How were the Eldrazi defeated?

In one of the most epic battles in Magic: The Gathering history, the united forces of the Gatewatch planeswalkers and Zendikari natives succeeded in destroying two Eldrazi titans – Ulamog and Kozilek – and containing the third titan, Emrakul, by imprisoning her in Innistrad‘s moon. This victory saved Zendikar and ended the immediate multiverse-level threat posed by the Eldrazi.

So how did they do it? As a long-time Vorthos, let me guide you through the key events, battles, strategies, and sacrifices that allowed our heroes to overcome three impossibly powerful ancient beings. This saga has everything – cunning schemes from Jace Beleren, the specialty magics of the Gatewatch, a spirit dragon‘s ancient trap, an entire plane of mana turned against the Eldrazi, and ultimate self-sacrifice from an unlikely planeswalker.

The Eldrazi Threat

First, some backstory on the threat our heroes were up against. As we learned back in the original Zendikar block, the Eldrazi titans Ulamog, Kozilek and Emrakul are unfathomably massive ancient entities native to the Blind Eternities between planes. They travel across the Multiverse, consuming the mana and life energy from entire planes until turning them into lifeless husks.

On Zendikar, thousands of years before current storylines, they were lured and trapped by a mystical hedron network tuned to Zendikar‘s leylines – designed by the ancient walker Ugin and implemented by his allies, the lithomancer Nahiri and vampire Sorin Markov.

This network kept the Eldrazi confined below Zendikar‘s surface – until it was disrupted decades before the Gatewatch assembled. The crumbling prison unleashed the titans and their accompanying drone armies to wreak havoc across Zendikar. Many valiant attempts failed to re-imprison them as their titanic forms roamed free.

The Gatewatch – Zendikar‘s Last Hope

Enter our heroes – the newly formed Gatewatch planeswalker team. Realizing Zendikar alone couldn‘t withstand three hungry, roaming titans, Jace Beleren called together planeswalkers with enough power to turn the tide. This ragtag team included himself, fiery pyromancer Chandra Nalaar, Zendikari native animist Nissa Revane, vengeance-driven Gideon Jura, and the mysterious Liliana Vess.

Their impossible task – recapture and reimprison Emrakul, Ulamog and Kozilek before Zendikar‘s magical leylines were drained completely. Jace, a master telepath, strategist and investigator, knew he couldn‘t match the titans‘ physical might. To gain an edge, he researched their previous binding by Ugin, deducing the magical hedron network tuning Zendikar‘s mana itself could be their only hope. The team focused on reconstructing enough linked hedrons to attempt luring and re-binding the titans.

Here‘s a quick breakdown of how each planeswalker‘s unique magic abilities contributed:

Jace Beleren – Telepathically coordinated armies and tactics. Master strategist directed the overall battle plan against the titans. His illusions also served as battlefield decoys.

Liliana Vess – Necromancer bolstered their forces by reanimating wave after wave of undead warriors. She also channeled deadly magic, though reluctantly at first.

Gideon Jura – Indestructible warrior held the front line of the ground assault. His hieromancy magic reinforced defending forces.

Chandra Nalaar – Blasted invading Eldrazi with fiery explosions. Provided heavy artillery strikes against the titans.

Nissa Revane – Zendikar native channelled the power of the land itself. Animated elementals and reinforced hedrons.

While they battled on multiple fronts, leading Zendikari armies against titan-corrupted monsters and their swarming drone legions, Jace coordinated anBold Text especially cunning scheme behind the scenes…

The Master Plan

Jace and Nissa discovered the hidden cave where the Spirit Dragon planeswalker Ugin had previously bound the Eldrazi titans. In this cave, they found ancient instructions inscribed by Ugin himself, detailing the hedron network‘s binding magic attuned to Zendikar‘s leylines.

With Nissa‘s connection to the land, they realized a massive amplification of Zendikar‘s magical energies could be channeled through the network to bind the titans once more. By strategically placing reconstructed hedrons, they could lure Emrakul, Ulamog and Kozilek to areas primed with enough power to neutralize them directly.

Bold plan? Yes. Their only hope against foes far above their individual power levels? Also yes.

