Red Deck W...ait, What?! - T1 Emrakul (+PLAYGUIDE)

Modern sergiodelrio

SCORE: 58 | 32 COMMENTS | 4098 VIEWS | IN 8 FOLDERS


Flawless_Sin says... #1

Great idea! What happens if Emrakul, the Aeons Torn gets exiled as soon as it comes in? You need a backup, either more than one Emrakul, the Aeons Torn in the deck or the other Emrakul, or Ulamog, or Worldspine Wurm . Also Iona, Shield of Emeria is a great sideboard choice that locks down all mono colored decks. Here is an example of fantastic deck in slightly different colors but similar idea Poly'M'rakrul, but this one has access to blue which allows them to run counterspells thus not worry about removal most of time. You don't have that leisure here since you are so I would strongly recommend on back up creature. Good luck.

November 30, 2019 5:57 p.m.

sergiodelrio says... #2

Flawless_Sin thanks for commenting!

The concern has come up actually, but Emrakul is really hard to remove because of its protection clause once it's in the game, even harder to exile. Cards like Slaughter Games or even my Chandra's +1 are a much greater threat in regards to that imo. I'm not yet convinced this concern is more than a hypothetical one and will only be addressed as soon as this changes.

I'll keep your suggestions in mind, tho!

I've tinkered a lot with various Polymorph/Indomitable Creativity versions, but this Rw version is supposed to be as explosive as possible, while being consistent, which I think I accomplished. I figure a Ux version will play a lot different and gets its resilience from counterspells. This one... well, not a lot of answers to a T2 Emrakul ;)

November 30, 2019 6:21 p.m.

Flawless_Sin says... #3

sergiodelrio Well there are cards like Thoughtseize which are VERY popular in modern and are played turn 1, and I think these are the highest and real threat to your game plan.

November 30, 2019 6:48 p.m.

sergiodelrio says... #4

Yupp, I mention the disadvantage to hand disruption in the deck description. A T1 Thoughtseize would most likely take one of my "enabler" cards like Nahiri or Indomitable Creativity, but I got more of those in the deck. Same is true for for both the ramp and the token producers. It will just delay my game a couple of turns, but not shut my deck down.

I think the real problem are counterspells. Once I commit to using all my ramp cards in one turn and then try to cast the enabler, once they counter that, I might as well scoop up.

November 30, 2019 6:56 p.m. Edited.

Rorolith says... #5

but isn't that the same with Neobrand? I don't think that makes it bad, these decks just require a little bit of luck, but the payoff is huge. I really like this idea, never seen it before. Good job.

November 30, 2019 7:37 p.m.

sergiodelrio says... #6

Rorolith thanks for the kind words!

Actually, I challenge you to playtest a couple of hands... This deck requires less luck than you might think ;)

November 30, 2019 7:44 p.m.

Rorolith says... #7

I know, i tried a few hands before and its actually a lot more consistent than Neobrand in my experience.

November 30, 2019 9:04 p.m.

Rorolith says... #8

I really like play testing it

November 30, 2019 9:04 p.m.

Rorolith says... #9

If you did have more Emrakuls though, it might be to your benefit.

I can't think of any reasons not to have more Emrakuls in there, but if you can, i would like to hear them. :)

November 30, 2019 9:13 p.m.

Rorolith says... #10

Legion's Landing  Flip i think could be good, just in case you don't get a Khalni Garden , and it's a cheaper token for Indomitable Creativity than something like Goblin Fodder or Krenko's Command

November 30, 2019 9:20 p.m.

Rorolith says... #11

November 30, 2019 9:21 p.m.

sergiodelrio says... #12

Rorolith first of all, thank you for actually playtesting it and giving some feedback!

Its funny that you mention it, because Legion's Landing  Flip, alongside Spiritual Visit and even Devastating Summons has been on my radar for this deck.

The upside is obvious, they cost 1 mana, and thus would enable more T2 Emrakul hand combinations, at least in theory. But this comes with some baggage. One problem is, that LL and SV cost white mana, which I might have T1, but might lose again once I Ritual. The other problem is, that the cards might not carry their weight, because I only get one thing from one card, as opposed to my other token producing spells giving me 2. Out of curiosity I will playtest offscreen with +2x Spiritual Visit , as I think it has the upper hand out of all the options, because it is instant and also has the splice ability, which can become relevant with itself and Desperate Ritual netting me some card advantage. For that I'll take out -1x Mountain and -1x Dragon Fodder . If I then conclude that this setup is beneficial, I'll change it here as well.

