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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
