At the end of the day, Mr Gold is on TeamMrGold, but he’ll play along with whatever other team will help him achieve his goal. It’s my belief that his ultimate goal is to be victorious over Regina, so he needs Emma to come out on top. But Emma’s not ready yet, she doesn’t believe yet, she’s not powerful enough yet. So if he leads Regina on, makes her believe that she still has the upper hand and he’s not trying to defy her, that buys Emma more time.