Written by Zac Clark
SorceryCon 2026 is in the books. You might believe it a foregone conclusion that I would play Enchantress, as I’ve championed it since I got serious about Sorcery: Contested Realm over one year ago.
Enchantress didn’t get much help in Gothic, nor in Arthurian Legends. The former offered nothing, the latter only two staples: The Black Plague and The Great Famine, which are the primary reasons to stay at least 
.
Gothic’s Auras
- Acid Rain

- Cursed Iron

- Eclipse


- Falling Star

- Homecoming


- Mortal Soil


- Salt the Earth



- Sow the Earth



- Sphere of Animosity


Nine auras. That’s weak, Erik’s Curiosa! Nine is not much to work with when there’s only one set release per year. Before evaluating Gothic’s auras, let’s look at my Cornerstone-winning Enchantress build before Gothic.
Enchantress by DurdleMagus
Auras (13)
- 2 Silence


- 1 The Black Plague


- 1 The Great Famine


- 3 Thunderstorm


- 3 Wildfire

- 2 Abundance


- 1 Atlantean Fate


Artifacts (7)
- 1 Amethyst Core
- 1 Aquamarine Core
- 1 Philosopher Stone
- 1 Ring of Morrigan
- 1 Ruby Core
- 2 Angel Egg
Minions (12)
- 2 Adept Illusionist


- 4 Apprentice Wizard

- 1 Fey Changeling

- 1 Merlin



- 1 Courtesan Thais


- 2 Grandmaster Wizard


- 1 Death Dealer


Magics (18)
- 1 Twist of Fate



- 1 Blink

- 1 Disenchant

- 1 Firebolts

- 2 Lightning Bolt (scr)

- 2 Riptide

- 1 Feast for Crows


- 2 Infiltrate

- 1 Pact with the Devil


- 1 Ball Lightning


- 3 Poison Nova

- 2 Major Explosion


Sites (30)
- 1 Annual Fair
- 3 Bog

- 2 Dark Tower

- 1 Fields of Camlann

- 3 Funeral Pyre

- 2 Gothic Tower

- 1 Joyous Garde



- 3 Lighthouse


- 2 Lone Tower

- 1 Merlin Tower

- 3 Oasis


- 1 Pillar of Zeiros

- 1 River of Flame

- 3 Ruins


- 1 The Colour Out of Space




- 2 Troll Bridge

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I’ve performed best with the above list. As far as I can find, it’s the winningest Enchantress list before Gothic. Its plan was simple: Enchantress is not a rectangle engine, but has the utility of auras doubling as minions to deal damage, control the Realm, and, almost always, have the capacity to attack with auras the turn after they’re cast.
Enchantress leveraged Apprentice Wizard as a speed bump and to bait attacks while aiming to survive the first six turns. During that time, Enchantress sculpted its hand and dug for answers in preparation for the mid- to late-game. Pact with the Devil, Grandmaster Wizard, and Adept Illusionist provided raw card advantage.
Thunderstorm, Wildfire, and Silence functioned as removal and damage output.
Abundance enabled two-spelling. Later in the game, when mana was no longer a bottleneck, Abundance swung for five damage to close games.
The value of The Black Plague and The Great Famine is obvious. As minions, they can reposition to accrue more value. Additionally, as minions, they can succumb to Silence when there aren’t opposing minions suffering from their plights.
The artifact suite is a nod to the speed of the pre-Gothic metagame. Philosopher Stone and the Cores sped Enchantress to its late game, and Angel Eggs stabilized early hits.
Enchantress’s Magics were straightforward, aside from the spicy Twist of Fate, which had big-swing potential with Abundance, but was often a dead card. It does nothing while at Death’s Door and never felt good to draw early. 

