First and foremost, This is a subtle yet insidious MONO WHITE CONTROL DECK geared towards Multiplayer EDH, but it also handles 1 vs. 1 matches just as well. The deck can play honest and fair, or it can get real dirty and make opponents concede or rage quit <(this of course is not the objective).
The deck is best suited for an attrition/grinding style of play, where it likes to take the fight into the later rounds.
It seeks to control the board while grinding in with a never ending flow of Cleric Tokens, Quality Creatures and Outstanding Card Synergies, all the while trying to set up a Yosei lock or an Infinite Mana/Damage combo should all else fail.
Victories can be hard fought, but more often than not, it's as easy as can be. It's mostly up to your opponents decks and their skill level in being able to deal with this decks playstyle.
Overall the deck is rewarding and great fun to play. It requires a bit of Thinking and a good knowledge of the Stack.
Disclaimer:Although victory is often achieved by attacking via mass Cleric Tokens, THIS IS NOT SOLELY INTENDED TO BE A TOKEN SWARM DECK.
Why Heliod: With Heliod and some mana you will always have board presence via his ability to churn out Enchantment Cleric Tokens at instant speed. They are perfectly fine as attackers/blockers/sac fodder. Where these Cleric Tokens shine is the interactions they have with a number of cards in the deck such as Serra's Sanctum(abusive), Skybind(broken), Sphere of Safety(solid), Skullclamp(solid), Sac Outlets and Anthem Effects. Typically you should create clerics during your opponents end step right before your turn comes around, don't just spit them out unless you need a blocker. Of course that changes when you have Skybind online.
**** Think of the Cleric Tokens that Heliod produces as FUEL, and utilize them as such. ****
--- Vigilance for all creatures in the deck is not to be underestimated. Never having to worry about tapping out is quite the luxury.
--- Heliod is cheap to cast, and easy to recast should he be exiled back to the command zone. Get him into play early and keep him there.
--- He makes recovering from board wipes a breeze, because he's an indestructible token factory.
--- As with all God's, Heliod is fairly difficult for many opponents to remove from play once he is cast.
--- Heliod's often underrated/underestimated as a commander and often overlooked while in play, especially by opponents not familiar with this deck. Show them the error of their way's.
****Knowing when to have devotion and when not to have devotion will increase Heliod's survivability tenfold. I tend to keep him under devotion more times than not, as an indestructible enchantment is difficult for many opponents to get rid of. I often use sac effects on my white permanents at key times to keep my devotion down, thus for example, saving him from being tucked when casting Terminus or Hallowed Burial****
Heliod and his clerics are sometimes used as a ruse, just "holding down the fort" so to speak (laying low just spitting out tokens here and there, attacking every once in a while), while actually he is buying time, assembling some of the strong card interactions/combo's contained in the deck such as forming a Yosei lock, or setting up an Infinite Mana or Infinite Mill combo. But make no mistake he is a vital part of the deck.
Creatures: Each creature utilized in the deck serves a purpose towards the deck. They all work together in some way, there are no lonestar heroes. 21 out of the 22 creatures within has a "comes into play effect" or a "leaves play/put in the graveyard effect", with the 1 being an "activated ability". You want to abuse these creatures CIP/LTB effect's repeatedly whenever possible. MAJOR PART OF THE DECKS STRATEGY.
Mana: Mana is rarely an issue with this deck, it has a plethora of ramp, land search, mana doubling, and a few infinite mana effects. For Mono White it's just about as good as it can get. I have shunned away from using mana rocks, because while good and fast they never last. This deck is about the long game. During the course of a game generating 20 to 40 mana, or higher is the norm without going infinite.
Draw: Card draw/Deck manipulation is handled by efficient artifact sources, along with limited draw off of creatures (which should be abused when possible). This deck, although weak in the card draw department makes up for it with copious amounts of card advantage/excellent synergies.
Recursion: Is prevalent throughout the entire deck. Basically any permanent in this deck can be consistently returned to play or returned to hand from the graveyard.
Combo: This deck has strong combo's that are non-infinite but can be just as degenerate, and has a few infinite combos dependent upon sac outlets, creatures, and enchantments. I myself like the mana altar's but feel free to try Blasting Station for Infinite Damage, or Altar of Dementia for Infinite Mill.
Heliod, God of the Sun + Skybind. The Skybind Engine. For 4 mana produce a Cleric Enchantment token and you can flicker at instant speed any non-enchantment permanent on the field until the beginning of the next end step. It get's really effective with the more mana you have, being able to flicker out multiple permanents at will.
