She's an angel wielding a scythe, you don't mess with her
Introduction:
Sigarda, Host of Herons is one of the 3 multi-coloured angels introduced in Avacyn Restored. Her set of abilities make her very versatile for different deck builds.
This primer will show you how to play her as a midrange enchantress. For a deck list to play Voltron, or big creature swarm, look in the Strategy section of this primer or in my signiture.
Gabriel Angelfire: This guy was originally going to head this deck, however his cmc and his ability restriction is what keeps him from being great
Gaddock Teeg: another possible candidate for the deck, but the deck would need some modifications to build around him
Jasmine Boreal: The original selesnya voltron general, pushed aside by Sigarda, Jasmine's wrinkles are beginning to show
Karametra, God of the Harvests: Although Karametra is an Enchantment Creature with a subtype god (seriously who wouldn't like to play god >.<) her ability is more suited for a creature heavy build.
Kei Takahashi: He does less than Emmara ... he sits lower than Emmara
Krond the Dawn-Clad: The alternative to Sigarda, would be her replacement if I ever get bored with her, however his casting cost is hard to achieve without mana ramp or fixing
Lady Caleria: Too high of a cmc for an ability that isn’t that useful. Sure she can do combat tricks but overall, she is weak
Lord Magnus: high cmc for a weak body, his ability is too narrow to be of help.
Rhys the Redeemed: Another potential commander, doubling the angels that you have can quickly end the game. Be careful about over-extending
Saffi Eriksdotter: Saffi screams combo and this deck isn’t about combo
I picked up Sigarda when she first came out because at the time I was planing on making a deck that wasn't Teeg hate bear, Rhys tokens galore, Saffi combo, or Sisay good stuff toolbox. I was planning on a Gabriel Angelfire from deck but I felt that his mana cost was too high for what he brought to the table. After the first version of the deck, I found that I didn't really have a lot of card draw and the right equipment to make the deck into a equipment deck. Changing the deck to hybrid helped with the problem but some of the equipments and the auras didn't work together. I made the decision to go full enchantress after my friend decided to make a legacy enchantress deck and got more cards than he needed.
Academy Rector - a great enchantment fetcher and circumnavigates Teeg's 3 or less restriction.
Auratog - a little creature with potential to get big temporarily. This creature synergizes with rancor and any enchantress for lots of card draw. Also has the added bonus of saving enchantments that are about to be exiled.
Eidolon of Blossoms - Enchantress #5 can be tutored by creature and enchantment tutors, triggers on itself, and has power as well. The only downside may be the GG casting cost which isnt that much of a problem anyways
Gaddock Teeg - stops wrath but gets hated. Its more of a silver bullet if someone is going rampant with big cmc spells
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes - One activation puts people on a 3 turn clock. Two activations put people on a 2 turn clock. Not to mention the filtering that the card has with the second ability. the 100 life is nothing to scoff at, although it probably should only be activated only if the enemy if playing a heavy aggro deck.
Enchantments
Abundance - synergizes with sylvan library to "draw" 3 cards a turn. Also goes well with enchantresses to draw more fuel.
Aura of Silence - taxes for your opponents and spot removal if something threatening shows up
Aura Shards - if Sigil of the Empty Throne is out then watch enchantment also destroys an artifact or enchantment, be careful as some people may feel threatened and try to focus you
Awakening Zone - allows for a turn for Sigarda and continues to ramp. A good card and might replace a ramp spell, however it doesn't colour fix and doesn't impact immediately. However, the tokens can carry auras, especially rancor (a continuous stream of 2/1s never looked so amusing)
City of solitude - if this resolves, this card stops control decks till they can find an answer. The downside is that it affects everyone including yourself so make sure that you are in a position that you can protect yourself.
Exploration - although a little slower than burgeoning, it is better mid and late game when people are not hitting their land drops
Mirari's Wake - doubles your mana for more casting sprees
Moat - stops most swarms in their path (if you don't have one or aren't rolling in money then get magus of the moat, the only downside is that it’s a creature)
Nylea, God of the Hunt - it provides the much needed trample that Sigarda lacks and puts her up to 7 power if I keep the mana open. I list Nylea as an enchantment because I dont think that I would keep her as a creature on the field. However her creature supertype allows her to get around teeg
Oblivion Ring - helps remove some pesky enchantments or artifacts. If using this on creatures, be careful if there is a potential for board wipe as you might have saved their creature
Riftstone Portal - this card is harder to get online cause its unlikely to get blown up and when its in the yard, its likely to get removed. If you take this out replace ghost quarter with tectonic edge
Other Cards to Consider (please read this before you suggest a card)
Silver Bullets: (this deck already runs lots of them so there aren't that many here)
MLD - my deck relies heavily on lands and doesn't have a way of bringing lands back from the grave. If you do include mld for your deck be sure to include cards like crucible or loam package
Karmic justice - I haven't justified it being in the deck but I will put it in if my meta starts packing more destroy enchantment stuff
Titania's Song - good silver bullet to artifact heavy decks be wary of large artifacts like forge and lattice becoming problematic beat sticks
Aven Mindcensor - if ramp and tutoring runs rampant in your meta consider using this card to stop them from getting out of hand (Maybe remove the Quasali Pridemage or the Silent Arbiter)
Spirit of the Labyrinth - dicks blue decks and the massive card draws and also prevents nekusaur from killing you with wheels
Eidolon of Rhetoric - Rule of law on a stick. personally rule of law would probably be better but this allows for creature tutors to also get it as well. If you are running this or rule of law, be careful of what you put down on the board as you don't wanna waste your 1 spell per turn.
