MTG Salvation

Wow I'm amazed at your card choices! I've played emeria for a long time now but cards like gift of Estates and realmwright were completely of my radar!
When you put some games in I would love to read your feedback!
About gift of immortality it does seem quite good as a one off as it can lock creatures decks with kami and noncreature with Ranger so I would definitely be interested in trying it too!

Thanks for your encouragement! It’s my pleasure to look for weird card nobody think about and bring here for this “community”

Another card I’m trying is hex parasite because ranger too. It help for planewalker in mid and late game by pull off all counters of a permanent or just one or two... you can too lower your own blast zone. The turn he arrive.

Try it and tell me so

My List at the current time



I'm coming back to let you know my improvements about several slot choices :

Realmwright
Is very good in late game even if sometimes this is a bad topdeck... The turn he arrives he can bring a "surprise" emeria, the sky ruin situation the opponent can't deal with. Most of the times in my games especially versus tempo deck using Lightning bolt,Fatal push, Kolaghan's Command and snapcaster mage, the opponent was forced to kill him afraid by an active emeria and a lockdown with kami of false hope and Ranger-Captain of Eos.
—> like all your ccm 1 you can putting it on the bottom of your library with a Mistveil Plains to putting it into your hand with ranger afterward

Teferi, hero of dominaria makes sense with Thraben inspector (clues) / Field Of Ruin blast zone path to exile, defensive celestial colonnade and it’s an alternative kill if opponent have no answer

hex parasite is very powerful against deck abusing of planewalkers, i just won against an Oko, Thief of Crowns deck playing Wrenn and Six and Liliana of the Veil

In the same turn i attack a 5 counter oko with my ranger at a serious moment putting it to 2 counters… Hexparasite comes with four mana untapped… I kill oko and wren in the same time ! The hand of my opponent (checked by surgical a beaten oko) was assassin trophy / wren (again) / kolagan's command. He use all gasoline he had to kill ranger and parasite and titan comes to close that hard game

Gift of estates in the game I played it was always useful even if it’s a bad top deck and even if sometimes you already have enough lands... you could assure you can play titan or teferi, hero of dominaria in mid game

Gideon of the trials is amazing against burn / infect and the possibility he could be resurrected with titan is a real threat for some decks. But it appears that I frequently put it in sideboard especially against deck who flooded the board with creatures

Elspeth tirel is a good card helping you to survive, combine with a kami and you can completely clean the board of enchant / artifact and planewalker the second turn she arrives could be your only out against Urza, Lord High Artificer thopter foundry strategys

Sorcerous spyglass is really important to complete the action of hex parasite / Elspeth tirel / hour of revelation to beat planewalkers, the plus he gives you comparing needle is to have informations on the opponent’s hand as surgical extraction. can be bounce by teferi to use it again or resurrected by titan if destroyed

Try 1 Settle the wreckage in your list to beat the deck that use lot of man lands as creeping tar pit / raging ravine mutavault or inkmoth nexus

tell me your opinions

Hey Toshenko, nice to hear the deck is working good for you with the changes you made from the base deck!

I've been using Hex parasite in the side for a while now (since ranger-captain of eos is in the format at least)and i've been impressed with it, specially in grindy match ups like jund.

Realmwright is a card i have mixed feelings over, this because the surprise Emeria aspect is quite strong, but at the same time it can be dealt very swiftly, and my meta is primarly midrange and interactive decks so at least for me i think it's not the best idea. Also sometimes it can be just a dead draw when you need some gas and that inconsistency bothers me a bit. Still bought it though so i will eventually try it!

Gift of estates seems like a very powerful card, but the fact that you usually we're going to have more lands than our opponent, specially if we're on the play, seems like a dead card sometimes. That said i would love to hear more feedback from you playing with it, specifically about early and late game and how does it compare being on the play and on the draw.

About Elspeth Tirel, it does seem good in this more grindy modern meat with lots of planeswalkers so that´s also something i could consider in the future, even though her +2 ability isn't the most relevant.

Right now this is the list i'm going with



So i made a lot of changes to my previous iteration of the deck because i wasn't happy on how it was performing vs other midrange decks wich comprise a big part of the meta now. It was good vs control and aggro but it didn't have the value of a true midrange deck.
With that in mind i decided to cut my removal package for a value package. This means aggro match-ups suffer, but that's why i have the 4 wraths in the side and still the 2 Winds of Abandon in the main.
I had experience with a soulherder/ ephemerate version from before so i decided to mix them a bit as i find both cards to be quite powerful in the right board state. Ephemerate has a big potential to be a 3 for 1, avoiding a removal or nulling an attacker and getting value twice. Soulherder is a powerhouse but it's also a removal magnet. If it stays out, it can win you the game, but paying 3 just to get it pushed or exiled feels very bad. That's why i settled on 2 as a helper for the engine. Teferi, Time Raveler is just the best 3 drop we can have. There's a reason why he's format warping and i never feeld bad in having one or 2 in my hand as it alone can break other decks, and keep helping us with value. I won a match against Devoted druid/ Vizier Combo entirely because of teferi. He's insane and i wouldn't run less than 3. Venser, Shaper Savant is my form of counterpell that can also lock lands if you blink him with ephemerate and soulherder. Venser + epehemerate in EOT is basically 3 of the oponents lands to their hand wich is very devastating.
I Feel like our best weapon at the moment is the Ranger-Captain of eos and Sun Titan lock. When i have them both and string them togeteher it's very unlikely i'll lose the game, and if a teferi is out then it's just game over for most decks so again, i wouldnt run less than 3.
The Stoneforge Package is very strong as it was to be expected. 2 swords and a batterskull seem like the best choicees for equipments and it's always a good play, be it on turn 2 or turn 8. I won several games with a little thraben inspector carrying 2 swords on his back and pulling the game for me so, the ability to turn any of our creatures into game ending threats is amazing, specially when out titan goes out.

In the side, Hour of Revelation is amazing, specially now that i'm not running detention spheres, it's basically the same as a normal wrath for us (minus equipments and teferi) and it will hopefully be backbreaking fo the oponent. I tend to bring it in grindy planewalker dfining match ups like jund or bant snow midrange and it has impressed me. The rest of the sidebord is very standard so not much to add on that front.

What do you guys think of the deck? Any imput is welcome as i'm planning to stick with the deck for the long run and tweak it accordingly!

thank you for your feedback bro, it's a really different version we are playing, really interesting

Hey it's been a while! Hope everyone's doing alright in this new year!


