Table of Contents
Hey everyone! Today I’m going to be covering my four-colour Enigmatic Incarnation deck in Explorer which I recently used to hit rank #2 with on the Arena ladder. This is a deck that utilizes Enigmatic Incarnation to provide repeatable toolbox value and Yorion, Sky Nomad to reuse all of our enter the battlefield enchantments and creatures to outgrind the opponent.
The deck has been so much fun to play, but it’s surprisingly difficult to play optimally because you have access to so many different lines; so, if you’re looking for a toolbox deck that’s easy to get into but hard to master, this is the deck for you! I’ve also put up a video on my YouTube channel with 5 matches of game play if you’re interested in seeing the deck in action.
4C Enigmatic Incarnation
by Altheriax
Explorer
best of 3
3 mythic
54 rare
10 uncommon
13 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Companion
Creatures (24)
Enchantments (22)
Lands (34)
80 Cards
$492.9
Sideboard
15 Cards
$131.75
Main Deck
Enigmatic Incarnation: This is the central card in the deck and the fact it provides repeatable access to a toolbox of creatures means that it can get you out of almost any situation and also helps to press the advantage when you’re already ahead or at parity.
In order to fully take advantage of Enigmatic Incarnation, almost all of our enchantments get us value immediately when they enter the battlefield which means we’re getting a 2-for-1 each time we sacrifice them to Enigmatic Incarnation.
The deck is primarily focused on sacrificing 2 mana enchantments to tutor up specific 3 mana creatures, but we do have a small number of 4 and 5 mana creatures to tutor up by sacrificing Oath of Kaya or Enigmatic Incarnation if we have two copies in play.
The 2 Mana Enchantments
Spirited Companion, Omen of the Sea & Urban Utopia: These are all 2 mana enchantments that draw a card when they enter the battlefield so are perfect to both sacrifice to Enigmatic Incarnation and blink with Yorion, Sky Nomad.
Spirited Companion being a creature is nice since we can use it to chump block against aggressive decks and threaten planeswalkers, but it does also make it vulnerable to creature removal so unless you need it as a creature, it’s usually best to prioritize sacrificing it to Enigmatic Incarnation before your non-creature enchantments.
Omen of the Sea is probably the best of the three since it lets you scry 2 and can be played at instant speed.
Finally, Urban Utopia is nice as it provides mana fixing in addition to replacing itself. The mana base is pretty consistent overall, but there will be certain situations where you don’t have exactly the colours you need. Since we’re running cards that require two mana of the same colour like Skyclave Apparition and Ravenous Chupacabra, so Urban Utopia helps a lot in those scenarios.
Trial of Ambition: This is really nice since it gives us access to early interaction that still works well both Enigmatic Incarnation and Yorion, Sky Nomad. This is much better than the other alternatives like Baffling End (giving the opponent a 3/3 whenever you sacrifice or blink it is a really big drawback) or Omen of the Forge (generally much worse since it can’t kill bigger creatures).
Giving the opponent the choice of which creature to sacrifice isn’t great later in the game, but it’s a complete blowout if the opponent is ever left with just one big creature in play so you can often sequence other removal to set up Trial of Ambition to kill their biggest creature.
Rest in Peace & The Meathook Massacre: These 1-ofs are here as tutor targets we can search for with Moon-Blessed Cleric.
Having access to main deck Rest in Peace is really important at giving us an edge game one against graveyard-focused decks like Greasefang, Okiba Boss and Izzet Phoenix as well as being able to shut off Cauldron Oven + Witch's Oven against sacrifice decks. The Meathook Massacre is really important as a tutorable sweeper in order to deal with wide boards and gain some life back in the process.
They both also work with Enigmatic Incarnation to tutor up 3 mana creatures so you can use them to exile the graveyard or sweep the board, and then sacrifice them afterwards to get more value.
Additionally, we can tutor either of them up using Enigmatic Incarnation since we can sacrifice a 2 mana enchantment to put a Moon-Blessed Cleric into play during our end step, and stack Rest in Peace or The Meathook Massacre on top of our library for the following turn.
