A Prison Fit for an Enchantress [Sigarda Primer]

Commander / EDH* Aura Hexproof Competitive Enchantment GW (Selesnya) Multiplayer Voltron

JaceTheSwagSculptor

Enchantment (34)

• 1x Abundant Growth
• 1x All That Glitters
• 1x Ancestral Mask
• 1x Armadillo Cloak
• 1x Battle Mastery
• 1x Blessing of the Nephilim
• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Choke
• 1x Daybreak Coronet
• 1x Duelist's Heritage
• 1x Ethereal Armor
• 1x Fertile Ground
• 1x Glaring Aegis
• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Ground Seal
• 1x Hyena Umbra
• 1x Keen Sense
• 1x Kenrith's Transformation
• 1x Leyline of Lifeforce
• 1x Mirri's Guile
• 1x Nevermore
• 1x Rancor
• 1x Shield of the Oversoul
• 1x Sixth Sense
• 1x Spider Umbra
• 1x Sterling Grove
• 1x Stony Silence
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Unbridled Growth
• 1x Unflinching Courage
• 1x Utopia Sprawl
• 1x Vow of Wildness
• 1x Wild Growth
• 1x Wolfwillow Haven

Land (34)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Hashep Oasis
• 1x Horizon Canopy
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Savannah
• 5x Snow-Covered Forest
• 7x Snow-Covered Plains
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Bastion
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Armageddon
• 1x Council's Judgment
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Plea for Guidance
• 1x Ravages of War
• 1x Three Dreams

Commander (1)

Creature (9)

• 1x Allosaurus Shepherd
• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Argothian Enchantress
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Devoted Druid
• 1x Elvish Spirit Guide
• 1x Silverblade Paladin
• 1x Sythis, Harvest's Hand

Artifact (8)

• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Null Rod
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Winter Orb

Instant (6)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Force of Vigor
• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (5)

• 1x City of Solitude
• 1x Rune of Might
• 1x Sentinel's Eyes
• 1x Spectral Steel
• 1x Unnatural Growth

Creature (1)

• 1x Endurance

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Replenish

Artifact (1)

• 1x Lotus Petal

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This is an enchantress-centered deck helmed by Sigarda, Host of Herons and is optimized for a semi-competitive environment. The deck focuses on enchanting Sigarda, Host of Herons with the intention of racking up enough commander damage to take out your opponents and securing your board position through various prison effects. I intend to update the deck and subsequent sections as I test and improve the build.

Why Play Sigarda? Show

You would like this deck if...

• You rarely want other players to be able to interact with your general.

• You love enchantments.

• You would like to ignore sacrifice effects.

• You want to win by general damage.

• You want to play a fair game of magic.

You would not like this deck if...

• Sacrificing permanents to opponent's card effects is something you believe should be beneficial to your gameplan.

• You strictly believe artifact based voltron is the better way to go.

• You are not okay being creature light.

• General damage is not the way you would like to win.

• You expect every deck to at least have one infinite combo.

Opening Hand Show

Your ideal hand will have 2 - 3 lands, some early acceleration, and auras to place onto Sigarda, Host of Herons. This hand will usually get you the fastest kill on a single player.

How to Play (General) Show

The playstyle here is fairly straight forward: choose the player you would like to take out first (you do not have the luxury of spreading the damage or playing a political game), play Sigarda, Host of Herons, enchant her, and swing at the player you have chosen until he or she has racked enough commander damage to lose the game. Repeat this process for every other player.

How to Play (In-Depth) Show

Start off by surveying your opponents. The main thing you are looking for is if another player at the table is playing blue. Counterspells will be the biggest hindrance to you ramping out an early Sigarda, Host of Herons with lots of enchantments. I hate to pick on people for playing certain colors, but Sigarda, Host of Herons has a big aversion to blue cards (namely Counterspells and board wipes that bounce). When picking someone to target, you want to factor in a few things:

1. Who is playing the highest tier general? Unless you explicitly know that this person is running a more casual version of a high tier general, then this is usually the person you should go for.

2. Who is the farthest ahead? The tier of the general is usually the biggest deciding factor, but occasionally a player at your table may have a really explosive start making them the highest priority threat at the table.

3. Is someone playing blue? This is usually the last thing you want to consider as letting someone run away with the game through the aforementioned means is much more pressing than this. However if the game shapes up normally and no one is playing a tier 1 or 2 general, then the blue player will be the biggest hindrance to your game plan.

