Eldrazi decks, in their various archetypes, just crushed Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch beneath their sandled tentacles. 8% of the field took out 75% of the Top 8 and 50% of the Top 25 decks, an incredible showing. There have only been a few times a single archetype has been so dominant; Elves in Berlin and Caw-Blade in Paris are prime examples of a deck so completely overwhelming the competition.

While most are quick to point out the core problem with the deck—the fast mana available thanks to Eye of Ugin and Eldrazi Temple—there is a lot more going on with the deck that makes it such a problem.

A bit of theory first—the model below demonstrates the ways in which a deck can be built to win a game of Magic.

Some decks operate entirely at a single point of the access. Burn, for example, exists only on the speed axis, trying to kill the opponent as quickly as possible. Storm operates on the resource access, generally waiting until the last possible moment to kill an opponent by producing enough resources (in this case storm count), to instantly win the game.¹ Some decks, such as Control, operate on two axes. In control’s case, it attempts to disrupt the opponent while pulling ahead on resources. In the case of a tempo deck such as Fish, it has an aggressive approach backed up by Counterspells to disrupt the opponent.

On occasion, a deck is found that either wins on one axis so completely no other deck can compete. Elves in Berlin is an example of a single-axis deck; it could win on turn two very reliably, making it impossible for other decks to interact with it. Alternatively, Splinter Twin—and other combo decks like it—push the resource boundary, reliably creating an infinite number of resources on the spot, thereby ending the game immediately. Occasionally, a deck operates on two axes so well an opponent can’t keep up. Skullclamp–Affinity is such a deck, able to spew out its hand on turn one or two and then use Skullclamp and undercosted Thoughtcasts to continue to stay ahead on resources.

But sometimes, a deck can operate supremely on all three axes. One is Caw-Blade in Paris. In terms of speed, it could open on turn-two Stoneforge Mystic into Squadron Hawks and free Equipment to quickly kill an opponent. In terms of disruption, it had Mana Leak, Spell Pierce, Day of Judgment, Gideon Jura, and Jace, The Mind Sculptor to keep an opponent from achieving their goals. In terms of resources, it had Squadron Hawk, Stoneforge Mystic, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor to keep the resource flow coming, with Preordain and fetch land interactions to keep the resource flow consistent. Eventually, the two cards that were the problem, Stoneforge Mystic, which unfairly fueled speed and resources, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor, which unfairly fueled disruption and resources, were both banned.²

So where, on these axes, does Eldrazi lie?

Eldrazi on Speed

There have been a few ways decks have worked on the speed axis. The first is the “fair” way: to use resources that are as efficient as possible. Decks such as Burn and Zoo operate in this manner. A second way is also fair: to use resources that are so synergistic they quickly build upon those already spent. Tribal decks and the Modern Robots deck operate in this mana.

The Eldrazi decks are similar to Shop decks in that they abuse two lands to create an unfair mana advantage. The first, and less problematic, is Eldrazi Temple, which provides 2 mana on the first turn. Unlike Ancient Tomb, which deals 2 damage to the user when activated, Eldrazi Temple has no real downside in the deck. The second, more problematic card, is Eye of Ugin, which reduces the cost of colorless cards, rather than produces mana. In an almost colorless deck, this allows an Eldrazi player to utilize up to 12 mana on the first turn;³ and this is doing simply what the deck wants to do, with no downside, cost to set up, or card slots dedicated to cheat the mana system.

Worse still, drawing multiple Eye of Ugins aside, this effect is cumulative over time; adding an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to the board allows Eye of Ugin to tap for mana, providing access to 4 mana, plus the mana-cost reduction, on turn two.

This is a huge problem for Modern. Modern has no real access to fast mana (other than a couple of one-off outliers such as Simian Spirit Guide) and no real way to interact with decks that can abuse the mana system. The counterspells aren’t fast enough, nor is the hand disruption. The land disruption, in the form of Ghost Quarter, doesn’t help someone on the draw, and it can be a real issue on the play as well, if used early, when it matters. Removal may be an option—but casting Path to Exile on a creature and providing a Wastes to the Eldrazi player feels like a bad move.

This issue is compounded by the fact that the combination of broken mana and the colorless nature of the Eldrazi deck makes it is more impervious to mana-screw and mulligans, allowing it to keep a hand with one or two lands and still able to operate normally. Naturally, the deck is completely impervious to color-screw. The deck is also able to increase its threat density through colorless creature lands, such as Blinkmoth Nexus or Mutavault.

