Eldritch Moon Review: Green, White, Blue

We’ve got an absurd amount of brewing to do, so let’s put the pedal to the metal.

How do you feel about Five-Color Eldrazi Combo?

You think this is a game? We’re not pulling any punches.

We? Also, who exactly are you imagining doubting that you’ve got an absurd amount of brewing to do?

I can’t fault you for being skeptical. Here, just check the list. Then holler at a playa when you seem ’em in the streets…

Coax from the Blind Eternities is not the most versatile Wish ever printed, but I do appreciate that it can actually retrieve cards from exile, not just our sideboard.

Coax from the Blind Eternities isn’t just another Sarkhan’s Triumph?

There were nowhere near as many good Dragons as there are Eldrazi, none of them were low-cost, and there certainly wasn’t a built-in instant-win combo if you assembled the right mix.

Get these three Eldrazi onto the battlefield at the same time and you can pay three to blink Brood Monitor and get three new Eldrazi Scions. Meanwhile, Flayer Drone does as much damage as you want.

Zulaport Cutthroat gives us more redundancy for the combo and is just a quality card. That we have so many ways to get paid from the loop means we can focus our tutors on finding Eldrazi Displacer and Brood Monitor.

I haven’t included any copies, but Smothering Abomination is another option for getting paid from the loop. We’ve got other ways to get paid, though, I’d rather focus on keeping the curve down.

With Eldrazi across all five colors (that are no colors, just ask them), Corrupted Crossroads is an invaluable part of the manabase. Remember, it can be used to cast Kozilek’s Return and Transgress the Mind, too.

One of the best of the cards in the set. I wanted to play more Elder Deep-Fiends, particularly since it can help force the combo through by tapping someone down at a key moment. The problem is that we’re just really short of good creatures to sacrifice. If we restructured the early-game a little to emphasize Matter Reshaper, Catacomb Sifter, and Foul Emissary, we could definitely make an Elder Deep-Fiend-heavy version work. That they all help us dig makes me think that’s the direction we should be looking to take the deck next.

I would be surprised if we’ve really got room in our sideboard for Decimator of the Provinces; Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger; and Void Winnower. That said, it’d be nice to try them all, and I’d like to think we could fit at least two. It’s always tricky constructing Wish-sideboards, since it is such a different kind of opportunity cost equation. Everyone starts with too many targets in their sideboard, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This way, we get more experience and can trim the targets we never get.

It’s possible we want From Beyond for more Tutoring, but I think we’re probably all set in slow, expensive ways to do big things.

I want to find a home for Cryptolith Fragment, but this is probably not it. We’ve just got too much to do on turn 3.

Terrarion is really not that bad of a straight-up fixer, particularly if you want to set up delirium. It’s not ideal, since you do have to wait a full turn to cycle it, but it definitely helps smooth out the mana quite a bit. If we ended up caring more about colorless spells with something like Kozilek’s Sentinel, Terrarion provides a tiny bit of extra value!

While delirium is Terrarion’s primary plan, it is an attractive option for decks built around Emrakul, the Promised End. It’s one thing to get four types in the yard, but to get six or seven takes dedication.

An extensive examination of Emrakul, the Promised End can be found here. The short version is that she’s decent if you don’t try hard, and quite good if you do. Getting to take over your opponent’s turn is going to typically be disastrous for them. That she also gives you a 13/13 with lots of upside? Well, that’s a big game.

Emrakul may look like she costs thirteen, and she’s usually going to cost around seven or eight for most decks that use her, but what if we could actually play her for six?

This list aspires to play Emrakul, the Promised End as early as turn 6.

● Dead Weight is an enchantment that conveniently goes to the graveyard. From Beyond, Vassal of Nascency, and Sinister Concoction are all options too, but with Oath of Nissa, we’re not short in this department.

● Traverse the Ulvenwald is the perfect sorcery for our purposes. If you want to get this many different types, it’s helpful when you can have some of them replace lands. This many Oaths and Traverses and Terrarions is probably too much durdling, though.

● Grapple with the Past isn’t ideal in this list, since there is so much it doesn’t get back, but we do need instants.