Once you have safely played Sigarda, Host of Herons, the next most important thing is to begin enchanting her. Usually this will entail dropping whatever auras you have in your hand the following turn, however your primary focus should be on making Sigarda, Host of Herons indestructible. Use whatever tutors or deck thinning cards in your hand to increase the liklihood of an indestructible enchantment appearing. You want Sigarda, Host of Herons to be borderline impossible to interact with.

Having your enchantments blown up is not that big of an issue as you have quite a few ways to get them back. On the other hand, losing Sigarda, Host of Herons is the hardest thing to recover from as her commander tax builds up quickly (i.e. 5 CMC -> 7 CMC -> 9 CMC) and with 34 lands we are not built to pump out Sigarda, Host of Herons over and over.

From here on out you should be swinging every turn you get chance to as long as it does not put you or Sigarda, Host of Herons in danger of dying. Most threats at the table without flying or reach you should be able to ignore as you only have to deal 21 damage as opposed to 40. Focus on recovering your enchantments; swinging; and generating card advantage and with a decent draw someone at the table should go down to commander damage by turn 10. After you take out one player, Sigarda, Host of Herons will usually be pretty sizable and should be able to take out the rest of the table with little problems. Of course every game will not go exactly as I described, but hopefully this will aid you in properly navigating games when piloting the deck.

Cards to be Wary of Show

...in most common situations:

1. Board wipes that give -1/-1 counters (i.e. Toxic Deluge & Black Sun's Zenith) - The deck has almost no way to deal with these board wipes. As long as the opponent has the mana or life total to get rid of Sigarda, Host of Herons, then she is as good as dead. Solution: Nevermore (for Black Sun's Zenith)

2. Board wipes that bounce (i.e. Cyclonic Rift & Evacuation) - Evacuation is the worse of the two as it will just get rid of the aura's attached to Sigarda, Host of Herons, but Cyclonic Rift will still get the job done. Solution: Nevermore

3. Arcane Lighthouse - This card is pretty self-explanatory. Your opponent will activate this when they have a suitable kill spell in hand and the mana to activate lighthouse. Solution: Beast Within

4. Humility - If your opponent plays this, hopefully you have enough auras on Sigarda, Host of Herons to still make enough difference, but usually it just sucks. Solution: Nevermore, Beast Within, Force of Vigor, Grasp of Fate & Manglehorn

5. Council's Judgment - This card was made to get rid of Sigarda, Host of Herons. It is perfect in that most people will recognize Sigarda, Host of Herons as a threat and the spell does not target. Solution: Nevermore

6. Meddling Mage - If this card names Sigarda, Host of Herons and she is not out already, then you better hope you can draw a kill spell fast. Solution: Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Grasp of FateNevermore, & Beast Within.

...in less common situations/random tech cards:

1. Polymorphist's Jest/Sudden Spoiling - This is basically just instant speed Humility. Solution: Nevermore (Polymorphist's Jest only).

2. Desertion - This card just steals Sigarda, Host of Herons if you don't have Cavern of Souls. Solution: Cavern of Souls, & Gaddock Teeg

3. Gather Specimens - This card is like Desertion except there is pretty much no way around it, Sigarda, Host of Herons is going to be stolen by your opponent. Solution: Gaddock Teeg

4. Nevermore/Declaration of Naught - Similar to Meddling Mage if these name Sigarda, Host of Herons and she is not in play, then you are in trouble. Solution: Unravel the Aether, Beast Within, & Qasali Pridemage.

5. Ixidron - Turns Sigarda, Host of Herons face-down, but at least she keeps her auras. Solution: Use kill spells on your face-down Sigarda, Host of Herons, Torpor Orb & Hushwing Gryff.

6. Back to Nature - Destroys all of our enchantments. Solution: Replenish, Regrowth, & Nevermore

7. Aura Thief - This card pretty much freezes our board until we draw an exile spell or an normal kill spell with Flickerform on board. Solution: Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, & Nevermore.

8. Merciless Eviction/Perilous Vault - Cards that exile non-land permanents on a mass scale are really bad for the deck. Solution: Nevermore, Gaddock Teeg, Null Rod (Perilous Vault only), & Stony Silence (Perilous Vault only).

Cards I Have Been Disappointed With Show

1. Elspeth, Knight-Errant - Arguably one of the best planeswalkers in a vacuum, yet she was oftentimes too slow for the deck and came off as more of more of a liability than an asset.

2. Mirari's Wake - Specifically synergized well with Sigil of the Empty Throne, but did not do much else aside from help me recast Sigarda, Host of Herons when things did not go my way.

3. Austere Command - CMC was too high for what it did for the deck.

4. Oblation - Was replaced with Beast Within as a concession to Animar, Soul of Elements being a prominent commander in the meta.

