Emmara Tandris MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost7
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Creature — Elf Shaman
Power 5
Toughness 7

Key Takeaways

  1. Emmara Tandris excels in guarding creatures, acting like a green-white bastion of card advantage.
  2. Her endurance against removal spells translates to indirect resource acceleration for her controller.
  3. The constant protection Emmara offers can impact opponents’ decisions, simulating instant speed presence.

Text of card

Prevent all damage that would be dealt to creature tokens you control.

When Selesnya needed a champion, Emmara put the ranks of her guild before herself—making her the perfect choice.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Emmara Tandris shines when it comes to establishing a presence on the battlefield. While she doesn’t directly allow you to draw cards, her ability to protect your other creatures is like card advantage in green and white decks. She essentially guards the investments you’ve made on the board, ensuring that elves, tokens, and other key creatures survive longer to bring value turn after turn.

Resource Acceleration: Although Emmara isn’t a direct source of resource acceleration, her durability in the face of removal spells means that the creatures you would typically use for convoke, tapping for abilities or attacking persist. This indirectly leads to a form of resource acceleration as you have more creatures available to execute your strategy faster.

Instant Speed: Emmara Tandris doesn’t operate at instant speed herself, yet her static ability continuously safeguards your creatures as if you had an instant in play ready to protect them. This can deter opponents from casting spells or attacking, as they know their removal or combat tricks will be less effective, granting you a more controlled and secure board state.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Emmara Tandris doesn’t have an innate discard ability, but her synergy in decks often leans heavily on Selesnya’s token strategy. This dependance can force players into unfavorable positions when required to discard other valuable cards to keep Emmara’s engine running or to recover from a setback on the board, particularly when facing discard-centric opponents.

Specific Mana Cost: Emmara Tandris demands a specific mana combination of green and white to play. This pairing restricts her to Selesnya or multicolor decks that include these colors, somewhat limiting her versatility in the broad spectrum of Magic the Gathering deck-building options.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Emmara Tandris’s ability to prevent all damage that would be dealt to creature tokens is powerful, her casting cost of seven mana (five generic, one green, and one white) can be steep. This cost can hinder her playability, especially when competing against lower-cost cards that could be more impactful in the early to mid-game stages.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Emmara Tandris thrives in a variety of decks, acting as a protective force for other creatures. Her ability to prevent damage to your token creatures makes her an asset in token-based strategies, ensuring your swarm of creatures remains on the battlefield to press the advantage.

Combo Potential: Emmara’s synergy with cards that produce a lot of creature tokens can be the cornerstone of powerful combos. Pairing her with mechanics like Convoke or Populate maximizes her ability to safeguard a growing army, enabling intricate and game-winning interactions.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment teeming with board wipes and spot removal, Emmara’s role as a guardian is invaluable. By sheltering your tokens from harm, she can tip the scales in your favor, maintaining your board presence and giving you resilience against control strategies that dominate current metas.


How to beat

Emmara Tandris is recognized among the ranks of resilient MTG cards due to her ability to shield other creatures from damage. One effective strategy to outplay an opponent wielding Emmara Tandris is focusing on removal spells that don’t deal damage, bypassing her protective ability. Spells like Path to Exile or Terminate can cleanly remove her without triggering her damage prevention effect. Another approach is utilizing board wipes such as Supreme Verdict or Damnation, which are not impeded by her defensive skills, as they don’t specifically deal damage to creatures. Additionally, targeting your opponent’s mana base can constrain their ability to summon Emmara, thus pre-empting the need to deal with her on the battlefield.

Controlling the pace of the game is also crucial; try to out maneuver your opponent by playing at instant speed, forcing them to commit resources at inopportune times. Cards with exile effects or that force sacrifices, like Devour Flesh or Merciless Eviction, offer elegant solutions to eliminate Emmara without having to engage in combat. In summary, successful strategies revolve around sidestepping Emmara Tandris’ damage prevention, attacking from angles that undermine her strengths, and managing game tempo to your advantage.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering the art of MTG involves more than just playing powerful cards—it’s about understanding synergies and how to protect your board. Emmara Tandris is a fascinating card that can be pivotal in maintaining board presence, especially within token strategies. The game of MTG is ever-evolving, and having a card like Emmara in your collection might just be the shield your creatures need to survive the onslaught of removals common in today’s meta. Dive deeper with us and discover how Emmara Tandris could be the keystone to your next unstoppable deck assembly. Explore strategies, counters, and more to enhance your MTG wisdom.


Cards like Emmara Tandris

Emmara Tandris shines as a protective force within deck builds centered around creature strategies in Magic: The Gathering. This card provides a blanket of safety to other creature cards, much like Asceticism, which grants the ability to regenerate creatures and also gives them hexproof. Nevertheless, Emmara Tandris does not offer the same regeneration ability, focusing instead on outright negation of all damage that would be dealt to other creatures you control.

Analogous to Emmara in terms of creature protection is Voice of the Woods, which creates an Elf Warrior token instead of preventing damage. While different in function, it is another route to ensuring board presence. Similarly, Trostani Discordant boosts other creatures’ stats and offers a token-making ability. Unlike Emmara, it doesn’t prevent damage but provides a diversified threat by creating token creatures and increasing the overall creature-based synergy on the battlefield.

Thus, in evaluating the utility and function of Emmara Tandris against its counterparts, it is apparent that Emmara plays a unique role. It fits into a niche within Magic: The Gathering that centers on shielding and perpetuating a resilient creature framework, elevating its status in decks that value an enduring board state.

Asceticism - MTG Card versions
Voice of the Woods - MTG Card versions
Trostani Discordant - MTG Card versions
Asceticism - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)
Voice of the Woods - Onslaught (ONS)
Trostani Discordant - Guilds of Ravnica (GRN)

Cards similar to Emmara Tandris by color, type and mana cost

Gabriel Angelfire - MTG Card versions
Lady Caleria - MTG Card versions
Phantom Nishoba - MTG Card versions
Trostani's Summoner - MTG Card versions
Arashin Sovereign - MTG Card versions
Rockcaster Platoon - MTG Card versions
Vagrant Plowbeasts - MTG Card versions
Novablast Wurm - MTG Card versions
Risen Sanctuary - MTG Card versions
Belligerent Brontodon - MTG Card versions
Torsten, Founder of Benalia - MTG Card versions
Ghalta and Mavren - MTG Card versions
Gabriel Angelfire - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Lady Caleria - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Phantom Nishoba - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Trostani's Summoner - Midnight Hunt Commander (MIC)
Arashin Sovereign - Dragons of Tarkir Promos (PDTK)
Rockcaster Platoon - Shards of Alara (ALA)
Vagrant Plowbeasts - Conflux (CON)
Novablast Wurm - Worldwake (WWK)
Risen Sanctuary - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Belligerent Brontodon - The List (PLST)
Torsten, Founder of Benalia - Dominaria United Commander (DMC)
Ghalta and Mavren - March of the Machine Promos (PMOM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Emmara Tandris MTG card by a specific set like Dragon's Maze and Commander 2019, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Emmara Tandris and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Emmara Tandris Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2013-05-03 and 2019-08-23. Illustrated by Mark Winters.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12013-05-03Dragon's MazeDGM 682003normalblackMark Winters
22019-08-23Commander 2019C19 1912015normalblackMark Winters

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Emmara Tandris has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Emmara Tandris card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2013-04-15 Emmara Tandris’s ability prevents all damage that would be dealt to creature tokens you control, not just combat damage.
2013-04-15 If Emmara Tandris is dealt lethal damage at the same creature tokens you control would be dealt damage, the damage that would be dealt to those tokens is prevented.

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