Forcing the Will: Enchantress

Posted on December 20, 2010 by KillerOwen

Welcome back to another edition of Forcing the Will. In today’s article, I will be covering the Legacy metagame, an exciting Legacy promo card, and the Enchantress deck. There is a lot to go over in this edition, so let’s not waste any more time and get right into the Legacy metagame.

Legacy Metagame

11/14/2010 (Event #1758285)

(4-0) Affinity
(3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
(3-1) UR Landstill
(3-1) Sneak Show
(3-1) Dark Horizon

11/15/2010 (Event #1758324)

(4-0) Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)
(3-1) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
(3-1) Zoo
(3-1) Sneak Show
(3-1) Rb Goblins
(3-1) Aggro Loam

11/17/2010 (Event #1758343)

(4-0) Show and Tell
(3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
(3-1) Elves
(3-1) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
(3-1) Countertop/Bant

11/17/2010 (Event #1783845)

(4-0) Dredge
(3-1) Affinity
(3-1) Aluren
(3-1) Zoo

11/20/2010 (Event #1783888)

(4-0) Ub Merfolk
(3-1) Affinity
(3-1) Countertop/Bant
(3-1) Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)
(3-1) Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)

11/20/2010 (Event #1783905)

(4-0) Aluren
(3-1) Merfolk
(3-1) Dredge
(3-1) Countertop/Bant
(3-1) Uw Merfolk

11/21/2010 (Event #1783928)

(4-0) Stiflenought
(3-1) Dredge
(3-1) Affinity
(3-1) Elves
(3-1) Enchantress

11/23/2010 (Event #1783966)

(4-0) Zoo
(3-1) Merfolk
(3-1) Enchantress
(3-1) Zoo
(3-1) Countertop/Bant
(3-1) Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)
(3-1) Zoo
(3-1) Affinity

11/23/2010 (Event #1806591)

(4-0) Zoo
(3-1) Uw Merfolk
(3-1) Zoo
(3-1) Ub Merfolk
(3-1) Countertop/Thopter
(3-1) UR Landstill
(3-1) Red Deck Wins (RDW)

11/25/2010 (Event #1806639)

(4-0) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
(3-1) Stiflenought
(3-1) Uw Merfolk
(3-1) Rb Goblins
(3-1) Rb Goblins

11/27/2010 (Event #1806657)

(4-0) UR Landstill
(3-1) Eva Green (GB)
(3-1) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
(3-1) Show and Tell
(3-1) Zoo

11/28/2010 (Event #1806691)

(4-0) Death and Taxes (DnT)
(3-1) Zoo
(3-1) Affinity
(3-1) Zoo
(3-1) Elves

11/29/2010 (Event #1806705)

(4-0) UBG Control
(3-1) Rb Goblins
(3-1) Elves
(3-1) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
(3-1) Affinity

11/29/2010 (Event #1806729)

(4-0) Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)
(3-1) Zoo
(3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
(3-1) Affinity
(3-1) Rb Goblins
(3-1) UBG Control
(3-1) Uw Merfolk

12/1/2010 (Event #1806762)

(4-0) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
(3-1) Rg Goblins
(3-1) Zoo
(3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
(3-1) Red Deck Wins (RDW)

12/5/2010 (Event #1836813)

(4-0) UBG Control
(3-1) Belcher
(3-1) Dredge
(3-1) Sneak Show
(3-1) Rb Goblins
(3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
(3-1) Affinity
(3-1) Stiflenought

12/11/2010 (Event #1862025)

(4-0) Reanimator
(3-1) Bant
(3-1) Reanimator/Ooze
(3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)
(3-1) Zoo

12/11/2010 (Event #1862027)

(4-0) Zoo
(3-1) UBG Control
(3-1) Rb Goblins
(3-1) Death and Taxes (DnT)

12/12/2010 (Event #1860878)

(4-0) Sneak Show
(3-1) Dredge
(3-1) Dredge
(3-1) Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)
(3-1) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
(3-1) UR Landstill
(3-1) Countertop/Bant

12/13/2010 (Event #1862026)

(4-0) Rg Goblins
(4-0) Red Deck Wins (RDW)
(3-1) UBG Control
(3-1) Merfolk
(3-1) Vengevine Survival
(3-1) Dredge
(3-1) Rb Goblins
(3-1) Countertop/Bant

