Premodern Enchantress Deck Guide (2026)
Premodern Enchantress is a green-white engine deck: Argothian Enchantress draws a card per enchantment, Solitary Confinement locks and Opalescence wins. It held about 6 percent of the MTGDecks metagame in the 60 days to mid-September 2026 (285 decks), with a 56 percent win rate, the highest of the four most played decks, over 2,449 recorded matches between March 18 and September 14, 2026. Since September it has been one of the three most played decks on MTGTop8, with Stiflenought and Sligh, at about one list in twelve. Marcel Schnurr took it to the top four of the 218-player European Championship in Gdańsk on September 5, 2026, and Daniel Gutiérrez Viñas finished second with it at the 272-player Eurofest in Valencia on October 11. Elephant Grass slows attackers down, Parallax Wave clears blockers and Replenish brings every enchantment back after removal.
How the deck wins
- Argothian Enchantress and Enchantress's Presence draw a card for every enchantment you cast, and Mirri's Guile lets you order the top three cards of your library in each upkeep. With an engine piece out, cheap enchantments like Wild Growth replace themselves as you cast them, and your hand grows every turn.
- While the engine runs, Swords to Plowshares and Parallax Wave handle creatures, Seal of Cleansing waits on the battlefield to destroy an artifact or enchantment without mana, Solitary Confinement prevents all damage to you, and Elephant Grass stops black attackers and makes every other attacker cost {2}.
- Opalescence then turns every other non-Aura enchantment into a creature, so Presences attack as 3/3s and Waves as 4/4s, with Wave's remaining fade counters exiling up to that many blockers. Replenish returns every enchantment from the graveyard after a sweeper or enchantment removal, and with Opalescence among them that is a full army, ready to attack the next turn.
Core cards
- 4 Argothian Enchantress
- 4 Enchantress's Presence
- 4 Mirri's Guile
- 4 Wild Growth
- 3 Swords to Plowshares
- 3 Sterling Grove
- 3 Opalescence
- 3 Parallax Wave
- 2 Replenish
- 3 Seal of Cleansing
- 2 Solitary Confinement
- 4 Serra's Sanctum
Key cards
- Argothian Enchantress: A two-mana 0/1 with shroud that draws a card whenever you cast an enchantment spell, even one that gets countered. Shroud keeps it safe from targeted removal, but Wrath of God, Pyroclasm, Earthquake, Powder Keg and Sickening Dreams don't target it, and Diabolic Edict makes you sacrifice it when it is your only creature.
- Enchantress's Presence: The same draw effect on an enchantment, which gives the deck eight engine pieces. With another engine piece already out, casting it draws a card too, and under Opalescence it attacks as a 3/3. It has no shroud of its own, so Sterling Grove protects it.
- Mirri's Guile: A one-mana enchantment that lets you look at your top three cards every upkeep and put them back in any order. That puts the missing piece where the next engine trigger or draw step picks it up, and if none of the three helps, a fetchland cracked after the look shuffles them away.
- Sterling Grove: Your other enchantments have shroud, and for {1} you can sacrifice it to put any enchantment from your library on top. It finds Solitary Confinement, Opalescence or a Seal of Cleansing and keeps your other enchantments safe from targeted removal until then. It doesn't protect itself, your lands or against removal that doesn't target.
- Solitary Confinement: Prevents all damage that would be dealt to you and gives you shroud, at the cost of your draw step and a discard in each upkeep. Once an Enchantress draws you two or three cards a turn that cost is easy to pay, and decks that win with damage have to remove it first. It does not stop life loss, such as Shepherd of Rot's drain.
- Opalescence: Each other non-Aura enchantment, yours and theirs, becomes a creature with power and toughness equal to its mana value, so your enchantments can attack; Wild Growth, an Aura, stays an enchantment. As creatures they die to Wrath of God, Pyroclasm kills those with mana value 2 or less, and an opposing Humility strips their abilities.
