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Thread: Emraduel

  1. #1
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    Emraduel

    Upkeep 15-you


    //Creatures: 13
    4 Keen Duelist
    3 Snapcaster Mage
    2 Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire
    2 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
    1 Tombstalker
    1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

    //Spells: 27
    4 Force of Will
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    3 Worldly Tutor
    2 Veil of Summer
    2 Thoughtseize
    2 Cabal Therapy
    3 Abrupt Decay
    2 Drown in the Loch
    1 Show and Tell

    //Lands: 20
    4 Polluted Delta
    4 Misty Rainforest
    2 Verdant Catacombs
    2 Underground Sea
    2 Tropical Island
    1 Bayou
    2 Island
    2 Forest
    1 Swamp

    //Sideboard: 15
    2 Plague Engineer
    1 Opposition Agent
    1 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
    1 Reclamation Sage
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    1 Brazen Borrower
    1 Tireless Tracker
    1 Flusterstorm
    1 Veil of Summer
    1 Assassin's Trophy
    2 Hymn to Tourach
    2 Surgical Extraction


    The broken line here is to use Keen Duelist and Worldly Tutor to set up a trigger for 15 damage for 1 mana on the upkeep. This can be defended by FoW and Veil. Brainstorm, Ponder, and Varragoth can also set it up. Worldly Tutor is also used to establish a toolbox with utility creatures and other win conditions.

    There's a 1-of Show and Tell to make the Emrakul playable. Varragoth and cantrips can find it.

    Cabal Therapy both protects the engine and gives you a sacrifice outlet when Duelist is bad.

  2. #2

    Re: Emraduel

    Super excited for keen duelist! I've been thinking mirri's guile to set up T1 guile into T2 duelist. Then since we're running wordly tutor a mosswort bridge/stifle/dreadnought package filled out by some more show and tells/4 emmys/b storm.
    Quote Originally Posted by Laser Brains View Post
    With the printing of Gigantosaurus, Thrashing Brontodon and Steel Leaf Champion the deck has evolved from good to very competitive. Anyway, give it a few play tests if you are interested and let me know what you think.

    Winter Maze
    Quote Originally Posted by CptHaddock View Post
    With veteran explorer I know that I 100% will not enjoy a 30 minute grindfest against someone who can barely afford dual lands and believes that their deck can cast a 10 mana 8/8.

  3. #3
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    Re: Emraduel

    I think Worldly Tutor has a lot of promise because you can upkeep cast and don't have to commit resources until you've successfully untapped with it

    T1 Ponder/Thoughtseize
    T2 Duelist
    T3 upkeep, in response to trigger, Worldly Tutor for Emrakul = 15 damage (or Brainstorm for something)

    By then you'll have another land untapped to be able to play around Daze, cast Veil or Spell Pierce, or FoW.

    If Duelist doesn't survive, you don't have to commit any other resources and that uncastable Emrakul only takes up 1 slot in the deck. If it does survive but doesn't kill (15 doesn't quite get there) because of Duelist you still got to draw another card other than Emrakul and they risk death on the next turn.

    Maybe this plan would work better in a BUG Delver shell, where you have other early threats to pressure life total making the Tutor into Emrakul line represent lethal damage.

  4. #4

    Re: Emraduel

    Similar to how mystic sanctuary works in miracles, this deck NEEDs to play Witch's Cottage. Although you would need to play something expensive that doesn't shuffle the library.
    Last edited by Reeplcheep; 04-11-2021 at 09:36 PM.

  5. #5
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    Re: Emraduel

    Upon further thought, the 15 damage Tutor play works better in a proactive deck than a control shell.


    //Creatures: 13
    4 Delver of Secrets
    4 Keen Duelist
    3 Tarmogoyf
    1 Gurmag Angler
    1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

    //Spells: 30
    4 Force of Will
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    4 Thoughtseize
    3 Worldly Tutor
    2 Fatal Push
    2 Veil of Summer
    4 Daze
    3 Abrupt Decay

    //Lands: 17
    4 Polluted Delta
    4 Misty Rainforest
    3 Underground Sea
    3 Tropical Island
    1 Bayou
    1 Island
    1 Forest


    The strategy here is to deal some initial damage to the opponent, then use Keen Duelist to convert upkeep Worldly Tutor into "G: win the game" if you get to untap even once. The very first trigger should be lethal if you can tutor Emrakul on top, sometimes even just Angler. The combo can be defended by Force, Daze, TS and Veil.

