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For manyMagic: The Gatheringplayers, there’s no greater feeling than playing a giant monster and watching your opponents’ faces break into a sweat. Eldrazi Unbound is the perfect preconstructed Commander deck for just such a player, and it’s coming in Commander Masters.
Related:Every Card Revealed For Magic: The Gathering’s Commander Masters
As always, Wizards of the Coast did a phenomenal job creating Eldrazi Unbound, filling it with a good mix of ramp, removal, card draw, and of course, giant Eldrazi monsters. It’s not perfect, however, and that means there’s plenty of space for even price-conscious Magic players to make improvements. If you plan on snagging Eldrazi Unbound, here are a few cheap cards that could improve the deck.
All prices are taken fromTCGPlayer.com.
More Eldrazi
One of the problems with Eldrazi-themed decks is that the biggest, baddest Eldrazi are often far too expensive for budget-minded Magic players to consider. Eldrazi Unbound thankfully reprints a few of the better ones, such as Kozilek, the Great Distortion and It That Betrays, but there’s no Ulamog or Emrakul.
There are stilla few cheap Eldrazithat are still worthy of consideration. The first isConduit of Ruin, a mere 5/5 Eldrazi for six mana that also reduces the mana cost of the first creature spell you cast by two. It also tutors for a colorless creature with converted mana cost greater than seven, which is pretty great.
The second isDesolation Twin. Although nothing special, 20 power for ten mana is nothing to sneeze at.
$1.36
Conduit of Ruin
Six generic mana, creature - Eldrazi, 6/6
When you cast this spell, you may search your library for a colorless creature card with mana value seven or greater, reveal it, then shuffle and put that card on top. The first creature spell you cast each turn costs six generic less to cast.
$0.30
Desolation Twin
10 generic mana, creature - Eldrazi, 10/10
When you cast this spell, create a 10/10 colorless Eldrazi creature token.
More Eldrazi Helpers
Eldrazi are big and expensive–and not just in terms of dollars and cents. Eldrazi are also very expensive in terms of mana, which means you’re able to’t always count on them to arrive before your opponents have already cast an army and are bearing down your front door.
Eldrazi Unbound already has cards like Palladium Myr, Solemn Simulacrum, and Ornithopter of Paradise helping to produce mana, but there are other ways you can assist your giant monsters. One isEldrazi Mimic,an adorable little Eldrazi that becomes much larger as soon as you start casting the bigger Eldrazi later on.
The second isLiberator, Urza’s Battlethopter. Although it doesn’t necessarily make Eldrazi come into player sooner, it does make them come into play at instant speed, which turns all your Eldrazi into enormous, monstrous traps. And when much like Eldrazi Mimic, Liberator gets bigger the more big spells you cast.
$1.20
3 generic mana, Legendary artifact creature - Thopter, 1/2
Flying, Flash
You may cast colorless spells and artifact spells as though they had flash.
Whenever you cast a spell, if the amount of mana spent to cast that spell is greater than Liberator, Urza’s Battlethopter’s power, put a +1/+1 counter on Liberator.
$0.39
Eldrazi Mimic
Two generic mana, creature - Eldrazi, 2/1
Whenever another colorless creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may change Eldrazi Mimic’s base power and toughness to that creature’s power and toughness until end of turn.
Related:Magic: The Gathering – The Commander Masters Precon Decks, Ranked
More Removal
Sadly, there are very few options for instant-speed removal in pure colorless decks, and Eldrazi Unbound already runs Spatial Contortion and Titan’s Presence. There is one colorless removal card still left, and it deserves attention.
That card isScour from Existence. Yes, seven mana makes it even more expensive than Desert Twister, but it’s an instant, and Eldrazi Unbound should be able to produce seven mana in no time with all its various mana rocks and mana-producing critters.
If your table happens to play with a lot of larger threats, then consider this in place ofSpatial Contortionor evenDesecrate Realityif your friends tend to play with odd-numbered permanents.
$0.08
Seven generic mana, Instant
Exile target permanent.
