Welcome back, friends! We’re humming along with the the Modern Horizons 3 precon guides here on EDHREC, and today we’re diving into the deck with everyone’s favorite Lovecraftian creature type. It’s Eldrazi Incursion, led by Ulalek, Fused Atrocity.

Who Are the Commanders for Eldrazi Incursion?

Ulalek is a five-mana, five-color Eldrazi. Each mana symbol in its cost is a hybrid of colorless and one of the five colors. So you could spend five colorless mana to cast it, or one of each color, or literally a thousand different mixes of colored and colorless mana. It has devoid, so it’s technically a colorless spell/permanent, but for Commander purposes its color identity is all colors. And whenever you cast an Eldrazi spell, you can pay two colorless mana to copy all spells and abilities you have on the stack. 

This is going to do a lot more than just copy your Eldrazi creatures. For example, if you get a trigger from casting a creature spell (e.g., Animar, Soul of Elements, Beast Whisperer), you can put that trigger on the stack before Ulalek’s trigger, and then pay the two to copy that trigger as well. And several Eldrazi have cast triggers themselves, like Wastescape Battlemage, Artisan of Kozilek, and the infamous Emrakul, the Promised End (not in the precon, obvs). Also keep in mind that not all Eldrazi spells are creatures, and those spells also trigger Ulalek. So you can go nuts with putting a bunch of activated abilities and instant spells on the stack, then cast an Eldrazi instant spell like Kozilek’s Command or even a Crib Swap, and pay the two to copy everything. This gets even crazier if you can cast all your spells at instant speed with Leyline of Anticipation or Vedalken Orrery (neither of which is in the precon).

Okay, got all that? If this is your first Commander deck…good luck to you.

Our backup commander is, thankfully, a bit more straightforward. Azlask, the Swelling Scourge is a 2/2 Eldrazi for three mana that gives you experience counters whenever colorless creatures you control die. It also has an activated ability that costs one of each color of mana. It gives all creatures you control +1/+1 until end of turn for each experience counter you have, and all your cute little Eldrazi Spawn and Scion tokens will get indestructible and annihilator 1 (whenever a creature with annihilator attacks, the defending player has to sacrifice a number of permanents equal to the annihilator value).

Here’s the deck list for Eldrazi Incursion:

What Are the Themes and Strategies of the Deck?

Eldrazi. Next.

Just kidding, we’ve got a bit more to discuss here. Of all the typal precons Wizards has done in the past, this one stays most true to its creature type. There is not one creature in this deck that isn’t an Eldrazi, aside from Morophon, the Boundless, who has changeling and therefore also technically counts as Eldrazi. With this kind of dedication, one would expect more typal staples to be present, like Kindred Discovery and Kindred Dominance. Strangely, that’s not the case here (but keep an eye out for them in my Upgrade Guide). No, this deck relies far more heavily on the inherent strengths of the Eldrazi creature type.

One of those strengths is the cast triggers, as I mentioned earlier. These can be hugely beneficial, since they’ll happen whether or not the spell resolves. And with Ulalek on the board, they can be doubly potent - if you have the extra two mana of course. The other strength is that most of the spells are technically colorless, even if they have colored mana in their costs, due to the devoid ability. This comes into play with cards like Ugin, the Ineffable, Glaring Fleshraker, Ancient Stirrings, All Is Dust, Mystic Forge, and Forsaken Monument.

Eldrazi are also known for being huge, both in power and in cost. The deck takes advantage of this through cards like Return of the Wildspeaker, Garruk’s Uprising, Ugin’s Insight, and Rishkar’s Expertise. But the big Eldrazi aren’t the only ones that matter here. Let’s not forget all the little baby Eldrazi, in the form of Spawn and Scion tokens. Glaring Fleshraker not only makes you a Spawn whenever you cast a colorless spell, it also hits each opponent for one damage when a colorless creature enters your battlefield. Sifter of Skulls makes you a Scion when your nontoken creatures die. Skittering Invasion makes five Spawn for the cost of seven mana. And Awakening Zone makes you a Spawn on your upkeeps. 

How Do You Play Eldrazi Incursion?

With an average mana value of 4.44, you might think this precon would struggle to get going - other precons with this high of an AMV usually do. But this precon ain’t messing around. I count 24 cards in the deck that we can consider to be some form of ramp. This includes mana rocks, of which there are nine, Spawn/Scion makers (eight), cost reducers (four), and even a mana creature (Snapping Voidcraw), a card that steals lands (Oblivion Sower) and a mana increaser (Forsaken Monument). And this doesn’t even count lands that give you double mana, like Eldrazi Temple and Shrine of the Forsaken Gods (somehow Temple of the False God is missing). It also helps (a lot) that Ulalek is so stupidly easy to cast. In several playtests I had it out by turn three.

This is all to say, don’t let the high mana cost fool you; this deck can punch. It might take you a turn or two longer than more mana-efficient decks, but once Ulalek is online and copying your Eldrazi spells, you will be the threat. Just make sure to keep a good opening hand. You will need ramp early, and there’s plenty of it to be had. So mulligan wisely. Keep in mind that all of your Eldrazi spells basically cost two more mana than what’s on the card, because everything is worth copying with Ulalek.

Beyond that, the deck pretty much flies on auto-pilot. Get as many Eldrazi on the board as you can, including Spawn and Scion tokens, and get to work reducing life totals. But keep in mind that this deck is especially trigger-heavy. Ulalek isn’t the only card that takes a few reads to comprehend, so take your time.