The 3 Mana Creatures
Moon-Blessed Cleric: This is great at helping us find Enigmatic Incarnation which is really important since it’s the central card of the deck.
The ideal curve-out we’re looking to achieve with Moon-Blessed Cleric is an enchantment on turn 2, Moon-Blessed Cleric on turn 3 putting Enigmatic Incarnation in top of our library, then playing Enigmatic Incarnation on turn 4 and we can immediately use it by sacrificing the 2 mana enchantment.
Running a high land count is very important to be able to enable this consistently since we need to already have our fourth land in hand when we play the Moon-Blessed Cleric on turn 3, or we won’t be able to cast Enigmatic Incarnation the following turn since we know we won’t be drawing a land for the turn.
Moon-Blessed Cleric is also a decent card to put onto the battlefield with Enigmatic Incarnation, either to tutor up Rest in Peace or The Meathook Massacre, tutor up Oath of Kaya if we need to use Enigmatic Incarnation to put a 4 mana creature like Yasharn, Implacable Earth into play the following turn, or to just put a 2 mana enchantment on top to ensure we have another enchantment ready to use with Enigmatic Incarnation to get another 3 mana creature.
Elite Spellbinder: This is a really important tool against both control and combo decks, as well as being a nice option game 1 if the opponent hasn’t committed much to the board and you want to see what they’re up to.
Taxing removal or a planeswalker against control is really important at being able to apply pressure and race them, and taxing a combo piece like Greasefang, Okiba Boss or Transmogrify is really important at delaying their combo to help you stabilize.
Reidane, God of the Worthy: Similar to Elite Spellbinder, this is another nice tool against the control and combo decks and is generally the best option to pick if you’re already ahead on board, or you’re in a situation where you can’t beat multiple expensive spells.
The downside of Elite Spellbinder is that it only taxes one card, so if you’re in a situation where you can’t beat a sweeper for example, it’s usually better to go for Reidane, God of the Worthy, since Elite Spellbinder isn’t good enough if they have 2 sweepers in hand.
This is particularly nice against control since it taxes all of their sweepers as well as Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Memory Deluge etc. and is also really important against big-mana combo decks like Fires of Invention, Emergent Ultimatum, or Transmogrify.
Skyclave Apparition: This is really important as single-target removal against creatures as well as other permanents like Witch's Oven or Trail of Crumbs against sacrifice or planeswalkers like Chandra, Torch of Defiance.
This is the only silver bullet creature that I’m running more than one of because it’s the most versatile removal you have access to off Enigmatic Incarnation and is also killed pretty frequently. If the opponent kills your first Skyclave Apparition and you’re not running a second, you’d then have to tutor up Deputy of Detention to kill other creatures which is significantly worse so 2 in the main deck has felt important, and I’m running the last 2 copies in the sideboard for the matchups where it’s good.
Glasspool Mimic: I’m a really big fan of 4 Glasspool Mimic in this deck since it essentially means you’re running 5 copies of all of your 1-ofs assuming they don’t get killed, and it also acts as a land when you need which is really important since this deck wants to be hitting each land drop until turn 5 ideally.
It can also copy more expensive creatures like Elder Gargaroth, Ravenous Chupacabra, and Yorion, Sky Nomad which can be really strong on certain board states.
Callous Bloodmage: This is a flexible card, but is mainly here as a tutorable way to exile the opponent’s graveyard to shut off cards like Greasefang, Okiba Boss and Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger.
The other two modes are also pretty useful, the fact it can always replace itself is great, especially if we draw it against a deck where we don’t need the graveyard hate, and the ability to put an extra body into play that gains life when it dies can be important at stabilizing against wide boards too.
Deputy of Detention: This is important as temporary catch-all removal for any problematic permanents that Skyclave Apparition or Knight of Autumn can’t hit.
If the opponent has a must answer threat like a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or Korvold, Fae-Cursed King in play, we can tutor up Deputy of Detention to temporarily get rid of it. Obviously, this isn’t ideal since they get it back if they can kill Deputy of Detention, but even getting it off the battlefield for a few turns gives you time to set up a clean answer to it, and if they don’t have removal, it can end up winning you the game.
