Have you coonsidered adding Stoneforge Mystic and the equipment package to your version ? It seems to fit it nicely.
I can see it taking the place of Thraben Inspector and Gideon AoZ.
Fact or Fiction is a great card but it is a "UW Control" card and not an Emeria card as you don't really hold mana for counters in this deck (most of the time at least) to be able to cast it.
The deck really gets its card advantage going by reanimating Court Hussar from the GY over and over again with Sun Titan and Emeria.
A decent card advantage engine for the deck can also be Teferi, Hero of Dominaria which I have liked as a 1x-of in the maindeck (and sometimes also a copy in the sideboard).
Kopikopa here (I dont know why Twitch created a new account, anyway), it's report time
First of all, the deck has potential!! Coming from UW Midrange, I had some doubts but after playing some games I feel that the deck can be really competitive.
Jund - 2-0
I beated Jund 2-0 without feelig pressured anytime.
Charming Prince is a great card and combo with our deck. Spell queller + negate has been awesome! Restoration Angel too ;-)
UW Control - 0-1
I lost 1-0 to UW Control but I could have won it if I didnt missplayed various times (returned emeria player here haha).
The Gideon package is great but I feel that even with sun titan I missed some really impactful 3 drops to reanimate. That's why I am going to cut the 2 T3feri for 2 Geist of Siant Traft. Did anyone play it maindeck? Has feedbacks?
The match lasted for 40min, great experience
Abzan StoneForge Mystic - 0-2:
As any deck with SFM, strong and quick pressure on the board. Could not do much. Anyone with experience playing against SFM?
Urza - 0-2
Can't do much here, putting pressure could help us against combo. Geist of Saint Traft could help too. But overall,.combo is our weakness even if my version got 2 Quellers to support the 2 Dovin's veto.
Conclusion;
Overall the deck feels great but I believe that we need a bit more pressure to help us close 2 games in less than 50mins^^. Sometimes I had the feelings that I could not lose but that it was going to be hard to win too.. Thus, I am going to cut the 2 t3feri for 2 Geist of Saint Traft, Anyone has experience with the card?
Various notes:
- Spell queller is great!
- Charming Prince: an all star!
- Thraben inspector: let's not under estimate this little dude.
- T3feri : strong but does not help to close games.
- Gideon package (trials + ally): feels good.
- Dovin's veto: must play 2 in the deck .
- Deck building to grind and not lose is nice but we need to have pressuring 3 drops (Geist of Saint Traft comes to mind) in order to win 2 games in less than 50minutes and put more results into Mtgtop8 listings
Im happy to say that UW Emeria is gonna be my new regular deck. Thanks to everyone for the cool vibe in the community
Ps: should we create a discord ?
Current Decklist:
3 Thraben Inspector
4 Charming Prince
4 Wall of Omens
2 Spell Queller
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Restoration Angel
3 Sun Titan
4 Path to Exile
1 Winds of Abandon
2 Dovin's Veto
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Detention Sphere
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Glacial Fortress
7 Island
11 Plains
I would be interested to hear how your games goes with Spell Queller now that T3feri's gone. I think that Resto is probably a must if you do like playing it.
As for your other points Ranger-Captain of Eos is both pressure and good disruption against both uw control and urza-tron. The games I win against both usually involves an early RCoE paired with a Sun Titan or Emeria to lock the opponent out.
I have played Geist of Saint Traft before but usually in the sideboard. It's not that good against other creature decks of the format. The pressure it brings is nice and it does play well with resto but just remember we are not playing aggro, tempo, or midrange. Our gameplan is focused on extending the game nine turns to reap our first activation of Emeria, the Sky Ruin.
To further that, if you can't afford fetchlands I would strongly recomend removing most or all of your islands and all glacial fortress for Prairie Stream, Field of Ruin and/or Irrigated Farmland. Having non-plains in your deck plays really poorly with emeria and the difference between having it come online on turn 9 or turn 12 is immense.