Permanents: Save your/opponents permanents from spot/mass removal or targeting effects.Political uses abound. Creatures:Get repeated use out your CIP/LTB creatures every turn, remove attackers/blockers, remove annoying creatures. Combat tricks. Equipment: Remove an equipped creature (equipment falls off), or a creature that is attempting to get equipped, or just the equipment itself. Auras: Skybind a creature that has an aura on it (The aura goes to the graveyard). Counters: Skybind any creature/artifact/land that has counters on it and the counters go away or get reset, depending. Planeswalkers: Reset any Planeswalker about to hit their ultimate, back to original loyalty. Artifacts: Skybind any artifacts, temporarily removing/reusing their effect. Tokens: Remove any token from game, be it creature token or otherwise. Lands: At Instant speed remove opponents lands, or RESET YOUR OWN LANDS. This is where it can get abusive, resetting your Serra's Sanctum, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Deserted Temple (The lands return to play untapped) during each players turn to make more Clerics, thus Skybinding more permanents,.... at this point the deck should start to exponentially explode, ultimately flickering all your opponents relevant permanents out of play every turn while simultaneously beating in with a massed legion of cleric tokens.
Sphere of Safety + Lot's of Cleric Enchantment Creature Tokens and/or Enchantments. Very effective at deterring any Agro from coming your way.
Burnished Hart + Gift of Immortality. The best "True Land Ramp" available for MONO WHITE EDH, end of story. Gets ALL the plains if left unchecked. The Energy Elk or as my friends call it,The Mana Moose! Add Emeria Shepherd to this little combo and you can recur all nonland permanents back into play from the graveyard in no time.
Angel of Serenity/Fiend Hunter + Any sac outlet. If Angel of Serenity/Fiend Hunter leaves the battlefield before its enters-the-battlefield ability has resolved, its leaves-the-battlefield ability will trigger and do nothing. Then the enters-the-battlefield ability will resolve and exile the targeted creatures and/or creature cards indefinitely. Recur these 2 cards for repeated abuse.
This is my main deck presently, I've been running it in one form or another since Heliod was released in Theros (sept.2013). I have approximately 70 games (a lot of 1 vs.1 but mostly multi-player) under my belt with it. The current version is highly tuned and requires some patience and little bit of skill for maximum results. While I do occasionally try out new and/or different cards in the deck, the original version as listed above is by far the most effective.
I and The Clerics thank you for checking it out!!!
Thanks Xerox! Good to see another Heliod pilot out there!
I went with Heliod stax. I'm gonna test it today in my group and see how it plays. I'm pretty excited about skybind and sphere of safety. Thanks for the awesome thread.
Smokestack with Heliod? Absolutely BRILLIANT!!! I've steered clear of that card since abusing it in Arcum Dagsson, but yeah...the synergy with Heliod is undeniable.In the future I'd like to swap out the infinite's package for a Stax package to see how it runs.
Thanks Xerox!
How about adding Master Apothecary for a nice synergy with vigilante clerics Heliod produces? Anyway this looks like one of few mono-white decks that actually work, your thread encourages me into building one
Thanks Artaud, if this were a cleric themed deck I would include the Apothecary, there's definate synergy with it, and even political use!
I love this deck! I've been wanting to build a Mono White EDH deck but none of the Commanders really leaped out and said "play me" until I ran across this deck list.
I love this deck! I've been wanting to build a Mono White EDH deck but none of the Commanders really leaped out and said "play me" until I ran across this deck list.
I tried a similar deck and didn't like it because I tried it with gw Rhys and it was better.
Nakhla: Thanks for the good words, I still run this deck, and try to get 1 or 2 games a week with it. I'm presently looking to incorporate Martyr's Bond into the deck. Good luck with your build.
MTGOJarkeld: From what you've described, it sounds like your Rhys deck was a great build for all out swarming/ramping. Heliod's not a swarm commander and should not be played as such, he's a meat grinder/control commander who utilizes his clerics as fuel.
Found a little gem which can prove useful for pillowfort strategy. Martyr's Cause. It's free sac outlet if anything and perma fog with Sun Titan combos.
Yes, the White Sac Outlet enchantments are really interesting, Martyr's Cause is really good. I'm presently running Fanatical Devotion in the deck in place of one of the Altars. Both enchantments are great for increased tenacity/resilience in the deck, and they feed Serra's Sanctum a little more, and are easier to tutor for, more so than the artifact Altars.
