# All Hail Our New Eldrazi Overlords **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 7, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383 "2016-02-07T03:56:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/81 "2016-02-25T21:45:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The ability that referenced the others was only on the Helm, which was the last one printed. So there was never a card there that referenced a nonexistent card. > > There is, however, a Future Sight card that works with creatures of type “rigger”, a type which doesn’t exist other than changelings and Mistform Ultimus. And of course Tarmogoyf references card type “planeswalker” which didn’t exist at the time… and at the time it wasn’t immediately apparent that it was going to exist, as opposed to just being a tease like “rigger”. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/82 "2016-02-26T03:18:39Z")
Some more data: per [MtGTop8.com](http://mtgtop8.com/archetype?a=214&meta=54&f=MO), of the 202 decks that Top 8’d Modern events in the last two weeks (both Magic Online and paper), 40% were Eldrazi. Affinity is in second place, at 7%. Eldrazi has thus passed the metagame dominance of Caw Blade, circa [2011](http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/print.asp?ID=9737), which captured a piddling 33% of the metagame. Of course, that was a Standard metagame, which always has fewer decks than Modern due to the smaller card pool. I was unable to find metagame numbers for circa-2004 Ravager Affinity, which might rival the Eldrazi dominance, although, again, in Standard. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/83 "2016-02-26T14:37:48Z")
It’s almost a given that Eye of Ugin and/or Eldrazi Temple will get banned but not until the normal time frame. There has only been one emergency banning in the history of Magic (Memory Jar) and that was because it created turn 1 wins. Aaron Forsythe said he regretted they had even done the one because it created the hint of a precedent for something they never plan to do again. ---
**Author:** ![Reyemile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/84 "2016-02-26T15:01:25Z")
GP Detroit is going to be a wasteland (even moreso than normal for Detroit!) ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/85 "2016-02-29T01:19:22Z")
The Eldrazi have escaped from the Blind Eternities, rampaged through Modern, and now [begin their assault on Legacy.](http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/deckshow.php?&t%5BC1%5D=3&start_date=02/27/2016&end_date=02/28/2016&start=1&finish=32&event_ID=20&limit=50) At the Star City Open in Philly, Eldrazi decks were the most common Day 2 archetype (9 of 64), and 7 made the Top 32. Gerry Thompson took 2nd place with [this list](http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=99286); it has the same creature base as Modern Colorless Eldrazi, plus the Legacy Sol lands and mana taxing. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/86 "2016-02-29T19:45:28Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > I think your idea is even worse game design than what they actually did. Devoid is a parasitic keyword - it does nothing taken in a vacuum, and requires other mechanics to make it anything more than misplaced flavour text. If you need to explicitly exclude your Colourless Eldrazi keyword from interacting with Colourless Eldrazi mechanics, what’s the point? What they probably should have done instead is used the same model that Rise did, and make the cheaper Eldrazi colored, put Devoid on spells only and instead have the various colorless triggers trigger on “Eldrazi or Colorless”, a la Kamigawa’s “Spirit or Arcane” triggers. Slightly clunkier, but not terrible. As far as referencing a named card on another card, they do it occasionally, but it’s always a specific set of cards that work together. Putting some variant of “This card doesn’t work with card x” on dozens of creatures is incredibly awkward and I can’t imagine them ever doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Reyemile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/87 "2016-03-01T04:48:21Z")
Colorless Eldrazi was one of the most-played _legacy_ decks at the recent SCG Open. Yay! ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/88 "2016-03-07T02:20:03Z")