Got back to playing a few days ago with a new version of the deck which seems to be hitting the spot and winning most match-ups till now. Here's the deck and then i'll explain some of the new cards i decided to add:



So about the changes in the main deck:
Fell out of love with Watcher for Tomorrow. Not drawing a card immediatly and coming in tapped is to much of a downside when we compare him to a Wall of Omens or even Charming Prince. Both these just have immediate value and are good blockers. Decided to also take Soulherder out because of the very interactive gameplay modern is seeing right now. Paying 3 to just have him bolted or pushed feels way too bad. Because of this i decided to put Court Hussar again. I always find myseld coming back to it everytime i take him out as it can just change a game with one topdeck.
I also missed interaction and forgot how important it was. With that in mind i put the Supreme Verdict and the Detention Sphere back in and been loving it since. Aggro match ups just go a lot better after this.
Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is a felx spot and can very well be replaced by something else. I decided to try him because i wanted something that could give me an edge before turn 6, and he can basically do everything. It's a super good card and i've been liking it a lot, but i wouldn't say it's essential.
The core package with Stoneforge Mystic and it's package, Ranger-Captain of Eos and it's package and Teferi, Time Raveler is what i think makes the deck work so well. All these cards are some of the best we can play in modern at the time in UW and most games are what gives me the win (along with Sun Titan of course, we all know it's a powerhouse)

About the sideboard, i have indeed done some changes, most notably taking Disdainful Stroke because i used to have it vs Primeval Titan, but it usually is protected by a cavern of souls and it does nothing. So i had the choice of putting more counters or something else. I decided to go with Generous Gift because it can deal with anything (includin Oko, Thief of Crowns and Field of the Dead, both of wich are plaguing my LGS. Funny enough, haven't seen them since i made the new sideboard but i'll let you know how it went. Also took Hex Parasite because it was just being to slow, and against Ponza with Karn it really didn't do anything so i found myself not really caring from him. Put a Mirran Crusader in it's place for a better match up against the new midrange decks that all seem to be using green for Oko. Not getting turned into an elk is a very good plus in the days that go by!

But essentialy this is the new deck. In 3 tournments with around 20 people made top 4 in all of them, winning against Control, Dredge, Humans, Burn and some other decks but overall quite good results. Hoping to try the new Theros equipment Shadowspear in the side to use not only against Boggles and infect but also against burn, being easier to cast than batterskull.

I'll keep you guys posted about upcoming results! Stay well

hi emeria's bro !

Very nice list ! I want to play a similar one if i had enough money to put in stoneforge / swords / batterskull

Here is my list at the current time



As a mad builder i am, it'm trying a full value version with the following idea :
All my crea dont need a titan to come again on board and they all have to give me value and/or time !

So

Solemn Simulacrum --> You really have to try mates it helps a lot for a quicker active emeria situation / help Against blood moon to find you're blue / I remember you that exile removals it's not very current actually in modern metagame, so it appears that he always make me draw and if he is path to exile he has gave us two plains card

Same idea for Elite Guardmage and Filigree Familiar…

3 hour of revelation could be exagerated but it's one of the only solution against urza and can help as a normal but wipe too or punish decks abusing too much of planewalkers / artifact / enchantment /
SPELL QUELLER lol

2 Mulldrifter is about the tricks with Ephemerate and evoke ability, in the early you can just evoke it too look for solution

In the SB

Rest in Peace is because the graveyard is a little bit agitated at the moment, never forget that you can just playing it and destroy it with generous gift, hour of revelation, or bounce it with teferi. A split with remorseful cleric seems ok

Leyline of sanctity presence in my sb is because burn / scapeshift / grindstone strategies and help a lot against mardu pyro / jund with the famous TURN 1 Thoughtseize or Killing by Lightning bolt in midrange battle…

Lavinia, Azorius Renegade help a lot against tron / ramp strategies / counter all « without paying mana cost » very interesting card, but difficult to use well

knowledge pool is a combo option in midrange battle with teferi and lavinia too —> Player can’t cast anything and you can use spell of the opponent to kill him

xx

Hello all!

I am responsible for the list that made the Face to Face games top 8 last year. (http://magic.facetofacegames.com/open-recap-modern-in-saskatoon/)

I have been playing versions of this deck in serious competitive events for around five years now, and have long felt that one of the great advantages of the archetype was that it was not tested against (or even taken very seriously) when it had legitimately favourable matchups against a large subsection of the Modern metagame. Having developed a game-day winning variant of the "Sun Titan and Emeria" shell independently in Zendikar-Scars of Mirrodin Standard, I was quick to give LOVEISGREEN's Modern version of the deck a try at a local event back when it was first showcased in "Daily Decks" by Melissa DeTora on the MTG homepage. Being skeptical of a few of the card choices, I cast about for a while for other options, and my first versions of the deck owe a great deal to the early primers here on MTGsalvation. Since I was still actively participating on the Pro Tour at the time, however (in addition to the fact that I have extremely limited internet access), I was both passively and actively discouraged from bringing attention to the strategy.

Alas, I kept qualifying for Standard PTs, and my careful preparation on this secret weapon never came to fruition. That part of my life is more or less over now, and it appears that the element of surprise is no longer quite as significant since this well-kept secret has finally gotten out into the "established" domain. I had a feeling that this would happen someday, as even when I was tipping my hand by playing my version(s)of the deck two or three times per week locally, I would still be liable to beat some of the best players Western Canada had to offer through sheer positional advantage. The core cards of this deck have never been a flash in the pan, nor are they currently easy to hate out, and I have sunk hundreds of hours into testing and refining the best ways to combine them. I would be happy, therefore, to share my knowledge with anyone who would like to discuss the operational, strategic, or tactical subtleties of the shell.

I am no longer playing anything like as much as I used to, but I still take pleasure in the competitive environment that the occasional Open Series or Grand Prix bring near my home once or twice a year, and I always thought I would like to give back a little to this community as a "thank you" for being such a wonderful resource and a consistent well of inspiration. It gave me a little jolt of pleasure, then, when I started looking for opinions on how people had been dealing with Valakut and Field of the Dead - based Scapeshift lists during preparation for my current semi-annual tournament outing, to observe that one of my lists from last year had made its way onto the front page of this thread. After giving it some thought, I decided that I should create this account for the express purpose of giving people my take on things. Since I have almost no other online presence to speak of, please forgive and assist me if ever I overstep some boundary; I have quite strong opinions about the assorted card choices, but one of the most wonderful aspects of deckbuilding (to me) is the cascade effect that a single change has on the ensemble of options available to a constructed deck. The optimization process is therefore never finished within a dynamic format, and the amount of work required to puzzle out even the most basic conclusions still surprises me sometimes.

As a follow-up to this post, I will be adding my most recent list, along with my general opinion on a few higher-order play patterns to explain it.

Keep on brewing, and I am proud to finally call myself one of you!

-Stéphane Gérard

Every card in the maindeck has to answer three questions, in diminishing order of importance:

1) Can it help me survive this combat step?
2) Can it make my next turn scale up in mana?
3) Can it provide some advantage against the opponent?

NONE of these questions care in the slightest about winning the game. That will either come, or it will not. Trying to win, paradoxically, leads to losses.