I’d love something like Gather the Pack, but I think we’re just too low on creatures to get paid consistently enough. Grapple with the Past is particularly nice with Evolving Wilds for being able to ensure you can just fire it off on turn 2 and not worry about bricking, if you need. Unfortunately, this is still so much durdling.

Liliana, the Last Hope is a powerful new planeswalker, and not because she costs three. An extensive breakdown of the card can be found in the black review here. In this list, she serves as early defense, helps get Grim Flayer through, rips apart tokens, adds to the self-mill, and can help us find and set up our big plays with her -2 ability.

Sorin, Grim Nemesis is an established powerhouse but has extra utility in a deck with thirteen-drops. It’s not just that you can blind flip Emrakul to thirteen your opponent out of nowhere with his +1 ability. Conduit of Ruin can find Emrakul and put her in exactly the right place at the right time. Mortuary Mire also combines with all the self-mill to give you avenues to set up the thirteen that way. Remember to take advantage of Oath of Nissa’s ability to help us cast Sorin, as we’re not long on white mana sources.

It’s nice having a way to catch up from behind, and Ishkanah is just a respectable monster if you have delirium at all. Seven power across four bodies is above-average for five, particularly with this much toughness. That it can also help do extra damage if the game drags out puts pressure on opponents to be the aggressor. It’s also a really good time to have extra flying defense with the upcoming rise of Spirits.

Crop Sigil is a totally respectable delirium enabler, particularly in some kind of a more midrange Jund-style delirium deck that appreciates the two-for-one with selection. Here, though, we’ve already got too much durdling.

Gnarlwood Dryad and Grim Flayer are the real deal. While the above list doesn’t make that great of use of them, they are for sure going to make an impact on the format. Gnarlwood Dryad can often trade “up” when it is on its backup plan, but it quickly and reliably becomes a hyper-efficient 3/3 deathtouch creature for one mana. That is a huge payoff and goes a long way towards making us care about delirium.

Grim Flayer is less good at controlling the battlefield in backup mode, but it is a very legit threat that often only needs to connect once to power up into 4/4 trample mode. Actually, it’s even more than that, because we’re getting a Prognostic Sphinx’s worth of selection every time we connect with it. This makes us especially interested in making sure we’ve got enough removal to clear a path, even if we have to stoop to stuff like Murder or To the Slaughter.

While Gnarlwood Dryad and Grim Flayer are so strong they can be used out of position, like the above list, they are better suited to some kind of Golgari Aggro deck. For instance:

See, you really don’t have to get that fancy to reliably get delirium. I mean, we could slide a couple Terrarions in here if we wanted to, but I’d rather focus on making sure we curve out. That said, I wouldn’t hate the double black fixing as a way to better support more Murders if Elder Deep-Fiend ends up as popular as it seems to be at the moment.

Kessig Prowler may seem off-theme, but it’s a two-power one-drop with big upside. It supports our primary theme, efficient beatdown combined with staying power. Note that we can flip the Prowler at instant speed, if we are so inclined, which makes the Prowler difficult to block. The big thing, though, is that our one-drop is a very big threat in the middle- and late-game, reminiscent of Warden of the First Tree.

I love Liliana in this deck, as she benefits a lot from the low curve, helps get our creatures through, shores up our weakness to tokens, and even helps power a fast delirium with both her -2 ability and adding planeswalker as an exotic type.

While I have elected to top out with Mindwrack Demon, we could also play a single Ishkanah or The Gitrog Monster to find when the occasion presents itself. I did want to start with the lowest curve I could, though, and see if we actually need to go any bigger.

You’re gonna wanna keep this card in mind for sideboards. It’s going to be such an impressive play against Spell Queller decks, particularly when you kill Mausoleum Wanderer and Rattlechains at the same time.

I think this style of G/B is going to turn out to be a major player in the format once properly tuned. Delirium hasn’t made much of an impact yet, but it just gained twelve amazing one- and two-mana plays in a format starved for cheap plays that are still good in the mid-game.

