Dragonlord Ojutai is a decent card but Sun Titan is much better though your build doesn't play Flickerwisp which is the best Sun Titan target most of the time.
A neat combo with Ojutai is Minamo (but it isn't cheap) that can protect it even when it attacks.
I really like the look of your list, and I came to similar conclusions about Prismatic Vista, Gideon of the Trials and Irrigated Farmland myself. Although I am somewhat reluctant to remove Crucible of Worlds from the mainboard because it often feels like an overwhelming source of card advantage, I think I'm going to give your list a spin.
I'm going to play a few matches without any changes but changes I'm looking to incorporate afterwards are + 1 Kami of False Hope and + 1 Winds of Abandon to the mainboard. They have really impressed me in the mono white build, plus synergies with Teferi, Time Raveler and Ranger-Captain of Eos. Also thinking of adding + 1 Ranger to the sideboard and + 1 Ghost Quarter, I like having access to a 25th land in the matches that tend to go longer and Ghost Quarter is good against a variety of manlands in aggressive archetypes too.
Update
So I've played a few matches, I'm liking Teferi, Time Raveler in this build, it's been great slamming a titan and know they cannot counter it. The card advantage package and lack of Speading Seas meant you could afford to play double Plains and then fetch a Prairie Stream. Which kinda lead to the lines of play working out very similar to the mono white build but with more Detention Sphere for planeswalkers. Which honestly is kinda what the mono white build lacked.
After playing about five matches I've cut the two remaining Court Hussar and added 1 Kami of False Hope and 1 Winds of Abandon. Having that many three drops felt kinda clunky but Hussar will be missed.
Currently testing one Cavalier of Dawn. It's a good way of getting rid of enemy planeswalkers like Karn. For getting rid of a large enemy creature, replace it with a 3/3. And the ability is "up to", so 0 can be chosen if we don't want to blow up anythimg.
Hey guys, been a while but have come back. Currently thinking about brewing and improving the Glittering Emeria list (or Wishmeria as I like to call it) for a local qualifier for the European Modern Seryies, but am at an impasse. Would playing the Glittering variant be good, or is the UW variant strictly better at this point of the global meta? I've been thinking about wishmeria because of the versatile sideboard control option against the multitude of shenennigans right now. Might also just play uw, but would like to ask for advice on the uw vs Hogaak menace.
I never saw the appeal of Glittering Wish in this archetype, what does it bring to the deck that the original lists lack ? What problems does it solve ?
So the power of the going bant for Glittering Wish is twofold, getting access a four of additional copies of removal, countermagic, or graveyard hate. While also getting access to play Rest in Peace because you can always wish for an alternate win condition too.
I no longer play on modo so haven't had the reps that I wanted to take the deck to a larger tournament. I am kinda itching to bring it to the MCQ this weekend so I thought about buying back in and testing it...logic and experience tells me it's a bad decision though playing uphill against Hogaak.
I've taken Emeria to 2 GPs with 2 poor finishes unfortunately; went 4-5 during Eldrazi Winter ... packing Spreading Seas/Mortarpod/Aether Spellbomb in my deck lol. The other time I went 0-2-1 losing to UB control, Jund and drawing with Jeskai. Deep down I really want to put up a decent result with this deck (top 16/32) but so far I've been hemmoraging entry fee money from playing this deck lol. I think I've also taken it to maybe 3 Face to Face opens with my best result a 5-3 I believe.
So yeah until I have some reps with other T1 decks (Hogaak, E Tron, Jund) I think I will pass on competitive events with Emeria. Previously we had a decent matchup vs E Tron and Jund from all our value/removal/spreading seas to cut off mana, but with the introduction of Wrenn & 6 and small Karn, I wonder if that is still the case...
So the power of the going bant for Glittering Wish is twofold, getting access a four of additional copies of removal, countermagic, or graveyard hate. While also getting access to play Rest in Peace because you can always wish for an alternate win condition too.
Basically, you get to play sweet stuff that you normally wouldn't be able to.
This is the list I've been using so far, may go back to spreading seas but I'd have to cut the Soulherder too.
I don't know how effective that is though and would probably want more answers in my maindeck instead of Wish.
The deck is already slow as is and wishing for things you can already run in your maindeck doesn't seem like great upgrade to me.
Splashing a third color isn't a trivial deck-building cost as well especially if want to keep in FoR.
Sigarda isn't even that great as a finisher anymore and I'd probably go with Geist instead. Teferi isn't a fast finisher (with the Ult') but it seems like a good option and Dromoka/Ojutai/Azor have their merits as well like card draw or lifegain/instant-speed interaction protection.
