Greetings, precon enthusiasts! Today we’re here to upgrade the Eldrazi Incursion precon from Modern Horizons 3. In case you missed it, go check out my review of the deck, where we looked at what the deck does and how to play it.

Despite a high average mana value, this precon is a powerhouse right out of the box, due to unending sources of ramp and an absolutely incredible commander. But there’s always room for improvement.

Let’s tune up.

What’s in the Original Deck?

Eldrazi Incursion is all colors and led by Ulalek, Fused Atrocity, a 2/5 Eldrazi that lets you pay two mana whenever you cast an Eldrazi spell. When you do, you copy all spells and abilities you have on the stack. With so many Eldrazi creatures having cast triggers, this is more powerful than it would be with any other creature type.

The backup commander is Azlask, the Swelling Scourge, a 2/2 Eldrazi that gives you experience counters whenever your colorless creatures die. You can also pay one mana of each color to give your creatures +1/+1 until end of turn for each experience counter you have, and give all your Eldrazi Spawn and Scion creatures indestructible and annihilator 1.

Here’s the original deck list:

What Budget Cards Can We Add to Eldrazi Incursion?

For our upgrade guides, we separate things into two categories: budget ($5 and under per card) and non-budget (over $5 per).

From a budget perspective, this was one of the harder upgrades I’ve done. That’s mostly because the Eldrazi creature type has some pretty pricey cards. Nevertheless, I was able to find some cheap goodies.

Since this is a kindred deck, it made sense to me to add some kindred cards, namely Kindred Discovery and Kindred Dominance. Discovery is the best card draw engine for typal decks, full stop. With all the Spawns and Scions we’re making, and all the creatures we’re copying with Ulalek, it’s basically gonna draw our whole deck. And Dominance is just gonna clear the path for our Eldrazi domination.

For even more card draw, cuz I can never get enough, we’ll throw in Up the Beanstalk and Kozilek’s Unsealing. Keep in mind, both of these cards have cast triggers. That means if we cast an Eldrazi that meets their requirements, Ulalek’s ability will copy those triggers. We also have Territory Culler, which can get more Eldrazi to our hand when we drop lands, and From Beyond, which can make Scions and be sacrificed to search for an Eldrazi.

Ulalek shouldn’t be the only one making copies in the deck. Let’s bring in Twinning Staff and Abstruse Archaic. The Staff will copy any Eldrazi spell that we copy with Ulalek, which can only be good for us, right? And Abstruse Archaic can copy any activated or triggered ability from a colorless source. Since Ulalek’s ability is a triggered ability, if we’ve got five extra mana, we can use Archaic to do the copy thing twice. It’s nuts.

Sarkhan’s Unsealing isn’t terribly exciting on its own, but remember that it’s a cast trigger, so it can be copied with Ulalek. We’ve also got Graveshifter, who counts as an Eldrazi because of changeling, to get more dead Eldrazi back.

Last is Liberator, Urza’s Battlethopter so we can cast Eldrazi whenever the heck we want, and Chromatic Lantern to give us more colored mana options.

These cards are getting the ax: 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 budget upgraded deck list:

And a few more cards to consider: Nazgul Battle-Mace, Patriarch’s Bidding, Pathrazer of Ulamog

Non-Budget Cards to Add to Eldrazi Incursion

This is where we start really amping up the crazy of this deck. But first, let’s address the elephant in the room.

Titans. No, I’m not adding any of them to the deck. Should you? Sure. Why not? Personally, I don’t think they make this deck much better. For one thing, I don’t think they’re worth their price tag, both in actual money and in mana value. Another is that they’re legendary, so while we can copy their cast triggers with Ulalek, I’d rather not make copies that are just gonna die to the legend rule. But really, if you wanna throw in all the Ulamogs and Emrakuls, go nuts. 

I’m gonna start my pricey upgrades with the only legend I’m adding. I know, I know. I just said I didn’t want to add legends since I couldn’t get copies. Yes, but this one is much cheaper, and much better, than the titans. It’s Zhulodok, Void Gorger, the commander from the colorless (actually really colorless) Eldrazi Unbound precon from last year’s Commander Masters set. I’m adding this one because it gives spells we cast from our hand with mana value seven or greater two instances of cascade. Yes friends, that’s a cast trigger, that means if it triggers off an Eldrazi spell, Ulalek can copy it, meaning we’ll cascade four times. Seems worth it, right?

Echoes of Eternity might be the best card ever printed for little artificers like me. Double all my colorless triggers and copy all my colorless spells? Why on earth would I not want that? I mean, it’s a stupid card that probably shouldn’t have been printed. But it’s here, so let’s all just embrace the power creep.

Let’s add some pricey lands. Cavern of Souls is always a no-brainer in a typal deck if you have one laying around. Then there’s the new Ugin’s Labyrinth, which has the potential to tap for two mana. We’ll also add Urza’s Incubator, which got reprinted in the main MH3 set, but sadly not in this precon. It basically just pays for Ulalek’s ability, which is phenomenal. And you know what? We’ll toss in Conduit of Ruin for basically the same reason.

Kozilek’s Command is coming in to replace Eldrazi Confluence because it’s an Eldrazi spell, and it’s just way better. And Nulldrifter is coming in for some extra card draw.

Our last additions are two very pricey Eldrazi powerhouses. For ten mana, Flayer of Loyalties will snatch an opponent’s creature for a turn and turn it into a 10/10 with trample and annihilator 2. And then there’s the 12-mana It That Betrays, which steals stuff a bit more permanently. As its flavor text says, “All will be harvested.”

Cards go in, cards gotta come out: 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’s our non-budget upgraded list:

And some more cards to consider: Animar, Soul of Elements, Temur Ascendancy, Darksteel Monolith

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Titans

That’s it for our Upgrade Guide of Eldrazi Incursion. We beefed up the card draw and added a bunch more ways to make copies of copies of copies. And while I don’t typically enjoy creature type decks, I’m actually really excited about this one. Which is saying a lot.

So what do you think? Did I make the deck better? Did I miss any cards? Would you add any titans? Sound off in the comments below. And stay tuned for more MH3 precon fun, right here on EDHREC.

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