I chose Cho-Manno to do a primer for because I seem to be the only person that likes this guy as a general around here. I've got the only list posted for Him in the database, I haven't seen another list on here (except for a half finished 1) for Him and searching the internet turned up very little
Reasons You might like this deck
You like control strategies
You like Turtle straegies
You like being untouchable
You like watching the game go on around You
Reasons You might not like this deck
You like aggro
You like being really interactive with Your opponents
Vesuva - This is all about utility, use it to kill pesky legendary lands or just copy the best land on the table.
DUDES
Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant - This guy is in here because the only thing better than having Cho-Manno is having a field full of Cho-Manno's
Avacyn, Angel of Hope - Having indestructible is great in a deck like this when You're trying to hide behind Your general
Stonehewer Giant and Stoneforge Mystic- A lot of the protection and for Cho-Manno is equipment. These guy help You find it and make sure He can wear it
Academy Rector - This guy is a great deterant for attacking and can always grab a useful enchant (like Pariah) when He dies
Sun Titan - He is fantastic recursion with the added bonus of being large
Weathered Wayfarer - This guy is great for ramp and getting the non basic lands out, plus He works for Scroll Rack reshuffles
World Queller - He can systematically screw somebody if You are clever in picking Your card type
Eternal Dragon - Serves 2 purposes, ramp and a large recurring body
Stuffy Doll - This guy is 1 of the win conditions in this deck. He is used as part of a combo with Guilty Consciensce and can be reset with Flickerform. He is also great with the Pariah effects
Pariah - This in 1 of the key cards in the deck. It can be put on Cho-Manno to make You damage proof, put on Stuffy Doll to spped up death for whoever it's targeting or if You have Rune-Tail online You can drop it on any dude to be damage proof
Sol Ring and Mana Crypt - These 2 are the best mana acceleration in the game and the drawback of Mana Crypt is negated if this deck is doing what it's supposed to.
Planar Portal - This deck suffers froma lack of tutor options and this although expensive works because of the mana doublers
Mind's Eye - This deck also has a lack of card draw. This helps with that
Scroll Rack - This is 1 of the best digging engines We have available to us. It gets even better when used with reshuffle effects to move away the stuff You don't want to see yet
Flagstones of Trokair - (suggested by MRdown2urth) Your World Quller loves this land. It lets You call land without any real damage to Yourself
More options to come as I find them or get suggestions
Playing the deck
As You probably figured out by the thread title the goal of this deck is to get Cho-Manno out with a Pariah effect and hide behind it. To achieve this goal with have 2 full strength Pariah effects and a partial 1 provided You have the mana to use it. We also have a set up where every tutor in the deck will fetch You 1 of those effects. From there You want to add as many layers of protection to this set up as You can with the equipment in the deck, ideally You'll have Cho-Manno not only with a Pariah effect on Him but also with some combination of shroud/hexproof and indestrucability.
It's Important to get Cho-Manno set up in the early game if You can with as many layers of protection as You can. Once this is online You can sit back and not worry too much about damage while You take control of the board. Don't worry too much about what Your opponents are doing to each other as long as it doesn't directly affect You. Take as much time as You can adding layers of defense to Your layers of defense. Ideally, once You have Cho-Manno set up with a Pariah effect as well as shroud/hexproof and indestructibly You want to start looking for the things like Ayacyn, Leonin Abunas and/or Idomitable Archangel and set the protection up for them too.
Once You have all this set up it's time to sit back and watch. Unlike most control decks this deck doesn't really want to interact with anybody. While they are getting into it with each other You should be sitting there quietly sculpting Your hand with removal and setting up You path to victory be it Stuffy Doll shenanigans or the big token game.
When it comes to selecting Your path to victory You can generally figure out pretty quickly which path is going to be best. if You see the mana doublers in the early game the token path (Sacred Mesa or Luminarch Ascension) usually ends up being the best path however, an early Three Dreams (usually grabbing the Pariah, Guilty Conscience and Flickerform) can make a Stuffy Doll victory very fast. I will warn You though, if You want to go for a Stuffy Doll win don't play the Three Dreams until You have the doll out and can at the very least drop the Guilty Conscience to kill whoever it's pointed at. If Your opponents see this coming You will probably get hated off the table.It's also worth noting here when selecting Your path to victory that Your meta game (if You know it) should play a factor. If Your playing in a combo or land destruction heavy group it'll almost always be better to go for the Stuffy Doll kill.
Selecting which Pariah effect to go for 1st can sometimes be difficult, most of the time it's best to go for Pariah 1st because We have more tutors for it, We have more recursion for it and it'll come down faster. The downside is We have less ways to protect it. Pariah's Shield tends to be better later on if they deal with the Pariah or You reach point where You have to get proactively involved and start killing things.
