Dear Azami: Don’t Pay The Ferryman

You know what the worst part about working on this deck was? Coming up with a witty tagline for the article. I seriously spent the better part of an hour
trying to Google different combinations of “Enchantress,” “Enchantment,” “Ferry,” “River Styx,” “Black And White,” and a boatload (no pun intended…) of
other search strings. I came up empty-handed, so please enjoy your obscure reference to a moderately-popular song from the ’80’s. It is what it is.

If I can salvage this in any way, there’s an awesome cover of the song in question for you extreme power metal lovers out there by a band called Domain.
Check it out here.

This is the new definitive Athreos theme song. You heard it here first. (If you don’t happen to love extreme power metal, I’m just digging a deeper hole.
Sorry about that.)

Moving on…

The Theros Block gods are certainly polarizing. I know I’ve personally waited a really long time for Wizards of the Coast to come around to
including the God sub-type, and I was a very early adopter of them in Commander; as soon as foil copies hit the streets, I shelled out $50 for a copy of
Erebos, God of the Dead and pulled a mono-black deck back together. (In related news, I’m starting to understand why my wife thinks I make bad financial
decisions…)

Born of the Gods
hit, and my R/G prayers were answered with Xenagos, God of Revels. Not exactly un-trodden territory, I know, but I’m notoriously terrible at building and
playing true Commander aggro decks, so I’m fine with running training wheels in this case.

Now, we have Journey Into Nyx, and the cycle is complete. Wizards is seeding “god packs” into the booster boxes and inspiring many a player to
build the five-color “All the Gods!” deck. (In related news, foil copies of Karona, False God are sold out all over the place.)

I’m not about to quite go that far, because that would mean that, with advance apologies to Bennie Smith, I’d have to play Pharika, God of Affliction. I’m
just not that hardcore. (Side note: What’s the affliction in question? Free Snake Day doesn’t seem like an awful affliction if you ask me. Why didn’t this
thing give people poison damage or something? I mean, it’s not even like the snakes are biting the people who were given them. I suppose this is more
threatening than “Pharika, God of Kittens” or “Pharika, God of Ham Sandwiches,” though, so there’s that.)

The point is, people are building Commander decks around the gods like crazy. The Dear Azami inbox is literally flooded with them, and there are a
lot of compelling choices as a result to dig into. I decided that Jeff’s deck was on the chopping block this week due to a combination of the most
interesting Nyx god (in my opinion, anyway), a very interesting decision to attempt a tried-and-true Magic strategy without arguably the most
important color available as an option, and a really decent opportunity to apply some solid upgrades.

I frequently lament the fact that a lot of new legendary creature designs have a tendency to force-feed a strategy or deck direction rather than leaving
interpretation wide open to explore. For example, what is the ratio of “Play all the Wheel effects Nekusar!” decks to literally any other build of the
Grixis powerhouse out there? From what I’ve seen, 9-out-of-10 Nekky decks give Robert Frost the bird and take the road more travelled, and who can blame them?

What I’ve been discovering is that Theros Block is opening the doors up quite a bit on options for decks due to the gods. This is awesome. Because
the card type box is jammed with “enchantment” on top of “creature,” you now have tons of angles to approach a new build. Is it color? Flavor? Creature
type? Devotion matters? The door is wide open to a lot of open options, and this is fantastic for Commander brewers everywhere.

Enchantress is suddenly a very solid possibility in any color as a result. Before, it was really hard to try to run an enchantress build if you weren’t in
green; besides a boatload of fantastic enchantments to begin with, green traditionally brings the holy trifecta of Argothian Enchantress, Enchantress’s
Presence, and Verduran Enchantress to the table, thus giving the deck its namesake. Now you can add Eidolon of Blossoms to the mix as well. It’s not easy
to skip Forests when going this route.

