[Deck] Solitaire (Enchantress)

[Forbiddian]

@Replenish Discussion: Three Replenish in general is probably too much. They become weaker as you run more, regardless of cycling Confinements and such. And against board sweeps, I'd rather have real answers and stuff that lets me combo off rather than more chance to get stuck on lands/sorceries. I really can't imagine boarding them in, tbh.

@City of Solitude Discussion: Or City of Solitude, especially against Goblins. Yuck. You're boarding in cards to stop 4 of their cards?

The odds that they even get a Port are less than 50%. So half the time, City of Solitude is equivalent to boarding in Choke against Goblins (which, by the way, I think is a better card than City of Solitude because it does the same thing that CoS does: Demand a counterspell or immediate removal. Except Choke makes itself harder to remove and it hurts players who didn't counter it instead of sitting there dead).

Unless you have some SERIOUSLY dead cards or something, City of Solitude is probably not an improvement in the Goblins MU and is pretty much strictly worse than Choke for everything else.


Looks pretty standard. I always try to have 4x Ground Seal (not just against annoying Loam decks, but the Night's Whisper really helps keeping an early Confinement on the table).

I think that Mirri's Guile is superior to Sylvan Library for most metas. I typically have one extra mana a lot more often than I have two extra mana and they have similar functions. Library doesn't work with Solitary, unfortunately. But both benefit from having a lot of shuffle functions. You're only running 4 Heaths, so I don't think either would be very strong in your deck.

Cut it for Hoofprints of the Stag? I'm starting to really like that card. It sticks four power on the table for 3 mana and can also put a 4/4 on the table in the midgame. It combos pretty well with Elephant Grass to buy you the time you need to start churning tokens out.

I'd really consider cutting some Wild Growths and/or Utopia Sprawls for Chrome Moxen. It's a pretty big jump, but Chrome Moxen really help.

[Julian23]

@City of Solitude Discussion: Or City of Solitude, especially against Goblins. Yuck. You're boarding in cards to stop 4 of their cards?

Yuck. Stopping 4 of their cards is better than stopping none of their cards with Wheel of Sun and Moon. Look at his decklist. City isn't there for the Goblinmatchup as you already figured. As I already stated I don't run it anymore. I mentioned it because Jaiminho brought it up in the Goblin MU and before people would start pondering why he'd even have a City in play against Goblins I gave the additional reasoning; the prime use of course being limiting SCG to their turn.
City doesn't sit in an anti-goblin slot in your sb but you can still bring them in for cards like Wheel of Sun and Moon.
Any more missunderstandings left? Hope not.

I prefer Choke over City because the later still gets caught by massremoval whereas Choke denies most Landstill players the opportunity to set up deed,EE and the like.

Regarding Hoofprints, I've never tested it thus far. From what I can say I've won several games by chumpblocking with Mesa.

[GreenOne]

I tested Hoofprints for so long, and it's almost useless against anything non-control. And control already has MD critter removal G1 before siding it out. I liked the card: it seemed printed with enchantress in mind, but in the end it was not worth it.

I don't kno if I'd play City of solitude over Wheel of Sun and Moon against gobbos. It's a rough choice because city stops Port+SGC+some uses of vial, where wheel costs 2 instead of 3 (speed is important against gobbos, cause you gotta have a fast confinament/moat/grass) and imprints for white with chrome mox. I would not play either, but I don't know which one you should play.

[Wobbles The Goose]

How does Runed Halo not see more maindeck play? It just seems awesome in a format where most decks rely on a single win condition to do significant portions of damage and has no good way to remove an enchantment. Especially seems better than o-ring against decks with pernicious deed/ee (the biggest threat), because it still trades with their Tarmogoyf.

This card just buys you tons of time.

[Jak]

Runed Halo and O Ring are really in there for different reasons. One takes out problematic stuff like Chalice, Trinisphere, etc while another can buy you time against an opponents Tarmogoyf beats. The WW is sometimes hard to get in a deck that needs its G. It is an awesome card but casting it is sometimes difficult. That said, I play 4 between the main and side.

[Wobbles The Goose]

yeah, I mean, I can see the problem with that, especially depending on the mana base. But still, it seems like aura of silence is better at dealing with static artifacts that o-ring and halo is better at dealing with threats. Plus, aura is just awesome against most decks playing chalice or sphere. Also, it's interesting just how precedent Luis Scott-Vargas's enchantress build was from 2007 worlds.

http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=12294

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KQPO6H4Ejk

with maindeck sacred ground city of solitude and 13 white lands. I've been having a lot of fun with 2x halo over a moat and an o-ring. Probably needs more of a board against fast combo, but I think you'd rather focus your maindeck on beating the aggro-control matchups with Citys and whatnot.

Also, what are thoughts on Root Maze out of the sideboard to by time against aggressive combo decks? Better, worse or meh than say Orim's Chant or Thoughtseize against AN? I mean, you have so many possible slots to bring cards in against combo.

[Gibbie_X]

I posted a version, when apparently I should have just replied here. My apologizes. Bitterblossom as a one of in enchantress? The black shouldn't be hard to make, it always produces, but only one at a time.

City of Solitude can really screw you too if you are not careful. Giving your opponent carte blanche with your board can be deadly. I have a need for it, since i can kill in one hit. Which brings me to a question, What does city of solitude do against counterbalance?

Personally, I think the Words versions are to slow and costly. The version I play utilizes the card draw engine into a combo.

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

City of Solitude prevents Top from functioning on your turn, and does nothing against Counterbalance.

[GreenOne]

Personally, I think the Words versions are to slow and costly. The version I play utilizes the card draw engine into a combo.

Which one? saproling burst? or storm beasts?

[VsTheWorld]

I posted a version, when apparently I should have just replied here. My apologizes. Bitterblossom as a one of in enchantress? The black shouldn't be hard to make, it always produces, but only one at a time.

Bitterblossom as a one-of seems like a terrible idea, no offense. It's much too slow to act as a wincon, since it would basically have to be tutored up with Sterling Grove and only pumps out one dude a turn. Compare that to Sacred Mesa, which I'm still a huge fan of. Same function as emergency chump-blocker producer, but it actually wins games once it gets active too. Especially if you think Words of War is too slow, Bitterblossom is just bad. Beyond that, it does nothing to make our bad matchups like combo any better. I've been experimenting with 3 Thoughtseize main though as an extra weapon against CB and combo and to force through my first enchantress. So far it's been promising.

[Gibbie_X]

Which one? saproling burst? or storm beasts?

Replenish fueled PandaBurst, so a City can protect me better.

Bitterblossom as a one-of seems like a terrible idea, no offense. It's much too slow to act as a wincon, since it would basically have to be tutored up with Sterling Grove and only pumps out one dude a turn. Compare that to Sacred Mesa, which I'm still a huge fan of. Same function as emergency chump-blocker producer, but it actually wins games once it gets active too. Especially if you think Words of War is too slow, Bitterblossom is just bad. Beyond that, it does nothing to make our bad matchups like combo any better. I've been experimenting with 3 Thoughtseize main though as an extra weapon against CB and combo and to force through my first enchantress. So far it's been promising.

None taken. I wouldn't contaminate my Legacy deck with it, my ext version though, eh. I know the Bitterblossom is too slow for win, and ofcourse Mesa is better, and City certainly puts that factory on hold.

Thoughtseize sounds too good. Would Duress be a better choice? There isn't a creature that Enchantress should really fear, and one they certainly wouldn't cast third or four turn, giving you a chance to prepare. I see a problem against Chalice though. They drop one with one counter on it, you lose an important chunk of you deck. I do see an advantage with adding a splash of black. Engineered Plague and Leyline seem worth it, but you can supplement Wheel of Sun and Moon for Leyline, especially against Ichorid. How annoying would that be. Frankly I'm seeing what black can do.

Third round against Enchantress:

Really easy matchup. First game I destroy him completely. Second game I have to mull to 5 but still win through orim's chant with absolutely nuts hand.

2-1 (5-3)

This certainly makes me want a little disruption to throw them off. Eyes of the Wisent anyone?

[Dr.AgOn]

a little black splash is awesome. how about the abyss anyone?

[strom]

a little black splash is awesome. how about the abyss anyone?

That was already discussed a few pages back.