The key to this deck, in my testing, has always resided in the fact that it can attempt to attack the format from an angle no other strategy even tries to interact on - inevitability. U/W control with Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is the only real competition in this arena, and only because of the ultimate ability of Teferi does that list have a real trump. Every other situation commonly found in Modern can be interacted with successfully with this shell, and Emeria enjoys a comparative advantage to U/W in many other matchups. The versions of the deck that maximize this inevitability angle, at their most essential level, are attrition-based. There are times when Emeria can be forced out of this role (the unbanning of Stoneforge Mystic being an incredible incidental resource in these cases), but every time I have deviated from pushing the passive strength that Emeria's attrition provides, I have found it to reflect negatively on my win-rate across the gamut of matchups.

This realization carries strategic (Metagame), operational (Card selection), and tactical (Sequencing) implications.



STRATEGICALLY; this is a tapout deck that wants to play to the board as much as possible. In my estimation it is not, and with the current card pool SHOULD not, be played into a field of spell-based combo. As a rule of thumb: "When I can expect Wall of Omens to buy me a turn, Emeria is a solid metagame choice". A good 60% of my game wins occur when my opponent has exhausted the resources of their hand, and is progressively being locked out of relevant topdecks by pseudo- Strip Mine loops. Building backwards from that ideal circumstance, this is a version of the deck that emphasizes sacrificing as much tempo as possible to set up its inevitability in the lategame.

The critical pieces of this deck are revealed in the effects that are present as 4-ofs (or more):

-Emeria the Sky Ruin/Sun Titan: (Emeria is the Greater Gargadon in suspend, the Planeswalker about to activate, and the reason for the deck's existence. If there was no Emeria, no uncounterable Sun Titans being put into play for free, the imperative "Survive" could not eventually translate to victory. Crucible of Worlds is a concession to the fact that drawing three Sun Titans or Emerias before turn 6 is a death sentence, but the artifact is best thought of as a hybrid version of each effect that the deck wants. I try never to play it before I know it can generate value.)

-Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin: (The function of 5 of these in the manabase is paramount. Dealing with animated creatures and land-based threats on a 1-for-1 basis is imperative, and lands are a toolbox that cannot detract from tapping out in the early turns. I have found that two Ghost Quarters are essential to winning the lategame, even if Field is the better card. The Ghost Quarters can also mitigate the pain of drawing two Emeria and six Plains when the opponent is on an all-basic boardstate.)

-Flooded Strand/Pilgrim's Eye: (Deck thinning is a palpable phenomenon in this list. The intention is to scale up the power of the deck every turn, and increasing your odds of drawing spells is a much more relevant concern when games frequently last past turn 20. Aggro decks have to balance a 0.15 chance of drawing an extra spell over the course of a game intended to last 4 or 5 turns. In contrast, I don't even know the fastest kill this deck can provide, but I doubt it is possible to win before turn 6 in the best of circumstances. It doesn't matter; typically, I start to receive concessions on turns 10-12.)

-Wall of Omens/Court Hussar: (Pilgrim's eye also fits here, but its function is more purely attrition. These are deck velocity and, eventually, true card advantage. The Hussar is a poor substitute for Wall of Omens at 3 mana, but it has the same effect: draw a card, and chump block. If able, rinse, repeat, and profit. Every turn another land hits the table is a countdown to Emeria, and therefore to inevitability. Wall is the better card initially, but as the game drags on the balance tips more and more in favour of the Hussar. Eventually, the game reaches a point where it can safely be cast for UUU to have it die immediately, and soon thereafter the game will be over.)

-Path to Exile/Settle the Wreckage: (The only instant-speed spells in the maindeck, this is probably the only effect that could allow this deck to be viable. There is a reason someone can spend 3 mana on a 1/1 flier that gains an advantage when others are playing Vendillion Clique instead. There is a reason that a pilot can choose to leave their graveyard untouched for value, while others are delving theirs to put a Gurmag Angler into play on turn 2. There is a reason that 5 and 6-mana threats can be played on curve in a format where Griselbrand is sometimes in play on turn 1. The answer asks only a single white mana, and deals with most threats - permanently. Nearly 30 years on, Swords to Plowshares is still an incredible rate. If things are going well it can also accelerate, or be combined with Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin to speed up running the opponent out of basic lands. The reason this deck can play more than 4 of this effect is because it assumes that the opponent cannot do any single thing when empty-handed that can beat Sun Titan recursion as a finisher.)

-Supreme Verdict/Wrath of God: (The second part of the puzzle mentioned above. These are the only on-curve 4-mana plays in the deck, barring combinations of spells, and there is no room for any of this effect in the sideboard. These are also universal answers to any problem creature, and if they can regain all the tempo that has been bled by our tapland-Wall of Omens-Pilgrim's Eye sequence, so much the better. If Emeria cannot win a match against a deck weak to sweepers, I do not bother trying to add cards to the sideboard against that deck. Sideboard slots are precious. Wraths #4-6 belong in the maindeck, if anywhere.)

-Mortarpod/Batterskull/Stoneforge Mystic: (Mortarpod is the most questionable of these, but has proved its worth many times over to me. Particularly strong against Affinity (and may in consequence bear review after the banning of Mox Opal), the Germ token can be a target for Path to Exile against a creatureless opponent, can chump block while pressuring the opposing 1-toughness plays, and is both a means of controlling Planeswalkers and jump-starting Emeria. An extra point of toughness on a Wall of Omens can be surprisingly relevant, and the sacrifice ability can also deliver lethal damage to players, providing a path to victory outside of combat against Ensnaring Bridge. Crucially, Stoneforge Mystic and Germ tokens can develop the board without impeding an impending Wrath of God. Activation of the Mystic is usually unnecessary, since hardcasting Batterskull is better sequenced after a Wrath, and a second copy is therefore important for consistency and resilience.)

OPERATIONALLY, it is critical to embrace the "Swiss-Army Knife" paradigm if your deck sets out to drag its opponents into the deep waters of turns 10-15, then watch them drown a little more every time they draw a land. The last few nonland cards in the deck (Other than those I have explained above) are chosen for their ability to answer either a typical threat or a corner-case problem for enough time to survive the turn, make another land drop, and attempt to trigger Emeria just once more. Teferi, Time Raveler and Detention Sphere are essentially the same card in this respect. The former is stronger against "Tall" threats like Tarmogoyf or Gurmag Angler, and the latter is stronger against "Wide" threats like Lingering Souls or Goblin Tokens. Neither is ideal against Planeswalkers, but can buy turns against them, and will leave some sort of value behind for Sun Titan or for "Quickened" Wraths.