@Finncown (Marinojuk) Thanks for the update on the Wishmeria list. Seems like a few substantial tweaks have been made since the last time I've looked at it. Basically, the walls of Blossoms have been added newly. I think I'd go with perhaps more soulherders and more Hussars, but it remains to be seen if that kind of works out. Has UWG Emeria treated you well over the last few months?
D90Dennis14 actually poses a very good question in what it actually solves. I feel like I agree on the situation that's written out by Finncown, in that it offers you a flexible way to hate out the game by providing different win cons. It felt good while playing it, but it has been a while since I've last played modern, hence the questions. It makes me unsure if UWG Wishmeria is the right deck to take to the ESMQ tournament, as I'll likely face all the T1 stuff.
In terms of this deck v.s. the current great metadecks, how have you guys been feeling about the competitiveness of the deck? @coffeeortea poses that competitive success hasn't been all that great, which makes me wonder how the deck is participating for the others in a more competitive setting. I really like the new SB advice that Finncown and others have written, so I'll definitely take that into account too. Would a UW build maybe be the more safe bet here?
Thanks for all the help up until now though. I'm going to brew a few different lists and will post some different variants to try and see if there's room for improvement.
Based on the success of Hogaak/Eldrazi Tron and fast creature decks in general, I've adjusted the deck to be less soft against creatures so added in an extra Winds of Abandon as a 5th path, and the Kami of False Hope for a lock in the long game. Added an extra Condemn in the board for good measure. Phantasmal image can be useful in copying fatties on the opposing side of the board or get additional value copying our 3 drop creatures / Sun Titan.
Been messing around with the mono-white deck that 4-0'ed recently. A couple of things I've found out.
Ranger-Captain of Eos is a super strong card. Combined with Sun Titan you can basically lock your opponent out of sorcery-speed non-creature spells, while also tutoring up useful cards in the meanwhile. Giver of Runes is super good if you're playing the Ranger-Captain, it lets your protect Sun Titan from pesky Paths or other troubles. Thraben Inspector is also surprisingly useful. Dryad Militant is another good 1-drop tutor target.
I'm kind of wondering if a W/g version could be viable. Knight Of Autumn and Eternal Witness are the strongest potential cards in green I can think of, but I'm sure there are others. Wall of Blossoms too, though I don't know if Wall of Omens 5-8 is really necessary...
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My Decks:
Modern:
(online)Enduring Ideal
(online)BUG
(paper)Mono White Control
Standard:
(paper) Whatever I can throw together
(online) UWR Control
I'm kind of wondering if a W/g version could be viable. Knight Of Autumn and Eternal Witness are the strongest potential cards in green I can think of, but I'm sure there are others. Wall of Blossoms too, though I don't know if Wall of Omens 5-8 is really necessary...
Eternal Witness is really good but GG is really tricky for the deck to produce consistently without sacrificing the utility lands slot.
I've settled for Renegade Rallier instead which also has the upside of a better body and getting thing back into play which is useful with Fetches and STE to ramp to an early Titan or get up to 7-Plains for Emeria.
A 1x-of Primeval Titan can be pretty powerful as well, grabbing Emeria out of the deck.
I think one of the strengths of the deck is playing a lot of basics, making it strong to Blood Moon and other land hate, so I don't want to sacrifice that. Plus, having our mana fixing cantrip is pretty handy. And it's not like we do too much those first couple of turns anyways, other than maybe Pathing something. Using the HyperGeometric Calculator there's only a 8.68% chance of not having two green on turn three to cast Eternal Witness, and we don't want to play it on turn three most of the time anyways.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
It's flavor-tastic
Sig made by Tiiratore. PM him if you want one.
Disappointing avatar made by Mirror Entity at Disappointing Signets Inc.
My Decks:
Modern:
(online)Enduring Ideal
(online)BUG
(paper)Mono White Control
Standard:
(paper) Whatever I can throw together
(online) UWR Control
Oath of Nissa is a better card than the artifacts and they don't go to the GY as easily for recursion purposes.
I would also not cut Wall of Omens or STE for them.
Playing too many utility/cantrip cards like this will sacrifice the ability of the deck to interact which the GW already has harder time with compared to UW with basically only relying on White for this (Path, Wrath, Gift/Light).
Hi everyone,
I created an account so I could finally post something here.
I've been playing Azorius Titan/UW Emeria for a while now (probably 3-4 years), and have been periodically checking in on this thread from time to time for ideas.
