Standard

The Oath of Emeria

Last year, I won our local Game Day with an [card]Emeria Shepherd[/card] brew. I wrote about it for Mana Deprived here. The deck was a blast, and since then, I have occasionally returned to the deck, and the card in particular, because its inherent value is off the charts. No, really, it’s off the charts. [card]Emeria Shepherd[/card] may be the most abjectly powerful card in the format. Especially given the dearth of graveyard removal in the format at the moment.

In Standard, we can expect to pay five mana for a reanimation effect. [card]Emeria Shepherd[/card] effectively “draws you a card” and nets you this five mana with every [card]Plains[/card], and any other land nets you a Regrowth, provided you have structured your deck to mainly include permanents. A fetchland effectively gives you 2 cards and SEVEN MANA worth of value. That’s more than a little crazy.

Fortunately, Standard right now has no shortage or awesome permanents to reanimate. Two of the best “removal spells” in the format happen to be enchantments. But, one card in Oath of the Gatewatch really brings the “permanents matter” theme of [card]Emeria Shepherd[/card] to a head.

[display]
1 [card]Oath of Jace[/card]
[/display]

[card]Oath of Jace[/card] is exactly what the deck needed. It’s a source of card advantage, it fills the graveyard, and it’s a permanent, sliding right next to [card]Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy[/card] as a cost effective way to fill the graveyard. On top of that, it’s Legendary, so later copies plop into the graveyard as reanimation targets.

Going forward, and given the impending return of Madness in Shadows over Innistrad, this card is poised to be a player (especially when the Legendary copies fall into the graveyard for Delirium), and I recommend you pick up your set now, while it’s still under a buck.

Enough talk. Here’s the list I’ve been playing on MTGO.

[deck title=Travis Hall –Emeriamator]
[Lands]
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Sunken Hollow
4 Prairie Stream
5 Plains
4 Island
2 Swamp
[/Lands]

[Creatures]
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
3 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
4 Reflector Mage
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Dragonlord Silumgar
3 Emeria Shepherd
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
2 Silk Wrap
4 Oath of Jace
2 Stasis Snare
3 Fearsome Awakening
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Murderous Cut
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
2 Felidar Cub
2 Flaying Tendrils
2 Languish
4 Duress
1 Linvala, the Preserver
1 Silumgar, Drifting Death
1 Silk Wrap
1 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Cards:

[card]Emeria Shepherd[/card]: The queen of the deck. As I said earlier, we are in a unique place in Standard. Many of the affects you would expect to be tied to spells (drawing cards, removing creatures, stealing creatures/planeswalkers, bounce spells, etc) have been tacked onto permanents, making the value of Emeria Shepherd’s reanimation ability even more powerful.

[card]Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim[/card]: Ayli fits the deck like a glove. She’s a great road block, thanks to death touch, capable of stalling the early game against larger beaters. She can gain you a bit of life if you’re in a tight spot, getting you to the late game where your Angel can take over. If you steal a creature with Silumgar, she can get rid of it (should they be able to take down our Dragonlord). And, she can go crazy with [card]Emeria Shepherd[/card] in play, returning those reanimated creatures to the graveyard whenever you have a [card]Plains[/card] in hand.

[card]Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy[/card]: Look, it’s going to be $100+ once Shadows Over Innistrad rolls out. I know putting this in a list will immediately turn some of you off, but it fits this deck like a glove. He’s a great discard engine that can dramatically alter the late game. Jace, in conjunction with his Oath, will help you plow through your deck to find the cards you need, filling your graveyard along the way.

[card]Silk Wrap[/card]/[card]Stasis Snare[/card]: Removal spells that can be returned to the battlefield via [card]Emeria Shepherd[/card].

[card]Reflector Mage[/card]: In case you’ve been in a cave, this card is a big deal. Like Ayli, it slows the early game and gives you time to get going. In addition, bringing these back from the graveyard with the Shepherd can clear the road for late game attacks.

[card]Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet[/card]: “Cleetus”, as he is affectionately known to us in the Southern United States, plays multiple roles for the deck. He gives you a way to battle the [card]Nantuko Husk[/card] decks, can grant you a measure of lifegain, and acts as a world class lightning rod.

[card]Fearsome Awakening[/card]: Fitting with the reanimation theme, [card]Fearsome Awakening[/card] gives us a way to power out an [card]Emeria Shepherd[/card] a turn or two earlier and serves the role (albeit in a diminished capacity since it can only grab creatures) if you can’t find a Shepherd. It can also be flashed back with a flipped Jace.

[card]Ob Nixilis Reignited[/card]: [card]Emeria Shepherd[/card] can return Planeswalkers too, and I struggled with whether I should try to fit [card]Sorin, Solemn Visitor[/card] into the main. My previous version used Gideon and there were many games wherein I would use his ultimate multiple times in a game. Ob Nixilis gives you an additional reanimate-able way to deal with creatures and gain some card advantage.

[card]Linvala, the Preserver[/card]: A strong candidate for one of the most awesomely underplayed cards in Standard. In some matches, this card is going to be the best in your deck. In others, it’s still a 5/5 flier.

[card]Dragonlord Silumgar[/card]: One of the fastest ways to turn a game around. A control magic with a body, that can be reanimated, is nothing to sneeze at.

The deck has performed well in testing on MTGO. There are some games where you feel unbeatable. It can have trouble with some of the hoard decks (hence the [card]Languish[/card] and [card]Flaying Tendrils[/card] in the board), but fights the one-for-one “body blow” decks like Mardu Green very well. Very, very few of the cards in this deck rotate, so it may be positioned well post-rotation. Especially if we get a decent reanimation spell . . . maybe something with Madness.

This isn’t the only version of the [card]Emeria Shepherd[/card] deck I’ve been working on, but it’s the version that’s farthest along at the moment. Maybe next time we’ll talk about how much fun it is to reanimate Chandra Flamecaller.

If you like my suggestions, you can follow me on Twitter: @travishall456. I throw around random observations and deck ideas every day.

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