It’s also really important at being able to deal with tokens, which is something Skyclave Apparition can’t do. The fact it also exiles all tokens with the same name means you can clean up all of the tokens from something like The Wandering Emperor or Shark Typhoon in one go.
Knight of Autumn: This is mainly here as an efficient way to deal with artifacts and enchantments, as well as being able to gain you a decent chunk of life. Skyclave Apparition can deal with most of the commonly played artifacts and enchantment in the format, but it’s generally better to use Knight of Autumn to kill them since the opponent won’t get a token if Knight of Autumn is subsequently killed.
Additionally, there are some expensive artifacts and enchantments that Skyclave Apparition can’t deal with like Shark Typhoon, Torrential Gearhulk etc.
Finally, the ability to gain 4 life is really important against matchups where they have good reach in the lategame like sacrifice and burn.
Renegade Rallier: This is a really useful card if you’re at parity to be able to rebuy one of your 2 mana draw a card enchantments to draw an additional card, and ensure you have an enchantment in play to use with Enigmatic Incarnation the following turn.
It also pairs really well with Trial of Ambition as it enables you to deal with bigger creatures like Korvold, Fae-Cursed King or Titan of Industry if it’s the only creature they have in play. You can sacrifice the Trial of Ambition (or have one in the graveyard already) and then use Renegade Rallier to bring back the Trial of Ambition and force them to sacrifice their big creature.
Sparkhunter Masticore: This is obviously here to deal with planeswalkers, which is particularly important against control, but is also great at dealing with Chandra, Torch of Defiance against Rakdos Midrange, and Ob Nixilis, the Adversary against Rakdos sacrifice.
The fact you can pump mana into this to kill planeswalkers without ever needing to attack is huge since most of the decks running planeswalkers are pretty good at defending them from attacks. Additionally, being able to give it indestructible means it also survives a decent amount of removal.
The Other Cards
Oath of Kaya: This is great as additional removal that is great to blink with Yorion, Sky Nomad, and gives us access to 4 mana creatures off Enigmatic Incarnation. The life gain it provides is huge at stabilizing against creature decks and it’s also very effective at picking off planeswalkers that are otherwise difficult to deal with like Narset, Parter of Veils.
Additionally, it provides decent reach since you can point the damage directly at the opponent and I’ve managed to win multiple games by finishing the opponent off with Oath of Kaya, especially in conjunction with Yorion, Sky Nomad.
Ravenous Chupacabra: This is one of two tutor targets we have access to off Enigmatic Incarnation by sacrificing Oath of Kaya and is great at dealing with bigger creatures.
Since Skyclave Apparition is the main form of creature removal in the deck, it does make you more vulnerable to more expensive creatures, so having access to Ravenous Chupacabra helps to shore up that weakness.
Even though you’re only running 4 Oath of Kaya, you can tutor it up with Moon-Blessed Cleric to then set up a search for Ravenous Chupacabra, and once it’s in play, you can then copy it with Glasspool Mimic to deal with any other problematic creatures they might play.
Yasharn, Implacable Earth: This is the other 4 mana tutor target and is incredibly important against the sacrifice decks. Typically, the sacrifice decks won’t have that many ways to kill Yasharn, Implacable Earth game 1 so you can potentially steal the game by getting this into play early.
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King is probably the most problematic card for this deck. As a note and by extension Jund sacrifice running Korvold, Fae-Cursed King is the worst matchup so this deck might not be the best choice if you’re expecting to face a lot of Jund sacrifice. On the flip side, the deck is actually pretty good against most other non-Korvold sacrifice variants, but getting Yasharn, Implacable Earth into play before they play Korvold, Fae-Cursed King really limits the amount of advantage they can get off it so racing to Yasharn, Implacable Earth is your best bet in that matchup.
Elder Gargaroth: Having a 5 mana creature in the deck is important since it allows you to sacrifice one of your Enigmatic Incarnation if you have 2 in play. Elder Gargaroth is definitely the best option for this slot in my opinion since it’s great at stabilizing if you’re behind and great at closing out the game if you’re at parity or behind.
