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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!


Image from Wizards.com

 Emmara Tandris
- Dragon's Maze

Reviewed April 22, 2013

Constructed: 2.40
Casual: 2.70
Limited: 3.00
Multiplayer: 2.55

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating

Click here to see all of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Emmera Tandris

This card is a gift to casual token decks, and a curse for Casual in general.
Decks in tournament formats won't use it, because they're all token rush decks that expect to be swinging for ten on turn four. Their game is over by the time turn seven rolls around. Emmera exists for the benefit of casual token decks. Those decks are more likely to be green/white, and they're more often control decks, biding their time until they have enough tokens to deliver a deathblow.

The problem is, those decks have a tendency to turtle, hiding behind their disposable army of chump blockers until they've set up the perfect board position. This is bad form, as it gives the enemy more time and more turns to find a way to turn the game around. It's also bad etiquette, as your opponent has to sit there, unable to impact the game, and wait for you to finish laughing over the pile of aquarium beads you've amassed. And Emmera encourages that bad behavior. With her on the battlefield, a single Spider Spawning effectively says "you can never attack me again-- ever." It doesn't help you actually win the game any faster, it just makes it impossible for your opponent to win.

If you're comboing this with, say, Master of the Wild Hunt, it could be impressive, but if you're going to play this, remember-- have some gamers' etiquette and make your victory quick and decisive. That way the losers don't have to have their noses rubbed in their defeat, and you can shuffle up for the next one that much sooner!

Constructed- 1.5
Casual- 1
Limited- 2
Multiplayer- 1


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Emmara Tandris
 
Emmara here frightens me a little. Yeah, she's got the fairly standard Selesnyan hippie look, complete with sunlight and inspiring architecture in the background. That's how those Conclave types reel you in. They never mention the the effective blanking of 75% of all red cards, or the tokens that attack or block turn after turn and don't die, or the way you try to Putrefy someone's maze runner only to run into a certain instant that effectively counters your spell and makes another almost unkillable creature. Just, whatever you do, don't give those token deck players the idea you could play her with Cackling Counterpart. Please.
 
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5


Paul

Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Emmara Tandris
 
I absolutely hate this card; I mean I really loathe this card. As much as I love tokens I feel Its effect is surprisingly minor and at seven mana and having a limited ability to protect tokens I doubt it will ever see constructed applications. In casual and multiplayer it could be all right but there’s cards that do its job more cheaply and at seven mana I wouldn’t feel comfortable using this as a commander. In limited it’s big and has an effect that doesn’t really make a big impact but the 5/7 body is decent. Overall this card is just too expensive too narrow and just not worthy of much consideration. Overall I don’t see this card making a splash and don’t see it making a big deal outside of kitchen table decks of the 60 card variety as you can build around it and possibly dominate combat. Its elf tribal affiliations may also prove a boon.
 
Constructed: 1.0
Casual: 1.5
Limited: 1.5
Multiplayer: 1.5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Emmera Tandris which is a seven mana Green and White 5/7 Legendary that prevents all damage to creature tokens you
control.   The mana cost is fairly high and Emmera will still be
vulnerable while the tokens can be managed in many other ways. 
Primarily this works as a combat advantage, particularly defensively, and with the minimal offensive impact and cost this likely won't be popular even with Green's acceleration.  Running global damage with Naya colors and this is a viable concept and may see use in Multiplayer or Commander.
 
In Limited a 5/7 is a decent powerhouse with or without combat effects, so this has value on the size alone while the cost and Legendary status aren't major drawbacks in the format.  The number of tokens available can vary, but in a Selesnya deck there is certainly potential and can be augmented with some other White and Green cards from other guilds.  The low color requirements of one Green and one White allow this to function well in three or more color decks which should be a big benefit in the format.  For those reasons it is worth a first pick in Booster even though other cards may have generate more direct threat this can lock down a defense and offer some options.  In Sealed it is easily splashed and certainly useful alongside any tokens that may be in your pool.
 
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.0

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

      Welcome to an exciting new week of reviews here at Pojo.com! This week we begin our look at Dragon's MAze. And we kick things off with Emmara Tandris. Emmara Tandris is a legendary creature elf shaman that costs five generic, one green, and one white mana for a 5/7. Emmara's ability is prevent all damage that would be dealt to creature tokens you control. 

     Such an amazing card, but I fear it will not see much serious play due to the casting cost. I feel that since it resides in a green alignment, it should, but don't know if players will risk a seven drop. 

     Definitely a card that you can really build around. Populating tokens and just some of the spells that create tokens could really add some serious value to this card. And then should you decide to use a board wipe such as Blasphemous Act, yes, you'll lose Emmara, but your tokens live, and the board should be opened up for a sizable attack. 

     A really strong card, especially for Commander. 
 
Limited: 3/5
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5


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