This is exactly why I wanted to take a look at your deck today, Jeff. You’re taking a very off-the-wall approach to a traditional archetype, and that’s
something that I can appreciate. It’s also a chance to showcase the fact that with the advent of the gods and the enchantment-heavy block, it’s
suddenly very possible to do this in many different color combinations. We’ve got a lot of room to play here.

First, though, let’s talk a bit about what we’re playing with today.

Looking at this deck, I’m seeing a lot of newer cards. It looks like more than just opening Athreos in a Sealed pool…it looks like a good portion of the
Sealed pool came along for the ride as well, with a sprinkling of Commander 2013 and Duel Decks: Sorin vs. Tibalt thrown in for flavor. For the record,
that’s fantastic. I’m one of the Commander players that seem to be incapable of building a deck without spending a solid week in front of an Excel
spreadsheet and a Gatherer window, incapable of just going with the flow. I build on paper, tweak on paper, maximize all available inclusions, take
inventory, and place an order to complete a deck. It would be downright magical to be able to build with what I have in my card boxes, so I’m jealous.
Freeform decks tend to be organically more interesting than antiseptic boxed lists.

The opening here is that while the list looks great, it’s also very populated with new things. Again, this is great; Wizards has really supported pushing
stronger cards in recent years, so it makes sense that newer options get their time in the sun. Things seem to work really well together as of late, too,
which is what we touched on above in relation to the enchantment-happy Theros Block. Simply put, pulling a deck together out of new cards is a
great place to start.

The reason this works in my favor is that there’s a gigantic selection of cards out there. The enormous back-catalogue of Magic cards has been discussed a
million times over, but it’s true: there’s a whole lot to work with out there. Wizards R&D is paying attention too (cards like Skullclamp and Mind’s
Desire notwithstanding), so the old school works really well with the new school. I’ve got a lot of options that I guarantee will push this deck in a solid
direction. Probably too many, even… I’ll have to leave quite a bit by the wayside. But that’s fine too. This is a great blank slate, and more deckbuilders
would do well to think about cards historically as well as in relation to color and theme. After all, who doesn’t love blowing someone out with cards like
Ice Cauldron and Blind Fury?

Let’s talk a bit about the roots of Enchantress next.

In a traditional sense, Enchantress decks are extremely synergistic builds that take advantage of the “enchantment” card type in a method similar to your
typical tribal deck. Due to the vast variety of utility enchantments out there, this allows the deck to cover nearly any base it needs to. Removal, tutors,
card draw, recursion, beaters…it’s covered. More to the point, because it offers more variety in utility than a standard tribal deck, the enchantress deck
is really the blueprint for building around synergy. Almost nothing nails the point home better.

Key Cards – The namesake enchantress effects mentioned above are the main reason to play the archetype. When an Oblivion Ring also draws you three cards
for free, you know you’re playing with power.

Weaknesses – Cards like Fracturing Gust and Bane of Progress are a thing. If your opponents manage an unanswered board wipe, you can end up not only paying
off the top of your deck, but doing so with cards that don’t pack the punch (or the cost) of comparable function choices. Swords to Plowshares is way
better than that Oblivion Ring in a vacuum if you’re trying to get rid of a creature permanently.

Jeff, your enchantress build is going to miss out on most of the draw engine that a comparable green deck would have. Fortunately, Wizards decided to
color-shift some things over the years, so Verduran Enchantress is now white and is called Mesa Enchantress. You’re not totally shut out.

What we can do is take advantage of the power of white to provide some pretty strong effects that should make up for it. You’ll get some of the best
recursion the game can offer and some of the best finisher options that are synergistic with the strategy. Black will step in to help with the missing card
draw as well as help with lighting up devotion to Athreos (a nice collateral effect here).

You’ve got a great manabase already, so some subtle polishing and the above changes should put you in business. Let’s get to it.

