Eldrazi decks in Modern come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. While some players opt to use a ramp-heavy version with Utopia Sprawl, others prefer a more assertive shell with Eldrazi Linebreaker in the mix.
One of the most unique Eldrazi decks we’ve seen, though, is a mono-blue variant with a taking turns theme. Following an undefeated showing in a Magic Online Modern League, we felt the deck deserved to be highlighted.
Taking Turns Theme
The “taking turns” strategy is a classic deck style that revolves around gaining an advantage by repeatedly taking extra turns. Common ways to pull ahead when casting extra turn spells include activating Planeswalkers over and over or getting a bunch of attacks in a row.
Modern taking turns decks of old even used to play Howling Mine effects to make it easier to churn through your library. These cards may be symmetrical, but if you keep taking extra turns, you get to leverage the card advantage more.
Howling Mine is a bit too underpowered by today’s standards, though, so this deck takes advantage of the extra turn spells by going the Planeswalker route. Tamiyo, Insuisitive Student is an excellent turn one play that pairs perfectly with extra turn spells once you are able to transform the potent Wizard. After all, getting to rebuy Time Warp with Tamiyo’s -3 ability keeps the extra turns flowing.
In addition to Tamiyo, you’ll also find a full playset of Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Jace isn’t the powerhouse it used to be in a world of power creep, but here, it serves an important purpose. Jace’s 0 ability obviously gains you card advantage over time, which is powerful when you’re taking multiple turns in a row.
On top of that, though, Jace lets you put copies of Temporal Mastery on top of your deck to set up Miracle. Between Jace and Brainsurge, building your own Time Walk isn’t too difficult. If you don’t have Temporal Mastery lined up, using Lorien Revealed to shuffle away cards you don’t want that you put back with Jace or Brainsurge is a nice option to have.
Notably, Temporal Mastery does exile itself when it resolves, so you can’t keep buying it back with Tamiyo. Time Warp, on the other hand, does work well with Tamiyo. Just keep this in mind if you’re in the position where you’re looking to take a bunch of turns in succession.
Eldrazi Package
As cool as the taking turns theme is, it is rather slow to set up. You don’t have much in the way of removal in mono-blue, so getting to the point where you’re casting Jace and Time Warp takes some work. Fortunately, the Eldrazi package actually helps a lot with this cause.
This is, in large part, due to the presence of Ugin’s Labyrinth. Devourer of Destiny and Nulldrifter are both cards you can exile to Ugin’s Labyrinth to unlock your “Sol Land”. This deck is very mana hungry, and Ugin’s Labyrinth ensures you can play your cards ahead of schedule.
Once you factor in the six blue Talismans in total, some of your draws will be pretty explosive. Casting Jace on turn two following Ugin’s Labyrinth and Talisman on turn one is a very strong line of play.
Going down the Eldrazi route allows you to make full use of Kozilek’s Command, too. Eldrazi Temple makes an appearance, making it more likely you’ll cast Kozilek’s Command for X=2 on turn two.
Kozilek’s Command both gives you some much-needed removal in mono-blue and ramps you towards your beefy seven-drops. Without Ugin’s Labyrinth and Kozilek’s Command, this deck would simply be too slow to compete.
Far From Perfect
Ultimately, as cool as this strategy is, it’s still far from being a super competitive option in Modern. The lack of board-impacting plays in the deck combined with the speed of many of the top decks in the format makes it tough for taking turns Eldrazi to put up excellent results.
Boros Energy is still hugely popular. Outside of Kozilek’s Command and a couple sideboard options, you’re cold to a turn one Ocelot Pride. Flipping Tamiyo gives you some hope via its +2 ability, but that assumes you can transform it before it dies to Galvanic Discharge.
The spell-based combo decks are also a major area of concern. You don’t do a great job applying pressure, and you don’t have much in the way of counter magic. Ruby Storm is capable of winning games in a heartbeat. It’s a bit surprising to not see any copies of Force of Negation in this decklist. There are plenty of expensive blue cards to pitch, including Lorien Revealed.
The upside that Ugin’s Labyrinth provides still gives this deck a chance to spike events, nonetheless. Taking turns is a fun archetype at the very least, and the Eldrazi support adds a cool new dynamic. If you’re looking for something different to jam at FNM, this deck is a treat.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage!