I have seen a plethora of amazingly good cards before, and Ertai by far is probably one of the best. His ability is simply astounding, granted that you have several tokens in play or creatures (or enchantments) that you don't need, allowing you to control exactly what your opponent plays through-out the rest of the game. This definitely fits right in the with the esper colors; restrictive abilities that neutralize the opponent and allow you to control them. The only downside to Ertai is that if your not playing tokens or lost of enchantments then it can become quite difficult to use him effectively. Also Ertai's ability can only be played once per turn, but with cards like Thousand-Year Elixir and other untapping abilities this minor weakness can easily be overlooked.
Donovan_Fabian
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Rancor + ertai = infinite counter spell for 2 mana a piece. Pair with freed from the real to counter a spell more than one time every turn.
Etregan
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Its amazing how many decks Sengir Autocrat and his 3 serfs can be useful in.
Omenchild
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
hmm thats pretty cool, i never really understood how good this guy was with tokens
kitsunewarlock
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(5 votes)
Best used with enchantments that return to hand. Rancor is the most memorable but *not* the best for this guy. Mostly since its not in his colors. Better to use Brilliant Halo, Cessation, Despondency, Diabolic Servitude (For the creature, not the enchantment), Fool's Demise, Fallen Ideal, Launch, Sleeper's Guile, Slow Motion, and Spirit Loop.
See: 10 auras in his colors with the "Rancor" effect without having to splash green for Rancor. Several of them are quite playable too. Only reason people say "Auras stink" is because if the creature dies your out one whole card. If it was a negative-effect aura, you would have been better off controlling or killing it rather than weakening. But the auras I listed above are different. Since they come back they aren't disadvantageous (or at least AS disadvantageous).
All-in-all, his major advantage over Ertai 1.0 is the fact he is three colors, giving you more options in EDH. The {U} cost is much nicer than the {2}{U}{U} cost as well, leaving your mana openf or other counters.
He is great with Rule of Law/Arcane Lab. In multiplayer you still need an untap effect since your going to get a lot of hate with this combo. Fortunately blue is full of them. Freed from the Real and Penninen's Aura (sp?) is the best by far (aura has shroudy and pumpy too).
Other recommendations: A sacrificial creature to start the process.
The process: A. The opponent casts a spell, you pay and sacrifice a creature to counter it. B. Once this resolves, you just countered an opponents spell, so Lullmage Mentor activates giving you a creature token. C. Since you just got a creature, Carnival of Souls takes 1 life, and gives you one black mana. D. Again, since you just got a creature, Soul Warden gives you back the life you lost in Step C. E. Yet again, since you just got a creature, Intruder Alarm untaps everything, including Ertai and the Sea Scryer F. You have in your mana pool. If another spell is cast, tap the Sea Scryer to convert it to blue mana, activate Ertai, and proceed to Step A. G. Ask your opponent if they would like to concede.
Soul Warden is basically optional in this whole equation, since without it this becomes "Pay 1 life: Counter target spell", which is still pretty insane in any deck which has white and thus potential life-gaining. Multiple Soul Wardens only make it more insane since you actually start coming out ahead in life each time you counter something.
There are tons of substitutions you can make to fit this basic equation into other decks. You can substitute Carnival of Souls for any creature that taps for mana, since Intruder Alarm will untap it along with Ertai and the Sea Scryer. I don't know of any other effects that can so efficiently untap things but if they are out there you can probably replace Intruder Alarm with them. The only real way to disrupt this is for two or more opponents to gang up on you and react to Ertai with another spell, which should be difficult since you only need 1 blue mana to begin this leaving plenty of mana open to play things from your hand. And as soon as the stack resolves the whole process starts all over.
Despite it's complicated for-or-six-card set up, the ability to negate virtually anything your opponent could possibly do to disrupt you is quite clearly "good game". Unfortunately, there are 19 cards in the game that are immune to this set up, and a deck that utilizes almost any one of them will ruin everything. Vexing Shusher gets a notable mention for this.