I think a discord was created in the past but no one from this thread really used it.
Regarding Ranger-Captain of Eos, I have yet to test the card but indeed it looks sweet! Definitely on my to-buy list
Regarding Queller, the good thing is that it's a versatile card. Indeed, we could always play it at the end of the opponent 3rd turn and then attack for damage. Later in the game, we could blink it with Restoration Angel for a soft counter. I agree that it goes better with T3feri but I don't feel that T3feri is at his best in our deck (at least in the main).
Regarding Geist of Saint Traft, I feel that it could be a strong addition as we don't really care about him dying due to blocks. Indeed we could make 4 damage and, in a perfect scenario, reanimate him with Sun titan later in the game. Thus, potentially having lethal on board on turn 6 if we did some few damages before (Charming Prince, Thraben Inspector , Gideon of the Trials and Spell Queller help us in this direction). And it help us against control/combo as a fast clock.
I totally understand that we are the control deck, and I like it, but I feel that we may focus a bit much on not losing/playing too fair and not on how to win.
Last but not least, we have to be able to play 3 games in 50 mins
Ps: I think that you have way more experience than I do with the deck. I'm just trying to share some ideas coming from UW Midrange
@all: did anyone tried God-Eternal Oketra ? It looks like it could fit in our deck as a 1of but at the same time it feels like a "win-more" card. It's just in case if someones already tried it
I didn't think about SfM as I don't think that it aligns with the deck strategy. I always see her in UW midrange thanks to all the counters we have at disposal, but I may be wrong here, could maybe be viable too in our deck.
Yes Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is a great PW and double as a win-con I think that he his at his best in UW control due to untapping lands for counters/answers but could be viable in our build. I am going to test God-Eternal Oketra on this slot as a replacement of Gideon AoZ.
I don't really see a benefit in Oketra over something like a Lyra Dawnbringer to be honest.
The ability is really a win-more and doesn't have any synergy with the rest of the deck, especailly since you aren't going to cast a lot of creatures in the late-game anyway (the deck doesn't pack many of them usually).
If you want an additional finisher then Elspeth, Sun's Champion is usually my go-to option as it takes over games by itself.
I don't like Geist as a maindeck optionas we aren't the beatdown in most of the matchups and it gets stonewalled easily against most decks. Gideon provides the necessary pressure much better while also having other uses like stopping/slowing-down combo decks and fatties while surviving our wraths.
SFM is actaully really good with Queller + Teferi to protect it and Resto to blink it and thats why I suggested it.
Also, the extra flyers you have are good options to carry the equipment.
I think they do slightly different things, myself. If you do manage to get even one activation off of Oketra it's bonkers. Oketra also seems slightly more resilient to removal as well. Having the option to blank even the exile based removal is pretty neat.
That said Lyra offers an evasive clock that you're opponents will never race b/c of the lifelink. The first strike also makes it a very effective stonewall against small creature decks too. There are also synergies with resto angel.
May I know your latest list with charming prince look like? It's time to update the sample deck list in the primer.
You are still one of the more active emeria players here, so I think your list should go into the primer.
One idea that KopiKopaBarcelona mentioned to me was tracking matchup results through a spreadsheet. This would help us create actual match win to loss data. I can imagine that it would also allow us to better evaluate any card changes as good or bad in future versions.
Right now my UW list is more a mono white list splashing U. I do this because I am more comfortable piloting a mono white list. I think D90Dennis14 has been an advocate of the classic Court Hussar, Flickerwisp, Spreading Seas route. I don't know which build if either could be considered better. However, I do think our skill when piloting a deck comes from our own familiarity and knowledge of our lists.
I think that sometimes this can blind us and help facilitate a confirmation bias. I'm thinking of Brought Back, myself when I go down this line of thought. A lot of other people who have tested this card have found it lacking. My bias, is that I think this card is really good in a mono white shell. So the question then becomes, is it more probable that I am such am good player / deckbuilder that Brought Back has always been amazing for me in every match I play. No, I think that it is much more likely that I have let a fraction of the great games I've won because of BB color my overall opinion of the card. I probably have more experience playing BB than any one other player in this thread. While that experience will undoubtedly help when indenifying correct lines of play, the cumulative experience of all players in this thread will largely eclipse my own.
Anyway, I'm rambling now basically I think that spreadsheets are a good idea and will help us check our bias in the future.
the classic Court Hussar, Flickerwisp, Spreading Seas route.
I actually still also use that classic route. Which is why I left your older list in the primer, it's just below the newer version.
So that those who want to go the classic route has a list to use as a reference point.
Having said all that, I'm always open to change and new ideas. Which is why I asked for the latest list you are using, and it's now the main sample decklist that people can see there.
I'm on still on Court Hussar and Flickerwisp but Spreading Seas has been very lackluster lately so I've cut it for 3x Remorseful Cleric.
Having some form of maindeck GY-hate isn't bad (even after the bannings) and a flying blocker/attacker that can sac' itself (for instance against big lifelink creatures like Wurmcoil Engine/Batterskull) can be useful.
I have similar opinions on Remorseful Cleric, it is still sneaky good in the maindeck. Although I would caution against revoker, my experience has been that it's way more vulnerable right now. Between W&6, Plague Engineer, and k-command. Plus the overall awareness of artifacts because of thopter sword and SFM.
First post, but have been reading this forum for some time. Emeria is one of my pet decks, and I really enjoy playing it. I have mostly played the traditional UW version, but now running a mono white version.
I do not have a lot of competitive experience with the deck, mostly LGS games and some with my friends. I do have a few GP trips, and know modern pretty well. There has been a lot of good discussions here, I want to thank that first.
UW version
Like mentioned here by few, the traditional Court Hussar, Spreading Seas package does not seem to be that good anymore. Do not get me wrong here, I LOVE Court Hussar It is basically the reason I want to play this deck.
However, I feel that the UW version does not have the advantages, that would justify the splash for blue. Supreme Verdict is great, but not necessary. I think Teferi can be good, playing a little bit similar role like Gideon of the Trials. Not game changing but supporting our own game plan.
About the deck
Also I want to clarify that I think this is a control deck. Not a midrange deck. This is the reason I think Spell Queller and Resto are not a good fit for this deck. If you want to run Queller/Resto/Teferi, then a tempo or midrange build is better. Maybe a traditional creature based UW, or Jeskai tempo type of deck.
Emeria is not Tier1 deck, and will always struggle with Big mana and some combo decks. This is why I do not think adding Spell Queller will make much difference. Also I think we are a tap out deck, and the idea of holding up counterspell does not appeal to me. Having two copies of Dovin's Veto will not save you from Tron or Valakut.
Having said all this, I think the UW version with these interactive cards might work, I have not tested it out. If you like it, play it.
To sum it up, I think you have to be prepared to lose certain matchups with this deck. Magic is very much a luck based game and we should focus on the long games that go back and forth and reward good gameplay.
Card choices and the reasoning for them
Kami of False Hope I really like this one. Works well with the captain. Cannot be removed easily from the game. Hex Parasite I think Planeswalkers are one of the worst enemies for Emeria, because we have no reach. Get this early and opponent will have hard time tapping out for Jace or others. This card also has utility against many other decks, like Hardened Scales.
I think Charming Prince is good. Do not underestimate the Scry 2 function. Default mode is blink a wall to draw or gain life against aggro.
Ranger-Captain of Eos is great. This card offers so much different lines to make your opponents life hard. Very tricky and rewarding card to play. It always creates value and can guarantee a resolved board wipe or Sun Titan. One game against Death Shadow he attacked with two DS. I blocked one and sac RCoE. Then I path the other one. Opponent could not do anything. Just one example of this card working even in combat.
Winds of Abandon This card is great. It is exactly what works with our gameplan. We play crappy creatures and grind value until we jam Sun Titan or wrath the board.
Having ANY creatures in the battlefield when your opponent has none is great. I had a game against Bant Midrange with SFM and all the swords.
Even though all the swords stayed in the battlefield, it took him many turns to rebuild. That game lasted for 45 minutes and was great.
Removal suite
I am not sure about the correct numbers, if there are any. I run 4 copies of Path, but I can see running less. Then again, sometimes you want to use Path as a ramp spell. Maybe running less is just a mistake. I can see running 2-3 Winds of Abandon and/or 2-3 copies of Wrath of God.
Other card choices
I really like Gideon Jura This dude just works wonders against many decks. It is the perfect five drop before Sun Titan. With Kami, it gives your opponent no good options. Cataclysmic Gearhulk This is one of my pet cards, and I think it is really good here. You can blink it with Charming Prince or Flickerwisp too.
Cards I am not sure about
Crucible of Worlds I can see zero copies as being correct. Also having 4-5 fetches is probably better with Crucible. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar I do not think this is a good card for the deck. It is four mana and just does not do enough. You cannot get it back with Sun Titan Gideon of the Trials This has not been as good as I wanted it to be. I can see cutting it. Flickerwisp I know, this has always been a four of in the deck. However, it needs to have a target to be good. Modern is very interactive with all the removal and discard. Playing a 3/1 for three does not feel great. On the other hand having a decent flyer is surprisingly valuable at times.
Going forward
I think Stoneforge Mystic would be great in this deck. It works well with the gameplan. All our creatures are just bumbs in the road for the opponent. We do not care if SFM gets killed.
If it sticks, you can blink it with Charming Prince / Flickerwisp. You can get the swords back later with Sun Titan. We want to play the long game and survive enough turns.
After that sometimes we draw only crappy creatures, and having a Batterskull or Sword of Light and Shadow will make any creature a lot better.
Also Flickerwisp might be slighly better with the ability to blink Batterskull.
I can see cutting a copy of Wall of Omens and Thraben Inspector to make room for SFM packate. I do not own any, so I have not tried it yet.
I will try one copy of Giant Killer Tutorable removal, that can be played as a tapper.
On the removal suite, I have tried Hallowed Burial before. This has clear advantages and it is worth consideration. Cleansing Nova might be better in the sideboard.
Sideboard
This is a work in progress, as there are so many good options. We have the best possible cards in modern, so pick your favorites.
I think Aura of Silence might be worth including, if all the Urza shenanigans rise.
I appreciate all comments. I have some bias against many cards, like the above mentioned BB. On BB, I do not think it works on this deck, because we are a tap out style deck. I see it missing a lot more, than getting value.
Really liked your observations on the deck and the differentiation you made between a more controlling shell and a midrange one.
Unfortunately big mana and combo has always been a weakness to Emeria as we're mostly a tap out control deck. But that's why I think force of negation is very clutch in this type of deck. Of course to use it it comes with deckbuilding restrictions, namely increase our blue cards. Your build and @marinojuk's build rely heavily on white so it might be a bit difficult.
I've been experimenting with soulherder and watcher for tomorrow and I think the match up against those decks became much easier. I remember Tron and scapeshift being my nightmare and now I haven't lost a single game against them (although only played 3 times against Tron and 2 against scapeshift).
I think every build has its merit and it depends on the meta you're facing aswell. For example I took the Ranger captain of eos pack from the deck to make way for the more blue value pack with force, but I felt the pain specially in the match up against mono red prowess which seems to be a very popular deck where I play.
Meanwhile gonna do some more games this week (finally with charming prince) so I'll let you guys know how it went ;p
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T3feri / Spell Queller / Resto have been amazing in UW Midrange, let's try it in Emeria as it might help us to interact better
I am going to follow your advice and will cut 1 or 2 Thraben for Dsphere
Will do a full report this weekend
Has anyone tried Fact or Fiction ? Looks very strong in our deck!