Ugin's Nexus - Stops time magic. Can be destroyed for an extra turn when in a pinch.
Nomad Mythmaker/Dowsing Shaman - allows for enchantment recursion, more specifically it’s for auras that were dropped off Sigarda
Krond the dawn-clad - the reason that he isn't commander or part of the 99 is his casting cost. Mana fixing for him was a pain in the rear without much mana fixing cards in the deck
Cmc 4+ auras and some enchantments - Teeg shuts them down and I'm not rectoring them when I have other cards to rector. Bear umbra gets through though cause it untaps lands, which allows me to go for another enchantress fueled casting spree
Mana rocks - I could use them but if I have stony silence or null rod then they become expensive paper weights which can't even give me draws off an enchantress
Solemn Simulacrum or any etb creatures - torpor orb partially it, but the main problem is no recursion or blinks except for Flickerform which I'm most likely to enchant Sigarda with.
Greater auramancy - it used to be in the deck until it started to get in the way of enchanting Sigarda after the first aura. (Before you say "but azn can't you play the auramancy after you are finished enchanting", I say this, if she dies to board wipe then you have to get rid of it before you start can go aura crazy again, which is a waste of a spell or ability.)
Blind Obedience - since most of your cards are on a low curve, you will have mana to spare, so you can consider using this card to keep yourself topped up and slowly drain your enemies for an easier kill. Also helps against maelstrom wanderer decks and other decks which have hasty creatures and the immediate use of mana rocks
vernal equinox/vedalken orrey - equinox is a great card but the downside is that any player can use it. you can consider using vedalken orrey if you want the flash. The reason i don't use either is I tutor for city of solitude constantly
Vow of Wildness - trample and a big boost, also doubles as pseudo pacifism (it can replace armadillo cloak or unflinching courage)
oracle of mul daya - this card allows you to play the top card off your library if it’s a land. Allows you to draw more important stuff.
cataclysm - gets around indestructible board states and allows Sigarda more breathing room if she was behind. Add if no one else is playing voltron. Be sure to float lotsa mana before casting (preferably have replenish in hand)
magus of the moat - poor man's moat, however is not recovered with enchantment recursion spells.
mirri's guile - poor man's replacement for sylvan library.
Primeval Bounty - this card is good if you have Sigarda on the field, but this doesn’t synergize with flickerform as Sigarda will lose her counters, still worth considering though, as it powers Sigarda really fast
Ajani's Chosen - Sigil of the empty throne outshines this card as sigil creates flying tokens. if you are somehow unable to find a sigil then consider using this, otherwise stick with sigil.
Burgeoning - it makes sure that you can empty your hand of lands but late game people dont really drop that many lands so i prefer exploration.
Open the Vaults - mass enchantment recovery. Be careful when playing against mirror match up or artifact heavy decks like sharuum
Act of Authority - useful in certain situations but can backfire horribly (need to check ruling of sacing in response)
Bow of Nylea - Not as good as Nylea herself, but grave recoursion could be an option. The downside is that it is an artifact meaning stony silence says "no".
Heliod, God of the Sun - Vigilence and tokens out the wazoo are great but they aren't nescessary for the deck to function except to make serra sanctum tap for loads
Nostalgic Dreams - a one sided replacement for Open the vaults. use late game by pitching lands
Stonecloaker - spot grave removal and can protect Sigarda in a pinch
Testing:
Ajani Steadfast - replaces Ajani the mentor if you dont have him. Better if you are going the token route and are also using another walker.
Skybind - on its own it can make enchantments costs one less (exile a land that was tapped and it ETB untapped). Combined with Auratog and Rancor though, can make make your opponent's defenses nonexistant. Consider running vernal equinox or vedalken orrey to make fun times (if you do add these consider removing city of solitude which shuts them down).
Your best friend against counters and instants
Strategy: Early Game:
During the early game you have several things you wanna do. Drop your lands ASAP, get at least one enchantress online, and start dropping non-aura enchantments to slow down the board and draw more cards of enchantress triggers. At around turn 4-6 you should be looking for a chance to play Sigarda without getting her destroyed. Ideally you would have played Cavern of Souls calling Angels to make sure that Sigarda is safe from counter spells, but if you didn’t draw cavern or any other card to prevent counters, then make sure that the blue deck is either tapped out or already used a counter spell on something else.
Mid Game:
If you have Sigarda on the field then start enchanting her and going to town on your opponents. If she is in the command zone then cast her asapl and start enchanting here. If she is in your deck, you have two options. Either you go with an alternate wincon or you hope to draw a tutor. Hopefully by now you have at least one enchantress on the board and are starting to slow down the game with your enchantments and artifacts.
Late Game:
If you have had good draws and plays, Sigarda should be able to one or two shot people and the board should have turned on you try to take you out. Of that is the case, then congratulations, you are playing the deck correctly. If you have been set back enough times to be seen as a non threat then congratulations you are now in a position to "pull the rug from under their feet". Try to get an enchantress on the field and play some harmless enchantment and mass up your lands. When you feel you have enough lands play as many stall/lock cards as possible, play a wincon and try to kill one person (preferably the person who is drawing a lot of cards and isn't making plays. You can be sure they are up to something). If you can take down at least one person then try to take down more until they finally kill you.
