Some people play duels for fun, and others play chaos multiplayer.... but nothing quite compares to the feeling you get when you and two of your buddies square off against an opposing team in an all-out slugfest to defeat an enemy emperor.

I referenced one particular emperor game I had a while ago, but I want to go into more detail as to how one should prepare for emperor games, both for lieutenants and emperors. As always, there will be an analysis before I go into any major deck lists.

As a Lieutenant, there are some general rules to keep in mind:

1. You Are In A Duel.
This seems to be contrary to what many people think of emperor games, but it's true. You can only really target, attack, and defend against the guy sitting right in front of you. Sure your emperor and other flank can intervene, but that only happens if you're in trouble... which, hopefully, you aren't.

Why is this fact so important? Because if your deck isn't prepared to fight like it's in a duel, then you're going to lose. You want to act like your only opponent is the one in front of you, and that if you take him down the game ends. I don't mean go all-out and attack with Reckless Abandon (bad joke), but you don't want to be caught with a deck more prepared for the often-slower pace of chaos multiplayer. Feel free to use some of the "faster game" cards and strategies; if you like Blanchwood Armor be my guest. Umezawa's Jitte? Your opponents will hate you, but you know what you need to do.

2. Be Mindful Of Your Friends.
This sounds a little contradictory, but you want to have a deck that doesn't screw your teammates. For example, I love playing a particular white control deck of mine, and it works well in large multiplayer games. However, if I were to use this deck in an emperor match, my friends would grow very upset when Wrathed away their creatures. Sure I would have destroyed opposing creatures, but it really wouldn't help out my friends' creatures.

Your deck should be designed in such a way that it doesn't harm your friends (and, preferably, aids them) and allows you to continue your duel.

3. Be Prepared For Round Two In The Duel.
In a sense, once you defeat the Lieutenant you're facing, you have an automatic second duel, which you have to play with whatever resources you had in the first duel on table, in hand, or in the graveyard. You want to make sure that your deck can take out your first opponent, but you also want to have lasting power when you reach your second. Ravenous Baloth would be a perfect example that helps you accomplish this; he's a big beater early on and later turns into a life boost if needed.

4. If All Else Fails, Stall.
What I mean by this is that if it seems inevitable that you will die to the enemy Lieutenant or Emperor, try to prevent them from reaching your emperor at all costs. I am by no means encouraging you to play any slower, but I do encourage that you preserve your life as long as you can, without hindering your allies, as long as you can in order to buy time for your emperor. Heck, if you stall long enough, your emperor might be able to bail you out - but even if they don't, you still have done your job. You've given him time to draw cards and gain power. As long as the emperor is alive, then all is not lost and the game goes on.

1. Feel Free To Aid Your Friends.
This is pretty much the same as rule number 2 for Lieutenants, except to a greater degree. Your flanks are your paths to victory, and the speed bumps between you and direct confrontation; protect them at all costs. This means that you can either lend a hand to your flanks (here, let me Giant Growth your creature) to molesting the enemy lieutenants (Lightning Rift, go).

2. Combo Decks Are An Option.
Some combos take forever to pull off, and it seems very possible that you could have activated the combo had you had forty life instead of twenty. Wait, what's that you say? You have a speed bump in the way? Well, then, it seems like combo decks work a lot better in the hands of the emperor. You have an extra life cushion, you can't be touched, and there's a possibility that you won't even have to set off the combo to win. Still, I suggest that you have some way to protect your combo, or your friends, just in case something doesn't go right (Damping Matrix, anyone?).

3. Have A Backup Plan.
In the unfortunate occurrence that one of your lieutenants couldn't do his job and fell to the hands of your enemy, you just might need to be able to win the game without them. You don't need to have such a negative view, but you'll be better off, since fate favors those who come prepared. Such cards that help an emperor win could vary - in particular big, bomb creatures like Akroma, Angel of Wrath and Kumano, Master Yamabushi and things like Fireball and Pestilence (assuming your friends' decks were originally unhindered by it).

With all this information in mind, what kind of decks would I suggest for an emperor game? Why decks that meet these basic requirements of course. Okay, that's the obvious sort answer; the long answer is a little more interesting.

Imagine a combo the actually encourages multiple people on the same team, only works if there are multiple people, and gives a similar effect as having a Time Walk on a Panoptic Mirror but only using a crappy rare that costs about $1.50. You might say I'm dreaming, but in the depths of Magic's insanity, one Un-card screams Emperor Combo....

Topsy Turvy.