The manabase includes 2 Hallowed Fountain, 1 Island, 7 Plains, 1 Prairie Stream, and 1 Mistveil Plains. The Island is the most awkward of these, but combines with Pilgrim's Eye or Flooded Strand to ignore Blood Moon completely. It is necessary to play one, even if it impedes Emeria around 20% of the time, but two is too high a cost. This hard truth also affects the spell suite. The Prairie Stream replaced a Hallowed Fountain since it saves a point or two of life in certain situations, and should be fetched out early by Flooded Strand if it is not likely to come in untapped. The same is true of Mistveil Plains, which is an essential win condition against infinite lifegain and prison decks. Against Melira-Finks, for example, I have won fully half a dozen games by allowing infinite life to occur, untapping to sweep the board, then locking up the empty-handed opponent with Ghost Quarter recursion. Seven Plains allow Emeria to come online on schedule through Fulminator Mage or Field of Ruin, since Crucible of Worlds and Sun Titan can eventually recover from any amount of disruption. 8 basic lands also help our own Flooded Strand, Pilgrim's Eye, and Field of Ruin have viable targets well into the lategame. 24 lands emphasize how important it is to make every turn count towards scaling up; mulligans should almost never happen, but Emeria can recover from feast much more easily than famine.



TACTICALLY, the maximum amount of effort should be made to extend the game, by any means possible. Encouraging overextension into sweepers is a very important function of Wall of Omens and its ilk, and leaving behind value means that topdeck wars should be the bread and butter of this strategy. I often choose to take the draw against Jund opponents, The Rock, Mardu Pyromancer (while that deck existed), Abzan, Jeskai Control, U/W, or anyone trying to emulate Emeria's staying power. Against these decks, unless I am aware of a specific sideboard strategy, I will also regularly keep 6- or 7-land hands. These are typically excellent pairings. The sweepers can compensate for lost tempo against the midrange decks, and the discard or counterspells in all these lists make their plays, on average, inferior to incremental Mortarpod and Wall of Omens advantage - provided the first significant threats are delayed by a few speed bumps.

1-for-1 trades, or even 0-for-1 trades like chump blocking, are typically better than they appear for Emeria, since the hyper-efficient disruption that Modern generally requires matches up poorly against any permanent that Emeria resolves. By around turn 8, both players are typically long out of the sequencing from their opening hands, and looking to the top of their libraries to reload. This is where Emeria (both the card and the deck) shines, since at this point the velocity and card advantage start to add up if the manabase is well-established. The lategame in Magic belongs to the deck better able to deal with flood or poor topdecks in any case, which is ideal where Sun Titan and friends are concerned.

My next post will delve a little deeper into the logic that reinforces these conclusions.

-Stéphane Gérard

The tactical considerations of wanting to tap out every turn, wanting every non-land card to be able to stop a lethal Death's Shadow (for example), and wanting the opponent to spend their cards on spells the deck is already happy to Wrath away in the first place, all these combine to lead back to a general theme for card choices which comes in line with the overriding direction of the deck; make every spell a good one to draw and play into an empty board (hopefully bringing a land). The living weapon equipment, the Pilgrim's Eyes, the Wall of Omens, the Hussars, all the "draft chaff" or "filler spells" slide into focus under this motto. Playing a Wall of Omens to dig one fresh card deeper into a seventh land for the next turn, only to destroy it by casting the Supreme Verdict just drawn, is a common and highly illustrative play. The deck is incredibly mana-hungry, and the same sequence as mentioned above should be just as easily justified when made with a Sun Titan cantripping on turn 10.

This standby has been hugely influential in translating directly to game wins. Where other decks struggle desperately to press for a game-ending advantage, to push a creature to victory, or to interact with the relevant aspects of a similar gameplan on the other side of the table, Emeria is content to greet every untap, every draw step, every land drop with open arms. Draw a fresh card, play another land, and cast the spell (or series of spells) that makes the most of the available mana. The deck will reward you with the ability to do so again the next turn.

There has been a trend, on this site and others, to fixate on card interactions and value plays. I believe this works against what the card Emeria, the Sky Ruin is best at doing. It is a free pass to effective wins, if only the lands to fuel it are provided as you make it out of the early portion of the game. Blade Splicer, Flickerwisp, Charming Prince, Soulherder, Venser, Ephemerate, none of these cards are spectacular on an empty board, and none reward you for focusing on your land. They are all powerful in their own ways, but they work against what the deck thrives off of better than any other - keeping the board clear. If these cards are what brings you to the archetype, you can certainly play them, but do not be surprised if they fail to consistently perform. They are doing exactly what your opponents expect you to do, exposing you to their removal spells, and they need too much to happen before they leave behind value. They are inconsistent, and often cost a card for no advantage.

The same logic applies to a common suggestion in Knight of the White Orchid, which is mirrored by Gift of Estates. These seem to do everything the deck wants. The problem is that they often do nothing relevant when cast on-curve, and scale down in the lategame where Emeria is grinding the opponent away by compounding a mana advantage. The opposite is true of Burnished Hart, which falls too far on the value side, and impedes the curve by asking too much mana for its effect. There is a balance to be struck, and these cards are trying to push extremes. I do not doubt that there are versions that can find a home for these effects (Weathered Wayfarer tutoring up Ghost Quarters in a deck full of Borderposts comes to mind for the first two), but if you ask yourself "What does Emeria ask of its pilot?" the problem becomes clear. These are often distractions from survival that throw away games, on the whole, to rush an already foregone conclusion. Just put Plains into play as calmly as possible.

In a similar vein I have found, through extensive testing of many, many sideboard strategies, that countermagic is a losing proposition for the archetype in general. I have tried Negate, Ojutai's Command, Swan song, Dispel, Spell Burst, Condescend, Spell Pierce, Mana Leak, Rune Snag, FlashFreeze, Disdainful Stroke, Steel Sabotage, Annul, and even hard options such as Dovin's Veto and Dissipate. None of these worked. The closest to seeming realistic were the permanent-based versions, Ojutai's Command, Silumgar Sorcerer, Daring Apprentice, and Lunar Force, but even these were eventually removed. Aside from the fact that the UU options were too inconsistent where it mattered, these polluted the tapout plan, and cost games whenever they affected the curve. On top of this, they took up sideboard space devoted to certain matchups, and then failed to win the game even when they resolved. Worse yet, they often did no more than stop a single spell, then left nothing behind. With the printing of Veil of Summer, I believe that the only countermagic worth playing is Glen Elendra Archmage. Full stop. It asks only a single Island for a threat that can cripple combo opponents if they ever stumble, and can be brought in elsewhere.

Speaking of Glen Elendra Archmage, these philosophies also extend to the sideboard, with one important exception: wherever sweepers are weak, it is often suicide to leave them in your deck after sideboarding. The plans that have worked best for me all accepted this, and have tried to keep both the mana curve and the board state in mind, in addition to playing well with Emeria the Sky Ruin. This is why permanent-based answers and creatures, of CMC 3 or less whenever possible, have featured strongly in all versions of the deck. Remorseful Cleric is an excellent example. Even if the card is brought in alongside a few Wraths, its effect will still remain accessible (provided the core philosophy of the deck is respected). However, in the situations where all of the sweepers must be removed, they can be brought in as a significant upgrade (flying over and harassing Snapcaster Mage to pressure planeswalkers against U/W, for example). Any other effects should either play well with Wraths (Pithing Needle), or provide an analogous effect against a different axis than Wraths interact on when board control is either gone or irrelevant (Cleric, Lone Missionary, Ethersworn Canonist). These cards both enable AND reward the next turn.