One last point is that Eldrazi Mimic allows the deck to run out one (or more) “virtual” 3/3s, 4/4s, or 5/5s on turn one. This ability to push the 2/1 to attack for 3 or more on turn two is well above the curve for most Modern decks and helps break the mana system.

Eldrazi on Resources

Eldrazi decks have a number of cards that can produce card advantage. The most obvious is Matter Reshaper, which replaces itself with a card as long as it hits the graveyard. Thought-Knot Seer provides temporary card advantage, though the opponent gains the card back once the Seer is dealt with.⁴

Endless One provides a hidden type of Resource Advantage, as it allows the Eldrazi player to maximise their mana use. Early in the game the Eldrazi player can run it out as a 2/2 or 3/3. Later, the Eldrazi player can sink all their mana into an 8/8, while the Zoo player is still top-decking 3/3s. This hidden type of resource advantage grants the deck the ability to stay relevant whatever stage of the game it is in.

Eye of Ugin is a repeat offender here. One of the fundamentals of keeping the deck-building system fair has been the lack of tutors. Tutors are generally acknowledged as unfair, as they take away randomness from the game while providing the player a guaranteed flow of resources. Eye of Ugin allows the Eldrazi deck to grind out the late game with constant tutoring for whatever creature matters.

Eldrazi on Disruption

Thought-Knot Seer is probably the biggest offender, able to come down turn one or two, protecting itself from removal along the way. The fact the stolen card is exiled is icing on the cake against combo decks and other synergy-based plans.

Dismember’s key problem is its ability to use life to cheat the mana system through Phyrexian mana. This allows the deck access to a consistent removal spell in a colorless deck for a single mana. When you don’t plan on the game going to turn five, the loss of 4 life is inconsequential.

Ghost Quarter has little downside in a colorless deck, and it can attack the opponent’s mana base with little repercussion, thanks to the decks overpowered mana base and the fact that many decks in Modern run two or fewer basic lands.

The two cards with passive disruption are Reality Smasher and Cavern of Souls. Reality Smasher forces the opponent to keep resources in reserve to deal with a huge creature that can come out of nowhere—or alternatively often requiring multiple creatures to block. Cavern of Souls disrupts blue decks by neutralizing their counterspells, which, for such a creature-based deck, is very important.

What It All Adds Up To

The Eldrazi resource advantage-and-disruption suite wouldn’t be so problematic if it weren’t for its mana base’s ability to provide such a fast start to deploying both. It would, in effect, simply become a bog-standard Midrange deck, hoping to generate just enough of everything to overwhelm its opponents.

The real warning shot is that the decks we saw at Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch were just the first real iteration of the competitive archetype. The deck has the ability to splash Ancient Stirrings to shore up some of its draws, or splash for counterspells to improve disruption. We haven’t yet seen decks take advantage of tutorable silver-bullets such as Wurmcoil Engine and Duplicant. We haven’t seen decks with transformational sideboards with Descendant's Path, Conduit of Ruin and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. We haven’t seen decks with access to raw card draw through Sea Gate Wreckage, though oddly enough it’s the Affinity decks that have taken up the card so far. Or more controlling Eldrazi decks that aim to win with Karn Liberated or Ugin, the Spirit Dragon.

The metagame is likely to shift around the Eldrazi menace. The difficulty is that the deck can easily retain its colorless core while splashing a color to compensate. And there are currently few tactics of facing off for 2/1s on turn one that become 4/4s or 5/5s the very next turn.

Broken mana has always been shut down in Modern up until now. When backed by such a consistent, resilient, powerful, and flexible package as the Eldrazi menace, it’s not too much to assume it will happen again—probably only a matter of when, not if.

¹ The argument here isn’t that a storm deck isn’t fast—it can be very fast. But being fast isn’t how a storm deck wins; it just happens that a storm deck, on occasion, can win quickly. Generally, a storm deck will win on the last possible turn it can do so to ensure it succeeds. Given all the time in the world, a storm deck will wait and sculpt the perfect scenario for success.

² If you’d like to join the world’s most boring discussion, tempt two pros into arguing what archetype Caw-Blade was.

³ In a theoretical hand of Eye of Ugin and six of any combination of Endless Ones and Eldrazi Mimic

⁴ If it’s dealt with in time . . . once the opponent’s removal has been exiled . . . You get my drift?

⁵ Spell Shrivel with an Eye of Ugin is a Mana Leak for a single , and Void Shatter becomes Counterspell. The key reason they’re not being played: Cavern of Souls with 1-mana Dismembers in the mirror.