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Todd Stevens brought an innovate Bant Eldrazi deck to the SCG Open in Indianapolis, and this weekend at GPLA we saw some evolution of this archetype. Or maybe it was devolution. There were a lot of similar elements between Stevens' list and the list that Pascal Maynard took to the Top 4 of GPLA, though Maynard's more closely resembled the Azorius Eldrazi decks from when Eye of Ugin was still legal.
Bant Eldrazi
Without Eye of Ugin, Ignoble Hierarch helps to enable turn two Thought-Knot Seers, and Ancient Stirrings shows up to add to the consistency of a deck that once mulled any hand without an eldrazi land. This also makes it easier to assemble the Eldrazi Displacer + Drowner of Hope "combo", which effectively locks your opponent out of combat. It's important to remember that Eldrazi Temple not only helps you to cast these creatures, but also produces two mana for Displacer's ability.
I'm a pretty big fan of the miser's Eldrazi Mimic. Spellskite is just generally better than Mimic, though playing more than two Skites in the maindeck is a bit excessive. The deck is capable of playing long games, though the Mimic enables some blisteringly fast kills, which can be very important in some matchups.
Eldrazi Displacer has been a defining card in Standard, and if this deck starts to take a significant Modern metagame share I could easily see it appreciating in value. The expedition effect definitely has been part of the factor that has kept Displacer in the sub-$4 range for this long, though that could very well be ending with the card returning to multi-format staple status.