Ultimately in this deck, Martyr's cause and Fanatical Devotion, run in tandem with Claws of Gix (my personal favorite) are significantly more synergistic with the decks playstyle, than the artifact Altars. Good stuff Artuad.
Where's Tithe? It's 2 card psuedo-card draw for one mana at instant speed. It really belongs in every mono-W deck, IMO.
Have you considered Galepowder Mage? It only works when it attacks, but it gives you another way to repeatedly abuse ETB effects. In the same vein, there's Flickerwisp and Restoration Angel for one time effects, as well as the expensive Flickerform. Flickerwisp can be be abused with Titan and a sac outlet, however.
If you want some more sac outlets... Martyred Rusalka has served me well in my Saffi deck, but that's partly because I can tutor it up with ease using green. Mirror Entity is also really freaking good - sac outlet, combo enabler, mana sink finisher.
Argivian Find in my experience is pretty meh. It oftentimes is just a dead draw. Also have you considered Mine Excavation? It's probably going to be much better value with the amount of creatures you run.
Telekinesis: Thanks, Yeah Heliod's a great build around general. I've read your suggestions and they're all good ones, and would all fit right in.
This deck is really tight for space and tuned to my survive/win in my meta, which has some hideous commanders/decks with extremely skilled pilots in it. Most of my card selections for the deck have been chosen to have immediate impact on board state, or are in it to enhance/cripple boardstate. So anyway's...
Tithe is really efficient but I'm often comfortably at pace or ahead in the Lands department during the course of a game. Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer do the trick for me.
Galepowder Mage, and Adarkar Valkyrie are good, although I prefer creatures with instant returns when they ETB/LTB. Due to my meta, creatures of any relevance rarely last for more than 1 turn, no joke.
LoL! God forbid if I ever decided to run a Yosei deck for the local commander tournaments, Loyal Retainers would be among the first picks in the creature department.
Mimic Vat is really good, but draws hate for/from me. I actually gave Cauldron of Souls a try 2 weeks ago, never drew it though. Out it came.
Angel of Finality is really good, but due to my meta I'm overly paranoid about it being stolen/cloned/recurred and used on me. I have ran Stonecloaker on the other hand with great success. I've found Tormod's Crypt to be invaluable in this deck, free to cast and easy to recur.
Argivian Find has ironically never been a bad draw for me, and the instant speed recursion is highly efficient and extremely rare in mono white. I have ran Mine Excavation in the past and sometimes still do, very good card.
As I'm sure you well know, running Mono White can be challenging, you've got to do lot's of playtesting and find that sweet spot between your playstyle and your meta. Good luck with your build!
I just realized how useful white's enchantment tutoring is with all the Commander-tucking effects around!
I'm thinking I may want to include some Planeswalkers in my list; the Elspeths are drawing my eye. All of them have synergistic abilities, with perhaps Elspeth Tirel being a little ahead of the other two in regard to Heliod.
I've been searching through gatherer for relevant enchantments, and came across Porphyry Nodes. I like that it's a light stax-ish effect that's also really cheap to cast, but it is slightly antagonistic towards the tokens we're pumping out.
Leyline Of Sanctity is another card I'm thinking of including, mostly as a shield against the infinite damage/lifeloss combos rampant ( and ramp-ing ) in my local meta.
Working on my list for this deck, I'll probably post my take in a month or so.
Tithe is really efficient but I'm often comfortably at pace or ahead in the Lands department during the course of a game. Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer do the trick for me.
Try replacing a plains or another land with Tithe then. I suggest one of your other lands like Tectonic Edge since you need as many plains as you can due to mana doublers, Emeria and Scrying Sheets. The reason? Tithe is just that good. I'm dead serious when I say it needs to go in every mono-white deck. It's not just mana fixing - it's the most efficient CA that you can get for its cost in mono-white outside of Land Tax. It even has advantages over Tax at times, being instant speed, getting the lands immediately, and never being a dead draw. At its absolute worst, it's still better than your worst land.
It will give you almost guaranteed CA for one mana in mono-white, how cards in mono-white can say that?
IMO, "draws hate" isn't a good enough reason not to run a card - it just shows how powerful it is!
Thank the God's, I've only had Heliod tucked 2 times. Oblation/Chaos Warp. But yeah if needed, he could be tutored back. Claws of Gix is good for this, and saving any of your permanents in general from numerous nefarious exiling/tucking effects.
I've thought of putting an Elspeth in at one time or another, couldn't hurt, they're all good.
