In my limited experience, Twin is easy. I had most problems with enchantments. I need some Aura of Silence (very good against Twin but matchup is already good) or Disenchant (might be better as I ran one Boseiju, Who Shelters All for Fish and Grixis, saved me more than once) but I don't kow what to remove. This is what I am playing with:
I made one more change, I removed Flagstones of Trokair and added two fetches. With Crucible Of Worlds on board, fetches create great value for activating Emeria. So, why not include them instead of Flagstones of Trokair?
Almost all of wins against them went like this: Stony Silence in turn 2, Ghost Quarter + Surgical Extraction on a Urza Land before they combine the Tron, Negates for Ugin and Karn (also Surgical Extraction for Karn). After that, you have to set up a Strip Mine system with Ghost Quarter + Sun Titan that will kill them while keeping them away from Ulamog and Emrakul.
It is hard, but your wins are also very linear. If you get the cards in game 2 and 3, you win. If you don't, you don't.
I did some tests, some games against Grixis and Twin decks. Its inclusion doesn't hurt the deck and sometimes it helps. Saved me against fish too.
I am new to the deck, but Crovax, Ascendant Hero works very well too. Cavern helps him and he stops many creatures and tokens. Also, its anthem affect won some games with Hawks. He stops all creatures of Twin and Infect, kills dorks, stabilizes the board against Robots and Bogles, dodges all removal but discard...
Emeria Control plays Gideon Jura and Venser, The Sojourner. Not all lists play them, but they are not uncommon either. Gideon Jura isn't that big of a problem, but Venser has a clock of 3 turns.
Emeria Titan is one of my pet decks, I've played and improved on it since its conception. My game plan against Martyr Proclamation is this: Use Surgical Extraction on Serra Ascendant and a negated Ugin (if they have it), this will remove your biggest threats. People don't always use Surgical Extraction for creatures and such but Serra Ascendant is a big threat and extracting it goes a long way. Use Detention Sphere on Ghostly Prison with Flickerwisp backup to take extra Ghostly Prisons under too, this will keep our way open. Use Aura of Silence for Statis Snare. Use Duress for Proclamation of Rebirth. Use Ghostly Quarters on Mistveil Plains, and keep a Negate for their Surgical Extraction and Crucible of Worlds. Crucible of Worlds is as big threat as Ugin, never forget about it.
You need to keep Detention Sphere and Flickerwisp interaction in mind. Even if they don't use Venser, they can keep using Detention Sphere over, over and over. They can also have their Sun Titans dodge your Path to Exiles with Aether Spellbombs. Bring a Surgical Extraction no matter what and watch out for Gifts Ungiven. You can meet with a sided in Iona anytime.
This is the game plan anyway, you are not just sitting there. This is what you need to disrupt and the most successful way (as far as I think) for Emeria Control to win. But it is closer to 50-50 in an actual game.
I am thinking about going one Cavern of Souls, one Boseiju, Who Shelters All. For Wrath of God and Proclamation of Rebirth. Might become relevant from time to time. And put Disenchant instead of Aura of Silence for Twin. Will also help with Surgical Extraction for U Tron and like. Would be good, I think.
I adore mono colored decks, even if Iona is a thing and she is not even remotely effective here. So, I want to buy into this (that it's really cheap makes the decision easy anyway). But I have a question, Cavern of Souls seems immensely beautiful in this deck and tutorable with Expedition Map, why is no one running it (at least among winning decks)? This is the land base I will be using:
Too many Islands, change them with Fountains if you can. I prefer having one Aura of Silence in sideboard. Great against Twin, sometimes defeats Robots all by itself. Change Day of Judgment with a Wrath of God for elves. Surgical Extraction is great against Tron and combo decks, I play three.
I think mono-white is very good too, only difference I have here is Detention Sphere and Supreme Verdict and I believe they are better than their mono-white counterparts.
Note: I have said a few weeks ago that I would report my findings about the Arashin Cleric, here it is.
I prefer Cleric because most of the time I don't really want to trade. And if my opponent has an important creature that Missionary could kill, they would probably keep it back (like Eidolon of the Great Revel or Dark Confidant). Cleric, on the other hand, kills more than half of the creatures Missionary kills too, and stops the others. The difference is the usual opponents of Missionary can't kill Cleric. If there is two 2/1 creatures on my opponent's side and one Missionary on my side, Missionary will trade with one and other will keep attacking; with Cleric you can stop both. I've played hundreds of games with this deck, and this happens more than you would think. My belief is that Cleric is better in more matchups and its shortcomings don't devastate you against Burn.
Also, you can turn Cleric into a 1/4 with Mortarpod. That is actually very powerful. Doesn't die to the Bolt and kills many things. It turns into a two for one many times.
