I lived in a small town on the north coast of California called Eureka for many years. You may not have heard of it, but odds are if you have it was in association with lumber, fishing, or a certain…crop…that was abundant in the area at one time. Eureka, you see, was the center of what locals called”The Emerald Triangle”; where one passing through could inexplicably enter an ethereal world, lose all track of time, and become functionally”lost” to society.
I was not immune to this phenomenon.
Ahhh, the crop of ’82 still sings sweetly in my memories; many were the evenings where a hazy month would seemingly transpire…if only I could actually access any of those memories. Oh, wait – but I could:
Sorcery – 1B(lunt): Sacrifice one million brain cells: All remaining memories gain flashback. Simultaneously.
…But I digress. I seem to do it quite often, since 1982…But I should add that those days are long, long past and I have somehow managed to become a functional member of society.
Flashback – best songs of 1982: Start Me Up; Rolling Stones. I Love Rock and Roll; Joan Jett. Every Breath You Take; The Police. Around the Dial; The Kinks. Centerfold; J. Geils Band.
(Have I dated myself badly enough yet?!)
Ahem…the point of my article – oh yes, last time I said I would present to you a very abusive, broken multi-player deck. So, for this article I will unleash the power of another broken Legends rare, Eureka:
60-Card Pick-Up
4 Eureka
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth’s Bargain
1 Regrowth
3 Spellbook
3 Ivory Tower
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
3 Intuition
2 Concordant Crossroads
4 Thorn Elemental
4 Colossus of Sardia
4 Devouring Strossus
4 Clone
4 Underground Sea
3 Underground River
4 Tropical Island
3 Yavimaya Coast
4 Bayou
3 Llanowar Wastes
3 City of Brass
Yes, it’s yet another combo deck based around Necropotence/Bargain. The engine is somewhat complex and takes a few turns to pull off if you want to go for the ultimate overkill – but once you do it, your friends will be duly impressed!
How it works: You need Necro or Bargain in play, a Spellbook, and an Ivory Tower. Use Intuitions or Tutors to get the components you need. If you don’t have Necro, Bargain, or a Tutor in your hand then use an Intuition to get them and Regrowth (if you don’t already have it). By doing this, one way or another you will wind up with Necro or Bargain in your hand. There are seventeen black sources in the deck, so casting it shouldn’t be too hard – but if you have difficulties, use a Eureka!
Fill up your hand, but don’t drop below ten life for safety’s sake. Next turn, you will gain life for the cards in your hand; invest that into more cards. Play a land if you wish, or more Ivory towers, or even Clone something if you need a blocker – but keep your hand full (with Spellbook, the more the merrier!). After a few turns of this you should have nearly your entire deck in your hands! (Leave at least one card, though, in case some jerk wants to disenchant your Necro.) When you are clutching your deck, cast Eureka. Drop your hand from a height of at least three feet. You want to make a statement here, after all. Pick through it to show them the beef, then the Concordant Crossroads. Attack for 146.
Word of warning: Don’t play anyone packing counterspells, discard, disenchant effects or mass instant creature removal (I’m using passive sarcastic voice, here…). Also, watch out for those pesky Sligh dudes and geeks who love early creature rushes. If you can find room, you can put in Force of Wills to take care of some of these problems. The creatures I chose mainly for their hugeness and ability to trample over or directly damage an opponent; Clones worked really well and often come in handy early on to stall attackers. I definitely encourage experimenting with the creature mix. At one time I used about twenty different Legends (which might work better now with Onslaught), and I also have had good success replacing some of the painlands with man-lands like Treetop Village or Spawning Pools to head off early beats.
The mana base is expensive and painful but necessary, since there are multiple color symbols in the casting costs of both Eureka and the card drawers, but play with it and see if you can make it better. Another warning concerning this deck: after you’ve pulled off the combo, sent it to Florida. Give it a pension. If you ever play the deck again, I guarantee you will be slathered with jam and shoved down Jaya Ballard’s gullet for breakfast.
…But wait! You’ve spent around $100 here at StarCity for four Eurekas only to build a deck you will play with only once? Folks, this is where the concept of”deck evolution” comes into play. You need to play your Eurekas. If you own four like I do (and I got them all when I lived in Eureka! How’s that for style points?), you want to use them as often as possible.
Need another idea? Something just as broken? Okay, take the above deck and use the same creature and mana base and apply the”ProsBloom” engine, with modifications:
3 Eureka
3 Squandered Resources
3 Cadaverous Bloom
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Braingeyser
1 Regrowth
1 Recall
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
2 Intuition
1 City of Solitude
1 Concordant Crossroads
It’s actually harder to pull off the”draw your deck” combination here than with the Necro version because there are more decisions to make, but the advantage is that it can be done in a single turn if you play your cards right! You need both Squandered Resources and Cadaverous Bloom in play and a Stroke or Braingeyser in hand in order to go off. Simply sacrifice your extra lands to Resources and extra cards in hand to the Bloom (using extra copies of the enchantments and Eurekas first, and then lands) and fill your hand with as many cards as possible. Find your second card drawer or Regrowth the first one and cast again, refilling your hand (Note: Do not use Prosperity in this deck – see below). Keep on going until your hand consists of a nice, large number of creatures and a Eureka and then cast away. You have to be careful to not deck yourself with the Strokes, but careful management of mana and proper use of spells should allow you to draw most of your deck in a single turn. Again, this version is susceptible to disruption and counterspells… But by simply adding City of Solitude to the deck (and getting it into play) no one can stop you!
Of course, this deck will also make enemies and shouldn’t be played very often, once again leaving the question of what to do with your Eurekas… Two decks, played once each, and back in the binder for your expensive cards? We can’t have that. Here’s a third deck to play, using the ProsBloom engine – and actually using the card Prosperity!
Can’t Have It
4 Eureka
4 Squandered Resources
4 Cadaverous Bloom
4 Prosperity
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Regrowth
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Control Magic
4 Persuasion
4 Gilded Drake
1 Rubinia Soulsinger
1 Merieke Ri Berit
1 Preacher
1 Callous Oppressor
4 “Underground Sea
3 Underground River
4 Tropical Island
3 Yavimaya Coast
4 Bayou
3 Llanowar Wastes
3 City of Brass
This one just might get you banned from your playgroup! What you want to do is fill everyone’s hand up with the Prosperities, then cast a Eureka. Let them go around and lay down creatures, one at a time, while you just put down a land or two. When people are done playing creatures, then start dropping your Control Magics and Drakes to control the entire table’s creatures!
I can see why Eureka never got reprinted. I only played it in three decks, and I’ve been threatened bodily harm if anyone ever so much as sees a forest in any of my decks…Sigh. I guess it’s time to find another playgroup…because I’m sure not selling any of my Eurekas!