How do you want to win?
Dropping Sigarda and taking your opponents on the pain train is the main strategy.
How do you keep Sigarda alive?
With her hexproof and cannot be sacced clause, there are still things left that can kill Sigarda which are wraths, damage, -1/-1 counters. For the first two you have two options, Shield of the Oversoul and Flickerform. For -1/-1 counters, if they are prevalent in your meta then consider using Melira, Sylvok Outcast. Flickerform also removes the -1/-1 counters but the 2WW cost may be a high cost to pay if the counters are applied constantly. Although it’s not killing, Tucking or bouncing is a problem that Sigarda will face as she is a high priority target once she shows herself. Flickerform is a way to deal with it but you need the mana open.
What happens if Sigarda gets tucked?
Well then you have several ways to win without Sigarda, Sigil of the Empty Throne massing lots of angels, Auratog fed with several enchantments (has a great synergy with Rancor), Kor Spiritdancer with several auras packs a nice punch.
Synergies:
- enchantress + enchantments = draw engine
- enchantress + abundance = your choice of land or non-land whenever you play an enchantment
- sylvan library + abundance = reveal cards until you have any three combination of land and non-land
- Auratog + rancor = G: Auratog gets +2/+2 until the end of turn
- Auratog + rancor + enchantress = G: Draw a card, Auratog gets +2/+2 until the end of turn
- privileged position + sterling grove = your non-enchantments have hexproof and enchantments have shroud
Opening hand:
In your opening hand, you want 2-3 lands and the rest of the cards should be from 1-3 cmc. (It would also be nice to either have an enchantress in hand or a way to tutor for one)
As mentioned in the introduction, Sigarda is a versatile commander because of her range of abilities as well as her CMC and P/W. A decklist for Voltron can be found here and a decklist for swarm can be found here
January 26, 2014
Thoughts on Born of the Gods
Added Spirit of the Labyrinth to silver bullets
October 19, 2013
Thoughts Commander 2013
Added cards to "cards to consider"
September 17, 2013
- Open the Vaults - found that this card was hurting me more than it helped me sometimes
+ Nylea, God of the Hunt - so hard to remove, and able to make sigarda a three turn clock
Removed from testing list: Gaea's Touch - it really wasn't doing to well for me Mana Reflection - it was a winmore card
Added to testing list:
Nylea, God of the Hunt - trample and a buff to make Sigarda a 3 turn clock makes Nylea a card worthy of using, however more testing must be done before I add it in.
Bow of Nylea - Not as good as Nylea herself, but grave recoursion could be an option. The downside is that it is an artifact.
Heliod, God of the Sun - Vigilence and tokens out the wazoo are great but they aren't nescessary for the deck to function
Gift of Immortality - says f u to board wipes
August 26, 2013
Fixed some minor problems in the thread and added mld to cards to consider
July 8, 2013
- Rites of Flourishing - its symetrical ability was the biggest problem for me. card draw wasn't really affected because i had enchantresses and the extra lands were substituted with eldrazi mana
+ Awakening Zone - provides a body for rancor as well as mana for a turn 4 sigarda if dropped turn 3
- Burgeoning - great early game when everyone is dropping lands but slows late game. moved to cards to consider
+ Exploration - great throughout the game regardless of whether people drop lands or not
June 19, 2013
Got Approved ^.^ happy dance
added Testing list
Added Titania's song to cards to consider list
May 22, 2013
Added stuff to Strategy, and Why play this commander
Added Primeval Bounty and Ajani's Chosen to Cards to consider
April 20, 2013
+ Unflinching Courage (didn't have that many voltron generals in my meta so I'd rather tag something with lifelink so I can gain some life back)
- Vow of Wildness
sisay is more built for a token enchantress than a voltron enchantress build.
one of my friends ran sisay against my sigarda enchantress and he could reliably get serra's sanctum and cradle out reliably to set him up for big plays. the fact that the deck can function without the commander is also good as sisay is just there to make your day better if you need her. worth running if you can but becareful of the hate that sisay already gathers.
i feel that you should have some anti artifact cards since you only have sol ring (i would remove sol ring as well) consider using stony silence, and null rod.
there are alot of other cards you can consider. these are just an example. if you want more ideas go check out my primer and if you have any question feel free to ask
I like her in the 99, but I think she's a pretty bad commander outside of monogreen stax. Green has no ways to give their creatures haste, and if you're animating your lands, you should be winning the game. If you're fine attacking with your lands and trading some for tokens, someone will have the wrath effect and will set you back significantly.
Lotus Vale and Scorched Ruins are miserable to play in a format with Strip Mine and Wasteland. Sure, you get three 5/3s, but lands are far more important that creatures in mono-green. Any effect that seeks to symmetrically be trading lands for creatures (like Zuran Orb or the aforementioned lands) will just lead to disappointment, I feel.
Even if you run Crossroads and Memorial, there's always the chance someone just blows them up in response to combat and you get stranded with no lands. It's a really awkward build when you're sacrificing your whole board development for 5/3s. I personally don't feel that "Sacrifice a land: Get a 5/3 trampler" on a 5-drop in multiplayer is that great outside of stax builds, where you can offset the symmetry of global "everyone sacrifices" effects.