As I said, I don't want to trade and empty my board, I want to delay and cast a Supreme Verdict or three. I also found that Cleric actually gives better life gain sometimes by staying on the board longer, think about Flickerwisp. In UWb, it is even better with Venser's helps.
I suggest you to try it, but not just put it for some games, try it for 2-3 weeks; you might agree with me. Overall, it is better when used together with cards like Mortarpod (1/4 for the win!), Venser (Cleric is a much more available target for the flickering), Gideon Jura (kills the ones Cleric can't) and Ojutai's Command (which compensates for the lessened lifegain). But without those three, it might be worse, I haven't tried it without at least two of them.
Having our cards stay on board is very important if you are running Flickerwisp and/or Venser. If you consider everything, 4 lifegain and 2 attack isn't strictly better; everything is relative and Cleric synergies better. That is important.
---
About the Image, I am actually very disappointed. Whenever I bring it back with Sun Titan, turn it into another Sun Titan, bring a Flickerwisp with it, flicker the first Sun Titan, bring back a Court Hussar; my opponent just concedes. You never actually get to use it for the beatdown =)
Still, my advice is never to bring it back with an empty board but a Sun Titan, having the Sun Titan you want to copy exiled or killed hurts. This is the best line for it if you don't desperately need the lifegain of Cleric/Missionary and not sure your opponent doesn't have a removal waiting: Sun Titan > Flickerwisp > Phantasmal Image > whatever you need. If they remove Sun Titan, you will at least have a Flickerwisp. This line usually gives a two for one. If you need to find a card or if you are close to activating Emeria, you will go for Court Hussar or Flooded Strand anyway unless you are sure they don't have any removal; I am talking about generic situations. But if they don't have an answer for the first Sun Titan, Phantasmal Image wins you the game most of the time.
I have been playing this deck with one of Loyal Sentry and one of Kami of False Hope. What are the consensus about these cards? Kami of False Hope is very good, fog-lock wins some games outright; but I am not so sure about Loyal Sentry.
It feels powerful, Gideon is a game changer here. Takes all the aggro, kills creatures and players... It is very good in UW. I am believing in Arashin Cleric more more. Gideon provides good removal, Arashin Cleric takes good advantage of that. Ojutai's Command saved my life many times.
Also, I can't recommend Phantasmal Image enough. Put one of them, you will see.
3x Celestial Purge
4x Leyline of Sanctity
2x Stony Silence
3x Suppression Field
3x Surgical Extraction
Surgical Extraction
Sheltering Prayers
Almost all of wins against them went like this: Stony Silence in turn 2, Ghost Quarter + Surgical Extraction on a Urza Land before they combine the Tron, Negates for Ugin and Karn (also Surgical Extraction for Karn). After that, you have to set up a Strip Mine system with Ghost Quarter + Sun Titan that will kill them while keeping them away from Ulamog and Emrakul.
It is hard, but your wins are also very linear. If you get the cards in game 2 and 3, you win. If you don't, you don't.
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
2 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Mistveil Plains
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
1 Tectonic Edge
10 Plains
I am new to the deck, but Crovax, Ascendant Hero works very well too. Cavern helps him and he stops many creatures and tokens. Also, its anthem affect won some games with Hawks. He stops all creatures of Twin and Infect, kills dorks, stabilizes the board against Robots and Bogles, dodges all removal but discard...
Emeria Titan is one of my pet decks, I've played and improved on it since its conception. My game plan against Martyr Proclamation is this: Use Surgical Extraction on Serra Ascendant and a negated Ugin (if they have it), this will remove your biggest threats. People don't always use Surgical Extraction for creatures and such but Serra Ascendant is a big threat and extracting it goes a long way. Use Detention Sphere on Ghostly Prison with Flickerwisp backup to take extra Ghostly Prisons under too, this will keep our way open. Use Aura of Silence for Statis Snare. Use Duress for Proclamation of Rebirth. Use Ghostly Quarters on Mistveil Plains, and keep a Negate for their Surgical Extraction and Crucible of Worlds. Crucible of Worlds is as big threat as Ugin, never forget about it.
You need to keep Detention Sphere and Flickerwisp interaction in mind. Even if they don't use Venser, they can keep using Detention Sphere over, over and over. They can also have their Sun Titans dodge your Path to Exiles with Aether Spellbombs. Bring a Surgical Extraction no matter what and watch out for Gifts Ungiven. You can meet with a sided in Iona anytime.
This is the game plan anyway, you are not just sitting there. This is what you need to disrupt and the most successful way (as far as I think) for Emeria Control to win. But it is closer to 50-50 in an actual game.
