I like EDH decks that really think outside the box, to borrow a hackneyed cliché. I've played against a colorless deck once or twice, the first time being a Karn, Silver Golem deck being piloted by a literal Viking nicknamed 'Skids.' The deck was capable of doing some pretty silly things and I kind of like the idea of a colorless deck.

That being said, I've become enthralled by the idea of an Eldrazi as a general. This means we have one of three options, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, or Kozilek, the Butcher of Truth. The question we really need to ask ourselves here is do I want to be able to Tidings, Vindicate, or Time Walk on demand. It's a pretty tricky choice! In a vacuum, Time Walk wins hands down. The question one needs to ask ourselves is how large the difference is between ten, eleven, and fifteen mana.

I feel that Emrakul is going to be problematic as a general. The whole idea of being able to take an extra turn at will frustrates players in a group game. I think that Emrakul is going to paint a bigger target than we would really like when staring down multiple players. Ulamog is probably a slightly better choice. Being able to Vindicate whatever problem permanent is in play is certainly a plus and I do like the idea of an Indestructible general. There is of course an argument to be made for Kozilek. He has an awesome name (the only Eldrazi that I didn't have to rename). He also lets you draw cards, which is a big plus. The downside is that I feel like drawing cards is really just looking for an answer, one which Ulamog can probably provide all by himself. The best argument of course, is the fact that Ulamog (Squid of Justice!) will not die to my Oblivion Stone and Nevinyrral's Disk, both of which are sure to be included.

With a general in mind, we now turn our attention to the supporting cards. We are playing an artifact deck and I think I would be remiss if I didn't try to cram as much cheap accel in as possible! Quick artifact mana will be the lynchpin of the deck, helping us to unload Eldrazi monstrosities much earlier than is legal or fair. Maybe I'm just silly and it could be the Crown Royal talking, but I like the idea of turn 4 Emrakul/Kozilek! The earlier these guys start bashing face the better of we'll be. There is so much quick mana accel that instead of listing it here separately I will partition the deck into the various components when I present the final list.

A big issue that an artifact only deck can have is the inability to deal with certain types of cards (I'm looking at you enchantments!). It's only fair then to run as much removal as is humanly possible, which is still unfortunately not a large amount. All is Dust is a great catch-all type card, as are Oblivion Stone and of course Nevinyrral's Disk. Aside from those we also have the added advantage of our general being a great piece of spot removal! When times get tough we can always look to the general to help clear the way.

As far as actual kill conditions go I think the creature package in the deck will speak for itself. There are a few of the token fatties (the Eldrazis), a good piece of removal (Duplicant) and then a few just for fun guys who have a little utility attached. I figure that with the abilities of the Eldrazi titans, as I've heard them called, to shuffle my win conditions back into my library I shouldn't have too much trouble. If things get really hairy then there's always the old school Riptide Replicator, or the even older school Phyrexian Processor to hold down the fort.

As far as fun cards go this deck has more than its fair share. There are Urzatron pieces (more about the lands in a sec), super big Eldrazi creatures, splashy artifacts and best of all Helm of Obedience! There are also a few nice pieces of graveyard removal in effect, both of which cantrip, and of course lots of tutoring type effects. If drawing cards is your thing then this deck has a little something for you too! There were a surprising number of efficient card drawing effects that are both artifacts and reusable. With all of the obvious bases covered I even managed to sneak a few fun cards in for myself, as some sentimental favorites joined the party.

And now the trickiest topic, lands. In order for this deck to be true to spirit it needs to have nothing but lands that produce colorless mana. That is much more difficult than it seems! I've seen similar decks that run the Panorama lands with no targets to find and I tried to avoid going that route. There are still a few lands of that nature in the deck, but for the better part I tried to dodge using lands that didn't have some sort of alternate purpose for our plans. Unfortunately, what this also means is that a resolved Tsabo's Web is really bad news, so be on the lookout! If you think the web is coming then be sure to hold back an answer or else your game can be over pretty quickly.

Without further ado, here is the deck I've created, broken down in a few fun categories:

[cardlist][General]

1 Ulamog, Squid of Justice

[/General]

[Land]

1 Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai

1 Tendo Ice Bridge

1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea

1 Miren, the Moaning Well

1 Ghost Quarter

1 Gemstone Caverns

1 Urza's Factory

1 Vesuva

1 Desert

1 Cloudpost

1 Zoetic Cavern

1 Mutavault

1 Springjack Pasture

1 Reliquary Tower

1 Eldrazi Temple

1 Eye of Ugin

1 Temple of the False God

1 City of Traitors

1 Maze of Ith

1 Mishra's Factory

1 Mishra's Workshop

1 Urza's Mine

1 Urza's Tower

1 Urza's Power Plant

1 Strip Mine

1 Wasteland

1 Dust Bowl

1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

1 Quicksand

1 Ancient Tomb

1 Lotus Vale

1 Crystal Vein

1 Rishadan Port

1 Petrified Field

[/Land]

[Artifact Acceleration]

1 Helm of Awakening

1 Worn Powerstone

1 Mind Stone

1 Mana Vault

1 Sol Ring

1 Grim Monolith

1 Mana Crypt

1 Thran Dynamo

1 Gilded Lotus

1 Blinkmoth Urn

1 Everflowing Chalice

1 Dreamstone Hedron

[/Artifact Acceleration]

[Removal]

1 Smokestack

1 Nevinyrral's Disk

1 Powder Keg

1 Juntu Stakes

1 Meekstone

1 Leonin Bladetrap

1 Oblivion Stone

1 All is Dust

[/Removal]

[Creatures]

1 Copper Gnomes

1 Masticore

1 Junk Diver

1 Duplicant

1 Myr Retriever

1 Scarecrone

1 Lodestone Golem

1 It that Betrays

1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

[/Creatures]

[Tutoring/Card Drawing]

1 Thran Tome

1 Howling Mine

1 Scroll Rack

1 Planar Portal

1 Mind's Eye

1 Serum Tank

1 Tower of Fortunes

1 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Expedition Map

[/Tutoring/Card Drawing]

[Miscellaneous]

1 Chimeric Staff

1 Temporal Aperture

1 Phyrexian Processor

1 Riptide Replicator

1 Jester's Mask

1 Sphere of Resistance

1 Voltaic Key

1 Whetstone

1 Phyrexian Furnace

1 Forcefield

1 Crawlspace

1 Echo Chamber

1 Gate to the Aether

1 Myr Incubator

1 Quicksilver Fountain

1 Scrabbling Claws

1 Sculpting Steel

1 Darksteel Forge

1 Vedalken Orrery

1 Grinning Totem

1 Cloud Key

1 Whetwheel

1 Rings of Brighthearth

[/Miscellaneous]

[Favorites!]

1 Helm of Obedience

1 Mindslaver

1 Thought Dissector

[/Favorites!]

[/cardlist]

As you can plainly see the deck has quite a lot of fun things going for it. There are a lot of our old favorites coming back to play, and some new favorites joining the party. Possibly the best thing about the deck is the emergence of Thought Dissector. Helm of Obedience is one of my favorite EDH cards and Thought Dissector is almost identical, a happy find indeed!

Trick has asked me to help out on an upcoming ManaNation project, I can't say what it is, but I'm really excited about it. So that's it for this week! Come back next week when I take a shot at making a token deck, I'm thinking Thallids...

Until then, this is Benjamin McDole giving you a hundred reasons to play Magic!