Top winning Legacy Decks Breakdown

DECK	WINS	PERCENTAGE OF WINS
1. Zoo	14	12.39%
2. Goblins	10	8.85%
3. Affinity	9	7.96%
4. Merfolk	9	7.96%
5. Red Deck Wins (RDW)	9	7.96%
6. Death and Taxes (DnT)	8	7.08%
7. Dredge	8	7.08%
8. Countertop	7	6.19%
9. Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT)	6	5.31%
10. UBG Control	5	4.42%
11. Elves	4	3.54%
12. Landstill	4	3.54%
13. Sneak Show	4	3.54%
14. Stiflenought	3	2.65%
15. Enchantress	2	1.77%
16. Reanimator	2	1.77%
17. Show and Tell	2	1.77%
18. Aggro Loam	1	0.88%
19. Aluren	1	0.88%
20. Bant	1	0.88%
21. Belcher	1	0.88%
22. Dark Horizon	1	0.88%
23. Eva Green	1	0.88%
24. Survival	1	0.88%
TOTAL:	113

What a great turnaround from my last article. The Legacy events have picked back up as I had predicted- thanks to the initial excitement of Scars of Mirrodin dying down some. Looking through the stats, we can see that aggro decks take control of the top played decks in the format once again. To combat this, I would suggest playing a combo deck or a control deck that plays some type of board sweeper… like Pernicious Deed! Affinity has gained popularity thanks to Scars, but if Affinity players start running into Deeds, they will quickly become overwhelmed (just some food for thought). In paper Legacy, Survival decks are taking control of the format, but if you look at the stats in the past month, only a single Survival deck has even been successful! This could be that most players have sold off their Survival of the Fittest in fear that the card will be banned from the format on the 20th of this month, or that players simply don’t enjoy playing the deck. Either way, the difference between the paper and online format is quite shocking.

MOCS Promo

For those who want to play in the Legacy format, but find the prices quite steep (which it is in most cases), will be happy to hear that we will be receiving Pernicious Deed as a promo card in January. This has already started lowered the price of Deeds, and I would expect it to drop in the teens once the promos have hit the system. If you don’t have a set and are wanting to get your hands on some, right after the MOCS event will be the time to do so. I expect Deeds to jump back up into the 20′s once prices have settled.

Enchantress

Here it is the section that most of you have been waiting for- deck and video time! The deck voted in last time was Enchantress! The concept of Enchantress is pretty simple, but it has more than a few complex interactions. The basic concept is to lay down some type of fast accelerations, such as Wild Growth, and play some sort of card draw, such as Argothian Enchantress. Once you have a card drawing engine out on the battlefield, you can begin to lay down enchantments in order to find the cards you need to protect yourself as well as combo off and kill your opponent. I will cover the different cards in my Deck Tech video, but first let’s take a look at some alternate cards that you can play in an Enchantress deck that didn’t make the cut into my deck.

Acceleration

Chrome Mox – Legacy players should be familiar with this card by now. Its favorite place is to accelerate into extra mana early on in games and create a storm count for combo decks. In Enchantress, this cards can help accelerate into a Turn 1 Argothian Enchantress allowing you to start drawing extra cards on Turn 2. I found that Utopia Sprawl and Wild Growth was all the mana acceleration I needed. Casting Mox also forces us to get rid of a card in our hand which could have negative consequences later on in the game. Still getting that Turn 1 Enchantress could win you the game that much faster, and adding in 3-4 Mox might be a good idea if you are planning on playing Enchantress in a tournament against extremely aggressive decks.

Elvish Spirit Guide – One more type of mana acceleration, but only for a one time use. I’m not a big fan of Spirit Guide in Enchantress, but regardless I have seen Enchantress decks throwing down a Turn 1 Enchantress thanks to Spirit Guide. I would highly recommend choosing either Chrome Mox or Elvish Spirit Guide and not to try to play with both copies in your Enchantress deck.

Horizon Canopy – A different type of “acceleration”- hand acceleration! With Canopy, you can throw away your extra land and try to draw into something more useful. I chose not to run this card due to the fact that I would be taking extra damage from the Canopy, and I wanted to have more basic lands so that we could play around cards like Blood Moon, Wasteland, and Price of Progress without risking losing a land drop.

Mirris Guile – Guile is a card that functions just like Senseis Divining Top, but instead of being able to activate the ability whenever, you get one free ability at the beginning of your upkeep. This will allow you to accelerate into the cards you need at a much faster pace. While Guile is useful in certain situations, I often found that Sylvan Library has almsot the exact same impact but adds the benefit of allowing you to draw extra cards for merely an extra 4 life per card.