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Creatures
1 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
1 Kami of False Hope
1 Weathered Wayfarer
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Serra Ascendant
4 Squadron Hawk
Enchantment
4 Ghostly Prison
Instant
4 Path to Exile
1 Crucible of Worlds
Sorceries
2 Proclamation of Rebirth
4 Wrath of God
Lands
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
2 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Mistveil Plains
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
1 Tectonic Edge
10 Plains
3 Celestial Purge
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Stony Silence
2 Suppression Field
2 Aura of Silence
2 Surgical Extraction
I finally managed to find a Martyr Proc list I really like =)
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Eye of Ugin
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
5 Swamp
I think I also need to buy a Crucible of Worlds.
1x Kami of False Hope
4x Martyr of Sands
4x Ranger of Eos
4x Serra Ascendant
4x Squadron Hawk
2x Weathered Wayfarer
Enchantments
2x Detention Sphere
4x Ghostly Prison
Sorceries
3x Proclamation of Rebirth
4x Supreme Verdict
4x Path to Exile
Lands
2x Emeria, The Sky Ruin
2x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Flooded Strand
4x Ghost Quarter
4x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
2x Mistveil Plains
5x Plains
3x Celestial Purge
3x Disenchant
4x Leyline of Sanctity
3x Stony Silence
2x Surgical Extraction
What I want to ask is why everyone prefers Orzhov? How is it better?
I prefer Cleric because most of the time I don't really want to trade. And if my opponent has an important creature that Missionary could kill, they would probably keep it back (like Eidolon of the Great Revel or Dark Confidant). Cleric, on the other hand, kills more than half of the creatures Missionary kills too, and stops the others. The difference is the usual opponents of Missionary can't kill Cleric. If there is two 2/1 creatures on my opponent's side and one Missionary on my side, Missionary will trade with one and other will keep attacking; with Cleric you can stop both. I've played hundreds of games with this deck, and this happens more than you would think. My belief is that Cleric is better in more matchups and its shortcomings don't devastate you against Burn.
Also, you can turn Cleric into a 1/4 with Mortarpod. That is actually very powerful. Doesn't die to the Bolt and kills many things. It turns into a two for one many times.
As I said, I don't want to trade and empty my board, I want to delay and cast a Supreme Verdict or three. I also found that Cleric actually gives better life gain sometimes by staying on the board longer, think about Flickerwisp. In UWb, it is even better with Venser's helps.
I suggest you to try it, but not just put it for some games, try it for 2-3 weeks; you might agree with me. Overall, it is better when used together with cards like Mortarpod (1/4 for the win!), Venser (Cleric is a much more available target for the flickering), Gideon Jura (kills the ones Cleric can't) and Ojutai's Command (which compensates for the lessened lifegain). But without those three, it might be worse, I haven't tried it without at least two of them.
Having our cards stay on board is very important if you are running Flickerwisp and/or Venser. If you consider everything, 4 lifegain and 2 attack isn't strictly better; everything is relative and Cleric synergies better. That is important.
---
About the Image, I am actually very disappointed. Whenever I bring it back with Sun Titan, turn it into another Sun Titan, bring a Flickerwisp with it, flicker the first Sun Titan, bring back a Court Hussar; my opponent just concedes. You never actually get to use it for the beatdown =)
Still, my advice is never to bring it back with an empty board but a Sun Titan, having the Sun Titan you want to copy exiled or killed hurts. This is the best line for it if you don't desperately need the lifegain of Cleric/Missionary and not sure your opponent doesn't have a removal waiting: Sun Titan > Flickerwisp > Phantasmal Image > whatever you need. If they remove Sun Titan, you will at least have a Flickerwisp. This line usually gives a two for one. If you need to find a card or if you are close to activating Emeria, you will go for Court Hussar or Flooded Strand anyway unless you are sure they don't have any removal; I am talking about generic situations. But if they don't have an answer for the first Sun Titan, Phantasmal Image wins you the game most of the time.
2x Gideon Jura
Creatures
3x Arashin Cleric
3x Court Hussar
3x Flickerwisp
2x Pilgrim's Eye
3x Sun Titan
3x Wall of Omens
1x Snapcaster Mage
1x Phantasmal Image
Artifacts
2x Aether Spellbomb
2x Mortarpod
2x Supreme Verdict
Instants
2x Negate
2x Ojutai's Command
4x Path to Exile
Enchantment
2x Detention Sphere
Land
3x Emeria, The Sky Ruin
4x Flooded Strand
4x Ghost Quarter
4x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
6x Plains
1x Prairie Stream
1x Aura of Silence
2x Celestial Flare
1x Detention Sphere
2x Devout Lightcaster
1x Dispel
2x Spellskite
2x Stony Silence
1x Supreme Verdict
3x Surgical Extraction
Also, I can't recommend Phantasmal Image enough. Put one of them, you will see.