Your meta being light on mana denial effects shouldn't be a justification to suggest such a fragile land to a poster whom is genuinely asking about the validity of a singular colour archetype. That sounds like a metagame vulnerability that could and should be exploited such that players learn just how powerful lands are, moreso when there's no checks and balances for them. Have you considered rolling these players with Git Gud Frog or Lord Windgrace? That'd be a pretty good start, and not even a cEDH deck.
Emeria is a payoff. Singular. Not one that should be sold as the basis for going mono-W of all things. Rather, a better suggestion would be advising based on the multitudes of virtual CA that can be generated (via self-bounces [Skyfisher], land count manipulation [thawing glaciers, karoo]) to help the archetype keep up with the rest of the field. Which, yes, there is a lot of virtual CA to utilize, although it is a lot of work and focus to do that and it still can and will feel like a waste when someone blows over the top of you with a massive draw spell, repetitive tutours, or huge reanimation spell. I.e. it's sweet when you set up thawing glaciers + rings of brighthearth to get you closer to an online emeria, the sky ruin but you feel almost worthless getting your +1 land when someone drops sphinx's revelation for x = 5.
You're not giving up non-basics. It's more that cards like Burnished Hart, Myriad Landscape, Solemn Simulacrum, Knight of the White Orchid, Tithe, and Armillary Sphere find you / ramp you multiple plains from the deck. Sun Titan can return fetchlands or some of the cards above to reuse to push out plains very quickly and can also recur the Emeria easily and, as I mentioned, you have Thespian's Stage to duplicate it while also able to act as a plains once you get close. My Tajic Shell, while admittedly very white-heavy only runs 10 basic plains, Mistveil Plains, a shockland, and four fetches and has plenty of space for utility lands. Emeria is simply an easy inclusion that has high potential upside and rewards you for ramping which you want to and were always going to do anyway.
I also never said it had to be your entire game plan, but it does have the power to take over a game once active, especially when you copy it.
Every land you play that isn't a plains puts your Emeria off by a turn, just like every land that isn't a mountain puts off Valakut by a turn. And, then when it IS online, people know it's happening, and they will Wasteland you to stop that. If they don't, they 1) don't believe in ever touching lands as though they are sacred, or 2) have a non-existent level of threat assessment. Both of which are problems existing not at the game level but at the player level. And I'm not going to ever, ever rely on my opponent having some imaginary aversion to hitting lands just to justify my terrible EBT single colour land as an End Game.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin is also really strong end-game which you can reach sooner with Myriad Landscape, Sun Titan, and the various cards which tutor plains into play. Thespian's Stage can surprise into a plains and then surprise into another Emeria.
Building your entire end game around the ability to lose to Wasteland seems very poor planning to me. Turning off your ability to run non-basics without a plains type for one EBT land is also, similarly poor.
Emeria is a payoff. Singular. Not one that should be sold as the basis for going mono-W of all things. Rather, a better suggestion would be advising based on the multitudes of virtual CA that can be generated (via self-bounces [Skyfisher], land count manipulation [thawing glaciers, karoo]) to help the archetype keep up with the rest of the field. Which, yes, there is a lot of virtual CA to utilize, although it is a lot of work and focus to do that and it still can and will feel like a waste when someone blows over the top of you with a massive draw spell, repetitive tutours, or huge reanimation spell. I.e. it's sweet when you set up thawing glaciers + rings of brighthearth to get you closer to an online emeria, the sky ruin but you feel almost worthless getting your +1 land when someone drops sphinx's revelation for x = 5.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Every land you play that isn't a plains puts your Emeria off by a turn, just like every land that isn't a mountain puts off Valakut by a turn. And, then when it IS online, people know it's happening, and they will Wasteland you to stop that. If they don't, they 1) don't believe in ever touching lands as though they are sacred, or 2) have a non-existent level of threat assessment. Both of which are problems existing not at the game level but at the player level. And I'm not going to ever, ever rely on my opponent having some imaginary aversion to hitting lands just to justify my terrible EBT single colour land as an End Game.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Building your entire end game around the ability to lose to Wasteland seems very poor planning to me. Turning off your ability to run non-basics without a plains type for one EBT land is also, similarly poor.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.