However, we’re not content to play just the most powerful cards; if we’re looking to put people into retirement, not just the loser’s bracket, there’s another direction we could go with B/G that is particularly humiliating…

On the surface, this looks like an update to the B/G Sacrifice Company deck Luis Scott-Vargas Top 8’ed the last Pro Tour with. However, it has a twist:

A turn 2 Lupine Prototype can be sacrificed to a turn 3 Tormented Thoughts to make your opponent discard five cards! That’s often going to be all of them, and we’ve also got Nantuko Husk as a secondary target to sacrifice when we don’t draw Lupine Prototype. With our mix of one- and two-drops, it should be easy to force our opponents to discard four or six cards on turn 4.

As for the games we don’t draw Tormented Thoughts? Well, our curve is relatively low. We’ll just lead with our other threats and then drop Lupine Prototype when we’re about to go empty-handed. If we ever draw a Tormented Thoughts, there’s nothing stopping us from dropping the Prototype and casting Thoughts in the same turn. Worst-case scenario, we can always sacrifice it to the Husk or Emrakul’s Evangel.

One of the nice things about playing a Tormented Thoughts deck is that we’ve got a solid way to make sure our opponent’s hand is empty. Sometimes our opponents will have just three cards in hand. If we sacrifice our Emrakul’s Evangel, we can still get the Mind Twist and the card advantage, plus our Lupine Prototypes can attack. It needs either player to be hellbent.

Emrakul’s Evangel is a bit vulnerable to getting blown out by a one-mana burn spell (in terms of tempo), but if we untap with it, we will get a huge amount of advantage. It can’t do anything with our Eldrazi Scions, but most of the creatures we’re sacrificing would love to be upgraded to 3/2s. It also gives us an added line of defense against Declaration in Stone in some positions, since it can sacrifice the target to fizzle the spell.

Depending on how much we focus on the sacrifice component, Bloodbriar is not off the table. We have to get two triggers just to get caught back up on our investment, but if we’re reliably sacrificing three things on turn 4, maybe we could be interested, particularly if Ultimate Price really fades away.

While the last thing we want to do is make the mana of a deck like this bad, maybe Cryptolith Rite could ease the pain. It is just another three-drop, though. If we were really into Extricator of Sin, I think we’d want to move into a little bit more of a delirium direction. I just don’t see it yet, but we should keep our eyes open.

While Kessig Prowler is better than most of these cards, I fear it’s just too far off-theme. That said, there’s plenty more Kessig Prowler brewing to do. I’m not just talking Wolf decks, like the following:

It’s interesting just how many of the Wolves and Werewolves are just quality cards on their own. We’re not getting the biggest payoff in the world, but Howlpack Resurgence is great, once you are all Wolves, and Spirit of the Hunt isn’t nothing. Moonlight Hunt may seem wacky, but instant-speed removal is at a premium, and I think it’s just going to be Terminate most of the time.

This guy looks fun, but the format is looking very tempo-based, and so far, I’m thinking it’s a bit hostile towards Ulrich. The card is broken down more fully here.

Defender is just too brutal. This card is more suited to a ramp deck that wants a two-drop accelerator that becomes a threat later. In that role, I think it can shine.

Waxing Moon says it’s a Werewolf enabler, and it is cool with Kessig Prowler, but we’d need to have more Werewolves that got a big reward from their flip to justify such a narrow card. We don’t even need the trample, as we’ve got Howlpack Resurgence!

This isn’t the most natural Collected Company deck, as we’ve only got twenty hits and eight of them are one-drops. That said, the card is really powerful. Maybe we should warp our deck around it. If we decided we could live without removal, we could replace some or all of our other instants for some Companies and maybe a few more hits. Remember, we get extra value from our Wolves, but we could also run Tireless Tracker or Hanweir Garrison.

I’m a little concerned about cutting back on ways to pump Lambholt Pacifist. The card is good, but it doesn’t just naturally work smoothly. Of course, we also don’t have to be Wolves, at all. Kessig Prowler is so good, we should at least consider adding it to a red deck.

Kessig Prowler is way better than any of the red creatures, but its value over replacement (Zurgo Bellstriker? Insolent Neonate?) is not clearly worth the strain on our mana base. Atarka’s Command is nice, but the real carrot is Noose Constrictor.