Cthulhu_Shin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In the art the creature sacrificed is ...... Squee, Goblin naboob the immortal goblin of course.
1maketoilets
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Why is he white?
Morgrath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
He's probably white for mechanical purposes, I agree that it seems weird flavour-wise AFAIK. That being said, I'm only up to reading Nemesis, so maybe the addition of white will be explained between that and Planeshift.
Ertai is a neat character, and makes for a nice EDH/ Commander general, but his ability just isn't up to snuff. He can't use it immediately unless you give him haste, and even then you need a enchantment/ creature to fuel it. Basically, it's a slightly more versatile Abjure on a stick. For 5 in 3 colors? Not impressed.
@Donovan_Fabian: Unfortunately, Rancor can't be replayed on your opponent's turn. You'd need something like Vedalken Orrery to pull it off effectively. Plus, that would require a four-color deck. Maybe Brilliant Halo, Despondency, Launch, or Spirit Loop would be easier.
adrian.malacoda
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I like how "Phyrexian science" somehow makes him white in addition to black. I don't see anything white about his ability, either.
Himborg
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Realistically, I feel like this guy has a place in a Zur the Enchanter EDH deck. Same colors, both cards are useful individually, and they supplement and protect each other.
tarvofthemudhole
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Favorite card in my ertai deck: fool's demise. You can sac it to counter a spell and it goes back to your hand. You can play it on your own creatures to bring them back after being sacrificed, which is awesome with cards like rune-scarred demon or grave titan. Or since you've got all of those wonderful black and white removal options, you can turn it into a reusable enchantment-free mind control.
majinara
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I guess the white part is the "sacrifice an enchantment" part. There have been a number of white or white-blue cards that are about sacrificing enchantments.
Smoke_Stack
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of those cards you have to deal with the turn it hits the board (before summoning sickness wears off). one of my friends plays this guy in a legend deck and I find myself trying to fake him out just so I can get stuff on the board (i.e. trying to unsummon Ertai, which gets countered, so I can cast a creature or kill spell in response). Both Ertai's are naaaaasty!
Nagoragama
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
He's part white because his ability manipulates enchantments, which is generally a white ability.
LordRandomness
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Flavour: Keep sacrificing Squee to excellent effect.
See: 10 auras in his colors with the "Rancor" effect without having to splash green for Rancor. Several of them are quite playable too. Only reason people say "Auras stink" is because if the creature dies your out one whole card. If it was a negative-effect aura, you would have been better off controlling or killing it rather than weakening. But the auras I listed above are different. Since they come back they aren't disadvantageous (or at least AS disadvantageous).
All-in-all, his major advantage over Ertai 1.0 is the fact he is three colors, giving you more options in EDH. The {U} cost is much nicer than the {2}{U}{U} cost as well, leaving your mana open for other counters.
He is great with Rule of Law/Arcane Laboratory. In multiplayer you still need an untap effect since your going to get a lot of hate with this combo. Fortunately blue is full of them. Freed from the Real and Penim's Aura is the best by far (aura has shroudy and pumpy too)."
Re-posted with autocards for ease of use.
Also, @Tonymitsu, I like what you're thinking, but, you can cut your six card combo to four by replacing Carnival of Souls, Soul Warden, and Sea Scryer with a simple Silver Myr. And if you throw in a Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir it becomes a nearly unbreakable prison. I have an Ertai EDH deck that can pretty consistently put this together, and it's really sick.
Comments (23)
See: 10 auras in his colors with the "Rancor" effect without having to splash green for Rancor. Several of them are quite playable too. Only reason people say "Auras stink" is because if the creature dies your out one whole card. If it was a negative-effect aura, you would have been better off controlling or killing it rather than weakening. But the auras I listed above are different. Since they come back they aren't disadvantageous (or at least AS disadvantageous).
All-in-all, his major advantage over Ertai 1.0 is the fact he is three colors, giving you more options in EDH. The {U} cost is much nicer than the {2}{U}{U} cost as well, leaving your mana openf or other counters.
