@ Designer_Genes: Sure, other recursion is faster... it will cost you mana and a spell of course. This is just a land and the recursion is free. The point isn't "wouldn't you rather want to do something better?"; it's, in a mono white deck anyway, "well heck they game has lasted longer than I wanted it to because their defenses/damage prevention/whatever was too strong, but look here! I get to start recurring creatures for doing nothing more than playing a land!". Um... pretty strong in the right circumstances; perhaps you're judging it under the wrong ones?
Very nice for monowhite control, which happens to be my favorite deck.
Designer_genes is the same guy that thinks that the unimaginably broken lotus cobra "sucks in combo" and is "inefficient for aggro". That should say it all.
touchdown
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(7 votes)
I'd use it in my bad, slow angel deck.
ams112358
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(7 votes)
Can I use a prismatic omen make all my lands plains?
i_love_alara_of_bant
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.7/5.0)(7 votes)
yeah its so lame how white is sooo the weakest colour in zendikar. and that black is sooo the strongest.
Dingo777
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
ok, I for one was against this card, until it made me win
had this down turn 1, so it came into play tapped, boo hoo, most non basic do, and it sat there for 80% of the game, a nonbasic plains, until I got down to one life, next turn I was so dead, but an ally had gone to the graveyard a previous turn, I was at 5 plains, this, and a green, harrowed at EOT, 7 plains, brought back the 1W cleric that healed me, I was at 3, and had a 3/3 Vigilat FS, the WW ally. Pass, he attacked, his 6/6 territorial baloth, blocked with 1/1 healer. cleric comes back, 5 life and a 4/4 V, FS, another ally, 6/6 FS, V and at 8 life.....
it kept going like that till I killed the baloth with the FS and swung next turn for win
yeah it is 8 lands needed, but really once you get there, with the right card in graveyard, and a little exceleration. say harrow or the green expedition, it can be part of a game winning combo
there is also Kor cartographer, explorer scope, landbind ritual, and white is fog heavy, so a game may last till turn 6 or 7, plus there is martial coup and day of judgement to wipe the board and give you a turn (silence after either will give you 2 unless they haste)
Like I said, I was anti this, till I played it, and was able to put a combo together that allowed me to not only pull my rear out of a fire but to also win in a no win situation
@bant lover, I hope that is sarcasm, white has been so over powered it isnt even funny, all the other colors lost some power while white sucked it up, white does everything the 4 other colors do normally, and still has its own powers and abilities still
RustedKnight
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.9/5.0)(20 votes)
Just a point, people are saying it requires too much mana to be effective.. A quick reminder, with Zendikar rule changes amongst others, it itself counts as a plains, making the 1/7..
I use this in a green/white/blue soldier deck, using 90% non-basic lands... Refuges give me Plains/Forest and Plains/Island.. So by end game i've almost always started returning two creatures per turn..
Played alongside Luminarch ascensions in a soldier deck, this thing = win.
NinjaGodKing
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Without arguing about the cards usefulness or power, why isn't this a legendary land? The name implies it, following the legendary name formula pretty much exactly. Further, flavor wise Emeria is the giant floating castle ruin in Zendikar. It just seems so legendary, like the Kamigawa legendary lands.
Dragonlord31
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(9 votes)
Wow. I'm surprised at the comments here. Emeria is definitely a powerful card. It takes mono-white control to a whole different level. How'd you like to play that Akroma that got offed for free? Or Iona? It's pretty easy to jam 7 plains into play, especially with cards such as Harrow and Rampant Growth. Does everyone realize that this activates EVERY turn, not just once?
Martyr-Proc got a huge boost with this card, now it has even more ways to recur its Martyr of Sands.
Anyone besides me confused as to why Emeria and Valakut are not Legendary?
JATES28
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Cane anyone please confirm if what RustedKnight said is true? Emeria, the Sky Ruin counts as a PLAINS due to a Zendikar rules change? If this is true, what rule is that?
Qazior
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(8 votes)
It's not a Plains
Mikolash
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(9 votes)
To say this is bad is to not understand what it is meant to do. Recurring Iona is a checkmate.
VirtueVsVice
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's nice to have 1 or 2 of these in your deck, just in case the game is lasting longer than you wanted it to =)
Designer_Genes
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(10 votes)
Crap. Any other recursion you'd be able to get much faster, much easier. Anyways, if you have 8 mana available, do you really want to wait a turn or two before you can do something moderately okay?
@Professor: It comes into play tapped. If you're playing mono-white, you're playing white weenie, and want to avoid things that come into play tapped. Chances are, if you can get to that many plains in white weenie, you've already lost. Casual card is casual. And even there, it sucks. It doesn't hit the right circumstances nearly as often as it hits the wrong circumstances.
