[Deck] Solitaire (Enchantress)

[JanoschEausH]

When it comes to cutting things, my first targets were:

1. Emrakul (not tutorable) when you can cast him you should have already won. I tested him alot in the last days and found out, that i can almost never cast him anyways. When i could, i could have also won with Sigil in 2-3 safe turns.

2. Crop Rotation / Enlightened Tutor. As being said, its card disadvantage. Tutoring things is flexible (which i think is important) but this deck can live with 1x Enlightened Tutor just fine. It couldnt with only 1x GSZ. At least in my list i'm not running that much Silver Bullets to justify 2x Instant-Tutor

btw.: I really changed my mind about your GSZ-Plan. I tested it extensively in the last days too, and i think it gives alot of consitency. You are right - with GSZ many more hands become keepable. I will be running 2 myself.

[mrmaul558]

When it comes to cutting things, my first targets were:

1. Emrakul (not tutorable) when you can cast him you should have already won. I tested him alot in the last days and found out, that i can almost never cast him anyways. When i could, i could have also won with Sigil in 2-3 safe turns.

2. Crop Rotation / Enlightened Tutor. As being said, its card disadvantage. Tutoring things is flexible (which i think is important) but this deck can live with 1x Enlightened Tutor just fine. It couldnt with only 1x GSZ. At least in my list i'm not running that much Silver Bullets to justify 2x Instant-Tutor

btw.: I really changed my mind about your GSZ-Plan. I tested it extensively in the last days too, and i think it gives alot of consitency. You are right - with GSZ many more hands become keepable. I will be running 2 myself.

Sometimes though, you just need to win immediately. Emrakul does that, and does it well (despite the infinite turns with Karakas). I used to run 3x Sigil as my main wincon, but I actually like being able to choose which way I want to win the game between Words of War, Sigil and Emmy.

I might test 1x Enlightened Tutor, but I really think 2 is the right number if you're going to run it. 1x just doesn't seem like it actually adds anything tangible to the deck. And Crop Rotation isn't card disadvantage if it allows you to dump your hand into enchantress effects on early turns where you have no business doing so (Getting Serra's Sanctum with that card is so. good.)

And I'm glad someone else agrees with me about GSZ. :)

[ESG]

I know that's what the Bog plan is. My argument is that 1) When you draw Bog, it's terrible; 2) When you draw Crop Rotation in a one-lander it's probably terrible. This isn't the case for other forms of graveyard hate, and if you're going to mull to your hate, it ought to not put additional constraints on the keepability of the hand. For instance, if your hand is Forest, Wild Growth effect, Tormod's Crypt, Argothian Enchantress and almost any other combination of cards, it's an easy keep.

Reanimator often runs Iona in the sideboard and won't always pick Griselbrand over it. Players running budget lists or deviating from the standard list often run Iona in the main. Your call.

As for recent well-performing lists and 61 cards, I could counter that there was a Charbelcher player who ran a 15 Island sideboard and made the elimination rounds, and that's clearly not ideal.

In any case, test the heck out of your list, scout the field when you get to the tournament center so you have a general idea of what's there, and don't miss your upkeep triggers. Good luck.

[Freggle]

So...which would you suggest?

Both. Look ESG is right. There are situations where bog is just terrible. ...but, there are situations where bog can be absolutely brilliant.

If you are playing dredge and Bog is in your opener it's good. They can not get it out of your hand. If they Cabal and see it hey will play slower and more cautious, and try and get you to use it. This could give you time to set up start drawing Surgical the pain points and win.

Vs. Reanimator Crypt is more often than not better than bog. ...but in the opener where you have crypt and your on the draw and they have the nuts expect it to be Spell pierced/Stifled or post board bounced and equally as worthless.

The extra Crop Rotation can also get Karakas to bounce Iona (even on white much better then Lignify IMO) / Grizzy... or any other annoyance.

The point is there will always be situations where you plan mulligan, and just get pantsed. Understand what you plan to do. Try and execute it, and hope for the best. I have personally learned the hard way do not over mulligan looking for the perfect MU hand. Just look for a good playable hand. I've lost games looking for the perfect hate where just a good start could win it.

Your yard hate cards for enchantress are with my MU ratings 1-5:

Tormod's Crypt - Targets Player
Reanimator - 4
Dredge - 5
Combo - 3
Random Yard MU - 5

Weak against Stifle and good players, can be interacted with on the stack, and bounced.

Surgical Extraction - Targets card in yard
Reanimator - 4
Dredge - 5
Combo - 4
Random Yard MU - 4

Weak to counter magic

Bojuka Bog - Targets player
Reanimator - 3 ...with rotation - 4
Dredge - 5
Combo - 3 w/wo rotation
Random Yard MU - 5

Weak to stifle, and fast combo-y yard stuff.

Leyline of the Void - Targets nothing
Reanimator - 5
Dredge - 5
Combo - 4
Random Yard MU - 5

Must mulligan to. Weak to bounce.

Faerie Macabre - Targets yard
Reanimator - 4
Dredge - 3
Combo - 5
Random Yard MU - 3

Weak to Stifle and discard.