5. Awakening Zone - This card was in the middle of the curve and essentially had no initial impact on the board. Awakening Zone was replaced with Wild Growth as its lower cmc and more immediate impact boded well for the deck.

6. Ghostly Prison - I honestly wish this was Moat. Ghostly Prison effectively does nothing once Sigarda, Host of Herons has an aura that grants lifelink attached to her.

7. Privileged Position - This card has just sat in my hand the majority of times I've drawn it. Privileged Position has just been strictly worse than Sterling Grove in every sense - higher CMC, no additonal ability, and more color intensive.

8. Ajani, Caller of the Pride - This card had a similar problem to Elspeth, Knight-Errant. While his ability to give double strike to a creature once was nice, he usually would die by the end of the subsequent player's turn. I found that Duelist's Heritage was just a more consistent way to grant double strike and doubled as a political tool.

9. City of Solitude - This card ultimately prevented Sigarda, Host of Herons from being countered, but limited you from doing anything to save her at instant speed. I found this to be a unfavorable trade-off since my meta does not have an abundance of counterspells.

10. Auratog - Saves your enchantments from being exiled and allows you to produce as many angels as you have when Rancor and Sigil of the Empty Throne are present, but is a dead draw most of the time.

11. Serra's Sanctum - Oddly enough this card was not good in the deck, or at least not good in the deck that I constructed. Serra's Sanctum shines when you have a lot of enchantments, which is usually when you have Sigarda, Host of Herons out. Serra's Sanctum needs enchantments to be functional and does not help power out Sigarda, Host of Herons any earlier. I found Ancient Tomb to be a more consistent option to this card.

12. Bow of Nylea - I wish I could just make another section titled cards that are okay. This card varies from being decent when you have poor draws to just sitting in your hand when you have good draws. I am still going to test with it, but will actively be looking for better options.

13. Eternal Witness - This card was not so much disappointing as it was not filling it's intended role. Eternal Witness was included with the intent to be tutored off of a creature tutor and be used as a second Regrowth. However, I rarely found myself using it in this manner and more often was unhappy when drawing it due to its mana cost (2 of one color and in the middle of the curve).

14. Mistveil Plains - This has been just a plains that enters the battlefield tapped for me. Most of the time I have wanted cards in my graveyard as opposed to in my deck. The only spot I see it being useful is with shuffle effects or tutors. I haven't been happy with it, but thus far I have not seen any replacements that piqued my interest.

15. Sigil of the Empty Throne - I never really found myself winning or even wanting to draw Sigil due to it's high CMC and lack of immediate impact on the board. It synergized very well with Flickering Ward, however when ward was not around Sigil of the Empty Throne was underwhelming.

16. Gideon's Intervention - Mana cost was too steep for the effect> Most of the time we do not care about opponent's generals and, thus, we are left naming board wipes. Using this spell for the aforementioned purpose is better addressed with Nevermore.

Cards I am Testing/Planning to Test Show

1. Testing lowering CMC of entire deck. This makes it easier to tutor auras and play them in the same turn.

Budget Options Show

Here I will list viable replacements for cards over $10 or cards that have cheaper options...

• Fetch lands/Horizon Canopy/Savannah/Prismatic Vista/Wooded Bastion/Cavern of Souls/Ancient Tomb/Yavimaya Hollow/Dryad Arbor -> Crystal Vein/Aether HubBasic lands/Fortified Village/City of Brass/Razorverge Thicket/Ash Barrens/Canopy Vista (Add Suppression Field if you decide to remove the fetch lands!!!)
• Mana Crypt/Mana Vault/Chrome Mox/Mox Diamond -> 0 - 2 CMC mana rock/creature/spell of your choice. Lower CMC is better!
• Carpet of Flowers -> Mana Bloom
• Null Rod -> Collector Ouphe
• Ravages of War -> Fall of the Thran
• Argothian Enchantress -> Sram, Senior Edificer
• Idyllic Tutor -> Heliod's Pilgrim
• Grasp of Fate -> Oblivion Ring/Act of Authority
• Force of Vigor -> Abolish/Nature's Claim
• Noxious Revival -> Argivian Find/Reclaim

Suggestions and +1's are always welcome, but if you intend to make a suggestion please be sure to look at the "Testing" and "Disappointment" lists before posting.

Thank you for taking the time to look through the deck!

Date added	8 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 49 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.00
Tokens	Human 2/2 G, Wolf 2/2 G
Folders	decks to check out, Inspirations, EDH, EDH, Considerations