“UGh.. Enchantress.” Get ready to hear that a lot.
Ironically, they won’t know how right they are.. Get it? UG Enchantress.. Ok,
moving on. Despite having already written about an Enchantress-type of deck in
the past, I decided to revisit the archetype. Why? Because this one plays very
differently and involves a different combination of G/X. In short: awesome
deck, let’s learn about it.
The first thing you need to understand about a UG
Enchantress list is that it has a lot of key components working together to do
awesome things. Wild Growth/Fertile Ground, in combination with Cloud of
Faeries, are a great example of this. Together, they combine to create a LOT of
mana. Now imagine using them with Words of Wind as a means to re-use your Cloud
of Faeries again and again.. told you: awesome.
Another cool engine of the deck involves the namesake Enchantress
cards and the enchantments themselves’. Using these, you can crush an opponent
under sheer card advantage pretty quickly, as they allow absurd amounts of card
drawing. Combined with the aforementioned mana engines, and you can just run
away with the game once you get both going.
The enchantments. Each enchantment has its own role in the
deck, and the number of each should reflect this. For example, Exploration is
amazing at the start of the game, but with only twenty lands, you don’t really
want to draw them later on (except to draw cards with the Enchantress’). Thus why
you should not be playing 4. Seal of Removal on the other hand does double duty
as both a Faerie bouncer and protection from enemy creatures. At just U, this
makes it an easy 4-of.
While not an enchantment, I want to talk about the number of
Brain Freezes. As I researched the deck, I found that the card was a 1-of in at
least one of the lists. Quite frankly, I just do not trust when a deck contains
only 1 copy of such an important piece. I chose to put 2, as well as some copies
of Yavimaya Enchantress as a second win condition in the sideboard, just in
case you are facing an opponent who plays Gaea’s Blessing for some reason.
Because the deck lacks any real creature removal, it
contains 4 Elephant Grass, which help to provide protect from the opponent’s creatures’.
I want to mention that it is important to consider what enchantments you want
in the deck, and ensure that they reflect a style of play that is enjoyable to
you. Mirri’s Guile and/or Sylvan Library are great examples of cool cards that
are worthy of consideration. I suggest you start going through card lists and
see what interests you. Happy Brewing!
UG Enchantress
Land
10 Forest
1 Island
5 Fetchlands
4 Tropical Island
Total: 20
Creatures
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Verduran Enchantress
Total: 12
Spells
4 Enchantress’ Presence
3 Exploration
4 Seal of Removal
4 Wild Growth
4 Fertile Ground
3 Words of Wind
4 Elephant Grass
2 Brain Freeze
Total: 28
Sideboard
4 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Chain of Vapor
2 Naturalize
2 City of Solitude
3 Yavimaya Enchantress
2 Counterspell
Thank you for this alternate format, and especially for the enormous number of very diverse deck posts! I think they are a great demonstration of how Magic's Ancient Era had good points, and deserves to be remembered (and not just as the development talking points about creatures being underpowered and color hosers being overpowered and suchlike).
ReplyDeleteThis concept is very appealing to me for a number of reasons. I adore a lot of the art from Magic's ancient era, and I don't believe the game is well served by trying to look like a video game. And in a sense, I'm set in my ways - I still can't help but feel that old cards generally "act" the way I expect Magic cards to act, and many new cards don't. It's not just the new keywords and abilities, but it's the power distribution, the style of effects, and the way creatures and spells interact with each other that you touch on in your introduction.
This is a very long-winded way of saying: thank you for affirming that there are other ways to play Magic than just the ones that get talked about all the time, and especially for publishing so many words about it.
Hi David,
DeleteThank you. As you pointed out, Ancient offers a lot of variety and nostalgia, both of which people really seem to enjoy. The site continues to grow in poularity and I encourage everyone to let others know about this great format.
I am also humbled by your words and appreciate them.