Graffdigger's Cage - Targets nothing
Reanimator - 4
Dredge - 5
Combo - 1
Random Yard MU - 3

Weak to bounce, and counter magic.

Loaming Shaman - Targets player
Reanimator - 1
Dredge - 3
Combo - 1
Random Yard MU - 2

Slow, weak to Stifle, counter magic

Ground Seal - Targets nothing
Reanimator - 3 / 4 - If landed
Dredge - 4 - No Dredge Return
Combo - 1
Random Yard MU - 2

Weak to counter magic, discard, and bounce

Ravenous Trap - Targets Player
Reanimator - 1
Dredge - 4
Combo - 4
Random Yard MU - 3

Weak to counter magic, and discard.

Wheel of Sun and Moon - Targets Player
Reanimator - 3/4 - if it sticks
Dredge - 4
Combo - 2
Random Yard MU - 3

Weak to counter magic, discard and bounce.

Like ESG said I'd choose a suite of some that target the player and some that don't target or targets the yard a total of (4) or more should be good.

[JanoschEausH]

I can agree with your ratification Freggle. I would add 2 things. First: Ground Seal is also good against opposing graveyard-hate and Snapcaster Mages. But it doesnt influence dredge while dedging.
Second: You clearly forgot Wheel of Sun and Moon. This card is far superior than Ground Seal in aspects of graveyard hate, and inferior in terms of improvement of other matchups. It is still my graveyard-hate of choice, simply because its low-costed and really efficient. It might be too slow against dedge, but in that case Elephant Grass is a good friend.

btw.: I like the structure of your postings Freggle. It is easy too overlook everything and its a pleasure to read it :)

[emrakultenticles]

have a quick question
has anyone tested Sigarda, Host of Herons as a singleton?
it stops engineered explosives and deed
she can a be GSZ target
adds another flying win con
and hexproof is just amazing
the downside is she isn't a enchantment and lacks synergy with everything else
much like emrakul, but Emrakul is pretty much a auto win and does have synergy with Karakas.
also is humility working well in here? I feel its better in Stax because it hoses your enchantress leaving you with just presence to work with.

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

Sigarda does nothing to stop Deed or Explosives.

[Freggle]

Spatula already said it. Deed and Explosives do not cause you to sacrifice, they destroy your permanents. This is decent tech in GSZ lists against Emrakul, and Pox. Sideboard at best.

[JanoschEausH]

Tyrell Kizer just made 10th Place at SCG Las Vegas with Enchantress. I like his list. Especially because its nearly identical with mine :)

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...num=0&limit=25

[Freggle]

IT was also featured in a deck Tech Here

Key take-away quotes

"...there are multiple copies of the deck doing well here today."

"Tyrell doesn't think those combo decks make up a big enough portion of the metagame to warrant more maindeck hate than he already has."


Tyrell's list with tags:

Maindeck:

Creatures
4 Argothian Enchantress

Enchantments
1 City of Solitude
3 Elephant Grass
4 Enchantress's Presence
2 Mirri's Guile
1 Moat
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Runed Halo
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
3 Solitary Confinement
4 Sterling Grove
4 Utopia Sprawl
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
4 Wild Growth
1 Words of War

Instants
2 Enlightened Tutor

Legendary Creatures
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn


Sorceries
2 Replenish

Basic Lands
6 Forest
2 Plains

Lands
2 Savannah
1 Taiga
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath

Legendary Lands
1 Karakas
2 Serra's Sanctum

Sideboard:

1 Blood Moon
2 Choke
2 Ground Seal
1 Karmic Justice
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Nevermore
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Runed Halo
1 Stony Silence
1 Lignify

I LOVE to see enchantress do well, but I hate to say it, but it looks like a lucky run. This list to me seemed to just get the right MU's. It seems super exposed to GY shenanigans, and the results show. Lost to FKZ - Dredge in Round 8 (1-2), AND lost to 8th place slow Dredge round 5 (0-2). ...just 1 piece of yard hate MD Wheel of Sun and Moon, and one in the Board Ground Seal. I wonder what the reanimator plan was.

mrmaul558, I hope you take note of that for STG - Open: Buffalo.

Couldn't find any other MU info to find out what it did beat.

My overall reaction to Tyrell's list is decent to good MD; terrible SB.

Why were so many Enchantress lists doing well early, and only one T16'ed?

What are the threads thoughts?

[JanoschEausH]

Sorry Freggles, the list you posted was his list early this year at SCG Sacramento.
The deck tech is from 03.18.12.

His actual list is different from the one you posted and can be seen here :

Differences:
- 1x Enlightened Tutor
- 1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 1x Wheel of Sun and Moon

+ 2x Green Sun's Zenith
+ 1x Choke

The actual sideboard is different, too:
1x Choke
2x Ground Seal
1x Humility
1x Karmic Justice
4x Leyline of Sanctity
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Raking Canopy
1x Runed Halo
1x Stony Silence
1x Wheel of Sun and Moon
1x Lignify

What i like most is the Raking Canopy. This card is so loveley against delver and an auto-win with Grove against Terminus. All their angel tokens die, which is basically their only wincon.

[mrmaul558]

Sorry Freggles, the list you posted was his list early this year at SCG Sacramento.
The deck tech is from 03.18.12.

