Evolving Precons - Eldritch Onslaught

Hello and welcome to another article of “Evolving Precons”! I’ll conjure up another bunch of games.

Game 7 - Countermayors

My opponent starts off things with a Mayor of Avabruck, while I have a Deranged Assistant. My opponent passes, flipping his Mayor. I play an Armored Skaab, while my opponent then gets a very scary Sword of Body and Mind. I play a Burning Vengeance, while my opponent churns out Garruk Relentless and puts a wolf token onto the battlefield.

I eventually kill the mayor with a double activation of the Burning Vengeance, but his Garruk and his sword take his toll on me, with my two Armored Skaabs. He eventually mills me out.

0-1 (2-5) (C’mon, let this deck win for once!)

Game 8 - Tezzeret Extractor

I play my signature turn 2 Deranged Assistant, while my opponent tries a Porcelain Legionnaire. It gets Harvest Pyre’d using the milled card with my assistant, and I feel like my deck can win for once.

He Gut Shots my Assistant, and I try a Armored Skaab. It gets Dismembered (god, I hate that card). I draw what seems and endless pocket of land, while my opponent is mana-screwed. He finally draws a land, then plays Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. He +1s, revealing a Pristine Talisman.

I do a Murder of Crows, while my opponent does something nifty - he uses the -1 ability on the Nexus, making him a 5/5 flying artifact creature with infect. Luckily, I have the Harvest Pyre to burn it to a crisp. He then uses Phyrexian Metamorph to copy my crows, but on my turn I Grasp of Phantoms it, then kill Tezzeret with my crows.

I have hope, but then he plays a Rage Extractor, then uses all of his Phyrexian Metamorphs to copy the extractors. I go from 20 to 12 to 0. He pulled out a win the last second.

0-2 (2-6) (Do you guys think that I’m playing against too-tough competition?)

Game 9 - Mono-Green Elves

My opponent gets a scary-fast start with T1 Forest, Llanowar Elves, T2 Llanowar Elves, Signal Pest, T4 attack (putting me down to 16), but I stabilize with an Armored Skaab. I soon destroy his forces with a Burning Vengeance, soon casting a flashback spell to kill one of his creatures.

I cast Think Twice and Into the Maw of Hell, while my opponent tries a Dungrove Elder. The burn soon ravages my opponents’ forces...

...Yet still, he continues playing with his 1 land and easily to-dispatch creatures. He can get away with it, too: I’m just doing parlor tricks with flashback. However, soon, I get out Murder of Crows, and his wee ground forces look bad compared to my flock. I keep attacking until I topdeck a satisfying Devil’s Play to the face.

1-2 (3-6)

Yessir, this thing needs improving. Let’s make it a lean, mean, U/R machine. No more 1-2s!

Let’s check out the original decklist for a bit...


Eldritch Onslaught 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 Temblor
2 Think Twice
3 Devil's Play

Let me shift some gears a bit.

OUT: 1 Scourge of Geier Reach
It’s not bad, but it’s just expensive. I have only drew it once (Game 9), and I discarded it for the max hand size rule. Basically, we can run better fatties than this.

OUT: 1 Into the Maw of Hell
It’s just expensive and doesn’t fit within our theme. Land destruction is not needed in this deck, and we have enough burn already. I’ve been on a crackdown on “expensive spells”, since then it increased our mana curve. Cut.

OUT: 2 Grasp of Phantoms
Yes, I know that it has done some sick things for me. However, I just feel like it should be kept in the sideboard at best, for dealing with high-toughness threats. The problem with Grasp is that it’s so slow, and it only delays a creature momentarily.

OUT: 2 Curse of the Bloody Tome
So what happened with this mill engine? Four words: Our deck got better. I tightened up the burn and mana issues with the deck, and the mill suite on your opponent should be all but forgotten.

OUT: 1 Geistflame
This is something that I might put back in. I haven’t gotten the chance to use it that much yet and I want to play with some other cards first. I believe that the ‘flame will most likely end up back in this deck or in the sideboard. It just needs to be more consistent - needs to be a 4-of to be useful.

OUT: 1 Think Twice
I just feel like Desperate Ravings is the much more better draw spell. Being able to draw two, then flashback is very powerful. I will keep a miser’s copy in the deck, but don’t be surprised if I happen to drop this altogether.

Now that I’ve cut some hanging on the thread-cards, let me unveil some new changes:

IN: 1 Burning Vengeance
The Vengeance is something that we need as a 4-of. It’s just too strong - see when it wrecked Elves? It also gets better as you draw more of them.

IN:  2 Desperate Ravings
The Ravings is very powerful. I feel like they should be a 4-of since they provide so much gas for the deck.