This is a much stronger discard outlet than Ravenous Bloodseeker (though Ravenous Bloodseeker vs. Furyblade Vampire isn’t clear). Yes, it really is better than Wild Mongrel, though the whole world has gotten stronger. Instead of changing colors, Noose Constrictor has reach, which is super-important against Spirits.

Surprised you didn’t want Noose Constrictor in your Lupine fiasco…

That’s actually not a half-bad idea. If you play a Constrictor on two, you can trade as many cards as you want for your opponent’s cards. That’s particularly attractive if we play stuff like Deathmist Raptor or Despoiler of Souls. It’s also a way to ensure that we can always attack with our Lupine Prototype whenever we want.

Let’s take a look at a little different of a madness deck. This implementation is surely really bad, but this one is a first attempt at a crazy new style:

Jace was already a good argument for looking at blue in a madness deck, but now we’ve also got Wharf Infiltrator.

Wharf Infiltrator gives us an incredible amount of value if it connects, and between it and Stromkirk Occultist, we might just want to invest in more Fiery Impulse and Unsubstantiate types to clear a path.

While Wharf Infiltrator is another Looter, which is already on-theme, it’s especially made for discarding creatures. This makes it clash a bit with the spell-based madness angle, but maybe that just means we’re supposed to move towards more of the red Vampires. Getting a two-mana 3/2 without having to pay a card is amazing. If we went more creature-centric, we could do stuff like Fiery Impulse or Lightning Axe to clear the path on turn 3 and then discard an Advanced Stitchwing or Stitchwing Skaab, pay the two, and be really ahead.

The reason I wanted to look at the above style is to see if we can take advantage of the interaction between Prophetic Ravings and Thermo-Alchemist (or Zephyr Scribe).

Put Prophetic Ravings on either of our untappers and now every sorcery and instant give us a free loot. If we should happen to discard a madness card? Well, that’s the whole point. Zephyr Scribe does this on its own, of course, but saving a mana each time can be a big deal if we start going off.

Prophetic Ravings is a subtly powerful card, and while the above list is unlikely to get there, I think we’re going to find the card showing up in a variety of unfair combo decks, including in Modern and maybe even Legacy. If particular, I want to find a place where we can use it to discard a fatty that we’re planning on reanimating. That it gives haste is particularly sweet for letting us use an extra one to make our reanimated fatty hit immediately.

Jumping back to Standard, here’s a completely different style of U/R Jace deck that I think has better chances:

It’s going to be hard to compete with Spirits for which blue tribe I want to be, but at least there are several good Wizards and the Wizard-lord offers a big payoff.

A thorough analysis of Docent of Perfection can be found here. Basically, though, it can be a big bomb that takes over the game rapidly in a prowess deck. While it only needs three spells to flip on its own, it can be especially devastating if surrounded by other Wizards.

Let’s say you’ve got a Stormchaser Mage and a Harbinger of the Tides on the battlefield on turn 6. You can drop Docent of Perfect and then Expedite it. Now you’re hitting for fourteen instead of three!

Once you’re playing all these Expedites and Slip Though Spaces, why not Zada, Hedron Grinder, even though it’s not a Wizard? Depending on how serious we are, we could also dip into Mirrorwing Dragon, but something has to give on the expensive card front.

A fine role-player, Unsubstantiate is going to get spoken about as “the best ever” and “the most overrated card in the set.” As you might imagine, the answer is somewhere in the middle. If you want some tempo and versatility, and you’re willing to trade card advantage to get it, this is your card. If you’re looking for Remand, you’re going to be disappointed. If you’re looking for Vapor Snag, then you’re in the right place. It’s a more modest rate, but more flexible.

Just a reminder, this creature is a Wizard. Just saying.

Can we just get a real control deck?

Fine. Here.

Try to line up your reactive spells to the right threat at the right time while riding your card draw and planeswalkers to a game-winning advantage. Shocking, I know.

Liliana, the Last Hope is an extremely appealing follow-up to Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy against a midrange deck. If you can put her down and then use the -2 ability to get a Jace without losing her, you are kind of destroying them.