His actual list is different from the one you posted and can be seen here :

Differences:
- 1x Enlightened Tutor
- 1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 1x Wheel of Sun and Moon

+ 2x Green Sun's Zenith
+ 1x Choke

The actual sideboard is different, too:
1x Choke
2x Ground Seal
1x Humility
1x Karmic Justice
4x Leyline of Sanctity
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Raking Canopy
1x Runed Halo
1x Stony Silence
1x Wheel of Sun and Moon
1x Lignify

What i like most is the Raking Canopy. This card is so lovely against delver and an auto-win with Grove against Terminus. All their angel tokens die, which is basically their only wincon.

I could get behind a MD Choke... I'm not sure how I feel about taking out the Emrakul plan, but it doesn't seem completely unreasonable. Is 19 or 20 lands correct?

Potential Changes:
-1 Runed Halo
+1 Choke

-1 Elephant Grass/Enlightened Tutor (Leaning towards Tutor)
+1 Replenish

My List:
2 Savannah
1 Taiga
4 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Serra's Sanctum
2 Plains
4 Forest
1 Karakas

4 Wild Growth
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Elephant Grass
4 Sterling Grove
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Enchantress's Presence
3 Solitary Confinement

1 Enlightened Tutor
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Runed Halo
1 Choke
1 Words of War
1 Humility
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne

2 Replenish
1 Crop Rotation
2 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Sideboard:
4 Leyline of Sanctity (Combo/Discard/Burn)
1 Choke (Blue)
1 Ground Seal (Graveyard)
1 Karmic Justice (Wasteland, Vindicate)
1 Oblivion Ring (Control, Reanimator, Sneaky Show)
1 Raking Canopy (Possible, not sure about this yet. It was suggested to be by a friend, and then it showed up in the T16 list)
1 Runed Halo (2 in the 75 seems right)
1 Stony Silence (Seems reasonable, but perhaps not necessary)
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon (Graveyard, Reanimator)
1 Lignify (Reanimator)

2x Free Slots (Aura of Silence? Bojuka Bog? Crop Rotation?)

[JanoschEausH]

I dont like the maindeck choke. I think choke in general is totally overrated. HEY they can't play a thing but choke doesnt help against those 2 flipped delvers beating on me...

I have abandoned the Emrakul-Plan too. I think its even wrong to call it "plan". Its more like a rare possibility than a plan.

My list is nearly the same as Tyrells. I play a 2nd O-Ring maindeck instead of a choke, one more fetchland instead of 1 savannah, and a 4th grass instead of moat.

20 lands is the way to go. 19 is too low for my taste.

[mrmaul558]

I dont like the maindeck choke. I think choke in general is totally overrated. HEY they can't play a thing but choke doesnt help against those 2 flipped delvers beating on me...

I have abandoned the Emrakul-Plan too. I think its even wrong to call it "plan". Its more like a rare possibility than a plan.

My list is nearly the same as Tyrells. I play a 2nd O-Ring maindeck instead of a choke, one more fetchland instead of 1 savannah, and a 4th grass instead of moat.

20 lands is the way to go. 19 is too low for my taste.

I'm finally going to get some testing in tonight. I could easily see the MD Choke becoming the second E-tutor again.

Emmy is definitely a plan - there are situations where the Sigil/WoW win is just too slow, or you have a ton of mana but nothing to fuel either of the other two wincons.

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

Choke does a lot against Delver; it stops it from getting buddies, it reduces the chances of it getting flipped with library manipulation, and most importantly, it combos absurdly well with Elephant Grass.

Which is my main complaint about the deck, it's missing the fourth Grass. But otherwise a pretty solid list.

As for Reanimator, I don't think it makes sense to devote a ton of energy to the match-up; it's going to be a negative match no matter what you do, and it seems to be on the decline as a portion of the field. Better to spend free slots on match-ups that are close.

[mrmaul558]

Finally got a bit of testing in (albiet, against Affinity and Zombie Bombardment). G1 against Bombardment seems in my favor, perhaps even 70%. I am using the changes I posted a few posts back (opting for 1x Replenish over 1x E. Tutor), and I like how the deck functions. Only one game I lost due to screw (and mulling down to 5), but such is the way of things. Looking forward to more testing tomorrow (against RUG Delver and Affinity), and some SB'ing as well.

I'm not convinced just yet on the MD Choke - I think it may be correct to switch it with the Runed Halo in the SB currently.

[Freggle]

Ground Seal is also good against opposing graveyard-hate and Snapcaster Mages. But it doesnt influence dredge while dedging.

Second: You clearly forgot Wheel of Sun and Moon.

I added those to the list and gave them my ratings.

btw.: I like the structure of your postings Freggle. It is easy too overlook everything and its a pleasure to read it :)

Thank you, I try.

Sorry Freggles, the list you posted was his list early this year at SCG Sacramento.
The deck tech is from 03.18.12.

Wow, sorry about that I missed that part. This is good it gives us more information to go on.

I found this video of Tyrell's Enchantress list loosing to Esper Stoneblade in Sacramento. (Was it right not to board in Leyline of Sanctity? Looks to me he got exposed by discard.)

