Every gaming group or gaming store has at least one annoying kid in it. I think it's one of those universal truths out there. You know the type - said annoying kid is loud, boisterous and often young, like fourteen or younger. They think they are all that and a stack of Chimney Imps even though they are often terrible players. One such player that once played at my local community college fits the bill. His deck was (he no longer plays) basically a white-green Judgment pre-con with four Golden Wish. I'm going to call the guy Mr. Golden Wish, because mocking someone for playing a bad card makes me feel special about myself. This guy ran his mouth constantly about how good he is and how he constantly beats everyone.

I don't normally go to this community college anymore (I graduated a few years ago) but I came by to visit friends. I was playing a casual game with these friends and I was playing my favorite multi-player deck of all time: Enchantress. But not just any Enchantress - my Enchantress. The deck rocks. Basically I went off in the game I was playing and annihilated the competition. Now Mr. Golden Wish was observing my game and after I mopped up he remarked:"Dude, one 'tranq' will take your deck out." Wow. That was deep. I bet Mr. Golden Wish gets all the ladies by telling them how he"tranqed" an Unholy Strength.

I hate hearing Tranquility called"tranq." Bet you couldn't tell, huh?

Okay, so now you're thinking,"So Greg, what's so special about your Enchantress deck?" Well, before I explain it to you how about I show it to you? Here it is:

Creatures: (10)
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Wall of Blossoms
2 Auratog

Spells: (28)
4 Enchantress's Presence
4 Sterling Grove
4 Exploration
2 Rancor
2 Mirari's Wake
2 Sacred Mesa
2 Obliterate
2 Opalescence
2 Rancor
2 Constant Mists
1 Arenson's Aura
1 Solitary Confinement

Lands: (22)
4 Savannah
2 Plains
3 Forest
2 Kor Haven
2 Krosan Verge
3 Brushland
2 Taiga
2 Plateau
1 Maze of Ith
1 Serra's Sanctum

So what makes this deck so special? Well for starters, it has three different ways to kill people. See how many you can spot.

You're scrolling down without actually looking for them aren't you? Dude, it's like playing"Where's Waldo?" except you're looking for Magic cards and not a guy with a hideously bad fashion sense... I think I'll stop now and just explain the kills:

Auratog and Rancor
Big fatty Tog tramples people by recycling Rancor for as much Green mana as you have. They get even bigger when powered by Mirari's Wake. This method has been done to death in other Enchantress decks though. It is also my least favorite and most unreliable of the kill mechanisms, as people can deal with the Tog using bounce or spot removal. Actually bounce really sucks to deal with because if played on Rancor's target in response to the enchantment being cast, Rancor falls off and goes to the graveyard. People where I play often run Capsize and its ilk, so I am hesitant toward using this combo for killing people.

What I more commonly use this combo for is drawing cards if I run out of enchantments to play. When you sac and recast the Rancor, you are hopefully drawing cards, because you have an enchantress or three in play. I hear"G: Draw a card" is pretty good. Whoops, my bad, where is my Magic etiquette? I mean"G: Draw a card" is some good. Maybe we should move on to combo number two now...

Sacred Mesa
The one enchantment that is a kill card all on its own. Well, Security Detail is too, but this just might be a little better. Obviously, this card gets even better with Mirari's Wake out and those two cards backed by a Sterling Grove or two can easily seal the game. This is a great way to win, but kinda cheap. Still, I'll take it.

Obliterate and Opalescence
My favorite of the three kill mechanisms. If you haven't figured it out yet, basically you play a bunch of enchantments (namely Wakes), and then you float twelve mana. Again, with the Wake out, this is not hard. You spend eight of that mana and Obliterate the board away. Once that resolves you drop Opalescence and swing with all your enchantments. Once this combo goes off, you basically win the game.

What makes this last combo even better is it is uncounterable. How you ask? Well, Obliterate can't be countered so once it resolves, you wait to see if anyone floats any mana. If they do, you spend your mana on a Sacred Mesa or something of the like and announce your attack step. They then must spend their mana or take burn. You then declare a null attack step (declare zero attackers) and drop a land or two and play the Opalescence.

Granted, you have to wait a turn to attack this way, but it really doesn't matter. Yes, Force of Will stops this, so it's not technically uncounterable, but my group doesn't play with them and I hope yours doesn't either. If your group does... well sucks to be you.

