Locations
Welcome back! If you didn't catch the previous article where I went over the first eight of the best Eldrazi, be sure and check that one out first! If you've already done that, we can just dive right in and continue with our list.
These should all be in alphabetical order, because ranking 16 different Eldrazi (or 22 if you count all the individual Titans) by their value seems like a daunting task for a list that is already quite subjective.
To clarify, I think these are the best Eldrazi cards, and not necessarily my favorites; that's a list I will be making and going over in the near future, so if you're interested in my personal top Eldrazi picks, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that.
Without further ado, let's begin!
Nulldrifter
Considering how popular Mulldrifter is, one of Magic's most beloved bird...things, it's no wonder Nulldrifter was a slam dunk. The evoke cost is the same, but if you want to spend two more mana to hardcast it, you get a 44 flyer with annihilator 1. That's just wild. The best part about Nulldrifter is that it doesn't require any colorless mana to cast it, so it's just an obvious Divination in any deck that needs that kind of effect with a much cooler body stapled on.
Reality Smasher
Reality Smasher is number two of the Infamous Three Eldrazi that are midrange all-stars. While a 5/5 with haste for five mana isn't mind blowing, the fact that this was an Eldrazi and could be cast off of cards like Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin often made it much less than five mana. When you were casting this guy on turn three in Modern, after a Thought-Knot Seer on turn two, it was no wonder the Oath of the Gatewatch Pro Tour Top 8 had six Eldrazi decks in it. These guys were practically unstoppable with the mana available.
Sire of Seven Deaths
I believe Sire of Seven Deaths is the most recent Eldrazi that's been printed, and as such, it's a shockingly cool one. With all the abilities on this guy, I totally understand why haste isn't one of them. With a ward cost of seven life, if you're able to kill this guy with removal, if it even gets a single attack in, you've already lost 14 life. From a design standpoint, if your opponent is able to kill it before it can attack, it's essentially the same as it having pseudo-haste and dealing seven damage. Does that make sense? Also, come on, this guy doesn't need another ability!
Sowing Mycospawn
Sowing Mycospawn has found a consistent home in formats like Modern and Pioneer. Acting as a Reap and Sow on a 3/3 creature, the Mycospawn searching out a Tron piece while getting rid of vital land of your opponent's can be a scary proposition.
Additionally, the Mycospawn has the two best versions of its abilities: it can search for any land, and puts it directly into play untapped, and it can exile any land. It doesn't have to get basics. They don't come into play tapped. It exiles the opponent's land so they can't get it back. And it doesn't have to only hit a specific type of land. This card was slightly pushed, and it definitely shows, since it was recently banned in Legacy.
Thought-Knot Seer
The final component of the Midrange Three, and my favorite by far. I think Thought-Knot Seer is the most versatile of the three. A 4/4 for four mana is just a classically statted creature, but his ability to rip a card out of the opponent's hand and dismantle their strategy can be extremely oppressive.
You can compare it to a more recent card like Oildeep Gearhulk. They both cost four mana. They're both 4/4s. They both let you look at someone's hand and remove a card. Despite requiring colorless, the Seer is arguably easier to cast in a lot of situations, and the fact that the opponent doesn't get their card back until they kill the Thought-Knot Seer is kind of a big deal. The upside of the Gearhulk is the lifelink and ward, but the ward is admittedly kind of weak here.
Assuming lands that produce colorless are still around, I think TKS will continue to withstand the test of time.
The Ulamogs
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The last of the three titans! I would say Ulamog is the second most competitively played behind Emrakul, with the Ceaseless Hunger defining the Standard format he was legal in for a while; Aetherworks Marvel was a heckuva card. Ulamog, the Defiler is the newest iteration of the tentacled monstrosity, and he's also seen a great deal of Modern play so far.
While it's kind of a toned-down version of pervious Ulamogs - ward is not indestructibility and exiling half a library is not the same as exiling 20 cards per attack - it's safe to assume you'll at least hit a four-drop, making the Defiler an 11/11, and giving it annihilator 4. The fact that annihilator could be up to six or seven though is just *chef's kiss*.
World Breaker
World Breaker feels like it wants to be an Eldrazi titan, and he's just soooo close. In fact I think World Breaker is the most expensive, rare Eldrazi that sees play that isn't one of the titans. While we have Devourer of Destiny seeing play now, back in the day (and even currently) World Breaker was doing work. One of the best benefits of World Breaker is that it just keeps coming back, turn after turn, so long as you have the lands to sacrifice, and the colorless mana.
Writhing Chrysalis
This one is kind of the dark horse of the list. Writhing Chrysalis was an absolute house in the Modern Horizons 3 Limited formats, and decks with multiples were often seen at the top tables. This card was disgusting, creating three bodies for four mana, and giving you at least a 4/5 creature, if not larger, thanks to the built-in mana creatures in Eldrazi Spawn.
Then something wild happened. The Chrysalis started seeing heavy play in Modern Eldrazi decks! This still kind of surprises me, but it's been a four-of in several top-placing Eldrazi decks in Modern, so who am I to argue?
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