    The rest of the time Duelist also has a mode of just refilling your hand with gas.

  6. #6

    Re: Emraduel

    Quote Originally Posted by FTW View Post
    Upon further thought, the 15 damage Tutor play works better in a proactive deck than a control shell.


    //Creatures: 13
    4 Delver of Secrets
    4 Keen Duelist
    3 Tarmogoyf
    1 Gurmag Angler
    1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

    //Spells: 30
    4 Force of Will
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    4 Thoughtseize
    3 Worldly Tutor
    2 Fatal Push
    2 Veil of Summer
    4 Daze
    3 Abrupt Decay

    //Lands: 17
    4 Polluted Delta
    4 Misty Rainforest
    3 Underground Sea
    3 Tropical Island
    1 Bayou
    1 Island
    1 Forest


    The strategy here is to deal some initial damage to the opponent, then use Keen Duelist to convert upkeep Worldly Tutor into "G: win the game" if you get to untap even once. The very first trigger should be lethal if you can tutor Emrakul on top, sometimes even just Angler. The combo can be defended by Force, Daze, TS and Veil.

    The rest of the time Duelist also has a mode of just refilling your hand with gas.
    4 colours isn't ideal, but I think this deck rly would like bolts.
    Quote Originally Posted by Laser Brains View Post
    With the printing of Gigantosaurus, Thrashing Brontodon and Steel Leaf Champion the deck has evolved from good to very competitive. Anyway, give it a few play tests if you are interested and let me know what you think.

    Winter Maze
    Quote Originally Posted by CptHaddock View Post
    With veteran explorer I know that I 100% will not enjoy a 30 minute grindfest against someone who can barely afford dual lands and believes that their deck can cast a 10 mana 8/8.

  7. #7
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    Re: Emraduel

    Yeah Bolt would be strong but the 4th color is hard. Otherwise Delver is trying to do a Bolt impersonation.

    I thought about going Jund instead. You lose a lot of protection and you lose the cantrips to set up the top of library, but you can compensate for some of it with more Veils and Sylvan Library and you could run stuff like Fireblast and Cindervines.

    Jund Emraduel


    //Creatures: 16
    4 Goblin Guide
    4 Monastery Swiftspear
    4 Keen Duelist
    2 Tarmogoyf
    1 Gurmag Angler
    1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

    //Spells: 22
    4 Once Upon A Time
    4 Thoughtseize
    4 Lightning Bolt
    3 Chain Lightning
    3 Veil of Summer
    3 Worldly Tutor
    1 Fireblast

    //Enchantments: 3
    3 Sylvan Library

    //Lands: 19
    4 Wooded Foothills
    3 Bloodstained Mire
    3 Verdant Catacombs
    2 Taiga
    2 Badlands
    2 Bayou
    1 Mountain
    1 Swamp
    1 Forest

    //Sideboard: 15
    3 Abrupt Decay
    2 Surgical Extraction
    1 Cindervines
    1 Pyroblast
    1 Red Elemental Blast
    1 Veil of Summer
    1 Faerie Macabre
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    1 Collector Ouphe
    1 Eidolon of the Great Revel
    2 Plague Engineer

  8. #8

    Re: Emraduel

    Quote Originally Posted by FTW View Post
    Yeah Bolt would be strong but the 4th color is hard. Otherwise Delver is trying to do a Bolt impersonation.

    I thought about going Jund instead. You lose a lot of protection and you lose the cantrips to set up the top of library, but you can compensate for some of it with more Veils and Sylvan Library and you could run stuff like Fireblast and Cindervines.