@Laguz: Lotus does suck in combo, and I said it was good in Zoo aggro. Other aggros don't have room for Lotus. Honestly, it is only great on god-hands. Every other time, Birds or even Llanowar elves are better.
Also, since Lotus Cobra has yet to "break" a format, there is no way it can be broken. Expect to see it get a lot of play for a month or so, and fizzle out of the meta because it's gilded garbage.
As for this card, it is more gilded garbage. It seems strong, but you're gonna have to play it in mono white, where a tapland is not going to help you win. It'll be your just in case card, and even then, if you need it to win in mono-white, you've already lost.
@e'erbody: Good thing you guys freaked out. This, and not Jund, are sweeping tournies everywhere. This is a $20 chase rare because every deck needs 4895720894372 nowadays.
U-caster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My good friend has two of these, but for some reason, does not want to make a deck with them. Blame him, not me.
Gaussgoat
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A pretty awesome card for late game, and fits in well with white, since they are usually trying to stay alive and then beatdown with flyers, etc.
Really strong effect, and could be used as a one shot with things like:
Personnaly I hated this card at first, 7 plains plus this seemed un achievable, but with time and play it really grew on me. Currently playing this in an mono white exalted based white weenie deck (3 emeria 20 plains). Most of the time i play it on turn 1 if i dont have a 1 drop to play, or i play it on a later turn when i dont have another land drop. Most of the time the games never run long enough for it to matter, but when they do it is very very rare that i will lose, bringing back chump blockers or important creatures for free everyturn is no weak effect by any means and more often that not it will pave a way to victory by repeated card advantage, expecially with exalted creatures because they provide there bonus right away no need to wait. Anyways i love this card!
Htoth3izzO
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
oh rustedknight.. you are so, soo wrong.
Khanbg
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ok so does Emeria itself count as a plains like RustedKnight claims it does?If it does it just got a whole lot more awesome?Link to rule change maybe?
LiXinjian
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(7 votes)
This is not a plains, and I think I know where the confusion stems from. While it is true that ALL plains can be tapped for white mana, all lands that tap for white mana aren't plains by definition.
TheKeiser
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I give this 5 stars specifically because it is NOT legendary. I have a deck built around this with a couple Land Taxes, Kor Cartographers, Solemn Simulacrum, Reya Dawnbringer, Eternal Dragon, and then a bunch of smaller kors that work with equipments and of course the equipments themselves. It's particularly hilarious when you do finally get 7 plains out with 3-4 Sky Ruins and your cartographers/simulacrums keep chump blocking, allowing you to bring out all your basics and draw cards constantly. A way to sacrifice would actually make this deck a bit better. In multiplayer especially this is insane when someone plays mass removal. Eventually just had Reya with Whispersilk Cloak and Ogre Cleaver kill everyone solo. Of course the Sky Ruins can just bring Reya back if she dies...
LeoKula
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's definitely a late game card, you're not basing ur deck off this... I see it as a free late game recursion, you'll most likely not reach turn 8, but if you do, this card can probably turn the tables on ur opponent.
kittyspit
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@rustedknight
what the f.u.c.k...? do you know how to play magic?
NecroticNobody
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card saved my butt in many a multiplayer match. A single copy help me reanimate my milled Felidar Sovereign and pull victory from the jaws of defeat today. My opponents let my turn one Souls Attendant live, allowing around thirty life to be gained over the couse of the game, then proceded to mill me down to three cards (including the Sovereign). I reanimated Felidar Sovereign then passed the turn (at eighty life thanks to Celestial Mantle) My one opponent attacked for used Act of Treason on the Sovereign and attacked with everything for seventeen damage, then my second opponent milled my last three cards away, not realizing that I didn't need to draw before I won. Mono-White control really needs at least two copies, if not four, in the deck. World Queller is also stellar with this nifty land, because you can keep naming "Creature" and keep bringing yours back. Five stars out of five.
Emeria is what wins the game in the long run. And possibly the One Iona in the deck.
Nighthawk42
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I would like it a lot better if it was 5 or 6 plains instead of 7, even if it was then limited to white creatures, but it seems worth running 1-2 in most mono-white decks. Add in a Salvage Scout and it allows you to retrieve artifacts as well.
JaronK
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This doesn't have to be a late game card at all. Using Land Tax+any card that lets you play lands faster (such as Fastbond or Exploration or Oracle of Mul Daya or Budoka Gardener or Azusa, Lost but Seeking ) you can get the necessary number of plains VERY fast. Then this guy comes out and nothing you play stays dead. A W/G deck built around fast mana dropping and big creatures (say, a nice angel deck) will be really nasty with this.
