Modern: Naya Enchantress - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Enchantress sprouted in Modern directly from the second version of Modern Horizons, released in June 2021.

In this article, we'll discuss how this deck came to be, its strategy, show you a quick sideboard guide and even give you some tips on how you can upgrade this "low budget" deck that can please players to this day.

History

Modern is an eternal format that showed players that "eternal formats" can exist with a few variables.

Modern Horizons 1, released in June 2019, showed us that one of the most played formats in certain countries can also reinvent itself (and make a profit). Modern Horizons 2, on the other hand, was different. Released in 2021, when the COVID2019 pandemic was starting to end, this set brought an "entirely new Modern", literally.

My original pet deck, Jund, simply ceased to be, just like many, many other decks. It was precisely MH2 that brought Enchantress to Modern, and also brought this deck's main package of cards:

Why do I say it was "brought"? Throughout my years as a player, I had the opportunity to witness several changes and lists that were released and customized, such as, for instance, this Enchantress version in Legacy, which, even though it wasn't a tier 1 deck, it was quite popular, considering it had an "accessible price" at the time. Let's see an example (from Legacy) straight from 2007 with the legendary LSV:

Did you notice a few cards above come from MH2, or some just are extremely similar to cards in this set? Yeah, there's nothing random about this phenomenon.

Someone at Wizards really wanted Enchantress in Modern, and, literally, brought to us a completely playable package of cards. As incredible as it sounds, it also had a great price:

Without further ado, let's honor this effort and put our Enchantress into practice!

All of this brings us to a "Prison Deck" whose main goal is to play a Solitary Confinement with the permanents that draw cards, Sythis, Harvest's Hand and Enchantress's Presence.

Our base list is from ikero_, who Top 32'd a tournament in June 2023:

With our "Prison" deck, we won't lose the game in a traditional sense. From then on, we'll draw many cards and create a lot of mana with Sanctum Weaver, and look for our win condition, which is mainly Destiny Spinner.

A critical fact: we also have a true toolbox of enchantments, and we'll look for this type of card with our Sterling Grove - don't be afraid to use it if you need to!

Even though this deck is a Prison deck, we have a card that has stolen games in Modern more times than I can count:

And yes, we can play it on turn 2.

This deck has a very fun play style, with interactions, card draw, and Blood Moon.

It's worth keeping in mind that we're not talking about a tier 1 deck, but rather a consistent deck. You won't find it every week conquering 5-0 scores, or Top 32'ing MTGO's Challenges frequently. However, it will bring you fun times and can face tier 1 decks. This deck is a happy surprise (or an unhappy one, for opponents that don't know it).

This deck has an inviting price, and, as it is always "bordering" the competitive scene, i'ts likely you'll surprise players and escape "hates". As it is a deck that requires very little investment, it can be upgraded bit by bit - and for those who enjoy customizing their decks all the time, it might be a good call.

You also have some ways to make this strategy your own, such as using Blue instead of Red to add Spreading Seas to your sideboard.

The enchantment pool we can use grows every time a new set is released, which means you can always upgrade this deck and its base. Remember you'll always have a solid deck, and, even if you do take my suggestions on how to upgrade it, this deck's price, as a whole, will still be a much smaller investment than other decks in Modern.

Our mana base is simple, efficient, and, once again "cheap". As we have On Thin Ice, we'll use basic snow-covered lands and an excellent utility land: Hall of Heliod's Generosity.

At the end of this article, I'll suggest another one of my personal lists, which I'll definitely use to play my next Modern matches on Saturday!

I hope you're not tired of enchantments, because we have even more of them in the sideboard, and we'll attack our opponents' weaknesses with them.

Leyline of Sanctity - I admit I'm not a big fan of Leylines (none of them), but I have to make an exception for this deck. This deck is a Prison deck, but we're playing Modern: our hand and our health points are attacked directly, so we need a solution.

Rest In Peace - We have access to the best graveyard hate in this format, and guess what? It is also an enchantment.

Stony Silence - I have a few thoughts about artifacts, but I have to say this card could be one of the best hates around, and it could complement our deck!

Flame Blitz - By far, it is the best way we have to deal with planeswalkers, and it is an important addition against Tron decks and decks like UW.