The last category of sideboard cards are simply more flexible and diverse instant-speed answers to early noncreature threats. Celestial Purge, Disenchant, and Blessed Alliance are efficient and versatile, easy to cast off of a single Plains, and are replacements for Detention Sphere, Paths, and Wraths that are worth recycling with Mistveil Plains before cracking fetchlands or Fields in the midgame. Their inclusion is discretionary, and should be minimized to 3 or 4 slots in the sideboard at most. Their value is directly proportional to the number of board states they can be immediately cast on in a given matchup. If they can be held for value, even better, but they should be relevant to survival from the moment they are drawn.

Every deck has weaknesses, however, and W/u Emeria (as I choose to describe the splash) is no different. With no burst card advantage (aside from brief unsuccessful attempts to include Cloudblazer or Mulldrifter as a bridge out of the turn 4 Wrath), it struggles against spell-based decks, or decks fueled by Ancestral Visions. Particularly hateful are Visions backed up by Remands, since they disrupt the curve of Emeria's plays while remaining card-neutral, and push the deck's voluntary tempo loss to the breaking point. As with many decks, a resolved Karn Liberated on turn three spells death, and Pithing Needle must survive until a Field of Ruin or a Ghost Quarter shows up, lest the match be lost. R/G Ponza is a real concern, and Scavenging Ooze gets out of control alarmingly quickly if not Path to Exiled on sight. Ad Nauseam is over 80% favored against it.

But for these sacrifices, what results is a deck that can - and will - win any game if given the time. A deck that will demolish Infect and Affinity, and laugh at U/B Spirits, Bant Spirits, Elves, Humans, or Merfolk. A deck that is a true favourite against Death's Shadow, and an excellent choice against Burn. A deck that punishes corner cases, and picks apart the weak seams of the most streamlined decks by inviting them to join it in an environment where only surviving to make the next land drop matters. A deck that will happily attack for six if disrupted by a Torpor Orb, a Surgical extraction, a Leyline of the Void, or a Rest in Peace, a deck that chooses to ignore these, or Choke, or Blood Moon, until it is convenient to remove them, and laughs at the fact that the opponent spent a card from their hand that cannot win the game. A deck that happily allows Primeval Titans to resolve so that it can Path to Exile them, one by one, while Pilgrim's Eye and Court Hussar continue to chip away until it comes time to pick up a Batterskull. A deck that can eventually loop stack tricks with Detention Sphere and Aura of Silence, and laughs quietly to itself whenever Fatal Push is cast on a Germ.

This is a deck, most of all, that by and large plays the game fairly, on-curve, and at sorcery speed. These things should not be possible in a format as powerful as modern, and yet they are true. Despite being incredibly consistent, the deck is subtle and delicate, and walks a tightrope every time it shuffles up for a new game. It demands work for its power, but is by turns engaging and entertaining in doing so, then rewards knowledge and foresight in every nuance of decision-making.

This is Magic: The Gathering as it was meant to be played, possibly even as Richard Garfield intended.

-Stéphane Gérard

Should i call you master ?

Merci à toi Stéphane ! Je m'appelle Thomas j'ai 33ans et je vis à Clermont-fd

In keeping with the philosophies outlined before this, I will list here a few of my most common substitutions for the sideboard as given above. These usually come in for the appropriate metagames by removing one Sorcerous Spyglass, one Glen Elendra Archmage, one Stonecloaker, one Blessed Alliance, one Lavinia, one Lone Missionary, or one Remorseful Cleric. The other nine cards have essentially never lost their positions since the day I first introduced them, and all of them have commonly gone up in numbers (with the exception of Lavinia, Stonecloaker, and Blessed Alliance, of which I have never wanted more than one of each).

Runed Halo

There was a time when Scapeshift could be caught completely unprepared by this effect. Since Field of the Dead was printed, this is no longer possible. I have also tested up to three Gideon's Intervention as a more catch-all way to survive Valakut triggers, but these have almost never been worth the equity, and the most dedicated hate never seemed to do more than improve my chances of exhausting their manabase with Field of Ruin, Ghost Quarter, and Crucible of Worlds. In consequence, I have taken this as an indication to focus on that aspect of the matchup. Runed Halo still deserves consideration at times because of its applications elsewhere, specifically against threat-light decks that suffer greatly from having one finisher negated.

Nevermore

The idea was once that a sort of Pithing Needle for spells might be a good idea. In theory, this is true, but in practice it became clear that Pithing Needle works in this deck because it costs a single colorless mana. Nevermore is still helpful as part of an overall plan to shut down a critical component of some decks, but is too inefficient to work well in the multiples it requires to be effective on its own. Meddling Mage is a better play overall, but costs U and frequently loses game 3 to removal whenever it takes game 2.

Ethersworn Canonist

Sometimes emulated in effect by Rule of Law or Deafening Silence, the "Storm Hate" package is an infrequent necessity. It is actually important to end the game against these strategies, however, so creatures are a better option. Whenever this is true, I have often employed 2 Canonist and 1 Eidolon of Rhetoric for curve purposes and to diversify against Lightning Bolt. Recently, I have turned more to Damping Sphere, since it can be brought in with far greater relevance to reinforce already winnable matchups such as Tron, Simic Growth Chamber, or Lotus Field decks, but diversity is still important around Echoing Truth or Ancient Grudge. As I mentioned in my strategic breakdown, however, Wall of Omens is already at a sickening disadvantage in a field where Grapeshot can be expected.

Aven Mindcensor

One of the better options in the current big-mana metagame, Mincensor is a self-contained unit in that it provides disruption while compounding its own advantage. It supplements Path to Exile, Settle the Wreckage, Ghost Quarter, and Field of Ruin as well, and provides an evasive flash threat that can apply pressure in other matchups. Its single toughness makes it fragile, but can be recurred and equipped as a small compensation, and encouraging the more explosive deck to dilute its own synergies by adding removal is a net positive for Emeria.

Spellskite

Once included as a 3-of in the maindeck, back when Splinter Twin, Bogles, and Infect combined to make up more than a quarter of my total pairings at a Grand Prix, the heyday of the card has long since passed. If included as a singleton alongside other sideboard plans, this 0/4 Horror can often create very difficult situations for the opponent. Adding another layer of protection to Pithing Needle, Meddling Mage, Aven Mindcensor, or even Sun Titan while making a mockery of Arcbound Ravager and Lightning Bolt can still sometimes be match-winning.

