Evolving Precons - Eldritch Onslaught

Welcome to an experimental deck-building process - the "Evolving Precons"!
One day, I was searching through the Building on a Budget forum on the mothership and found articles by Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar. I loved reading his articles. Precons are fun and evolving them are funner. I was anxious to try something of my own, but I didn't have the time. Now that it is winter break, I can sit down and do these precon experiments.

Essentially, what Jay would do is focus on a theme deck and "evolve" it so that it would be good enough to go to FNM and/or have a respectable showing at casual tables. Regrettably, his stance on Building on a Budget ended in one year, but his articles have tremendous influence. Here's one: www.wizards....../daily/jm141

I love theme decks (now called intro packs for those of you who are new) so when I had the time to evolve one, I pounced at the chance. So, I wrote this up on my documents and I thought I'd share it with you guys. Here we go!

Here are my results - I am using Cockatrice for these matchups. For the record, I am using the precon Eldritch Onslaught. Here's the decklist:

Eldritch Onslaught v. 1.0

Land
13 Island
11 Mountain
Creatures
2 Armored Skaab
1 Charmbreaker Devils
3 Deranged Assistant
2 Fortress Crab
2 Merfolk Mesmerist
2 Murder of Crows
1 Pitchburn Devils
1 Scourge of Geier Reach
1 Sturmgeist
Other Spells
2 Burning Vengeance
1 Cellar Door
2 Curse of the Bloody Tome
2 Desperate Ravings
3 Dream Twist
1 Geistflame
1 Ghoulcaller's Bell
2 Grasp of Phantoms
1 Harvest Pyre
1 Into the Maw of Hell
1 Rolling Templor
2 Silent Departure
2 Think Twice

Game 1 - White Weenie

He gets out two Honor of the Pure and Fiend Hunter quite early. All I have to show up is are two Deranged Assistant, one getting exiled and one chumping a Mirran Crusader. I also play a minimal Ghoulcaller's Bell.

A Harvest Pyre helps me out, burning the Crusader, but then Sun Titan comes out and brings him back. Being at 4 mana, I do some flashback flourishes but I quickly concede.

0-1

Game 2 - Smallpox

I keep a mill heavy hand. He gets out Smallpox, then a Liliana of the Veil. I use a Curse of the Bloody Tome and decide to focus on milling. Out come the two Dream Twists I have from my graveyard. He casts a Solemn Simulacrum, and then decided to focus on Reassembling Skeletons when I'm churning my mill engine. Turns out Liliana isn't very good when your hand is empty (graveyard with flashback spells) and you have no creatures.

It grinds to a slow, "draw-go" game, while Liliana keeps +1ing. I find another Curse and attach it. With my mill engine (milling away his fatties) and his slow plan of attack (attacking with skeletons), he succumbs to my little precon that could.

1-1

Game 3 - Dredge Control

I have an "early game" of Merfolk Mesmerist and Fortress Crab, while my opponent Forbidden Alchemys and Think Twices. I ping him a bit with my creatures, and then lands two 2/2 Splinterfrights. I was able to hold at bay the 'frights for a while until they got big. I try to do a Sturmgeist, but it gets Dismembered. I manage to Harvest Pyre one of them, but the other one just keeps growing bigger.

Eventually, I mill a critical mass of stall spells (Silent Departure, Grasp of Phantoms) and just bounce the 'fright over and over again, hoping to find something game-changing (do you think they put Wraths in these precons?) but his 'fright, managed by two Laboratory Maniacs, fry my life total. Interesting tidbit: I also cast a Grasp of Phantoms from my hand, bouncing a Boneyard Wurm. The Splinterfright's mill took it away!

1-2

1-2... I think this is acceptable for a precon, as we have faced some pretty strong decks. However, I think we can dab up it's bad cards. Let me do a little housekeeping..

OUT: 1 Ghoulcaller's Bell
I like the Bell. It can mill your opponent while potentially giving you some gas. The only problem with it, however, is that it's too little. It's a horrible topdeck and just does... nothing. That's bad.

OUT: 1 Cellar Door
The Door is just trash. I mean, you pay 5 mana to maybe get a minimal 2/2 zombie. That is just flat-out horrible. I've been consistently unimpressed with the Door, as it just eats up too much mana.