@all: do we have a Discord for Emeria ?
Have a good weekend everyone !
I can see it taking the place of Thraben Inspector and Gideon AoZ.
Fact or Fiction is a great card but it is a "UW Control" card and not an Emeria card as you don't really hold mana for counters in this deck (most of the time at least) to be able to cast it.
The deck really gets its card advantage going by reanimating Court Hussar from the GY over and over again with Sun Titan and Emeria.
A decent card advantage engine for the deck can also be Teferi, Hero of Dominaria which I have liked as a 1x-of in the maindeck (and sometimes also a copy in the sideboard).
Looks like almost everyone is in agreement. I was waiting for more test results, but I guess it won't hurt to update the primer now.
edit: primer updated
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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
Kopikopa here (I dont know why Twitch created a new account, anyway), it's report time
First of all, the deck has potential!! Coming from UW Midrange, I had some doubts but after playing some games I feel that the deck can be really competitive.
Jund - 2-0
I beated Jund 2-0 without feelig pressured anytime.
Charming Prince is a great card and combo with our deck. Spell queller + negate has been awesome! Restoration Angel too ;-)
UW Control - 0-1
I lost 1-0 to UW Control but I could have won it if I didnt missplayed various times (returned emeria player here haha).
The Gideon package is great but I feel that even with sun titan I missed some really impactful 3 drops to reanimate. That's why I am going to cut the 2 T3feri for 2 Geist of Siant Traft. Did anyone play it maindeck? Has feedbacks?
The match lasted for 40min, great experience
Abzan StoneForge Mystic - 0-2:
As any deck with SFM, strong and quick pressure on the board. Could not do much. Anyone with experience playing against SFM?
Urza - 0-2
Can't do much here, putting pressure could help us against combo. Geist of Saint Traft could help too. But overall,.combo is our weakness even if my version got 2 Quellers to support the 2 Dovin's veto.
Conclusion;
Overall the deck feels great but I believe that we need a bit more pressure to help us close 2 games in less than 50mins^^. Sometimes I had the feelings that I could not lose but that it was going to be hard to win too.. Thus, I am going to cut the 2 t3feri for 2 Geist of Saint Traft, Anyone has experience with the card?
Various notes:
- Spell queller is great!
- Charming Prince: an all star!
- Thraben inspector: let's not under estimate this little dude.
- T3feri : strong but does not help to close games.
- Gideon package (trials + ally): feels good.
- Dovin's veto: must play 2 in the deck .
- Deck building to grind and not lose is nice but we need to have pressuring 3 drops (Geist of Saint Traft comes to mind) in order to win 2 games in less than 50minutes and put more results into Mtgtop8 listings
Im happy to say that UW Emeria is gonna be my new regular deck. Thanks to everyone for the cool vibe in the community
Ps: should we create a discord ?
Current Decklist:
3 Thraben Inspector
4 Charming Prince
4 Wall of Omens
2 Spell Queller
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Restoration Angel
3 Sun Titan
4 Path to Exile
1 Winds of Abandon
2 Dovin's Veto
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Detention Sphere
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Glacial Fortress
7 Island
11 Plains
As for your other points Ranger-Captain of Eos is both pressure and good disruption against both uw control and urza-tron. The games I win against both usually involves an early RCoE paired with a Sun Titan or Emeria to lock the opponent out.
I have played Geist of Saint Traft before but usually in the sideboard. It's not that good against other creature decks of the format. The pressure it brings is nice and it does play well with resto but just remember we are not playing aggro, tempo, or midrange. Our gameplan is focused on extending the game nine turns to reap our first activation of Emeria, the Sky Ruin.
To further that, if you can't afford fetchlands I would strongly recomend removing most or all of your islands and all glacial fortress for Prairie Stream, Field of Ruin and/or Irrigated Farmland. Having non-plains in your deck plays really poorly with emeria and the difference between having it come online on turn 9 or turn 12 is immense.
