Emry, Lurker of the Loch MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Emry, Lurker of the Loch has the unique ability to mill the top four cards of your library when she enters the battlefield. This not only fills your graveyard with potential resources but also sets you up for recurring artifacts each turn, ensuring a continuous flow of options and card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: When it comes to resource acceleration, Emry plays a pivotal role. By tapping and allowing you to cast an artifact from your graveyard, Emry gives you access to your arsenal of artifacts without the need to draw them, effectively accelerating your ability to utilize your resources numerous times throughout the match.

Instant Speed: While Emry herself does not operate at instant speed, her ability to return an artifact to play can be activated at any time you could cast a sorcery. This means you have the flexibility to wait until your turn to make strategic plays, potentially with artifacts that do have instant speed capabilities, which can be crucial to outmaneuver your opponents.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Emry, Lurker of the Loch requires milling upon entering the battlefield. For decks not focused on graveyard synergy, this might not be optimal as it could unintentionally discard crucial spells or lands.

Specific Mana Cost: Despite having a converted mana cost of three, which includes one blue mana, Emry’s effectiveness is heavily tied to its blue mana requirement. This can potentially restrict deck-building options, favoring blue-centric or artifact-heavy strategies over more diverse color combinations.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Emry’s mana cost is reasonable, the need to play several artifacts to leverage her ability to the fullest can lead to a higher effective mana cost. Players might need to include a larger number of low-cost artifacts in their deck to bring her out early and make the most of her tap ability, which could reduce the deck’s overall power level against fast-paced or disruptive matchups.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Emry, Lurker of the Loch is a highly flexible card, seamlessly integrating into artifact-centric decks, enabling repeatable casting of artifacts from the graveyard which broadens its playability across various formats.

Combo Potential: This card is a linchpin in numerous combos, capable of pairing with other cards to create powerful, game-ending synergies or to repeatedly generate value over the course of a game.

Meta-Relevance: With constantly shifting metagames, the ability of Emry to recur high-impact artifacts gives it a staying power in competitive scenes, making it a wise choice for players looking to adapt their strategies to the ever-evolving landscape.

How to beat

Emry, Lurker of the Loch is a notable card in MTG that can be a real powerhouse in artifact centric decks. Her ability to repeatedly cast artifacts from your graveyard gives her a persistent presence on the battlefield. To counteract Emry’s influence, one of the most effective strategies is to employ graveyard hate cards. By using cards like Tormod’s Crypt or Leyline of the Void, you can remove the fuel she depends on to operationalize her strategy. Moreover, instant speed removals such as Fatal Push or Path to Exile are efficient ways to deal with Emry before she can generate overwhelming value.

Another viable tactic is to apply pressure with aggressive creatures and strategies to outpace the setup that Emry decks typically require. This can hinder the deck’s ability to stabilize and utilize Emry’s abilities to the fullest. In essence, a combination of targeted removal, graveyard disruption, and maintaining a brisk pace of play can be the keys to overcoming the card advantage and recursion that Emry, Lurker of the Loch brings to the game.