Just want to thank everyone who has contributed to this archetype. This thread has given me great inspiration and good feedback with card choice discussions, builds and just general theory on the archetype. That being said I felt it's time for me to contribute to this archetype :).
With the release of Ephemerate, Vesperlark and Soulherder from Modern Horizons, I was really excited to explore a slightly different avenue with this archetype. This is at heart an Emeria, the sky ruin deck, with more emphasis on recursion with Vesperlark and the usual blinking-for-value effects with Flickerwisp, however more supported by the new cards Ephemerate and Soulherder.
Generally speaking our game plan is the same, stall out the game until we get Emeria, the sky ruin online. However this take is more value focused in the early-mid game. I opted to drop a 3rd Sun Titan in order to get us lower to the ground, however I could see an argument to add it back in, but 2 seems to be a good number.
Sadly no Gideon of the Trials or Spreading Seas but perhaps a case can be made for Giddy.
Some card choice philosophy:
Vesperlark:
This card is very versatile, and the majority of creatures in the main deck are all recurrable due to their 1 or less power. Phantasmal Image is an amazing target to recur.
Only creatures this can't recur are itself (3 copies), Sun Titan (2 copies), and Inquisitor Exarch (1 copy)
Search for Azcanta:
This card helps us fill our graveyard in the early turns, smooths out our draws, and could potentially ramp us into a quicker Sun Titan.
Late game this can help us dig for removal or Ephemerate for shenanigans.
I only run 1 copy, but can see an argument for a second.
Deputy of Detention & Fiend Hunter:
These creatures provide decent answers to problematic threats we might face, however be weary of exiling permanents with ETB's.
Decent topdecks late game, with the option of abusing Fiend Hunter's wording with Ephemerate to permanently exile a creature being very relevant.
Unsubstantiate:
This card occupies a flex slot, but is really neat in application. It can be used as a tempo play, pseudo-Remanding an important spell or returning a threat to hand. It can save one of our creatures from removal which in turn can give us more value off it's ETB effect.
Brought Back:
Also occupies a flex slot, however the value this card can generate with our creatures is too good to pass up. This can return a crucial creature that died in a turn, or a creature and a fetchland, or even a Detention Sphere & Search For Azcanta that got blown up.
Inquisitor Exarch:
Testing this guy out, he seems strong in theory, as we can repeatedly blink him to Shock our opponent, especially so when we throw Soulherder & Ephemerate into the mix.
Soulherder:
One of my favourite new additions from Modern Horizons.
I want to find space for copies 2-3.
This guy can be recurred via Vesperlark and Sun Titan and gives us a free blink at end step.
Combine him with:
Flickerwisp to deny an opponent a key permanent during their turn and also gain a +1/+1 counter (2 if Flickerwisp exiles a creature).
Lastly, fringe yet relevant is the ability to use Path to Exile or Ephemerate on a creature in response to damage and throw the math out.
Ephemerate:
This card is absolute value in our deck, provided our opponent doesn't hit our target with removal.
Getting multiple ETB triggers with a Blade Splicer creates us an army of golem tokens.
Targeting a Vesperlark gives us potentially 2 creatures back from the grave. Thraben Inspector & Wall of Omens means more Card Advantage.
In our end step blinking a Flickerwisp to deny our opponent use of a permanent in their turn and in our next upkeep removing a blocker are great applications.
Knowing when to cast this card can be a bit tricky too, as Rebounding it in our upkeep means that the creature won't be able to attack that turn.
I would recommend holding the spell to save a creature in general, as this can more easily result in a 2-3 for 1.
(EDIT)I realized I didn't post a sideboard for this deck, will add when I have some time.
I plan to take this build to an FNM this week, and see how it performs against my local meta. I fully welcome any constructive criticism and feedback, and by all means feel free to use this as inspiration for your own builds.
Both your list and the popularized Bant Soulherder deck leverage repeatable flicker effects through Ephemerate and Flickerwisp to generate value and card advantage. However, I feel the Bant Soulherder list has a better suite of creatures to blink with Ice Fang Coatl, Coiling Oracle, Wall of Blossoms and Eternal Witness. Though it doesn't have Emeria, it has inevitability with the Ewit, Ephemerate with Timewalk / force negation loop/lock. I guess the question you need to ask yourself is - what does your deck do better than the Bant Soulherder deck? The obvious is that we have Emeria, but is your deck truly leveraging Emeria's power or are your Ephemerates / other flicker effects already doing the same thing?
I understand what you're saying and I do agree.
Thinking about it, Bant Soulherder is indeed a better "blink-centric" deck, with more consistent inevitability.
My brew is split in focus between Emeria and all of the Blink-for-value effects, with neither being the concrete focus.
I am starting to think that (like many have stated in this thread) a GW version of the Emeria archetype is better than the UW version, by virtue of Renegade Rallier , Eternal Witness and Saffi Eriksdotter for recursion and potentially Sakura-Tribe Elder and Primeval Titan to ramp towards an active Emeria way sooner than a natural turn 8.
I play a "budget" version of this deck from long time, changing few cards sometimes, and I like a lot.
In the last four FNM, in a little store, the results where: 3-0 (winner), 0-3, 2-1-1, 3-1 (winner).
Now this is my build
For the last tournament I changed two sideborad cards for make place to the two Dryad Militant. I think this is a fast card to pressure walkers and have little hate to graveyards (out one Stony Silence and one Declaration in stone).
Last tournament where 13 players and the summary of rounds is this:
Round 1 (2-0 vs UW Control)
I knew the opponet and her deck (control with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Terminus, "Narsset", "Snapy", ...).
Game 1
I played for a long and grind match, trying to put some pressure in the battlefield and take advantage for the flash cards (if he resolves a Narsset it punishes me a lot). When he tapped for resolve first Jace I have a Restoration Angel for solve this next turn. He played Timely reinforcements but this is not problem for me and in few turnos I press again. Her tapped for Terminus (for six) and next turn I play Elspeth, Sun's Champion and he gives up in few turns.
Game 2
In two Dryad Militant and one Dovin's Veto, out Day of Judgement, Serum Visions and Pilgrim's Eye. I suposse he include the pack of creatures and I keep a sweeper. I think i like 2/1 fast creatures to put pressure.
The first turns he played nothing and I put some creatures. I countered her first walker and after, when he tapped, I resolved a Sphinx's Revelation of 4 and I gained enough advantage of cards.
Round 4 (1-2 vs Merfolks)
Game 1
No fast game but he put Spreading Seas in my Emeria and Ghost Quarter. I play Flickerwisp and flick Emeria (wrong!). Next turn I draw Eldrazi Displacer but I don't have colorless mana :-( and lose in few turns.
Game 2
In Day of Judgement, Aven Mindcensor[/c and two "Lone Missionary; out two Dovin's Veto, Pilgrim's Eye and Serum Visions.
Keep a good hand, with sweeper, deploy game good without play Islands (don't need) and easy win.
Game 3
I fail the four land drop two turns and I was pressed. I put Eldrazi Displacer and gain a lot of time but I have disadvantage and can't recover.
About my deck: I like a lot the little pack of control pieces. Teferi, Time Raveler is a great card and can be target for the Titan, Elspeth, Sun's Champion can be a pseudo sweeper and is a great wincon and two Dovin's Veto mainboard give me a response for many problems. Finally I like a lot Detention Sphere and I don't play less than three.
It is not Tier deck, and I don't have some cards (Hallowed Fountain, Rest in Peace, ...) but I can fight with many decks.
now that Stoneforge Mystic has been unbanned. I'm thinking if we could add a small SFM package to existing versions of our deck without warping things too much. Maybe 3-4 SFM + batterskull and a sword? She could also fetch mortarpod for versions that still use it.
A neat combo with Ojutai is Minamo (but it isn't cheap) that can protect it even when it attacks.
Some other good finishers can be:
Angel of Grace, Archangel Avacyn and Lyra Dawnbringer.
As a non-creature finisher Elspeth, Sun's Champion is one of the better options.
As far as the mana goes I'd suggest replacing Irrigated Farmland with Prairie Stream as it can often come in untapped with all the basic lands and Nimbus Maze with either Glacial Fortress or Port Town.
I really like the look of your list, and I came to similar conclusions about Prismatic Vista, Gideon of the Trials and Irrigated Farmland myself. Although I am somewhat reluctant to remove Crucible of Worlds from the mainboard because it often feels like an overwhelming source of card advantage, I think I'm going to give your list a spin.
I'm going to play a few matches without any changes but changes I'm looking to incorporate afterwards are + 1 Kami of False Hope and + 1 Winds of Abandon to the mainboard. They have really impressed me in the mono white build, plus synergies with Teferi, Time Raveler and Ranger-Captain of Eos. Also thinking of adding + 1 Ranger to the sideboard and + 1 Ghost Quarter, I like having access to a 25th land in the matches that tend to go longer and Ghost Quarter is good against a variety of manlands in aggressive archetypes too.
Update
So I've played a few matches, I'm liking Teferi, Time Raveler in this build, it's been great slamming a titan and know they cannot counter it. The card advantage package and lack of Speading Seas meant you could afford to play double Plains and then fetch a Prairie Stream. Which kinda lead to the lines of play working out very similar to the mono white build but with more Detention Sphere for planeswalkers. Which honestly is kinda what the mono white build lacked.
After playing about five matches I've cut the two remaining Court Hussar and added 1 Kami of False Hope and 1 Winds of Abandon. Having that many three drops felt kinda clunky but Hussar will be missed.
I've also added Ghost Quarter, Ranger-Captain of Eos, and Burrenton-Forge Tender to the board. I like being able to board up to 25 lands in grindy games and Ranger-Captain of Eos is really good in a lot of matches.
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Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
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Other small things include getting small upgrades like Collector Oophe instead of Stony Silence.
Basically, you get to play sweet stuff that you normally wouldn't be able to.
This is the list I've been using so far, may go back to spreading seas but I'd have to cut the Soulherder too.
I've taken Emeria to 2 GPs with 2 poor finishes unfortunately; went 4-5 during Eldrazi Winter ... packing Spreading Seas/Mortarpod/Aether Spellbomb in my deck lol. The other time I went 0-2-1 losing to UB control, Jund and drawing with Jeskai. Deep down I really want to put up a decent result with this deck (top 16/32) but so far I've been hemmoraging entry fee money from playing this deck lol. I think I've also taken it to maybe 3 Face to Face opens with my best result a 5-3 I believe.
So yeah until I have some reps with other T1 decks (Hogaak, E Tron, Jund) I think I will pass on competitive events with Emeria. Previously we had a decent matchup vs E Tron and Jund from all our value/removal/spreading seas to cut off mana, but with the introduction of Wrenn & 6 and small Karn, I wonder if that is still the case...
I don't know how effective that is though and would probably want more answers in my maindeck instead of Wish.
The deck is already slow as is and wishing for things you can already run in your maindeck doesn't seem like great upgrade to me.
Collector Ouphe is pretty good but not a huge upgrade over Stony Silence imho.
Splashing a third color isn't a trivial deck-building cost as well especially if want to keep in FoR.
Sigarda isn't even that great as a finisher anymore and I'd probably go with Geist instead.
Teferi isn't a fast finisher (with the Ult') but it seems like a good option and Dromoka/Ojutai/Azor have their merits as well like card draw or lifegain/instant-speed interaction protection.
D90Dennis14 actually poses a very good question in what it actually solves. I feel like I agree on the situation that's written out by Finncown, in that it offers you a flexible way to hate out the game by providing different win cons. It felt good while playing it, but it has been a while since I've last played modern, hence the questions. It makes me unsure if UWG Wishmeria is the right deck to take to the ESMQ tournament, as I'll likely face all the T1 stuff.
In terms of this deck v.s. the current great metadecks, how have you guys been feeling about the competitiveness of the deck? @coffeeortea poses that competitive success hasn't been all that great, which makes me wonder how the deck is participating for the others in a more competitive setting. I really like the new SB advice that Finncown and others have written, so I'll definitely take that into account too. Would a UW build maybe be the more safe bet here?
Thanks for all the help up until now though. I'm going to brew a few different lists and will post some different variants to try and see if there's room for improvement.
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
3 Hallowed Fountain
4 Flooded Strand
6 Plains
1 Island
1 Prismatic Vista
1 Prairie Stream
1 Blast Zone
4 Field of Ruin
1 Kami of False Hope
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Wall of Omens
3 Lone Missionary
3 Ranger-Captain of Eos
4 Flickerwisp
3 Sun Titan
1 Phantasmal Image
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
3 Detention Sphere
4 Path to Exile
1 Winds of Abandon
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
2 Dovin's Veto
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Remorseful Cleric
2 Damping Sphere
1 Runed Halo
2 Stony Silence
Based on the success of Hogaak/Eldrazi Tron and fast creature decks in general, I've adjusted the deck to be less soft against creatures so added in an extra Winds of Abandon as a 5th path, and the Kami of False Hope for a lock in the long game. Added an extra Condemn in the board for good measure. Phantasmal image can be useful in copying fatties on the opposing side of the board or get additional value copying our 3 drop creatures / Sun Titan.