Yeah Porphyry Nodes is a nasty little enchantment (although too anti-synergistic), in a hardcore dedicated Heliod stax build I could maybe see it. I'd go with Smokestack though.
Leyline of Sanctity is really good, run it if targeted infinite damage is prevalent in your meta. Run it along side the fore mentioned Martyr's Cause. Untargeted Lifeloss on the other hand (well timed recurring Kokusho's/Grey Merchants/ Exsanguinate's) is tough to get around though sometimes if graveyard hate is not on hand, and is actually the leading cause of any game losses I incur.
I'm looking forward to seeing another Heliod brew.
Rhys decks are great, I haven't played versus/seen one in a long time,... almost a year. I'd maybe make a Rhys the Redeemed deck...maybe in the future...
As of right now after almost 18 months of running Heliod, I still have a good ol' time every game. Nobody else runs Heliod in my neck of the woods, or anywhere else I've played (like out of state), so he's unique, and has a certain WTF??? factor when some people play versus the deck. It just doesn't get old for me.:)
Built and tried this yesterday. It was so much fun, definitely going to hang on to this deck for now. In one game I ended up with something like 60 Heliod tokens and able to produce 100+ non-infinite mana in one turn (Extraplanar Lens, Caged Sun, and Serra's Sanctum (I was stalled out for a few turns because opponent had Platinum Emperion protected by Asceticism, plus some like 5 board wipes and ways to recur Emperion). I also decided to try Mastery of the Unseen in my build which ended up being insane - I manifested some 40+ cards in order to find the answers I needed. Every flipped up card gave me 100+ life. Eventually just comboed out for infinite mana and swung with infinitely huge Mirror Entity creatures.
Built and tried this yesterday. It was so much fun, definitely going to hang on to this deck for now. In one game I ended up with something like 60 Heliod tokens and able to produce 100+ non-infinite mana in one turn (Extraplanar Lens, Caged Sun, and Serra's Sanctum (I was stalled out for a few turns because opponent had Platinum Emperion protected by Asceticism, plus some like 5 board wipes and ways to recur Emperion). I also decided to try Mastery of the Unseen in my build which ended up being insane - I manifested some 40+ cards in order to find the answers I needed. Every flipped up card gave me 100+ life. Eventually just comboed out for infinite mana and swung with infinitely huge Mirror Entity creatures.
LoL!! That sounds like it was one hell of a game!! Mastery of the Unseen is a very interesting card, I see you've found a way to break it. Very nice!
You've got me thinking now.....
First and foremost, This is a subtle yet insidious MONO WHITE CONTROL DECK geared towards Multiplayer EDH, but it also handles 1 vs. 1 matches just as well. The deck can play honest and fair, or it can get real dirty and make opponents concede or rage quit <(this of course is not the objective).
The deck is best suited for an attrition/grinding style of play, where it likes to take the fight into the later rounds.
It seeks to control the board while grinding in with a never ending flow of Cleric Tokens, Quality Creatures and Outstanding Card Synergies, all the while trying to set up a Yosei lock or an Infinite Mana/Damage combo should all else fail.
Victories can be hard fought, but more often than not, it's as easy as can be. It's mostly up to your opponents decks and their skill level in being able to deal with this decks playstyle.
Overall the deck is rewarding and great fun to play. It requires a bit of Thinking and a good knowledge of the Stack.
Disclaimer:Although victory is often achieved by attacking via mass Cleric Tokens, THIS IS NOT SOLELY INTENDED TO BE A TOKEN SWARM DECK.
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Why Heliod:
With Heliod and some mana you will always have board presence via his ability to churn out Enchantment Cleric Tokens at instant speed. They are perfectly fine as attackers/blockers/sac fodder. Where these Cleric Tokens shine is the interactions they have with a number of cards in the deck such as Serra's Sanctum(abusive), Skybind(broken), Sphere of Safety(solid), Skullclamp(solid), Sac Outlets and Anthem Effects. Typically you should create clerics during your opponents end step right before your turn comes around, don't just spit them out unless you need a blocker. Of course that changes when you have Skybind online.
**** Think of the Cleric Tokens that Heliod produces as FUEL, and utilize them as such. ****
--- Vigilance for all creatures in the deck is not to be underestimated. Never having to worry about tapping out is quite the luxury.
--- Heliod is cheap to cast, and easy to recast should he be exiled back to the command zone. Get him into play early and keep him there.
--- He makes recovering from board wipes a breeze, because he's an indestructible token factory.