was also a challenge.
Enchantress’s fixing was not great. While I wouldn’t play it now, the spice level on Twist of Fate was enough for the nod, since no other card could offset an early beatdown the same way. Still, I removed it after the Cornerstone tournament.
Of course, Poison Nova and Major Explosion regain control of an out-of-hand board. Firebolts and Lightning Bolts (scr) cleared off smaller, early threats. Blink and Riptide offered movement for Enchantress and her auras at card parity, and they doubled as removal once Enchantress built enough Realm presence.
The Sites were locked in due to the limited fixing and power outliers available during the Beta-Arthurian Legend days. Fields of Camlann, easily the best site in the build, was a free wrath that helped stabilize a full board before deploying a threat. It’s amazing. The play pattern is similar to Merlin Tower, enabling a two-spell turn. Pillars of Zeiros and a full set of Funeral Pyre showed respect for Deathspeaker.
Though I’d make changes in hindsight, a 7-1 record at a Cornerstone gets the nod of approval.
Evaluating Gothic Auras
- Acid Rain
- Silence for artifacts and sites is a fine utility and a potential two-of when Enchantress needs at least 10 auras.
- Cursed Iron
- Punishing artifact-heavy Avatars can be strong with the right matchup lottery, but beyond that, it’s narrow.
- Enchantress can animate it into a 2-power minion, which is lackluster, especially against Battlemage, against whom its effect would shine brightest.
- Eclipse

- Enchantress is effectively immune to “evil” hate.
- Since Enchantress isn’t really on the “evil” plan, Eclipse does little.
- Enchantress already freely deploys threats around the Realm.
- Eclipse costs two mana, so it’s not much of a beater.
- Falling Star
- Needs to sit in the Realm for three turns, and IF it lives (BIG IF), it might convert a massive minion.
- Homecoming

- I don’t currently play
, and Homecoming isn’t enough to change that. - As a worse Abundance, Homecoming likely thrives outside of Enchantress.
- I don’t currently play
- Mortal Soil

- Is
, needs a sufficient supply of dead minions, and must sit on my side of the Realm. I’ll pass.
- Is
- Salt the Earth


- Access to site destruction is compelling, though


is extreme. - Acid Rain negates site abilities and asks for less mana and threshold.
- Access to site destruction is compelling, though
- Sow the Earth


- If it weren’t


, I’d Consider it, but it’s just a more potent Abundance.
- If it weren’t
- Sphere of Animosity

- At first glance, I was like “WHOA, SICK!” I realized, however, it’s just a niche utility piece.
- Auras that do not impact the Realm when they enter must offer something amazing; otherwise, aggressive strategies will shrug it off and smash face.
- Strategies that this would be good against might not even care. Pathfinder only needs four sites to function.
Post-Gothic Release
I was interested in giving the meta time to breathe, so I explored new avatars. Animist was the obvious alternative to Enchantress. In my opinion, Enchantress remains miles better.
Imagine if Animist read, “…also the spell’s effect happens, too,” when casting Magics as Minions. That’s the power disparity between Enchantress and Animist.
If you are a devotee of rectangle theory, every aura in Enchantress is worth two rectangles. In Animist, every rectangle is a trapezoid, but it’s not a rectangle if you want it to be a trapezoid.
I tried Imposter, or rather, I tried secret Enchantress. While that strategy might have legs, the current meta is too fast for my build, which requires casting an aura, then paying for the Enchantress mask, and then casting a spell while protecting that mask. It wasn’t viable against anything that wasn’t midrange.
Eventually, I returned to Enchantress, but I’m a brewer at heart. I design, tweak, and iterate on a problem. I’m not so single-minded that I can’t accept when a problem can’t be solved with my solutions, though.
I was confident I’d solve Imposter, but I didn’t have time to test it leading up to the SorceryCon 2026 Constructed Championship. If I were to play a strategy I wasn’t confident about, it would at least need to allow me to leverage knowledge-of-interaction disparity.
I believe that disparity remains true. Most do not understand the power of Enchantress, and as a result, have trouble reading an aura-loaded Realm.
Enchantress’s play patterns are unlike other Avatars, and that is one of its strengths. With sufficient reps, one could outmaneuver the most seasoned Pathfinders, out-card the saviest Sorcerers, or even out-rectangle the spammiest Necromancers.
After five side events, wherein I switched between Imposter and Enchantress, I was convinced Enchantress offered the best chance to succeed in the Constructed Championship.
My issue, however, was being pulled in different directions socially (e.g., creating content, doing interviews, meeting with players, artists, vendors, etc.), and I didn’t want to compromise Sleep tweaking if I couldn’t get in solid testing.
My previous build looked much like Zalem’s initial post-Gothic list:
Auras (19)
- 2 Acid Rain

