For this week I decided to do something a little bit unorthodox. Anafenza, the Foremost at the helm of an enchantment deck. Most enchantment decks I've seen are Bant coloured, using Jenara, Asura of War as the commander. But I decided that I liked using black mana a bit too much. Anafenza was literally only chosen because she has the most useful effect for simply sitting on the battlefield, as I believed I was highly unlikely to cast any of the available Abzan commanders in a deck like this.
The Game Plan
This deck in the early game simply wants to get out its "good stuff" enchantments to establish a board presence.
Cards to look for in your opening hand include but are not limited to:
[one_fifth]
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[one_fifth]
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[one_fifth]
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[one_fifth]
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[one_fifth_last]
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And any "enchantress" effects.
How you want the game to play out depends on your opponents' ability to deal with your stuff. Though most games want to be ended with a certain sorcery if possible.
To be completely blunt, Enduring Ideal is your commander, not Anafenza.
If you believe that your foes are light on counters and removal, then simply rushing into the Enduring Ideal game plan may work best. Although this deck has only one card to specifically tutor for Ideal, it does boast a great deal of draw power to suit your needs.
Be wary of the one card that absolute destroys Enduring Ideal though, and that is Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Because Teferi prevents you from casting spells outside of your main phase, Enduring Ideal's epic trigger will fizzle literally every time it triggers, effectively locking you out of the game. If you are aware that somebody in your play group runs Teferi, I'd suggest making your first tutor target either Seal of Doom or Pernicious Deed to deal with him in advance.
Now, as for the actual game plan with Ideal. There are numerous ways you can end the game with this epic finisher. Some notable tutor combinations include:
Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood, the classic drain everybody's life in one fell swoop combo.
Cathars' Crusade and either Bitterblossom or Heliod, God of the Sun, they don't make immediate board impact, but seeing as you have nothing else to spend your mana on Heliod's ability can get pretty messy pretty quickly. Especially if you have Bitterblossom to go with it.
Remember though, if you believe your opponent is packing enchantment removal, and you can afford a slower game always tutor for any combination of Greater Auramancy, Sterling Grove or Privileged Position first. They all protect each other enchantment, so having two of them out makes your stuff entirely invulnerable.
The Deck List
I hope you all enjoy this week's deck list. It's something I came up with recently that I may give a try in the future, feel free to comment any suggestions for the deck you have or any experiences you have while playing it.
