Rise of the Eldrazi: Invading Spawn Review (Part 2 of 2)

After the poor experience with Leveler’s Glory, I was eager to see if perhaps Wizards did a better job representing Rise of the Eldrazi’s theme of Eldrazi Spawn. The deck upon analysis seemed strong but flawed, vulnerable to an early assault. It also seemed to lack the tools stall effectively, although its removal package was very solid. Still, there is no substitute for playtesting to grasp how a deck plays out, and with that in mind I challenged Sam to the customary three matches for a write-up. Sam grabbed the White-Green Totem Power, and prepared to do battle.

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Rise of the Eldrazi: Invading Spawn Review (Part 1 of 2)

The second deck in our Rise of the Eldrazi preconstructed reviews is Invading Spawn, a Red/Black deck that uses Eldrazi Spawn tokens to power itself up. The designers at Wizards have referred to Rise as “Battlecruiser Magic,” a reference to its Godzilla-like theme of generating mana then spending it on massive creatures to hurl at your opponent. One of the ways this was thematically represented was in the Eldrazi Spawn, 0/1 token creatures that can be sacrificed at any time in return for one colourless mana.

The idea behind this deck, then, is to generate large amounts of mana in part by using Spawn to store up mana, then unleashing it in some way that will prove fatal to your opponent. Typically we tend to review decks starting with the creatures, then assessing noncreature support. With Eldrazi Spawn, however, we’ll be using a more integrated approach due to the design of the deck. First we’ll look at the ways in which Spawn are generated, then we’ll review the options the deck has for using them. Finally, supporting cards which don’t fit into this dynamic will be discussed, as well as the mana curves for the deck itself.

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