It sounds like something I could use in my deck. I was looking to replace one of the Rishadan creatures and Ixidron appears stax-ish enough to fit the theme.

What do you think of Fortuitous Find, Restoration Gearsmith and Obzedat's Aid as additional recursion or as a replacement for the shepherd due to the lesser CMC ?

The drawback would be that they don't put the cards into play ...

dommes89: I've seen some lists that run Restoration Gearsmith, which could make sense to retrieve combo pieces from the graveyard. It's too bad there's not an ETB version of Hanna, Ship's Navigator, we'll have to run Auramancer if we also want to get back enchantments (Not that Enral's build has many enchantments critical to the strategy. I'm running an instant/sorcery recursion package with Archaeomancer, Mnemonic Wall, and Salvager of Secrets so that I can be degenerate with Eerie Interlude, so maybe running Obzedat's Aid would be a re-usable tool.

Given the infinite mana capabilities of Eldrazi Displacer+Peregrine Drake, Aminatou, the Fateshifter+Felidar Guardian+Panharmonicon/Oath of Teferi+land, etc. what do people think about Blue Sun's Zenith/Stroke of Genius. I'm leaning more towards Stroke, since I could immediately get it back with a previously mentioned recursion piece and draw out all my opponents. Plus the added utility of drawing to find combo pieces if you don't have infinite mana is the type of flexibility I like.

dommes89: I think I have enough recursion in my deck as of now. Not a big fan of reanimation spells that return to hand...Obzedat's Aid is decent but it's too slow for getting a bunch of permanents back for my liking. The reason why Emeria sheperd is so good in this deck is not just because of the synergy with Aminatou, with Ghostly Flicker + Archaeomancer, you can literally get all non-land permanents back into play by flickering a Plains. You should definitely give sheperd a try, I've been a fan ever since its inclusion.

Jthomas3592: I think BSZ is overkill for draw spells and doesn't really synergize with my deck direction. The infinite mana is to enable infinite flicker for other etb permanents like Mulldrifter to draw into our finisher or gonti to just win by exiling everyone's graveyard.

Enral minor note, generally use USZ to describe Blue Sun's Zenith, BSZ means Black Sun's Zenith.

SynergyBuild: Haha good catch

Well, I did get in another 2x reps today, but the bad news is that my meta/playgroup is now fully aware of what we're up to in your build, so I'm going into most games playing Archenemy from turn one against, mostly, creature-based aggro with artifact/equipment/counters support, and decent graveyard recursion.

To speed things up a little bit, I'm thinking of swapping out the following:

Conjurer's Closet (has underperformed for me, vis a vis the CMC); Gilded Lotus (would rather get the 3x mana boost at 4 CMC via Thran Dynamo); Kaya, Ghost Assassin (only really effective as a combo finish vs value engine); Solemn Simulacrum (low-impact on the whole); Magister Sphinx (draws tons of immediately hate/often ends games, and not in my favor); Ashen Rider (too slow/low-impact)

For the following: Altar of the Brood (need at least one "fast" combo finisher in a pinch); Brainstorm/Ponder/Mystic Remora/Rhystic Study (debating which 2x cards to pick here; even with tutoring, draw/selection feels like it needs a boost. Selection on the cantrips would be better if Miracles were a stronger subtheme, but perhaps raw draw is better, and blinking Mystic Remora to reset to cumulative upkeep seems good); Wrath of God; Merciless Eviction; Thran Dynamo

I feel like I'm also blanking on 1-2 other swap-ins that could help shut down big or evasive creatures swinging in to us; maybe Gonti, who has also underperformed for me outside of combo finishes, can/should come out for an Evacuation, which would also stall the board/give us more ETB triggers that we can re-sequence to our benefit?

I may be overreacting to having played a 3-man pod vs 2 other aggro decks, but it still seems to me like if the curve shifts down slightly and runs a few more answers, it could be a good counter to the hate this deck will draw once/as it becomes a known entity.

NeonEndymion: I agree with solemn...I would replace it with Thran Dynamo (I just did) and keep the Gilded Lotus. I'm still on not onboard with Altar of the Brood as it is generally a useless card outside of an easier combo win but if you want to replace it with Conjurer's Closet. I would have to concur with you that you are probably overreacting since playing archenemy in a 3 player pod is generally hard to play. Have you tried tutoring for Ixidron? That card has been really good at keeping degenerate creatures at bay.

I suspect you’re right about Altar of the Brood; just looking for one cheap CMC card that combos with Felidar and Aminatou without also needing to be blinked.

Ixidron would have saved my bacon, and I did tutor/play it in the game where I was Archenemy, but I got owned pretty hard by a ramped out Akroma’s Monument on one side and counters staying on flipped creatures on the other. Can’t win them all, and that isn’t the goal for 75% builds anyway, but I’m definitely looking at a sideboard of sorts to combat tuned aggro more consistently.