Now, I'm going to analyze my card choices and then I'll give some general playing tips, followed by some ways to build this deck on a budget.

First the card-by-card rundown:

Enchantress's Presence
Ah yes, four of my sexy ladies, these sweethearts are what gets the deck in gear. They don't die to Lighting Bolt, or Terror, or whatever any creature removal. They are harder to eliminate than normal Enchantresses, and they survive the Obliterate.

Argothian Enchantress
The other four of my sexy ladies, these honeys are great because they are cheap and can't be targeted.

I chose these over Verduran Enchantress because they are a lot harder to remove. Actually, I hate Verdurans. In fact my friends and I play a game we call"Crappy Rare Poker." Basically it's Poker, but we use crappy rares as poker chips. It's good fun. Anyway, I throw Verdurans in my crappy rare pile often, that's how much I hate the card. It joins the ranks of Jinxed Choker, Yare, and Thieves'Auction.

Be warned though, that both enchantresses don't have the optional draw ability like their ugly Verduran stepsister (I mean crappy card ugly, not looks ugly). Thus you want at least two and no more than three of any of these on the board at any given time. You might want to include a Pursuit of Knowledge in the deck if you are worried about decking yourself, as you can just put as many study counters on it as you want, without sacrificing it.

Exploration
This little number helps power the deck. With all the land you will be drawing from Enchantresses, the ability to play them all is pretty sweet. Zvi's Turboland deck showed us this though, so I'm not exactly breaking new ground here. The fact that it costs one Green is nice too.

Wall of Blossoms
In multiplayer, just having any creature out keeps the Defiant Elves and Savannah Lions from rockin' your noggin early. This keeps away the weenie rush (slightly), which is vital, as this deck doesn't have much of an early game plan except"play stuff." You draw a card off this too, that's really neat.

Sterling Grove
These should be in all Enchantress decks. Making your enchantments untargetable is good. Of course, it can be sacrificed as well for an enchantment. If you are going to use this to search, make sure you know which kill mechanism to go for, or grab the Wake if you need it. This sounds obvious, but sometimes Magic players make mistakes and don't think. Please take a moment to let that profound revelation sink in.

Mirari's Wake
Have you noticed that all three kill mechanisms are greatly accelerated by this card? This is the most important spell in the deck. Thus, it is the one you most want to sneak by countermagic. That means don't play Wake until the counter guy is tapped out because he countered your opponent's Mudhole.

Solitary Confinement
Once this hits the board, it is hopefully backed by a Grove or two. Usually if this hits the board, it's game over. They really can't touch you and the drawbacks are practically non factors, because you should be drawing a bunch of cards with the Enchantress engine. There is only one Confinement in here because you can sac a Sterling Grove to fetch it if you absolutely must.

Auratog
The Tog's place in this deck is two-fold. One, he is a part of the combo/card drawing engine with Rancor and it is a two-drop that combined with Wall of Blossoms can help to deter early attackers. You really don't want to sacrifice your early enchantments to Auratog, but if you need to in order to survive, then I guess it's better than scooping up your cards before the kid with the Dross Scorpion / Scale of Chiss-Goria deck.

Rancor
This is in here to work with the Auratog for the above-mentioned combo. The problem is, you really only have a few valid targets for it: four walls, two Togs, and assorted Pegasus tokens. Since you have Mazes and Kor Havens, you could put it on a creature of an opponent's for a little favor from them later. Remember kids, multiplayer is all about politics.

Arenson's Aura
This is a one-of because you can use it to get rid of pesky Global enchantments your opponents, have such as other Mirari's Wakes and Psychic Battles (yes there are Psychic Battle decks in multiplayer). This is a card that is situational, but remember, you want the board clear of other permanents after you Obliterate. This card also works with Rancor, as you can sac the Rancor to it in order to bust other enchantments and thus draw more cards. Not as good As Auratog, but"WG: Draw a card and bust an enchantment" is still some good.

Constant Mists
Like a fog, but better. You will be playing a lot of lands quickly, so the buyback is not a problem.

Replenish
Well Mr. Golden Wish was right about one thing,"tranqs" are bad for you. Most players I play with don't pack mass enchantment removal unless they know I will be playing this deck a lot. Replenish allows you to get back in the game. A couple of games, I had Tranquility used on me. On my turn, I cast Obliterate, floated four and cast Replenish and got Opalescence and all my enchantments out of the yard with both fingers in the air. These are insurance for the one newbie who randomly throws in mass enchantment removal.