Yes, depending on how your group works turns, you can cycle through your team and have the last Lieutenant on you team play Topsy Turvy to go back through your team's turns. Then, when it gets to your other Lieutenant's turn, you have them play a Topsy Turvy to set the turn order right again. Add in a little bounce from your emperor via Capsize or something like Temporal Adept and your team has the remaining turns in the game. It's a little more complicated then that due to the reverse phases part, but it can be pulled off.

So what might the decks look like that use this combo? Let us start by looking at the Lieutenants.

Psychatog Emperor Featured by Matthew Lubich on 2005-05-15 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9749.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Psychatog 4 Shadowmage Infiltrator Enchantments 4 Topsy Turvy	Instants 4 Accumulated Knowledge 4 Counterspell 3 Diabolic Edict 3 Terror 4 Undermine 1 Vampiric Tutor Sorceries 1 Demonic Tutor 4 Duress Basic Lands 8 Island 6 Swamp Lands 4 Polluted Delta 2 Underground River 4 Underground Sea	Stats: Average mana: 1.38 Average creature mana cost: 3.00 Average creature power: 1.00 Average creature toughness: 2.50 Deck Composition: Instants: 31.67% Basic Lands: 23.33% Lands: 16.67% Sorceries: 8.33% Creatures: 13.33% Enchantments: 6.67%
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Mono-Blue Emperor Featured by Matthew Lubich on 2005-05-15 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9749.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 2 Aether Vial Creatures 3 Man-o'-War 4 Spiketail Hatchling 3 Suq'ata Firewalker 2 Temporal Adept 4 Voidmage Prodigy	Enchantments 4 Topsy Turvy Instants 4 Accumulated Knowledge 4 Counterspell 2 Echoing Truth 4 Force of Will Basic Lands 24 Island	Stats: Average mana: 1.57 Average creature mana cost: 2.50 Average creature power: 1.25 Average creature toughness: 1.19 Deck Composition: Instants: 23.33% Basic Lands: 40.00% Creatures: 26.67% Artifacts: 3.33% Enchantments: 6.67%
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As you can see, both decks are mainly based on dealing with the opponent in front of them, just in different ways. Turvy Tog is essentially the classic Psychatog build, with the inclusion of Topsy Turvy. Just like most blue/black decks the whole goal is to disrupt your opponent with your spells (Counterspell/Duress/Terror) and then win the game with your creatures.

The mono-blue deck also disrupts your opponent's play, just with only counterspells, bounce, and a little direct damage due to the Firewalkers. The blue deck can also manually bounce its Turvy if the Emperor can't, though you would only do so if your friend had played a Turvy while yours was in play. Both decks also feature one of my favorite draw engines, Accumulated Knowledge. Yes, the little draw spell becomes deadly upon casting several times, since every deck on your team will be playing it. You'll be overjoyed when you play it for the first time and you draw three cards thanks to your teammates.

Now that you have a general idea of the Lieutenants, it's time to look at the Emperor.

U/W Emperor Featured by Matthew Lubich on 2005-05-15 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/9749.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 1 Isochron Scepter Creatures 3 Eternal Dragon 4 Meddling Mage 2 Time Elemental	Enchantments 1 Land Tax 3 Topsy Turvy Instants 2 Absorb 4 Accumulated Knowledge 3 Capsize 4 Counterspell 3 Disenchant 1 Enlightened Tutor 1 Mystical Tutor 3 Swords to Plowshares Basic Lands 10 Island 7 Plains Lands 4 Flooded Strand 4 Tundra	Stats: Average mana: 1.48 Average creature mana cost: 3.89 Average creature power: 2.56 Average creature toughness: 3.00 Deck Composition: Instants: 35.00% Basic Lands: 28.33% Enchantments: 6.67% Creatures: 15.00% Artifacts: 1.67% Lands: 13.33%
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The emperor aids his friends in a few ways: First off, it can eliminate artifacts and enchantments that hit the board, secondly, it can counter spells that its lieutenants weren't ready for, thirdly it can cast Meddling Mages to prevent problems from happening, and lastly it can repeatedly bounce either threats or Topsy Turvies using Time Elemental and Capsize. The deck can also create a two-person Turvy chain with a Lieutenant and can Tutor up the Isochron Scepter to allow it to repeatedly perform any removal. Just like the other two, there are Accumulated Knowledges in the deck. However, the deck also has the draw engines of Land Tax and Eternal Dragon (which doubles as the finisher if things go horribly wrong).

When playing any one of the decks, always remember that you don't have to set off the combo, it just helps that much more.

Until next week,
Matthew Lubich