This doesn't exactly solve the lingering "What is a three card combo with Felidar + Aminatou that also synergizes with the deck, and is on-color" question, but I thought you'd appreciate the fact that I was able to use Clever Impersonator to copy Purphoros, against Food Chain Prossh last night, and use that plus Felidar + Aminatou for an instant win.

It also makes me potentially very excited to see an Atraxa or Ghave Counters Matter player slam Champion of Lambholt, as, at least in Magical Christmasland, you can one-shot someone, ideally the Atraxa player, right back with your copy.

Through testing with my own list I’ve found that Final Parting is an absolute powerhouse. If I already have some combo pieces like a Aminatou, the Fateshifter + Oath of Teferi in play I’ll put Archaeomancer in my hand and Time Warp into my grave. If I’m low on resources I’ll put Karmic Guide into my hand and Archaeomancer into the grave. Return arch, return parting, and probably tutor for more combo pieces. (I didn’t notice you’re not playing Karmic, but recommend that as well.)

Additionally, Possessed Skaab can be worse and better than Salvager of Secrets. Skaab costs UB instead of UU, is a 3/2 instead of a 2/2, can return creatures too instead of just instants/sorceries, and when it dies it exiles, but it can still be blinked.

NeonEndymion: Good finding...I like the new winning angle on Clever Impersonator. Might be something we can explore more on in the future.

BlackyMTG: I like the idea of Final Parting...it will probably replace Rune-Scarred Demon if I were to test it out. Not really a big fan of Possessed Skaab because my meta is pretty removal and wrath heavy. I've tested Karmic Guide and the echo cost sometimes force me to timewalk myself and it's harder to abuse it with blinking. I prefer it in more graveyard-centric decks like karador. Without a sac outlet it's not really that useful.

@Enral what about Phyrexian Delver then? You have a large life total, use it.

What do you do with for example land screw? You don't have Land Tax, or Solemn Simulacrum

Upon further idiotness I realized you had Reveillark which works for Final Parting putting archaeomancer into the grave and then returning him to refill your resources. Which means you don’t need Karmic Guide or Phyrexian Delver.

Omega505: This deck ramps via mana rocks so land is typically not an issue. I had solemn initially but he has been proving to be very lackluster. Once I get my draw engine down, getting land drops down is a nonissue. Also, aminatou herself lets us see a card deeper which reduces the landscrew situation.

What do you think of Vendilion Clique?

I play this in my version and it did a very good job until now.

Since it contains "target player" it can get rid of combo pieces or other bad-for-me cards my opponents have in their hand or it can replace a card that I don't need at the moment with a new one!

And not to throw too many other options into the mix here, but it did occur to me that if you have 1-3 creatures w/ evasion that can get through blockers, Goldnight Commander could do some work (and help enable your own aggro backup plan). Though it's probably strictly worse than most of the other combo pieces up for discussion.

dommes89: It's not a bad card per se...just that my list is getting to a point that it's kinda tight and I don't think V.Clique does enough to warren a spot at the moment. That might change in the future if my meta shifts.

NeonEndymion: Not a fan of that card tbh...I'm still holding out hope that some new cards will be printed in the upcoming Guilds of Ravnica set that will fit in the 3 card combo.

Sorry if this seems like a silly question, but I'm trying to get a little bit more serious about deck building and I really like how you are doing the Versions 1.0 etc. How are you going about creating those sections?

P.S. Thank you for the list it's helped me a lot and I've taken a lot of points from it.

Naughton: It's actually pretty simple, all you have to do is click on the "add" button before the comment section of your deck page.

I don't know how I've missed that every time I've gone down there. Thanks a bunch <3

Does anybody have experience with Sunblast Angel in Aminatou? It's the only ETB wrath I've found that destroys instead of -#/-#. I can see how it's better against aggro decks and not as good in a board stall, but I can see it being a really good effect to have on board. I've only played it in 1v1 where it was a 6 CMC Chupecabra on my opponent's one creature that had attached.

Jthomas3592: I've tested it in my initial build but it's too situational and clunky imho. I prefer Massacre Wurm and Ixidron as my boardwipe on a stick.

My argument for Karmic Guide would be that it is searchable via Recruiter of the Guard. I had a game the other night where if I had been able to search it with Recruiter and reanimate Palinchron, I would have won.

Unfortunately, I've never seen Emeria Shepherd when I needed her, and she's costly with a somewhat clunky activation ability in my opinion. Being able to grab Panharmonicon or Teferi's Oath back from the bin is nice, but I've never been in those types of situations. I have since cut her for Karmic Guide.