When I published older versions of this deck that I was working on in Historic, I’d often have people suggest running a main deck Yorion, Sky Nomad in this slot, but I’m really not a fan of that. You’re going to be constantly sacrificing your enchantments to Enigmatic Incarnation if you have it in play, so by the time you have two, you’ll likely not have that much left in play to blink.
The fact that Elder Gargaroth isn’t legendary is also huge as it allows you to copy it with Glasspool Mimic. If I have 2 Enigmatic Incarnation and a 2 mana enchantment in play, a line I take quite often is to sacrifice an Enigmatic Incarnation with the first trigger to put Elder Gargaroth in play, then sacrifice the 2 mana enchantment with the second trigger to put Glasspool Mimic into play copying Elder Gargaroth which is really hard for a lot of decks to beat. You can then keep sacrificing 2 mana enchantments on later turns to get more Glasspool Mimics copying Elder Gargaroth and build up an unbeatable wall of huge creatures.
Yorion, Sky Nomad: Typically I’m not a huge fan of Yorion, Sky Nomad in Arena formats since I think you’re usually better off going 60 cards for more consistency, but I think Yorion, Sky Nomad is really needed in this deck.
I’ve tried building 60 card Enigmatic Incarnation decks in the past, but they never worked out because you’d always run out of tutor targets too quickly. Obviously in a 60 card deck you have less room for your 1-of creatures which means you have less flexibility and run out of targets quicker (at which point Enigmatic Incarnation goes from the best card in your deck to a completely dead one), and you’re also more likely to draw your tutor targets which compounds the issue even further.
For that reason, it’s always felt necessary to be running more than 60 cards in order to fit in more tutor targets and reduce your odds of drawing them too so going up to 80 cards is more of a necessity. Additionally, Yorion, Sky Nomad works perfectly with the cards we want to be running anyway. We want all of our enchantments to have enter the battlefield abilities so we get 2-for-1s off Enigmatic Incarnation and we want most of our tutorable creatures to have enter the battlefield abilities. Since we get value off them immediately, they all work really well with Yorion, Sky Nomad when we don’t have Enigmatic Incarnation.
The biggest downside of going up to 80 cards in a deck built around a 4-of is that you’re less likely to draw the card the deck is built around, but the great thing about Yorion, Sky Nomad is that it always gives you access to good top end even if you don’t draw Enigmatic Incarnation. Blinking all of your early enchantments and creatures to gain a bunch of extra value and put a 4/5 flyer into play is often good enough to win the game on its own.
Mana Base
The deck is running 34 lands plus 4 Glasspool Mimic which is the equivalent of 28.5 lands in a 60 card deck. Running a high land count is really important as the deck wants to be hitting land drops ideally until turn 5 in order to play Yorion, Sky Nomad, and missing land drops in the first 3/4 turns will prevent you from using Moon-Blessed Cleric to tutor up Enigmatic Incarnation at best, or put you too far behind that you just lose the game at worst.
In terms of the actual lands themselves, I’m running a selection of triomes, shock lands, and check lands along with a single basic Plains. The basic has felt necessary to not get blown out by Field of Ruin and running a Plains also means you get value off Yasharn, Implacable Earth‘s enter the battlefield ability. I much prefer check lands over slow lands since you really need to have access to untapped lands on turn 2 to play your enchantments on curve.
Sideboard
3 Rest in Peace: This is here mainly for Greasefang, Okiba Boss, Izzet Phoenix, and sacrifice decks. Since we’re not running any instant-speed interaction, we’re basically relying on graveyard hate in order to stop Greasefang, Okiba Boss from comboing so it’s really important there, and shutting off Arclight Phoenix and Cat/Oven helps shut off the most threatening parts of the phoenix and sacrifice decks. We also don’t mind running multiples of this since we can always sacrifice excess copies to Enigmatic Incarnation.
3 The Meathook Massacre: The deck has great access to single target removal off Enigmatic Incarnation, but fast go-wide aggressive decks can be difficult to deal with on the draw, so having access to the full 4 copies of The Meathook Massacre against aggro is great. Similar to Rest in Peace, we can also sacrifice this to Enigmatic Incarnation to get more value once we’ve swept the board if we don’t need the life gain or we’ve drawn multiples.