- 2 Silence


- 2 Sphere of Animosity


- 2 Drought


- 1 The Black Plague


- 1 The Great Famine


- 3 Thunderstorm


- 3 Wildfire

- 2 Abundance


- 1 Atlantean Fate


Artifacts (11)
- 1 Ring of Morrigan
- 1 Torshammer Trinket
- 1 Four Waters of Paradise
- 1 Shrine of the Dragonlord
- 3 Toolbox
- 2 Wiccan Tools
- 2 Angel Egg
Minions (11)
- 1 Pied Piper of Hameln


- 3 Fey Changeling

- 1 Morgana le Fey



- 2 Orm Infestor

- 2 Grandmaster Wizard


- 1 The Green Knight



- 1 Death Dealer


Magics (19)
- 3 Blink

- 2 Lightning Bolt (scr)

- 1 Magic Missiles

- 1 Pollimorph


- 1 Riptide

- 1 Sleep

- 2 Disintegrate


- 2 Infiltrate

- 3 Poison Nova

- 2 Major Explosion


- 1 Wrath of the Sea


Sites (30)
- 1 Active Volcano


- 3 Babbling Brook

- 1 Dark Tower

- 1 Fields of Camlann

- 3 Funeral Pyre

- 1 Joyous Garde



- 3 Lighthouse


- 1 Lone Tower

- 1 Merlin Tower

- 1 Mountain Peaks


- 3 Oasis


- 2 Perilous Bridge

- 1 Purgatory

- 1 River of Flame

- 3 Ruins


- 1 The Colour Out of Space




- 3 Troll Bridge

Collection (10)
- 1 Just a Rock
- 1 Blink

- 1 Disenchant

- 1 Displace


- 1 Lightning Bolt (scr)

- 1 Magic Missiles

- 1 Sleep

- 1 Drown

- 1 Murder of Crows


- 1 Angry Mob


No breakout changes from my Cornerstone list. There is a lot of life gain between Orm Infestor and Angel Eggs. There is much to like about this list, despite its lack of panache. It’s safe and sturdy.
The SCGCon Atlanta Top 4 list has legit spice: Jihad, Invasion, and, Falling Star. They must have expanded the minion suite, right? Hillock Basilisk, Monstrous Lion, Archangel Samael, Askelon Phoenix, Cherubim, Vivien the Enchantress, and Sir Galahad. Oh god, it plays all four elements! That’s not where I want to be.
Between this and Zalem’s more conservative list, there was probably a porridge that was just right. As a rule, unless there is a title to be had at the SCGCon events, I weigh the results lower than a Crossroads. I don’t know the strength of the field in Atlanta, but a 4-2 finish is respectable nonetheless.
Here’s what I played at SorceryCon 2026:
Auras (17)
- 1 Acid Rain

- 1 Silence


- 1 Sphere of Animosity


- 2 Falling Star

- 1 Salt the Earth



- 1 The Black Plague


- 1 The Great Famine


- 3 Thunderstorm


- 3 Wildfire

- 2 Abundance


- 1 Atlantean Fate


Artifacts (8)
- 1 Ring of Morrigan
- 1 Four Waters of Paradise
- 1 Shrine of the Dragonlord
- 3 Toolbox
- 2 Wiccan Tools
Minions (17)
- 1 Pied Piper of Hameln