There’s a lot of basic opportunity here for easy upgrades, but most are expensive. If you don’t have a Scrubland or a Marsh Flats in place, I’m not going
to suggest that you make the addition. I honestly don’t think a two-color deck typically needs that level of mana-fixing anyway, but if you have either
lying around (or feel like spending), slot them in.

There are a few basic changes here that we can enact that will make sure you have both black and white mana represented in the correct portions when you
need it.

Out: 1x Plains, 1x Swamp, Rogue’s Passage

The first two are pretty easy to handle; you’re running fifteen of each, so you won’t miss two of them in order to increase your color fixing.

Rogue’s Passage is always a cute option to include, but you’ve already got a deck in place that favors using multiple bodies to get the job done. I think
you won’t get the mileage out of this that you think you will, and I have a better card for the slot.

In: Terramorphic Expanse, Evolving Wilds, Command Tower

The two cornerstone basic fetch lands are an easy addition here, and will go a long way towards ensuring that you hit multiples of both colors in the early
game. These are always solid additions for any deck, but in a two-color build they really shine, ensuring a good blend at all times.

Command Tower is another no-brainer. It’s the closest thing there is in my book to a Commander staple. If you’re running more than one color, this goes in.
There’s really nearly no reason not to.

There’s a lot of ground to cover here. This deck is already built to take advantage of the enchantment sub-theme, so it goes deep on Theros-block
options.

Possibly a little too deep, in my opinion.

I think there’s some dead weight here. There are a lot of great enchantment creatures in these three expansions, but there are some that just don’t
translate well to Commander, or to a Standard metagame where, I believe, this deck wants to live. We’ll cut some of the dead weight, as well as a few other
options for a few other reasons, and I’ll aim to try and not lose the forward momentum you want to maintain in order to prevent you from falling into mid-range hell. I think
that’s easily possible, and I think we can upgrade the engine a bit while we’re here.

Out: Bone Shredder

It’s not an enchantment, so it reads as a strange break from the theme. Unless there’s an extremely good reason, I’m also a fan of steering clear of
situational removal. How is this really better than a card like Murder, after all? I doubt you’re going aggro with it, and you may not even be
planning on paying the echo cost.

Out: Brain Maggot

There are too many strikes against this card. First, people tend to frown on discard in Commander, so it runs the real risk of making early enemies. Next, it’s
a really fragile creature to begin with, and tied to that, it has that awesome (sarcasm intended) “gives things back” clause, and worse yet, with the new
wording. No longer can you pull the old “play this, retain priority, somehow sacrifice it with the Duress effect trigger on the stack” to permanently exile
a card. (Think Fiend Hunter here.) The new wording is a single trigger that creates two effects, one immediate and one delayed, so you can’t get the value
you used to be able to.

Out: Eidolon of Rhetoric

This one fails the biggest Commander test there is: preventing people from playing the game. It’s not as egregious as the old Erayo’s Essence / Arcane
Laboratory combo that caused many a table to be rage-flipped, but it’s always a bummer to have to turn the game into “Draw, check to see if I have removal
in my hand, pass…” for all of the people at the table. That’s just no fun.

Out: Fate Unraveler

I have nothing but fond memories of playing Underworld Dreams back in the days before there were any sanctioned formats at all. The effect is a house if
you can build around it.

In this case, I don’t think this deck is doing that at all. Eidolon here is relegated to closet-case punishment for blue-based draw decks, but that’s about
it. We’re not playing Nekusar here (thankfully!).

Out: Gnarled Scarhide

This is kind of too little of an effect to make a difference. In other formats, two power for one mana might be worth the slot, but in Commander, it’s just
an early drop in the bucket (and terrible late!). It’s not even much of a good buff for another creature in bestow mode, so I think it can safely get the
axe.

Out: Harvestguard Alseids

Not a terrible effect, but without the reliable ability to play enchantments at instant speed, Harvestguard ends up being a very telegraphed Aqueous
Form-style effect generator. Unless your opponent has a bigger creature than you do, in which case it just likely does nothing but take up space. If this
were a straight Fog effect…well, it would be broken, but it would be in. Since it isn’t, it isn’t.