I think a discord was created in the past but no one from this thread really used it.
Thanks for your feedbacks
Regarding Ranger-Captain of Eos, I have yet to test the card but indeed it looks sweet! Definitely on my to-buy list
Regarding Queller, the good thing is that it's a versatile card. Indeed, we could always play it at the end of the opponent 3rd turn and then attack for damage. Later in the game, we could blink it with Restoration Angel for a soft counter. I agree that it goes better with T3feri but I don't feel that T3feri is at his best in our deck (at least in the main).
Regarding Geist of Saint Traft, I feel that it could be a strong addition as we don't really care about him dying due to blocks. Indeed we could make 4 damage and, in a perfect scenario, reanimate him with Sun titan later in the game. Thus, potentially having lethal on board on turn 6 if we did some few damages before (Charming Prince, Thraben Inspector , Gideon of the Trials and Spell Queller help us in this direction). And it help us against control/combo as a fast clock.
I totally understand that we are the control deck, and I like it, but I feel that we may focus a bit much on not losing/playing too fair and not on how to win.
Last but not least, we have to be able to play 3 games in 50 mins
Ps: I think that you have way more experience than I do with the deck. I'm just trying to share some ideas coming from UW Midrange
@all: did anyone tried God-Eternal Oketra ? It looks like it could fit in our deck as a 1of but at the same time it feels like a "win-more" card. It's just in case if someones already tried it
I didn't think about SfM as I don't think that it aligns with the deck strategy. I always see her in UW midrange thanks to all the counters we have at disposal, but I may be wrong here, could maybe be viable too in our deck.
Yes Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is a great PW and double as a win-con I think that he his at his best in UW control due to untapping lands for counters/answers but could be viable in our build. I am going to test God-Eternal Oketra on this slot as a replacement of Gideon AoZ.
Will let you know hot it goes
The ability is really a win-more and doesn't have any synergy with the rest of the deck, especailly since you aren't going to cast a lot of creatures in the late-game anyway (the deck doesn't pack many of them usually).
If you want an additional finisher then Elspeth, Sun's Champion is usually my go-to option as it takes over games by itself.
I don't like Geist as a maindeck optionas we aren't the beatdown in most of the matchups and it gets stonewalled easily against most decks.
Gideon provides the necessary pressure much better while also having other uses like stopping/slowing-down combo decks and fatties while surviving our wraths.
SFM is actaully really good with Queller + Teferi to protect it and Resto to blink it and thats why I suggested it.
Also, the extra flyers you have are good options to carry the equipment.
That said Lyra offers an evasive clock that you're opponents will never race b/c of the lifelink. The first strike also makes it a very effective stonewall against small creature decks too. There are also synergies with resto angel.
Both creatures are already inherintly resilient to the more common forms of removal, Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, Abrupt Decay.
Anyway, I haven't played either in the 5cmc flex slot so my opinions aren't based on playtesting.
May I know your latest list with charming prince look like? It's time to update the sample deck list in the primer.
You are still one of the more active emeria players here, so I think your list should go into the primer.
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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
Here's my UW list
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/2305378#online
Here's my mono white list
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1973774#online
Changes to the primer:
-- main sample decklist changed to Charming Prince / Ranger of Captain Eos version by Fincown
-- Charming Prince added on card choices.
-- lone missionary rating changed to one star, recently outclassed by the prince
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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
Right now my UW list is more a mono white list splashing U. I do this because I am more comfortable piloting a mono white list. I think D90Dennis14 has been an advocate of the classic Court Hussar, Flickerwisp, Spreading Seas route. I don't know which build if either could be considered better. However, I do think our skill when piloting a deck comes from our own familiarity and knowledge of our lists.