Ranger-Captain of Eos is a super strong card. Combined with Sun Titan you can basically lock your opponent out of sorcery-speed non-creature spells, while also tutoring up useful cards in the meanwhile. Giver of Runes is super good if you're playing the Ranger-Captain, it lets your protect Sun Titan from pesky Paths or other troubles. Thraben Inspector is also surprisingly useful. Dryad Militant is another good 1-drop tutor target.
I'm kind of wondering if a W/g version could be viable. Knight Of Autumn and Eternal Witness are the strongest potential cards in green I can think of, but I'm sure there are others. Wall of Blossoms too, though I don't know if Wall of Omens 5-8 is really necessary...
Modern:
(online)Enduring Ideal
(online)BUG
(paper)Mono White Control
Standard:
(paper) Whatever I can throw together
(online) UWR Control
Legacy:
(paper)The Gate
(paper)Dream Halls
I've discussed about the WG version here:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/established-modern/control/757085-azorius-titan-emeria-control?comment=1268
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/established-modern/control/757085-azorius-titan-emeria-control?comment=1275
Eternal Witness is really good but GG is really tricky for the deck to produce consistently without sacrificing the utility lands slot.
I've settled for Renegade Rallier instead which also has the upside of a better body and getting thing back into play which is useful with Fetches and STE to ramp to an early Titan or get up to 7-Plains for Emeria.
A 1x-of Primeval Titan can be pretty powerful as well, grabbing Emeria out of the deck.
4 Arcum's Astrolabe
2 Prophetic Prism
14 Snow-Covered Plains
2 Emeria, The Sky Ruin
4 Field Of Ruin
4 Temple Garden
I think one of the strengths of the deck is playing a lot of basics, making it strong to Blood Moon and other land hate, so I don't want to sacrifice that. Plus, having our mana fixing cantrip is pretty handy. And it's not like we do too much those first couple of turns anyways, other than maybe Pathing something. Using the HyperGeometric Calculator there's only a 8.68% chance of not having two green on turn three to cast Eternal Witness, and we don't want to play it on turn three most of the time anyways.
Modern:
(online)Enduring Ideal
(online)BUG
(paper)Mono White Control
Standard:
(paper) Whatever I can throw together
(online) UWR Control
Legacy:
(paper)The Gate
(paper)Dream Halls
I would also not cut Wall of Omens or STE for them.
Playing too many utility/cantrip cards like this will sacrifice the ability of the deck to interact which the GW already has harder time with compared to UW with basically only relying on White for this (Path, Wrath, Gift/Light).
I created an account so I could finally post something here.
I've been playing Azorius Titan/UW Emeria for a while now (probably 3-4 years), and have been periodically checking in on this thread from time to time for ideas.
Just want to thank everyone who has contributed to this archetype. This thread has given me great inspiration and good feedback with card choice discussions, builds and just general theory on the archetype. That being said I felt it's time for me to contribute to this archetype :).
With the release of Ephemerate, Vesperlark and Soulherder from Modern Horizons, I was really excited to explore a slightly different avenue with this archetype. This is at heart an Emeria, the sky ruin deck, with more emphasis on recursion with Vesperlark and the usual blinking-for-value effects with Flickerwisp, however more supported by the new cards Ephemerate and Soulherder.
Anyways without further ado, here is my brew:
3 Thraben Inspector
1 Inquisitor Exarch
1 Phantasmal Image
3 Wall of Omens
2 Blade Splicer
2 Flickerwisp
3 Vesperlark
1 Soulherder
1 Fiend Hunter
2 Deputy of Detention
2 Sun Titan
4 Path to Exile
4 Ephemerate
1 Unsubstantiate
1 Brought Back
Sorceries (3)
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
Enchantments (3)
2 Detention Sphere
1 Search for Azcanta
Lands (23)
4 Flooded Strand
3 Field of Ruin
3 Hallowed Fountain
1 Prairie Stream
1 Irrigated Farmland
7 Plains
1 Island
3 Emeria, the sky ruin
Generally speaking our game plan is the same, stall out the game until we get Emeria, the sky ruin online. However this take is more value focused in the early-mid game. I opted to drop a 3rd Sun Titan in order to get us lower to the ground, however I could see an argument to add it back in, but 2 seems to be a good number.
Sadly no Gideon of the Trials or Spreading Seas but perhaps a case can be made for Giddy.
Some card choice philosophy:
Vesperlark:
This card is very versatile, and the majority of creatures in the main deck are all recurrable due to their 1 or less power.
Phantasmal Image is an amazing target to recur.
