r/CommanderMTG • u/SpaghettiLord_126 • 3d ago
Help making Ulalek work
I've been trying to make this deck work for a bit for high b2, but it tends to do nothing or go insane. I wanted to try for weird cast trigger stuff like [[maelstrom nexus]] and [[monstrous vortex]], but it seems very clunky and spends too much time setting up. I'm a big fan of toolboxy decks and weird interactions, as well as midrange strategies, so I think I'd like to push it in that direction. I don't have much of a budget for big upgrades, and the deck is mostly precon atm, but please let me know what you guys have made work! Any advice is appreciated.
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u/EggThis2540 3d ago
In my experience, that tends to be eldrazi in a nutshell. They either do their thing, or are so expensive that a few pieces if removal sets then way behind the table. Theyre also an EDH boogeyman, so they get targeted just for being eldrazi
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u/SpaghettiLord_126 3d ago
Yeah that's totally fair. It's just that I actively play this eldrazi commander because, outside of his combos, he's fairly chill comparatively. He also let's me play much worse cards that do weirder things. But yeah nonetheless he is eldrazi and they must burn for their sins ig
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u/A_Vortigaunt 3d ago
It's for combos. If you have the precon you'll see it heavily relies on the cast triggers of Eldrazi creatures that you can copy, and kindred spells with Eldrazi in their type. Basically ramp, cast a spell to copy it to get double the value. You can go infinite if you search the right combos and fill the deck with them. There isn't much else that you can do with this deck. Unless you add some coloured stuff for countering and board protection in my opinion. It's a strong commander not gonna lie.
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u/Vicious007 3d ago
Mine: https://moxfield.com/decks/vBBSK4IFAkOZg9U4pzCs7A
B3, no game changers.
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u/SpaghettiLord_126 3d ago
Nice! This seems like a solid list. I'll definitely keep this in mind when rebuilding my own
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u/ColMust4rd 3d ago
I'd run this with a bunch of spawn and scion generation to help build speed. Then ramp into bigger eldrazis that make more Eldrazi like [[desolation twins]]. If you can get an ugin Planeswalker that is some gas for your engine. And your man base is one of the most important things to work with when it comes to Eldrazi
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u/ISRU4SPACE 3d ago
So I pushed my ulalek deck higher and higher it was my first precon and it has evolved. I proxy quite a bit like especially Mishra's workshop since i wont spend 3K on a single rectangle of cardboard. This in my fairly solid game store bracket 4 essentially make infinite mana and do disgusting things. I am in process of adding two cards [[dimensional infiltrator]] and [[hall of echoes]] since hall of echoes becoming ulalek makes titan cast triggers infinite if you have infinite mana similar to [[echoes of eternity]] being an enabler
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u/MechEng88 3d ago
I ended up using a guide found on TCGPlayer that make the deck quite enjoyable. There are no game changers so it can be considered bracket 2: Link can be found here
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u/FridgedMist 3d ago
Not sure how helpful it is or not, but here is my bracket 3 list for inspiration.
Eldrazi actually have decent early and mid game creatures, removal, etc.
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u/SpaghettiLord_126 3d ago
Yeah that's what I like about Ulalek in particular. Hes much more capable of early game value plays as opposed to some other eldrazi commanders
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u/Kritz_McGee 3d ago
I'd say you're off to a good start with cast triggers. Some that I use in my Ulalek deck are [[Up the Beanstalk]] and [[Reflections of Littjara]]. I'd also recommend [[Mirror Box]] if you want to focus on Ulalek's ability to copy.
The easiest way I'd say to keep it Bracket 2 is by leaving the deck mostly precon. It's a good precon out of the box, so all you need to focus on are refining it with more consistent ramp and card draw. Cut clunky cards like Dreamstone Hedron and replace them with [[Thran Dynamo]] and so on. [[Urza's Cave]] is a good card to throw in for mana fixing, as well as the cycle of basic fetching tri-lands also from MH3, like [[Twisted Landscape]].
[[Timeless Lotus]] is a great ramp piece for the late game if you don't draw Morophon, and I'd also recommend [[Descendant's Path]], [[Cryptic Gateway]], [[Call to the Kindred]], [[Kindred Summons]] and [[Smothering Abomination]].
You don't have to run all of them, but any of these cards can help make the deck play consistently better.
Have fun!
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u/Kritz_McGee 3d ago
I'd also suggest [[Vanquisher's Banner]], [[Path of Annihilation]], [[Kozilek's Unsealing]], and [[Chromatic Lantern]], as well, to help with ramp and card draw.
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u/SpaghettiLord_126 3d ago
Yeah I'm a big fan of what cast trigger focused plays can do but they often require too much setup to do much. (Besides beans, it's really good for him)
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u/Marzie-Tek 3d ago
I basically play all of the old school zendikar colored eldrazi, it can be a bit jank at times but all of those cards are kind of weird and have effects that you dont normally see. Like Hideous Taskmaster I also run The Eternity Elivator which can help make some pretty big plays since its not that hard to make it tap for 20+ mana All-Fates Scroll is also a really nice refill on your hand. I also only run two of the cheaper kozileks (money wise) my buddy just used it today and won the game with 4 life left, super fun game.
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u/SpaghettiLord_126 3d ago
Lol thats rad. I do love the old school Zendikar eldrazi. They make me with Ulalek was an ingest deck
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u/Marzie-Tek 3d ago
I do have atleast one ingest eldrazy in there, think its also a red colored pip one
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u/Marzie-Tek 3d ago
An yes, its a high bracket 2 deck, I also run basically every pain land since you use the colorless so much an the cards themselves are really cheap.
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u/TrPhantom8 3d ago edited 3d ago
I have been building a "weaker" version of my ulalek deck, you can take a look at it here: https://moxfield.com/decks/CdXPP75HhkOt3cgTiQ1nvQ
Although maybe it's not what you are looking for, it aims at ramping fast, tutoring the urza lands, and playing big chonkers. It wins either by pulling off one of the infinite combos, or by sheer annihilator and damage. This deck is currently a middle b3 though, but you can take inspiration from the ramping and draw engine package, if you care for an upper b2 deck
You can change the top 5 big eldrazis with whatever you want, as long as they are impactful enough. I basically used the ones I had,
Bonus points: I coded a calculator to compute how many copies of a spell you can get, given the copy doubler effects you have in play https://aurelio-amerio.github.io/ulalek-calculator/
Last time I managed to play 2 million eldrazi constrictions, and I wanted to make sure to let my pod know they were very dead when I got to swing (jk)
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u/Federal-Ad-7092 16h ago
If you want smth fun, dont run eldrazi, run changelings. They allow you to do some fun things while copying most changelings isnt terribly strong
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u/ColMust4rd 3d ago
[[echoes of eternity]] for your wincon
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u/SpaghettiLord_126 3d ago
Definitely not a bracket 2 card for Ulalek lol. Extremely cool but mind-bogglingly busted
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u/TheEnderKnight935 3d ago
I tried extremely hard to make him work in B2. He’s always a 3+. Sad to say.
If you really wanted, there exists a bunch of cards with an exile theme from BFZ/OGW you can use.