--- As with all God's, Heliod is fairly difficult for many opponents to remove from play once he is cast.
--- Heliod's often underrated/underestimated as a commander and often overlooked while in play, especially by opponents not familiar with this deck. Show them the error of their way's.
****Knowing when to have devotion and when not to have devotion will increase Heliod's survivability tenfold. I tend to keep him under devotion more times than not, as an indestructible enchantment is difficult for many opponents to get rid of. I often use sac effects on my white permanents at key times to keep my devotion down, thus for example, saving him from being tucked when casting Terminus or Hallowed Burial****
Heliod and his clerics are sometimes used as a ruse, just "holding down the fort" so to speak (laying low just spitting out tokens here and there, attacking every once in a while), while actually he is buying time, assembling some of the strong card interactions/combo's contained in the deck such as forming a Yosei lock, or setting up an Infinite Mana or Infinite Mill combo. But make no mistake he is a vital part of the deck.
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1 Heliod, God of the Sun
Creatures
1 Angel of Serenity
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Emeria Shepherd
1 Yosei, the Morning Star
1 Sun Titan
1 Duplicant
1 Archon of justice
1 Karmic Guide
1 Reveillark
1 False Prophet
1 Kor Cartographer
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Academy Rector
1 Sanctum Gargoyle
1 Treasure Hunter
1 Auramancer
1 Monk Idealist
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Burnished Hart
1 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Wall of Omens
1 Weathered Wayfarer
Enchantments
1 Land Tax
1 Gift of Immortality
1 Angelic Renewal
1 Marshal's Anthem
1 Sphere of Safety
1 Skybind
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Aura of Silence
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
1 Condemn
1 Oblation
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Return to Dust
1 Argivian Find
Sorceries
1 Austere Command
1 Terminus
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Wrath of God
1 Day of Judgment
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Steelshaper's Gift
Artifacts
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Scroll Rack
1 Skullclamp
1 Mind's Eye
1 Sol Ring
1 Expedition Map
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Caged Sun
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Blasting Station
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Nim Deathmantle
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Dust Bowl
1 Buried Ruin
1 Petrified Field
1 High Market
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Kor Haven
1 Deserted Temple
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
22 Snow-Covered Plains
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Creatures: Each creature utilized in the deck serves a purpose towards the deck. They all work together in some way, there are no lonestar heroes. 21 out of the 22 creatures within has a "comes into play effect" or a "leaves play/put in the graveyard effect", with the 1 being an "activated ability". You want to abuse these creatures CIP/LTB effect's repeatedly whenever possible. MAJOR PART OF THE DECKS STRATEGY.
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Removal: The deck is chock full of removal (spot and mass) of all varieties vs. any permanent type.
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Duplicant
1 Archon of Justice
1 False Prophet
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Skybind
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Aura of Silence
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Path to Exile
1 Condemn
1 Oblation
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Austere Command
1 Terminus
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Wrath of God
1 Day of Judgment
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Dust Bowl
1 Blasting Station
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Mana: Mana is rarely an issue with this deck, it has a plethora of ramp, land search, mana doubling, and a few infinite mana effects. For Mono White it's just about as good as it can get. I have shunned away from using mana rocks, because while good and fast they never last. This deck is about the long game. During the course of a game generating 20 to 40 mana, or higher is the norm without going infinite.
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Caged Sun
1 Wayfarer's bauble
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Serra's sanctum
1 Deserted Temple
1 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Burnished Hart
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Kor Cartographer
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Tutors: There is a fair amount of tutoring effects in the deck related to Enchantments, Artifacts, and Lands.
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 Academy Rector
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Land Tax
1 Expedition Map
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Draw: Card draw/Deck manipulation is handled by efficient artifact sources, along with limited draw off of creatures (which should be abused when possible). This deck, although weak in the card draw department makes up for it with copious amounts of card advantage/excellent synergies.
1 Scroll Rack
1 Skullclamp
1 Mind's Eye
1 Wall of Omens
1 Solemn Simulacrum
**** In the world of Mono White, ideally you want to get Sensei's Divining Top and/or Skullclamp going as early as possible. ****
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Recursion: Is prevalent throughout the entire deck. Basically any permanent in this deck can be consistently returned to play or returned to hand from the graveyard.