Out: Necrotic Sliver

The Vindicate sliver is all good and well, but it isn’t on-theme here, and this deck isn’t set up all that well to abuse it. I’m fairly sure we can come up
with a better repeatable effect in our additions that will make more sense.

Out: Nyxborn Eidolon

Please see Gnarled Scarhide above. This is just the chocolate to that card’s vanilla. And it’s still not really good enough in this format.

Out: Nyxborn Shieldmate

Back when I started playing, Revised was the current set. Even then, people played Unholy Strength, but passed on Holy Strength.

I passed on both for being way too minimal in effect. And I’ve already cut the new-school Unholy Strength options, so this one is not going to be far
behind.

Out: Nyx-Fleece Ram

I’m all for playing an enchantment sheep. Or any sheep, for that matter. But there are better life-gain options than this. Maybe if it triggered on every
upkeep? Actually, at 0/5, maybe not even then.

Out: Radiant’s Dragoons

I’ve tried to figure this one out for a little bit, and I just can’t. I don’t think it’s a very good option in any situation. There are better soldiers
that gain you life (like Gerrard Capashen, for example), and boatloads of better life-gain cards in general. Maybe I’m missing an interaction, but for now,
this has got to go.

Out: Sightless Brawler

I was looking for a few final slots to free up, and I passed this over multiple times at first because my poor little brain translated the wording to
“Sightless Brawler can’t be blocked by less than two creatures.” That would be worth the slot. Maybe, anyway. I’m actually not crazy about the bestow cost
here, and I think that’s the mode this will get played more often than not.

Out: Spiteful Returned

Nearly left alone for the artwork. This is probably very cool in foil due to the contrast and content. Again, though, a 1/1 (or a +1/+1) just doesn’t cut
it at two mana, and it really doesn’t cut it at four mana.

I should note that the Bestow creatures do gain some power for being essentially like the Totem Armor mechanic, coming back after the creature it enchants gets
wiped out as a creature themselves. Still, I stand by my assessments on these cards. Getting back a 1/1 in most cases isn’t going to make any real
difference in the game. Celestial Archon is basically the bottom line of what I’d need to have in the package to run it for this reason.

Let’s fill in some blanks here.

In: Blightcaster

If Doomwake Giant is pulling a ton of weight, this thing should be a solid addition as well. It’s not hitting the entire team like the Giant does, and it
has issues with hexproof/shroud creatures, but in a deck jam-packed this full with enchantments, you should have some solid removal provided from this
card.

In: Archetype of Courage

You’ve already got the deathtouch Archetype (Archetype of Finality), and this one is a solid addition as well. Once we get a little deeper in the threat
department, giving your team first strike while preventing anyone else from having it will be a huge combat superiority factor.

In: Mesa Enchantress

We already discussed this above, and there’s not a better card-advantage addition for this deck. Keep in mind that this triggers only when you actually
cast an enchantment, not when one comes into play for you. That knocks it down a notch or two, but it’s still going to be a boatload of free cards if you
play it intelligently and protect it.

In: Silent Sentinel

This
is the type of threat you want to be packing. It’s a decent-sized evasive body, and its effect is killer in this deck. You need a good shot of recursion,
and this delivers that in spades. Better yet, the wording doesn’t even require you to actually damage an opponent – all you need to do is declare it as an
attacker. I love that Wizards is heading in this templating direction more frequently these days.

In: Celestial Ancient

While we’re exploring the benefits of adding value to each enchantment you cast, check this guy out. Anything that allows you to buff the team while doing
exactly what you want to be doing anyway (playing enchantments) is a great addition for your deck. And yes, he buffs himself. (Itself? What the heck is
that thing, anyway? I thought ostriches didn’t fly.)

