We haven’t seen a ton of the Eldrazi menace in this new Standard format, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t on the fringes, looking for an opportunity to get back into the mix. This week, Matt Higgs takes another look at Eldrazi in this Standard, but not the Thought-Knot Seers and Reality Smashers you may be expecting. No, Matt is taking a look what what kind of Processing tricks are available in this Standard format.

Esper Processors - Kaladesh Standard | Matt Higgs

• Creatures (19)
• 4 Eternal Scourge
• 4 Spell Queller
• 3 Fathom Feeder
• 2 Ulamog's Nullifier
• 2 Vexing Scuttler
• 2 Wasteland Strangler
• 1 Distended Mindbender
• 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

• Spells (16)
• 4 Lost Legacy
• 3 Anticipate
• 3 Declaration in Stone
• 2 Anguished Unmaking
• 1 Descend upon the Sinful
• 1 Grasp of Darkness
• 1 Transgress the Mind
• 1 Unsubstantiate

• Lands (25)
• 3 Island
• 2 Plains
• 4 Swamp
• 4 Prairie Stream
• 4 Sunken Hollow
• 3 Concealed Courtyard
• 3 Shambling Vent
• 2 Choked Estuary

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Distended Mindbender
• 2 Reflector Mage
• 2 Wasteland Strangler
• 1 Anguished Unmaking
• 2 Negate
• 2 Summary Dismissal
• 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 2 Liliana, the Last Hope
• 2 Transgress the Mind

Buy This Deck

This deck is built around taking advantage of Lost Legacy. The marquis play is to cast it, targeting yourself, to exile your Eternal Scourges. This is a pseudo draw spell in matches that are sufficiently slow, giving you access to additional creatures you wouldn’t normally have available to you. However, you can also use it to dismantle decks that are particularly dependent on particular spells, such as Paradoxical Outcome or Emrakul, the Promised End. It’s also important to note that, after your Eternal Scourges have traded off, you can use Lost Legacy to exile them from your graveyard so that you can recast them. If the matchup is especially slow, you can even Declaration in Stone your own Eternal Scourges for value.

In addition to this kind of gameplay, you have Spell Queller and Fathom Feeder fueling additional Processor nonsense. Spell Queller in particular is a great way to fuel Wasteland Strangler and Ulamog's Nullifier triggers. Having the ability to turn Spell Queller into a straight-up counterspell with an efficient body attached is absolutely huge. In addition to these tricksy kinds of applications, both Spell Queller and Ulamog's Nullifier are reasonable flash creatures which can let you surprise your opponent with giant Emerge creatures.

Vexing Scuttler is the primary emerge creature in this deck, letting you rebuy critical removal spells, singletons, and Lost Legacy depending on the situation. It may be that this is less powerful than just Wretched Gryff or Elder Deep-Fiend, but the ability to keep your Lost Legacy engine going is certainly worth considering.

This deck is certainly clunkier than many of the strategies currently occupying the top echelon of the Standard metagame. However, if you’re expecting to play against primarily slow decks, the ability to have an almost unending stream of Eternal Scourges is certainly worth considering. If you’re interested in trying an esper deck that has control elements, but plays a little more proactively to the board, this seems like an exciting place to start!