HPS
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(2 votes)
This card is not that good.
Used four (4) of this on my White control deck, the ability is great but the requirements are too much. The games usually ends at turn 6 and I still haven't used my Sky Ruin's ability. Lucky for me, I still haven't lost any game with my White Control deck.
After weeks of play and lack of action from my Emeria's, I decided to drop all of it and replaced with 2 Terramorphic Expanse and 2 Evolving Wilds. Both does the same shuffling effect, I just want more diversity with the art.
Is it a legal move to tap this card to get the white mana from it before the end step then since it's tapped it works as the seventh plains? I don't think it can count as the plains since it's not actually a plains or since the mana pool empties thus it wouldn't matter anyways I don't think, but I'm not entirely sure. Could anyone shed some light on this for me?
Condor_96
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Do want.
brandonr189
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
For anyone saying it's too hard to get out 7 plains take a look at Endless Horizons.
Also, I like to match this up with World Queller. Kill off your Kor Cartogropher and bring it back while taking out your oppenents creatures and gaining a Plains.
Since they both happen during your upkeep I believe you choose the order in which they resolve right?
@Designer_Genes ok.. ever heard of mono-white control? mid-range? W/B recursion? there are plenty of plains loaded decks. there is also plenty of white (knight of the white orchid which sees play in EVERY white deck) and colorless land ramp. people need to stop looking at cards like this as a main feature that needs to be built around. there are soo many decks with room for a land like this to just be there in the deck. it will kill ur opponent if the game turns to stall
and lotus cobra IS broken in case u havn't noticed. ok i have a lotus out. w/ 2 lands. i play a fetch, crack for a land. i now have 5 mana spend 3 for harrow (1 being a land), 2 lands enter 6 mana, explore a fetch into play and crack.7 mana. avenger of zendikar. and that's turn 3 w/out making ridiculous god-hand arguments.
CallmeMerry
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I don't know why so many people seem to be hating on this. I use this in a Paradox Haze deck and it is just awesome. A Paradox Haze or two will give you two or three upkeeps, and with two or three of these on the table lets you bring 4-9 creatures back to play each turn. Endless Horizons will throw down an extra two/three planes each turn, plus a Chronozoa on the table. I used the example with 2 hazes because that means every turn the chronozoa will vanish, putting two on the table. During your upkeep, you can pull three from the graveyard, next turn, you have 6 more...I assure you it gets ridiculus quite quickly. If you really are hurting, throw out a Savor the Moment for a total of 6 upkeeps for three mana. Even further, you can use either Rising Waters or Hokori, Dust Drinker for some massive mana advantage. You are putting more mana on the table every turn, and more untap every turn...
JaxsonBateman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@BlackAlbino You say you're not talking about god hands, but with the 11 cards you would have drawn on the play (including the 1 from explore) you need Lotus Cobra, 2 fetchlands, explore, harrow and Avenger of Zendikar - that's 6 out of the 11 cards needing to be specific ones. Not as absurd as the people that are like "lolol turn 1 swamp, 4 dark ritual into Phage", but it's not exactly a usual hand either. ^^
In any case, Emeria's a pretty underrated card. It's card advantage, and while it can't just be thrown in any deck, it allows you to safely play creatures. Does it matter if they get removed or countered? Often not, as they'll just come back out the next turn.
Personally, I've found it works well with Primeval Titan for much the same reason as Valakut does (major nonbasic land tutoring), and while you do have to splash green for it green is that one color which will also help you get out a lot of plains. Throw in a Sun Titan or two just in case they're playing land destruction, and the Titans have the back of your Emeria gameplan.
Penguin_Master
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you're playing mono white and you have creatures, then there are very, very few reasons why this card shouldn't be in your deck. Even if it only goes off once every 4 games or even 10 games it's a may trigger that will give you a creature for free, or not if you don't want to.
endersblade
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is NOT a Plains. If you think otherwise, you need to stop playing magic.
This card is amazing in EDH. I put it in almost every deck that runs white. Most powerful in my enchantment deck; I turn it into a creature, put Followed Footsteps on it with Terra Eternal in play, and a few turns later, I have 3 or 4 of these on the board, returning everything I need every turn.
This is just one example. It just a really good card in the format. I can't really see it being useful in 60 card decks, as yes, it would take a deck specifically working off this card to make it functional.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Debtor's Knell approves.
Shadoflaam
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm trying to make a "Doom that Came to Emeria" joke. It isn't working. Game of Thrones and MTG don't mix I guess.
