MTG Salvation

Been trying to get together a mono white list for some time, and for awhile I was always trying to shove it into a control shell, but never really succeed. I think in this format white has a lot of power to be an aggressive deck, since it has a ton of value creatures and token producers, but Jazal just put it over the top. It's awesome because he can just Overrun one player, and kill another player with general damage (provided you have enough tokens and mana). Still a work in progress, so I'm looking for suggestions:

That's a good looking list so far - I'd consider adding Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Expedition Map to find it and possibly even Nacre Talisman to generate lotsa mana for Jazal.

Quote from Burntgerbil »

That's a good looking list so far - I'd consider adding Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Expedition Map to find it and possibly even Nacre Talisman to generate lotsa mana for Jazal.

Hey, thanks for the compliment and suggestions! Nykthos definitely needs a spot, but I'm not sure on Nacre Talisman, it seems sort of conditional.

You seem to want to make big mana plays with all the X things, you do run a few rocks/doublers. Still, do you feel you're getting enough mileage out of the big hitters?

Also, how do you recoup after a wrath? Not trying to bring you down or anything, just curious - most of my white brews just folded to wraths and this doesn't look all that wrath-proof to an outsider's gaze either.

Quote from Rumpy5897 »

You seem to want to make big mana plays with all the X things, you do run a few rocks/doublers. Still, do you feel you're getting enough mileage out of the big hitters?

Also, how do you recoup after a wrath? Not trying to bring you down or anything, just curious - most of my white brews just folded to wraths and this doesn't look all that wrath-proof to an outsider's gaze either.

I appreciate the constructive criticism. Really good questions I will probably have to address. I have yet to even assemble the deck, so I cannot really add too much to the discussion in terms of game play, besides conceptual.
-In terms of big hitters, do you mean the X spells or things such as Sun Titan?
-Wraths are honestly probably one of my biggest worries. It's something that I will probably have to play around with, to determine what I want to be doing to prevent them and what cards actually provide good work.

I meant the X spells, yes. You seem to have a bunch of them. Playtest this thing heavily on Cockatrice before you pull the trigger for paper, it'll help you not make decisions you'd regret.

Quote from Rumpy5897 »

I meant the X spells, yes. You seem to have a bunch of them. Playtest this thing heavily on Cockatrice before you pull the trigger for paper, it'll help you not make decisions you'd regret.

Right, I know what you mean. Fortunately the only thing I'll have to knock out for this, that is of substantial value, is Brimaz. I'll still probably do some Cockatrice testing since I hate sleeving up a deck and turning around to break it back down

Out of curiosity, why no Rings of Brighthearth or Illusionist's Bracers? If I guessed it was because outside of Jazal or Heliod there aren't many targets your excited to draw them for.

But with Jazal, they become extra activations for a significantly lower fee.

Yeah, that duo is amazing in any deck where activated abilities do a lot of heavy lifting. I'd also support slotting them in.

The deck seems too mana intensive to function well. Mirror Entity is costly and hefty but a good back up, but Sacred Mesa doesn't help with an "upkeep cost of 1W". Anthems aren't bad, but most are useless when Jazal does it sooo much better. Luminarch Ascension I don't think most will let you activate this often, your defense doesn't seem strong enough for it. Mobilization isn't horrible, but again, costly. I'd use the Loreseeker's stone and maybe even Seer's Sundial for draw. Mana rocks could be better, Pearl Medallion and Marble Diamond are better than a 3 cycler (Commander's Sphere)

Add in more burst style tokens (Increasing Devotion) and some double strike/evasion would likely run better for you (True Conviction/Akroma's Memorial/Victory's Herald)

Overall -

- Heliod (2WW is too much for a single token)
- Reveillark/Karmic Guide Combo
- Storm Herd (too much mana)
- Entreat the Angels? (Without top/rack it is too expensive for poor timing)
- Sacred Mesa (and maybe Luminarch)
- Spear of Heliod/Marshal's Anthem (too small)
- Mobilization? (also a bit costly, not a tribal deck to get max value)
- Mimic Vat? (few enough desirable targets in your deck, maybe meta choice?)
- Unstable Obelisk (colorless, expensive and destruction shouldn't be that big of an issue for white)
- Commander's Sphere (3 is poor in mono color and cycling is meh)
- Orochi Hatchery/Snake Basket? (expensive to cast, and mediocre scaling)
- Memory Jar? (seems potentially wasteful, white's ramp isn't that strong)

+ Darien, King of Kjeldor
+ Take up Arms (instant)
+ Increasing Devotion/Conqueror's Pledge
+ Mausoleum Guard/Doomed Traveler/Spawning Pit (Wrath protection/replacement)
+ Kirtar's Wrath/March of Souls
+ Requiem Angel (triggers off of non-spirits, including tokens)
+ Thopter Assembly (a bit slow)
+ Springjack Shepherd (Evangel .5)
+ Accorder Paladin/Signal Pest (Battle Cry)
+ Angelic Field Marshal/Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon"/Archangel of Strife/Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (Anthem + body)
+ Archangel of Thune/Cathar's Crusade/Mikaeus, the Lunarch (+1/+1 counters)
+ Charge Across the Araba (Endgame combat trick)
+ Goldnight Commander (Drop tokens, get pump)
+ Pianna, Nomad Captain/Soltari Champion/Soul of Theros (Pump + Body)
+ Eldrazi Monument (Wrath Protection, etc)
+ Runechanter's Pike/Strata Scythe (Commander Dmg)
+ Odric, Master Tactician (Either unblockable or slaughterhouse)
+ Akroma's Memorial (HASTE, +other goodies)
+ Path of Bravery (Anthem + lifegain)
+ True Conviction (Mass Doublestike/Lifelink)
+ Victory's Herald (Flying/Lifelink)
+ Dolmen Gate (Slaughterhouse or win)
+ Hour of Reckoning (non-token wrath)
+ Soul Warden/Attendant (lifegain)
+Sunblast Angel/Mass Calcify/Ange of the Dire Hour (1-sided wrath)

All viable cards, depending on where you plan on working with. Think of MtG like a business. The less you have to put in, while getting as much or more out is key. Try to make the cost as small as possible. Play sol ring, drop Jazal, then Increasing Devotion. Swing + Activation = 45 damage, as early as T4. White is a poor mono color as it doesn't do much of anything well. Green ramps and tokens better. Black and Blue control better. Minimize your extension while maximizing dmg output.

I run a Boros deck with Anax & Cymede, that also uses Jazal. I run Militia's Pride. Maybe it's something for this deck too? It costs a little mana during combat, but it's generally cheaper than Mobilisation.

How does everyone feel about Soul of New Phyrexia as a way to protect from wraths?

Made an update to the list, here it is:
+ Soul of New Phyrexia
+ Increasing Devotion
+ Conqueror's Pledge
+ Charge Across the Araba
+ Militia's Pride
+ Pearl Medallion
+ Marble Diamond
+ Coalition Relic
+ Loreseeker's Stone
+ Akroma's Memorial
- Heliod, God of the Sun
- Karmic Guide
- Storm Herd
- Entreat the Angels
- Luminarch Ascension
- Mobilization
- Spear of Heliod
- Marshal's Anthem
- Commander's Sphere
- Winding Canyons

I get good mileage from both Gift of Estates and Oath of Lieges when I try to ramp in White. The latter keeps folks even with the mad-rampers and tends to both buy some goodwill and stick around.

Cheers!