IN: 1 Dream Twist
The Twist is very good in this deck. It gets us more flashback gas for the Vengeance and lets you also flashback this. I have never been sad drawing this - it’s basically a draw spell.

IN: 2 Rolling Temblor
The only cards in this deck that die to the Temblor are the Assistants, and those were designed to die anyways. The Temblor is another card that I want to see more in action.


IN: 1 Runechanter’s Pike
Another rare? The Pike is something that can be very good with all of our instants and sorceries lying there in the graveyard. In addition, the Pike can make any of our creatures legitimate threats, and it’s pretty cheap too.

IN: 1 Mountain
I feel like this deck should have more land. It’s very mana-hungry with the flashback spells and all of our important spells being near the three-drop spot. Simply put, this is an aggro-control deck; those decks need 25 land.

Now let’s run it through..

Eldritch Onslaught v.1.3

Land
13 Island
12 Mountain
Creatures
4 Armored Skaab
1 Charmbreaker Devils
4 Deranged Assistant
2 Murder of Crows
Other Spells
4 Burning Vengeance
4 Desperate Ravings
4 Dream Twist
4 Harvest Pyre
3 Rolling Temblor
1 Think Twice
3 Devil's Play
1 Runechanter’s Pike

As always, hit me up on the comments if you have any suggestions or feedback. Next week, I will be playtesting this deck against some Standard decks featured on the Standard forum, so please check in with a deck you’d like to see played. I have one slot open - the early bird takes the cake!

Play me with burnin inferno
Please

I expected my puresteel to be on here ah that's alright though, it looks like its coming along well, my friend runs a deck just like this only he gives the option of milling the opponent or burning them

Next game report will feature those decks. Don't lose hope!

Next game report will feature those decks. Don't lose hope!

Ima confident.

I will do this tomorrow.

Sorry for getting lazy; I have these games all written to my hard drive. I will probably update this sometime in this week.

Welcome to yet another edition of Evolving Precons! This week is quite special - I’ve taken some decks from the Standard forum and tested them against our humble Eldritch Onslaught. I have done this for two reasons. One, it’s a chance to see your deck in action, and two, these decks might be more prevalent at your local FNM. Lets go!

Game 10 - Queezle’s Burnin’ Inferno

I get ouched by a Chancellor of the Dross. My opponent then gets out a Furnace Scamp, while I find a Deranged Assistant. He attacks, and I block in order not to get dinged to 14 life. He then plays a Fiery Hellhound, I play an Armored Skaab. He then tries a Parasitic Implant on my Skaab.

He gets a Myr token, then goes aggro, attacking with all of his creatures. I block the Hellhound with my Skaab, then he gets out a bloodthirsted Stormblood Berserker. He then swings again on his next turn, but I kill the Hellhound with a Runechanter’s Pike drew the turn before. My life total is at 12, then plays an Iron Myr, guaranteeing a Chancellor of the Dross play if I don’t kill the Myr.

Luckily, I get a Rolling Temblor and 2-for-1 his creatures, leaving only behind the Berserker. He then gets out a scary Tower of Calamities, but luckily he is only at 6 mana. He then almost catches me with a Fireball to the face, leaving me at a 1.

My Devils catch up, though. I play a Harvest Pyre, killing the Berserker, then flashback two Dream Twists from my graveyard. My Devils are now at an impressive 16/4, and I swing for lethal.

1-0 (4-6)

Game 11 - Validan’s Bluesteel

Since I have lots of early spells, I reluctantly keep a one-land hand. My opponent gets off to a lightning-fast start with three artifacts on turn two (Silver-Inlaid Dagger, Flayer Husk, Sylvok Lifestaff). I burn out the Germ, while my opponent casts a Puresteel Paladin and equips everything, making the Paladin a 5/3 creature that gains you three life when he dies. He then gets out a Sword of Body and Mind and proceeds to do lots of damage, make a token, and mills me. Luckily, he walks right into my trap when I Harvest Pyre the Paladin.

I soon then “stabilize”, Rolling Tembloring the token, while my we trade answers. He then finds another Paladin and equips everything to his 1/1 spirit, then passes (Editor’s Note: I have found that I made a play error here, not noticing the protection from blue. Sorry!) (he doesn’t want to trade his token for a Murder of Crows I had cast before). I mill myself a bit, then find a Runechanter’s Pike and cast it. He knows that if I get the Pike on my Crows then I would have effectively won, so we trade (him getting 3 life and me looting). I can’t do anything about the Paladin now (the most damage I could do was 4 to the Paladin), so he bashes me until I’m at 1. I can finally burn out the Paladin now, but the token finishes me off.