I love this card but it really does not do very much at all until late game or with ramp.
atemu1234
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Play Felidar Sovereign (Opponent Counters it) play Emeria the Sky Ruin (opponent's turn) my turn, Bring back Felidar Sovereign OR:
Combo with Martyr of The Sands
dberry02
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
It seems to me that too many people are forcing Emeria into their deck. You really shouldn't do that. Emeria is not one of those cards that you should just stick in your deck. Comboing to make use of Emeria in my opinion is a lost cause. It requires you to go too much out of your way to make it work. It distracts away from a deck's strategy.
Emeria really shines in a deck that would like (but doesn't necessarily need) a late game boost. To me, I see Emeria as late game insurance. Play a tapped land now, and later on you may reap major benefits.
Emeria is not good recursion. If you want to replicate good recusion, then just play a black deck. But what Emeria is good at, is late game insurance. And for what it does, I give it a full 5/5. One of the best insurance cards in the game.
Totema
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
@infernox10: And if someone kills this, you can use Sun Titan to bring this back too. Ahh, what a beautiful cycle.
igniteice
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
A ridiculously overpowered land made even more powerful because of its non-legendary status and its ability to pull any creature directly from graveyard to battlefield. Seven plains is not hard to get, especially given dual lands that serve as both plains and forest (Savannah and Temple Garden). Splashing green makes for easy ramp, though mono-white decks will find it easy as well (Gift of Estates , Tithe) to hit seven plains status, at which point creature removal requires either land destruction, graveyard hosing, or creature exiling. It's as overpowered as Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle . Wake of Destruction and Flashfires are quite effective here.
dhinge
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why play Reya Dawnbringer turn 9 when you can just drop this turn 8? Then another one turn 9 and return two creatures every turn after that. Seriously, just throw away your old cards.
Lifegainwithbite
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Painful in edh...
Arachnos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If Emeria is actually Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, does that make this whole land is a sleeping Emrakul? o-O
BrianTumah
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Kami of False Hopes and other suicidal spirits says hi.
Mono-colorMonster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I know this comment comes a good many years after the cards release, but I am actually going to put this in my Cleric deck as insurance. I have a tendency to run mass destruction carts (Wrath of God, Fated Retribution, ect...) where it makes sense as an insurance policy. Having this will certainly provide a huge boost for the late game seeing as what I am working on will be designed not as an offensive juggernaut, but an impregnable bulwark. If anything, this will be a card that is capable of saving me in the late game, and not so much a game winner.
Comments (51)
Designer_genes is the same guy that thinks that the unimaginably broken lotus cobra "sucks in combo" and is "inefficient for aggro". That should say it all.
had this down turn 1, so it came into play tapped, boo hoo, most non basic do, and it sat there for 80% of the game, a nonbasic plains, until I got down to one life, next turn I was so dead, but an ally had gone to the graveyard a previous turn, I was at 5 plains, this, and a green, harrowed at EOT, 7 plains, brought back the 1W cleric that healed me, I was at 3, and had a 3/3 Vigilat FS, the WW ally. Pass, he attacked, his 6/6 territorial baloth, blocked with 1/1 healer. cleric comes back, 5 life and a 4/4 V, FS, another ally, 6/6 FS, V and at 8 life.....
it kept going like that till I killed the baloth with the FS and swung next turn for win
yeah it is 8 lands needed, but really once you get there, with the right card in graveyard, and a little exceleration. say harrow or the green expedition, it can be part of a game winning combo
there is also Kor cartographer, explorer scope, landbind ritual, and white is fog heavy, so a game may last till turn 6 or 7, plus there is martial coup and day of judgement to wipe the board and give you a turn (silence after either will give you 2 unless they haste)
Like I said, I was anti this, till I played it, and was able to put a combo together that allowed me to not only pull my rear out of a fire but to also win in a no win situation
@bant lover, I hope that is sarcasm, white has been so over powered it isnt even funny, all the other colors lost some power while white sucked it up, white does everything the 4 other colors do normally, and still has its own powers and abilities still
I use this in a green/white/blue soldier deck, using 90% non-basic lands... Refuges give me Plains/Forest and Plains/Island.. So by end game i've almost always started returning two creatures per turn..
Played alongside Luminarch ascensions in a soldier deck, this thing = win.
Martyr-Proc got a huge boost with this card, now it has even more ways to recur its Martyr of Sands.
Anyone besides me confused as to why Emeria and Valakut are not Legendary?