1 Emeria Shepherd
1 Sun Titan
1 Karmic Guide
1 Reveillark
1 Sanctum Gargoyle
1 Treasure Hunter
1 Auramancer
1 Monk Idealist
1 Angelic Renewal
1 Marshal's Anthem
1 Argivian Find
1 Nim Deathmantle
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Petrified Field
1 Buried Ruin
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
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Combo: This deck has strong combo's that are non-infinite but can be just as degenerate, and has a few infinite combos dependent upon sac outlets, creatures, and enchantments. I myself like the mana altar's but feel free to try Blasting Station for Infinite Damage, or Altar of Dementia for Infinite Mill.
****For less obscene (but highly synergistic with the deck) sac outlets, try Fanatical Devotion, Martyr's Cause, and Claws of Gix.****
****Infinite colorless mana is incredibly useful to have access to, and Infinite White mana is ran through Heliod for infinite Cleric tokens.****
Sun Titan + Fiend Hunter + Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar/Blasting Station = Infinite Colorless/White Mana/Damage
Sun Titan + Gift of Immortality + Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar/Blasting Station = Infinite Colorless/White Mana/Damage
Sun Titan + Angelic Renewal + Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar/Blasting Station = Infinite Colorless/White Mana/Damage
Sun Titan + Angelic Renewal/Gift of Immortality + Sac outlet + Skybind = Infinite flickering of any non enchantment permanent. GG.
Karmic Guide + Fiend Hunter +Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar/Blasting Station = Infinite Colorless/White Mana/Damage
Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar/Blasting Station = Infinite Colorless/White Mana/Damage + Infinite Recursion of any other power 2 or less creature, for example Solemn Simulacrum/Wall of Omens/Duplicant.
The Yosei Lock Yosei, the Morning Star + Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar/Blasting Station + Gift of Immortality/Nim Deathmantle. With this set up you can sacrifice Yosei during each players turn (typically during their end step) and lock down a player/table.***Note you can abuse any creature in the deck with this setup, not just Yosei***. But Yosei seals the deal. High Market/Miren, the Moaning Well will give a similar effect, but only during the turn that Yosei is sacrificed. Emeria, the Sky Ruin fits in here as well.
Heliod, God of the Sun + Skybind. The Skybind Engine. For 4 mana produce a Cleric Enchantment token and you can flicker at instant speed any non-enchantment permanent on the field until the beginning of the next end step. It get's really effective with the more mana you have, being able to flicker out multiple permanents at will.
****Basically Skybind turns Heliod's Enchantment Creature Cleric Tokens into pseudo Flickerwisps.****
Below are a few ways to abuse this card.....
Permanents: Save your/opponents permanents from spot/mass removal or targeting effects.Political uses abound.
Creatures: Get repeated use out your CIP/LTB creatures every turn, remove attackers/blockers, remove annoying creatures. Combat tricks.
Equipment: Remove an equipped creature (equipment falls off), or a creature that is attempting to get equipped, or just the equipment itself.
Auras: Skybind a creature that has an aura on it (The aura goes to the graveyard).
Counters: Skybind any creature/artifact/land that has counters on it and the counters go away or get reset, depending.
Planeswalkers: Reset any Planeswalker about to hit their ultimate, back to original loyalty.
Artifacts: Skybind any artifacts, temporarily removing/reusing their effect.
Tokens: Remove any token from game, be it creature token or otherwise.
Lands: At Instant speed remove opponents lands, or RESET YOUR OWN LANDS. This is where it can get abusive, resetting your Serra's Sanctum, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Deserted Temple (The lands return to play untapped) during each players turn to make more Clerics, thus Skybinding more permanents,.... at this point the deck should start to exponentially explode, ultimately flickering all your opponents relevant permanents out of play every turn while simultaneously beating in with a massed legion of cleric tokens.
Sphere of Safety + Lot's of Cleric Enchantment Creature Tokens and/or Enchantments. Very effective at deterring any Agro from coming your way.
Burnished Hart + Gift of Immortality. The best "True Land Ramp" available for MONO WHITE EDH, end of story. Gets ALL the plains if left unchecked. The Energy Elk or as my friends call it,The Mana Moose! Add Emeria Shepherd to this little combo and you can recur all nonland permanents back into play from the graveyard in no time.
Emeria Shepherd + Kor Cartographer/Solemn Simulacrum + Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar/Blasting Station. With this setup, the Cartographer can get every basic plains in the deck into play, and the Simulacrum does the same with some impressive additional card draw.
Throw Karmic Guide and/or Reveillark into the mix and things can get out of hand.