Verduran Enchantress — This (or Mesa Enchantress) is just an addition card draw engine. Very few decks choose to run Verduran Enchantress due to the fact that Argothian Enchantress and Enchantresss Presence are just plain better in every way. The only reason one would play Verduran Enchantress would be to ensure card draw, but after testing it out, I found it actually hindered the deck’s game plan. The reason being that Verduran Enchantress takes up slots that would normally be other enchantment cards, and when you cast Verduran Enchantress, you won’t be drawing any cards off of it immediately- our goal for Turn 3!

Protection

Circle of Protection Red — This is one of the best sideboard options against Goblins and Red Deck Wins (RDW). You would want to run this card in the sideboard if you think you’ll facing any of the decks previously mentioned. Once you are able to lay the Circle of Protection down, you can usually stop the opponent from dealing lethal damage until you have set up your combo pieces. I found that running Solitary Confinement did the trick for me by itself, but having extra options is never a bad idea.

Ghostly Prison — Here’s a card that will help us fight off the aggro decks such as Goblins and Zoo. By making our opponent tap out to attack, we will have a huge advantage in the early game which will allow us to set up and take control without dying to combat damage. If you pair up Prison with Elephant Grass, your Aggro opponent will have little choice but to allow you to piece together your combo. Board this in against any aggressive creature deck.

Open the Vaults – This card is no stranger to enchantment and artifact combo decks. Vaults will help us recover from any mass enchantment hate such as Back to Nature. If you believe your opponent is going to be boarding in a lot of enchantment hate, bring this is to recover from the carnage.

Rule of Law – This card will shut down pretty much any combo deck. I don’t think Rule of Law is an ideal choice for the Enchantress deck since we want to combo off, but when facing Ad Nauseam Tendrils (ANT), it can mean the difference between life and death. Once again, I prefer Solitary Confinement to protect me from an combo deck shenanigans.

Serenity – Serenity seems like an odd card to play in an Enchantress deck, but it allows you to combat other Enchantress decks as well as Affinity decks. This will take care of every artifact and enchantment on the board, and if you decide to run Open the Vaults you will find that you have a very nasty combo that is hard for other Enchantress decks to deal with. Board this in against Affinity and Enchantress and pair it up with Open the Vaults.

Suppression Field – Every wonder how to help fight of Survival of the Fittest (if that even matters as of this article going up)? Well, here is an answer! By playing Suppression Field, we are forcing our opponent to pay an extra 2 mana anytime they want to activate an ability, and after a turn or two, you should have stalled your opponent long enough to combo off yourself. Suppression Field has uses against a number of cards, but I find it most useful against Survival decks.

Warmth – Another card that helps us stave off our red opponents- which is what they’ll be after you play this card! Warmth is useful against all Red decks such as Goblins and Zoo variants, but I find it most useful (obviously) against Red Deck Wins (RDW). Casting Warmth against a Burn deck will allow you to stay at high enough life until you are able to find a way to deal with your opponent. Board this in against any Red deck- especially Burn.

Tutor

Enlightened Tutor – The best tutor for decks that run enchantments and artifacts. I have seen many Enchantress decks that run Enlightened, but I decided against it. I found that running Enlightened ate into too many of my enchantment slots, and it often became a dead card that wouldn’t gain me any cards off of the drawing engines. After facing a few Enchantress decks that ran Enlightened, I quickly noticed that my build won games more consistently. Having 4 Sterling Grove in our the deck was more than enough of an enchantment tutor, and topdecking Enlightened in a clutch moment spelled “Good Game” for us. I would strongly encourage trying out each version of the deck and see what works for you best.

Win Condition

Sigil of the Empty Throne — Sigil is a great way to lock down the win once you start throwing out enchantments. Sigil will start pumping out a 4/4 flying threat every time you cast an enchantment spell. The reason I chose to run Hoofprints of the Stag over Sigil is because I can cast Hoofprints on Turn 2 instead of Turn 5 with Sigil. Hoofprints requires me to have counters on it to create 4/4 Fliers of its own, but you plan on having one of our many drawing engines out on the battlefield, so the counters shouldn’t be a problem to get. This will allow us to hold off some of the early aggression if need be, and with Sigil we would have to wait till Turn 5-6 before we got an Elemental. Also, by the time Turn 5 comes around, we want to be comboing off already making Sigil less important in the later stages of the game. Regardless, Sigil is a great cards and I would highly recommend trying it out in your build before you base your decision.

That’s all for the alternate card section. Let’s now take a look at the deck that I chose to play. I discuss the card choices for the deck in my Deck Tech video, so be sure to watch to find out what each of the cards purposes are in the deck!

Lands (19)

Creatures (5)

Other Spells (37)

Sideboard (15)


Buy this Deck

I will now discuss the card choices and provide game play of the deck in the videos below. Enjoy!

Enchantress Deck Tech