One flaw in the playability is a lack of cheap card draw. Because of this, prioritize getting Idol of Oblivion and Garruk’s Uprising on the board ASAP to keep the cards coming. You won't have trouble activating Ido, whether you’re making Spawn/Scion tokens or copying creatures with Ulalek.

What Are the New Cards in Eldrazi Incursion?

Each of the Modern Horizons 3 precons comes with 13 new cards, in addition to the new commanders. As you might expect, the new cards here are packed with powerful Eldrazi spells. 

First up is the creature that got my “possibility gears” spinning the most, and that’s Mutated Cultist. This 1/3 Eldrazi Horror removes all counters from one permanent or opponent, then discounts your next spell one mana for each counter removed this way. My initial thought was to load up a creature with a ton of +1/+1 counters, cast Mutated Cultist, then follow that up with a gigantic Torment of Hailfire or Exsanguinate. Then Twitter reminded me that Dark Depths exists. This card can do some crazy fun things, but it can also just do useful things, like powering down a creature with a bunch of counters, killing a planeswalker, or knocking back the energy player.

Chittering Dispatcher gets in on the token action by giving you a Spawn when it leaves the battlefield. This doesn’t seem particularly good, except for that it also has myriad, meaning it makes token copies of itself when you attack with it, and those tokens will leave the battlefield at end of combat. There’s also Spawnbed Protector, which returns an Eldrazi creature from your graveyard to your hand at your end step and makes two Scions. Since Eldrazi get hated off the board quickly, this will come in handy. And for something really fun to do with all those Spawn and Scion tokens you’ve made, we’ve got Angelic Aberration. When it enters the battlefield, you can turn all of your creatures with base power or toughness one or less into 4/4 Eldrazi Angels with flying and vigilance. Quite the glow-up! This could see a lot of play in small token decks, like Cadira, Caller of the Small or Thalisse, Reverent Medium. It’ll also be a powerhouse with Bess, Soul Nourisher.

Spawn and Scions aren’t the only tokens this deck can make. Ulamog’s Dreadsire can make a 10/10 every time you untap with it. Again - a 10/10 every time you untap with it. Seedborn Muse is calling. Terror of the Peaks is on the other line. Intruder Alarm is in the background going “Gurrrrrrl.”

Hideous Taskmaster is the Eldrazi equivalent of Molten Primordial, borrowing one creature for each opponent when it enters, except in this case those borrowed creatures also get annihilator 1. Benthic Anomaly also looks at your opponents’ creatures when you cast it, but instead of stealing them gives you a token copy of one of them with power and toughness equal to the total power and toughness of the chosen creatures. For just seven mana, you’re likely to get something incredible, in addition to the 7/8 Serpent.

Bismuth Mindrender doesn’t have a cast trigger, but its combat damage trigger is pretty sweet. When it hits an opponent, you exile cards from their library until you hit a nonland, then you can cast that card using your life instead of mana. Kind crappy in the late game if your life is low, but playing with your opponents’ cards is one of the most fun ways to play (IMO). To help make sure Mindrender is getting there, we’ve got Twins of Discord. This one lets you choose odd or even when you attack, and creatures with the chosen mana value can’t block this turn. There’s also the added bonus of bloodthirst 2, which gives your creatures two +1/+1 counters when they enter if an opponent was dealt damage this turn. In an Isshin, Two Heavens as One deck, you can copy the attack trigger to choose both odd and even and stop all blocks.

Our last new creature is the only dud in the whole bunch, and that’s Inversion Behemoth. I just don’t see a lot of usefulness here. Flipping a 7/8 to an 8/7 gets you an extra point of damage, but is that worth a whole card slot? It’ll turn Ulalek into a 5/2, but that also makes it much easier to kill. On the plus side, it absolutely wrecks Wall decks. Could also be useful with things that like to target, like Horobi, Death’s Wail, Nadu, Winged Wisdom, or cards that care about committing a crime. 

We’ve got a few noncreature spells to talk about as well. Eldritch Immunity is a kindred Eldrazi spell, meaning it’ll trigger Ulalek's ability to copy it. But you probably won’t even need to, since you’re likely to just overload it and give all your creatures protection from all colors until end of turn. And since it’s an instant, it’s a nice save from spells like Blasphemous Act, but sadly not Wrath spells. 

Eldrazi Confluence, which is somehow not an Eldrazi spell, gives us a colorless entry in the Confluence cycle, which are all modal spells that let you choose a mode three times. This one’s especially good for dealing with indestructible creatures, since those won’t survive having zero or negative toughness, and you can give them up to negative nine with this spell. Getting rid of blockers with the second mode can also come in really handy. Our last new card in this deck is Selective Obliteration, which is kind of a powered down All Is Dust. Still, I’d run it for redundancy in colorless decks, and even for a decent board wipe in mono-color decks.

Is Eldrazi Incursion Worth Buying?

Is this deck good? Should you spend your money on it? Here’s my grade:

B+

For such a high mana value deck, it plays beautifully. Ulalek is crazy powerful, and bound to be a very popular, if rather limited, commander. I appreciate that it takes us on an Eldrazi path that isn’t just expensive titans that overrun the game. The midrange Eldrazi deserve love too, and they’re on full display here.

The reprint suite is solid, but a bit lower compared to the other MH3 precons. To be clear, with the higher price tag these decks command, I expect higher value reprints. The standouts for this are Morophon, the Boundless, Eldrazi Temple, Eldrazi Conscription, and Eldrazi Monument.

Can I make this deck better? Find out in my Upgrade Guide. And keep checking back for more precon fun, here on EDHREC.

More Precon Fun:

Creative Energy Precon Review

Mirror Mastery - Riku Precon Upgrade

Eldrazi Unbound - Precon Primer