2010)

Everyone has been talking about how to deal with the Eldrazi. How do we kill them, and make sure they can't come back?! The guys at The Mana Pool came up with an interesting tactic. Play a Chaos Orb, then Dance of Many. Use a couch cushion as a token and wipe out everything ever from existence. Of course, you're only sending the Eldrazi home. The Blind Eternities... A place of madness and power, accessible through the Eye of Ugin.

What I want to cover here today is how to protect them from the puny mortals you'll be playing against. Of course, we'll have to talk mana generation before we can talk protection as primarily one wants to run a colorless mana acceleration. So we'll need ways of producing loads of colorless and with the recent releases, this is easier than ever. But first the numbers:

Cloudpost is an interesting card that allows you to produce exponentially increasing mana for every locus you have out in play; unfortunately no other locus has been printed. However, there is a land called Vesuva that makes itself a copy of target land when played. So now you have eight exponential colorless producers which can produce a WHOPPING 64 colorless if you can somehow get them all out, assuming you’re not running against land destruction. I'd suggest at least 4 each, up to a maximum of 4 each, which means... Put 4 of each in your deck. Seriously.

Another famous colorless producer is the "Urzatron," each land produces 1 mana each, unless you have at least one of each out, in which case you get 3 for Urza's Tower and 2 for Urza's Mine and Urza's Power Plant. I would suggest 3 or 4 each. Why not 4? I mean, they seem pretty powerful, right? But we'll want that room later, trust me.

Next we will want the Eldrazi Temple, which means 1 colorless natively, or 2 colorless to be applied to any Eldrazi spell or ability. This is the trade off for the reduced amounts of the Urzatron. This is insurance, and while Urzatron is great, if your opponent is running some kind of bounce or destroy land, you could go from 7 mana to 2 mana very quickly, deflating your buildup, and while the "Eightpost" above is your primary mana generation, you'll want these to supplement as we'll be running a little Eldrazi heavy.

That leaves 1 land left, and you'll notice, I've mentioned no colored land at all. The hows and whats of how you distribute your lands is, as it always was, up to you. But there will be some colored mana here, as no colorless card, artifact or otherwise, will be able to protect ALL your permanents reliably. For this last land, I recommend the Eye of Ugin. Yes, that now very prized card in every cracking of boosters for Worldwake (Just in case you wanted to run out to grab a few right now.). This makes all Eldrazi spells or abilities cost 2 less to play. It's a mythic rare, and quite expensive in the market today.

But hey, why not just shove in another tower for an extra 3 mana. I know, it’s unfair. But like I said, Urzatron is vulnerable, and you'll want versatility out on the field.

To the protection. Anyone running Eldrazi, colored or otherwise is going to have 4 Not Of This Worlds in their deck. It’s a counterspell for spells played on creatures. And while grossly expensive, it is free for creatures that have power 7 and up. Primo, right? And those are all of the instants we will have. No, I'm not kidding. We're going to protect in a different way here.

But to get those Eldrazi out quick we are going to have to get those lands out quick, and for this there’s a great colorless Artifact Construct (It may say just construct, this was a mistake, it was fixed in the rulings) for this, Walking Atlas. Tap to put a land into play, and it’s a 1/1 for 2 colorless. That's great, and to speed it up we'll need a quick way to do that, which is why I suggest Lightning Greaves, which is an equipment that costs 2 colorless and equips for 0. Lets say you're on turn three with 3 Cloudposts out, only 2 untapped, but with six mana, and assuming you played the Greaves last turn, you can play two or three Walking Atlases and tap both to throw out that much land. Which takes us to the next part, how are we going to get that land into our hands? How, I beg you? Well, there was always the Tolaria West in the past that allowed you to tutor for nonbasic lands, but in Zendikar there’s a new way - Expedition Map. Cast for 2 colorless, pay 1, tap, and sacrifice to tutor for that fourth Cloudpost or Vesuva. And with the dismal probability of drawing the Eye of Ugin, this is a great way to get that out too if have your lands protected, which we'll get to next.

To protect your land, there’s another great card from Worldwake called Terra Eternal, for a white and 2 colorless. All lands are now indestructible. Great for you, way bad for your enemies as indestructible permanents can still be sacrificed. Thank you annihilator! But wait, white?

Yea, white. And green too! I swear, the way you look at me sometimes. One of the worst ways you can lose with the Eldrazi, apart from not having your land out fast enough to defend (or your spawns if that's how you are accelerating.), is to be done in by fliers! We'll also want Spidersilk Armor out too for green and 2 colorless, which gives all your creatures +0/+1 and reach. It's an older card and as a result this deck will be only 1.5 compatible, but there are great new cards that offer protection as well, Ornithopters for one. If you are running colors, Pilgrim's Eye allows you to tutor for a basic land but it's a 1/1 for 3, Spidersilk Net for 0 and equip for 2 colorless will protect you from one flyer which is cheap and effective, Kitesail grants your creature +1/+0 and flying for 2 and 2 colorless to equip, and Arachnoid for 6 colorless for a 2/6 with reach. So there are options.

As for how we'll get that colored mana, we'll want Gold and Copper Myrs, 1/1's for 2 that tap for white and green mana respectively, and with the Greaves, you'll get that colored mana fast. Additionally, we'll want Prophetic Prism, an artifact that costs 2 and fixes one mana to any color. You even get to draw a card when you play it which partially makes up for the space it takes up. Six mana fixers in a deck is a good rule of thumb for any multicolor deck, so 2 Gold Myrs, 2 Copper Myrs, and 2 Prophetic Prisms is a good arrangement. Now, I've mentioned ways to protect your lands, but not your adorable, terrible Eldrazi, which is why I'll now mention the enchantment called Steely Resolve. It's a card from Onslaught that's somewhat hard to find these days; cast it for green and 1 (yes one!) colorless and call out the word "Eldrazi Creatures" at the top of your lungs and your Eldrazi gain shroud. So now you have your Eldrazi protected and your lands immune from destruction. But you're likely going to take damage from whomever you're playing against unless you've been somehow getting your Eldrazi out fast (which you should be able to), which is why I would suggest a green card called Living Destiny. For a green and 3 colorless, you reveal Emrakul, The Aeons Torn (or any of the Eldrazi you are likely to have in your hand) as you cast it, and you gain that card’s converted mana cost in life. Yea, I told you to trust me. One can also use a Jaddi Lifestrider for a quick blocker at a 2/8 for green and 4 colorless, and when it comes into play you can tap any number of creatures you control, including all those Spawn tokens you may have if you aren't running this style, which you can then sacrifice to play a bigger untapped creature. So you'll recover if you're lagging.

This would be a little vulnerable to discard, but you can run Ivory Mask for 2 white and 2 colorless, and give yourself shroud. I would suggest this as a sideboard card as you'll need two white to cast, but you'll have the kind of mana fixing you'll need to play it if you run it right (And it is also a little hard to find.).

These colored cards are your potential sideboarding cards, as even I would be hard pressed to get rid of any Eldrazi to make room. Except for Emrakul, Ulamog, and Kozilek, I wouldn't run just one of any card in this deck. But as for the Eldrazi spread, this deck style makes little use for the Eldrazi spawn except for the use of the Spawnsire of Ulamog with his ability (Which I might add will only cost 2 colorless if you have the Eye of Ugin out. Amazing mana generation!) which will be useful to add blockers, and his second ability to cast all of the Hands of Emrakul you don't have in your deck without paying their mana cost... As well as one of those two other Emrakuls you have in your deck box.

Just a few side notes, as you'll be playing the Eldrazi faster than normal, I'd recommend some It That Betrays so you can grab those annihilated cards that you'll be getting from an All Is Dust. An amazing card that forces all opponents to sacrifice their colored permanents (keep in mind, lands are not colored - cards are colored by their mana cost and lands have none). Keep an eye out for the Tajuru Preserver in green decks that nullify your annihilator abilities (still there’s a 12/12 coming your way that's indestructible). You may want to run some Artisans of Kozilek if you lost some mana producing creatures earlier. Pathrazer of Ulamog is another Eldrazi worth keeping around for his 9/9 Annihilator 3 assets. I'm sure there are other ways to protect you from damage as well while you bolster your power base. For instance you can fix for blue (with the Prophetic Prism or a Silver Myr) and 2 colorless to play a Guard Gomozoa and enchant it with Pariah for another white and 2 colorless, you can then play Aspect of the Mongoose or Canopy Cover on it to give it shroud, or if you are strapped for colored mana, play a Cloak and Dagger for 2 colorless and attach for 3 colorless to give it +2/+0 and shroud. Keep in mind that Lifelink stops working for your opponent if you use the Pariah/Guard Gomazoa/Shroud combo. Or if you feel simple and want to reduce the space these various cards take up, play a Steel Wall for 1 colorless for a 0/4 defender.

Naturally there are going to be vulnerabilities anywhere, for instance, a blue counterspell deck against... anything! But I hope to have shown you a few ways to protect yourself a little better from those who would revolt against the rightful rule of the Eldrazi.

I just want to ask that, if you find something that works better, please let me know! And lastly I'll add the deck layout I suggest for a fortified Eldrazi deck:

Lands
4 Cloudpost
4 Vesuva
3 Urza's Power Plant
3 Urza's Mine
3 Urza's Tower
2 Eldrazi Temple
1 Eye of Ugin

Eldrazi Spells
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, The Infinite Gyre
1 Emrakul, The Aeons Torn
2 Artisan of Kozilek
2 Spawnsire of Ulamog
2 Pathrazer of Ulamog
2 It That Betrays
2 All Is Dust
4 Not Of This World

Artifacts
2 Copper Myr
2 Gold Myr
3 Walking Atlas
4 Expedition Map
2 Lightning Greaves
2 Prophetic Prism

Colored Spells
2 Terra Eternal
2 Spidersilk Armor
2 Living Destiny
2 Steely Resolve

Sideboard
2 Eldrazi Temple
1 Urza's Tower
1 Urza's Mine
1 Urza's Powerplant
2 Guard Gomazoa
2 Pariah
2 Silver Myr
2 Steel Wall
2 Cloak and Dagger OR Canopy Cover

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