Sacramento Tyrell's list lost to Blouses & this Esper Stoneblade a.k.a. flying pressure & discard control. The usual suspects.

So to try and go about this in a more methodical way (since Tyrell's list mimics many in this thread) why not try and shore-up these issues?

The core of enchantress is simple:

6-10 Enchantress Effects [Typically: Argothian Enchantress, Enchantress's Presence & Green Sun's Zenith]

5-10 Non-Enchantment Flex [Replenish, Enlightened Tutor, Crop Rotation]

30-35 Enchantments [Most variance with (1) to (5) wins. Many feature red splashes for Words of War]

18-20 Lands [Typically fetch based revolving around Green with a high degree of basics]

In addition to the flying issue this core is known to be weak to fast combo. Both the Sneak in big fatties type and the storm variety.

Lets assume we are locked into WGx.

It appears the best way to fight control is redundancy, and card advantage.
Cards typically found in enchantress that help beat control are:

4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Enchantress's Presence
2ish Green Sun's Zenith
? Mirri's Guile
highly optional City of Solitude

It is in my estimation that this suite of cards should get enchantress through a myriad of counter magic.

Aggro is best fought with the following cards:

4 Elephant Grass
3 Solitary Confinement* - It should be noted the more redundancy devoted to combating control with enchantress effects without encroaching on the enchantment count too much only helps combating aggro

optional Moat
optional Humility
optional Ghostly Prison
highly optional Defense of the Heart - doubles as alt win con.
ultra-highly optional Energy Field - (x= build)

Combo is best fought with these cards:

3 Solitary Confinement
? Runed Halo - marginal
? Sterling Grove - indirectly

Sideboard - Leyline of Sanctity
Sideboard - Surgical Extraction
Highly Optional - Recoup - For Surgical
Ultra-highly Optional - Snapcaster Mage for Surgical (x= build)

Here is a proposed GWu build that could improve all of the known poor MU's without messing drastically with the decks core:

Maindeck:

Enchantress Effects (10)
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Enchantress's Presence
2 Green Sun's Zenith

Dig
3 Mirri's Guile
4 Brainstorm

Locks
4 Elephant Grass
3 Solitary Confinement
3 Wheel of Sun and Moon
4 Energy Field
2 Sterling Grove

Ramp
4 Utopia Sprawl


The Catch-all
2 Oblivion Ring

The Win
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne

Mana (20)
1 Karakas
2 Serra's Sanctum
5 Forest
1 Island
1 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
2 Savannah
1 Tropical Island
3 Misty Rainforest

Sideboard:
4 Surgical Extraction - Combo / Dredge / Control / Reanimator
3 Snapcaster Mage - Perhaps weak but intended to double up on surgicals and b. storms
4 Mystic Remora - Combo
4 Spell Pierce - Combo

Fliers are now handled by Energy Field / Wheel of Sun and Moon. Discard can now be Spell Pierced, and Surgical Extraction-ed away, or simply side-stepped with Brainstorm. Combo get the most hate out of the board (likely too much) with all the ones labeled above.

The idea of the list above is to show another possible solution to Enchantress's woes over the last few months. did I get the core correct? ...what are peoples reactions to the list above?

mrmaul558 For your list I would still consider Surgical Extraction in your sideboard. It is powerful against GY shenanigans and combo both of which you need help with.

[cthulhu_dude23]

Here's my report straight from Salvation with a few changes, I figured It would probably get more use over here.

@freggles, that was the list I took 15th with at Sac, and ever since then came to HATE Emrakul.

Okay cats and kittens, here is how I went 6-2 and got 10th at scg Vegas. First off, we'll start with my list.

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

4 Wild Growth
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Sterling Grove
3 Solitary Confinement
3 Elephant Grass
2 Mirri"s Guile
2 Replenish
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
1 Words of War
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Choke
1 Moat
1 City of Solitude
1 Runed Halo

6 Forest
2 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Serra"s Sanctum
2 Savannah
1 Taiga
1 Karakas

SIDEBOARD
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Choke
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
2 Ground Seal
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Karmic Justice
1 Lignify
1 Humility
1 Raking Canopy
1 Runed Halo

And an explanation for some of my choices. A few months ago I was converted to the Green Sun's Zenith side, and lets say that I've never turned back. If there are any naysayers still out there, it is pretty freakin awesome. It has allowed me to keep hands that I otherwise could have never kept, and adds a level of consistency that we haven't seen before. I took out my 21st land and an e tutor for it, so its not like I took out enchantments, so there is no problem there.

I had begun to feel like 2 E tutors was too much. All it seemed I was ever doing with it was time walking myself and wasting a draw for a presence or discarding it late game. Now, I still kept one because there are certain mathups (reanimator, sneak and show, dredge) where if you don't draw your silver bullet, you are outright dead. I'm still trying it out as a 1 of, but I am seriously considering cutting it altogether. We are witnessing a huge swing in control decks like stoneblade and tempo decks like thresh. Both of which revel in us wasting a draw phase on something that they counter. And so it becomes pertinent to board that out.

Also, mainboard choke is so good that I can't even begin to express how much I'm in love with it. Enough of the meta is blue that it just wrecks when it resolves, and is a must counter. And in conjunction with grass against Thresh, its almost criminal. Against non-blue decks, it is simply another silver bullet you probably would have boarded out in certain matchups anyway. So I truly believe that the pros far outweigh the cons.