In: Deathbringer Liege

Remember that we also want to aim to get Athreos properly devoted and in creature mode as well. After all, a five-power indestructible beater (or blocker)
for three mana is pretty fantastic. Again, we’re in “buff the team” mode, and you know how that value works.

Past that, this is one of the “good” Lieges. Some fall a little short (I’m thinking specifically of Boartusk Liege and Glen Elendra Liege here), but
Deathbringer packs removal and combat tricks all in the same package.

This is a pricy addition, but for great reason. It really does literally everything the deck wants; if it were an enchantment as well, you’d be breaking
the rules and playing it as your Commander, it’d be so good.

In: Thran Golem

This is a nice little synergistic option for the deck. You’re packing enough bestow creatures (yes, even with my cuts) and other auras that this guy will
nearly always be a discount beater that is a killer value for the cost. There is not a better Ethereal Armor target in the deck.

In: Sigil of the Empty Throne

This is a major piece of the equation. Be warned that this card will instantly draw you hate, but you stand to build an army of angels out of nowhere with
this card. This is a premier threat for a deck like this, and it will really help to provide you with a heck of an offense that you kind of lacked before
now.

In fact, we’re actually cutting back on the number of creatures you run because of this card, which will (in addition to the next card on the list)
supercharge your offense alone.

In: Luminarch Ascension

Another must-answer card for your opponents. Even in my Enchantress build (G/W Sigarda, Host of Herons), this usually runs circles around Sigil of the
Empty Throne, for no other reason than it easily gains counters in the early game, and it fuels itself, not requiring another card to trigger it. If you
untap with this card active, your new game plan is to do nothing but vomit out busloads of angels.

In: Cathars’ Crusade

True story: I once won (and won handily) a Commander game with my mono-white Akroma, Angel of Wrath deck after casting nothing but Cathars’ Crusade and
Luminarch Ascension. No one answered the two enchantments until it was way too late, and I was swinging with some angels that had over 50 power.

This is your new creature buff overlord. Bow before it.

In: Karmic Justice

You know and love Grave Pact. (Well, Dictate of Erebos, anway.) Karmic Guide is a reactive rattlesnake of an insurance policy. The fact that it can hit any
permanent puts it in pretty rarefied air, and your opponents will need to think really hard before taking out your toys with this around.

In: Phyrexian Arena

A little commonplace and good-stuff-y, but it meets the requirements: an enchantment that draws you cards. It fits the theme, and it belongs in the deck. And you’ll appreciate the gas it provides…believe me. B/W decks have a tendency to stall out from time to time for no good reason, and Arena will really
help keep that from happening.

In: Skybind

Rounding out this section is another solid utility role-player. Skybind offers up a solid combat trick when you target your opponent’s key blockers with
it as well as good solid removal for nearly anything that you might need to get rid of (and permanent token removal). Make note that this will
help you gain value from anything that triggers when it enters the battlefield, but remember that a lot of your cards require you to actually cast
something to get any value.

I have a small set of cuts to make here before we get finished, mostly functional improvements, along with a verified bomb or two.

Out: Faith’s Fetters

I don’t like the pseudo-removal that enchantments provide. I love that this hits multiple permanent types, not just creatures, and the lifegain is
decent as well. Still, letting you keep Oblivion Ring is hard enough, and I don’t want to run rampant with effects that give your opponents their stuff
back eventually.

Out: Font of Vigor

Nope. I just don’t get the lifegain subtheme in this deck. This one not only needs to resolve, but you need to have the mana to activate it too. For seven
life, five mana is too much to pay.

Out: Martial Law

I was excited to pull a foil copy of this card at the Return to Ravnica prerelease. I thought it was a slam-dunk addition to my Enchantress deck.
The reality is that it ends up like Faith’s Fetters, a temporary fix at best. I’d much rather break from theme and run permanent answers like Swords to
Plowshares or Return to Dust.

