By Melissa DeTora
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Melissa is a former Magic pro player and strategy writer who is now working in R&D on the Play Design team.
Grand Prix Quebec City took place last weekend, and my favorite deck of the tournament was Eldrazi Green. This deck was piloted by a number of pro players at the event, including Jake Mondello, who took it to a Top 4 finish. Eldrazi Green is a ramp strategy that tries to get numerous lands into play as quickly as possible in order to cast huge spells much earlier than usual. Jake chose to play Nissa's Pilgrimage, Map the Wastes, and Explosive Vegetation to kick-start his mana base, and Hedron Archive to get some additional colorless mana and also draw a few extra cards in a pinch.
So what can you do with all of these extra lands? Jake's big spells are huge value plays that will gain you significant card advantage when they enter the battlefield. Dragonlord Atarka can take care of your opponent's creatures and planeswalkers while leaving you with a massive 8/8 flyer. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon can clear the board and then stick around to deal even more damage. Finally, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is a card that can close out a game by itself. Not only can it clear away your opponent's best two permanents (including lands—take that, four-color decks!), but it can win the game with only a few hits. Ulamog doesn't even have to deal any damage to your opponent, as he exiles the top 20 cards from your opponent's library with each declared attack.
Every ramp deck needs support spells, and this deck has some great ones. The one that I'd like to call out is Jaddi Offshoot. This little guy was a powerhouse in our Future Future League ramp decks, as it can block early creatures and also gain you enough life to survive to the point where you can play your big spells. I'm really glad to see it in a premier-level deck.
Another card I was happy to see was Sanctum of Ugin. Many groans were made when players opened this card at the Battle for Zendikar Prerelease—but having played it internally, I knew that it had some serious potential. This land ensures that you will never run out of gas, as you can find an Ulamog after you've cast your first one.
Jake Mondello's Eldrazi Green
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