He is great with Rule of Law/Arcane Lab. In multiplayer you still need an untap effect since your going to get a lot of hate with this combo. Fortunately blue is full of them. Freed from the Real and Penninen's Aura (sp?) is the best by far (aura has shroudy and pumpy too).
2. Lullmage Mentor
3. Sea Scryer
4. Carnival of Souls
5. Intruder Alarm
6. Soul Warden
Other recommendations: A sacrificial creature to start the process.
The process:
A. The opponent casts a spell, you pay
B. Once this resolves, you just countered an opponents spell, so Lullmage Mentor activates giving you a creature token.
C. Since you just got a creature, Carnival of Souls takes 1 life, and gives you one black mana.
D. Again, since you just got a creature, Soul Warden gives you back the life you lost in Step C.
E. Yet again, since you just got a creature, Intruder Alarm untaps everything, including Ertai and the Sea Scryer
F. You have
G. Ask your opponent if they would like to concede.
Soul Warden is basically optional in this whole equation, since without it this becomes "Pay 1 life: Counter target spell", which is still pretty insane in any deck which has white and thus potential life-gaining. Multiple Soul Wardens only make it more insane since you actually start coming out ahead in life each time you counter something.
There are tons of substitutions you can make to fit this basic equation into other decks. You can substitute Carnival of Souls for any creature that taps for mana, since Intruder Alarm will untap it along with Ertai and the Sea Scryer. I don't know of any other effects that can so efficiently untap things but if they are out there you can probably replace Intruder Alarm with them. The only real way to disrupt this is for two or more opponents to gang up on you and react to Ertai with another spell, which should be difficult since you only need 1 blue mana to begin this leaving plenty of mana open to play things from your hand. And as soon as the stack resolves the whole process starts all over.
Despite it's complicated for-or-six-card set up, the ability to negate virtually anything your opponent could possibly do to disrupt you is quite clearly "good game". Unfortunately, there are 19 cards in the game that are immune to this set up, and a deck that utilizes almost any one of them will ruin everything. Vexing Shusher gets a notable mention for this.
Squee, Goblin naboob the immortal goblin of course.
Ertai is a neat character, and makes for a nice EDH/ Commander general, but his ability just isn't up to snuff. He can't use it immediately unless you give him haste, and even then you need a enchantment/ creature to fuel it. Basically, it's a slightly more versatile Abjure on a stick. For 5 in 3 colors? Not impressed.
@Donovan_Fabian:
Unfortunately, Rancor can't be replayed on your opponent's turn. You'd need something like Vedalken Orrery to pull it off effectively. Plus, that would require a four-color deck. Maybe Brilliant Halo, Despondency, Launch, or Spirit Loop would be easier.
See: 10 auras in his colors with the "Rancor" effect without having to splash green for Rancor. Several of them are quite playable too. Only reason people say "Auras stink" is because if the creature dies your out one whole card. If it was a negative-effect aura, you would have been better off controlling or killing it rather than weakening. But the auras I listed above are different. Since they come back they aren't disadvantageous (or at least AS disadvantageous).
All-in-all, his major advantage over Ertai 1.0 is the fact he is three colors, giving you more options in EDH. The {U} cost is much nicer than the {2}{U}{U} cost as well, leaving your mana open for other counters.
He is great with Rule of Law/Arcane Laboratory. In multiplayer you still need an untap effect since your going to get a lot of hate with this combo. Fortunately blue is full of them. Freed from the Real and Penim's Aura is the best by far (aura has shroudy and pumpy too)."
Re-posted with autocards for ease of use.
Also, @Tonymitsu, I like what you're thinking, but, you can cut your six card combo to four by replacing Carnival of Souls, Soul Warden, and Sea Scryer with a simple Silver Myr. And if you throw in a Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir it becomes a nearly unbreakable prison. I have an Ertai EDH deck that can pretty consistently put this together, and it's really sick.
T2: thopter foundry, thornbite staff
T3: this jerk
T4: equip the staff, make a token, save one blue open
T5: counter up to 3 target spells or start thopter army
Never heard of this guy until I played against that opening in commander. I got killed slowly by one thopter.