I really dont get why everyone tries to fix the combo match-up, because it is not fixable without adding subpar cards (like Thoughtseize). I recommend to play Runed Halo as a 4-of between main and side - but I would not do anything more than that. Instead we shoud keep focussing on winning against aggro and aggrocontrol decks, which the deck can do pretty well.

I'd like to share a great moment during my last tournamnet with this deck on saturday:
I was facing Dragon Stompy. He started with a first turn Rakdos Pit dragon, followed by second one on turn #2. My first turn was Land -> Sprawl, second turn land and Sterling Grove, third turn Grove getting Runed Halo. From this moment on I could set up all I needed to win but it was really close. Luckily he couldnt topdeck another creature (well he found a third Drgon ). I didnt expect to win that one with such an explosive start by the stompy-player.

[Redlotus27]

I was thinking about 4x Orim's Chant for the combo matches. Runed Halo is pretty ok too, calling Tendrils or some such...just me .02 cents I prb will be playing Enchantress at Pastimes near Chicago tomorrow. Any last minute suggestions?

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

Don't give into the fear.

When in doubt, mulligan.

[Illissius]

Throwing some shit against the wall: I assume people have put some thought into Counterbalance + Enchantress. And because no one plays it, I assume the conclusion is that it's not good. I would appreciate someone expounding on the rationale here. I get that Enchantress likes to combo out, and that sitting behind a Counterbalance may not be entirely compatible with that plan. However, that says nothing about which of them is the superior plan. It seems like Counterbalance could help significantly with some problems this deck has, such as combo, mass removal, and opposing Counterbalance.

Also, Sterling Grove has some pretty sweet interactions with Counterbalance: finds it, protects it from Grip, and finds an enchantment with a given converted mana cost if you need one. (This is actually where I first thought of the Enchantress angle.)

Also, it is ridiculous and terrible that every similar card -- from Sylvan Library through Mirri's Guile to Elemental Augury and Soothsaying -- is an enchantment, but Sensei's Divining Top itself is an artifact. Bah.

Also, humbug.

Anyways, decklists are cool so I paste them. For illustrative purposes only:

4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Enchantress's Presence
4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Sterling Grove
4 Counterbalance
4 Runed Halo
3 Aura of Silence
2 Solitary Confinement
1 Soothsaying
1 Ground Seal
1 Sacred Mesa
2 Replenish
4 Utopia Sprawl
2 Wild Growth
3 Chrome Mox
2 Serra's Sanctum
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
2 Savannah
1 Plains
1 Forest
SB: 4 Elephant Grass
SB: 2 Oblivion Ring
SB: 2 Treachery
SB: 2 Karmic Justice
SB: 2 Replenish
SB: 1 Aura of Silence
SB: 1 Sacred Ground
SB: 1 Wheel of Sun and Moon

The manabase is probably terrible and needs work, ignore it. Less combo-oriented (no Exploration etc.) because more Counterbalance-oriented. Halos main over Elephant Grass because most decks these days rely on few large threats rather than many small ones; also good against combo. Soothsaying could become a second win condition, as per taste. Aura of Silence over Oblivion Ring maindeck because Aura is awesome against Deed whereas Ring is awful. Possibly I am overcompensating for Enchantress's weaknesses. If your metagame is the heavy aggro one Enchantress is traditionally good in, do not play this version.

I am not an Enchantress player, so many-to-all of my choices are liable to be bad ones. Again, I am just throwing this out there for discussion.

[honz]

There are 2 rather large problems with counterbalance:
It's blue
It needs sensei's top to be effective

Enchantress, by nature, runs as few non-enchantment cards as possible. That means a low-land count is mandatory. This is a huge problem when you are trying to cast a UU spell, especially since there are almost no blue enchantments worth putting in the deck. With all the land hate that is running rampant (stifles, team america, blood moon, vindicate, wastes...etc), non-basics and fetches are risky, especially with such a low land count. The UU casting cost is just too prohibitive, i would rather just wait for 4 mana and play a moat (which doesn't deserve to be in the deck).

It also need a top to really be effective. Again, with the enchantment thing, theres really not much room for 3 extra cards of deadweight.

If counterbalance was GG or WW, i would play it. It's not, so forget it.

[Nihil Credo]

Not including Enlightened Tutor in a list so filled with powerful-yet-conditional cards (plus, you know, Counterbalance) seems like a huge mistake to me. Also, cutting Elephant Grass wrecks your aggro and Ichorid matchup.

