<p style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marina Vendrell" href="#" target="_blank">Marina Vendrell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.originalmagicart.store/collections/magali-villeneuve">Magali Villeneuve</a></p>
<p>Welcome back to <em>Best At, Worst At</em>. In this series, we look at some of Commander's most popular strategies, see which legendary creatures lead the most decks for them, and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of those cards. After we analyze a strategy's most popular commander, we'll look at another commander that fills in some of their weak spots.</p>
<p>In today's edition, we'll be talking about <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/enchantress">Enchantress decks</a>. These decks are quite popular, currently sitting as the 15th-most popular strategy in EDHREC's data with 58,052 decks!</p>
<h2>Why Play Enchantress?</h2>
<p>These decks make great use of one of <em>Magic</em>'s most interesting card types. While most Commander decks run just a handful of enchantments, these decks often run more than a dozen of them, some with enchantments numbering in the scores, just to get the density they need to make this strategy tick.</p>
<p>Enchantments come in multiple forms, with Auras, Sagas, and Rooms all doing different things. But, in general, these decks can make a ton of mana (with cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sanctum Weaver" href="#" target="_blank">Sanctum Weaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>), wipe the board easily (with beefers like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doomwake Giant" href="#" target="_blank">Doomwake Giant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>), and even set up a pillow fort (with permanents like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sphere of Safety" href="#" target="_blank">Sphere of Safety</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sanctum Weaver"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Doomwake Giant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sphere of Safety"></div></div>
<h2>Who's the Most Popular Enchantress Commander?</h2>
<p>The most popular Enchantress commander is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marina Vendrell" href="#" target="_blank">Marina Vendrell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, leading 7% of this strategy's lists. As the legend in charge of 3,771 decks with this tag, Marina lets pilots make good use of all the Rooms that got printed in <em>Duskmourn</em>.</p>
<p>For <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, Marina is a 3/5 Human Warlock. When she enters the battlefield, we get to look at the top seven cards of our library and put all enchantments from among them into our hand. We can also <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-tap" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> Marina to lock or unlock half of a Room enchantment, letting us use and re-use their effects!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Marina Vendrell"></div></div>
<h3>What Makes Marina Vendrell So Powerful?</h3>
<p>As <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=otag%3Asynergy-room+is%3Acommander&amp;unique=cards&amp;as=grid&amp;order=name">one of just two commanders that synergize with Rooms</a>, Marina provides a home (no pun intended) for all of the great cards from the haunted-house-themed set that released in 2024. Rooms are generally pretty well-designed, and Marina lets us play the best ones while also giving us access to some fantastic synergy pieces.</p>
<p>Her five-color identity lets us play a "no holds barred" sort of game, not needing to settle for sub-par removal, card advantage, or ramp. She also lets us cheat huge mana costs very effectively. If, for example, we spend two mana to get the cheaper half of a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirror Room // Fractured Realm" href="#" target="_blank">Mirror Room // Fractured Realm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on the field, Marina can save us <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-5" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> by unlocking the more costly side. She can also let us reuse Mirror Room's ability by repeatedly locking and unlocking it!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mirror Room // Fractured Realm"></div></div>
<h3>What's in a Marina Deck?</h3>
<p>Marina Vendrell decks keep their hands full with draw engines like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sythis, Harvest&#039;s Hand" href="#" target="_blank">Sythis, Harvest&#039;s Hand</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (which finds itself in a whopping 73% of Marina decks) while keeping the board on lockdown with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fear of Sleep Paralysis" href="#" target="_blank">Fear of Sleep Paralysis</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (in 60% of Marina decks). Other cards from <em>Duskmourn</em> also feature heavily, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Master of Keys" href="#" target="_blank">The Master of Keys</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (in 30% of lists).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sythis, Harvest&#039;s Hand"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fear of Sleep Paralysis"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Master of Keys"></div></div>