Only creatures this can't recur are itself (3 copies), Sun Titan (2 copies), and Inquisitor Exarch (1 copy)
Search for Azcanta:
This card helps us fill our graveyard in the early turns, smooths out our draws, and could potentially ramp us into a quicker Sun Titan.
Late game this can help us dig for removal or Ephemerate for shenanigans.
I only run 1 copy, but can see an argument for a second.
Deputy of Detention & Fiend Hunter:
These creatures provide decent answers to problematic threats we might face, however be weary of exiling permanents with ETB's.
Decent topdecks late game, with the option of abusing Fiend Hunter's wording with Ephemerate to permanently exile a creature being very relevant.
Unsubstantiate:
This card occupies a flex slot, but is really neat in application. It can be used as a tempo play, pseudo-Remanding an important spell or returning a threat to hand. It can save one of our creatures from removal which in turn can give us more value off it's ETB effect.
Brought Back:
Also occupies a flex slot, however the value this card can generate with our creatures is too good to pass up. This can return a crucial creature that died in a turn, or a creature and a fetchland, or even a Detention Sphere & Search For Azcanta that got blown up.
Inquisitor Exarch:
Testing this guy out, he seems strong in theory, as we can repeatedly blink him to Shock our opponent, especially so when we throw Soulherder & Ephemerate into the mix.
Soulherder:
One of my favourite new additions from Modern Horizons.
I want to find space for copies 2-3.
This guy can be recurred via Vesperlark and Sun Titan and gives us a free blink at end step.
Combine him with:
Ephemerate:
This card is absolute value in our deck, provided our opponent doesn't hit our target with removal.
Getting multiple ETB triggers with a Blade Splicer creates us an army of golem tokens.
Targeting a Vesperlark gives us potentially 2 creatures back from the grave.
Thraben Inspector & Wall of Omens means more Card Advantage.
In our end step blinking a Flickerwisp to deny our opponent use of a permanent in their turn and in our next upkeep removing a blocker are great applications.
Knowing when to cast this card can be a bit tricky too, as Rebounding it in our upkeep means that the creature won't be able to attack that turn.
I would recommend holding the spell to save a creature in general, as this can more easily result in a 2-3 for 1.
(EDIT)I realized I didn't post a sideboard for this deck, will add when I have some time.
I plan to take this build to an FNM this week, and see how it performs against my local meta. I fully welcome any constructive criticism and feedback, and by all means feel free to use this as inspiration for your own builds.
Much appreciation and love...
At first glance on your list I am seeing many common themes with the now more popular Bant Soulherder deck that put up a very good showing at GP Birmingham last week. Decklist for reference: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-bant-soulherder#paper
Both your list and the popularized Bant Soulherder deck leverage repeatable flicker effects through Ephemerate and Flickerwisp to generate value and card advantage. However, I feel the Bant Soulherder list has a better suite of creatures to blink with Ice Fang Coatl, Coiling Oracle, Wall of Blossoms and Eternal Witness. Though it doesn't have Emeria, it has inevitability with the Ewit, Ephemerate with Timewalk / force negation loop/lock. I guess the question you need to ask yourself is - what does your deck do better than the Bant Soulherder deck? The obvious is that we have Emeria, but is your deck truly leveraging Emeria's power or are your Ephemerates / other flicker effects already doing the same thing?
I understand what you're saying and I do agree.
Thinking about it, Bant Soulherder is indeed a better "blink-centric" deck, with more consistent inevitability.
My brew is split in focus between Emeria and all of the Blink-for-value effects, with neither being the concrete focus.
I would love to play Bant Soulherder but I can't afford Jace, the Mind sculptor or a playset of Force of Negation
I am starting to think that (like many have stated in this thread) a GW version of the Emeria archetype is better than the UW version, by virtue of Renegade Rallier , Eternal Witness and Saffi Eriksdotter for recursion and potentially Sakura-Tribe Elder and Primeval Titan to ramp towards an active Emeria way sooner than a natural turn 8.
The infinite combo with Blasting Station, Saffi Eriksdotter and Renegade Rallier is also easier to assemble than the UW variant of Blasting Station, Fiend Hunter and Sun Titan
In the last four FNM, in a little store, the results where: 3-0 (winner), 0-3, 2-1-1, 3-1 (winner).