The reason I ran Raking Canopy was because at the last scg I was in, I died something fierce to lingering souls tokens. Esper blade doesnt main board them often anymore, and they aren't going to board it for us because we aren't an aggro deck, but enough of the meta runs delver that its still VERY relevant. I ran it out aggressively against a UR delver player, and it kept his delver a 1/1, a UW control deck couldn't remotely attack with their delvers anymore, and with Moat out as well, Thresh pretty much rolls over. So I personally like it, not to mention that there really wasn't a 15th card that I felt was desperately in need of, so I took a gamble on it, and was overall pretty happy with it. Not to mention that I've grown to not care much for blood moon, as choke comes in against most of the same matchups anyway and pretty much does the same exact thing without doing anything to us.

Something else, I absolutely DESPISE mainboard Humility. It shuts off our engine, is very win more in matchups other than reanimator, sneak & show, or combo elves (which we have a far better matchup against anyway because they no longer play Emrakul), not to mention that those matchups are very unfavorable even with it game 1. I cringe at the thoughts of being in the position of having to cast whatever enchantment we draw next (lets be honest, we've all been there) and having it be a Humility. Humility/Moat is very cute, and don't get me wrong, I've always loved me some dutch stax for that combo, but here I don't like the resulting drawback for that option. I personally hate having to put in the sideboard, but I do believe that it has to be someone in our 75 for those few matchups.

Emrakul is bad. VERY bad. I played it at scg sac, and hated every minute of that stupid spaghetti monster. In the past he has gotten me out of a couple weird corner cases that I should not have won, but that does not make up for a VERY win more win-con that has zero synergy with the deck. If you are worried about decking yourself (or have) you need to practice some more, because that should never be happening. It may come close, but you should be aware of it, and react accordingly, which in turn means that you were never going to deck yourself out anyway.

Crop rotation I feel is another pointless card. As a one of, it won't come off very much. As a non-enchantment, it is anti-synergistic with the deck. And as an answer to Reanimator or S&S, it will probably be countered anyway. If you fear Reanimator, play a Ground Seal as a silver bullet, and utilize your oblivion ring(s) against S&S pre-board. One at least replaces itself against pointless matchups (or is even relevant against Snapcaster) and the other is very useful. Not to mention, yet again, is very win-more when it is used to go for Sanctum.

Anyways, thats it for my decisions/comments on potential card options for decks that people may be considering and my opinions of them.

I lost to dredge both times that day, and let me explain that a little bit. I haven't tested against dredge a lot lately, and still remember when they were 1-2 turns slower. And even with faithless I had played against players that gave me a few extra turns, which gave me a false sense of security and as such led me to play my grasses more conservatively in my 2nd match against dredge (I played against it 3 times, won the first and lost the second 2). I learned from it for my final round, but as you'll see it wasn't quite enough and I lost out on a gamble I made.

And without further ado; the report. Keep in mind, I will be as thorough as possible with the report, but as the tourney wore on, I started going close to time in some of the grindy matchups. So I spent the time relaxing for my next round instead of taking notes. So I apologize, but it should still be pretty solid and accurate.

Round 1: Belcher
G1: I get the play and mulligan to a little slower 6 card hand while he tanks FOREVER, so I put him on an inexperienced combo player. I go forest, ship the turn, and sure enough, he makes 12 gobbos and passes. I play savannah, sprawl my savannah and play grove, ship. He takes me to 8. During my upkeep I crack grove for a grass, play it, fetch and ship. He plays a tender wall, attacks. I Pay for grass, I GSZ for enchantress, and ship. He passes right back. I Pay again, play grove, and pass. He grants, plays petal, esg and hits me. I sac grove for solitary, sac the grass, cast it. He passes, I discard sigil, cast presence and he scoops.

Board:
-choke
-city of solitude
- o ring
-guile
-replenish
+4 Leyline
+ stony silence

G2:
I mull to six with a very solid hand that starts out with a leyline. He groans, probes himself, land grants, shows me the belcher kill and passes. I play forest and sprawl. He makes 10 gobbos. I play land, cast argothian and a grass on my turn. He passes. I pay, play a land, and cast presence. He passes. I let grass die, cast sprawl, and solitary confinement. He draws, and scoops.

So I dodged a bit of a bullet when he decided to make goblins game 1 and I forced him to do so game 2. And off to round 2, where the matchups will sometimes be a bit shorter due to either fast rounds where not a lot happens, or I didn't devote time to writing down every play because I believed focusing and relaxing was a little more important, and writing it all down afterwards stressed me out because I was wracking my brain trying to remember it, and thats something you don't need in an 8 round tourney.

1-0

Round 2: Dredge
G1: He mulled to 3, and whiffed on his first couple of dredges which allowed to to play and early grass, and set up an engine. I won in short order.

Board:
- Halo
-city
-choke
- o ring
- guile
- replenish
+4 leyline
+ Wheel
+ ground seal (in case he had dread for a big troll, which some lists still do)

G2: I mulligan to a weird 5 card hand with only sanctum as land, which i should have probably shipped for a 4. He proceeds to wreck my hand with a turn 1 therapy for my grass, and then goes off on turn 2 to decimate my hand and then kill me turn 3.