The hope is that sorceries and instants are easy to get into the graveyard, which means we just need just two out of Jace, Liliana, Dead Weight, or Evolving Wilds. Even when we don’t get there is a timely fashion, we can eventually turn it into three-fourths of a Dragonlord’s Prerogative. When we are on time, however, it is a much better way to smooth out our draw. Basically, it’s kind of a Jace’s Ingenuity that sometimes costs one less, sometimes one more.

A fine role-player, but I don’t think it’s particularly better than the other options. I think it’s really a question of where you’ve got the mana to spare. I also just wanted a little bit of a hedge against drawing multiple Scour the Laboratories without having delirium. Fortune’s Favor isn’t just castable on four all the time; it gets us delirium!

I do generally like it better than Epiphany at the Drownyard in threat-light decks. We’re never going to cast it and accidentally mill our victory condition when we need one. Yes, the face-down pile could have one, but if we need a victory condition, we could just pass on the first pile if it doesn’t contain one.

If our opponents try to exploit this, they are likely to find us scoop up the awesome face-up pile with no victory condition, since we’ve got a Liliana in hand. She’s especially great at making sure we never run out, since she is a game-winning threat on her own and she can get back whatever we milled, if needed.

I think you can play Take Inventory in a control deck, though it is better in a more proactive, tapout style of control. In a deck like the above, I’d rather be able to hold up Clash of Wills and Grasp of Darkness, so Anticipate gets the nod. Besides, we don’t always want to play four two-cost cantrips. This card is fine, but it’s a bit overrated by people who want to slam it into every deck. Accumulated Knowledge wasn’t actually that good without Intuition.

Instant speed is a very big deal in the new format. We are losing a little versatility compared to Ruinous Path, but we wanted to play at instant speed anyway.

This is just a bad Spell Shrivel (and Spell Shrivel isn’t that good of a Spell Shrivel; it’s not a small way to help offset the black-heavy manabase for Grasp of Darkness and Liliana, the Last Hope).

This is a game-changer post-sideboard against Eldrazi Ramp decks. It counters the Ulamog and the trigger (and likewise for every other example you can think of). It can also be used proactively against a Hedron Archive or Evolving Wilds being sacrificed. It can also be invaluable against planeswalker-heavy opponents, since it can counter planeswalker ultimates. Besides, sometimes you just want some extra counterspells.

I knew Repulse. This, my friend, is no Repulse. If Drag Under finds a home, it’s surely some kind of a dedicated tempo deck that wants to clear a path for creatures with attack triggers.

While U/B Control decks have no need for Imprisoned in the Moon, I could see it being a role-player in other blue control decks, particularly out of the sideboard. It’s sort of a Path to Exile that costs more but can hit planeswalkers and nonbasic lands. Also of note, it’s an enchantment and an Aura, should you ever find yourself caring about such things.

Costing one is great, but I think we’d have to be some kind of U/G Delirium deck to consider this as an option.

Ambitious. I like that.

It’s hard to imagine the world where we’re willing to use a sideboard slot on a seven-cost card drawer that doesn’t affect the battlefield (unless we’re ahead and our opponents have to play into us).

I’m not sure the best home for this yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Homunculus ends up in some sort of a Niblis of Frost deck. You’ve got to be in the market for fragile acceleration and have a lot of sorceries / instants and value the mid-sized body beatdown. Maybe the Ojutai’s Command would help, since even if they kill it, we can get it back on their end step, untap, and flip it.

However, if I’m going to try that trick, I’d rather just use Lone Rider.

Lone Rider looks great to me. Whether in the main or sideboard, it’s a nice option for Ojutai’s Command decks that want percentage against fast aggro. Early, it’s a cheap must-kill. Then, a couple of turns later, we can gain four life and get it back. It looks back through time, sees we did what it asks, and is a surprise 4/4 first strike, lifelink, trample creature on turn 4!

Conveniently, Gisela, the Broken Blade and Foul-Tongue Invocation gain exactly four life, and Sorin, Grim Nemesis does too when it counts. You can also get there with two Shambling Vents or a Shambling Vents and a second Lone Rider. If we wanted to move towards a heavier black build, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is another option; since it gains three life, it can stack with Lone Rider to get the four life you need.