1-1 (4-7)

Game 12 - Spirited Away’s Innistrad Spirited Away

Once again, I keep a one-land hand that has all sorts of yummy things, like Runechanter’s Pike. However, I fail to draw land and my opponent gets in on the aggro.

Eventually, I draw land and stabilize with an Armored Skaab and the Assistant. My opponent still has that intimidate Spectral Rider, though. He keeps bashing (aided by his Curiosity) and counters my Pike. He then casts a 5/5 Geist-Honored Monk, while I try to dig for a Mountain with a Desperate Ravings. I find one and Harvest Pyre the Monk away. However, he then trys an Adaptive Automaton, sinking in. I am now at 2 life. I pay three mana for a Devil’s Play, but my opponent counters it. I am lost.

1-2 (4-8)

I’m actually quite a bit disappointed right now. I was expecting for it to take 2-1. Maybe it’s just because I made too many play mistakes (kept 1-land hands), but I have a couple of changes in mind.



Eldritch Onslaught v.1.3

Land
13 Island
12 Mountain
Creatures
4 Armored Skaab
1 Charmbreaker Devils
4 Deranged Assistant
2 Murder of Crows
Other Spells
4 Burning Vengeance
4 Desperate Ravings
4 Dream Twist
4 Harvest Pyre
3 Rolling Temblor
1 Think Twice
3 Devil's Play
1 Runechanter’s Pike

OUT: 2 Murder of Crows
Why remove the Crows? They are our only good wincon and are extremely resilient. The looting can be helpful too. The problem with the Crows is that they are weak compared to other 5 or 6 drops. I bet that we can find better win cons than this.

OUT: 1 Think Twice
The Ravings is just a better draw spell. Sorry, TT, but you were outclassed. I knew that I should have Thought Twice though in the last game, but hindsight is 20/20.

OUT: 1 Devil’s Play
The Play is just a bit too mana-intensive for my tastes. It’s fine at killing players, but Harvest Pyre is just so much better when killing creatures. I would rather use this space for something else.

OUT: 4 Deranged Assistant
What? I’m removing something I added? The problem with is Assistant is that it’s just too slow for my tastes. Sure, it mills and gets out mana, but the problem with that is that I find that I don’t need the mana anymore or the mill becomes marginal. I have a much better 1/1 in mind.

OUT: 2 Island
I’ve found that I have been mana-screwed for Mountains the past couple games, so I feel compelled to kill some Islands. Don’t worry, I have some replacements.

Now that we’ve cut the chaff, what else do we have?

IN: 4 Delver of Secrets
You guys knew it was coming. The Delver is simply just dominating entire formats right now. It’s killing. It should be in our deck. We have so many instants and sorceries that this should have been an auto-include from the start.

IN: 1 Shimmering Grotto
I am currently using the Grotto instead of Sulfur Falls. If you have copies of the land, then I urge you to use them. They are very good in this deck. For the Grotto, I’m using this to flashback...

IN: 2 Ancient Grudge
Yup. The Grudges are very, very good in this deck, I believe. One, it’s flashback. Two, it kills artifacts, which we really need. The flashback cost is cheap, but the mana is out of our range. We can fix that by adding the Grotto to the deck.

IN: 1 Mountain
Less color-screw.

IN: 2 Runechanter’s Pike
You guys know that I get excited for the Pike. I do. The Pike is a godsend in the deck for pumping our creatures and putting them into kill range. Very, very strong.


Eldritch Onslaught v. 1.4
Land
11 Island
13 Mountain
1 Shimmering Grotto
Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Armored Skaab
1 Charmbreaker Devils
Other Spells
4 Burning Vengeance
4 Desperate Ravings
4 Dream Twist
4 Harvest Pyre
3 Rolling Temblor
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Devil's Play
3 Runechanter’s Pike

See you guys next week! On the topic of Dark Ascension, I will possibly be revisiting the deck. I will construct a new poll - what Dark Ascension intro pack do you want me to tinker with? Leave your comments!

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Good stuff!

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Good stuff!

The next matchup essay is going to be the last for this deck. I'm going onto a different one as soon as I'm finished with this one.

Vote in the Poll!

Yeah looks great I like the way you're improving things methodically

Yeah looks great I like the way you're improving things methodically

No problem. Sorry about the play mistake though in your deck. I just felt really clever when I Harvest Pyre'd your Paladin from the milled cards.

One question, How are you playing against user made decks?

One question, How are you playing against user made decks?

Yes, I am.

Quote from: AdventBlood on January 29, 2012, 01:23:04 AM

One question, How are you playing against user made decks?

Yes, I am.

*How