G3: I keep a good 7 that has wheel in it. I lead with land and sprawl, where he plays an imp and ships it over. I drop the wheel, and pass. He Nature's claims it during his upkeep and proceed to start dredging. I drop an engine card and grove at some point and search up a solitary to buy some turns, and cast a sigil. He claims the solitary and puts me on game next turn. My best answer here is my only replenish, which holy crap I rip, bringing back my solitary, wheel, and grove. He passes. I sac the grove for moat, play it, and make an angel. He passes. Im able to then assemble an engine, cast a ton of enchantments and kill him.

Phew, that was a close one that was 4 seconds away from going to time.

2-0

Round 3: UWB countertop (yeah, I know, a little weird)
This one was super quick aside from the deck check because there was some controversy early in the tourney where a belcher player's empty the warrens were the only foil cards in his deck. And my whole deck is foil (BOOYAH!), and most of my opponent's was.

G1: He gets down an early counterbalance, he counters my on turn grove. Then I play an on turn city of solitude. He whiffs on the balance and scoops on the spot.

Board
- Moat
-e tutor
-grass
-halo
+stony silence
+choke
+o ring
+ raking canopy (I thought maybe he was playing thopter foundry wincon)

G2: I get down a quick engine, play the city early on again, he whiffs both balance AND a brainstorm for force, and once again scoops.

He later tells me he doesn't believe in win cons for that deck, and only play an entreat ( which canopy would have stopped anyway) and Jace.

3-0

Round 4: Thresh
G1: He leads of with a turn 1 Delver, where I turn 1 ramp and pass. He brainstorms during his upkeep, which is one of my biggest pet peeves...until he plays land and another delver. Okay, acceptable, and really scary. I take 3 and then cast more ramp and a grass. He misses his land drop (to the surprise of no one) and hits me for 3. I drop choke and proceed to watch him cry. He never draws a force, I assemble and engine, and kill him with angels.

Board
-e tutor
-guile
+raking canopy
+choke

G2: he first turn mongoose, and Im ecstatic. I ramp, he attacks and plays goyf. I try a presence, he forces, plays delver, and attacks me some more. I play GSZ and grass to stall a bit. i then choke AGAIN, which slows him down to a crawl. I proceed to get a city down, assemble engine and lock, kill him with WoW.

Sadly this was the only time I got matched up against this very positive matchup, despite all the thresh in the room that day, saaaaad panda.

4-0

Round 5: Dredge This one is super short and sweet as he nut draws both games.
G1: i ramp on the play, he carefuls and passes. I play land and presence. He dedges, faithless, dredges, breakthroughs, and freakin explodes. He makes a billion zombies and destroys my hand. I don't top deck an answer, and die.

Board:
same as before

G2:Games 2 goes EXACTLLY like game 1, and I die in short order.

This is where I learn that we can no longer play grasses conservatively against dredge, they must be treated like combo. We have to assume they have the kill on turn 3 (which happens fairly regularly now with that blazingly fast deck). Whilst I HATE learning a lesson like this mid-tourney, I'd rather walk away from a loss with something rather than nothing.

4-1

Round 6: UW control with geist, stoneblade for feast and famine, and delver
G1: I mull to 5 that has no engine piece, but e tutor and grove. Land, ramp, go. He opens with island delver. I play heath and pass. He flips his delver and plays stoneforge to go for feast and famine. I end of turn tutor for presence. He counters, i play grove and pass. He attacks, I crack grove, go for presence...he counters. the game ends in short order.

Board:
- moat
-e tutor
-o ring (yes its helplful against feast and famine, but I felt that I'd rather be doing other things)
+choke
+canopy
+halo

G2:He mulls to 5, i keep a decent 7. I ramp, pass. He plays a fetch and passes. I GSZ, WHICH HE ALLOWS TO RESOLVE (I know he has a counterspell because he tanks, and the following turn pierces a spell). He plays land and passes again. I play a grove, which he counters. Cool story bro, I will draw more cards than you have counters. He forces some random spell I cast next, and I just slowly start to bury him in card advantage and choke even though he gets a geist and takes me down really low.

I boarded in my karmic justice in case of disenchants, but can't remember what I took out.

G3: This is what magic is all about baby. We both keep our 7, he islands and delvers. I sprawl, which he dazes. Oh really...you are going on the "slow me down" gameplan, alrighty then. He replays the land, attacks for just 1, and passes. I try enchantresses and he forces it. He lands and plays a a mystic for feast and famine again. I play a grove and pass. He attacks for a few more turns whilst slow rolling his lands for choke. I proceed to choke him. He attacks me for 4. I grove for grass. I play a grass, he counters, oh crap. I take 4 again. At this point I'm REALLY low on life. Luckily I draw replenish to buy some turns. He passes. I pay, and grove for grass because if he has a land, he can feast and famine at eot, equip and kills me if I go for canopy, so I play the other grass. He passes again. I pay for both and play Words of war and pass. He passes. I let 1 grass die and skip my draw to burn the delver, have zero cards, and pass. He passes again (I guess he is waiting for his window, granted he was pretty dead as it is since he had his only glacial chasm and plains out already and only a fetch or two at this point). I skip my draw again to nerf his mystic. He passes. I draw and cast a GSZ finally. he passes again. I play raking canopy to draw a card and presence. At which point he loses to my words of war shortly after.

Later on he admitted he didn't have any disenchants, which I though was really weird to be honest.

5-1

Round 6: UR delver
G1: he gets a turn 1 delver which flips immediately, and takes me down to a really low life total. I'm able to assemble an engine and lock him out at a measly 6 life.

Board:
-moat
-o ring
- e tutor
-guile
-grass (i think?)
+4 leyline
+Halo

G2: I mulligan, play an early ramp and guile. He then Engineered Explosives for 1, OUCH! He then beats me down and burns me out in quick order.

G3: I mulligan, and as the match starts, it is about this point that I realize that I didn't board in the second choke for some reason, I'm not happy with myself. Anyway, he doesn't get a turn 1 delver (phew), and I ramp a little bit. He plays delver, I play a GSZ. He EEs for 2 (really getting tired of this). I play raking canopy. Now this is the fun part, he starts beating me down whilst countering everything I play AND burning me. Awesome. At one point I resolve a choke to slow him way down. I get down to 6 and have to play Runed Halo naming Thunderous Wrath so I don't just outright die to it next turn. He hits me down a couple of times. I finally resolve an enchantress, and am forced to block because Im at 4 and don't want to die to a lightning bolt. I then top deck solitary to buy me a turn. He passes. I let it die and pass. Ladies and gentleman, my heart is pounding. Bolt outright kills me here. He doesn't have it though and he hits me down to 3. I top deck Leyline (THANK YOU GOD). He hits me to 2. I cast a presence. He hits me to 1, and I hit the confinement. He cant do much, and I start to GSZ, hit city of solitude and lock him out.

Phew, too close for comfort, BUT BABY I'M 6 AND 1, WOOOOHOOOO!

6-1

Okay, at this point my buddies and I think tank about if I can draw into Top 8 next round. I'm super paranoid, because I don't want to get breaker jumped. Standings come out and I'm in 5th, so I am safe to ID into top. I sit down with my opponent and offer him the draw, he is super worried because his breakers are tied with 3 other people and he has been breaker jumped twice in the past. He tanks, does some math, has his buddy look at the situation, and the judges yell at us to at least start our match. Im shuffling a few times, trying to get them to figure it out. Sad thing, there are 3 people (me included) vying for 2 spots, my breakers are better than his, and we don't know the 3rd person. He very reluctantly has us play (and now I'm on pins and needles).

Round 6: ...Dredge
G1: He leads with city of brass and faithless looting. My face, calm. My thoughts, GOD *@$^%&#$^ CABINET #$%#%#^ SON OF A $%^%#$! I wonder where maverick was all day, thresh again, or even a stoneblade matchup. All decks that I have anywhere from positive to an extremely positive matchup against, but no. I get another combo deck. Great. Thankfully I play a turn 1 grass. Suck it dredge. He goes ahead and dredges some, I see some returns in the yard. Pay for grass, topdeck a sprawl, and play land sprawl. He makes some more dudes and therapies me for some stuff as he doesn't really know what to hit (which I love soooo much). I pay, land and grove go. he dredges...I crack grove for moat, let grass die and play moat. I assemble an engine including solitary, and deck him out.

Board:
same as before except I keep in the 2nd replenish and only bring in 3 leylines and I brought in the second ground seal but for the life of me do not remember what else I boarded out.

G2: I have to ship a hand that was perfect with leyline and everything, but sanctum instead of forest, for a hand that has a grass. He faithless lootings and pitches some stuff. I play grass. He then plays, drum roll please...painter's servant. I drop grass like a bad habit, draw a leyline, and play land, growth, sprawl. He has 1 turn to kill me...which he does, damn.

Board:
-second guile
+stony silence

I figure he is going to board out his painter combo anyway, but if he doesn't, this will stop him cold. If he does, it will at least stop his LEDs. Its not like my board would change that much for the combo in the first place, so his jedi mind tricks are a lot less worthwhile against my deck.

G3: Like every bad beat, or dreamcrushing game, you proceed to run it in your mind over, and over, and over again. And just when you think your done replaying it, you do it a few more times. This is no exception. Keep in mind I was super bummed after this because its the second time I've gotten dreamcrushed out of Top 8 at an scg, was tired and not looking forward to our 8 hour drive after I either lost here or in the Top 8, and as such afterwards I was decompressing and trying to finally relax a bit because long tournaments always take it out of you, so to me some of the details are a little fuzzy on his EXACT plays. Bottom line though, I remember getting to turn 3 before dying, and remember my hand and plays, so bear with me people. I don't want to hear, "Hey I watched the feed archive, and that isn't 100% what happened man!" Please excuse my human error.