Why you would run those two sac lands is beyond me. Running fetches and utility sacs is more than enough for getting rid of lands. If you re worried bout them destroying the crossroads add a dosan or a city of solitude. Adding a loam, crucible and azusa makes the deck purr like a lambo. Also you are playing mono green your ramp should be insane. Play testing with a generic green general and with a deck with dedicated ramp, I have been able to get 10 lands consistently on turn 5. The loss of one or two lands isn't a big deal
the biggest problem with bruna is the fact that she will have counterspells to back her up. Humility is one of my favorite ways of shutting down voltron commanders. Gravepact and its kin with instant speed sacs can keep the table cleared and can rarely be countered (they have to stifle the pact trigger not the act of sacrificing)
Woooooo another selesnya enchantress. I ARISE FROM MY SLUMBER!!! Well then young one you are entering a realm where many wish to enter and where few succeed. All the fancy talk aside let's start ripping apart your deck like harpies ^.^
Mana fixing and ramping - enchantress needs lots of it since some enchantments are very picky when it comes to mana(krond is also a pig too but you didn't hear it from me >.o). Since you aren't running artifact hate feel free to draw on artifacts for assistance in those regards. Cards to consider chromatic lantern, riftstone portal. For enchantress to work, it needs a lot off mana to get its spells slinging. Sorcery ramp and artifact ramp are your best friends
Auras and enchantments - eldrazi conscription is a trap where many new enchantress players fall prey to. While it does give great stat boosts and awesome abilities, at 8 mana I feel that I would rather cast several low costing enchantments and get multiple enchantress triggers. Best to leave conscription to our cousin Bruna. Rather than using oath of ancient wood consider using primeval bounty it gives more 1/1 counters and has creature production as well as life gain. The only downside is the 6 mana which in an enchantress deck isn't that big of a problem
Exploration or burgeoning means that you can machine gun down lands that you draw from enchantresses also bonus since they are enchantments as well. Also consider manabond if you can keep your life up.
I also feel that you are a little short on the enchantment department for your enchantresses to do a lot of work. Maybe increase the enchantment count. Tusker kamahl and solemn can all be replaced. Need more mana then try awakening zone, need more buffs then use beastmaster's ascension
For your lands consider adding in nykthos Ive used it to great effect since it is based on devotion and I generally have at least 5 on board when I use it.
If you don't mind losing the removal for more evasion consider using Sigarda instead.
If you need anymore ideas for enchantress stuff feel free to look into my sigarda primer for silver bullets and important interactions
1
Many thanks to Lanxal for the banner
- Introduction
- Why play Sigarda?
- Deck History
- Deck List
- Card Options
- Thoughts on sets
- Strategy
- Change Log
She's an angel wielding a scythe, you don't mess with her
Sigarda, Host of Herons is one of the 3 multi-coloured angels introduced in Avacyn Restored. Her set of abilities make her very versatile for different deck builds.
This primer will show you how to play her as a midrange enchantress. For a deck list to play Voltron, or big creature swarm, look in the Strategy section of this primer or in my signiture.
Why play this commander:
Pros:
- Your meta has a lot of Grave Pact plays
- You want a commander that doesn't die to spot removal
- You want a commander that impacts the board but doesn't immediately get hated pregame
- You want to win with general damage
- You have a moat lying around and don't know what to do with it
Cons:- You want combos
- You like to remain conspicuous even after your commander hits the board
- You like playing solitaire
- You feel that auras pale in comparison to equipments
- You like convoluted ways of winning
Why not have X as your commander?Deck history:
I picked up Sigarda when she first came out because at the time I was planing on making a deck that wasn't Teeg hate bear, Rhys tokens galore, Saffi combo, or Sisay good stuff toolbox. I was planning on a Gabriel Angelfire from deck but I felt that his mana cost was too high for what he brought to the table. After the first version of the deck, I found that I didn't really have a lot of card draw and the right equipment to make the deck into a equipment deck. Changing the deck to hybrid helped with the problem but some of the equipments and the auras didn't work together. I made the decision to go full enchantress after my friend decided to make a legacy enchantress deck and got more cards than he needed.
Deck list:
The card that makes the deck tick
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
Creature
1 Academy Rector
1 Argothian Enchantress
1 Auratog
1 Eidolon of Blossoms
1 Eternal Witness
1 Femeref Enchantress
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Hushwing Gryff
1 Kor Spiritdancer
1 Mesa Enchantress
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Silent Arbiter
1 Verduran Enchantress
Planeswalker
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Enchantment (non-aura)
1 Abundance
1 Aura of Silence
1 Aura Shards
1 Awakening Zone
1 City of Solitude
1 Dueling Grounds
1 Enchantress's Presence
1 Exploration
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Moat
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Privileged Position
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
1 Sterling Grove
1 Stony Silence
1 Sylvan Library
1 Ancestral Mask
1 Armadillo Cloak
1 Battle Mastery
1 Bear Umbra
1 Ethereal Armor
1 Fertile Ground
1 Flickerform
1 Rancor
1 Shield of the Oversoul
1 Spirit Mantle
1 Unflinching Courage
1 Unquestioned Authority
1 Utopia Sprawl
Artifact
1 Damping Matrix
1 Null Rod
1 Torpor Orb
Instant
1 Beast Within
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Krosan Grip
1 Oblation
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Worldly Tutor
Sorcery
1 Austere Command
1 Creeping Renaissance
1 Cultivate
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Replenish
1 Retether
1 Three Dreams
1 Winds of Rath
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Command Tower
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Krosan Verge
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Riftstone Portal
1 Savannah
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Strip Mine
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Temple Garden
1 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
11 Forest
9 Plains
Card options:
Creatures
Academy Rector - a great enchantment fetcher and circumnavigates Teeg's 3 or less restriction.
Auratog - a little creature with potential to get big temporarily. This creature synergizes with rancor and any enchantress for lots of card draw. Also has the added bonus of saving enchantments that are about to be exiled.
Argothian Enchantresses/Kor Spiritdancer/Mesa Enchantress/Verduran Enchantress/Enchantress's Presence - these are the core of the deck as they make your enchantments replace themselves
Eidolon of Blossoms - Enchantress #5 can be tutored by creature and enchantment tutors, triggers on itself, and has power as well. The only downside may be the GG casting cost which isnt that much of a problem anyways
Gaddock Teeg - stops wrath but gets hated. Its more of a silver bullet if someone is going rampant with big cmc spells
Hushwing Gryff - Torpor Orb #2
Quasali Pridemage - artifact or enchant destroy with the added bonus of exalted
Silent Arbiter - dueling grounds number 2 for more redundancy
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes - One activation puts people on a 3 turn clock. Two activations put people on a 2 turn clock. Not to mention the filtering that the card has with the second ability. the 100 life is nothing to scoff at, although it probably should only be activated only if the enemy if playing a heavy aggro deck.
Abundance - synergizes with sylvan library to "draw" 3 cards a turn. Also goes well with enchantresses to draw more fuel.
Aura of Silence - taxes for your opponents and spot removal if something threatening shows up
Aura Shards - if Sigil of the Empty Throne is out then watch enchantment also destroys an artifact or enchantment, be careful as some people may feel threatened and try to focus you
Awakening Zone - allows for a turn for Sigarda and continues to ramp. A good card and might replace a ramp spell, however it doesn't colour fix and doesn't impact immediately. However, the tokens can carry auras, especially rancor (a continuous stream of 2/1s never looked so amusing)
City of solitude - if this resolves, this card stops control decks till they can find an answer. The downside is that it affects everyone including yourself so make sure that you are in a position that you can protect yourself.
Dueling grounds - stops token decks
Exploration - although a little slower than burgeoning, it is better mid and late game when people are not hitting their land drops
Mirari's Wake - doubles your mana for more casting sprees
Moat - stops most swarms in their path (if you don't have one or aren't rolling in money then get magus of the moat, the only downside is that it’s a creature)
Nylea, God of the Hunt - it provides the much needed trample that Sigarda lacks and puts her up to 7 power if I keep the mana open. I list Nylea as an enchantment because I dont think that I would keep her as a creature on the field. However her creature supertype allows her to get around teeg
Oblivion Ring - helps remove some pesky enchantments or artifacts. If using this on creatures, be careful if there is a potential for board wipe as you might have saved their creature
Privileged Position - protects your stuff from spot removal
Sigil of the Empty Throne - makes an army if you start machine gunning enchantments. These angles double as aura targets
Sterling grove - protection and tutor in a pinch
Stony silence - stops artifact ramp
Sylvan Library - who doesn't like more draw or deck manipulation?
Ancestral Mask - major buff for Sigarda allowing her to 1-2 shot people
Armadillo Cloak - trample and life gain with the possibility of 3 shoting people
Battle Mastery - double strike makes the clock tick faster
Bear Umbra - totem armor with and untap ability for more enchantress action
Ethereal Armor - ancestral mask's little brother, nothing to laugh at though as it can and has ended games
Fertile Ground - mana fixing and enchantress fodder
Flickerform - covers what indestructible and hexproof can't. Only gripe is mana cost of ability.
Rancor - gives trample and a good power boost. Synergizes with Auratog and enchantresses.
Shield of the Oversoul - indestructible. Generally the first aura you wanna tutor for.
Spirit Mantle - basically reads unblockable (there are ways of getting around it but they are few and not commonly played)
Unflinching Courage - Armadillo Cloak 2.0
Unquestioned Authority - unblockable + cantrip
Utopia Sprawl - mana ramp + enchantress fodder. Generally the coloured to pick is white but if you are short on green then go for it
Damping matrix - stops many annoying abilities but use with caution as it draws flack
null rod - stops artifact ramp and equipments
Torpor orb - stops etb the gathering
Beast Within - sport removal
Eladamri's Call - instant speed creature tutor (generally tutor for enchantresses)
Enlightened Tutor - tutor for silver bullets or for auras
Krosan Grip - spot removal
Oblation - spot removal or synergy with abundance
Swords to Plowshares - spot removal
Worldly Tutor - instant creature tutor
Austere Command - modal wipes
Creeping Renaissance - recover enchantments
Cultivate - mana ramp
Idyllic Tutor - enchantment tutor. I tent to use this more late game as I can cast what I fetch in the same turn.
Kodama's Reach - mana ramp
Replenish - by far your best recursion and worth the money to get
Retether - only really useful after 4-5 auras have hit the yard
Three Dreams - aura tutors. Generally fetch [/card]battle mastery[/card], shield of the over soul, and rancor/armadillo cloak/vow of Wildness
Winds of Rath - special boardwipe for this deck. useless against uril decks though, so board in wrath or god or cleansing meditation
Cavern of Souls - counters hate this
Command Tower - colour fixing
Ghost Quarter - try to keep it for riftstone portal but if you have to, use it on utility lands that your opponent needs
Hall of the Bandit Lord - haste is very important
Krosan Verge - mistveil plains tutor and mana ramp
Mistveil Plains - recursion into the deck. Mainly for the STP and mass recursion spells.