- Parallax Wave: Remove a fade counter to exile a creature until Wave leaves the battlefield; it enters with five and loses one in each of your upkeeps. It clears blockers for the Opalescence attack, can exile your own animated enchantments in response to removal once Opalescence is out and Sterling Grove is not, and attacks as a 4/4 under Opalescence.
- Serra's Sanctum: A legendary land that taps for one white mana per enchantment you control, often four or more. Lists play four, though you can only keep one on the battlefield. It fuels double-spell turns and casts the lock and the engine in the same turn.
Mulligan guide
Keep
- Two or three lands plus an engine piece (Argothian Enchantress or Enchantress's Presence) and cheap enchantments to chain: the best start.
- Sterling Grove or Mirri's Guile plus mana counts as an engine finder: Grove tutors the missing piece, Guile lets you see the top three cards every upkeep and draw the best one first.
- Against creature decks, slower hands with Solitary Confinement, Elephant Grass or Swords to Plowshares plus a way to find the engine: the lock buys the turns you need.
Ship
- No engine piece and nothing (Grove, Guile) to find one: without the draw engine the deck falls behind.
- One-land hands without Wild Growth to make up for it.
- Six enchantments and no second land.
The question for every hand is whether it gets Argothian Enchantress or Enchantress's Presence online in the first turns, with the lands to cast it and the enchantments that follow.
Play tips and sequencing
- Hold cheap enchantments until an Enchantress or Presence is on the table, so every cast draws a card. A turn-one Wild Growth or Mirri's Guile is the exception.
- Sterling Grove puts the enchantment on top of your library, so crack it when an engine trigger or your next draw step picks the card up right away, for example at the end of the opponent's turn. With Solitary Confinement out you skip that draw step, so wait for an engine trigger. Keep a second Grove around so shroud never drops.
- Against slower decks, deploy Solitary Confinement once the engine draws enough cards for its upkeep cost: with an empty hand you can't discard, Confinement is sacrificed, and the lock is gone. Against fast creature and burn decks cast it as soon as you need it and pay the upkeep with extra lands.
- Count Parallax Wave's fade counters before you attack: each one exiles a blocker, and Wave also loses one in each of your upkeeps. Without Sterling Grove out, Wave can also save an animated enchantment from removal by exiling it in response; it returns when Wave leaves the battlefield.
- Play a Serra's Sanctum when it does something that turn (a double-spell turn, engine plus protection): Sanctum is the first land their Wasteland hits, and Sacred Ground comes in wherever that matters.
- Against permission, lead with pieces you can afford to lose and make them counter the wrong things: a second Presence is expendable, the Replenish that rebuys it is not.
Matchups
- Stiflenought (favorable): Counterspell, Daze and post-board Annul fight your engine, and Powder Keg, main deck in most of their lists, destroys Argothian Enchantress at two fuse counters without targeting it. Swords to Plowshares, Seal of Cleansing and Parallax Wave answer the 12/12 unless Vision Charm phases it out in response; a Dreadnought that Wave exiled returns when Wave leaves the battlefield and faces its sacrifice trigger again unless they Stifle it, and a resolved Solitary Confinement prevents its damage and stops Brain Freeze from targeting you. They return Confinement or Parallax Wave with Chain of Vapor, so keep Sterling Grove on the battlefield to give your other enchantments shroud. Bait their counters with expendable enchantments before you cast the engine and the lock. MTGDecks: 61 percent over 373 matches.
- Goblins (slightly unfavorable): Goblins brings a fast swarm, and Rishadan Port and Wasteland for your Serra's Sanctum. Elephant Grass makes each attacker cost them {2}, Solitary Confinement prevents all damage and Parallax Wave exiles their best attackers, but main-deck Naturalize and sideboard Tranquil Domain destroy your lock pieces, and Tranquil Domain ignores Sterling Grove's shroud. Bring Sacred Ground against Wasteland. MTGDecks: 45 percent over 172 matches.
- Sligh (slightly favorable): Solitary Confinement prevents all damage to you and gives you shroud, and their removal has almost no targets, so game one is a race to the lock. After boarding they bring Anarchy, which destroys every white permanent including Confinement, Parallax Wave and Sterling Grove, and Flaring Pain, which stops Confinement's prevention for a turn; Earthquake kills Argothian Enchantress. Before Confinement lands, Price of Progress, main deck in about a third of their lists and in most sideboards, deals two damage for each of your nonbasic lands. MTGDecks: 55 percent over 196 matches.
- Landstill (slightly favorable): They counter engine pieces, post-board Annul above all, but you present more must-answers than they can hold up, and Replenish rebuys everything they Disenchant. Shroud doesn't stop Wrath of God or Powder Keg, and Wrath also kills every enchantment Opalescence has animated, so don't overextend into a sweeper. Standstill, main deck in most of their lists, draws them three cards off your first spell before it resolves, so they can counter it; break it with an expendable enchantment. Humility, in about half their lists, turns Argothian Enchantress into a vanilla 1/1, and while Opalescence is on the battlefield it also strips every animated enchantment of its abilities, Solitary Confinement and Sterling Grove included, so destroy Humility with Seal of Cleansing before you cast Opalescence. Post-board Xantid Swarm turns a combat step into a turn they can't counter anything. MTGDecks: 55 percent over 104 matches.
- Mono Black (favorable): Their targeted removal is nearly dead against shroud, though Diabolic Edict still takes an Argothian Enchantress unless Solitary Confinement gives you shroud, and their clock is slow: Elephant Grass, in about half your lists, keeps their black creatures from attacking you, and Mishra's Factory, main deck in almost all their lists, can only attack if they pay {2}. Early discard and Wasteland on Serra's Sanctum are how they win. Withered Wretch exiles enchantments from your graveyard for one mana each, even while tapped, so cast Replenish when they have no mana up. After boarding expect Gloom, which makes your white spells, Sterling Grove included, and the activations of Seal of Cleansing, Parallax Wave and the Grove cost three more, and Dystopia, which makes you sacrifice a green or white permanent in each of your upkeeps without targeting. MTGDecks: 60 percent over 146 matches.
- Replenish (even): The dedicated combo version goldfishes faster and also interacts, with Swords to Plowshares, Seal of Cleansing, Abeyance and Decree of Silence in the main deck. Solitary Confinement prevents the damage from their animated enchantments, so protect it with Sterling Grove. Seal of Cleansing and Grove tutors answer Opalescence and Parallax Wave, and post-board Tormod's Crypt attacks their graveyard. They destroy it with Seal of Cleansing or turn it off for their combo turn with Abeyance before they discard their enchantments, so in response you only exile what is already in their graveyard. MTGDecks: 50 percent over 129 matches.
- The Rock (slightly favorable): Discard stings early, their removal is mostly dead and the clock is slow. Pernicious Deed is the main threat: it doesn't target, so Sterling Grove doesn't stop it, and any amount of mana can pop it once it is on the battlefield, so don't commit the whole hand into it and rebuild through an Enchantress or Replenish afterwards. After boarding expect Naturalize and Tranquil Domain. MTGDecks: 57 percent over 58 matches.
- Deadguy Ale (slightly favorable): Duress, Vindicate and the main-deck Disenchant in about half their lists threaten your draw engines early, but Sterling Grove gives your other enchantments shroud, so their targeted answers must take the Grove first, and Solitary Confinement gives you shroud against their discard and prevents their damage. After boarding most lists add Disenchant, Seal of Cleansing or Aura of Silence. Dystopia, in the few lists that board it, is the hardest to beat: in your upkeep you sacrifice a green or white permanent, and it doesn't target, so Sterling Grove doesn't stop it. You choose what to sacrifice, so feed it Wild Growth or Mirri's Guile and save a Seal of Cleansing for Dystopia itself. Elephant Grass stops their black creatures from attacking you, and their Wasteland, in four of five lists, can destroy Serra's Sanctum. MTGDecks: 80 percent over 10 matches, very limited data.
- Aluren (even): Seal of Cleansing, Aura of Silence and Solitary Confinement all interact, but activating Seal or Aura on a resolved Aluren while Cavern Harpy is in their hand or on the battlefield simply lets them combo in response. Parallax Wave on a loop creature fails for a similar reason: Harpy, returned to hand for 1 life and recast, returns Man-o'-War to their hand before the exile resolves, and a recast Man-o'-War returns any other creature. Seal, Aura and Wave all work best while a Harpy spell is on the stack, when Wave can exile one loop creature after another, and every Harpy they recast to save a creature gives you that moment again. Abeyance in their upkeep stops Harpy's return, Spike Feeder and Survival for the turn, and Solitary Confinement stops Ghitu Slinger's damage, though Rishadan Cutpurse's sacrifice still gets through. They bring Naturalize, so keep Sterling Grove on the table to give your other enchantments shroud. MTGDecks: 62 percent over 13 matches, limited data.
- Zombies (slightly favorable): Once the draw engine is online you out-card a deck with little card draw. Elephant Grass stops their black creatures from attacking you at all and Solitary Confinement prevents their combat damage, but neither stops Shepherd of Rot, whose drain is life loss that doesn't target, so kill or exile Shepherd. Their game is turn-one and turn-two discard; after board four Gloom and three Dystopia are the real threats, so keep enchantment removal in, and play Serra's Sanctum when it pays off that turn, since they run Wasteland. No match data.
- Terrageddon (unfavorable): They Wasteland your Serra's Sanctum, Armageddon destroys the lands your Wild Growths sit on, and three maindeck Naturalize effects hit Solitary Confinement, Parallax Wave and Sterling Grove. Argothian Enchantress is safe from their Swords but not from Pyroclasm after boarding, which also kills small animated enchantments, and Parallax Wave removes Elephant tokens permanently. Elephant Grass makes each of their attackers cost {2}, though after Armageddon you usually cannot pay its cumulative upkeep. Sacred Ground after boarding returns your destroyed lands. MTGDecks: 38 percent over 129 matches.
- MUD (even before boarding, unfavorable afterward): Game one is a race: Serra's Sanctum and Wild Growth make extra mana under their Winter Orb, Seal of Cleansing kills lock pieces, and Argothian Enchantress has shroud against Triskelion. After boarding Aura Flux, in about one sideboard in five, makes every other enchantment cost two each upkeep, and under Orb and Tangle Wire that kills most of your board. Seal of Cleansing and Aura of Silence are your answers, and both destroy Aura Flux. MTGDecks (Tinker Welder): 50 percent over 12 matches, limited data.
- Full English Breakfast (unfavorable): They are usually a turn or two faster. Solitary Confinement is your best card: it prevents all damage to you, so neither of their kills works, and its shroud stops their Duress and Cabal Therapy. Abeyance stops an upkeep Hermit Druid line before Krosan Reclamation, and Seal of Cleansing, Swords to Plowshares and Parallax Wave do the rest. Bring Tormod's Crypt after boarding, and expect their enchantment removal and Uktabi Orangutan. MTGDecks: 41 percent over 41 matches, limited data.
- Stasis (even): Seal of Cleansing in the main deck and Aura of Silence, main deck in some of your lists and in most sideboards, destroy Stasis, and Solitary Confinement prevents Black Vise damage. Serra's Sanctum makes plenty of mana from one land, and Opalescence turns Stasis into a 2/2 for Swords to Plowshares. Expect three Annul after boarding, and in about a third of their lists Ice on the Sanctum. MTGDecks: 52 percent over 56 matches.
- Oath of Druids (unfavorable): They attack your mana: Wasteland hits Serra's Sanctum, Thermokarst and Winter's Grasp destroy the lands your Wild Growths sit on, Rishadan Port keeps a land tapped, and Sphere of Resistance taxes every engine piece. Solitary Confinement prevents all damage from Terravore and their manlands, and its shroud means Oath of Druids can't target you. Bring Sacred Ground after boarding, and expect Naturalize, main deck in about half their lists, and Aura of Silence after boarding. MTGDecks (Oath Ponza): 40 percent over 78 matches.
- Psychatog (favorable): Duress, Counterspell and Foil fight the engine and Annul comes in after boarding. Smother can't target Argothian Enchantress, but Sickening Dreams, main deck in most lists since September, kills it, since it damages each creature without targeting. Their clock is one creature that Swords to Plowshares, Parallax Wave or Solitary Confinement handles. MTGDecks: 62 percent over 69 matches.
- Elves (favorable): A race: survive the fast starts and the lock holds, because Elephant Grass makes every elf cost {2} to attack and Solitary Confinement prevents their damage. Nantuko Vigilante answers one piece from the main deck, though with Sterling Grove out it can only take the Grove, and after boarding expect Naturalize and Tranquil Domain, which destroys every non-Aura enchantment at instant speed. MTGDecks: 59 percent over 56 matches.
- UG Madness (favorable): Solitary Confinement and Parallax Wave blank the creature swarm. Respect Daze early. After boarding expect Naturalize, Tranquil Domain in about half their lists, and in about a third Reverent Silence, which they can cast for free if they control a Forest. MTGDecks (Madness): 70 percent over 33 matches, limited data.
- Reanimator (slightly favorable): A reanimated Akroma or Phantom Nishoba races you, but Swords to Plowshares and Parallax Wave answer it and Solitary Confinement prevents its damage. Bring Tormod's Crypt after boarding, and expect Naturalize from them. Limited data: 61 percent over 23 matches.
- Tron (favorable): Solitary Confinement prevents the damage from their Decree of Justice tokens, and Mana Leak and Wrath of God don't stop an engine that is already running. Their answers are Disenchant, main deck in most of their lists, and in some lists Akroma's Vengeance, which destroys every enchantment at once; Meddling Mage comes in after boarding in about half of them. No meaningful match data.
- Clerics (even): Elephant Grass, in about half your lists, stops their black creatures from attacking you, Solitary Confinement prevents their combat damage, and its shroud also stops Cabal Archon, which targets a player. Dystopia and Gloom come in after boarding, and Duress and Cabal Therapy take engine pieces early. Very limited data.
- The Solution (even): Meddling Mage naming Solitary Confinement or Opalescence is their best card, and Disenchant, main deck in about half their lists, and Annul after boarding go after your lock pieces. Argothian Enchantress's shroud stops their Swords to Plowshares, Lightning Bolt and Fire // Ice. Resolve Solitary Confinement before a Mage can name it. Very limited data.
- Dromar Control (even): Vindicate, Annul and a Meddling Mage on Solitary Confinement are their outs, and Duress takes engine pieces. A resolved lock still wins, and Sterling Grove finds it. No match data.
- White Weenie (favorable): Solitary Confinement prevents all their damage and Parallax Wave exiles their attackers, so they have to answer both in time, and Elephant Grass, in about half your lists, makes them pay {2} for each attacking creature. Their outs are Armageddon, which destroys Serra's Sanctum and the lands you rebuild with, Wasteland on the Sanctum, and Seal of Cleansing and Disenchant, each main deck in about half their lists, plus Aura of Silence after boarding; keep Sterling Grove out to protect your key enchantments. After boarding your Sacred Ground returns the lands their Armageddon and Wasteland destroy, and Karmic Justice lets you destroy one of their permanents for each noncreature permanent of yours they destroy. Limited data: 75 percent over 16 matches.
- BW Control (favorable): Their discard and Vindicate trade one for one with an engine that keeps drawing cards, and Wrath of God only kills Argothian Enchantress and the enchantments Opalescence has animated. Sterling Grove gives your other enchantments shroud, and Solitary Confinement gives you shroud and prevents all damage, so Gerrard's Verdict, Duress, Diabolic Edict and Haunting Echoes cannot target you and their Decree of Justice tokens never connect. Dust Bowl can take Serra's Sanctum. After boarding expect Aura of Silence and Seal of Cleansing, and in some lists Presence of the Master, which counters every enchantment spell; Argothian Enchantress still draws a card for each one, and Replenish puts the countered enchantments onto the battlefield without casting them. Resolve the Grove or Confinement before it lands, or destroy it with Seal of Cleansing. MTGDecks: 71 percent over 28 matches.
- Gro-a-Tog (slightly favorable): Counterspell, Daze and Meddling Mage naming Solitary Confinement or Replenish can stop a key piece, so pay for Daze and bait with Wild Growth or Mirri's Guile. Once Solitary Confinement resolves their creatures deal no damage to you, but their Armageddon, main deck in about two thirds of the lists, also takes Serra's Sanctum. After boarding expect Ray of Revelation, Seal of Cleansing and Annul; Sterling Grove protects your other enchantments from Ray and Seal. MTGDecks: 56 percent over 32 matches.
- Pit Rack (favorable): Their discard cannot keep up with an engine that draws a card per enchantment, and Solitary Confinement shuts off The Rack, their discard spells and their attacks, though not Bottomless Pit, main deck in most lists, which makes you discard at random in each of your upkeeps without targeting, before you pay for Confinement. They cannot remove an enchantment in the main deck. Watch for Dystopia after boarding, which makes you sacrifice a green or white permanent in each of your upkeeps. MTGDecks: 79 percent over 29 matches.
- Rebels (slightly favorable): In the blue build, Counterspell, Mana Leak and Meddling Mage aim at Solitary Confinement and Replenish, so draw cards first and cast the key enchantment when they are tapped out. Parallax Wave buys turns against their board, Sterling Grove protects your other enchantments from Disenchant, and Solitary Confinement stops their damage once it resolves. Expect Annul and Aura of Silence after boarding. No match data.
- Contamination (slightly unfavorable): Contamination stops your engine: Argothian Enchantress, Wild Growth, Opalescence and Replenish all need green or white mana your lands no longer make, though a Wild Growth already on a land still adds its {G}. Keep a Seal of Cleansing on the battlefield, since it destroys Contamination without mana, and expect Duress for it and Dystopia after boarding. Very limited data.
- Turbo Lands (even): Solitary Confinement is your key card: it gives you shroud and prevents all damage to you, so their Seismic Assault cannot touch you, and Sterling Grove keeps it safe from their Seal of Cleansing, Aura of Silence and Ray of Revelation. Their Glacial Chasm prevents the damage of your attackers in turn, so the game goes long: Opalescence makes their Exploration and Seismic Assault creatures for Swords to Plowshares and Parallax Wave, and Seal of Cleansing destroys Horn of Greed. Keep Serra's Sanctum away from their Wasteland. No match data.
- Fluctuator (favorable): Solitary Confinement wins it: you have shroud and all damage to you is prevented, so Haunting Misery and Drain Life cannot target you, and their reference sideboard has no enchantment removal. Seal of Cleansing destroys Fluctuator, and Sterling Grove keeps Confinement safe from the Clear some of their lists play. They can kill on turn three, so Seal the Fluctuator or land Confinement before then. No match data.
- RG Zoo (favorable): Zoo is a fast creature deck with main-deck Naturalize, two in most lists, for Solitary Confinement, Parallax Wave or Sterling Grove. Parallax Wave and Elephant Grass still hold its creatures, and Warmth gains life only off their red spells, not Call of the Herd or Quirion Dryad. Solitary Confinement wins once it sticks, and Swords to Plowshares answers a grown Dryad. After boarding they bring Tranquil Domain, which destroys every non-Aura enchantment at instant speed and ignores Sterling Grove's shroud, and in about a third of the lists Hull Breach. Simoon, in about half their sideboards, kills Argothian Enchantress unless Solitary Confinement gives you shroud. MTGDecks: 63 percent over 63 matches.
Sideboard guide
- vs Blue permission (Landstill, Stiflenought): Xantid Swarm. A one-mana flyer whose attack trigger stops the opponent from casting spells for the rest of the turn: swing, let the trigger resolve, then cast your engine and combo pieces after combat. They can still respond to the trigger, and Stiflenought's four Stifle counter it. Since September about one list in five also boards Choke against them: Islands don't untap during their controllers' untap steps.
