Over the past couple years, a multitude of previously banned legends have reentered the Duel Commander environment. In an era of power creep, it isn’t too surprising to see more and more elite Commanders get another chance to shine.
Following last week’s surprise Duel Commander announcement, Emry, Lurker of the Loch has already begun showcasing its dominant potential. With multiple strong tournament finishes under its belt, this value-generating combo engine is quickly getting its groove back.
Maximizing Emry
At its core, this deck is designed to blend control and combo elements together. Thanks to this deck’s high density of zero-mana artifacts like Engineered Explosives and Ornithopter, you should have no problem playing Emry for just one mana. From there, your array of Counterspells like Mana Leak and Disruption Protocol both disrupt your opponent and protect Emry.
All the while, Emry’s activated ability continues to pull you ahead on resources or disrupt your opponent every turn. In conjunction with various Baubles, Chromatic Star, and Candy Trail, Emry serves as your own personal Howling Mine. Alternatively, pairing Emry with Aether Spellbomb lets you continuously bounce your opponent’s Commander.
As you continue to generate value over time, you’ll eventually be able to turn the corner by executing one of multiple game-ending combos. Your easiest path to victory lies with Paradox Engine, which enables you to untap Emry every time you recast a spell from your graveyard. With this in mind, landing the five-mana artifact and Emry sets you up to repeatedly play and crack a Bauble, drawing as many cards as you please.
On a separate axis, the combination of Paradox Engine, Claws of Gix, Urza, Lord High Artificer and your Commander enables infinite life gain. All you have to do is tap Claws for mana, use that mana to sacrifice itself, then recast Claws with Emry to trigger Paradox Engine and repeat the loop. Notably, a similar combo can be executed with Sewer-veillance Cam and any artifact creature replacing Paradox Engine.
In addition to combos centered around Emry, this deck also has the potential to produce infinite mana via Forensic Gadgeteer and Basalt Monolith. Then, whether you’re funneling that mana into infinite Urza activations or an infinitely large Clown Car, closing the game should be trivial.
Fighting Through Typical Hate Pieces
Overall, what makes Emry such a formidable option in Duel Commander is its consistency and resiliency. Having access to a strong Commander that threatens to come down turn one is naturally a huge luxury. On top of that, though, the fact that Emry’s Affinity for artifacts ability can help pay for Commander tax means you can easily recast it for one mana should it die.
Once Emry sticks, typical artifact destruction spells like Fiery Confluence become significantly less concerning. As such, you’re much less vulnerable to traditional artifact hate pieces than other dedicated Artifact shells like Krang, Master Mind.
Yet, on the flip side, you have access to a whole artifact toolbox to help hate out a multitude of matchups. Reanimator decks, for example, will struggle to get any traction against Emry and Soul-Guide Lantern. In a similar vein, ramp strategies may fold to a well-timed Winter Orb or Winter Moon. With access to tons of artifact tutors like Fabricate and Whir of Invention, you’re able to consistently adapt depending on the matchup.
Where Emry can run into issues is against blistering starts from opposing aggro decks. This archetype doesn’t have a ton in the way of removal, so disruptive White Weenie creatures like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben can be a nuisance. Additionally, while Emry decks handle artifact hate cards surprisingly well, graveyard hate pieces such as Rest in Peace are annoying to fight through.
As a result, Emry is still far from a broken Commander, and it’s unlikely it will rejoin the banlist anytime soon. Nonetheless, these mono-blue decks present quite a strong and persistent game plan. Emry has put up a handful of elite finishes over the past week, and don’t be shocked if this level of success continues.
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