Over the course of Magic history, few legendary creatures have been as consistently powerful as Emrakul. With the exception of Emrakul, the World Anew, every version of this Eldrazi menace has been impactful in one format or another, often to the point of needing bans to check their power. MTG Reality Fracture’s new take on Emrakul, the Exigent Doom, was heavily hyped as a result, and now that it’s out in the wild it’s already starting to live up to that hype.
Emrakul, the Exigent Doom in MTG Modern
As soon as Reality Fracture was released on digital MTG formats, Emrakul, the Exigent Doom started putting in work. So far, its biggest contributions have been in Modern, where it’s become a regular player in the various flavors of Tron in the format. Most lists are running it as a 2-of, to great effect, too, with plenty of League 5-0s and even a Challenge Top 16 in the books already.
In Modern Tron, new Emrakul pulls double duty as both a ramp piece and a finisher. Since you can exile it from your hand to boost your mana with its own ability or to Ugin’s Labyrinth, it’s a big creature that isn’t a dead draw early, like Devourer of Destiny. Unlike the deck’s other ramp pieces, like Expedition Map and Talisman of Dominance, it’s also not vulnerable to removal or countermagic.
Later on, Tron can easily reach 10 mana, so Emrakul can come down from turn five onward and take over the board. The Ward cost makes it arguably the trickiest Emrakul to take down yet, and its massive 12/12 stats can easily end most games with a single swing. Untapping all your lands is huge for Tron, too, letting you either drop another big threat like Ugin, Eye of the Storms
Ugin, Eye of the StormsWhen you cast this spell, exile up to one target permanent that's one or more colors.
Whenever you cast a colorless spell, exile up to one target permanent that's one or more colors.
+2: You gain 3 life and draw a card.
0: Add {C}{C}{C}.
−11: Search your library for any number of colorless nonland cards, exile them, then shuffle. Until end of turn, you may cast those cards without paying their mana costs. or put your shields back up so you can interact with Kozilek’s Command.
Emrakul’s most notable boon for Tron decks, however, is that it helps the deck get around Blood Moon
Blood MoonNonbasic lands are Mountains. effects. Any land affected by Emrakul still taps for two colorless, helping you ramp out your threats while keeping Kozilek’s Command active. Considering that Blood Moon is one of the best hatepieces against Tron, Emrakul’s addition is a big deal.
Outside of Tron, Emrakul is seeing a fair bit of use in other Modern strategies as well. Eldrazi decks, both the regular ramp and Broodscale Combo varieties, have found room for the card as a two-of, and it seems to be doing well there so far. As with Tron, the card serves as an excellent smoothing tool for these strategies, boosting your overall Eldrazi presence while increasing your early options.
More Worlds To Conquer
Modern isn’t the only MTG format where Emrakul, the Exigent Doom has been wreaking havoc, as it’s also been showing up in both Standard and Legacy. In the former format, a range of different archetypes have been testing the big bad, including Dimir Control and Big Red. Perhaps the most successful brew so far, however, is a new Mono-Green Ramp list.
Piloted to a 5-0 League finish by Narca, this new list uses Emrakul to the fullest. The deck ramps regularly, using cards like Llanowar Elves and Simulacrum Shaper to power out threats like Anticausal Vestige. Emrakul gives the deck more ramp and more threats, strengthening it at both ends.
On top of that, Emrakul ties into the most unique feature of Narca’s list, that being its ‘cast from outside your hand’ sub-theme. Emrakul itself and Anticausal Vestige both offer casts this way, as do Emeritus of Abundance and Vastlands Scavenger. With cards like Heartwood Crafter
Heartwood CrafterThis creature enters prepared. (While it's prepared, you may cast a copy of its spell. Doing so unprepares it.)
{T}: Add {C}. This mana can't be spent to cast spells from your hand. and Interdimensional Web Watch, the deck can play these cards much faster than usual, enabling explosive early wins.
Over in Legacy, Emrakul is popping up in a range of ramp decks, including Green Cloudpost and straight-up Tron. The card is even seeing a fair bit of Commander play already, too, appearing in around 12,500 decks ranging from Eldrazi Typal lists like Ulalek, Fused Atrocity
Ulalek, Fused AtrocityDevoid (This card has no color.)
Whenever you cast an Eldrazi spell, you may pay {C}{C}. If you do, copy all spells you control, then copy all other activated and triggered abilities you control. You may choose new targets for the copies. (Mana abilities can't be copied.), to straightforward ramp builds like The Notary Hobbits
The Notary HobbitsWhen The Notary Hobbits enter, if they're not a token, create two tokens that are copies of them, except the tokens aren't legendary.
{T}: Add {C} for each Halfling you control..
Overall, based on these early results, Emrakul, the Exigent Doom is every bit as scary as her title and reputation suggest. Going forward, this is definitely a card to watch, too, as I can see it getting more and more widespread as players keep winning events and exploring its uniquely flexible abilities.
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