I keep a 6 card hand on the play that is leyline, 3 lands, solitary, and sigil. Why do I keep this hand? Because my odds of mulling down to 5 with a leyline are low, and even if I do have a grass or silver bullet, my hand will be ripped apart with therapy. I decide to keep. I start with leyline and land. He carefuls and passes. I draw a land, play another land, and pass. He dredges, faithless and passes. I play sanctum and have a choice. I can hope he whiffs here again, not hit his flamkein zealot and buy me one more turn to try and draw an engine before playing the confinement. We all know how hard it is to wiggle our way out of a game where we are forced to play 3 mana fogs, especially when all I've drawn is land this entire game. I tank a bit. I decide to wait 1 more turn. Pass. He dredges, LEDs, and breakthroughs for 1, my only hope is that he doesn't hit enough narcomeobas or has a land in hand for blood ghast to cast dread return. He hits a narcomeoba, 2 ghasts, Zealot and return. He has a land and kills me with hasty, flaming zombies. I look at my top cards cards, which were another land and then confinement, so I was dead either way. Damn. He has 2 Unmasks in his hand and a Nature's claim he kept with breakthrough that I guess he decided to save for a prison piece once he saw I had a poor hand and was drawing even worse, so he didn't worry about the leyline. So confinement was worthless.

Should I have played the solitary looking back on it? Yes. Was it a longshot as well as holding back? Absolutely. But in the end I feel it had slightly better odds than the hope and pray gameplan. Later on I realized he was slow playing looking for hate just in case instead of having a slow hand like I believed.

I was definitely bummed, and wish things had gone a little bit differently, but such is life. I still placed 10th, which was better than the 15th I got in scg Sacremento. What did I take away from this though? I'm right there. Very close, and getting closer. Enchantress is Tier 1.5/2 deck that many unjustly call a terrible deck and I'm doing well with it. That means that I know what I'm doing, and know my matchups, so that isn't the problem (aside form the early dredge debacle, which I adapted to). I banked on reanimator and sneak & show facing insane amounts of hate and being out of the way, which did happen. Considering that those are absolutely abysmal matches. I've always felt that I was skilled with this deck and knew what I was doing, and this only goes to reinforce that. Are there things I still need to learn? Of course, I'm not perfect with this deck, but I do believe that I am very adept at playing it. And this continues to be my favorite Legacy deck period, even after a couple of years of playing it.

Thank you to anyone that took the time to read this (sorry for the long-windedness, but I do like being thorough), and I hope that something is learned from it. Good luck to everyone out there that loves playing this deck, I know I sure do. I'm open to suggestions, and am welcome to critiques so have at it. Keep on casting green Ancestral Recalls everybody.

[mrmaul558]

Great Tourney Report! I love to see Enchantress doing well!

I think I'm going to test tonight without Emrakul... as much as it hurts a bit, some hands with him are just auto-mulligans since its like you already mulliganed anyways. Its a bit counteractive to what GSZ is trying to do. Do you think a 20th land in my list would be correct over Emrakul? Just another Forest, maybe?

I can also see why Humility wouldn't be played in the MD. I could exchange that for the 2nd Runed Halo chillin' in my SB, I think.

I have to strongly disagree with your evaluation of Crop Rotation, though - Getting Sanctum with it is actually the opposite of win-more on a lot of cases; it can actually just hand you games that you otherwise had no business winning at all.

I may test a bit without E-Tutor as well, but I have a feeling if I cut it I will just see Reanimator/Sneaky Show decks all day that I would want it against... not sure yet.

My List:
2 Savannah
1 Taiga
4 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Serra's Sanctum
2 Plains
4 Forest
1 Karakas

4 Wild Growth
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Elephant Grass
4 Sterling Grove
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Enchantress's Presence
3 Solitary Confinement

1 Enlightened Tutor
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Runed Halo
1 Choke
1 City of Solitude
1 Words of War
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne

2 Replenish
1 Crop Rotation
2 Green Sun's Zenith

Sideboard:
4 Leyline of Sanctity (Combo/Discard/Burn)
2 Wheel of Sun and Moon (Graveyard, Reanimator)
2 Choke (Blue)
1 Humility
1 Karmic Justice (Wasteland, Vindicate)
1 Oblivion Ring (Control, Reanimator, Sneaky Show)
1 Raking Canopy (Any flying creatures)
1 Lignify (Reanimator)
1 Crop Rotation
1 Bojuka Bog

How does this look?

[Freggle]

Report & Card Choices

Thank you cthulhu_dude23. I found this to be a fun and informative read. I would like to say from your performances with the deck and watching your video I think your play skill is pretty high. Frankly, better than mine. I hope to some day learn how to calm the nerves and play more soundly. If you would like to read about any of my trysts with Enchantress you can do so here in a highly developmental enchantress variant.

I think enchantress is a fun deck, and the overall enchantress concept is the sole reason for my return to magic. I do feel that current lists are not well positioned for the meta, but I tend to believe that an optimal undiscovered list does exist.

So some questions for you:

Have you ever tried boarding in Leyline of Sanctity vs. Esper Blade? ...do you lean heavy on choke?

What do you think of Stony Silence as a way to neuter Engineered Explosives?

What are your initial reactions to the rough blue splash list posted above (quote below)? ...do you feel it's a step in the wrong direction?

List down the post

Similar concept, but slightly re-thought over here in the Enchantress Variant thread

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I really appreciate you sharing your time with us here.