[Deck] Solitaire (Enchantress)

[GoldenCid]

In response todo tnn i shifted to GWu

[Freggle]

Again, I agree. With all the discussion that's been happening about True-Name Nemesis (especially since SCG Oakland), I'd like to try and temporarily shift the conversation toward where this leaves Enchantress. I think it's still a Tier 2 deck, but I think we come out ahead unless it causes a huge surge in the number of SnT (broadly defined) and ANT. If more people are playing TNN/SFM stoneblade and Miracles I think we're better off than in the pre-TNN metagame. If the strong Affinity showing is a sign of things to come (I doubt it, but we can hope), then that's even better because Stony Silence is excellent against Storm and Miracles and essentially autowins vs. Affinity if it connects and you have answers to their current threat(s).

I don't want to get optimistic too early, because I don't think that the makeup of the metagame is going to shift enough in the Stoneblade/Miracles/Affinity direction to reduce the quantity of combo we face to levels where Enchantress becomes a serious deck. But what does anyone else think? The only change to the maindeck that I think is coming is swapping Sacred Mesa in for Words of War in the UWr build and maybe dropping The Abyss from the UWb version for maybe the 3rd MD O. Ring or for a Runed Halo. I haven't tested either of these yet, but that's my current thinking. I know ESG thinks that TNN is going to shake the format up more than I do, so I'm especially interested in hearing what (s)he thinks.

I too agree that this is good for Enchantress. This means we can count on carpet of flowers to pull us out of taxing counter magic and rely on more traditional Solitary Confinement and Sphere of Safety.

Sphere is good for making Elves & SnT winnable too. On top of your additional o rings.

Different subject has anyone tried running Gitaxian Probe in Enchantress? ...I have been testing it for just under a month and it has swung my win percentages up. The perfect information let you know when to play around snare or pierce ...or if they have the stifle ...or when you should lead with RIP over argothian.

There was also a game where it revealed a flicker wisp and I took a completely different line and won the game as a result. Bottom line 3 are in my list and performing well. Has anyone else tried it?

[btm10]

I haven't tested Probe, but your experience with it seems to parallel my experience with Duress/Thoughtseize in WGb. Have you considered going with something like GoldenCid's route and running WGu? Like I said a few pages back, I'm not usually a supporter of that route but if you're already at 3-4 MD blue cards, there are plenty of blue enchantments to consider to get up to enough blue to run Force out of the board alongside Mindbreak Trap (which I think is your tech, right Freggle?) and then we might be talking a serious deck. In the Eye of Chaos might be better against combo and control than is Gaddock Teeg because it doesn't cut us off of our CMC 4 spells, especially if we have a way to survive the extra turn or half turn required to get the extra mana. Energy Field is worse than Solitary Confinement in the early game, but Field/RIP is a hard lock against strategies that use damage to win in the way that Worship/Argothian Enchantress used to be. You'd probably still want some number of Confinements to stall until the lock was active, but you could also use Leyline of Sanctity (and I strongly support at least 1 MD Leyline anyway) for player shroud. Mystic Remora definitely pairs well with Force/MBT out of the board and can make sure we have the blue card to pitch.

I might brew this up today to at least have a list to work with. I've got a lot of blue enchantments to look at.

[Freggle]

I haven't tested Probe, but your experience with it seems to parallel my experience with Duress/Thoughtseize in WGb. Have you considered going with something like GoldenCid's route and running WGu? Like I said a few pages back, I'm not usually a supporter of that route but if you're already at 3-4 MD blue cards, there are plenty of blue enchantments to consider to get up to enough blue to run Force out of the board alongside Mindbreak Trap (which I think is your tech, right Freggle?) and then we might be talking a serious deck. In the Eye of Chaos might be better against combo and control than is Gaddock Teeg because it doesn't cut us off of our CMC 4 spells, especially if we have a way to survive the extra turn or half turn required to get the extra mana. Energy Field is worse than Solitary Confinement in the early game, but Field/RIP is a hard lock against strategies that use damage to win in the way that Worship/Argothian Enchantress used to be. You'd probably still want some number of Confinements to stall until the lock was active, but you could also use Leyline of Sanctity (and I strongly support at least 1 MD Leyline anyway) for player shroud. Mystic Remora definitely pairs well with Force/MBT out of the board and can make sure we have the blue card to pitch.

I might brew this up today to at least have a list to work with. I've got a lot of blue enchantments to look at.

I really hadn't considered it, but I had a flight today and so I took the time to draft a list I might try now with GWu. There is a good deal of dis-synergy with In the Eye of Chaos and Force of Will, but perhaps not too much that you wouldn't run it.

This is what I jotted down on paper:

Creatures (8)
4 Argothian Enchantress
3 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Sorceries (5)
2 Replenish
3 Gitaxian Probe
2 Green Sun's Zenith

Instants (4)
4 Force of Will

Enchantments (21)
4 Attunement
2 Dovescape
4 Enchantress's Presence
3 Ground Seal
4 Wild Growth

Lands (20)
4 Serra's Sanctum
16 Other Mana

Maybe Board:
Mystic Remora
Oblivion Ring
Carpet of Flowers
Mindbreak Trap
Elephant Grass
Sphere of Safety
Solitary Confinement
Rest in Peace
Energy Field

The above list is a sketch. Not sure if the Green Sun's are needed in this build. If not they would likely become Solitary Confinements as I do belive about (2) should be main.

Some things to note:

This list explores Attunement as Enchantress's "Brainstorm" allowing this deck to dig for the right answers as opposed to tutor for them. It is also the back-up plan if we could not force the first enchantress effect through.

Attunement also fuels Replenish which is why in this list I traded Replenish for Helm. Since this list can easily case more than (4) cards a turn without really trying Erayo seem like a worthy test to create a soft lock.

Dovescape vs. Sigil of the Empty Throne -- Since Dovescape is blue and also messes with the stack it got the nod. It is a combo killer. If this list finds room for Dream Halls this list can make infinite birds.

Step 1: Have (2) Enchantress's out.

Step 2: Get Dream halls on the battlefield

Step 3: Cast everything with dream halls constanly replacing the (2) cards spent with enchantress effects.

Step 4: when your deck is low use Attunement to discard Emrakul

Step 5: Repeat


...a note on Emrakul since the new Legend rule casting Emrakul got at least (4) times easier. It is not longer the "if all else fails" plan it was before it is a reliable kill.

Ground Seal - Seal gets the nod becuase it cantrips itself, and protects your yard for huge Replenishes

All-in-all if it works like it does in my mind it would be a pile of fun as you could size up your opponents with probe and craft the best possible line out of the cards you have in hand. i.e. will you play fair and cast all your stuff? ...or will you bait counters and load up the yard and lock out with Replenish.

i'm going to try and get it together this week on MTGO and see how it drives.

[btm10]

Since we're just brewing I'm going to post where I'm at - I went with a more traditional strategy and so this is more recognizable as Enchantress. I've focused more on shoring up the existing good matchups (Stoneblade, Miracles) game 1, with the countermagic coming from the board for games 2 and 3.

Mana (21)
5 Forest
4 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
2 Savannah
1 Tropical Island
2 Serra's Sanctum
3 Mox Diamond

Non-Enchantments (3)
3 Gitaxian Probe

Draw/Manipulation/Engine(14)
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Enchantress's Presence
4 Sterling Grove
2 Sylvan Library

4 Wild Growth
4 Utopia Sprawl
3 Elephant Grass
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
1 Sphere of Safety
1 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Back to Basics
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Energy Field
1 Rest in Peace
1 Words of Wind

Sideboard

3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Rest in Peace
1 Blind Obedience
4 Force of Will
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Carpet of Flowers
2 Mystic Remora

I'm on the fence about Back to Basics, on Sigil of the Empty Throne vs. Dovescape, Detention Sphere vs. Oblivion Ring, In the Eye of Chaos, and Words of Wind. I'm clearly not running the Words of Wind combo, but it does look like it might serve as non-targeted board control and so is worth testing. I think two of the three 2 Enchantments (In the Eye of Chaos, Words of Wind, and Back to Basics) belong in the deck, but I'm not sure which two yet. Mox Diamond is an absolute house. It opens up some extremely powerful lines of play, and you'll frequently have 5 mana by turn 3, which puts you in a much better position than Enchantress usually finds itself. The blue fill-ins for white staples (D. Sphere, Dovescape) might be the right choices so that the Force of Will has support postboard.

The best line in the deck seems to be turn 1 probe ---> Land, Mox Diamond, Argothian Enchantress, assuming the way is clear.

I'll start testing your build in addition to mine; I really like the Attunement/Replenish engine, but I think some number of Confinements should replace the GSZs. What do you think about Chrome Mox or Mox Diamond as acceleration? I feel like you want 8 accelerants at least, and Utopia Sprawl is excellent.

[aahz]

I like Lotus Petal as acceleration and am really happy with my 2xPetal, 3xSprawl, 4xWildGrowth package. Mox Diamond seems really greedy given how few lands are actually run. Running Chrome Mox is understandable, but I just don't enjoy playing it.

Also, Enlightened Tutor in your list seems good. Curious why it's not there as at least a 1-of.

[honz]

I have been playing the blue splash for a while, just a few thoughts:

Energy field is just too good to not be playing. Your entire deck is permanents, and if you are drawing so many cards that you have to discard, then you are already winning the game. Add to that rest in peace, which is strong on its own, and comes in as the right type (enchantment), color, and cc. I'm sure this has been beaten to death, but I would never run blue without these two cards.

Ancestral knowledge is at least worth trying. I cant decide if I like it or not...

Back to basics should atleast be in the sideboard to some degree.

Words of wind is something I usually board out but like to have in my maindeck. One enchantress + words + 1-2 wildgrowth/utopia sprawl and you can start controlling the game real quick. Add a serra's sanctum or a sigil to the mix, and you can start doing some madness.

I seem to put mindbreak trap in my board one day, and take it out the next. It seems so close to being good, but just not quite there...

[Freggle]

i'm going to try and get it together this week on MTGO and see how it drives.

So when I wrote that I didn't realize how much this deck would cost on MTGO so I made a budget version:

3 Solitary Confinement
2 Replenish
1 Sphere of Saftey
3 Gitaxian Probe
4 Attunement
4 Abundant Growth
1 Elephant Grass
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Wild Growth
4 Argothian Enchantress
3 Ground Seal
4 Enchantress's Presence
1 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Dovescape
1 Emrakul, the aeons Torn
8 Forest
4 Windswept heath
4 Serra's Sanctum
1 Plains
2 Breeding Pool

In spite of this deck poor mana base and untested theories I was able to rock this pile to a 3-0 run on MTGO tournament practice before I had to head out for the night.

Attunement + Replenish is AN ABSOLUTE HOUSE of an engine.

I beat a mid to late game deed handedly. replenishing everything back returning the Attunements to hand and discarding another pile of enchantments to replenish.

This deck might also like Decree of Silence + Opalescence to be trully unfair.

Bottom line. The deck is powerful, I'm just wondering how to tune it. I wonder if this can be transformationally boarded to Helm/RIP and vice versa because I thin both thrive in opposite metas.

Dovescape not sure if it's right.

[Poron]

enchantress is good basically for easy access to RiP Field combo and Sterling Grove. Replenish, Attunement etc. looks very old fashioned

[Freggle]

enchantress is good basically for easy access to RiP Field combo and Sterling Grove. Replenish, Attunement etc. looks very old fashioned

I agree with you to an extent, but I have played 8 matches in tournament practice with the list below and have gone 7-1 (granted a small sample.) There is also room for a lot of improvement. Attunement / Replenish is a very real thing & Dovescape just crushes unsuspecting foes, and seals up combo for good.

The only loss was to Cephalid Breakfast

Beat (from what I remember):
Manaless dredge
High Tide
Dark Maverick
Jund
control something


3 Solitary Confinement
2 Replenish
1 Sphere of Safety
3 Gitaxian Probe
4 Attunement
4 Abundant Growth
1 Elephant Grass
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Wild Growth
4 Argothian Enchantress
3 Ground Seal
4 Enchantress's Presence
2 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Dovescape
1 Emrakul, the aeons Torn
8 Forest
4 Windswept heath
4 Serra's Sanctum
1 Plains
1 Breeding Pool
1 Karakas

SB (14) oops just noticed:
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Mindbreak Trap
4 Carpet of Flowers
1 Gaddock Teeg

Edit: I may just be crazy enough to test Purphoros, God of the Forge in here since it can be replenished and/or cast through Dovescape to turn Dovescape into a machine gun if for whatever reason you can not attack and Emrakul will not do the job (yeah unlikely.)

Additionally, I think force can be really good in here since at any point Attunement can be returned to your hand to pitch to force as well as loot and set-up that fattie Replenish in the process.

[anonymos]

Edit: I may just be crazy enough to test Purphoros, God of the Forge in here since it can be replenished and/or cast through Dovescape to turn Dovescape into a machine gun if for whatever reason you can not attack and Emrakul will not do the job (yeah unlikely.)