Conclusion
Thank You for taking the time to read My Cho-Manno primer. If You have any stories about playing Cho-Manno or against Him I'd love for You to post them here.
Your World Queller loves it. Your land count also seems low, but I like a solid 40 lands in my EDH decks.
Good call about the World Queller. The land count hasn't been a problem so far. I used to be about 40 lands in My decks as well but I found Myself cutting down to 37 on average so that's the go too number for Me now
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You like control strategies
You like Turtle straegies
You like being untouchable
You like watching the game go on around You
You like aggro
You like being really interactive with Your opponents
You like fast games
1 Cho-Manno, Revolutionary
LAND
30 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Scrying Sheets
1 Homeward Path
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Vesuva
DUDES
1 Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Stonehewer Giant
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Academy Rector
1 Indomitable Archangel
1 Leonin Abunas
1 Sun Titan
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 World Queller
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Stuffy Doll
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Duplicant
1 Rout
1 Wrath of God
1 Day of Judgment
1 Austere Command
1 Planar Cleansing
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Three Dreams
1 Mine Excavation
1 Replenish
PLANESWALKERS
1 Ajani Goldmane
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
INSTANTS
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Argivian Find
1 Return to Dust
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
1 Condemn
1 Oblation
ENCHANTMENTS
1 Aura of Silence
1 Land Tax
1 Sacred Mesa
1 Luminarch Ascension
1 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Ivory Mask
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Prison Term
1 Pariah
1 Guilty Conscience
1 Flickerform
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Caged Sun
1 Planar Portal
1 Mind's Eye
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Crystal Ball
1 General's Regalia
1 Pariah's Shield
1 Skullclamp
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Champion's Helm
1 Darksteel Plate
1 Shield of Kaldra
LAND
Snow-Covered Plains - I went with Snow-covered over normal to have use of Scrying Sheets and to have Extraplanar Lens not help other white players
Emeria, the Sky Ruin - This is 1 of the best recursion engines a mono white deck can run
Mistveil Plains - This is another great piece of recusion. It can set up interesting loops when used with Planar Portal
Scrying Sheets - This is for card advantage without taking up any valuable space outside the manabase
Homeward Path - Having Your stuff stolen sux. This helps fix that problem
Serra's Sanctum - This is great mana ramp. The key is running enough enchantments to make it worthwhile which this deck does
Thawing Glaciers - This helps ensure land drops and gives us valuable reshuffles after using Scroll Rack
Vesuva - This is all about utility, use it to kill pesky legendary lands or just copy the best land on the table.
DUDES
Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant - This guy is in here because the only thing better than having Cho-Manno is having a field full of Cho-Manno's
Avacyn, Angel of Hope - Having indestructible is great in a deck like this when You're trying to hide behind Your general
Stonehewer Giant and Stoneforge Mystic- A lot of the protection and for Cho-Manno is equipment. These guy help You find it and make sure He can wear it
Academy Rector - This guy is a great deterant for attacking and can always grab a useful enchant (like Pariah) when He dies
Indomitable Archangel and Leonin Abunas - These guys are here to protect the Artifacts that protect Cho-Manno
Sun Titan - He is fantastic recursion with the added bonus of being large
Weathered Wayfarer - This guy is great for ramp and getting the non basic lands out, plus He works for Scroll Rack reshuffles
World Queller - He can systematically screw somebody if You are clever in picking Your card type
Eternal Dragon - Serves 2 purposes, ramp and a large recurring body
Stuffy Doll - This guy is 1 of the win conditions in this deck. He is used as part of a combo with Guilty Consciensce and can be reset with Flickerform. He is also great with the Pariah effects
Steel Hellkite - He's removal and a large body
Solemn Simulacrum - He's win all over. Ramp, a body and card draw.
Duplicant - For when killing a guy just isn't enough. He'll RFG them and be as big as whatever He got rid of
SORCERIES
Rout - When You have to blow dudes up the only thing better than being able to do so is to do it at instant speed
Wrath of God and Day of Judgment - These are in here because sometimes You just have to blow dudes up
Austere Command - The only thing better than a sweeper sometimes can be a sweeper with options. That's the role this card fills
Planar Cleansing - Blow up everything!!
Idyllic Tutor - Lets You find the enchantments You need
Three Dreams - Lets You find the Auras you need
Mine Excavation - a 1 shot recursion with the added bonus of if You have the dudes You can get 2 things back
Replenish - Get back all of Your enchantments all at once
PLANESWALKERS
Ajani Goldmane - All the options are good for this guy
Elspeth, Knight-Errant - All Her options are good too
INSTANTS
Enlightened Tutor - Lets You search for an artifact or Enchantment
Argivian Find - 1 Shot recursion
Return to Dust - Removal with the bonus of being a 2 for 1 if You use it in Your main phase
Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile - Removal for the dudes that have to die now and stay gone
Condemn and Oblation - These are used primarily for tucking generals
ENCHANTMENTS
Aura of Silence - Removal with the benefit of being a taxing effect until You need it
Land Tax - The best way to ensure You hit Your land drops in white and get reshuffles
Sacred Mesa - A win condition for this deck and creates fuel for Skullclamp
Luminarch Ascension - The best win condition in this deck. The drawback is completely irrelevant if the deck is working properly
Leyline of Sanctity and Ivory Mask - These are here because You've got to protect Yourself
Faith's Fetters and Prison Term - These are pseudo removal that can be tutored up with Three Dreams
Pariah - This in 1 of the key cards in the deck. It can be put on Cho-Manno to make You damage proof, put on Stuffy Doll to spped up death for whoever it's targeting or if You have Rune-Tail online You can drop it on any dude to be damage proof
Guilty Conscience - This is here purely for the instant win combo with Stuffy Doll
Flickerform - This can be used to blink Cho-Manno out of trouble or reset Stuffy Doll
ARTIFACTS
Sol Ring and Mana Crypt - These 2 are the best mana acceleration in the game and the drawback of Mana Crypt is negated if this deck is doing what it's supposed to.
Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power and Caged Sun - These make the high end of the deck possible and make Sacred Mesa and Luminarch Ascension possible as win conditions
Planar Portal - This deck suffers froma lack of tutor options and this although expensive works because of the mana doublers
Mind's Eye - This deck also has a lack of card draw. This helps with that
Scroll Rack - This is 1 of the best digging engines We have available to us. It gets even better when used with reshuffle effects to move away the stuff You don't want to see yet
Sensei's Divining Top and Crystal Ball - Some much needed digging effects
General's Regalia and Pariah's Shield - 2 of the 3 Pariah effects that make the deck tick
Skullclamp - A card draw engine when used with Sacred Mesa
Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots - The haste is great but the Shroud/Hexproof are why these are really here
Champion's Helm - Another way to add hexproof to Cho-Manno
Darksteel Plate and Shield of Kaldra - Giving Cho-Manno indestructibly is 1 of the best ways to protect Him
More options to come as I find them or get suggestions
It's Important to get Cho-Manno set up in the early game if You can with as many layers of protection as You can. Once this is online You can sit back and not worry too much about damage while You take control of the board. Don't worry too much about what Your opponents are doing to each other as long as it doesn't directly affect You. Take as much time as You can adding layers of defense to Your layers of defense. Ideally, once You have Cho-Manno set up with a Pariah effect as well as shroud/hexproof and indestructibly You want to start looking for the things like Ayacyn, Leonin Abunas and/or Idomitable Archangel and set the protection up for them too.
Once You have all this set up it's time to sit back and watch. Unlike most control decks this deck doesn't really want to interact with anybody. While they are getting into it with each other You should be sitting there quietly sculpting Your hand with removal and setting up You path to victory be it Stuffy Doll shenanigans or the big token game.
When it comes to selecting Your path to victory You can generally figure out pretty quickly which path is going to be best. if You see the mana doublers in the early game the token path (Sacred Mesa or Luminarch Ascension) usually ends up being the best path however, an early Three Dreams (usually grabbing the Pariah, Guilty Conscience and Flickerform) can make a Stuffy Doll victory very fast. I will warn You though, if You want to go for a Stuffy Doll win don't play the Three Dreams until You have the doll out and can at the very least drop the Guilty Conscience to kill whoever it's pointed at. If Your opponents see this coming You will probably get hated off the table.It's also worth noting here when selecting Your path to victory that Your meta game (if You know it) should play a factor. If Your playing in a combo or land destruction heavy group it'll almost always be better to go for the Stuffy Doll kill.
Selecting which Pariah effect to go for 1st can sometimes be difficult, most of the time it's best to go for Pariah 1st because We have more tutors for it, We have more recursion for it and it'll come down faster. The downside is We have less ways to protect it. Pariah's Shield tends to be better later on if they deal with the Pariah or You reach point where You have to get proactively involved and start killing things.
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
I guess it could work. I'm not sure if it's needed though. It'd depend on how much land destruction is played in Your play group
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
Good call about the World Queller. The land count hasn't been a problem so far. I used to be about 40 lands in My decks as well but I found Myself cutting down to 37 on average so that's the go too number for Me now