- vs Graveyard decks and the Replenish mirror: Tormod's Crypt. Free graveyard hate that exiles Replenish and Reanimator setups on sight without slowing your own development.
- vs Wasteland and land destruction: Sacred Ground, Karmic Justice. Sacred Ground returns your lands to the battlefield when an opponent's spell or ability destroys them, so a Wasteland on Serra's Sanctum no longer costs you the land, unless they Stifle the trigger or remove Sacred Ground first. Karmic Justice lets you destroy one of their permanents for each noncreature permanent of yours they destroy, which turns Armageddon into a disaster for them. Sterling Grove can find either.
- vs Attrition, discard and mill: Gaea's Blessing. Shuffles up to three key cards from your graveyard back into your library against discard and removal, though not while Solitary Confinement gives you shroud, since you cannot target yourself, and draws a card. If a mill effect puts it into your graveyard from your library, your whole graveyard goes back into your library.
- vs Artifacts, enchantments and Pernicious Deed: Aura of Silence, Seal of Cleansing. Tutorable interaction: Aura of Silence makes their artifacts and enchantments, Pernicious Deed included, cost two more, and both it and Seal of Cleansing can be sacrificed at instant speed to destroy an artifact or enchantment. Deed can be activated in response, so use them when the opponent is tapped low. Since September about four in ten lists also play one or two Aura of Silence in the main deck.
- vs Utility lands: Oath of Druids, Terrageddon, Mono Black, Landstill and Goblins: Tsabo's Web. Tsabo's Web draws a card, and lands with a nonmana ability, such as Rishadan Port, Mishra's Factory and Treetop Village, no longer untap, so Port can't tap your mana every turn and manlands stop attacking. It is an artifact, so the Enchantresses don't draw off it, and it doesn't stop an untapped Wasteland.
- vs Combo: Full English Breakfast, Aluren and Replenish: Abeyance. Cast it in their upkeep: for the rest of the turn they can't cast instants or sorceries or activate non-mana abilities, which stops a Hermit Druid activation or a Replenish, and it draws a card.
- vs Red aggro: Goblins and Sligh: Swords to Plowshares, Solitary Confinement, Elephant Grass, Warmth. Extra removal, lock pieces and lifegain to survive until the engine takes over; Sphere of Law, which prevents 2 of the damage each time a red source would deal damage to you, is a further option. Play around Anarchy from both decks and Flaring Pain from Sligh, which stops Solitary Confinement from preventing damage for a turn. Warmth, in about a third of the sideboards since September, gains you 2 life whenever an opponent casts a red spell, but Sulfuric Vortex, main deck in about two thirds of the Sligh lists, stops that, so destroy the Vortex with Seal of Cleansing first.
Budget and upgrades
Typical cost: $2,000–$4,300. Serra's Sanctum (Reserved List) dominates the cost: the playset alone runs about $2,100. Replenish, also on the Reserved List at about $230 each, Argothian Enchantress and the Onslaught fetchlands add more, and a current top 75 costs about $4,300 at the Premodern-era printings tracked here. A build with one Sanctum and Brushland plus basics instead of fetchlands still functions and costs about half.
- Start with the core: Enchantress's Presence, Mirri's Guile, Wild Growth, Sterling Grove, Seal of Cleansing, Solitary Confinement and Parallax Wave together cost around $300, most of it Mirri's Guile and Parallax Wave.
- Add Opalescence, which is moderately priced, and then Replenish: Replenish is on the Reserved List, and its two copies cost more than the Argothian Enchantress playset.
- Add the Argothian Enchantress playset: it doubles the engine from four pieces to eight, and shroud keeps it safe from targeted removal.
- Pick up Serra's Sanctum one at a time: every copy upgrades the deck immediately, and the deck works with fewer than four.
- Round out the mana with Onslaught fetchlands last, four Windswept Heath and one or two Wooded Foothills: they smooth draws with Mirri's Guile, but basic Forests and Plains next to Brushland work in the meantime.
Every deck that costs under $500 with reprints is on our budget decks page, priced from a real tournament list.
