Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor brings Aura Enchantress to mono white. With card draw and granting enchantment spells you cast affinity for auras, it’ll be quite the engine. But what are we casting for cheap?
PEARL-EAR, IMPERIAL ADVISOR
Pearl-Ear is seriously cool. It’s been a long time since Mesa Enchantress and Kor Spiritdancer, and finally, we have another mono-white card draw creature for Enchantress strategies. Granted, it has to target something already modified, but at least it isn’t limited to once per turn.
Despite the restriction, it is a ¾ Lifelink base for three mana which is very good, and it gives your Enchantment spells affinity for Auras.
Light-Paws was another popular Kitsune Commander, but some players have found it a little too spikey for more relaxed tables. In that sense, I think having Pearl-Ear as an option is great.
While the bulk of Pearl-Ear deck will be made up by staples like All That Glitters and Idolized, that means we can take advantage of some costlier spells and not feel bad about running them.
Mantle of the Ancients, for example, would potentially cost only two mana on certain board states. Now, remember – it gives Enchantment spells affinity for Auras. That means non-Auras can enjoy the cost reduction, but that having a bunch in play won’t cost-reduce your Enchantments.
So, what little gems can be played in this build?
10. SIGIL OF THE EMPTY THRONE
Sigil of the Empty Throne has been very good recently for me in Sigarda Aura Enchantress, and I think it’ll slot in really nicely here too. In years past, paying five mana for this and being unlikely to untap with it would have made for a pretty rough exchange, but these days, are people really blowing this up when there’s a Great Henge or Smothering Tithe across the table?
The answer is no, and when you can drop this for two mana, you’re laughing.
9. ARMORED ASCENSION
While most of the better effects to buff a creature are on the cheap end, for usually one or two mana, they all rely on the number of enchantments in play. Not so for Armored Ascension, that just rewards us for being in mono-white. It even grants flying. Late-game after a wipe this’ll let you convert a win with Pearl-Ear when you have an empty board, so I like it quite a lot for as little as one mana.
8. CONSULATE CRACKDOWN
Removal is great – play more removal. Consulate Crackdown for two mana seems like a great value play, hoovering up all the mana rocks and engine/combo pieces in play, while nuking stores of treasure, food or clues. If they spend removal on it? Well, they didn’t remove your Idolized or Unquestioned Authority.
7. UNDERCELLAR SWEEP
I think going deep on the initiative in this build probably isn’t advisable, but when you can play Undercellar Sweep for one or two mana? Well, mono white kind of enjoys that sort of card advantage. If you do run this, it’s also pretty free to run Nadaar, Selfless Paladin and suit him up with auras.
6. SPHERE OF SAFETY
I’m not usually the biggest fan of pillowfort in enchantress. I know there are builds that do it well, but Aura-Enchantress isn’t one of them in my experience. Instead of going full ham with Ghostly Prison and Solitary Confinement, I tend to just opt for Sphere of Safety, which all but guarantees I won’t be attacked. When you can cost-reduce this down to one mana, why wouldn’t you play it here?
5. BANISHMENT
While you’re always likely to play Swords, Path and Generous Gift, I actually quite like Banishment in this build. A flash Oblivion Ring for just one mana feels illegal, but in this deck, it’s actually not.
4. CELESTIAL MANTLE
My build for Pearl-Ear will be focusing somewhat on lifegain, but even if you’re not, getting to play Celestial Mantle for just three mana is a no-brainer. Doubling your life total can buy you entire extra turns, and it can also trigger a myriad of white effects that can do anything from draw cards to make 5/5 Horse tokens. Plus the art is pretty baller, right?
3. ANGELIC DESTINY
Angelic Destiny is a sweet little card that took a bit of time to mature into a solid Commander playable. It’s a little cost intensive given how fragile Auras can be, but in Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor, two mana to jump your Commander and draw a card is a great rate.
2. OVERWHELMING SPLENDOR
And now we come to the big haymakers, the reasons to run this deck. Overwhelming Splendor is the first, and offers a back-breaking tempo swing that can leave an opponent reeling. It can halt an impending alpha strike, and it can prevent a player from using abilities to combo off with when taken as a preventative measure. It’s disgusting, but really, you gotta play it when it can cost as little as two mana.
1. ELDRAZI CONSCRIPTION
I’m not sure why you wouldn’t want the chance to cast a free Eldrazi Conscription. I mean, at that point, you should already be winning, but either way, getting this for even three mana is still great value, and the average casting cost in a deck like this.
END STEP
Pearl-Ear isn’t as consistent as Sythis, and doesn’t have the same access to combo lines as Light-Paws. What it does have, however, is great value for mono-white, and it provides an excellent option for anyone wanting to try an exciting new mono-white commander. It’s a little more casual than Light-Paws, too, for slightly slower games. You could even alternate which is the Commander in your build, depending on the table.
I have a feeling Pearl-Ear will get hooked up with some good Auras later this year too, if previous trends are anything to go on.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer, and member of the Commander Advisory Group. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.