More Board Clear
Eldrazi Unbound already has decent board clear from All is Dust, Blast Zone, and Perilous Vault (and even Steel Hellkite to an extent), but two cards out of 100 isn’t a lot.Nevinyrral’s Diskis cheap in terms of both mana and money and it reliably resets the board.
Another card worthy of thought isGruesome Slaughter. Even Eldrazi can sometimes get bogged down; Gruesome Slaughter can break open stalemates provided you have enough giant monsters present (and your stalemate isn’t the result of indestructible creatures).
ScaretillerandBane of Bala Gedmight be good options to replace with either of these cards.
$0.15
Nevinyrral’s Disk
Four generic mana, Artifact
Nevinyrral’s Disk enters the battlefield tapped. One generic, tap: Destroy all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments.
$0.09
Gruesome Slaughter
Six generic mana, Sorcery
Until end of turn, colorless creatures you control gain “tap: This creature deals damage equal to its power to target creature.”
Better Ramp
to get all these Eldrazi on the field, you’re going to need a lot of mana. Eldrazi Unbound has a lot of ramp from the likes of Hedron Archive, Worn Powerstone, and Thran Dynamo, but reliably getting a lot of mana is of paramount concern for Eldrazi players.
Expedition Mapcan help search for one of the more high-value mana-generating lands, such as Temple of the False God or a missing part of the Urazatron lands. It can also help search out utility lands like Blast Zone, Scavenger Grounds, or Sea Gate Wreckage.
Manifold Keypairs well with pretty much any mana rock that produces more than one mana, and it can also make one of your Eldrazi unblockable.
And finally,Quicksilver Amuletoffers an alternate way of casting Eldrazi that’s way cheaper than Darksteel Monolith.
$1.49
Expedition Map
One generic mana, Artifact
Two generic, tap: Sacrifice Expedition Map: Search your library for a land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
$0.21
Manifold Key
One generic, tap: Untap another target artifact. Three generic, tap: Target creature can’t be blocked this turn.
Quicksilver Amulet
Four generic, tap: You may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Related:Magic: The Gathering – Commander Masters Enduring Enchantments Precon Budget Upgrade Guide
Better Card Draw
Eldrazi Unbound’s biggest threat isn’t necessarily other players–it’s running out of Eldrazi to cast. Cards like Sea Gate Wreckage, Mystic Forge, and Mazemind Tome help, but it can be a struggle to reliably keep your hand full.
Mind’s Eyeis probably the best colorless card draw engine out there.Staff of Ninisn’t bad (and pairs well with Manifold Key), but prioritize Mind’s Eye first.Introduction to Prophecyis more deck cycling than card draw, but it can still help you find either Mind’s Eye or any of the above cards.
$0.04
Three generic mana, Sorcery
$0.80
Staff of Nin
Six generic mana, Artifact
At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card. Tap: Staff of Nin deals 1 damage to any target.
$1.50
Mind’s Eye
Five generic mana, Artifact
Whenever an opponent draws a card, you may pay one generic mana. If you do, draw a card.
A Few More Cool Lands
Eldrazi Unbound already has a lot of lands to help where spells and monsters might fail, but there are a few more that could prove useful.
Zhalfirin Voidprovides colorless mana and a free scry.Field of Ruincan pop a problematic land on the opponent’s side. AndMikokoro, Center of the Seacan often be more helpful than Sea Gate Wreckage even if it helps your opponents almost as much.
If you plan toget rid of a few Wastesfor these cards,be sure to get rid of Endless Atlastoo.
$0.25
Zhalfirin Void
Land
When Zhalfirin Void enters the battlefield, scry one. Tap: Add one generic mana.
$0.79
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
Legendary Land
Tap: Add one generic mana. Two generic, tap: Each player draws a card.
$0.06
Field of Ruin
Tap: Add one generic mana. Two generic, Tap, Sacrifice Field of Ruin: Destroy target nonbasic land an opponent controls. Each player searches their library for a basic land card, puts it onto the battlefield, then shuffles.
Next:Magic: The Gathering – The 10 Best Red Cards In Commander Masters