<p>Other decks may focus on filling their 99 with cheap enchantments, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abundant Harvest" href="#" target="_blank">Abundant Harvest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but Marina Vendrell pilots want to play house. The most popular Room for these lists is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Secret Arcade // Dusty Parlor" href="#" target="_blank">Secret Arcade // Dusty Parlor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which turns all of our permanents into enchantments. This works well with Marina, letting us grab more cards with her ETB trigger, but it pairs even better with effects like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Setessan Champion" href="#" target="_blank">Setessan Champion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cramped Vents // Access Maze" href="#" target="_blank">Cramped Vents // Access Maze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is another popular choice, letting our commander <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-tap" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> to provide us with on-demand removal while also saving us even more mana in the long run. Finally, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dollmaker&#039;s Shop // Porcelain Gallery" href="#" target="_blank">Dollmaker&#039;s Shop // Porcelain Gallery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> makes a great target for our commander's unlock ability. We can spend just <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> and use Marina's ability to get both halves of this Room up and running!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Secret Arcade // Dusty Parlor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cramped Vents // Access Maze"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dollmaker&#039;s Shop // Porcelain Gallery"></div></div>
<p>Here's Marina's average decklist, according to EDHREC. Rooms, of course, feature heavily!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="This House is Not a Home" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Marina Vendrell
[/Commander]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Chromatic Lantern
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Keys to the House
*1 Sol Ring
[/Artifacts]
[Creatures]
*1 Balemurk Leech
*1 Destiny Spinner
*1 Doomwake Giant
*1 Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
*1 Eidolon of Blossoms
*1 Enduring Vitality
*1 Entity Tracker
*1 Fear of Sleep Paralysis
*1 Ghostly Dancers
*1 Ghostly Keybearer
*1 Gremlin Tamer
*1 Herald of the Pantheon
*1 Inquisitive Glimmer
*1 Jukai Naturalist
*1 Mesa Enchantress
*1 Ondu Spiritdancer
*1 Overlord of the Hauntwoods
*1 Sanctum Weaver
*1 Setessan Champion
*1 Sythis, Harvest&#039;s Hand
*1 Victor, Valgavoth&#039;s Seneschal
*1 Zur, Eternal Schemer
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Bottomless Pool // Locker Room
*1 Central Elevator // Promising Stairs
*1 Charred Foyer // Warped Space
*1 Cramped Vents // Access Maze
*1 Dazzling Theater // Prop Room
*1 Defiled Crypt // Cadaver Lab
*1 Derelict Attic // Widow&#039;s Walk
*1 Dollmaker&#039;s Shop // Porcelain Gallery
*1 Enchantress&#039;s Presence
*1 Funeral Room // Awakening Hall
*1 Glassworks // Shattered Yard
*1 Grand Entryway // Elegant Rotunda
*1 Greenhouse // Rickety Gazebo
*1 Meat Locker // Drowned Diner
*1 Mirror Room // Fractured Realm
*1 Moldering Gym // Weight Room
*1 Painter&#039;s Studio // Defaced Gallery
*1 Restricted Office // Lecture Hall
*1 Roaring Furnace // Steaming Sauna
*1 Secret Arcade // Dusty Parlor
*1 Smoky Lounge // Misty Salon
*1 Sphere of Safety
*1 Surgical Suite // Hospital Room
*1 Ticket Booth // Tunnel of Hate
*1 Underwater Tunnel // Slimy Aquarium
*1 Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber
*1 Walk-In Closet // Forgotten Cellar
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Counterspell
*1 Get Out
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Swords to Plowshares
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Cultivate
*1 Farseek
*1 Idyllic Tutor
*1 Redress Fate
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Arcane Sanctum
*1 Breeding Pool
*1 Command Tower
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Flooded Strand
*4 Forest
*1 Godless Shrine
*1 Hall of Heliod&#039;s Generosity
*1 Hallowed Fountain
*1 Indatha Triome
*3 Island
*1 Jetmir&#039;s Garden
*1 Ketria Triome
*2 Mountain
*1 Overgrown Tomb
*1 Path of Ancestry
*3 Plains
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Seaside Citadel
*1 Spara&#039;s Headquarters
*1 Stomping Ground
*2 Swamp
*1 Temple Garden
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 The World Tree
*1 Valgavoth&#039;s Lair
*1 Windswept Heath
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h3>What Are Marina Vendrell's Shortcomings?</h3>
<p>While Marina can provide a spooky amount of value when played alongside an adequate number of Rooms, she doesn't inherently give us a way to win the game.</p>
<p>Some of the Rooms that we play can put a good amount of power and toughness on the field, and there's even a Room that acts as an alternative win condition (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Central Elevator // Promising Stairs" href="#" target="_blank">Central Elevator // Promising Stairs</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>). But, beyond that, we won't be reducing opponents' life totals meaningfully. Many Rooms are built for <em>Duskmourn</em>'s Limited environment, or for 60-card formats, meaning they fall flat in Commander.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Central Elevator // Promising Stairs"></div></div>
<h2>How Can We Shore Up Marina's Weaknesses?</h2>
<p>In stark contrast, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bello, Bard of the Brambles" href="#" target="_blank">Bello, Bard of the Brambles</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provides some real offensive firepower. We'll have a board of card-drawing, quick-moving 4/4s before our opponents can say "Raccoon Bard" ten times fast.</p>