OUT: 2 Fortress Crab
While it's true that this deck can use some stalling, I don't think it's merited for this slot. I feel like we can just use Armored Skaab. The Skabb is one mana cheaper and helps us advance our game plan. This is just a fat wall that your opponent will get over sometime. We can find better uses for this slot.

These are our outtakes for the first round of cutting. What will we be putting in?

IN: 3 Harvest Pyre
This card is so good in limited that I feel like it has merits for our deck. True, it has horrid synergy with flashback, but the 'pyre can take out what Geistflame can't. Also, we can hit a lot of duds with self-milling, and the Pyre lets us put our lands, creatures, and spells that don't have flashback to good use.

IN: 1 Deranged Assistant
We can use a little more of the bad boy. With ramp, mill, and a chump blocker all rolled into one, this isn't Ghoulcaller's Bell. I feel like we should max such a powerful utility creature.

So, our first modified decklist is this:

Eldritch Onslaught v. 1.1

Land
13 Island
11 Mountain
Creatures
2 Armored Skaab
1 Charmbreaker Devils
4 Deranged Assistant
2 Merfolk Mesmerist
2 Murder of Crows
1 Pitchburn Devils
1 Scourge of Geier Reach
1 Sturmgeist
Other Spells
2 Burning Vengeance
2 Curse of the Bloody Tome
2 Desperate Ravings
3 Dream Twist
1 Geistflame
2 Grasp of Phantoms
4 Harvest Pyre
1 Into the Maw of Hell
1 Rolling Templor
2 Silent Departure
2 Think Twice[/DECK]

I'll playtest some more this week and let you know the results. Which cards do you feel are junkers? Which cards do you think I'm overlooking? Speak up!

C'mon, no comments?

C'mon, no comments?

I'm still reading it. 😉 Excellent work. We'll be posting weekly articles around here in no time!  👍

Welcome to another new article of "Evolving Precons"! Today, we'll play with the new 1.1 deck and see how it rolls.

I play a couple of games to see how the new changes work.

Game 4 - Infestation Zombies

I think he was mana-screwed this game. He only drew three lands before the game ended. I started out with a Dream Twist to mill myself three, snagging a Think Twice in the grave. He plays his second swamp and does nothing. I flashback the Think Twice at the end step, then proceed to play land. He then reaches his third land drop and casts his Cemetery Reaper.

I then play my fifth land and find a Murder of Crows, an absolute bomb in this deck. He exiles one of my milled creatures with the Reaper and then makes a 3/3 zombie token. When it's my turn, I Silent Departure the token and Harvest Pyre the Reaper. I just keep swingin' with the Crows, and before long my opponent concedes.

1-0 (2-2)

Game 5 - Mono Black Control

Looks like I'm playing against lots of black decks now. I get out an early Deranged Assistant, while my opponent gets a more scarier Liliana of the Veil. I play + flashback a Think Twice, aided with the Assistant, but it gets on the chopping block with Lily's -2. My opponent then gets out a Phyrexian Obliterator, while I do a cool trick - Grasp of Phantoms it and then Dream Twist my opponent.

My opponent, to no avail, topdecks an Isolated Chapel, and then he flashes back a Unburial Rites, getting back his Obliterator. For my record, I get a Sturmgeist, while falling prey to Liliana's -2. It is now imprinted on a Mimic Vat. Sad face. I then bounce the Obliterator using a flashbacked Silent Departure, but my opponent just replays it and passes. Knowing that I have no more ways to deal with the Obliterator, I play a Harvest Pyre and kill the Obliterator, sacrificing four Mountains and one Island.

I find another Pyre, wishing that I didn't sacrifice all of my Mountains, while my opponent makes me discard that with Distress. He then bashes me with the Phyrexian Obliterator, and that's all I wrote.

1-1 (2-3)

Game 6 - UWR Control

My opponent goes off with a very slow start, with a slew of tapped lands and a Traveler's Amulet. I kick off the party with a Merfolk Mesmerist, and I bash with it. I can't find land, so I Desperate Ravings for more. It then turns out to be a massive Desperate Ravings war. My mesmerist gets killed by a Snapcaster Mage flashing back a copy of our red draw spell. I just sit and we both play draw-go. I stick a Curse of the Bloody Tome on my opponent, and then he casts a scary Frost Titan.