Now this is my build
4x Wall of Omens
2x Remorseful Cleric
1x Lone Missionary
1x Pilgrim's Eye
1x Eldrazi Displacer
1x Aven Mindcensor
3x Flickerwisp
3x Court Hussar
2x Restoration Angel
3x Sun Titan
Tricks (10)
1x Serum Visions
3x Path to Exile
2x Dovin's Veto
1x Ojutai's Command
1x Sphinx's Revelation
1x Day of Judgement
1x Supreme Veredict
1x Teferi, Time Raveler
1x Gideon of the Trials
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Enchantments (3)
3x Detention Sphere
Lands (23)
2x Emeria, the sky ruin
2x Ghost Quarter
2x Field of Ruin
1x Flooded Strand
2x Windswept Heat
3x Prairie Stream
2x Island
9 Plains
1x Dispel
1x Dovin's Veto
2x Dryad Militant
2x Lone Missionary
2x Kor Firewalker
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Stony Silence
2x Disenchant
2x Damping Sphere
1x Day of Judgement
For the last tournament I changed two sideborad cards for make place to the two Dryad Militant. I think this is a fast card to pressure walkers and have little hate to graveyards (out one Stony Silence and one Declaration in stone).
Last tournament where 13 players and the summary of rounds is this:
Round 1 (2-0 vs UW Control)
I knew the opponet and her deck (control with Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Terminus, "Narsset", "Snapy", ...).
Game 1
I played for a long and grind match, trying to put some pressure in the battlefield and take advantage for the flash cards (if he resolves a Narsset it punishes me a lot). When he tapped for resolve first Jace I have a Restoration Angel for solve this next turn. He played Timely reinforcements but this is not problem for me and in few turnos I press again. Her tapped for Terminus (for six) and next turn I play Elspeth, Sun's Champion and he gives up in few turns.
Game 2
In two Dryad Militant and one Dovin's Veto, out Day of Judgement, Serum Visions and Pilgrim's Eye. I suposse he include the pack of creatures and I keep a sweeper. I think i like 2/1 fast creatures to put pressure.
The first turns he played nothing and I put some creatures. I countered her first walker and after, when he tapped, I resolved a Sphinx's Revelation of 4 and I gained enough advantage of cards.
Round 2 (2-0 vs Taxes)
Game 1
He play Leonin Arbiter in T2 whitout Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin (no problem for me). Wall of Omens and Court Husar give me cards and I can kill fast her first "Displacer". He play Thought-Knot Seer but I have to many good cards and I play next turn Sun Titan and close fast the game.
Game 2
In Day of Judgement, Stony Silence (for Vials) and Aven Mindcensor; out two Dovin's Veto and Serum Visions.
Both player mulligan to six. I keep three land, two sweepers and Wall of Omens In turn 4 he cast Tidehollow Sculler and cry when see two sweppers. Easy win.
Round 3 (2-0 vs Enchantments)
Game 1
In turn 3 he play Phyrexian Unlife. In my turn I play Gideon of the Trials and choose "I can´t loose". Turn 4 he play Solemnity; funny. I think my Flickerwisp and Detention Sphere should win this games. He Runed Halo to Flickerswisp but Gideon hit. In the long game my Gideon cancel every turn her Form of the Dragon and give me time to resolve Sphinx's Revelation for collect all cards I need to close game.
Game 2
In Dovin's Veto, two Disenchant and two Dryad Militant (for pressure fast). Out Day of Judgement, Supreme Veredict, Ojutai's Command, Pilgrim's Eye and one Path to Exile.
He mulligan to five and I put pressure fast. He "Runned Halo" Gideon but I put more creatures and keep a Dovin's Veto for her "Wrath"; I close the game easy.
Round 4 (1-2 vs Merfolks)
Game 1
No fast game but he put Spreading Seas in my Emeria and Ghost Quarter. I play Flickerwisp and flick Emeria (wrong!). Next turn I draw Eldrazi Displacer but I don't have colorless mana :-( and lose in few turns.
Game 2
In Day of Judgement, Aven Mindcensor[/c and two "Lone Missionary; out two Dovin's Veto, Pilgrim's Eye and Serum Visions.
Keep a good hand, with sweeper, deploy game good without play Islands (don't need) and easy win.
Game 3
I fail the four land drop two turns and I was pressed. I put Eldrazi Displacer and gain a lot of time but I have disadvantage and can't recover.
About my deck: I like a lot the little pack of control pieces. Teferi, Time Raveler is a great card and can be target for the Titan, Elspeth, Sun's Champion can be a pseudo sweeper and is a great wincon and two Dovin's Veto mainboard give me a response for many problems. Finally I like a lot Detention Sphere and I don't play less than three.
It is not Tier deck, and I don't have some cards (Hallowed Fountain, Rest in Peace, ...) but I can fight with many decks.
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread