Eli Kassis is developing a reputation as something of a brewer. Eli is a great player, which is likely the reason he was able to make Top 8 in the largest
Legacy Open ever, but that doesn’t mean his deck doesn’t have legs in the format. His rationale of playing the deck “to troll America” is likely not the
entire story.
The deck takes the creatures with built-in card advantage from Shardless BUG and turns them into lethal killing machines, at least when Natural Order for
Craterhoof Behemoth happens. In the meantime, he’s doing his thing, disrupting his opponents a little, while also drawing some cards. Over time, he will
reach a position that will be difficult to lose from.
Since that doesn’t sound much different from Shardless BUG, what sets Eli’s deck apart? First of all, it has Noble Hierarch in addition to Deathrite
Shaman, making the mana denial aspect from Delver decks less of an issue. Secondly, Natural Order is a game breaker in a lot of matchups. Against combo,
Shardless BUG might be able to disrupt them a little bit, but being able to finish them before they assemble their combo can be tricky. Natural Order is
often a one-shot kill card.
Because of the large differences in playstyle, I wouldn’t compare Eli’s deck side-by-side to Shardless BUG. They have similar cards, but ultimately try to
accomplish different things. If you’ve got some BUG cards plus Natural Orders lying around, you should give it a try!
Creatures (23)
- 2 Vendilion Clique
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 1 Progenitus
- 1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
- 2 Scavenging Ooze
- 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
- 4 Baleful Strix
- 4 Shardless Agent
- 4 Deathrite Shaman
Lands (21)
Spells (16)