It seems to me you're setting yourself up to destroy Counterbalance Threshold and Aggro Loam and lose to most everything else. Perhaps you could start testing -1 Cbalance, -2 Runed Halo, -1 Soothsaying, -2 Aura of Silence, +3 Tutor, +3 Elephant Grass. That list would probably still have big issues against control decks, mostly because of the huge amount of card disadvantage, but it should be able to reap the benefits of CounterTop in the appropriate matchups while not scooping it up to hordes of little creatures.

[Gibbie_X]

That was already discussed a few pages back.

I really dont get why everyone tries to fix the combo match-up, because it is not fixable without adding subpar cards (like Thoughtseize). I recommend to play Runed Halo as a 4-of between main and side - but I would not do anything more than that. Instead we shoud keep focussing on winning against aggro and aggrocontrol decks, which the deck can do pretty well.

I'd like to share a great moment during my last tournamnet with this deck on saturday:
I was facing Dragon Stompy. He started with a first turn Rakdos Pit dragon, followed by second one on turn #2. My first turn was Land -> Sprawl, second turn land and Sterling Grove, third turn Grove getting Runed Halo. From this moment on I could set up all I needed to win but it was really close. Luckily he couldnt topdeck another creature (well he found a third Drgon ). I didnt expect to win that one with such an explosive start by the stompy-player.

Haha, yeah, I played against a Dragon-Stompy with my newest build. It's truly disgusting to be able to get past a Chalice for one and a Moon. My opponent, having nearly won the match, said that it was a bad match-up. I had to agree. I don't mind the Trinisphere as much as the Chalice.


Runed Halo is almost a must, but I was thinking. Solitary confinement can be dropped just as fast as Halo. Granted, Halo sticks a lot longer than Confinement, but you will be able hold off long enough to set up. Halo backfires with the WW cost, making it hard with low land counts and those running wild growth.

I must also agree that counterbalance is a bad choice for this format. The black splash is too much as it is, but still being just the right balance. Besides, if you are going to run it, have the Top's and one or two CB maximum. Cutting down the U in the deck helps the stability, and no Sanctum's with that fubard a mana base. Mise Well throw in Thoughtseize, really send it over the edge.

So this last post was half bad, so I am going to fix it with a problem I am going to argue all the way to Chicago. What is the best kill method for Enchantress and why?

The lists I've seen have a few in common:

Sacred Mesa
Words of War
Hoofprints of the Stag

or the combo version:
Hunting Pack Storm

my idea:
PandaBurst

I really feel Enchantress is a better deck than most in the format. It has access to possible answers to almost every threat thrown at your face. There is literally an enchantment for every deck that just ends it, its not even fair.

I want this deck to be ready for Chicago, and I know the decks I need to be able to beat.
I posted a version, but now, with the darkness absorbed into it, it's got the way to get around the worst of those decks.

[Barsoom]

Hello all,
I'm interested on building another Legacy deck, and my choice come to Enchantress, because seems to have good matchups against the legacy field, and more importantly seems fun to play; the problem is my budget, Enchantress it's a quite cheap deck to build, except for Moat/Duals/Fetches.
So my question is, a list without those cards loses too much, or it's still viable?
Here the list i'm ready to build, quite the same as the list here on deckcheck.

Budget Enchantress

13 Forest
6 Plains
2 Serra's Sanctum

4 Argothian Enchantress

4 Enchantress's Presence
4 Wild Growth
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Sterling Grove
4 Elephant Grass
3 Solitary Confinement
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Replenish
1 Ground Seal
1 Seal of Primordium
1 Aura of Silence/Mirri's Guile (i don't know here, is Mirri's Guile worth a slot?)
1 Runed Halo
1 Karmic Justice
1 Hoofprints of the Stag/Helix Pinnacle
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Words of War

// Sideboard //
2 Groud Seal
2 Choke
2 Karmic Justice
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Aura of Silence
1 Seal of Primordium
1 City of Solitude
1 Runed Halo
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Sacred Ground
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Replenish

Any suggestions for changes on the list, tips on how to play the deck, links about Enchantress or similar is of course really appreciated

Thanks for reading