I think that sometimes this can blind us and help facilitate a confirmation bias. I'm thinking of Brought Back, myself when I go down this line of thought. A lot of other people who have tested this card have found it lacking. My bias, is that I think this card is really good in a mono white shell. So the question then becomes, is it more probable that I am such am good player / deckbuilder that Brought Back has always been amazing for me in every match I play. No, I think that it is much more likely that I have let a fraction of the great games I've won because of BB color my overall opinion of the card. I probably have more experience playing BB than any one other player in this thread. While that experience will undoubtedly help when indenifying correct lines of play, the cumulative experience of all players in this thread will largely eclipse my own.
Anyway, I'm rambling now basically I think that spreadsheets are a good idea and will help us check our bias in the future.
I actually still also use that classic route. Which is why I left your older list in the primer, it's just below the newer version.
So that those who want to go the classic route has a list to use as a reference point.
Having said all that, I'm always open to change and new ideas. Which is why I asked for the latest list you are using, and it's now the main sample decklist that people can see there.
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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
Having some form of maindeck GY-hate isn't bad (even after the bannings) and a flying blocker/attacker that can sac' itself (for instance against big lifelink creatures like Wurmcoil Engine/Batterskull) can be useful.
My main issue with it is the it has no real synergy with the flicker effects of Charming Prince and Flickerwisp but I haven't found a better option yet though Phyrexian Revoker (and Watcher for Tomorrow) is still on my list to try out.
I do not have a lot of competitive experience with the deck, mostly LGS games and some with my friends. I do have a few GP trips, and know modern pretty well. There has been a lot of good discussions here, I want to thank that first.
UW version
Like mentioned here by few, the traditional Court Hussar, Spreading Seas package does not seem to be that good anymore. Do not get me wrong here, I LOVE Court Hussar It is basically the reason I want to play this deck.
However, I feel that the UW version does not have the advantages, that would justify the splash for blue. Supreme Verdict is great, but not necessary. I think Teferi can be good, playing a little bit similar role like Gideon of the Trials. Not game changing but supporting our own game plan.
About the deck
Also I want to clarify that I think this is a control deck. Not a midrange deck. This is the reason I think Spell Queller and Resto are not a good fit for this deck. If you want to run Queller/Resto/Teferi, then a tempo or midrange build is better. Maybe a traditional creature based UW, or Jeskai tempo type of deck.
Emeria is not Tier1 deck, and will always struggle with Big mana and some combo decks. This is why I do not think adding Spell Queller will make much difference. Also I think we are a tap out deck, and the idea of holding up counterspell does not appeal to me. Having two copies of Dovin's Veto will not save you from Tron or Valakut.
Having said all this, I think the UW version with these interactive cards might work, I have not tested it out. If you like it, play it.
To sum it up, I think you have to be prepared to lose certain matchups with this deck. Magic is very much a luck based game and we should focus on the long games that go back and forth and reward good gameplay.
Card choices and the reasoning for them
Kami of False Hope I really like this one. Works well with the captain. Cannot be removed easily from the game.
Hex Parasite I think Planeswalkers are one of the worst enemies for Emeria, because we have no reach. Get this early and opponent will have hard time tapping out for Jace or others. This card also has utility against many other decks, like Hardened Scales.
I think Charming Prince is good. Do not underestimate the Scry 2 function. Default mode is blink a wall to draw or gain life against aggro.
Ranger-Captain of Eos is great. This card offers so much different lines to make your opponents life hard. Very tricky and rewarding card to play. It always creates value and can guarantee a resolved board wipe or Sun Titan. One game against Death Shadow he attacked with two DS. I blocked one and sac RCoE. Then I path the other one. Opponent could not do anything. Just one example of this card working even in combat.
Winds of Abandon This card is great. It is exactly what works with our gameplan. We play crappy creatures and grind value until we jam Sun Titan or wrath the board.
Having ANY creatures in the battlefield when your opponent has none is great. I had a game against Bant Midrange with SFM and all the swords.
Even though all the swords stayed in the battlefield, it took him many turns to rebuild. That game lasted for 45 minutes and was great.