Stony Silence Rest in Peace

I mention these cards not because I recognize that they are an option, but because I believe they are almost never good ones. First of all, they are notoriously underwhelming in the topdeck wars that Emeria wants to navigate towards. The effects are both symmetrical and poor in multiples, in addition to being too narrow to be brought in against decks with backup plans, and also impede either Mortarpod and Batterskull or Sun Titan and Emeria (respectively). These are, by themselves, not damning indictments against their playability since Emeria regularly welcomes its opponents playing such cards, but the difference is a) that it is a dangerous idea to help an opponent when they might want that effect, b) that the card has to come from the Emeria player's hand and not the opponent's, and c) that the cards are very unlikely to be brought in against decks that only incidentally use either artifacts or the graveyard. I would rather play 5 Pithing Needle and Disenchant effects and 5 Remorseful Cleric and Stonecloaker effects than any number of Rest in Peace or Stony Silence. At least I will be able to bring these cards in when I need to make upgrades in other pairings. If the metagame does demand their inclusion, though, then so be it. Their power is regrettably unilateral, but undeniable.

Generous Gift Hour of Revelation

As maindeck inclusions that might be able to replace Detention Spheres or Teferi, I am cautiously optimistic that there could be some way to build the deck to take advantage of these cards. Currently I have no time to test them, but Hour of Revelation is particularly intriguing given the the general gameplan of Emeria. Mortarpod with its Germ token and Wall of Omens with its cantrip make for quite a few incidental permanents, and I have already toyed with the idea of including a Cleansing Nova in the deck. At three mana, the effect has real applications, and Planar Cleansing is already a Pro-Tour winning card (albeit in Standard). Generous Gift, on the other hand, I am more hesitant on, although the fact that Emeria includes ready-made 0/4 bodies lying around waiting to either block or be upgraded is the reason this could be considered. Furthermore, if a combo opponent has allowed turn three to occur, it might be a more viable path to a game 1 victory to attack their basic lands. Stacking the ETB ability of Detention Sphere for a permanent exile and an elephant token is a less valid reason for inclusion, but would provide a bonus in a small subsection of games if there were good enough reasons to play these cards together.

If you have questions about any other W/u sideboard options, please ask. I have tested a huge variety of them, and would be glad to share my impressions.

-Stéphane Gérard

Bonjour Thomas !

With 3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin[/card] you have room for one other tapland at the most before you start affecting your ability to cast Supreme Verdict on-curve. I chose Mistveil Plains[/card] for the reasons I gave above, but if you have really liked your Farmland it is an equally viable choice. For your spells, I will let you do what you like. Give everything a try, get some experience with the deck, and let me know what seems to work best for you!

It's a pleasure to have a veteran Emeria player share his thoughts with the group! Thanks a lot for your insight Stéphane!

I admit it's been a while that i have considered Emeria as a pure long game deck! I started out with a similar list 2 years ago when i started playing, but as time went by i found myslef falling into a more midrange plan, mostly for three reasons. The first one is that i simply like a midrangy archtype more. So personal prefferance asside, the true reasons a deviated more from the the innevitability plan and started to go look for the win more. First one is table top playing. I don't know if you guys play mostly on MTGO or on LGS, but what i found with the original Emeria version, similar to the one that you presented is that most games go into overtime, simply cause my opponents refuse to give up and they know i can't close the game quickly enough. It's specially hard if i lost the first game. For example, losing the first game against control with that shell usually just meant i lost 1-0 or ended up with a draw. The second reason is because of some of the decks that you mentioned that simply stomp on the normal Emeria plan, being Combo decks (that to be honest, there aren't many running around) but most importantly Scapeshift and Amulet Titan, with the addition of field of the dead, simply have a faster inevitability if you will, the ours. Being that Titan decks are arguably the strongest modern decks since this week's bannings (at least until the meta game adjusts), it's always something we need to consider.

With the midrange version of Emeria, i feel like i try to answer your 3 key questions with a twist. I focus on the third question - Providing an advantage against my opponent, to help with the first 2. With that in mind, my build has a good focus on survivability that disrupts. Cards like Ranger-Captain of Eos, Teferi, Time Ravaler and the swords with their protection can just mess opponents strategies up. Of course i have the normal card advantage/ survivability package with wall of omens and Court Hussar and now Charming Prince but when the situation arrises, those cards can and are used offensivly, specially when paired with a sword.

I feel like that both the control and the midrange builds have their strenghts and i will deffintly try a build similar to yours in the future to compare, as it's been a long time since a played that control shell and the metagame is very different now.

That said i would love to hear your thoughts on this different Emeria approach and to talk about your experiences when you pick up the deck again!

Best regards my fellow Emeria players!

In regards to your approach with the deck @Toshenko, I like the way you're riding that full value train
Like i posted before, i tried the super value fun train but it just didn't quite workout for me because of the interaction in my meta and the fact that most people already know the core of the deck and kinda know how to disrupt key pieces. I tried Simulacrum in the past but i'm not too fond of it, even though i understand the usefulness of ramping up and drawing a card. I try to maximize 2 and 3 drops to bring with the titan and so i'm not to keen on anything with a higher converted mana cost. For the same reason the only thing i'm not too sure in your build is Muldrifter. It's cute with ephemerate, but as 3 drop that doesn't stick and can't be returned with titan, it really doesn't sit with me. I've been enjoying Hour of Revelation more and more so if your meta has a lot of walkers and hard to deal nonland permanents go for it! Altough i need to see if it's still needed as i usually brought it against oko match ups and Karn/ ponza match ups, so i need to see how the meta adjusts to the bannings.

In regards to the sideboard, if you want to run Knowledge Pool, wouldn't it just be better to run it in the main as a surprise win condition instead of running it in the side? I don't particularly like Lavinia but i also never used her so i would like to hear how it goes for you. I assume you bring her for Tron matchups and even then she only stops Ugin and Karn so i don't think she does enough. For that i would simply play Stony silence that disrupts Tron a bit less but affects many moe decks like Urza. It also combos with Knowledge Pool but i don't quite know if it's enough. Leyline of Snactity i've been on the fence. It does wonders against burn, but i don't particularly like to bring it against jund as they usually take discard against us in my experience, and they can deal with it very easily with their removal. Scapeshift also has ways to deal with it and they can win with field of the dead now so even if Valakut is not targeting you, they can still wipe your walkers and creatures and swing with the zombies. I can't find a place in my side for them but if they help you in some match ups tell us as i also haven't run them in quite a while.

The rest looks preety solid as usual so don't forget to put some game reports when you have them ;p

Hello Starstorm,

I agree with your reasoning for the midrange plan, but for every card that is committed to that angle to gain you 1 or 2 % against your bad matchups, you will find that you lose 3 to 5 % against the rest of the field, including compromising your good pairings. In addition, you make your deck worse at activating Emeria, The Sky Ruin[/card] whenever you draw a Sword of Fire and Ice instead of a blocker or a Wrath of God.