4 Destiny Spinner: This is the best card in the deck against control and other counterspell decks post-sideboard as it allows us to resolve our big plays like Enigmatic Incarnation and Yorion, Sky Nomad uncontested. The ability on it is also great at attacking down planeswalkers if we have a lot of enchantments in play and it’s also an enchantment itself so we can sacrifice it to Enigmatic Incarnation if we need.
2 Unlicensed Hearse: This is here pretty much exclusively for the Greasefang, Okiba Boss matchup since finding graveyard hate consistently is so important and I don’t think just 4 Rest In Peace in an 80 card deck is enough.
2 Skyclave Apparition: Final 2 copies of Skyclave Apparition for creature decks and decks running cheap non-creature permanents this can hit like sacrifice.
Best of 1
I don’t think I’d make any changes for best of 1 since the main deck is fairly well set up against most decks and is already full of tutor targets. The only downside of running this deck in best of 1 is that it’s quite soft to Greasefang, Okiba Boss decks which seem more prominent in the Bo1 metagame.
There isn’t an easy fix to this really since the deck can’t really afford to run instant-speed interaction but you do still have access to Rest in Peace which you can search with Moon-Blessed Cleric and Callous Bloodmage which you can search off Enigmatic Incarnation.
Matchups and Sideboard Guide
Rakdos Midrange
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +3 The Meathook Massacre | -1 Yasharn, Implacable Earth |
| +1 Skyclave Apparition | -1 Rest in Peace |
| -1 Reidane, God of the Worthy | |
| -1 Callous Bloodmage |
The way you lose this matchup is letting them outrace you as they’re essentially forced into the aggressive role; keeping their board clear in the early game and not letting them get too aggressive is really important. Both The Meathook Massacre and Skyclave Apparition are important to that end.
If the opponent is running Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, definitely keep in Callous Bloodmage instead of the extra Skyclave Apparition, and you can afford to cut Sparkhunter Masticore if you think they’re not running any planeswalkers.
Thoughtseize is the most important card to be wary of in this matchup so it’s usually better to get your important cards like Enigmatic Incarnation or Moon-Blessed Cleric (to tutor for Enigmatic Incarnation) in play as soon as possible so they don’t get hit by discard spells.
Additionally, be wary of Thoughtseize when you’re thinking of putting Yorion, Sky Nomad into your hand. If you want to go for a big Yorion, Sky Nomad turn and you’re getting close to 9 mana, it’s usually better to wait until you can put it into hand and cast it in the same turn.
If the opponent is on a more graveyard-focused build with cards like Dreadhorde Arcanist and Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, then you want all 4 Rest in Peace in place of The Meathook Massacre and the extra Skyclave Apparition.
Greasefang
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +3 Rest in Peace | -1 Yasharn, Implacable Earth |
| +2 Unlicensed Hearse | -1 Reidane, God of the Worthy |
| -1 Sparkhunter Masticore | |
| -1 Renegade Rallier | |
| -1 The Meathook Massacre |
Graveyard hate is really important in this matchup so you generally want to mulligan a little more aggressively unless you have a strong hand. If you can resolve a Rest in Peace or Unlicensed Hearse, you can out grind their backup plan fairly easily whether they’re playing Mardu or Esper.
If you don’t have graveyard hate, then the cards that are most useful off Enigmatic Incarnation are Elite Spellbinder to tax their Greasefang, Okiba Boss (to delay the combo) or Parhelion II (to stop them discarding it), Callous Bloodmage (to exile the graveyard if they’ve already discarded Parhelion II), or Elder Gargaroth (as a way to prevent a lot of the damage if they do manage to combo).
Additionally, don’t forget you can use Deputy of Detention to exile the angel tokens as a way to stabilize after the combo.
Izzet Phoenix
You’re generally a favourite in this matchup since you have effective ways to deal with their creatures, access to life gain, Yorion, Sky Nomad and Elder Gargaroth as blockers, and graveyard hate.
The main thing to be wary of is counterspells as they’re likely to bring in Spell Pierce and Mystical Dispute against you. Always be mindful if the opponent is consistently leaving blue mana up, especially when casting Enigmatic Incarnation or Yorion, Sky Nomad.
