When building an emperor deck - or any deck, for that matter - the first thing to consider are the rules of the format. This is especially important in multiplayer, where the house rules can change from group to group.

So here are the rules that my group uses: global effects hit everybody, anything that says "opponent" or "opponents" targets the one or more of the opposing team of three, and both flankers must die before the emperor can be attacked, targeted, or have his permanents targeted. There's no "spell range" or "attack range" or anything like that (which means that every deck can target every other deck, except the opposing emperor, and flankers can attack either opposing flanker). This means that the emperor is in a great position to get set up while his flankers take a beating, allowing him the option to play a slower deck.

With that said, let's take a look at what sort of decks would best suit a three-player team for this format.

The flankers need some degree of resiliency, since they could possibly be fending off two opposing decks. They also need some offensive power to take out the opposing flankers and expose the emperor. The emperor can then let his flankers fend for themselves while he sets up with a slower (but potentially more powerful) deck.

Given these guidelines, I decided to make the two flanking decks U/W and R/G, with the emperor deck being 5-Color. The U/W deck will be more reactive, protecting itself and the other flanker against whatever they may face. The R/G deck will be proactive, providing most of the beatdown necessary to destroy the opposing team. Meanwhile, the emperor deck packs a powerful assortment of spells that can swing the game once the initial set up of the deck is done with.

Let's take a look at the U/W deck first. The tricky thing about building for emperor, as opposed to most multiplayer games, is that you have to consider your teammates' decks in addition to your own. That means you can't use Wrath of God if they're using lots of creatures, no Moats unless they're just playing fliers. Your removal needs to be precise instead of overpowering. Keeping that in mind, here's the U/W deck:

U/W Emperor Featured by Dave Almansor on 2005-05-22 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9734.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 3 Isochron Scepter Artifact Creatures 2 Duplicant Creatures 2 Exalted Angel 4 Fog Bank 4 Ophidian	Enchantments 2 Confiscate Instants 3 Boomerang 3 Counterspell 2 Disenchant 2 Misdirection 4 Repulse 4 Swords to Plowshares Legendary Creatures 1 Keiga, the Tide Star Basic Lands 14 Island 10 Plains	Stats: Average mana: 1.83 Average creature mana cost: 3.85 Average creature power: 1.62 Average creature toughness: 3.31 Deck Composition: Instants: 30.00% Basic Lands: 40.00% Enchantments: 3.33% Legendary Creatures: 1.67% Artifacts: 5.00% Artifact Creatures: 3.33% Creatures: 16.67%
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You have plenty of early defense - bounce, counters, Swords, Fog Bank, and if necessary Ophidian, which doubles as your draw engine. With two potential targets at the beginning of the game, you should be able to find an opening for the 'Phid. Isochron Scepter provides reusable bounce, removal or countering, depending on the situation. Keiga and the two angels finish off opposing flankers nicely once you reach the midgame, and Confiscate and Duplicant turn opposing threats to your advantage. Misdirection serves a similar role in dealing with any targeted spell your opponents cast.

As the more defensively-oriented flanker, once you get your defenses and drawing set up in the first few turns you'll mostly just react to what your opponents do. Your larger creatures may sit in your hand for a quite a while, since in many cases it's preferable to leave mana open to deal with threats instead of casting one of your own. Of course, using removal or bounce proactively to help your teammates punch through the other team's defenses is also a good idea. Similarly, if your opponents focus on your ally flanker instead, you'll probably need to provide some defensive help to keep your teammate alive - which is especially important in this case, since your ally flanker is providing most of the beatdown for your team (at least initially). This deck provides you with plenty of options, and shouldn't have much trouble defending against a variety of threats.

Next let's look at the R/G offensive flanker. This deck will need to hit hard and fast, while also having enough sustainable damage to kill multiple opponents. That means most of our damage will be coming from creatures. The goal of this deck is to take out the most dangerous or most easily killed opposing flanker quickly, then move on to demolish the remaining two players.

R/G Emperor Featured by Dave Almansor on 2005-05-22 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9734.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Elvish Spirit Guide 4 Jackal Pup 4 Kird Ape 4 Mogg Flunkies 4 Rogue Elephant 4 Wild Mongrel Enchantments 4 Rancor	Instants 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Moment's Peace World Enchantments 4 Concordant Crossroads Basic Lands 10 Forest 10 Mountain	Stats: Average mana: 1.00 Average creature mana cost: 1.67 Average creature power: 2.17 Average creature toughness: 2.00 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 33.33% Creatures: 40.00% World Enchantments: 6.67% Instants: 13.33% Enchantments: 6.67%
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This is a basic R/G beats deck. Lots of cheap, efficient, potentially hasted or Rancored creatures are great for dealing twenty damage quickly. Also, the deck is very consistent due to every card getting four spots. You have twenty threats that can come out on the first turn, and twelve more cards that make your threats stronger, faster, or let them get through blockers.

The one thing that might look odd in the list is Moment's Peace - but I'll get to that in a minute.

