Greetings, Commander enthusiasts! Eager to amplify the power of your Eldrazi Incursion preconstructed deck from Modern Horizons 3? You’ve come to the right place. If you’re just getting acquainted with this deck, be sure to check out our initial review to understand its core mechanics and gameplay.
Even in its pre-packaged form, Eldrazi Incursion stands out as a formidable deck, primarily due to its robust mana ramp and the sheer strength of its commander. However, every deck has untapped potential, and this one is no exception. Let’s delve into how we can elevate Eldrazi Incursion to new heights.
Decoding the Original Eldrazi Incursion Deck
Eldrazi Incursion distinguishes itself as a five-color deck, spearheaded by Ulalek, Fused Atrocity. Ulalek, a 2/5 Eldrazi, possesses a unique ability: by spending two mana whenever you cast an Eldrazi spell, you can duplicate all spells and abilities currently on the stack. For a creature type brimming with impactful cast triggers, this ability is exceptionally potent.
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
Azlask, the Swelling Scourge serves as the backup commander. Azlask, a 2/2 Eldrazi, rewards you with experience counters each time your colorless creatures meet their end. Furthermore, by expending one mana of each color, you can leverage these experience counters to bolster your creatures, granting them +1/+1 until the turn’s end for each counter you possess, and bestowing indestructible and annihilator 1 upon your Eldrazi Spawn and Scion tokens.
Azlask, the Swelling Scourge
Here is the original decklist for Eldrazi Incursion:
Eldrazi Incursion Precon Decklist
View the full decklist on Archidekt
Commander (1)
Creatures (29)
Instants (7)
Artifacts (14)
Sorceries (6)
Enchantments (4)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (38)
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
Buy this decklist from Card Kingdom
Buy this decklist on TCGplayer
Budget-Friendly Upgrades for Eldrazi Incursion
When it comes to precon upgrades, we typically categorize suggestions into budget-conscious (cards under $5) and non-budget options (cards exceeding $5).
This particular upgrade proved to be a unique challenge in the budget category. The Eldrazi creature type is often associated with higher-priced cards. Nevertheless, we’ve identified some cost-effective additions to significantly enhance your Eldrazi Incursion deck.
Given its tribal nature, incorporating synergistic tribal cards is a logical step. Kindred Discovery and Kindred Dominance stand out as premier choices. Kindred Discovery reigns supreme as a card draw engine for tribal strategies. With the abundance of Eldrazi Spawn and Scions this deck generates, coupled with Ulalek’s creature copying prowess, expect to draw a substantial portion of your deck. Kindred Dominance, on the other hand, serves as a potent board wipe, paving the way for your Eldrazi to dominate the battlefield.
Kindred Discovery
Kindred Dominance
Up the Beanstalk
To further amplify card advantage, we’re adding Up the Beanstalk and Kozilek’s Unsealing. Remember, both of these enchantments have cast triggers. This synergy means that when you cast an Eldrazi meeting their conditions, Ulalek’s ability will copy these triggers, effectively doubling your card draw. We also include Territory Culler, which provides additional Eldrazi card retrieval when you play lands, and From Beyond, a versatile enchantment that generates Scions and can be sacrificed to tutor for an Eldrazi creature.
To complement Ulalek’s copying ability, we introduce Twinning Staff and Abstruse Archaic. Twinning Staff will replicate any Eldrazi spell copies created by Ulalek, maximizing your spell duplication potential. Abstruse Archaic can copy any activated or triggered ability from a colorless source. Since Ulalek’s ability is triggered, with sufficient mana, Abstruse Archaic can essentially double the copying effect, leading to explosive turns.
Sarkhan’s Unsealing, while seemingly modest on its own, becomes more impactful when considering its cast trigger, which Ulalek can copy for extra damage. Lastly, Graveshifter, benefiting from the changeling ability and thus counting as an Eldrazi, allows for recursion of fallen Eldrazi creatures from your graveyard.
Twinning Staff
Abstruse Archaic
Liberator, Urza’s Battlethopter
Rounding out the budget upgrades are Liberator, Urza’s Battlethopter, granting you the flexibility to cast Eldrazi spells at instant speed, and Chromatic Lantern, ensuring smooth mana fixing and access to all colors needed for the five-color deck.
The following cards are being removed to make room for these budget upgrades: Suffer the Past, Warping Wail, Eldrazi Displacer, Kozilek’s Return, Inversion Behemoth, Sifter of Skulls, Ulamog’s Nullifier, Eldrazi Monument, Selective Obliteration, Ugin’s Insight, Dreamstone Hedron, Rishkar’s Expertise.
Here’s the updated budget-upgraded deck list:
Eldrazi Incursion Budget Upgrade Decklist
View the budget upgrade decklist on Archidekt
Commander (1)
Creatures (29)
Enchantments (9)
Instants (4)
Artifacts (14)
Sorceries (4)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (38)
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
Buy this budget upgrade decklist from Card Kingdom
Buy this budget upgrade decklist on TCGplayer
Considering further budget enhancements: Nazgûl Battle-Mace, Patriarch’s Bidding, Pathrazer of Ulamog.
