Over the course of Magic history, few legendary creatures have been as consistently powerful as Emrakul. With the exception of
Emrakul, the World Anew
Emrakul, the World Anew
When you cast this spell, gain control of all creatures target player controls.
Flying, protection from spells and from permanents that were cast this turn
When Emrakul leaves the battlefield, sacrifice all creatures you control.
Madness—Pay six {C}.
, every version of this Eldrazi menace has been impactful in one format or another, often to the point of needing bans to check their power. MTG Reality Fracture’s new take on Emrakul, the Exigent Doom, was heavily hyped as a result, and now that it’s out in the wild it’s already starting to live up to that hype.
Emrakul, the Exigent Doom in MTG Modern
As soon as Reality Fracture was released on digital MTG formats, Emrakul, the Exigent Doom started putting in work. So far, its biggest contributions have been in Modern, where it’s become a regular player in the various flavors of Tron in the format. Most lists are running it as a 2-of, to great effect, too, with plenty of League 5-0s and even a Challenge Top 16 in the books already.
In Modern Tron, new Emrakul pulls double duty as both a ramp piece and a finisher. Since you can exile it from your hand to boost your mana with its own ability or to
Ugin’s Labyrinth
Ugin’s Labyrinth
Imprint — When this land enters, you may exile a colorless card with mana value 7 or greater from your hand.
{T}: Add {C}. If a card is exiled with this land, add {C}{C} instead.
{T}: Return the exiled card to its owner's hand.
, it’s a big creature that isn’t a dead draw early, like
Devourer of Destiny
Devourer of Destiny
You may reveal this card from your opening hand. If you do, at the beginning of your first upkeep, look at the top four cards of your library. You may put one of those cards back on top of your library. Exile the rest.
When you cast this spell, exile target permanent that's one or more colors.
. Unlike the deck’s other ramp pieces, like
Expedition Map
Expedition Map
{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Search your library for a land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
and
Talisman of Dominance
Talisman of Dominance
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add {U} or {B}. This artifact deals 1 damage to you.
, it’s also not vulnerable to removal or countermagic.
Later on, Tron can easily reach 10 mana, so Emrakul can come down from turn five onward and take over the board. The Ward cost makes it arguably the trickiest Emrakul to take down yet, and its massive 12/12 stats can easily end most games with a single swing. Untapping all your lands is huge for Tron, too, letting you either drop another big threat like
Ugin, Eye of the Storms
Ugin, Eye of the Storms
When you cast this spell, exile up to one target permanent that's one or more colors.
Whenever you cast a colorless spell, exile up to one target permanent that's one or more colors.
+2: You gain 3 life and draw a card.
0: Add {C}{C}{C}.
−11: Search your library for any number of colorless nonland cards, exile them, then shuffle. Until end of turn, you may cast those cards without paying their mana costs.
or put your shields back up so you can interact with
Kozilek’s Command
Kozilek’s Command
Choose two —
• Target player creates X 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens with "Sacrifice this token: Add {C}."
• Target player scries X, then draws a card.
• Exile target creature with mana value X or less.
• Exile up to X target cards from graveyards.
.
Emrakul’s most notable boon for Tron decks, however, is that it helps the deck get around
Blood Moon
Blood Moon
Nonbasic lands are Mountains.
effects. Any land affected by Emrakul still taps for two colorless, helping you ramp out your threats while keeping
Kozilek’s Command
Kozilek’s Command
Choose two —
• Target player creates X 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature tokens with "Sacrifice this token: Add {C}."
• Target player scries X, then draws a card.
• Exile target creature with mana value X or less.
• Exile up to X target cards from graveyards.
active. Considering that Blood Moon is one of the best hatepieces against Tron, Emrakul’s addition is a big deal.
Outside of Tron, Emrakul is seeing a fair bit of use in other Modern strategies as well. Eldrazi decks, both the regular ramp and Broodscale Combo varieties, have found room for the card as a two-of, and it seems to be doing well there so far. As with Tron, the card serves as an excellent smoothing tool for these strategies, boosting your overall Eldrazi presence while increasing your early options.
More Worlds To Conquer
Modern isn’t the only MTG format where Emrakul, the Exigent Doom has been wreaking havoc, as it’s also been showing up in both Standard and Legacy. In the former format, a range of different archetypes have been testing the big bad, including Dimir Control and Big Red. Perhaps the most successful brew so far, however, is a new Mono-Green Ramp list.
Piloted to a 5-0 League finish by Narca, this new list uses Emrakul to the fullest. The deck ramps regularly, using cards like
Llanowar Elves
Llanowar Elves
{T}: Add {G}.
and
Simulacrum Shaper
Simulacrum Shaper
When this creature enters, you may search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
When this creature dies, draw a card.
to power out threats like
Anticausal Vestige
Anticausal Vestige
When this creature leaves the battlefield, draw a card, then you may put a permanent card with mana value less than or equal to the number of lands you control from your hand onto the battlefield tapped.
Warp {4} (You may cast this card from your hand for its warp cost. Exile this creature at the beginning of the next end step, then you may cast it from exile on a later turn.)
. Emrakul gives the deck more ramp and more threats, strengthening it at both ends.
On top of that, Emrakul ties into the most unique feature of Narca’s list, that being its ‘cast from outside your hand’ sub-theme. Emrakul itself and
Anticausal Vestige
Anticausal Vestige
When this creature leaves the battlefield, draw a card, then you may put a permanent card with mana value less than or equal to the number of lands you control from your hand onto the battlefield tapped.
Warp {4} (You may cast this card from your hand for its warp cost. Exile this creature at the beginning of the next end step, then you may cast it from exile on a later turn.)
both offer casts this way, as do
Emeritus of Abundance
Emeritus of Abundance
Vigilance
This creature enters prepared.
Whenever this creature attacks, if you control eight or more lands, this creature becomes prepared.
and
Vastlands Scavenger
Vastlands Scavenger
Deathtouch
This creature enters prepared. (While it's prepared, you may cast a copy of its spell. Doing so unprepares it.)
. With cards like
Heartwood Crafter
Heartwood Crafter
This creature enters prepared. (While it's prepared, you may cast a copy of its spell. Doing so unprepares it.)
{T}: Add {C}. This mana can't be spent to cast spells from your hand.
and
Interdimensional Web Watch
Interdimensional Web Watch
When this artifact enters, exile the top two cards of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play those cards.
{T}: Add two mana in any combination of colors. Spend this mana only to cast spells from exile.
, the deck can play these cards much faster than usual, enabling explosive early wins.
Over in Legacy, Emrakul is popping up in a range of ramp decks, including Green Cloudpost and straight-up Tron. The card is even seeing a fair bit of Commander play already, too, appearing in around 12,500 decks ranging from Eldrazi Typal lists like
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Whenever you cast an Eldrazi spell, you may pay {C}{C}. If you do, copy all spells you control, then copy all other activated and triggered abilities you control. You may choose new targets for the copies. (Mana abilities can't be copied.)
, to straightforward ramp builds like
The Notary Hobbits
The Notary Hobbits
When The Notary Hobbits enter, if they're not a token, create two tokens that are copies of them, except the tokens aren't legendary.
{T}: Add {C} for each Halfling you control.
.
Overall, based on these early results, Emrakul, the Exigent Doom is every bit as scary as her title and reputation suggest. Going forward, this is definitely a card to watch, too, as I can see it getting more and more widespread as players keep winning events and exploring its uniquely flexible abilities.
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