Maze of Ith
More stall to keep creatures from knocking at your door. If you don't have a maze or are worried about the shaky mana base, you can substitute it for a forest.

Kor Haven
More creature stall. Make sure you don't play them both at once. They are legendary after all.

Serra's Sanctum
Easily produces boatloads of mana later in the game. You can hold this in hand, drop it after an Obliterate, play the Sanctum, then play a bunch of pegasi or play more enchantments. Even if you still don't do that, it's great synergy with the Mesa, or works great by itself to play more enchantments.

Okay, now for a few general playing tips. You could probably gather some of this from what I have mentioned previously, and some of it seems obvious, but still, this deck can be tough to play sometimes, so here goes:

Basically, your early game plan is stall. Try to develop your mana quickly with Exploration and Krosan Verge and get some type of defense to deter attackers, something like an Auratog, Maze of Ith, Wall of Blossoms, or Kor Haven. Usually one or two of these will keep the early critters away, because they will go after the guy whose mana curve starts at Dromar the Banisher. After that, get an Enchantress or two in play. If you draw a Grove and no Enchantress, sac it to fetch an Enchantress's Presence. It's important you have at least one. Once you have a boatload of cards thanks to the pretty ladies, try to sneak a Mirari's Wake through. If that resolves, go for the Confinement and by this point you should have a Grove or two in play, so the win is practically yours. Just choose your kill combo and go for it.

By the way, people will start to target you if you play this deck too much. Thus, it's good to rotate different decks and play this maybe once for each session you play with your friends. You cannot survive two or three players ganging up on you early and weenie rushing you. Also, if someone plays a deck loaded with Nevinyrral's Disks or Pernicious Deeds, I would shy away from this deck. Nullmage Advocate and Devout Witness are annoying, so you might want to consider playing Arrest or Swords to Plowshares in place of the Arenson's Aura or a Replenish.

The other option is to strike deals with other players such as"I Constant Mists for you or Rancor your creature if you off the Nullmage." I am not a fan of relying on others though. My version of the deck is tooled for what I run into in my multiplayer games. Thus, I rarely if ever, see Disks and Deeds running around. If those are prevalent, you could try Bind to shut down that crap. You can buy them pretty reasonably at StarCityGames.com (shameless plug).

Now I know what you're thinking,"Greg this deck is really cool, I can't wait to build this deck, beat my friends and score with the ladies, but I just don't have the cards." Well that's okay because many of the pricier cards are luxuries, not requirements. The most expensive things in this deck are the dual lands, and I realize casual players just don't have these. Thus, you can substitute Wooded Foothills and Windswept Heaths for the Dual Lands and put a Mountain in place of the Maze of Ith.

If search lands are a problem you could even work in Rampant Growth somewhere. Verduran Enchantress does work if you can't find the Argothians and you could use Wild Growth in place of Exploration. The Wake's must stay and so must the Confinement, Sterling Grove and Opalescence. Sacred Mesa needs to stay and either Jokulhaups or Obliterate is needed as well. You could even try something like Whipsilk if you don't have the Auratog and Yavimaya Enchantress is another beefy creature that could take the Tog's place. You could take out Rancor for Whipsilk and Auratog for the Enchantress and be just fine.

To be honest, many of these cheaper alternatives don't work as well as the originals, but they don't make the deck suck as long as many of the core features mentioned earlier are still there. I had the Savannahs but was too lazy to put them in the deck for months, and I did just fine. I didn't use the Replenish for awhile either, rather I used Hobble at first and then Holistic Wisdom before moving on to Replenish. The deck was still tearing up the multiplayer circuit, so if you are missing a few of these cards, don't piss your pants, it's not that big a deal.

Really, this whole deck gambles on the idea that people don't maindeck Tranquility, Purify and the like. 90% of the time the gamble pays off, but that's what the Replenishes are for. Anyway, this deck is great fun to play, so let me know what you think of the deck and the article in general. If I get good feedback, I will write about the deck I built to beat this deck because I started passing Enchantress off to friends.

Well peace suckas,

Greg Peloquin
rottenmonk@hotmail.com