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Deck Overview

In a sentence, deck abuses repeatable enchantments and otherwise efficient noncreature spells to create an army of 8/8 monk and spirit tokens through mass-prowess effects. Though noncreature spells are important, a deck of this sort should also have a healthy amount of bodies to attach auras to, so finding the right balance is an important consideration. I recommend starting with roughly equal creatures to enchantments, then play it out a few times and see how it goes. Also, many enchantments provide creatures and some creatures provide enchantments.

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Commander

Elsha of the Infinite is a solid choice of commander here as she can particularly help you "storm off" and play a chain of noncreature spells. If you prefer a "lower to the ground" approach, Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest also works with a few adjustments, though he's not really themed around tokens. All that said, I like Narset, Enlightened Exile the most as she's a very nice 4-drop to curve into after the ever-important CMC 3 plays and provides more reliable access to mass-buff once you've spat out some tokens.

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Piloting the Deck

All in all though, the deck is pretty simple: amass a token army and mass-buff them, generally with prowess-type effects. Prowess fuel includes cards like Flickering Ward, Mark of Fury, Meticulous Excavation, Cage of Hands and Gossamer Chains. Mass buff effects include Narset, Strongarm Monk, Soulblade Djinn, Celestial Ancient, Intangible Virtue, Jeskai Ascendancy and Cathars' Crusade.

Of course, since you're already running repeatable enchantments, other enchantress effects are important, like Mesa Enchantress, Sigil of the Empty Throne, Hallowed Haunting and Archon of Sun's Grace. These enchantments also make sure Monk Class's abilities are always active. Removal should generally come in the form of enchantments like Darksteel Mutation, Imprisoned in the Moon, Chain of Custody, et cetera. They may not be instant speed, but they're great removal against commanders and reanimator decks.

Which pieces to tutor for depend on where you are in the game. Flickering Ward is an ideal choice for getting an engine going, though if you don't have much available it may be wiser to settle for Mark of Eviction or Mark of Fury, which don't require extra mana to return to hand. If you already have a fuel source, Sigil of the Empty Throne is a powerful way to spend it (and is my favourite tutor for Academy Rector as it's high on the CMC). If you need protection, Sphere of Safety is amazing. If you already have an army, Intangible Virtue. If you just want to beat face with a creature, Octopus Umbra.

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Lands

We're not in green and the deck is actually quite colour-hungry (e.g. having enough to repeat Flickering Ward as much as possible), so I don't have much in the way of utility here. As of this writing it's only Moorland Haunt as an extra token source, Hall of Heliod's Generosity (goes in every enchantress deck) and Axgard Armory as an extra tutor. The rest is mana fixing or basics to make sure we have the colours ready when we need them.

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Specific Cards

• Sol Ring and other rocks -- It might, but might not, be a good idea to windmill slam that rock down first or second turn. Consider whether it might be better used as a prowess trigger once Third Path Iconoclast, Monastery Mentor, etc. are on the board. This has the added benefit of not painting a target on your forehead, as a first turn Sol Ring often does.
• Recruiter of the Guard -- Best targets are probably Narset, Enlightened Master to finish the game or Academy Rector to get the enchantment you need.
• Monk Class -- Even just the first ability is very nice in this deck, but getting it to the 3rd ability ASAP is killer.
• The War Games -- It's unlikely you'll want to use the IVth ability and exile all Warriors (you're likely making better use of them, and they're goaded anyhow), however do keep an eye on the board, as there may sometimes be problem Warriors worth getting rid of, especially if you're already established anyhow.

This is one of my more established and long-term decks so I'll reserve a slot for upcoming changes, reports on games and other "meta" subjects.

As always, questions, comments and feedback are really appreciated. I've been on hiatus from MtG for the last few years so I'm still getting used to the huge volume of new cards, and appreciate any assistance catching up. Thank you in advance!

Game Reports

When I have time.

Change Log

I just wanted to say that the ramp package in this deck is a thing of beauty Starnheim Courser and Cloud Key and so on with carefully chosen enchantments to maximize. One thing I'll say is I think Starfield Mystic is likely an upgrade over courser (and could potentially both be added).

In my experience with these types of decks, a few sleepers!

Whitewater Naiads --> lets you ram through a bunch of damage and Narset in particular.

Estrid's Invocation --> really flexible powerful card

Gryff's Boon -- nice piece of resuable evasion (not highly synergistic with prowess or Mesa Enchantress however!)

Shimmering Wings -- cheaper and often better than conviction, but requires blue mana.

Teferi's Veil - this can be a really powerful way to dodge sorcery removal of various types that is mana efficient.

Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin fills your graveyard and ramps later in the game.

Cast Out - in general all the cast out effects (Stasis Snare included) are pretty good if you feel the need for more removal.

