Hatebears in Modern over the last few years. Similarly, in recent months we’ve seen a handful of iterations on Eldrazi ranging from colorless to U/R to full-on Bant. This week, Stabilo asks this question: what happens if you mash these two strategies together? The result looks like a powerful, disruptive, and fast Modern deck that might be perfect for your next event:
W/R Eldrazi ? Modern | Stabilo, 5-0 Modern League
- Creatures (28)
- 2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
- 3 Matter Reshaper
- 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 4 Eldrazi Displacer
- 4 Leonin Arbiter
- 4 Reality Smasher
- 4 Simian Spirit Guide
- 4 Thought-Knot Seer
- Instants (3)
- 3 Dismember
- Artifacts (4)
- 4 Chalice of the Void
- Lands (25)
- 4 Plains
- 1 Blinkmoth Nexus
- 1 Eiganjo Castle
- 2 Battlefield Forge
- 3 Cavern of Souls
- 3 Gemstone Caverns
- 3 Horizon Canopy
- 4 Eldrazi Temple
- 4 Ghost Quarter
- Sideboard (15)
- 1 Celestial Purge
- 1 Declaration in Stone
- 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
- 1 Engineered Explosives
- 4 Path to Exile
- 3 Rest in Peace
- 2 Stony Silence
- 2 Worship
One of the biggest problems Eldrazi variants are trying to solve is what to do when you don’t have Eldrazi Temple. You can’t afford to just do nothing until you cast Thought-Knot Seer on turn four in a format like Modern, and there are a myriad of solutions to this problem. Some variants opt to play both Ancient Stirrings and Noble HIerarch to help increase the likelihood of an explosive draw. Other builds opted to play Eldrazi Skyspawner, Eldrazi Displacer, or Eldrazi Obligator to bridge the gap between the powerful high end and early disruption.
This deck takes a completely different approach of trying to increase the density of high-impact, disruptive creatures and permanents. This way your deck functions no matter which portions of your deck you draw. You can draw all cheap disruptive threats and accelerants and smash your opponent with Leonin Arbiters. You can draw accelerants and Eldrazi and win with early Thought-Knot Seers and Reality Smashers. You can win by drawing a mix of your creatures and curving all the way up to Reality Smasher.
One thing that this deck does, more so than any deck I’ve seen in Modern, is commit to the idea tempo is more important than cards. You’re playing a full four Simian Spirit Guides plus three Gemstone Caverns all in the hopes of exchanging cards for the ability to play a Leonin Arbiter or Chalice of the Void on your first turn.
If you’re looking for a fresh take on Hatebears with a little more ability to overpower the dearth of Fatal Pushes we’re seeing, then this seems like a stellar place to start. You’ve got lots of early disruption and pressure for the unfair decks in the format and Eldrazi to clean up against fair decks looking to play more attrition-oriented games.