Gisela looks great. Trying to use her with Dragons is a little crowded and heavy. What about if we just lean into her and her partner in crime, Bruna, the Fading Light?

I’m not sure if we even need her maindeck, but combining her with Gisela, even a dead Gisela, is so incredibly backbreaking, I definitely want to try. The thing that really seals the deal for me is that she can get back any Human, not just any Angel. Even if we don’t draw Gisela, we can get value by returning a Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy or Lone Rider. Besides, a 5/7 flying, vigilance creature is a pretty dominating battlefield presence in its own right. It’s even a “when cast” trigger, so it can power through permission.

Now we’re talking!

We may have lost Foul-Tongue Invocation, but at least we have access to Blessed Alliance.

Blessed Alliance is a passable removal spell that happens to be especially good against Lumbering Falls and Ormendahl, Profane Prince. The extra life kicker may prove invaluable in a format that’s about to have a lot more face damage than it used to. The untap mode isn’t that important, but can save a Jace by letting it flip earlier than expected in response to a removal spell. It’s also a potent option to untap Lone Rider and Gisela, the Broken Blade to block with. If we ended up using any amount of Dragonlord Ojutai, that’s a creature that loves to get untapped by surprise.

If we wanted to, one possible way to set up the Gisela, the Broken Blade plus Bruna, the Fading Light combo is with Thalia’s Lancers. They are kind of like Goblin Dark-Dwellers but with a little less tempo, a little more selection. Thalia’s Lancers can find either half of the combo, and if they kill the Lancers, you can get it back with Bruna, the Fading Light.

Remember, Thalia’s Lancers can get any legendary permanents, so definitely include a Geier Reach Sanitarium, and at least consider Sword of the Animist.

Some key legends to keep in mind:

Anafenza has new meaning, now that Spirit is the creature type to be. That said, I’m not sold on her in Spirits. The +1/+1 counters are much appreciated, don’t get me wrong, but I wonder if we’re supposed to focus on fliers. It also bothers me, the way she conflicts with Mausoleum Wanderer and puts pressure on us to play Meandering River. I might just prefer more basics and roll the dice. Tempo is going to be so important. Nevertheless…

Mausoleum Wanderer is better than Judge’s Familiar, sure, but that alone isn’t enough to warp the format.

Mausoleum Wanderer can hit for two or more sometimes, and that can make all the difference, particularly when opponents don’t know when it’s going to grow. If we play the Wanderer, our opponent will be pressure to slowroll their key spell. However, even if they wait, we could flash down Rattlechains and counter it anyway. Even if we don’t have a Wanderer on the table, we could also be about to flash a Rattlechains down and then Force Spike our opponent. Ojutai’s Command just adds to the frustration.

I’m kind of surprised that WotC decided to push another Faeries tribe this hard. I guess we’ll see how good they prove to be, but I’m guessing they’re great.

Definitely optional, but if we go beatdown, this is a quality card. It’s aggressive for the skies plan, a great card to flash down with Rattlechains, and a nice “get” with Ojutai’s Command.

One of the defining cards of the new set. If you want an in-depth analysis of this one, check here. Learning to play with and against Spell Queller is going to be a crucial skill in the new world.

Not the most compelling lord ever, but it does enough of a Pestermite impression to deserve working with it in beatdown builds. Nebelgast Herald is going to tear unprepared opponents apart, but it does leave us even more vulnerable to cards like Aerial Volley and Dual Shot.

There’s just no way we stoop this low. It could be a fine card, in another world. We’ve just got too good of alternatives. That said, we should remember this one exists, in case we’re ever in the market for a ninth 2/1 flying Spirit for two.

While an aggressive Skies build looks good to me, I’m also excited about going a little bigger.

I’m worried about the amount the lands enter the battlefield tapped, but I would love to marry Eldrazi Displacer with Spell Queller plus Reflector Mage.

If we wanted to move away from playing so many cheap Spirits, I could definitely see playing lots of cheap instants and Niblis of Frost. It’s an efficient threat that can singlehandedly take over the game, particularly if our opponent’s attempts to kill it are thwarted by Essence Flux.