Blue-white Eldrazi decks take 2 of the 3 GP this weekend, and 5 of the 6 finalists. The one in my home town (Detroit) is won by a Melira deck that got a new toy recently in a guy that can put a +1/+1 counter on a creature when a creature comes into play, giving it another way to sacrifice Persist guys indefinitely besides Melira. It certainly would play Birthing Pod if it could, but Collected Company and Chord of Calling is apparently enough. Eternal Witness with Collected Company in particular seems brutal in terms of both keeping a board presence to not die and digging for your combo. It interestingly plays more mana ramp and defense than filling out with 4 copies of the combo creatures given all the digging it has to find them. Intrepid Hero in the sideboard is nice tech against Eldrazi too. [Wizard’s coverage of Detroit](http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gpdet16) ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/89 "2016-04-04T15:17:37Z")
[Eye of Ugin has been banned in Modern.]([http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/banned-and-restricted-announce](http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/banned-and-restricted-announce) ment-2016-04-04) As a Tron player (though not exclusively), this is the worst possible outcome. The Tron deck, already a shaky Tier 2, gets robbed of the late-game inevitability that made it a favorite against control. Now, it’s a dog against aggro and control, and a moderate favorite over midrange. Barring a big meta shift toward midrange, it’s unplayable. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/90 "2016-04-04T19:08:36Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > [Eye of Ugin has been banned in Modern.]([http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/banned-and-restricted-announce](http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/banned-and-restricted-announce) ment-2016-04-04) > > As a Tron player (though not exclusively), this is the worst possible outcome. The Tron deck, already a shaky Tier 2, gets robbed of the late-game inevitability that made it a favorite against control. But quite predictable. I’m not even convinced that the splash damage is that bad (although I sympathize with having one of your favorite decks get nerfed sucks). There aren’t really any traditional control decks in Modern. Maybe removing the uncounterable late-game inevitability land will give them a chance? ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/91 "2016-04-04T20:23:40Z")
Ancestral Vision and Sword of the Meek got unbanned, so Wizards is definitely making a push to make blue/x control decks a bigger part of the format. That’s bad news for 3 of the decks I play (G/r Tron, Kiki-Chord, Living End), but things are skewed way too heavily toward aggro at the moment, so I’m ok with some new blood. If Tron got some better anti-aggro tools, things would round into a nice shape. If not, I can build a U/B or U/B/W Tezzerator deck with Thopter/Sword, and play around with that. Either way, it feels like a holiday: no more T1 Mimic + Mimic into T2 Thought-Knot unbeatable nut draws! Huzzah! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/92 "2016-04-04T22:27:30Z")
It took me a while to figure out how that combo worked, until I realized it was just as simple as having three 4/4s in play on turn 2. I was looking for ways to infinitely recur the Thought-Knot’s ability, or something. I guess you use an Eldrazi Temple land-drop on turn 2 to cast the Thought-Knot? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/93 "2016-04-04T22:55:30Z")
[Deleted.] ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/94 "2016-04-05T01:12:46Z")
I was a little miffed at the slams on Extended they put in the daily post. I liked and miss Extended. For me, Standard’s card pool is too small; Modern’s is too big. Like Goldilocks, Extended was just right (especially after they updated it to be the last four years and rotate yearly). ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383/95 "2016-04-05T13:23:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It took me a while to figure out how that combo worked, until I realized it was just as simple as having three 4/4s in play on turn 2. I was looking for ways to infinitely recur the Thought-Knot’s ability, or something. I guess you use an Eldrazi Temple land-drop on turn 2 to cast the Thought-Knot? The Eldrazi deck’s ability to both hit incredibly hard incredibly quickly, _and_ pack enough disruption and inevitability to play a long game, is what made it so broken. Turn 1 Eye into turn 2 Temple was the ideal start. The Eldrazi decks also starting running Eldrazi Displacer, which, among other things, let them use Thought-Knot’s ability multiple times per turn, if there were multiple things they needed to strip from your hand; hitting you in your draw step to take your best non-instant was a popular choice. It also let them beat Ensnaring Bridge by forcing the opponent to draw cards; once they drew a few lands, the Bridge stops working and they can’t empty their hand again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-hail-our-new-eldrazi-overlords/745383.md?page=4)