Ever since the new Eldrazi first appeared in Battle for Zendikar, there have been rumblings about an Eldrazi aggro deck. Between Vile Aggregate, Wasteland Strangler and other efficient Eldrazi threats, it seemed like there should’ve been something powerful going on, but the tools just weren’t there. Then Oath of the Gatewatch came out, and suddenly things seem like they might work out differently. Between powerful new cards like Thought-Knot Seer and Wasteland Strangler, combined with the Colorless mana incentives to take advantage of Blighted lands, we just might have an awesome new deck on our hands.

Mono-Black Eldrazi ? Oath of the Gatewatch Standard | Barry Woerner, 12th StarCityGames Open

• Creatures (24)
• 4 Bearer of Silence
• 4 Matter Reshaper
• 4 Reality Smasher
• 4 Reaver Drone
• 4 Thought-Knot Seer
• 4 Wasteland Strangler

• Spells (12)
• 1 Murderous Cut
• 4 Spatial Contortion
• 4 Transgress the Mind
• 3 Ghostfire Blade

• Lands (24)
• 5 Swamp
• 2 Blighted Fen
• 2 Mirrorpool
• 2 Ruins of Oran-Rief
• 2 Sea Gate Wreckage
• 3 Llanowar Wastes
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Crumbling Vestige

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Virulent Plague
• 2 Murderous Cut
• 2 Ultimate Price
• 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 3 Duress
• 1 Read the Bones
• 3 Self-Inflicted Wound

Buy This Deck

This deck has powerful creatures all the way up the curve from one to five. The cheaper threats like Bearer of Silence and Reaver Drone get in early hits, while Ruins of Oran-Rief and Ghostfire Blade keep your smaller creatures relevant as the game goes on. On top of that, you have heavy hitters like Reality Smasher at the top of the curve to punish decks trying to fight with midrange creatures and removal spells. Siege Rhino doesn’t match up especially well against Reality Smasher, and Murderous Cut doesn’t do much better.

The real strength of this deck is in its ability to run a giant pile of utility lands. Sea Gate Wreckage rewards you for emptying your hand in grindy matchups, which makes sweepers and removal spells much less punishing, and helps you keep up with cards like Painful Truths. Ruins of Oran-Rief keeps all of your creatures relevant as games go longer, and gives you a big edge in creature-based matchups, letting all of your creatures trade up or beat larger creatures outright. Additionally, cards like Blighted Fen are free ways to gain even more value in midrange matchups, and let you play enough lands to actually hit your five-drops without risking flooding out when games go long.

The hidden advantage to this deck is its ability to play painlands as colored and colorless sources. Barry has elected to be Black-based, and plays Caves of Koilos and Llanowar Wastes. It’s not a stretch to consider build a red-based deck with Vile Aggregate and Kolaghan's Command. No matter what color combination you’re looking to play, there are painlands to help you do it.

There’s a lot of power in this deck, and the utility lands may give it the flexibility it needs to evolve with the rest of the format.