They can sometimes have fast starts, especially if they’re running Sprite Dragon, so don’t keep hands that don’t have any way to interact or dig for interaction (Moon-Blessed Cleric and Enigmatic Incarnation both tend to count since tutoring up Skyclave Apparition or Ravenous Chupacabra etc every turn is usually good enough to stabilize).
Also, if they’re running Stormwing Entity, then it’s best to keep in Deputy of Detention instead of the extra The Meathook Massacre as a way to temporarily deal with it since it dodges Skyclave Apparition.
Jund Sacrifice
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +3 Rest in Peace | -1 Elite Spellbinder |
| +2 Skyclave Apparition | -1 Reidane, God of the Worthy |
| -1 Callous Bloodmage | |
| -1 Renegade Rallier | |
| -1 Sparkhunter Masticore |
This sideboard plan assumes the opponent is playing Cat/Oven, if they’re not, then bring in 3 The Meathook Massacre instead of 3 Rest in Peace. Like I said previously, Korvold, Fae-Cursed King is the single biggest problem for this deck since it immediately generates so much card advantage and is difficult to kill so the Korvold-based sacrifice decks are significantly harder than the other variants.
If the opponent is running Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, then racing to get Yasharn, Implacable Earth into play as fast as possible helps to limit the amount of advantage they can get off Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, but trying to set up a way to kill it is also important. There are two main ways to kill Korvold in this matchup: keep the board clear and then use Enigmatic Incarnation to tutor up Renegade Rallier to bring back Trial of Ambition, or sacrifice Oath of Kaya to tutor up Ravenous Chupacabra. If you can’t set up either of those then Deputy of Detention to exile it temporarily is fine to try and buy some time.
The other main way to beat Korvold, Fae-Cursed King builds is to try and close the game out before they can find Korvold, Fae-Cursed King. By far the easiest way to do this is to get Elder Gargaroth into play so if you can set up multiple Enigmatic Incarnation, sacrifice one of them to get Elder Gargaroth into play as fast as possible and then start copying it with Glasspool Mimic.
Rest in Peace is great at shutting off Cat/Oven which limits their ability to use Trail of Crumbs without Gilded Goose as well as stopping them from going off with Mayhem Devil or Korvold, Fae-Cursed King. It’s also pretty reasonable to use Moon-Blessed Cleric to tutor up Oath of Kaya if you have Enigmatic Incarnation since you can sacrifice it to tutor up both Yasharn, Implacable Earth and Ravenous Chupacabra which are both key cards in the matchup.
If they’re not running Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, then the matchup is a lot easier as you can keep them off their engine pieces with Skyclave Apparition and Knight of Autumn and then outgrind them in the late game.
Mono Blue Tempo
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +4 Destiny Spinner | -1 Yasharn, Implacable Earth |
| +2 Skyclave Apparition | -1 Reidane, God of the Worthy |
| -1 Callous Bloodmage | |
| -1 Sparkhunter Masticore | |
| -1 Rest in Peace | |
| -1 Knight of Autumn |
Never keep a hand without either Destiny Spinner or early interaction as they’ll pretty easily win the game if they keep early creatures in play and trade 1-for-1 with their counterspells. Destiny Spinner is by far the most important card in this matchup since they’re pretty reliant on counterspells to interact, but be aware that they might bring in Aether Gust which gets around Destiny Spinner.
Stabilizing is the most important thing so prioritize killing their creatures as quickly as possible as if the game goes long, you’ll be able to cast multiple spells a turn which they struggle to deal with.
Azorius Control
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +4 Destiny Spinner | -1 Rest in Peace |
| -1 The Meathook Massacre | |
| -2 Trial of Ambition |
I’ve found this matchup to be pretty reasonable, but you do get punished pretty hard for making mistakes. Destiny Spinner is by far the best card in this matchup at forcing through your powerful cards like Enigmatic Incarnation and Yorion, Sky Nomad so tutoring it up with Moon-Blessed Cleric if you already have one of those is usually good.
