When Duskmourn spoiler season finally concluded, there was a lot of discussion about the possibility of a Standard enchantments deck rising to stardom. With Eerie being a notable keyword in the set, this makes a lot of sense. Plus, it’s no surprise that Ethereal Armor is an incredibly strong reprint.
As it turns out, Azorius enchantments is quickly making a name for itself. Making its way to a top four and top eight finish in a recent Magic Online Standard Challenge, this deck seems poised for success moving forward. This archetype is chock full of new cards, which is really cool to see.
Payoffs for the Theme
- Mana Value: W
- Rarity: Uncommon
- MTG Sets: Return to Ravnica, Time Spiral Remastered, Wilds of Eldraine Commander, Duskmourn
- Card Text: Enchant creature. Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each enchantment you control and has first strike.
In order for a deck with such a high density of enchantments to see a lot of play, there needs to be a decent number of on-theme payoffs. These are the cards that actively incentivize you to fill your deck with as many enchantments as possible. We already mentioned Ethereal Armor as an elite inclusion, but there are plenty of other new cards that pull their weight in this department.
The most impactful of these payoffs is definitely a trio of Eerie creatures from Duskmourn. Each of these creatures provides a massive reward so long as you can continue to spam enchantments. The first of these creatures is Optimistic Scavenger. Optimistic Scavenger essentially functions as Generous Visitor in this deck, since there are no Rooms to speak of in this decklist. However, Generous Visitor was a staple of the Selesnya enchantments decks that were quite powerful before rotation.
Next up, we have Gremlin Tamer. Gremlin Tamer is a must-kill threat in this deck. In attrition battles, spewing out 1/1s can have a massive effect on the game. Remember, Eerie isn’t limited to triggering once each turn, so the more enchantments you can play, the better.
Lastly, we have Entity Tracker. Entity Tracker has the ability to completely run away with the game if left unchecked and is a big reason why players are choosing to use blue as a support color. What’s really nice about Entity Tracker is that, because it has Flash, you don’t have to expose it to sorcery-speed removal. You can often wait for a window where your opponent taps low to jam Entity Tracker on their end step. From there, the world is your oyster.
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Filling Your Deck with Enchantments
- Mana Value: 1W
- Rarity: Uncommon
- MTG Sets: Duskmourn
- Card Text: Enchant creature you control. When Sheltered by Ghosts enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until Sheltered by Ghosts leaves the battlefield. Enchanted creature gets +1/+0 and has lifelink and ward 2.
To supplement your payoffs, you of course need a healthy supply of efficient enchantments to trigger Eerie. Most of these enchantments happen to be auras that buff your creatures and help you put additional pressure on the opponent.
Unsurprisingly, Ethereal Armor is elite in this category, but there are plenty of other top-tier choices. Sheltered by Ghosts is an unbelievable inclusion that is starting to pop up in other formats like Pioneer. Sheltered by Ghosts doubles as both an Oblivion Ring and an aura that enhances one of your creatures. Lifelink and Ward 2 is no joke.
Then, even if your opponent builds up enough mana to cast a removal spell and pay for Ward, they have to fight through Shardmage’s Rescue and Fae Flight as protection spells. Shardmage’s Rescue in particular is amazing since it only costs one mana. In some matchups, you’ll want to delay your deployment of Gremlin Tamer until turn three so you can hold up Shardmage’s Rescue in the face of removal. It also eliminates the blowout potential associated with Ethereal Armor, where you go to cast your potent aura and your opponent kills your target in response.
Beyond this collection of auras, there are a couple enchantment creatures that are worth discussing. Inquisitive Glimmer is a bit unassuming, but providing a discount to Sheltered by Ghosts and Fae Flight makes it much easier to cast multiple spells on the same turn.
That leads us to the last piece of the puzzle: Enduring Innocence. Enduring Innocence does everything you want. It triggers Eerie. It’s a great place to put Ethereal Armor. If the opponent removes it, it comes back as an enchantment and triggers Eerie again. Once you get Gremlin Tamer and Enduring Innocence rolling, it’ll be tough to lose.
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Strengths and Weaknesses
- Mana Value: R
- Rarity: Common
- MTG Sets: Wilds of Eldraine
- Card Text: Bargain (You may sacrifice an artifact, enchantment, or token as you cast this spell.) Torch the Tower deals 2 damage to target creature or planeswalker. If this spell was bargained, instead it deals 3 damage to that permanent and you scry 1. If a permanent dealt damage by Torch the Tower would die this turn, exile it instead.
As a whole, this deck checks a lot of the boxes necessary for it to have long-term success. It’s capable of assembling pressure very early, especially with Optimistic Scavenger. At the same time, thanks to Shardmage’s Rescue and Fae Flight, removing your threats isn’t always easy for the opponent to do. If you give this deck too much time, Gremlin Tamer and Entity Tracker are bound to generate a bunch of value.
As such, if you’re going to gameplan against this deck, you really want to apply early pressure and kill their threats on curve. Red aggro has the tools to do just that. The enchantments deck doesn’t play a ton of removal, so copies of Heartfire Hero are often safe. Couple an assertive start with cheap kill spells like Torch the Tower and the red deck should be in decent shape. Notably, Torch the Tower is a great answer to Enduring Innocence, since it exiles the creature permanently, preventing it from coming back as an enchantment.
Even in these spots, though, landing Ethereal Armor on one of your creatures with Lifelink can spell doom for the opponent. This Azorius enchantments deck really has game against everything. There’s plenty of room for players to explore within the archetype, too. If you’re looking to play Standard in the near future, expect to see Azorius enchantments pop up more and more.