Luckily, I have two Silent Departures I have been sandbagging for this very purpose, and then I bounce the Titan with them until I cast a Charmbreaker Devils. I thought I had stabilized, but then my opponent cast a Dismember, killing the Devils and then attacking with the Titan, locking down a lone Deranged Assistant I had previously played. He then gets into killing mode with Gideon Jura. I cast my two Murder of Crows, but he Oblivion Rings them all and beats down with Gideon.

1-2 (2-4)

Well well well... We could use a little more improving on this deck. I mean, 2-4 is pretty bad. I think we can do better than this. Off to the deck doctor.

OUT: 1 Pitchburn Devils
Even though I've only drew it once over six games, I'm not a fan of the Devils. First of all, this deck isn't really equipped to optimize with death triggers, and we can do better with a 3/3 for five mana. This card slows down our deck and isn't really helping.

OUT: 2 Silent Departure
Even though the Departure is great in limited, it's not so great here. First of all, this just stalls the opponent. Notice how I was using these against big creatures in Games 5 and 6 - in the end, I still lost.

With Grasp of Phantoms, you make the opponent lose their draw as well as cool Dream Twist interactions. But the Departure just stalls - it's not there to bounce when you're charging ahead for the win, because this deck has so few creatures.

OUT: 2 Merfolk Mesmerist
The thing is, these are just way too small to help. They get run over by bigger creatures, and the mill is only marginally useful. There's a much better milling creature than these.

OUT: 1 Sturmgeist
What? I'm cutting a rare already? Yes, yes I am. The problem with the Sturmgeist is that it's too fragile and favors hoarding cards in hand, while this deck just wants to cast those spells. When I get a good time to cast Sturmgeist, he is just too fragile to matter or dies quickly. We can do a bit better in this deck.

In addition, here are some cards that I have been thinking of cutting, mostly because they don't contribute to the deck. I haven't played most of these cards yet (and some I'm on the fence), so keep that feedback coming.

Scourge of Geier Reach
Into the Maw of Hell
Murder of Crows
Geistflame

So, what are we adding in?

IN: 3 Devil's Play
Yes, I know it's a rare. The thing is, it's dirt cheap - $1.00 you might find at your Friendly Local Game Store. The bigger thing is that it is more burn, and it's very good. This deck can get some mana-flooding going, and you want spouts like these. Also, this can be a good finisher, something that we need.

IN: 2 Armored Skaab
The funny thing is that I haven't drew a Skaab in these three games. The Skaabs provide flashbackable gas, as well as having a decent wall to hide your stuff behind it. It's very efficient.

IN: 1 Burning Vengeance
I don't want this to be a "classical" BV deck, but the enchantment is quite good. We can cast lots of flashback spells, and Burning Vengance nips on all the little guys.

So, what have we gained? Here's the decklist -

Eldritch Onslaught v. 1.2

Land
13 Island
11 Mountain
Creatures
4 Armored Skaab
1 Charmbreaker Devils
4 Deranged Assistant
2 Murder of Crows
1 Scourge of Geier Reach
Other Spells
3 Burning Vengeance
2 Curse of the Bloody Tome
2 Desperate Ravings
3 Dream Twist
1 Geistflame
2 Grasp of Phantoms
4 Harvest Pyre
1 Into the Maw of Hell
1 Rolling Templor
2 Think Twice
3 Devil's Play

What do you think? Feedback and comments are always welcome.

Great article!  I hope others aren't intimidated by what seems like a lot of text. It's really not, thought. Give it a read people! 📣

Not bad, not bad at all.

Thanks for stickying this. I'm planning to make this weekly after procrastinating for so long. I need suggestions! Suggestions fill the article with more provoking pieces of info.

Very nice! Keep 'em comin!

One thing - how do you do a poll? I might do a DA precon once Dark Ascension comes out.

Only Mods can chuck a poll up I think ... but we'll see what happens.

Love it bit how long does it take for you to write that

Love it bit how long does it take for you to write that

It takes around an hour to play the games. Usually I can get it done in 2 hours.

New one coming tonight if I don't get lazy

I got lazy. However, I have some strings of bad match reports. I am willing to playtest any of you guys' decks against Eldritch Onslaught v. 1.3. Anyone want to take a chance?

I got lazy. However, I have some strings of bad match reports. I am willing to playtest any of you guys' decks against Eldritch Onslaught v. 1.3. Anyone want to take a chance?

Yeah ill post a deck Im standard. It will be red black but i dont have a name yet.

K got a name Burnin Inferno