[card]Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx[card] - this card is great for massive casting sprees
Reliquary Tower - you are going to draw lots of cards
Riftstone Portal - this card is harder to get online cause its unlikely to get blown up and when its in the yard, its likely to get removed. If you take this out replace ghost quarter with tectonic edge
Savannah - dual land ... No explanation needed
Serra's Sanctum - this is an enchantress deck, it would be blasphemy not to have this
Strip Mine - get rid of utility lands
Sunpetal grove - colour fixing
Temple Garden - shock lands ... Happy that they got reprinted
Wasteland - again this is for utility lands
Windswept Heath - most likely fetching mistveil plains
Forest - gotta have em
Plains - can't live without them
Silver Bullets: (this deck already runs lots of them so there aren't that many here)
MLD - my deck relies heavily on lands and doesn't have a way of bringing lands back from the grave. If you do include mld for your deck be sure to include cards like crucible or loam package
Karmic justice - I haven't justified it being in the deck but I will put it in if my meta starts packing more destroy enchantment stuff
Titania's Song - good silver bullet to artifact heavy decks be wary of large artifacts like forge and lattice becoming problematic beat sticks
Aven Mindcensor - if ramp and tutoring runs rampant in your meta consider using this card to stop them from getting out of hand (Maybe remove the Quasali Pridemage or the Silent Arbiter)
Wheel of Sun and Moon - says "f u" to the reanimator deck
Spirit of the Labyrinth - dicks blue decks and the massive card draws and also prevents nekusaur from killing you with wheels
Eidolon of Rhetoric - Rule of law on a stick. personally rule of law would probably be better but this allows for creature tutors to also get it as well. If you are running this or rule of law, be careful of what you put down on the board as you don't wanna waste your 1 spell per turn.
Ugin's Nexus - Stops time magic. Can be destroyed for an extra turn when in a pinch.
Previously suggested, removed, interesting cards
Praetor's counsel - more recursion
Nomad Mythmaker/Dowsing Shaman - allows for enchantment recursion, more specifically it’s for auras that were dropped off Sigarda
Krond the dawn-clad - the reason that he isn't commander or part of the 99 is his casting cost. Mana fixing for him was a pain in the rear without much mana fixing cards in the deck
Cmc 4+ auras and some enchantments - Teeg shuts them down and I'm not rectoring them when I have other cards to rector. Bear umbra gets through though cause it untaps lands, which allows me to go for another enchantress fueled casting spree
Mana rocks - I could use them but if I have stony silence or null rod then they become expensive paper weights which can't even give me draws off an enchantress
Solemn Simulacrum or any etb creatures - torpor orb partially it, but the main problem is no recursion or blinks except for Flickerform which I'm most likely to enchant Sigarda with.
Greater auramancy - it used to be in the deck until it started to get in the way of enchanting Sigarda after the first aura. (Before you say "but azn can't you play the auramancy after you are finished enchanting", I say this, if she dies to board wipe then you have to get rid of it before you start can go aura crazy again, which is a waste of a spell or ability.)
Emeria, the sky ruin - while I do like the option of getting creatures back, its requirement of 7 plains is TOO DAMN HIGH
Blind Obedience - since most of your cards are on a low curve, you will have mana to spare, so you can consider using this card to keep yourself topped up and slowly drain your enemies for an easier kill. Also helps against maelstrom wanderer decks and other decks which have hasty creatures and the immediate use of mana rocks
vernal equinox/vedalken orrey - equinox is a great card but the downside is that any player can use it. you can consider using vedalken orrey if you want the flash. The reason i don't use either is I tutor for city of solitude constantly
Vow of Wildness - trample and a big boost, also doubles as pseudo pacifism (it can replace armadillo cloak or unflinching courage)
oracle of mul daya - this card allows you to play the top card off your library if it’s a land. Allows you to draw more important stuff.
cataclysm - gets around indestructible board states and allows Sigarda more breathing room if she was behind. Add if no one else is playing voltron. Be sure to float lotsa mana before casting (preferably have replenish in hand)
magus of the moat - poor man's moat, however is not recovered with enchantment recursion spells.
mirri's guile - poor man's replacement for sylvan library.
Primeval Bounty - this card is good if you have Sigarda on the field, but this doesn’t synergize with flickerform as Sigarda will lose her counters, still worth considering though, as it powers Sigarda really fast
Ajani's Chosen - Sigil of the empty throne outshines this card as sigil creates flying tokens. if you are somehow unable to find a sigil then consider using this, otherwise stick with sigil.
Burgeoning - it makes sure that you can empty your hand of lands but late game people dont really drop that many lands so i prefer exploration.
Open the Vaults - mass enchantment recovery. Be careful when playing against mirror match up or artifact heavy decks like sharuum
Act of Authority - useful in certain situations but can backfire horribly (need to check ruling of sacing in response)
Bow of Nylea - Not as good as Nylea herself, but grave recoursion could be an option. The downside is that it is an artifact meaning stony silence says "no".