    Jund Emraduel


    //Creatures: 16
    4 Goblin Guide
    4 Monastery Swiftspear
    4 Keen Duelist
    2 Tarmogoyf
    1 Gurmag Angler
    1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

    //Spells: 22
    4 Once Upon A Time
    4 Thoughtseize
    4 Lightning Bolt
    3 Chain Lightning
    3 Veil of Summer
    3 Worldly Tutor
    1 Fireblast

    //Enchantments: 3
    3 Sylvan Library

    //Lands: 19
    4 Wooded Foothills
    3 Bloodstained Mire
    3 Verdant Catacombs
    2 Taiga
    2 Badlands
    2 Bayou
    1 Mountain
    1 Swamp
    1 Forest

    //Sideboard: 15
    3 Abrupt Decay
    2 Surgical Extraction
    1 Cindervines
    1 Pyroblast
    1 Red Elemental Blast
    1 Veil of Summer
    1 Faerie Macabre
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    1 Collector Ouphe
    1 Eidolon of the Great Revel
    2 Plague Engineer
    So far I think I like this idea the most
    You want to be really aggressive to justify the card 'disadvantage' from the Duelist

    You also have Mwonvuli Tracker as another worldly tutor but I don't think that does anything
    You can entomb Vengeful Pharaoh as well but it probably doesn't have high enough cmc to justify that and it requires the opponent to attack you
    Just brainstorming some ideas

    If you don't want to play green you can also be BWx and Enlightened Tutor for Draco (maybe you can be a deck with Mother of Runes Thalia etc, you give your opp extra cards but you make it hard to cast them)
    Black Vise instead of Goblin Guide has some kind of cute appeal but it's probably not very good

  9. #9
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    Re: Emraduel

    Quote Originally Posted by kombatkiwi View Post
    So far I think I like this idea the most
    You want to be really aggressive to justify the card 'disadvantage' from the Duelist

    You also have Mwonvuli Tracker as another worldly tutor but I don't think that does anything
    You can entomb Vengeful Pharaoh as well but it probably doesn't have high enough cmc to justify that and it requires the opponent to attack you
    Just brainstorming some ideas

    If you don't want to play green you can also be BWx and Enlightened Tutor for Draco (maybe you can be a deck with Mother of Runes Thalia etc, you give your opp extra cards but you make it hard to cast them)
    Black Vise instead of Goblin Guide has some kind of cute appeal but it's probably not very good
    Yeah, I agree. The proactive Jund burn approach gives the best justification for all the card disadvantage, good value from Duelist outside the combo (lifeloss + cheap pressure drawn), and the highest chance of getting the opponent below 15 before pulling off "G: 15 damage".

    Black Vise seems high variance. I also like that GG and Swiftspear are early creatures that draw out removal before you commit Duelist to the board. If not answered, they can goldfish by turn 3 in a deck with 8 bolts and Fireblast. So they double as protection, getting the opponent below 15 and trading with early removal.

    I thought about Mwonvuli Beast Tracker but I think it's just too clunky. The real advantage of Worldly Tutor is that it's a cheap instant. You can do it EOT or on upkeep in response to the trigger and threaten to win out of nowhere at instant speed. Tracker means passing another turn, paying 3 mana, setting up at sorcery speed the turn before, and hoping you don't get disrupted in between. It's bad tempo. Too much can happen in between and leave you drawing a dud. Tutor lets you wait to see if you even untap with Duelist before committing any resources or messing up your draw step. Seems better. Tutor also lets you access more hatebears out of the SB. So far no deck has a cheap tutor into cards like Faerie Macabre or Eidolon of the Great Revel vs combo (GSZ limits most to green), so this is unexplored tech with potential.

    Yeah, you could do the same with with Enlightened Tutor for Draco in a Mardu shell. It comes down to whether white or green support the combo better. White has Orim's Chant, Mom, and an ETutor package but green has some of the best things going for nonblue decks right now: Veil, Sylvan Library, Decay, OUAT.

    I might switch but so far green seems better.

    Consider this sequence:
    T1 Chain/GG
    T2 Duelist
    T3 upkeep Worldly Tutor for Emrakul/Draco, with another G up for Veil vs black removal and blue counters

    Combined with that pressure on turn 1 and a fetch or 2, there's a good chance that represents lethal. OUAT also lets you search for a turn 1 creature or Duelist without losing tempo.

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