Angel of Serenity/Fiend Hunter + Any sac outlet. If Angel of Serenity/Fiend Hunter leaves the battlefield before its enters-the-battlefield ability has resolved, its leaves-the-battlefield ability will trigger and do nothing. Then the enters-the-battlefield ability will resolve and exile the targeted creatures and/or creature cards indefinitely. Recur these 2 cards for repeated abuse.
Crucible of Worlds + Strip Mine, Wasteland, Dust Bowl, Tectonic Edge, and Ghost Quarter. No explanation is needed here.
Serra's Sanctum/Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx + Deserted Temple. Simple double usage. Substantial mana boost mid to late game when you have good board presence.
The four Anthem Effects in the deck do a lot more than just boost power/toughness.
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This is my main deck presently, I've been running it in one form or another since Heliod was released in Theros (sept.2013). I have approximately 70 games (a lot of 1 vs.1 but mostly multi-player) under my belt with it. The current version is highly tuned and requires some patience and little bit of skill for maximum results. While I do occasionally try out new and/or different cards in the deck, the original version as listed above is by far the most effective.
I and The Clerics thank you for checking it out!!!
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
I went with Heliod stax. I'm gonna test it today in my group and see how it plays. I'm pretty excited about skybind and sphere of safety. Thanks for the awesome thread.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Thanks Xerox!
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Thanks for checking it out redmammoth, I find Darien, King of Kjeldor to be a fine mono white soldier commander. Be sure to include Cathars' Crusade and True Conviction in your deck. Good Luck with your build!
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Thanks Artaud, if this were a cleric themed deck I would include the Apothecary, there's definate synergy with it, and even political use!
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
I love this deck! I've been wanting to build a Mono White EDH deck but none of the Commanders really leaped out and said "play me" until I ran across this deck list.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
I tried a similar deck and didn't like it because I tried it with gw Rhys and it was better.
It's pretty much Heliod but uses Rhys the Redeemed as the commander (but tons of ways to tutor Heliod)for access to land tutors/mirari's wake, Doubling Season, Parallel Lives
Tutoring up Serra's Sanctum and Gaea's Cradle.......
It's kind of depressing thinking about it.
MTGOJarkeld: From what you've described, it sounds like your Rhys deck was a great build for all out swarming/ramping. Heliod's not a swarm commander and should not be played as such, he's a meat grinder/control commander who utilizes his clerics as fuel.
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Yes, the White Sac Outlet enchantments are really interesting, Martyr's Cause is really good. I'm presently running Fanatical Devotion in the deck in place of one of the Altars. Both enchantments are great for increased tenacity/resilience in the deck, and they feed Serra's Sanctum a little more, and are easier to tutor for, more so than the artifact Altars.
Ultimately in this deck, Martyr's cause and Fanatical Devotion, run in tandem with Claws of Gix (my personal favorite) are significantly more synergistic with the decks playstyle, than the artifact Altars. Good stuff Artuad.
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
A few comments:
Why not Stoneforge Mystic? You're already running Steelshaper's Gift, and Stoneforge is better.
Where's Tithe? It's 2 card psuedo-card draw for one mana at instant speed. It really belongs in every mono-W deck, IMO.
Have you considered Galepowder Mage? It only works when it attacks, but it gives you another way to repeatedly abuse ETB effects. In the same vein, there's Flickerwisp and Restoration Angel for one time effects, as well as the expensive Flickerform. Flickerwisp can be be abused with Titan and a sac outlet, however.
A few other recursion options - Adarkar Valkyrie Sigil of the New Dawn, Loyal Retainers.
If you want some more sac outlets... Martyred Rusalka has served me well in my Saffi deck, but that's partly because I can tutor it up with ease using green. Mirror Entity is also really freaking good - sac outlet, combo enabler, mana sink finisher.
Mimic Vat looks like it would be perfect for this deck. Maybe Cauldron of Souls as well.
I'd personally run Angel of Finality and maybe even Stonecloaker over Tormod's Crypt.
Argivian Find in my experience is pretty meh. It oftentimes is just a dead draw. Also have you considered Mine Excavation? It's probably going to be much better value with the amount of creatures you run.
Well that's all the suggestions I have for now.
Commander/EDH:
WU Hanna, Ship's Navigator WU
GW Saffi Eriksdotter GW
BW Selenia, Dark Angel BW
W Heliod, God of Sun W
Retired:
Jenara, Asura of War Thada Adel, Acquisitor Jaya Ballard, Task Mage Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero Lyzolda, the Blood Witch Akroma, Angel of Wrath Nath of the Gilt-Leaf Tajic, Blade of the Legion Selvala, Explorer Returned Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Tiny Leaders:
W Mangara of Corondor W
This deck is really tight for space and tuned to my survive/win in my meta, which has some hideous commanders/decks with extremely skilled pilots in it. Most of my card selections for the deck have been chosen to have immediate impact on board state, or are in it to enhance/cripple boardstate. So anyway's...