Heliod, God of the Sun - Vigilence and tokens out the wazoo are great but they aren't nescessary for the deck to function except to make serra sanctum tap for loads
Nostalgic Dreams - a one sided replacement for Open the vaults. use late game by pitching lands
Stonecloaker - spot grave removal and can protect Sigarda in a pinch
Testing List:
Cards to Remove:
None Right now
Cards to Add:
None Right now
Testing:
Ajani Steadfast - replaces Ajani the mentor if you dont have him. Better if you are going the token route and are also using another walker.
Skybind - on its own it can make enchantments costs one less (exile a land that was tapped and it ETB untapped). Combined with Auratog and Rancor though, can make make your opponent's defenses nonexistant. Consider running vernal equinox or vedalken orrey to make fun times (if you do add these consider removing city of solitude which shuts them down).
Your best friend against counters and instants
Early Game:
During the early game you have several things you wanna do. Drop your lands ASAP, get at least one enchantress online, and start dropping non-aura enchantments to slow down the board and draw more cards of enchantress triggers. At around turn 4-6 you should be looking for a chance to play Sigarda without getting her destroyed. Ideally you would have played Cavern of Souls calling Angels to make sure that Sigarda is safe from counter spells, but if you didn’t draw cavern or any other card to prevent counters, then make sure that the blue deck is either tapped out or already used a counter spell on something else.
Mid Game:
If you have Sigarda on the field then start enchanting her and going to town on your opponents. If she is in the command zone then cast her asapl and start enchanting here. If she is in your deck, you have two options. Either you go with an alternate wincon or you hope to draw a tutor. Hopefully by now you have at least one enchantress on the board and are starting to slow down the game with your enchantments and artifacts.
Late Game:
If you have had good draws and plays, Sigarda should be able to one or two shot people and the board should have turned on you try to take you out. Of that is the case, then congratulations, you are playing the deck correctly. If you have been set back enough times to be seen as a non threat then congratulations you are now in a position to "pull the rug from under their feet". Try to get an enchantress on the field and play some harmless enchantment and mass up your lands. When you feel you have enough lands play as many stall/lock cards as possible, play a wincon and try to kill one person (preferably the person who is drawing a lot of cards and isn't making plays. You can be sure they are up to something). If you can take down at least one person then try to take down more until they finally kill you.
How do you want to win?
Dropping Sigarda and taking your opponents on the pain train is the main strategy.
How do you keep Sigarda alive?
With her hexproof and cannot be sacced clause, there are still things left that can kill Sigarda which are wraths, damage, -1/-1 counters. For the first two you have two options, Shield of the Oversoul and Flickerform. For -1/-1 counters, if they are prevalent in your meta then consider using Melira, Sylvok Outcast. Flickerform also removes the -1/-1 counters but the 2WW cost may be a high cost to pay if the counters are applied constantly. Although it’s not killing, Tucking or bouncing is a problem that Sigarda will face as she is a high priority target once she shows herself. Flickerform is a way to deal with it but you need the mana open.
What happens if Sigarda gets tucked?
Well then you have several ways to win without Sigarda, Sigil of the Empty Throne massing lots of angels, Auratog fed with several enchantments (has a great synergy with Rancor), Kor Spiritdancer with several auras packs a nice punch.
What if my opponents manage to send alot of the auras to the graveyard?
Don't panic, you are playing white and green, the masters of aura and enchantment recursion. You have Replenish, Open the Vaults, Retether, Creeping Renaissance, and Praetor's council, Dowsing Shaman, and Nomad Mythmaker to make sure that your enchantments come back.
Synergies:
- enchantress + enchantments = draw engine
- enchantress + abundance = your choice of land or non-land whenever you play an enchantment
- sylvan library + abundance = reveal cards until you have any three combination of land and non-land
- Auratog + rancor = G: Auratog gets +2/+2 until the end of turn
- Auratog + rancor + enchantress = G: Draw a card, Auratog gets +2/+2 until the end of turn
- privileged position + sterling grove = your non-enchantments have hexproof and enchantments have shroud
Opening hand:
In your opening hand, you want 2-3 lands and the rest of the cards should be from 1-3 cmc. (It would also be nice to either have an enchantress in hand or a way to tutor for one)
As mentioned in the introduction, Sigarda is a versatile commander because of her range of abilities as well as her CMC and P/W. A decklist for Voltron can be found here and a decklist for swarm can be found here
Change Log:
February 2, 2015
Fate Reforged Impressions
November 6, 2014
Commander 2014 Impressions
September 15, 2014
Back From France
Khans of Tarkir impression and some card analyzing
July 3, 2014
More M15 impressions
+ Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
+ Hushwing Gryff
- Dowsing Shaman
- Praetor's counsel
May 24, 2014
Conspiracy and M15 Impressions
May 3, 2014
Journey into Nyx release - full impression added
April 9, 2014
Impressions of Journey into Nyx
Added Ajani the Mentor to Testing List
+ Eidolon of Blossoms
- Nomad Mythmaker
February 7, 2014
+Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
- Plains
January 26, 2014
Thoughts on Born of the Gods
Added Spirit of the Labyrinth to silver bullets
October 19, 2013
Thoughts Commander 2013
Added cards to "cards to consider"
September 17, 2013
- Open the Vaults - found that this card was hurting me more than it helped me sometimes
+ Nylea, God of the Hunt - so hard to remove, and able to make sigarda a three turn clock
Added Aven Mindcensor to the silver bullets list
September 2, 2013
Thoughts on Theros
Removed from testing list:
Gaea's Touch - it really wasn't doing to well for me
Mana Reflection - it was a winmore card
Added to testing list:
Nylea, God of the Hunt - trample and a buff to make Sigarda a 3 turn clock makes Nylea a card worthy of using, however more testing must be done before I add it in.