- 3 Fey Changeling

- 1 Morgana le Fey



- 2 Orm Infestor

- 1 Bane of Aventis



- 1 Archangel Samael




- 2 Cherubim


- 2 Grandmaster Wizard


- 1 The Green Knight



- 1 Adtonitum



- 1 Death Dealer


- 1 Ignis Rex



Magics (17)
- 3 Blink

- 2 Lightning Bolt (scr)

- 1 Magic Missiles

- 1 Pollimorph


- 2 Disintegrate


- 2 Infiltrate

- 3 Poison Nova

- 2 Major Explosion


- 1 Wrath of the Sea


Sites (30)
- 1 Active Volcano


- 3 Babbling Brook

- 1 Dark Tower

- 1 Fields of Camlann

- 3 Funeral Pyre

- 1 Joyous Garde



- 3 Lighthouse


- 1 Lone Tower

- 1 Merlin Tower

- 1 Mountain Peaks


- 3 Oasis


- 2 Perilous Bridge

- 1 Purgatory

- 1 River of Flame

- 3 Ruins


- 1 The Colour Out of Space




- 3 Troll Bridge

Collection (10)
- 1 Just a Rock
- 1 Zap!

- 1 Blink

- 1 Disenchant

- 1 Displace


- 1 Lightning Bolt (scr)

- 1 Boil


- 1 Drown

- 1 Extinguish


- 1 Murder of Crows


I cut to 18 auras and added more impactful minions for Falling Star.
Falling Star
I was initially worried that too many minions for Falling Star would split focus. The floor of not converting a Falling Star payoff is a vanilla 4-power minion that dies after two attacks.
Good Falling Star payoffs net mana, recoup the cost of Falling Star, provide a powerful genesis, or are at least 4 power. Ideally, we drop Falling Star onto the opposing Avatar’s face.
The above has nine minions that are Falling Star-worthy. It would be 10, but not getting to attack with Saracen Raiders off Falling Star is a bit of a non-bo. I understand Saracen Raiders’ inclusion, but Falling Star’s value is not.
Percentage to Hit
Let’s run the math. Cast Falling Star on turn three with the help of a tower or Shrine of the Dragonlord. Being on the play sees two more cards for a total of seven spells when Falling Star procs, one of which is Falling Star itself, so six shots at having a worthy minion in hand.
Nine hits in a 60-card Spellbook is a 63.3% chance of having a worthy minion on time. I’d prefer being closer to 75% if I’m conceding Atlas draws as a gambit to hit paydirt.
Play Pattern & Payoffs
The turn you cast Falling Star, it goes to one, so Enchantress could animate it to do eight damage over two turns. That’s fine for four mana but not enough a high enough floor to include in a vaccuum, especially when opponents are likely to fire off removal to stop the star from falling.
That minion riding the star should have one or more of the following qualities:
- Big Damage
- Hit the board for 6+ damage and/or clear the minions at the site it lands on.
- Stickiness
- Have Ward, or otherwise be challenging to kill.
- Value
- Have a genesis or other ability that recoups the mana and time spent for the star to fall.
Here is where I ended up:
SorceryCon 2026 Enchantress by DurdleMagus
Auras (18)
- 1 Acid Rain

- 2 Silence


- 1 Sphere of Animosity


- 2 Falling Star

- 1 Salt the Earth



- 1 The Black Plague


- 1 The Great Famine


- 3 Thunderstorm


- 3 Wildfire

- 2 Abundance


- 1 Atlantean Fate


Artifacts (8)
- 1 Ring of Morrigan
- 1 Four Waters of Paradise
- 1 Shrine of the Dragonlord
- 3 Toolbox
- 2 Wiccan Tools
Minions (17)
- 1 Pied Piper of Hameln


- 3 Fey Changeling

- 1 Morgana le Fey



- 2 Orm Infestor

- 1 Bane of Aventis



- 1 Archangel Samael




- 2 Cherubim


- 2 Grandmaster Wizard


- 1 The Green Knight



- 1 Adtonitum



- 1 Death Dealer


- 1 Ignis Rex



Magics (17)
- 3 Blink

- 2 Lightning Bolt (scr)