Out: Oppressive Rays

If Faith’s Fetters drives me nuts, “tax” cards (ones that really only slightly inconvenience an opponent) really drive me up the wall. Just say no to this
thing.

Out: Read the Bones

This is the final cut for the deck. We added Phyrexian Arena, making this very much outdated technology. I like a little technical draw power and filtering
from time to time, but this deck is light on card advantage, so I want to pass it up in favor of raw power first and foremost.

In: Oversold Cemetery

You list is very creature-heavy, so this will trigger left and right for you. With the added effects that trigger when you cast an enchantment, you want
cards to come to your hand and not the battlefield, so this is fantastic engine-fueling utility that will also provide you the card advantage to stay in
the thick of things.

In: Replenish

The granddaddy powerhouse rocket fuel recursion of enchantment decks. This really needs no explanation. You’re not running any combos to dump your library
into your yard, so this is “fair;” still, the power level is such that we’re talking “fair” in terms of Insurrection and Tooth and Nail. This will get
blanked by graveyard hate on occasion, but it will also win you games outright on occasion too.

In: Crystal Chimes

People know about Replenish. Most don’t know about the artifact version. Just think…this was an uncommon. (Kind of explains how broken Urza’s Saga
was…)

In: Aura of Silence

A little modal removal never hurt. Before you need it, this helps to keep down opposing enchantments and artifacts, and then when you do need it, it kills
them outright.

In: Stony Silence

The final piece to the equation is a little more dedicated artifact hate. This behaves like Null Rod, shutting off mana effects, so it says no
to Sol Ring. You may draw a little hate from this card, but it doesn’t shot the whole game down, and besides – you want to be able to say no to Oblivion
Stone and Tormod’s Crypt. It seems like a thematic include worth the risk.

And with that, we’re done.

Again, we touched on some land options above. If you’re feeling flush, here are some additional things to think about:

• Scrubland
• Marsh Flats
• Volrath’s Stronghold
• Phyrexian Tower

Otherwise, there are a number of decent options that you can add to the mix to spice things up. Debtors’ Knell is a B/W all-star, although I will caution
that it is the type of card we refer to as a “peacock” up in my neck of the woods: a card that looks like it will deliver but which really just looks good and
never actually does much. (In this case, because it’s a “snap-blow that up” kind of card.) Enlightened Tutor is a solid possibility to add to the mix as
well, and you could go just as deep into the black tutor options if you really felt like it: Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, etc. I’m not a fan of cramming
tutors into a deck, since part of the fun of playing Commander is the variance, but sometimes you need a little help, so one or two are fine.

On the recursion front, Phyrexian Reclamation will carry a ton of weight in this deck.

I’d also be totally remiss if I didn’t recommend Land Tax. There simply is no better land-fixing engine in this format. If you play in a fairly loose
environment where people don’t particularly make the spite plays just for the sake of doing so, Endless Horizons is a great additional land engine.

If you want another fun finishing option for a white-base enchantment deck, look at Opalescence. This deck would get a lot of mileage out of it. Steer
clear of Humility, however, unless your regular group has a judge who enjoys unraveling layering.

And it screws up some things you want to do because it provides shroud instead of hexproof, but Greater Auramancy would be incredible in this
deck.

I could keep going, but let’s see where we’ve landed right now.

This is where the changes put us:

Here’s the list, complete with price tags (should you want to enact the changes I suggested to some extent):

We’re talking roughly $80 to put everything in place. This gives you a deck that still fires on all Enchantress cylinders but doesn’t fall into the dreaded
“midrange” trap. You still have really decent tempo in your card selections with the increase of some improved draw, better recovery options, and a
stronger set of win conditions. Better yet, it does a great job of sprinkling in enough devotion that you can get full-spectrum value out of Athreos.

All this, and it’s still a solid break from the enchantress norm by steering clear of green. This should work out pretty well, Jeff. I hope the changes fit your
vision of where you want the deck to go. Good luck, and enjoy!

– Cass

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