It's one thing to go against the grain when you're working on your own.

It's another thing when you're working with the literal best players in the world.

However, despite preparing in a testing house with over half of the top 10 Pro Magic players of all time, I decided to play a deck that nobody on the team played.

This is my story.

Time Stamps:

03:02 - Match 1

26:38 - Match 2

Gruul Eldrazi | Modern | Jim Davis, 104th Place Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3

• Creatures (13)
• 1 Ulamog, the Defiler
• 4 Devourer of Destiny
• 4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 4 Sowing Mycospawn

• Instants (8)
• 4 Kozilek's Command
• 4 Through the Breach

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 All Is Dust
• 4 Ancient Stirrings

• Artifacts (9)
• 1 Talisman of Resilience
• 4 Talisman of Impulse
• 4 The One Ring

• Lands (22)
• 2 Forest
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Gemstone Caverns
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 2 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 3 Karplusan Forest
• 4 Eldrazi Temple
• 4 Grove of the Burnwillows
• 4 Ugin's Labyrinth

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 World Breaker
• 2 Thought-Knot Seer
• 2 Soulless Jailer
• 3 Dismember
• 2 Trinisphere
• 2 The Stone Brain
• 1 Bojuka Bog

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I talked a good bit about it last week when I went over my whole Pro Tour, but the long and short of it is that there were a lot of good Eldrazi cards printed in Modern Horizons 3.

Kozilek's Command, especially in conjunction with Eldrazi Temple, is an absolute banger, providing a very nimble and flexible card to an archetype typically known for blunt force, and is also very good at assembling the Through the Breach combo (often making spawn tokens to get the mana right back after you search for the key card). Add on the Eldrazi Temple redundancy of Ugin's Labyrinth and the smoothing of Devourer of Destiny and you're in a great spot.

This deck can play a normal Eldrazi ramp sort of game and wreck people with All Is Dust and friends, or it can just jam Through the Breach on turn three and let Emrakul, the Aeons Torn sort em out, perfect against Blood Moon and bad matchups.

However, the big innovation here was courtesy of friend and former teammate Andrew Jessup, who replaced the antiquated Thought-Knot Seers with the new and awesome Sowing Mycospawn. More Eldrazi Temples is the name of the game, and kicking it on turn three or four is an awesome backup plan and superb in slower matchups. Throw in a few utility lands and you've got a winner.

This deck plays out awesome and is a huge winner if we see an emergency ban on Nadu, Winged Wisdom and/or Grief sometime soon, but still a contender if we don't as I went 6-4 with it at the Pro Tour and I think I ran a little below average.

Lands that tap for two are great!