Bow of Nylea - Not as good as Nylea herself, but grave recoursion could be an option. The downside is that it is an artifact.
Heliod, God of the Sun - Vigilence and tokens out the wazoo are great but they aren't nescessary for the deck to function
Gift of Immortality - says f u to board wipes
August 26, 2013
Fixed some minor problems in the thread and added mld to cards to consider
July 8, 2013
- Rites of Flourishing - its symetrical ability was the biggest problem for me. card draw wasn't really affected because i had enchantresses and the extra lands were substituted with eldrazi mana
+ Awakening Zone - provides a body for rancor as well as mana for a turn 4 sigarda if dropped turn 3
- Burgeoning - great early game when everyone is dropping lands but slows late game. moved to cards to consider
+ Exploration - great throughout the game regardless of whether people drop lands or not
June 19, 2013
Got Approved ^.^ happy dance
added Testing list
Added Titania's song to cards to consider list
May 22, 2013
Added stuff to Strategy, and Why play this commander
Added Primeval Bounty and Ajani's Chosen to Cards to consider
May 1, 2013
Added Exploration, Oracle of Mul Daya, Cataclysm, Magus of the Moat, Mirri's Guile to the "cards to consider list"
April 20, 2013
+ Unflinching Courage (didn't have that many voltron generals in my meta so I'd rather tag something with lifelink so I can gain some life back)
- Vow of Wildness
Feel free to comment
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one of my friends ran sisay against my sigarda enchantress and he could reliably get serra's sanctum and cradle out reliably to set him up for big plays. the fact that the deck can function without the commander is also good as sisay is just there to make your day better if you need her. worth running if you can but becareful of the hate that sisay already gathers.
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missing nylea to grant mass trample
crucible of worlds and exploration are insane with knight of the reliquary
Consider using magus of the moat or moat
miraculous recovery is a bit of a waste i feel however if you want to keep it in i recommend defy death instead
you dont have any guaranteed way of getting eldrazi conscription through counter magic. its a good game ender but its cost is really high
other angels you can consider:
other cards to also think about
there are alot of other cards you can consider. these are just an example. if you want more ideas go check out my primer and if you have any question feel free to ask
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Why you would run those two sac lands is beyond me. Running fetches and utility sacs is more than enough for getting rid of lands. If you re worried bout them destroying the crossroads add a dosan or a city of solitude. Adding a loam, crucible and azusa makes the deck purr like a lambo. Also you are playing mono green your ramp should be insane. Play testing with a generic green general and with a deck with dedicated ramp, I have been able to get 10 lands consistently on turn 5. The loss of one or two lands isn't a big deal
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you are also missing eladamri's call for another tutor
scroll rack for more manipulation
shield of the oversoul also protects sigarda but is not indestructible itself so consider it but use with caution
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Mana fixing and ramping - enchantress needs lots of it since some enchantments are very picky when it comes to mana(krond is also a pig too but you didn't hear it from me >.o). Since you aren't running artifact hate feel free to draw on artifacts for assistance in those regards. Cards to consider chromatic lantern, riftstone portal. For enchantress to work, it needs a lot off mana to get its spells slinging. Sorcery ramp and artifact ramp are your best friends
Auras and enchantments - eldrazi conscription is a trap where many new enchantress players fall prey to. While it does give great stat boosts and awesome abilities, at 8 mana I feel that I would rather cast several low costing enchantments and get multiple enchantress triggers. Best to leave conscription to our cousin Bruna. Rather than using oath of ancient wood consider using primeval bounty it gives more 1/1 counters and has creature production as well as life gain. The only downside is the 6 mana which in an enchantress deck isn't that big of a problem
Exploration or burgeoning means that you can machine gun down lands that you draw from enchantresses also bonus since they are enchantments as well. Also consider manabond if you can keep your life up.
I also feel that you are a little short on the enchantment department for your enchantresses to do a lot of work. Maybe increase the enchantment count. Tusker kamahl and solemn can all be replaced. Need more mana then try awakening zone, need more buffs then use beastmaster's ascension
For your lands consider adding in nykthos Ive used it to great effect since it is based on devotion and I generally have at least 5 on board when I use it.
If you don't mind losing the removal for more evasion consider using Sigarda instead.
If you need anymore ideas for enchantress stuff feel free to look into my sigarda primer for silver bullets and important interactions
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power conduit so you only pay 2 a turn
zuran orb + crucible of worlds
let it go away on upkeep then sun titan it back
unstable frontier during your turns. unstable also helps against annoying utility lands
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Obv not reading what the op was playing for his deck ...
But anyways it seems that your problem might be in the early game where some of the other decks fluorish. There isn't much you can do other than repititavely wipe the board or have good spot removal. Consider using prison cards to discourage rafiq from attacking you. Lethal vapours and tainted aether can be brutal for creature centric builds. Glacial chasm, portcullis, magus of the moat, magus of the tabernacle. If you have lightmine field, follow it up with sudden spoiling