Force of Vigor - There are a few enchantment and artifact hates that are better than FOV, so we'll keep two copies of this card and also use an enchantment-shaped hate.

Seal of Primordium - This card has synergy with our deck and removes problems for us.

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn - Firstly, it is a great backup against mill decks, but, more importantly than that, it is an efficient win condition that brings some speed to our deck.

UR Murktide

This matchup brings an interesting line of strategy: Murktide is much fairer without its graveyard, so we'll play along and add Rest In Peace.

They'll definitely add Engineered Explosives from their sideboard, and it is probably the only sideboard card that can impact us significantly. So, let's try to lock them down with Stony Silence.

Keep in mind that Destiny Spinner protects our enchantments against counters (and that it dies to Lightning Bolt). We'll also remove our Moons, considering our opponent doesn't struggle that much against them, and also "cantrips" like Commune with Spirits.

In

Out

Temur Rhinos

We have two different lines of strategy, depending on whether it is Rhino Temur or 4-5C.

Rhinos Temur brings the very-dangerous Tishana's Tidebinder, and a 2-3 turn clock. On the other hand, it doesn't interact that much and its hate cards are very different from Force of Vigor. In this matchup, our sideboard doesn't shine, so I'll insist and keep our Blood Moons, because even if some Rhinos do use Moon, they don't have the same quality as Enchantress to play with it.

We don't want Prismatic Ending, considering it won't solve any of our problems.

In

Out

In this matchup, the idea is to recycle, clearly.

If your opponent uses Scion of Draco, add Force of Vigor.

Boros Burn

Our Prison play wins us the game automatically, so we'll try to draw it as much as we can.

As for the sideboard, the Leylines I never really liked should stand out.

After the sideboard, we should worry about the hate cards they can bring, and we can't forget about Deflecting Palm if we use Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.

In this matchup, Blood Moon doesn't impact the game much, so it will be removed immediately.

In

Out

BR Scam

This matchup is interesting; SCAM simply doesn't deal with enchantments, and we have to keep an eye out for Engineered Explosives. And, of course, we have to avoid the "SCAM" on turn zero play.

We'll remove Blood Moon, considering it also attacks them through this line of strategy, the cantrips and Prismatic Ending, which won't solve any of the big problems we may have.

In

Out

Living End

Remember what I said about the best hate against graveyards?

In this matchup, we have to gain time to set up, besides avoid a lethal play on turn 4 or 5.

When you add the Leylines, we guarantee that the only way they will be able to stop Rest in Peace will be with Force of Negation.

We'll remove our target removals and fill our main deck with hates.

In

Out

G Tron

This matchup is our worst nightmare. Oblivion Stone and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon can simply end our plans, besides the other traditional threats they may have, such as Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Karn Liberated.

We'll try to stall the game as much as we can.

So we can add the cards we need, we'll remove our removals that affect this matchup very little, such as On Thin Ice.

In

Out

W e UW Hammer

We know how Hammer can be dangerous, so we'll bring our package of artifact or enchantment hates.

Don't refrain from using Force of Vigor on an Urza's Saga and other artifacts. Keep in mind that Esper Sentinel is also an artifact.

We aren't rushing to end this matchup, so we'll also remove some of our cantrips.

In

Out

Amulet Titan

Amulet Titan is a fast combo deck, but it will interact very little or not at all with us. We'll attack their speed with our artifact removals and Blood Moon. Our lock strategy will shine in this matchup.

As their creatures already enter play creating value, we'll lower our removals. Keep in mind that Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is an enchantment.

In

Out

In this list, I added more win conditions, such as Sigil of the Empty Throne, because this way we can improve our mid and late game, and we create a lot of value with each enchantment.

Another personal addition were the two Ossification, to interact with our opponents while we don't have our lock cards.

I also increased the number of protection cards with Greater Auramancy, to guarantee that cards like Sythis, Harvest's Hand will remain on the board and get our deck rolling.

This list's sideboard also represents the strength of the Cascade decks that abuse Chalice of the Void and Sphere of Safety.

Enchantress will probably not take you to Worlds. However, it will bring you a lot of fun, a different play style, and many players will get caught off guard while facing it.

It is a deck to wow opponents, and has very interesting matchups against tier 1 decks, such as Scam and Burn.

If MH2 created this deck, what will MH3 create for us?

See you next time!