Someone may have to lay off the egg nog a bit. I also may have to look into this. I think I'd just need Attunement and Emrakul to play it. And maybe 2 more Sanctum.

[btm10]

So after preliminary testing here's the list I've got:

5 Forest
4 Windswept Heath
4 Plains
2 Serra's Sanctum
2 Savannah
1 Tropical Island
1 Misty Rainforest/1 Tropical Island
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Sterling Grove
4 Enchantress's Presence
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Wild Growth
2 Elephant Grass
3 Gitaxian Probe
2 Solitary Confinement
2 Detention Sphere
2 Ancestral Knowledge/Sylvan Library
2 Replenish
1 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Sphere of Safety
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
1 Rest in Peace
1 In the Eye of Chaos
1 Suppression Field
1 Helm of Obedience

Sideboard (as it currently stands)
1 Detention Sphere
3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Rest in Peace
1 Blind Obedience
2 Mindbreak Trap/1 MBT + 1 Back to Basics OR 1 Back to Basics + 1 In the Eye of Chaos
4 Force of Will
1 Dread of Night
2 Carpet of Flowers

The slots with "/" are up in the air. I haven't been as happy with the Attunement/Replenish builds that Freggle has been working on, but that's mostly due to my discomfort with Ground Seal as my graveyard protection and a topic for another post. The combo matchups are significantly improved here, especially postboard. You still lose ~55-60% against Omnitell, but that matchup was previously a lot worse. ANT is close to 50/50 postboard, while Belcher is a bit worse than that. As I mentioned in the other enchantress thread, In the Eye of Chaos is excellent in all of those matchups, and is pretty much solely responsible for the improvement in the combo matchups preboard. I'm quite pleased with Detention Sphere in the O. Ring slots, though I'd still like to find room for a Runed Halo somewhere. Part of me wants to run Wrath of God or Supreme Verdict in the Dread of Night slot, but that's probably a bad idea. Force has been great out of the board, especially if you already have In the Eye of Chaos out and can Force their removal, even though it costs 5 extra. Despite that, I'm thoroughly unimpressed with Mindbreak Trap, but that might just be because I haven't tested the storm matchups enough. There are a lot of things I'd like to test in that slot, as you can tell. The D&T matchup is a little worse than the more traditional builds, but it's still one of our better ones. Everything else is pretty much as it was before the changes.

[btm10]

Sorry to double post, but I wanted to update some of the testing results. Honz's Ancestral Knowledge suggestion was excellent once I figured out how to make the most of it. It's a little weaker than Sylvan or Mirri's Guile in the early game, but it is much stronger in the mid-to-late game where it can serve as a tutor, a Mana Severance, and a way to make sure you keep hitting cards to feed Confinement. I've been less than impressed with Energy Field (as shown by the list above). It seems like a two-card win more combo unless you're running more RIPs. I did try -2 Elephant Grass, +1 RIP, +1 Energy Field, but that made Replenish far worse and hurt the Blade and Jund matchups overall. I'm currently running a single Wrath of God out of the board, although that might become Terminus because of Ancestral Knowledge.

[sun tzu]

has anyone tried parallax wave + opalescence combo?

[andrebonotto]

Hey Freggle,

Congrats for your 43rd place at SCG Orlando!

It was nice to see Enchantress on the Deck Tech - but it was also a little annoying that Reuben just did not give you enough space to talk... ... [SHRUG] ... Interviewers ... [SHRUG].

[Freggle]

has anyone tried parallax wave + opalescence combo?

This is the closest thing I know of, but it's not in an Enchantress shell. I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has tried it.

Hey Freggle,

Congrats for your 43rd place at SCG Orlando!

It was nice to see Enchantress on the Deck Tech - but it was also a little annoying that Reuben just did not give you enough space to talk... ... [SHRUG] ... Interviewers ... [SHRUG].

Thank you. Ruben was really nice, and an all around awesome guy. I think he did the world a service becuase I can talk about Enchantress for hours. ...or lifetimes if you ask my GF.

Upon refection I really wish I could have finished better. ...and looking back on it I think if I had a bit more experience under my belt I think I could have gotten to at least the top 32. I detail this in my tournament report whenever I have reflected on the day enough to write the real lesson I got out of it.

Looking around I was the only Enchantress player there, and that to me is a bit sad. ...although I would hate to loose to my favorite deck. There is a general misconception that Enchantress is a bad choice, but I disagree. The deck is as strong as ever, list just need to adapt as fast as others do. Glad you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you one day in the same light discussing Wild Growths.

[andrebonotto]

(...)
Thank you. Ruben was really nice, and an all around awesome guy. I think he did the world a service becuase I can talk about Enchantress for hours. ...or lifetimes if you ask my GF.

Upon refection I really wish I could have finished better. ...and looking back on it I think if I had a bit more experience under my belt I think I could have gotten to at least the top 32. I detail this in my tournament report whenever I have reflected on the day enough to write the real lesson I got out of it.

Looking around I was the only Enchantress player there, and that to me is a bit sad. ...although I would hate to loose to my favorite deck. There is a general misconception that Enchantress is a bad choice, but I disagree. The deck is as strong as ever, list just need to adapt as fast as others do. Glad you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you one day in the same light discussing Wild Growths.

LOL... Thanks for the reply. I'm eager to read your report, whenever you are able to post it!

Although I have never really played with the deck, I consider myself an "enthusiast" on it, since I really love the deck's style/flavor.

In fact, I'm slowly acquiring the staples to build the deck and be able to play it, and to a really moderate budget like mine, it's really motivating to see your Moat-less list do well.

Talking about Wild Growths... Your list looks more designed to concentrate on the lower curve. It seems interesting, and I could see the effects of it on the video of your match against Death and Taxes (I think it was Round 6). Boy, that opposing Thalia sure did some damage to the deck's speed, and it was a relief that you could draw all those green 1CC enchantments to help recover your mana, draw cards to maintain your Confinement, and be able to win your G2...

Sincerely,

- André

[sun tzu]

This is the closest thing I know of, but it's not in an Enchantress shell. I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has tried it.



Thank you. Ruben was really nice, and an all around awesome guy. I think he did the world a service becuase I can talk about Enchantress for hours. ...or lifetimes if you ask my GF.

Upon refection I really wish I could have finished better. ...and looking back on it I think if I had a bit more experience under my belt I think I could have gotten to at least the top 32. I detail this in my tournament report whenever I have reflected on the day enough to write the real lesson I got out of it.

Looking around I was the only Enchantress player there, and that to me is a bit sad. ...although I would hate to loose to my favorite deck. There is a general misconception that Enchantress is a bad choice, but I disagree. The deck is as strong as ever, list just need to adapt as fast as others do. Glad you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you one day in the same light discussing Wild Growths.

here is the list i was testing for the parallax wave + opalescence combo version of enchantress. its super fun to play. im not sure its the best version of this deck, but it certainly attacks from an odd angle that most people wont know how to play against. it is vulnerable to countermagic, and graveyard hate a bit, too (because of replenish being a 1 shot kill effectively when you have a critical mass of those combo pieces in your graveyard). that being said, its pretty easy to patch up that weakness with GSZ for 1 vexing shusher main and 3 more in the sideboard (although that might even be overkill).

anyways, my list:

4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Enchantress's Presence

1 Eternal Witness
1 Vexing Shusher

4 Elephant Grass
4 Wild Growth
4 Utopia Sprawl
2 Trace of Abundance
3 Mirri's Guile

4 Parallax Wave
3 Opalescence
2 Replenish

1 Dryad Arbor
2 Plains
2 Serra's Sanctum
3 Savannah
4 Windswept Heath
8 Forest

Sideboard
3 Vexing Shusher
1 Replenish
1 Moat
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Sterling Grove
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Trygon Predator
2 Scavenging Ooze

[waSP]

What are your percentages for going off with this build sun tzu?

[anonymos]

here is the list i was testing for the parallax wave + opalescence combo version of enchantress. its super fun to play. im not sure its the best version of this deck, but it certainly attacks from an odd angle that most people wont know how to play against. it is vulnerable to countermagic, and graveyard hate a bit, too (because of replenish being a 1 shot kill effectively when you have a critical mass of those combo pieces in your graveyard). that being said, its pretty easy to patch up that weakness with GSZ for 1 vexing shusher main and 3 more in the sideboard (although that might even be overkill).


2 Sterling Grove

I would cut this part. It breaks up your ability to eat EVERY creature they play for the rest of the game. I know it's in the sideboard, but it still isn't helpful. The only enchantment removal currently popular is Deed and Q. Pridemage as far as I've seen. Neither is exactly common anymore.