I think there is room for many of the synergies you mention, but any sort of aggressive curve is not well supported by playing taplands in a Modern. If your pressure is delayed by a turn, Path to Exile can never make up for the lost time like it can when you adopt the control role. In particular, I think that Ranger-Captain of Eos and Kami of False Hope[/card] are an extremely powerful combination, and the package may even warrant a sideboard strategy in some matchups, but the cards together do not maximize - and are not maximized by - this shell.

Essentially, I have determined that the power they and Charming Prince offer is a trap. If you were playing Martyr of Sands[/card], Serra Ascendant, and Proclamation of Rebirth, the answer is likely much more positive, but I have no idea how that shell fits in the Modern metagame at the moment. I encourage you to try it, though, and I think you will soon see what I mean. When the cards all feed into each other in that way, the strategy flourishes. When you try to influence the deck in a different direction, you invite the whack-a-mole problem, and the decks you can expect to face are too diverse at the moment for that to be a good idea.

Hey Stéphane, thanks for the quick reply and insight!

I've been compiling data from my matches since a couple of months ago but unfortunatly not enough to create good percentages so i can't argue with statistical relevance. What i can say is purely from the feeling and experience of playing without exact numbers. I personally feel the advantages against the bad match ups go up by more than 1 or 2%, these being planeswalker heavy match ups and combo (amulet titan included despite the diverse range of approaches to the deck you can make). Every meta is different and we should play accordingly tou ours, but for example's sake i'll use Mtggoldfish. Against Mono red prowess, i think i will lose some percentage more than the control shell, even though through experience, i still find it to be an extremely favourable match up. Burn i will also lose some percentage, this time more significative in comparison to the control shell. Humans, a bit like mono red prowess, i lose some percentage but overall still a favourable match up. With Jund i think the midrange shell fares better, mostly stemming from the ability to deal better with Liliana, as the shell you presented seems to suffer more against planeswalkers like i had stated. Dredge i can't really say as i don't have experience with the control shell against this particular deck. But from my experience against several dredge decks, i actually never lost so maybe my experience is a bit skewed from other people's realities. Death's shadow is still the best match up Emeria has. Maybe we lose some percentage points with the midrange shell but i think it's hard to lose a game against death's shadow with any of the Emeria versions. Storm i think it's improved in this midrange shell, mostly from dealying the game long enough to win with small creatures and having Ranger-Captain of Eos to foil anything they might try to do before we're all set. Amulet titan stomps on the control version in my opinion. This is particularly important being the go to deck to win for most players now. I think percentages increase highly with the midrange version. Against Ponza, once again the planeswalker problem. Both Chandras will just end the game if it goes long or left unchecked. With that in mind i think the midrange version is also more favoured.

About the specific cards you mentioned: first the cycling taplands. In my experience they almost never hindered my game as, having a lot of fetchlands in this version, i know when to get them to smooth my land draws. They provide utility in the late game and the erly game in case we're flooding. I can totally see from where you're coming from as taplands are usually just bad in modern, but from experience, i hardly had a problem with them.

About swords and cards that make Emeria take longer. I think the benefits outwheight the losses. In my version i don't try to push to an active Emeria very hard. I just play the game with that inevitability, even if it takes longer for that to happen as i'm not dependant on that win condition. Wich also comes in handy when there's graveyard hate. Another reason for the Stoneforge Mystic package was for the deck to turn any creatures it has into a wiining condition when we don't have a graveyard. Sometimes Sun Titan is just not enough and for that, i think this version is much more resilient to graveyard hate, to the point that it attacks from so many angles that sometimes my opponents donn't bring graveyard hate as they overlook Emeria, which obviously works in favour of the deck.

One aspect i have to disagree on is the evaluation of Ranger-Captain of Eos. It is an extremly powerful card that does everything we want to do: good blocker, card advantage, and disruption that can allow us to survive another turn or slam anthing versus control, or just lock people out of the game with Teferi, Time Raveler and Sun Titan.

That said i will definitly try both versions as you raised very good points that merit a try! Thank you for making me see things from prespectives i hadn't thought about in a while

Given your experience with UW sideboards, I would I also like to know how you sideboard against the decks toughest matchups, namely titan decks, to see if I could improve any of the versions of the deck I have and also to better understand how you fight these decks with the tools you have in your package

Hello again Starstorm!

I think there are a few assumptions going unsaid here, and I will try to make them explicit.

1) I don't think Storm is unwinnable with my list. Game one is very difficult (30% or less against a good pilot) but games 2 and 3 are in my hands more often than not. What your list must prove, therefore, is a conclusive advantage against the deck in the dark. If your experience has been different, please let me know, but I find that Ranger-Captain of Eos is more or less an on-board counterspell with minor upside, which (while helpful post-sideboard) does not do enough to change the game one disadvantage that defines the matchup.

2) I actually feel favoured in the matchup against Amulet Titan. Primeval Titan rarely connects meaningfully, and the deck is extremely anemic outside of it if allowed to expose its threats by "going off" in the face of either Path to Exile or a Ghost Quarter effect. Walking Ballista can steal games in the Trinket Mage versions, but overall Field of Ruin deals with everything relevant eventually. Maindeck Crucible of Worlds is a 3-mana Sun Titan here, and is a critical advantage when played correctly. Post-board, they gain almost nothing of relevance, and Lavinia, Azorius Renegade and Damping Sphere force them into poor lines.

3) Jund is a 70% matchup or better for my list. I don't know how much more strongly I can make the point about focus than by stating this fact. If I could choose to play this deck into a field full of Jund, I would jump at the chance. Liliana of the Veil using her +1 ability is a liability in the attrition battle, since they have to choose between holding up removal or throwing it away. A quick ultimate is possible, but not decisive. The matchup is so strongly skewed towards what Emeria wants to do that I have even recovered from several of these in the same game. In the sideboarded games Fulminator Mage leaves them down a card for no advantage unless they are already winning, and Celestial Purge covers the rest of the possible issues (Including the Chandras which seemed to be a bigger concern for you than even Stormbreath Dragon from Ponza).

4) You seem to be having much more difficulties with Planeswalkers than I am. I can only assume three major differences in our lists play into this. 1) No Detention Sphere makes your game 1's a lot more of a slog. This is probably more than 60% of the difference on its own. This is a clean answer in most pre-board games, and a significant irritant in the majority of sideboarded ones. 2) You may be forgetting a key function of Mortarpod. The germ is both an immediate and a recurring source of pressure against loyalty. 3) Related to this, your creature density is both actually and by proxy lower. Your Ephemerate and non-living weapon equipment make you less able to throw bodies around to pressure 'walkers, because your board state is much more important to your Soulherder or Ranger-Captain of Eos advantage. An evasive Pilgrim's Eye and a Court Hussar that can dig for better outs seem superior to your bodies that can die to Lightning Bolt before you can combine them with the Thraben Inspector you need for them to gain traction. This deck was extremely resilient to Oko, Thief of Crowns, and is in fact sorry to see it go.