High-Impact, Non-Budget Upgrades for Eldrazi Incursion
This section is where we unlock the truly explosive potential of this deck. But first, let’s address the colossal Eldrazi in the room: the Titans.
The Titans, iconic Eldrazi creatures of immense power, aren’t explicitly included in this upgrade guide. Should you incorporate them? Absolutely, if your budget allows. However, their exclusion stems from a couple of factors. Firstly, their hefty price tags, both monetarily and in terms of mana cost, can be prohibitive. Secondly, their legendary status diminishes the synergy with Ulalek’s copy ability, as creating legend rule duplicates might not be optimal. Nonetheless, if you aim for maximum Eldrazi devastation and possess the resources, adding titans like Ulamog, Kozilek, and Emrakul can certainly amplify the deck’s endgame.
Our premium upgrades begin with a legendary inclusion, and ironically, it’s not one of the Titans. Zhulodok, Void Gorger, the commander from the Eldrazi Unbound precon, is a game-changer. Zhulodok grants spells with mana value seven or greater cast from your hand two instances of cascade. Crucially, this is a cast trigger. When triggered by an Eldrazi spell, Ulalek can copy it, resulting in a staggering four cascade triggers! This cascade synergy generates immense value and card advantage.
Zhulodok, Void Gorger
Echoes of Eternity emerges as a powerhouse enchantment, particularly for decks centered around colorless spells and triggers. Doubling colorless triggers and copying colorless spells? It’s an incredibly potent effect that significantly amplifies the deck’s core strategy. Its sheer power level makes it an almost mandatory inclusion for maximizing the deck’s potential.
Echoes of Eternity
Cavern of Souls
Enhancing the mana base with premium lands is essential. Cavern of Souls is an almost automatic inclusion in tribal decks, ensuring your Eldrazi creatures resolve without counterspell interference if you have access to one. The newly introduced Ugin’s Labyrinth offers the potential to tap for two mana, accelerating your mana ramp. Urza’s Incubator, thankfully reprinted in Modern Horizons 3, but not in this precon, substantially reduces the cost of casting Eldrazi spells, effectively offsetting Ulalek’s ability cost. Conduit of Ruin serves a similar purpose, further reducing Eldrazi costs and tutoring for a crucial creature.
Kozilek’s Command replaces Eldrazi Confluence due to its status as an Eldrazi spell itself and its overall superior versatility and impact. Nulldrifter is included to provide additional card draw and utility through its evoke ability.
Kozilek’s Command
Flayer of Loyalties
It That Betrays
Our final high-impact additions are two formidable Eldrazi powerhouses. Flayer of Loyalties allows you to seize an opponent’s creature for a turn, transforming it into a 10/10 with trample and annihilator 2 for a devastating temporary threat. Then there’s It That Betrays, a 12-mana behemoth that steals permanents more permanently with its triggered ability. As the flavor text ominously states, “All will be harvested.”
To accommodate these non-budget upgrades, the following cards are removed: Ruins of Oran-Rief, Wastes, Imprisoned in the Moon, Liberator, Urza’s Battlethopter, Eldrazi Confluence, From Beyond, Graveshifter, Hedron Archive, Titans’ Vanguard, Morophon, the Boundless.
Here is the non-budget upgraded decklist:
Eldrazi Incursion Non-Budget Upgrade Decklist
View the non-budget upgrade decklist on Archidekt
Commander (1)
Creatures (30)
Artifacts (14)
Enchantments (8)
Instants (4)
Sorceries (4)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (38)
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
Buy this non-budget upgrade decklist from Card Kingdom
Further non-budget considerations: Animar, Soul of Elements, Temur Ascendancy, Darksteel Monolith.
Titans? Who Needs ‘Em?
This concludes our comprehensive upgrade guide for Eldrazi Incursion. We’ve significantly enhanced its card draw capabilities and introduced numerous methods to multiply copies of copies, maximizing the deck’s inherent strengths. While tribal decks aren’t always my preference, this Eldrazi iteration has genuinely sparked my enthusiasm, which is a testament to its inherent potential.
What are your thoughts on these upgrades? Did we optimize the deck effectively? Are there any cards we overlooked? And, the burning question: would you include the Titans? Share your insights in the comments below! Stay tuned for more Modern Horizons 3 precon explorations, right here on EDHREC.
Explore More Precon Upgrades:
Creative Energy Precon Upgrade Guide
Eldrazi Unbound – Upgrade Guide
Mirror Mastery – Riku Precon Upgrade
Andy Zupke
Andy’s been playing Magic since Fallen Empires. He enjoys traveling, good food and drinks, and spending time with loved ones.