The deck is very easy to play: Get out a few creatures, throw a Rancor or two on 'em, and turn 'em sideways. The Lightning Bolts should be used to remove blockers, unless you can kill an opponent with them. At first glance it may appear that the four copies of Moment's Peace are out of place in a fast-paced aggro deck, but they illustrate an important concept - each of the flanking decks needs elements of both offense and defense. If one player dies, the other has to try and finish off two opposing flankers, which means they need some means of staying alive while continuing to deal damage.

However, if things go well it will be the opposing team who has to deal with a two on one situation. Which brings me to a very important point - these two decks are much more powerful if they work together. Early in the game, your team needs to pick one opponent to focus on. The opposing team, if they're smart, will then do the same to you. However, since your decks are meant to go together, you have the advantage.

For example, consider this situation: your ally, having tapped out on his last turn to bounce a blocker so you could attack unchecked, gets attacked by the enemy flanker who you've been ignoring, and who by now has had enough time to build up a decent army of creatures. You use Moment's Peace to save him, and on his next turn he deals the final two damage to the opponent you've been focusing on with his morphed Exalted Angel.

Each of these decks has tools to protect and help the other, in addition to each deck being able to fend for itself. The U/W deck can bounce or kill potential blockers, hiding behind its own defenses and those of the R/G deck. In turn, if the U/W deck takes care of the blockers, the R/G deck can Bolt or Fog any creatures that attack the U/W deck.

Now that we've examined both of the flankers, let's move on to the emperor's deck.

5-Color Emperor Featured by Dave Almansor on 2005-05-22 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9734.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 1 Scroll Rack Creatures 3 Quirion Dryad Enchantments 1 Mirari's Wake 1 Sylvan Library	Instants 3 Cunning Wish 1 Fact or Fiction 1 Gifts Ungiven 4 Harrow 1 Mystical Tutor 4 Recoil 1 Tainted Pact 1 Vampiric Tutor Legendary Artifacts 1 Mirari Sorceries 1 All Suns' Dawn 3 Burning Wish 1 Death Wish 1 Demonic Tutor 1 Regrowth 4 Vindicate 1 Yawgmoth's Will Basic Lands 9 Forest 2 Island 2 Mountain 2 Plains 3 Swamp Lands 1 Adarkar Wastes 1 Battlefield Forge 1 Brushland 1 Caves of Koilos 2 City of Brass 1 Karplusan Forest	Stats: Average mana: 1.63 Average creature mana cost: 2.00 Average creature power: 1.00 Average creature toughness: 1.00 Deck Composition: Lands: 11.67% Basic Lands: 30.00% Sorceries: 20.00% Instants: 26.67% Enchantments: 3.33% Legendary Artifacts: 1.67% Creatures: 5.00% Artifacts: 1.67%
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You can probably build a much better mana base if you own a lot of dual lands and fetch lands... but since I don't, I had to improvise. Harrow is my favorite land search spell, and a good mix of basic lands supplemented with multicolor nonbasics has worked well for me in several other five color decks. Even without a Harrow in your opening hand, the mana takes care of itself - multicolor lands, tutors, and card drawing give you access to whatever you need.

I like five-color decks, and I like toolbox decks - this is the best of both worlds. Vindicate and Recoil are both versatile and powerful answers, so they get four slots each. Quirion Dryad gets big very fast in a deck like this and serves as a nice win condition should you need it. Wishes are your silver bullets here. Since we aren't limited to a fifteen-card sideboard when choosing what to Wish for in casual play, our options are nearly endless. I bring a stack of thirty to forty cards with me for each wish - enough to give me room for staple cards, like Counterspell or Fireball, and a selection of narrower answers like Annul and Bind. At the same time, my group doesn't have to wait for ten minutes while I go look through my collection to find what I want for this situation. The rest of the deck is devoted to search, draw, and some nice utility cards like Mirari.

With your flankers protecting you, you have plenty of time to set up your board. During the early game you should play somewhat aggressively, using Vindicate and Recoil to help your R/G flanker get rid of an opponent. Once you reach the midgame things really start to get fun, since you have access to things like Mirari Wish recursion and All Suns' Dawn to get back four or five cards. The deck can quite literally deal with anything and will be a valuable asset to your team.

Used together, these three decks are a force to be reckoned with. Even with two other allies aiding the opponent you focus on, you should be able to finish him quite early in the game. Then it's two against three and you have the advantage. If the other team tries to kill off your R/G flanker first, you could be in a bad position since your offense is slowed down considerably without that deck. However, the emperor and U/W flanker should be able to protect him at least long enough to take out an opposing flanker. On the other hand, if they focus on the U/W deck it has plenty of defenses on its own, and with help from the emperor if necessary it should have no trouble surviving.

If you some reason you are forced to play defensively (say the opposing team plays Wrath of God with a Darksteel Colossus on the board and your team doesn't have an answer), then most of the burden will fall on the U/W and Emperor decks. The R/G deck can amass an army and use Moment's Peace to stay alive, but it doesn't really have any answers to anything. The other two decks are well equipped to play defense, though, and should be able to turn the game back in your team's favor fairly quickly.

The most important piece of advice I can give you when using these decks, which I've given a few examples of already, is to use them synergistically. Bounce and removal are there not only to deal with threats, but to press an attack and put more pressure on the other team. Teamwork is key to any team format. Used well, it is the key to a swift and decisive victory.

Dave Almansor
crazyd@gmailDOTcom