Finally, a few assorted thoughts. I believe you may have me wrong when you say that you do not "push for Emeria", and that you have a problem with "relying on the graveyard". I do not do either. The fact that Emeria, the Sky Ruin is online on turn eight or nine is simply a given with the way I have built the deck, and that is the true strength of the build. I almost never try to get Emeria up and running, it simply happens more often than not. I do not care if it gains no value, and I am thrilled when opponents begin the game with a turn 0 Leyline of the Void, because Sun Titan still attacks for 6, Batterskull is still a lifelinking 4/4, and they are down a card in an attrition game. If I am ever inclined to remove the disruptive enchantment they felt the need to bring in, it will typically be only because it puts the game out of reach.

The true public enemy #1 for this deck is currently Scapeshift, because of the combined threats of Field of the Dead and Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle. I have not yet played against the deck with an Aven Mindcensor sideboard, but my past experiences would seem to indicate that these are a significant part of the answer moving forward.

Leyline of Sanctity is another partial solution, as is Witchbane Orb, but these are better when protected by Spellskite or better yet Glen Elendra Archmage, and therefore taxing on sideboard slots. They can also be maneuvered around by Field of the Dead. I have also wondered about the value of two Amulet of Safekeeping combined, which is a legitimate enough hindrance to both land payoffs to be taken seriously, but this is probably too inconsistent unless a 4-of in the sideboard carries enough weight in other matchups to be worthwhile.

There is also a very old piece of technology that I have used in the past to good advantage, but only when metagames forced me to play with several copies of Lone Missionary and/or Inquisitor Exarch in the maindeck. The card is Zur's Weirding (reprinted in 8th Edition), and it demands Emeria recursion of a lifegain creature to be a true lock. Charming Prince fulfills the requirements for it nicely in your list, so you may wish to try it. The gameplan, once you find an Emeria or a Crucible of Worlds effect such as a Titan, becomes grinding away their win conditions while they are forced to pay life to stop both your creatures and your Plains. They can only do this ten times at most, which adds up very quickly for every non-Wrath card if your deck is built like mine, and in the meantime you can afford to be selective with your own choices. When you have pressure and can spend life to cut them off of relevant resources, however, you do not even need the full combo.

I hope that this sparks some interesting discussion!

A quick follow-up, since I have two more points to make. First, your fetchland count being at six is a indeed large difference from my manabase. Perhaps I mis-evaluate your Irrigated Farmland count in light of that. I still suspect Mistveil Plains game wins are worthwhile, and Prairie Stream fulfills my requirement that all my blue sources must be able to come in untapped to cast a game-saving Wrath on turn four. The extra fetchland lifeloss is a significant part of why I agree with you that Burn may be worse for you, but I could see myself having missed something here - particularly since your list is very thin in its 2-mana plays. Leaving all that aside, my attitude is that flood, as a concept, almost does not exist before turn 8. I have difficulty seeing when I would ever want to cycle a land before that point, and there are 9, 10, 11, and 12-mana sequences I would still want to enable even then.

Second, on the issue of Stoneforge Mystic making your threats more relevant, this is an example of the dangers of trying to push for a win. I think that Batterskull makes every creature about as good (maybe even better) as with any Sword, and it remains good when your hand and board are empty. I have considered all of the equipment carefully (including Sword of the Animist and most recently Shadowspear, the latter strangely enough as a way to interact with Lotus Field), and they are tempting, but none are fast enough to warrant a sideboard slot against the noninteractive matchups where the most help is needed, or versatile enough to be worth the sideboard space across a 16-round tournament.

The maindeck should embrace the absolutely crushing advantage Emeria has over midrange decks, and the devastating clock that it places on the lategame if control opponents do not have an aggressive option, by squeezing out any possible breakpoints other decks can leverage. Tellingly, every single piece of non-creature equipment turns on removal as a tempo gain for the opponent, leaving you with nothing if they kill your Mystic as the single attacker. To push the point once again, Wall of Omens with a Sword of Fire and Ice is still just a wall, while Wall of Omens with a Mortarpod or a Batterskull can stop two (or more) lethal attackers - especially if some of them have 1 toughness.

The only enhancement I am even remotely interested in testing at this point is one that would actually pressure combo players before turn 4 in Specter's Shroud, since it can be cast and equipped onto a Mortarpod germ or a Stoneforge Mystic on turn three to actually force them to play a reactive game after sideboarding. Combo decks are generally very unhappy to be forced to live in the Necrogen Mists conditions. If anyone has experience with this card, I would love to see your lists and hear your thoughts.

Thank you for your interest, and I appreciate your open-mindedness! This is a radically different approach to your list, and so many of my points will only make sense once you can look at the big picture, but I thank you for making the effort.

Once again, my list for reference. This is with the configuration that I would start testing with if I was playing in a Grand Prix at the end of the month:



The 6-sweeper maindeck is battle-tested against the broad spectrum of Modern, cutting the second Wrath of God for a Teferi, Time Raveler if the trend was for more control or flash decks, or a third Detention Sphere if prison, Eldrazi, or go-wide and token strategies were on the rise.

In the sideboard here I would start with 3 Aven Mindcensor replacing my default Sorcerous Spyglass, Stonecloaker, and Glen Elendra Archmage as an initial pushback against the current Primeval Titan metagame.

If the numbers showed TitanShift still on the rise in a week, I would look first to cut the Blessed Alliance, and then to cut the Lavinia, Azorius Renegade in order to test out some other two-card combination with potential. At least some of these would then have to pull double-duty to cover ground against Storm and Ad Nauseam, so perhaps the 4 Amulet of Safekeeping package could join a singleton Mindcensor for one test session to see if that was even a viable plan.

If at that point the Titanshift matchup was still grim, I would revert to 2 or 3 Mindcensor to run either 3 or 2 Zur's Weirding for a session. Testing would have to focus on whether a 4-mana play on the draw did enough against their better hands, and whether it lined up reasonably with their common sideboard plans assuming a game 3 (again on the draw).

The next strategy would be to scrap the Amulets altogether and run 4 Spreading Seas and (depending on how Weirding had performed) either a single Aven Mindcensor, or two Zur's Weirding by cutting the Aura of Silence, to see if their manabase was vulnerable to that kind of disruption.

Six slots is the maximum I would likely ever devote to a metagame call, and losing access to the second Disenchant effect would be only justified if I had found a near-guarantee of victory against a very likely pairing, so my next step would be to return to 3 Mindcensors, to replace the Lavinia, and to give Specter's Shroud a shot while looking to see if there was any new technology being innovated to combat big-mana strategies.