Removal suite
I am not sure about the correct numbers, if there are any. I run 4 copies of Path, but I can see running less. Then again, sometimes you want to use Path as a ramp spell. Maybe running less is just a mistake. I can see running 2-3 Winds of Abandon and/or 2-3 copies of Wrath of God.
Other card choices
I really like Gideon Jura This dude just works wonders against many decks. It is the perfect five drop before Sun Titan. With Kami, it gives your opponent no good options.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk This is one of my pet cards, and I think it is really good here. You can blink it with Charming Prince or Flickerwisp too.
Cards I am not sure about
Crucible of Worlds I can see zero copies as being correct. Also having 4-5 fetches is probably better with Crucible.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar I do not think this is a good card for the deck. It is four mana and just does not do enough. You cannot get it back with Sun Titan
Gideon of the Trials This has not been as good as I wanted it to be. I can see cutting it.
Flickerwisp I know, this has always been a four of in the deck. However, it needs to have a target to be good. Modern is very interactive with all the removal and discard. Playing a 3/1 for three does not feel great. On the other hand having a decent flyer is surprisingly valuable at times.
Going forward
I think Stoneforge Mystic would be great in this deck. It works well with the gameplan. All our creatures are just bumbs in the road for the opponent. We do not care if SFM gets killed.
If it sticks, you can blink it with Charming Prince / Flickerwisp. You can get the swords back later with Sun Titan. We want to play the long game and survive enough turns.
After that sometimes we draw only crappy creatures, and having a Batterskull or Sword of Light and Shadow will make any creature a lot better.
Also Flickerwisp might be slighly better with the ability to blink Batterskull.
I can see cutting a copy of Wall of Omens and Thraben Inspector to make room for SFM packate. I do not own any, so I have not tried it yet.
I will try one copy of Giant Killer Tutorable removal, that can be played as a tapper.
On the removal suite, I have tried Hallowed Burial before. This has clear advantages and it is worth consideration. Cleansing Nova might be better in the sideboard.
Sideboard
This is a work in progress, as there are so many good options. We have the best possible cards in modern, so pick your favorites.
I think Aura of Silence might be worth including, if all the Urza shenanigans rise.
I appreciate all comments. I have some bias against many cards, like the above mentioned BB. On BB, I do not think it works on this deck, because we are a tap out style deck. I see it missing a lot more, than getting value.
1 Kami of False Hope
1 Hex Parasite
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Charming Prince
4 Wall of Omens
4 Ranger-Captain of Eos
4 Flickerwisp
1 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
3 Sun Titan
4 Path to Exile
2 Winds of Abandon
1 Gideon of the Trials
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Wrath of God
1 Gideon Jura
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Field of Ruin
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
1 Windswept Heath
12 Plains
3 Stony Silence
2 Celestial Purge
2 Damping Sphere
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Cleansing Nova
2 Runed Halo
2 Aura of Silence
2 Remorseful Cleric
Really liked your observations on the deck and the differentiation you made between a more controlling shell and a midrange one.
Unfortunately big mana and combo has always been a weakness to Emeria as we're mostly a tap out control deck. But that's why I think force of negation is very clutch in this type of deck. Of course to use it it comes with deckbuilding restrictions, namely increase our blue cards. Your build and @marinojuk's build rely heavily on white so it might be a bit difficult.
I've been experimenting with soulherder and watcher for tomorrow and I think the match up against those decks became much easier. I remember Tron and scapeshift being my nightmare and now I haven't lost a single game against them (although only played 3 times against Tron and 2 against scapeshift).
I think every build has its merit and it depends on the meta you're facing aswell. For example I took the Ranger captain of eos pack from the deck to make way for the more blue value pack with force, but I felt the pain specially in the match up against mono red prowess which seems to be a very popular deck where I play.
Meanwhile gonna do some more games this week (finally with charming prince) so I'll let you guys know how it went ;p