<p>For <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, Bello is a 3/3 that turns all of our non-Aura enchantments and non-Equipment artifacts into 4/4s that draw us cards upon dealing damage to an opponent. These newly-minted creatures have haste and indestructible to boot!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bello, Bard of the Brambles"></div></div>
<p>Bello decks play some unique cards. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Overlord of the Hauntwoods" href="#" target="_blank">Overlord of the Hauntwoods</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, for example, can attack ahead of schedule if we get Bello on the field after casting the Avatar Horror. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Weaver of Harmony" href="#" target="_blank">Weaver of Harmony</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s +1/+1 anthem suddenly looks a lot more relevant, too, with our commander on the field. Finally, and funnily enough, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Path of Discovery" href="#" target="_blank">Path of Discovery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can trigger its own ability to explore!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Overlord of the Hauntwoods"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Weaver of Harmony"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Path of Discovery"></div></div>
<p>Bello pairs extraordinarily well with enchantments that augment the damage our creatures can deal. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Berserkers&#039; Onslaught" href="#" target="_blank">Berserkers&#039; Onslaught</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gratuitous Violence" href="#" target="_blank">Gratuitous Violence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> turn our animated army into functional 8/4s, allowing us to crash through for tons of damage. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gruul War Chant" href="#" target="_blank">Gruul War Chant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fiery Emancipation" href="#" target="_blank">Fiery Emancipation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> have similar effects. We can even copy our creature-fied enchantments with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Molten Echoes" href="#" target="_blank">Molten Echoes</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flameshadow Conjuring" href="#" target="_blank">Flameshadow Conjuring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, delivering a real wallop to our opponents in the combat step.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Berserkers&#039; Onslaught"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gruul War Chant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Molten Echoes"></div></div>
<p>Here's Bello's average Enchantress-tagged deck. This list may be a bit tainted by the original 99 of Bello's preconstructed deck, but the differences between this deck and Marina's should still be clear.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Bello and Goodbye" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Bello, Bard of the Brambles
[/Commander]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Chimil, the Inner Sun
*1 Esika&#039;s Chariot
*1 Gilded Lotus
*1 Gruul Signet
*1 Hedron Archive
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Rolling Hamsphere
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Impulse
*1 Thought Vessel
*1 Thran Dynamo
[/Artifacts]
[Creatures]
*1 Birds of Paradise
*1 Eidolon of Blossoms
*1 Fanatic of Rhonas
*1 Garruk&#039;s Packleader
*1 Goblin Anarchomancer
*1 Herald of the Pantheon
*1 Kodama of the East Tree
*1 Llanowar Elves
*1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
*1 Overlord of the Boilerbilges
*1 Pyreswipe Hawk
*1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
*1 Sanctum Weaver
*1 Setessan Champion
*1 Trailtracker Scout
*1 Wandertale Mentor
*1 Wildsear, Scouring Maw
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Asceticism
*1 Berserkers&#039; Onslaught
*1 Case of the Locked Hothouse
*1 City on Fire
*1 Collective Inferno
*1 Fiery Emancipation
*1 Garruk&#039;s Uprising
*1 Glorious Sunrise
*1 Gratuitous Violence
*1 Greater Good
*1 Gruul War Chant
*1 Guardian Project
*1 Molten Echoes
*1 Nature&#039;s Will
*1 Path of Discovery
*1 Primeval Bounty
*1 Raiding Schemes
*1 Sunbird&#039;s Invocation
*1 Thickest in the Thicket
*1 Unnatural Growth
*1 Warstorm Surge
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Abrade
*1 Beast Within
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Heroic Intervention
*1 Starstorm
*1 Tamiyo&#039;s Safekeeping
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Cultivate
*1 Decimate
*1 Explore
*1 Farseek
*1 Nature&#039;s Lore
*1 Rampant Growth
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Cinder Glade
*1 Command Tower
*1 Copperline Gorge
*1 Exotic Orchard
*11 Forest
*1 Game Trail
*1 Gruul Turf
*1 Karplusan Forest
*1 Mossfire Valley
*1 Mosswort Bridge
*8 Mountain
*1 Raging Ravine
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Rockfall Vale
*1 Rootbound Crag
*1 Sheltered Thicket
*1 Spire Garden
*1 Stomping Ground
*1 Temple of Abandon
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Enchantments appear in every set, but it was so neat to get a whole set focused on them with <em>Duskmourn</em>. I do hope that Rooms return at some point in the near future, and that's not just for Marina Vendrell's sake. They're among the more interesting enchantment subtypes, and I think that there may be some unexplored design space available for multicolored Rooms!</p>
<p>Are you as hopeful as I am for the return of Rooms? Let me know below, and I'll be back soon with another <em>Best At, Worst At</em>!</p>


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Marina Vendrell Enchantress | Best At, Worst At