@Professor: It comes into play tapped. If you're playing mono-white, you're playing white weenie, and want to avoid things that come into play tapped. Chances are, if you can get to that many plains in white weenie, you've already lost. Casual card is casual. And even there, it sucks. It doesn't hit the right circumstances nearly as often as it hits the wrong circumstances.
@Laguz: Lotus does suck in combo, and I said it was good in Zoo aggro. Other aggros don't have room for Lotus. Honestly, it is only great on god-hands. Every other time, Birds or even Llanowar elves are better.
Also, since Lotus Cobra has yet to "break" a format, there is no way it can be broken. Expect to see it get a lot of play for a month or so, and fizzle out of the meta because it's gilded garbage.
As for this card, it is more gilded garbage. It seems strong, but you're gonna have to play it in mono white, where a tapland is not going to help you win. It'll be your just in case card, and even then, if you need it to win in mono-white, you've already lost.
@e'erbody: Good thing you guys freaked out. This, and not Jund, are sweeping tournies everywhere. This is a $20 chase rare because every deck needs 4895720894372 nowadays.
Really strong effect, and could be used as a one shot with things like:
Elsewhere Flask
4/5
what the f.u.c.k...? do you know how to play magic?
Emeria is what wins the game in the long run. And possibly the One Iona in the deck.
Used four (4) of this on my White control deck, the ability is great but the requirements are too much. The games usually ends at turn 6 and I still haven't used my Sky Ruin's ability. Lucky for me, I still haven't lost any game with my White Control deck.
After weeks of play and lack of action from my Emeria's, I decided to drop all of it and replaced with 2 Terramorphic Expanse and 2 Evolving Wilds. Both does the same shuffling effect, I just want more diversity with the art.
Also, I like to match this up with World Queller. Kill off your Kor Cartogropher and bring it back while taking out your oppenents creatures and gaining a Plains.
Since they both happen during your upkeep I believe you choose the order in which they resolve right?
Children of Korlis is almost as good.
I use Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer and actually discard lands, then play Planar Birth. Limited Resources also can be good at that point. Then choose land with World Queller to get rid of their lands. Big creatures can also be discarded to reanimate later.
It's a casual deck of course, but it's a lot of fun when it works.
ok.. ever heard of mono-white control? mid-range? W/B recursion? there are plenty of plains loaded decks.
there is also plenty of white (knight of the white orchid which sees play in EVERY white deck) and colorless land ramp.
people need to stop looking at cards like this as a main feature that needs to be built around. there are soo many decks with room for a land like this to just be there in the deck. it will kill ur opponent if the game turns to stall
and lotus cobra IS broken in case u havn't noticed. ok i have a lotus out. w/ 2 lands. i play a fetch, crack for a land. i now have 5 mana
spend 3 for harrow (1 being a land), 2 lands enter 6 mana, explore a fetch into play and crack.7 mana. avenger of zendikar. and that's turn 3 w/out making ridiculous god-hand arguments.
You say you're not talking about god hands, but with the 11 cards you would have drawn on the play (including the 1 from explore) you need Lotus Cobra, 2 fetchlands, explore, harrow and Avenger of Zendikar - that's 6 out of the 11 cards needing to be specific ones. Not as absurd as the people that are like "lolol turn 1 swamp, 4 dark ritual into Phage", but it's not exactly a usual hand either. ^^
In any case, Emeria's a pretty underrated card. It's card advantage, and while it can't just be thrown in any deck, it allows you to safely play creatures. Does it matter if they get removed or countered? Often not, as they'll just come back out the next turn.
Personally, I've found it works well with Primeval Titan for much the same reason as Valakut does (major nonbasic land tutoring), and while you do have to splash green for it green is that one color which will also help you get out a lot of plains. Throw in a Sun Titan or two just in case they're playing land destruction, and the Titans have the back of your Emeria gameplan.
This card is amazing in EDH. I put it in almost every deck that runs white. Most powerful in my enchantment deck; I turn it into a creature, put Followed Footsteps on it with Terra Eternal in play, and a few turns later, I have 3 or 4 of these on the board, returning everything I need every turn.
This is just one example. It just a really good card in the format. I can't really see it being useful in 60 card decks, as yes, it would take a deck specifically working off this card to make it functional.
I love this card but it really does not do very much at all until late game or with ramp.
Combo with Martyr of The Sands
Emeria really shines in a deck that would like (but doesn't necessarily need) a late game boost. To me, I see Emeria as late game insurance. Play a tapped land now, and later on you may reap major benefits.
Emeria is not good recursion. If you want to replicate good recusion, then just play a black deck. But what Emeria is good at, is late game insurance. And for what it does, I give it a full 5/5. One of the best insurance cards in the game.