When approaching this article, I thought back on every Emperor Constructed format game I've ever played, as well as the moment each game went wrong.

In the dawning days of Darksteel, most of my playgroup had the Affinity/Genesis Chamber/Leonin Elder deck. Many of you should be aware of this deck, as it bore pains similar to the days of that durned elven demonseed Wellwisher. As I sat in the Palpatine seat, I watched my two "teammates"* help rocket up my opponents' life totals by playing their artifact creatures, allowing our opponents' life totals to spiral higher than my gasoline bill. I then discovered why we kept getting bashed, yet our opponents kept dominating - despite changing decks from game to game.

This dark side occurrence has a name, and that name is synergy.

Synergy is the interaction of cards for a mutual benefit that makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Whereas using Call to Glory to untap a Kami of the Hunt to block is a useful combat trick, using it to untap Battle-Mad Ronin - thus making him a 3/3 blocker - makes use of the synergy between the Call to Glory and the Bushido 2 of the Battle-Mad Ronin, a Bushido most do not want to trigger.

It then occurred to me that if I had the opportunity to sit in the Palpatine seat whilst arming my Sith Generals, we would do much better. Here's how I would do it: I would have an army of synergistic clones bash the rebellious generals who stood in my way, whilst I not-so-secretly prepared a prime weapon to wipe them all out (albeit without the thermal exhaust port just below the main port). Sadly, our planeswalkers never made it to Camino, Coruscant, or even the outer rim. They did, however, go to two places better:

Otaria and Rath.

Palpatine had his clones; Darth Edd has Slivers.

Slivers have the ultimate share of synergy. No matter where they are, if there is another one out there, they help each other, without even trying. This is synergy at it's finest. This also allows the use of all five colors, thus allowing access to all manner of answers. This is synergy between the decks, synergy amongst the team. Looking across the sets, Tempest and Stronghold gave us the advance troops, whereas Legions gave us the heavy artillery.

Let us start with Sith General Darth Maul. Darth Maul is the aggressive "funky move, flip, dip, gut your master" kind of Sith. Thus, we need an aggressive deck to match his playstyle.

Slivers Emperor Featured by Edd Black on 2005-05-22 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9720.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Blade Sliver 3 Heart Sliver 2 Horned Sliver 3 Hunter Sliver 4 Muscle Sliver 4 Quick Sliver 4 Spined Sliver Enchantments 2 Battle Strain	Instants 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Naturalize 3 Path of Anger's Flame Sorceries 2 Burning Wish Basic Lands 5 Forest 9 Mountain Lands 4 Karplusan Forest 4 Taiga	Stats: Average mana: 1.35 Average creature mana cost: 2.25 Average creature power: 1.42 Average creature toughness: 1.42 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 23.33% Lands: 13.33% Sorceries: 3.33% Creatures: 40.00% Enchantments: 3.33% Instants: 16.67%
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This is all about quick beats. Slivers get big, fast, and can close with the Path of Anger's Flame or the combo of Battle Strain/Hunter Sliver. We're staying away from the big boys - Brood Sliver and Magma Sliver - to keep the curve down and increase the density of threats. Darth Maul never gave Qui-Gon the chance to breathe on Tattooine; you shouldn't either.

However, we have to have two generals. You may remember my other apprentice, Count Dooku. Dooku has that "in control at all times" look about him. He's helping to play both ends against the middle, all the while setting up that advantage. Thus, a more control oriented deck for this older, more debonair Sith General.

Slivers Emperor Featured by Edd Black on 2005-05-22 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9720.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Crystalline Sliver 4 Essence Sliver 4 Plated Sliver 4 Talon Sliver 4 Winged Sliver	Instants 3 Counterspell 2 Cunning Wish 2 Disenchant 2 Force of Will 4 Mana Leak 4 Swords to Plowshares Basic Lands 8 Island 7 Plains Lands 4 Adarkar Wastes 4 Tundra	Stats: Average mana: 1.37 Average creature mana cost: 2.20 Average creature power: 1.60 Average creature toughness: 1.60 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 25.00% Lands: 13.33% Instants: 28.33% Creatures: 33.33%
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Here we see why Maul doesn't run Magma Slivers. The Crystalline Sliver takes most of our clone's problems off the board, but are anti-synergistic with any of the targeting Slivers of Legions. Dooku has removal and permission, along with evasion and life gain. Across both Generals we combine provoke with first strike, haste with evasion, brute force with top-heavy dependent life gain. Now we need to bring it all together.

Slivers Emperor Featured by Edd Black on 2005-05-22 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9720.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 2 Jalum Tome Creatures 3 Acidic Sliver 3 Clot Sliver 3 Toxin Sliver Enchantments 2 Ragged Veins 3 Shared Triumph 3 Spirit Link Instants 4 Dark Ritual 4 Terminate 1 Vampiric Tutor	Legendary Artifacts 1 Predator, Flagship Legendary Creatures 1 Sliver Overlord 1 Sliver Queen Sorceries 1 Consume Spirit 1 Death Wish 1 Demonic Tutor 2 Stitch Together Basic Lands 8 Mountain 8 Swamp Lands 4 Bloodstained Mire 1 Plateau 3 Scrubland	Stats: Average mana: 1.37 Average creature mana cost: 3.09 Average creature power: 2.91 Average creature toughness: 2.91 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 26.67% Enchantments: 13.33% Artifacts: 3.33% Sorceries: 8.33% Creatures: 15.00% Legendary Artifacts: 1.67% Lands: 13.33% Instants: 15.00% Legendary Creatures: 3.33%
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To quote Luke, "What a piece of junk." I would never sit down with this in a one-on-one game. However, sitting in the Fricking Rotating Chair, the rules are a little different. The Emperor's deck is designed to augment his generals - not to do any of the work. That's left to the generals. The Ragged Veins, though generally bad, is synergistic with the Hunter Slivers and the beats from Darth Maul's deck. The Spirit Link acts as life gain on the same vein. The Jalum Tome builds threshold to bring Stitch Together to its full power, bringing online mommy and daddy. Here I use the removal to deal with whomever is in front of Dooku so his counters can deal with the opposing commander (up yours, Yoda!). My slivers further augment the rest, my tutors set up my hand, and Death Wish is for that one of need right now.

In emperor, more so than any other format, you and your teammates have to have synergy within your decks to gain that insurmountable advantage. Then, when your opponents sit with their burn/life gain/elf/arcbound decks, rest easy knowing your answers are not even half a world away, and they'll cost you nothing.

* - Considering their play, I'm not sure they deserve the name here.