- 1 Magic Missiles

- 1 Pollimorph


- 2 Disintegrate


- 2 Infiltrate

- 3 Poison Nova

- 2 Major Explosion


- 1 Wrath of the Sea


Sites (30)
- 1 Active Volcano


- 3 Babbling Brook

- 1 Dark Tower

- 1 Fields of Camlann

- 3 Funeral Pyre

- 1 Joyous Garde



- 3 Lighthouse


- 1 Lone Tower

- 1 Merlin Tower

- 1 Mountain Peaks


- 3 Oasis


- 2 Perilous Bridge

- 1 Purgatory

- 1 River of Flame

- 3 Ruins


- 1 The Colour Out of Space




- 3 Troll Bridge

Collection (10)
- 1 Just a Rock
- 1 Zap!

- 1 Blink

- 1 Disenchant

- 1 Displace


- 1 Lightning Bolt (scr)

- 1 Boil


- 1 Drown

- 1 Extinguish


- 1 Murder of Crows


My differences between Zalem’s and BudderDabs’ lists are as follows:
vs. Zalem
- -1 Acid Rain

- -1 Sphere of Animosity


- -2 Drought


- -1 Torshammer Tricket
- -2 Angel Egg
- -1 Riptide

- -1 Sleep

- +2 Falling Star

- +1 Salt the Earth



- +1 Bane of Aventis



- +1 Archangel Samael




- +2 Cherubim



- +1 Adtonitum



- +1 Ignis Rex



vs. BudderDabs
- -1 Jihad


- -1 Acid Rain

- -1 Sphere of Animosity


- -1 Invasion


- -1 Amulet of Niniane
- -1 Torshammer Trinket
- -2 Angel Egg
- -1 The Pallid Bust
- -1 Highland Princess


- -2 Sugarplum Pixies

- -2 Apprentice Wizard

- -1 Hillock Basilisk

- -1 Monstrous Lion


- -1 Saracen Raiders


- -1 Askelon Phoenix


- -1 Sir Galahad




- -1 Vivien the Enchantress



- -1 Detonate

- -2 Firebolts

- -1 Ball Lightning


- -1 Active Volcano


- -3 Bog

- -1 Caerleon-Upon-Usk



- -1 Glastonbury Tor



- -1 Poisoned Well

- -1 Remote Desert

- -1 Tintagel



- -1 Valley of Delight
- +1 Abundance


- +1 Cherubim



- +1 Grandmaster Wizard


- +1 Blink

- +1 Magic Missiles

- +1 Pollimorph


- +2 Infiltrate

- +1 Major Explosion


- +1 Wrath of the Sea


- +3 Babbling Brook

- +3 Funeral Pyre

- +1 Merlin Tower

- +1 Purgatory

My plan was closer to BudderDabs, though I’m fewer cards off Zalem’s list. Many of the differences are sites, due to the four-element build, but even in the Spellbook, there was much disagreement.
I think it’s obvious where I’m diverting from Zalem’s list; the Falling Star plan demands it. I’ll go into the changes from BudderDabs list by card type:
Auras
- Acid Rain
& Sphere of Animosity 
- They don’t impact the board.
- 3 power trades with most minions.
- There are better board-control options.
- Worth playing miser’s copies for the narrow spots where they’re useful.
- Jihad

- Not worth the space with only seven
minions. - Auras can already be deployed where I want.
- The +1 power boost is less appealing on base 4- and 5-power minions.
- Not worth the space with only seven
- Abundance

- Exactly what this build aims to accomplish!
- Abundance is a similar enabler to Falling Star for casting big minions ahead of schedule.
- Invasion