Corrupted Conscience can end a game or deal with a problem opponent. In general Control Magic effects can be really good options in blue enchantment decks.

I found the cantrip cards like Angelic Gift to be deceptively good and seems likely efficient with Narset. There are a number of red ones that're pretty decent too (including a haste one IIRC)

And of course it's no secret that Aggravated Assault is probably great with Narset.

Saving Grace is an extremely strong card with tokens to dump damage to.

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All the above are just random comments without a complete understanding of the deck so hope some of it is useful for you Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing some really cool decklists!

pokken wrote: ↑

1 month ago

All the above are just random comments without a complete understanding of the deck so hope some of it is useful for you Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing some really cool decklists!

Thank you for the advice and the welcome pokken, happy to be back in the game and to meet some new people.

• Can't believe I forgot Starfield Mystic, I definitely don't care as much about cheapening artifacts
• Same deal with Estrid's Invocation, added
• I originally had Shimmering Wings in place of Conviction, until I realized the deck leans heavily white, so of the "flickering" options only Flickering Ward and Conviction are heavily repeatable based on my mana base
• Gryff's Boon, at least, doesn't draw cards off Enchantress but does work with Ethereal Armor and the like. Skyblade's Boon does trigger enchantress but is admittedly slower. This is a maybe
• You're right about Control Magic effects, they not only act as pseudo-removal, they also still provide a body for me to attach auras to, I think I'll need to find a spot there. Fool's Demise is a neat card that can be used on enemy creatures, is repeatable, and the creature can't be regained simply by killing the aura.
• AggAssault -- jeez, you're right, I care so much about her first ability buffing tokens that I underestimate how good a second go is on her second ability
• Saving Grace is a neat card that I run in my Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo deck, and I can see it doing work as well here to hose problem damage

Thanks again!

First of all, interesting take on Narset, Enlightened Exile! I really like enchantment-based decks . Here are some of my initial thoughts:

I am not sure if Skullclamp is super good in Narset. When you cast Skullclamp existing 1-toughness creatures on your side of the board will get buffed out of clamping range if Narset or other buffing creatures are in play. Sure, if you have a token-maker like Iconoclast already on the board when casting Skullclamp you'll get a token, but then you have only one clampable target on the field at a time until you get to your next turn (and then you have to be careful with sequencing).

You are running some tutors, but consider including Open the Armory as well. Your deck likes to find the repeatable auras to feed your payoffs and this is another way to get to them. Can also look for Skullclamp if you need cards or your aura-based removal like Imprisoned in the Moon if there is a threat or roadblock that needs to be dealt with.

General comment: while your deck does make good use of the first ability of Narset, it will probably struggle to produce consistent value with her second ability. The great thing about instants and sorceries is that they go to the 'yard and can then be reused immediately. Enchantments are a bit more difficult to work with - they stay on the board (ideally) and Narset becomes more reactive instead of proactive, only returning them when your opponents blow stuff up. You become more reliant on what instants and sorceries your opponents have in their graveyard (and these might not always be super useful).

Good luck tinkering with Narset, I am looking forward to see the evolution of this list .

Thank you so much for the input Blackbird!

BlackbirdPlaysMTG wrote: ↑

1 month ago

Skullclamp

You know, I just sort of reflexively slapped Skullclamp in there since that's what I always do when I play go-wide decks, but your input is correct and this deck has no trouble drawing cards. The deck is probably better off running a bit more tutor in its place -- tutoring for a "flickerer" will likely draw me more cards than the 'clamp anyhow.

Narset's second ability

The deck was actually initially an Elsha of the Infinite before Narset was released and just sort of ended up being a better choice in the commander slot. I sort of dislike building decks that depend on my commander too much (after the old days of having Shirei blown up all the time), so I'm mostly interested in perfecting the core idea of the deck regardless of commander. Plus I'm just a big dweeb for enchantments.

Cheers!

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Out: Skullclamp
In: Open the Armory

Now the question is whether I still have at least one "sword" in there just to have that option for Kellan/Open the Armory. Perhaps Sword of the Animist since one thing my auras aren't doing for me is ramping/fixing.

Just chiming in to say Narset really hasn't gained anything from Outlaws of Thunder Junction though I'll post a few considerations in case anyone thinks they're better than I do.

Aven Interrupter -- a decent white off-counterspell with a flying body for mass prowess, nothing directly relevant but a nice card.
Brimstone Roundup -- enchantment, token generator, fairly likely to trigger, I may end up playtesting this but I'm on the fence.
Slickshot Show-Off -- efficient beatstick for prowess, though that's all it is.
Hellspur Posse Boss -- Beetleback Boss with upsides, vry efficient card, but the lack of goblin tribal hurts if you're running a Goblin Matron package, which Rx token decks often will. The also hurts in a 3-color deck with low focus on red.