As for Emrakul, the Aeons Torn , 2 copies would actually be a lot worse here. See, you don't want to draw this card, and adding another copy just doubles the odds of drawing a dead card. Maybe an additional copy would make sense in the SB for some matchups, but idk. This is not something I'm looking into in this stage of tweaking the deck.

What I really desperately need is a sound Sideboard Strategy.

December 1, 2019 6:53 a.m.

Flawless_Sin says... #13

sergiodelrio what if you draw Emrakul on your T2? Your game plan is screwed, and that's exactly why you want 2 copies of him in case that happens. I am not seeing a way to reshuffle Emrakul back into deck from your hand in case something like that happens so that's why you want to have 2 copies at least here.

December 1, 2019 10 a.m.

sergiodelrio says... #14

Flawless_Sin I disagree. It just actively increases the odds of that actually happening (=drawing it T2). If I do draw the single copy T2, then Nahiri, the Harbinger 's +1 will allow me to discard it, which then in turn will cause it to automatically shuffle itself and the rest of the graveyard into the library. So bottom line, still not worth it imho. T2 Emrakul in hand just means aggressively dig for Nahiri.

December 1, 2019 10:15 a.m.

Rorolith says... #15

Maybe instead of Magmatic Insight you could add Lightning Axe for dealing with other creatures, or Tormenting Voice if you want the card draw. The reason for this is that, if you draw an emrakul, you need a discard outlet.

December 1, 2019 9:36 p.m.

sergiodelrio says... #18

Ok guys, I did the math on this. The chances of drawing Emrakul by turn 5, on the draw, are about 11% (considering I won't be keeping it in my starting hand.... climbs to ~22% if there are two of them btw). Taking into account the odds for drawing Nahiri, the combined odds for the event of both drawing Emrakul and NOT drawing Nahiri are as low as ~4%. Note that most of my games with this deck don't even last that long. Therefore, I will not consider adding additional discard outlets or more Emrakuls.

December 2, 2019 7:48 a.m.

Rorolith says... #19

I wasn't suggesting another Emrakul with the comment i made, i was suggesting it because sometimes you may end up drawing your only Emrakul, and then you lose. But if you have a discard outlet then you might not.

December 2, 2019 10:21 a.m.

Rorolith says... #20

The discard outlets i mentioned are also good for quick discard early in the game if you draw him, allowing you to possibly get him out earlier than with Nahiri, the Harbinger , and are also good if you don't have a Nahiri.

December 2, 2019 10:29 a.m.

Rorolith says... #21

I can see why you don't want a second Emrakul, but on the other hand, maybe 1 in the sideboard? I know it would make the deck a bit more clunky and have less odds of going off, but if someone exiles him or gets rid of him in a match up by casting: Journey to Nowhere , Day of Judgment , Gatekeeper of Malakir , Consuming Vapors , and Blessed Alliance then you will lose. If you have 1 in the sideboard then you can include him and you might be able to pull out.

December 2, 2019 10:54 a.m.

sergiodelrio says... #22

Well, Emrakul dieing is not the end of the game. Odds are, if my opponent are maindecking wraths, they're in for a slow game anyway, so Emrakul will just shuffle itself into the library. Note that if Emrakul comes out with Nahiri's ultimate, it gets haste. Exiling it might prove problematic, which is one reason I need help with my sideboard for a sound sideboarding strategy.

The reason I'm leaning towards a jank sideboard is that most decks will side out spot removal. So if I just board in 15 agressive/strong creatures, they might fall short of answers.

What I'm actually asking for is more philosophical advice for my sideboard, not necessarily specific cards for specific situations.

December 2, 2019 11:05 a.m.

Rorolith says... #23

Maybe you could go for a Goblin Bushwhacker strategy in your sideboard for flooding the board. It already works with the goblin generators you have, and is a valid strategy.

December 16, 2019 3:28 p.m.

Rorolith says... #24

I didn't respond earlier because it Tapped Out didn't tell me you replied

December 16, 2019 3:29 p.m.

Please login to comment