You’re basically trying to navigate to a situation where you can resolve Enigmatic Incarnation, either by forcing them to tap out or getting Destiny Spinner into play, and then you can start really disrupting their game plan with Elite Spellbinder, Reidane, God of the Worthy, and Sparkhunter Masticore.
Oath of Kaya is lowkey one of the most important cards in the matchup at being able to pick off planeswalkers like Narset, Parter of Veils (which can be a real problem since it shuts off all of our draw a card enchantments), Teferi, Hero of Dominaria if they use the -3 etc. as well as being an important tool at closing the game out once the opponent is at a low life total so think carefully about when you use it.
Embercleave Aggro (Mono Red / Gruul)
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +3 The Meathook Massacre | -1 Yasharn, Implacable Earth |
| +2 Skyclave Apparition | -1 Rest in Peace |
| -1 Elite Spellbinder | |
| -1 Sparkhunter Masticore | |
| -1 Reidane, God of the Worthy |
You generally want to kill their creatures as fast as possible to keep them off Embercleave or to limit the amount of damage they can force through with something like Torbran, Thane of Red Fell so ensure you keep a hand that has early interaction or creatures that can trade off in combat. Gaining life once you’ve stabilized is crucial so tutoring up Knight of Autumn to gain 4 life and copying it with Glasspool Mimic is important to put the game out of reach.
Jeskai Fires
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +4 Destiny Spinner | -1 Yasharn, Implacable Earth |
| -1 Rest in Peace | |
| -1 Skyclave Apparition | |
| -1 The Meathook Massacre |
Keeping them off Transmogrify and having a plan to kill their planeswalkers are the two most important things in this matchup as those are the two main ways they can get ahead. Kill their tokens on sight if you can with Trial of Ambition / Oath of Kaya / Deputy of Detention to keep them off Transmogrify in the early game.
If you can set up Enigmatic Incarnation, then Reidane, God of the Worthy is usually the first card you want to get into play as it taxes Fires of Invention, Transmogrify and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, but Elite Spellbinder is also a good choice too.
Destiny Spinner is important post-sideboard as they’re likely to bring in Mystical Dispute and Dovin's Veto against you. You generally have the better late game if you can resolve Enigmatic Incarnation since you can deal with their biggest threats (Knight of Autumn can take out Fires of Invention, Sparkhunter Masticore can kill their planeswalkers, Deputy of Detention can exile their tokens).
Tips & Tricks
- If you copy Yorion, Sky Nomad with Glasspool Mimic, make sure you always choose to keep the original Yorion, Sky Nomad. This will then allow you to blink the original Yorion, Sky Nomad which will then allow you to blink all of the other permanents again when they re-enter.
- Similarly, if you’re using Glasspool Mimic to copy Yorion, Sky Nomad off Enigmatic Incarnation, don’t forget that everything you blink won’t return until the opponent’s end step since you’re doing this all during your end step.
- Don’t forget that using Enigmatic Incarnation will shuffle your deck which will overwrite Moon-Blessed Cleric‘s ability if you play it during your main phase, or any scrying you do with Omen of the Sea.
- You can blink an enchantment with Yorion, Sky Nomad and still sacrifice it to Enigmatic Incarnation during your end step, assuming you order your triggers correctly.
- Sequencing your lands is incredibly important in this deck to ensure you have the right colours available on the right turn, so think carefully about the order you play them in – this is important for both the cards in your hand as well as cards you could potentially draw.
- Casting Yorion, Sky Nomad on turn 5 can be crucial to stabilizing in certain scenarios so always consider taking a turn off to put it into your hand when you’re planning out your first few turns.
- It’s potentially a good idea to have access to the deck list in your first few matches with the deck to see all of the potential options you have. The deck has so many potential lines because of the Enigmatic Incarnation toolbox so it can be easy to miss some if you’re unaware of all of the creatures in the deck.
Conclusion
I absolutely love playing Enigmatic Incarnation decks so this has been so much fun to play and there are a lot of potential directions you can go with different tutor targets so it’s fairly adaptable to metagame shifts too. Come join our Discord and let us know how you go with the deck or have any questions. Thanks a lot for reading!
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Altheriax
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