So with the Pro Tour starting tomorrow im going to go over some of the cards from ELDRITCH MOON  I think will see play, and some that are worth a mention.

But before I go into all that, as this is my first article since joining the Troll Trader team, I would like to introduce myself and tell you all a little about me . So my names Will Hall , i’m 30 years old. I have been a Royal Marine Commando for the last 10 years, doing 2 tours in Afghanistan 1 tour in Iraq. I live in Devon by the sea! My favourite colour in magic is RED, because some people just want to watch the world burn! I’m not a fan of playing the best deck in the format, preferring to try attacking the best decks, although this can attitude can certainly annoy my team mates. I am one of the few tournament grinders based in the southwest, travelling pretty much everywhere to play in PPTQs and other big events. I must be close to holding the record for most PPTQ top 8’s without a win, having managed over 20 to date. Finally my favourite big name players are Tom ‘the boss’ Ross and Brad Nelson.

Now, on to the main article for today. With the Pro Tour imminent I have given quite alot of thought to what we can expect the players to be sleeving up for the constructed portion of the event. Primarily I am hoping for some new brews from the pros not just a predictable sea of Bant Collected Company decks! I expect to see this deck in significant numbers, and the reason for that is clear; the deck is a menace on the format and nobody has demonstrated a good enough way to attack it. But as I said in my introduction, attacking the best deck is what I am all about. Rather than waste more words repeating just how good Reflector Mage is or how broken Collected Company, I am instead going to look at how we can combat the deck with some of the brand new Eldritch Moon cards. After all, it is just a tempo deck, right?

The first card I want to talk about is Elder Deep-Fiend

Yes, the card is 8 mana. However, it does exactly what I want my 8 mana cards to do; it has flash, emerge and can tap 4 things down! So not only can we tap down the opponents lands or creatures end of turn to enable us to attack or prevent them from playing spells in our turn , but if they are threatening lethal we can use it defensively to tap potential attackers and possibly ambush a creature as well.

I have heard quite a few players talk about the Eldrazi Octopus as a control finisher, but for me this is not its strength! I like to watch the world burn. The synergy  between Elder Deep-Fiend and Kozilek’s Return is right up my street. It is not hard to set up scenarios where, after your opponent has cast Collected Company in your end step, you are able to flash in the Octopus during their upkeep, tap down their lands and use the Kozilek’s Return in your yard to wipe their board. After all this, you still have a giant 5/6 clogging up the board, big enough for it to be very hard for Coco decks to deal with. Their catch all answer, Reflector Mage, looks pretty bad in the face of this guy.

It is easier to power him out early as well, with creatures such as Eldrazi Skyspawner, Pilgrim’s Eye, Matter Reshaper and Cultivator Drone all available. Personally, I favour a 3 drop that generates mana, allowing for the Deep-Fiend to drop as early as turn 4 even without needing a 4th land! Whilst there are many options, I think the front runner is Eldrazi Skyspawner. Not only does he generate mana but provides an aerial threat, increasingly relevant with the number of planeswalkers around, not to mention the growing threat of flying spirits in both the Coco deck and a whole new deck of their very own!

Talking of spirits leads on nicely to my next card; Spell Queller.

Already in the first few weeks of the format this card has put up some big numbers. At SCG Columbus 20 of the top 32 decks ran at least three copies (most ran 4). I am not alone in expecting this card to show in droves at the Pro Tour. Its is a strong card that fits easily into many of the pre-existing format’s best decks. Not only is it great in Coco decks but is great against them! The past season has shown just how powerful the ability to play your game on your opponent’s turn can be. On top of all this, Spell Queller is great in a dedicated Blue-White spirits deck, whilst I do not believe anyone has hit upon the correct 75 yet, it is possible some teams have a version they are waiting to unleash on the pro tour.

My last pick for the day is the big eldrazi herself; Emarakul, the Promised End

Again it’s a massive casting cost creature that can sometimes be cheaper. The headline ability, taking control of your opponent’s turn, is fantastic, allowing you to severely damage their hand and board. Then after you have left them with a train wreck, they have to deal with a 13/13 flying trample very hard to kill monster!
I can see this card being great in a delirium shell. In these decks your easily playing him for 8-9 mana and possibly as low as 6 mana!!! Normally I am a fan of 1 and 2 drops in magic, but getting a card a strong as Emrakul into play for that mana cost is pretty much equal to winning the game. That is a price worth paying.

Now for some honourable mentions:

Nahiri’s Wrath
I think this may see some play as a 1 off. Killing creatures and using it as a madness outlet seems fun.

Distended Mindbender
The power level of this card is great, most times taking 2 cards from there hand, and in the worst case just 1. Late game it is not as good but still a 5/5 creature is just what you need at times.

Both Collective Brutality and Collective Defiance
I really like cards with different modes, meaning they hardly ever  dead cards in game 1. Both of these do that, with a wide variety of applicable abilities that could push them into some decks.

So, those are the cards I both expect and hope to see play at the Pro Tour. Do you disagree with my choices or have different cards you would love to see the pros playing with? Comment below and let me know.