Long Road Home is another Essence Flux, depending on how freaky we want to get. This one, however, can remove opposing creatures, at least temporarily. I could imagine combining it with Eldrazi Displacer and Hallowed Moonlight as a plan.

Spell Queller is so strong, it is going to show up in a lot of non-Spirit decks. For instance, it’s a perfect fit for Bant Company:

Bant Company loves to play the flash game and Spell Queller is a potentially very exciting hit from Collected Company itself.

Tamiyo is very weird, but it’s just not that hard to draw two cards with her the turn you cast her. She is also reasonably effective at deterring attacks by using the draw ability on your opponent’s creatures. This is especially useful when you have Sylvan Advocate vs. Sylvan Advocate situations. You can target both yours and your opponent’s, attack, get the damage, and then have insurance against them trying to counterattack.

Tamiyo, Field Researcher is quite compelling, but the competition is stiff. After all, you could just be playing Elder Deep-Fiend…

How hard are we supposed to push the Emerge theme?

Foul Emissary is obviously tailor-made for this deck, but are we supposed to play Primal Druid? I think Primal Druid is more for a B/G Sacrifice deck, if anything. It’s not out of the question; I just think the curve might prove awkward.

If we go nuts on emerge, we could also dabble into white for Desperate Sentry. The part I like about this card is that it works, no matter how it dies. This sort of points to a B/W/x sacrifice deck, though. Hrmm…

Demonic Pact with cards that interact with enchantments, though I think Bonds of Silver is likely better for this purpose. Besides, we’re talking about some really fringe stuff, here.

Can we get back to the business?

This card singlehandedly makes W/G Humans a deck. A 3/3 flash, lifelink is already not actually that far off for four mana. Giving our team +1/+1 and lifelink? That’s just such an absurd blowout, whether in combat or just for “haste” damage.

Remember, we’ve got Knight of the White Orchid to find Canopy Vista for extra green mana.

I’m not sold on Hamlet Captain. I mean, it’s worth a shot, and it’s obviously on-message. It’s just that we’ve got lots of great options in white that are easier to cast.

I don’t love the way this one matches up against the format as a removal spell, but it’s possible that the +1/+1 counter mode is just so good, it justifies itself. It’s probably much better in a G/W Tokens deck, but it’s worth trying. It sort of works with Always Watching, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

This creature has a respectable rate, but that’s a very different deck. If we wanted another four-drop, it would be Gideon, Alley of Zendikar. W/X Humans Aggro isn’t about grinding out a four-cost two-for-one. If Courageous Outrider finds a home, it is likely alongside Duskwatch Recruiter, Den Protector, Tireless Tracker, and maybe Thalia’s Lancers.

Of course, if we’re back on Thalia’s Lancers, we could do something like:

Still, I think it’s not out of the question to imagine moving away from Legends and towards Humans. We can still Thalia’s Lieutenant, even if we’re not beatdown. Just picture something a little more like Bant Humans.

This one is so weird, I’m gonna have to be with it for a bit. In the meantime, here’s an Assault Formation deck that takes advantage of that thirteen points of toughness.

It’s going to be hard to get enough value out of this one to justify it, particularly since the best hits also cost six. If it has a moment in the sun, it’s probably when they print a new Nicol Bolas next year or something. Here’s an attempt:

It’s concerning about many of our planeswalkers are underpowered without more creature spells. We probably would be better served to move towards Oath of Nissa and focus on tokens with Nissa, Voice of Zendikar; Oath of Gideon; and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. That said, I’m not optimistic.

Eldritch Moon became legal at midnight. How fitting.

Will Spirits dominate?

Will B/G Delirium be Tier 1?

Will Elder Deep-Fiend live up to the hype?

Will Mono-Red steal another Week 1?

Will Vampires and/or Zombies finally put up big finishes?

Tune in to #SCGCOL this weekend and find out. Whatever happens, I’ve got a feeling this is going to be one of those formats that shifts radically immediately rather than easing into the new set.

See you next week!

Hey! What about Eldritch Evolution?

What do you think Monday’s about?