The Climactic Battles

While Gideon, Chandra and the Zendikari forces waged war across the continent, battling titan-corrupted monstrosities, Jace prepared their endgame. Nissa harnessed Zendikar‘s last reserves of mana to power an enormous hedron trap. Their plan – manipulate the titans‘ insatiable hunger to draw them right where the Gatewatch wanted.

In a climactic confrontation, Ulamog and Kozilek took the bait – lured by what seemed an irresistible spike of mana. The instant the two hulking titans entered the mega-hedron ring, Nissa channeled Zendikar‘s energy through their network, siphoning the land‘s remaining power in a blinding cascade Jace had precisely calculated. The network immobilized and contained Ulamog and Kozilek, their physical forms surrounded by crackling bands of energy.

Channeling the land‘s power through leylines into Chandra, Nissa and the team unleashed the full magical might of an entire plane turned weapon – incinerating the two Eldrazi titans in a cosmic display dwarfing even Chandra‘s cataclysmic flames. When the smoke cleared, Ulamog and Kozilek‘s physical forms had been reduced to lifeless dust. Only Emrakul had escaped.

So in the climactic Battle for Zendikar, our heroes pulled off the impossible, defeating two impossibly massive Eldrazi titans through Jace‘s cunning tactics, Ugin‘s ancient trap, and the plane itself turned against its would-be destroyers. But one titan remained at large in the Multiverse…

Imprisoning Emrakul

Emrakul failed to take Nissa‘s bait in the climactic battle and ‘planeswalked away from Zendikar to parts unknown. Unbeknownst to the Gatewatch, the sinister planeswalker Ob Nixilis had observed their battle and followed Emrakul through the Blind Eternities, pursuing a sinister scheme of his own.

Ob Nixilis tracked Emrakul to the plane of Innistrad, where he manipulated thePlaneswalker Nahiri into casting a spell drawing Emrakul to that plane. As Innistrad descended into eldritch chaos from Emrakul‘s distorting influence, the Gatewatch finally tracked her there and joined the raging battle to save the plane from eradication.

While no magic or weapon could physically harm Emrakul‘s limitless form, one desperate gambit remained thanks to Ob Nixilis‘ pursuit across planes. Lead by the brilliant but ruthless Liliana Vess, the Gatewatch hatched a heartless, sacrificial scheme to trap Emrakul in Innistrad‘s silver moon – using lethal magics Liliana alone dared wield.

In the story‘s dark turn, they successfully bound Emrakul within that celestial sphere, yet the curse claimed Liliana‘s dear friend Jace before his death could fully take hold. It very nearly claimed Liliana as well, saved only by her quick-thinking. So Liliana paid the highest price to ensure Emrakul would trouble the Multiverse no more, at least for the foreseeable future.

Aftermath & Legacy

So Jace‘s strategies, the Gatewatch‘s powers combined with Zendikar itself, and Liliana‘s sacrifice neutralized the Eldrazi titans that had ravaged planes and stymied Planeswalkers and native forces alike for ages. Ulamog and Kozilek destroyed. Emrakul contained indefinitely. Zendikar saved. Their story has shaped events ever since.

My friends, this turned the tide against not just the Eldrazi, but paved the way for Bolas‘ downfall as well. Lesser Planeswalkers need not cower before these cosmic forces any longer. And it remains one of the most pivotal, memorable storylines in Magic history – the classic underdog tale but on a literally planar scale!

Of course, three enormously powerful ancient entities don‘t get destroyed easily, even in physical form. Their remnants surely still permeate the aether and Blind Eternities, weakened but perhaps regathering strength even now. We clearly haven‘t seen the last of the Eldrazi titans. For now though, Zendikar heals, Innistrad rebuilds, and our heroes rest – the immediate terror quelled.

Well my friends, I hope you enjoyed this in-depth look back at how our valiant Gatewatch felled the dreaded titans! Let me know your thoughts in the comments. And as always, if you crave more of my Vorthos history dives and speculation, give me a shout out over on the socials @amphinsights. This is Amphi signing off – see you planeswalkers on the next adventure!