- Doesn’t fit the deck’s goal.
- Doesn’t work with Falling Star
- Foot Soldiers are unlikely to make a difference after the first turn.
- Occupies each site, so it won’t generate Foor Soldiers later if animated.
- We can do better than six mana for a 6-power minion that snaps off a couple of Foot Soldiers.
Artifacts
- Angel Egg
- Both lists played Angel Eggs and Orm Infester.
- Neither felt sufficient against the current aggro decks.
- Both lists played Angel Eggs and Orm Infester.
- I removed Angel Egg but kept Orm Infestor to err on the side of aggression.
- Amulet of Niniane
- Not interested in this with Enchantress.
- Offers immunity to Zap!, but every collection plays Just a Rock.
- Doesn’t stop anything meaningful before Death’s Door.
- Torshammer Trinket
- Cheap and can proc auras
- +1 power has implications in a Realm of 3- and 4-power minions.
- Interested in reintegrating.
- The Pallid Bust
- Four mana is a steep cost to copy non-Genesis abilities.
Minions
- Highland Princess

- Not needed solely for Ring of Morrigan
- Sugarplum Pixies
- There are higher-impact ways to control the Realm.
- Apprentice Wizard
- I miss this little guy, but without Pact with the Devil, the Apprentice Wizard’s impact is too low.
- Hillock Basilisk
- Cool as a way to “remove” minions from the board and impactful against Ward.
- Not a high-impact play that can take over the game.
- Monstrous Lion

- Incredibly compelling defensive removal spell.
- Wouldn’t be upset to play off Falling Star.
- Saracen Raiders

- Not looking to finish the game this way
- I have other ways to deal 3 damage to other minions without losing a card in the process.
- Askelon Phoenix

- Happy landing this on the opponent’s head.
- Sticky, but at five mana, I’d rather play a Daperyll Vampire, which I’m not.
- Ignores friendly Poison Novas is a plus.
- Sir Galahad



- An absolute beast (ok, he’s a knight, actually), but I’m not playing

- It’s a mistake to make the mana/threshold worse for Sir Galahad.
- An absolute beast (ok, he’s a knight, actually), but I’m not playing
- Vivien the Enchantress
- If she sticks and draws three cards, that’s amazing, but unlikely to happen.
- Terrible top deck.


? Gross.
- Cherubim


- Sticky and threatens to take over the board.
- Four is the least amount of damage I’d accept.
- High-impact abilities are worthwhile as a two-of in the list.
- Grandmaster Wizard

- Would you like to draw three cards to set up for the following turn?
- Good to put into play off Falling Star or before Falling Star hits the Realm to dig for a better minion.
- Falling Star dealing four damage, netting two mana and three cards, plus a chump blocker, is great.
- Detonate
- Good for exploding Infiltrated/Mesmerism’d minions.
- Consider it in the Collection for Toolbox.
- Blink
- Playing the full four copies across the Spellbook and Collection is a no-brainer.
- Repositions auras while replacing itself.
- Best draw spell/utility available in the early game.
- Enables two-spelling to animate multiple auras.
- Firebolts
& Magic Missiles
- I prefer Magic Missiles, though it’s a flavor call.
- Pollimorph

- Great tempo option.
- Banishing minions is obviously better than killing them.
- Infiltrate
- Awesome for removing blockers.
- Easy two-for-one.
- Ball Lightning

- Not enough for five mana anymore.
- Weird spot between killing 6-power minions and clearing Wards.
- Major Explosion
- Ball Lighting’s replacement.
- Phenomenal kill spell that often deals splash damage to several minions and the opposing Avatar.
- Wrath of the Sea

- Deals with Warded minions and annoying artifacts.
- Don’t animate onboard auras, and you’ll have a healthy board state on the following turn.
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What’s Next?
I learned a ton at the SorceryCon Constructed Championship. I’ll publish part two of this article on our Patreon with my round-by-round match breakdown, lessons learned from each match, and the new list I Wish I had played instead.
There’s plenty more to discuss, and I hope to see you there, as that support enables us to produce these deep-dive articles.
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Featured image: Falling Star by Doug Kovacs

































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