Stoneforge Mystic is not ran because I only run 2 pieces of equipment in the deck, Skullclamp and Nim Deathmantle. If I start running Sword of Light and Shadow again in the deck, I would consider running her. As of right now Steelshaper's Gift fills the role.
Tithe is really efficient but I'm often comfortably at pace or ahead in the Lands department during the course of a game. Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer do the trick for me.
Galepowder Mage, and Adarkar Valkyrie are good, although I prefer creatures with instant returns when they ETB/LTB. Due to my meta, creatures of any relevance rarely last for more than 1 turn, no joke.
LoL! God forbid if I ever decided to run a Yosei deck for the local commander tournaments, Loyal Retainers would be among the first picks in the creature department.
For a short period of time I actually shoehorned in a wonky Heliod's Pilgrim package of Flickerform and Gift of Immortality, Flickerform just never worked out for me.
Mimic Vat is really good, but draws hate for/from me. I actually gave Cauldron of Souls a try 2 weeks ago, never drew it though. Out it came.
Angel of Finality is really good, but due to my meta I'm overly paranoid about it being stolen/cloned/recurred and used on me. I have ran Stonecloaker on the other hand with great success. I've found Tormod's Crypt to be invaluable in this deck, free to cast and easy to recur.
Argivian Find has ironically never been a bad draw for me, and the instant speed recursion is highly efficient and extremely rare in mono white. I have ran Mine Excavation in the past and sometimes still do, very good card.
As I'm sure you well know, running Mono White can be challenging, you've got to do lot's of playtesting and find that sweet spot between your playstyle and your meta. Good luck with your build!
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
I just realized how useful white's enchantment tutoring is with all the Commander-tucking effects around!
I'm thinking I may want to include some Planeswalkers in my list; the Elspeths are drawing my eye. All of them have synergistic abilities, with perhaps Elspeth Tirel being a little ahead of the other two in regard to Heliod.
I've been searching through gatherer for relevant enchantments, and came across Porphyry Nodes. I like that it's a light stax-ish effect that's also really cheap to cast, but it is slightly antagonistic towards the tokens we're pumping out.
Leyline Of Sanctity is another card I'm thinking of including, mostly as a shield against the infinite damage/lifeloss combos rampant ( and ramp-ing ) in my local meta.
Working on my list for this deck, I'll probably post my take in a month or so.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
Try replacing a plains or another land with Tithe then. I suggest one of your other lands like Tectonic Edge since you need as many plains as you can due to mana doublers, Emeria and Scrying Sheets. The reason? Tithe is just that good. I'm dead serious when I say it needs to go in every mono-white deck. It's not just mana fixing - it's the most efficient CA that you can get for its cost in mono-white outside of Land Tax. It even has advantages over Tax at times, being instant speed, getting the lands immediately, and never being a dead draw. At its absolute worst, it's still better than your worst land.
It will give you almost guaranteed CA for one mana in mono-white, how cards in mono-white can say that?
IMO, "draws hate" isn't a good enough reason not to run a card - it just shows how powerful it is!
Commander/EDH:
WU Hanna, Ship's Navigator WU
GW Saffi Eriksdotter GW
BW Selenia, Dark Angel BW
W Heliod, God of Sun W
Retired:
Jenara, Asura of War Thada Adel, Acquisitor Jaya Ballard, Task Mage Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero Lyzolda, the Blood Witch Akroma, Angel of Wrath Nath of the Gilt-Leaf Tajic, Blade of the Legion Selvala, Explorer Returned Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Tiny Leaders:
W Mangara of Corondor W
Thank the God's, I've only had Heliod tucked 2 times. Oblation/Chaos Warp. But yeah if needed, he could be tutored back. Claws of Gix is good for this, and saving any of your permanents in general from numerous nefarious exiling/tucking effects.
I've thought of putting an Elspeth in at one time or another, couldn't hurt, they're all good.
Yeah Porphyry Nodes is a nasty little enchantment (although too anti-synergistic), in a hardcore dedicated Heliod stax build I could maybe see it. I'd go with Smokestack though.
Leyline of Sanctity is really good, run it if targeted infinite damage is prevalent in your meta. Run it along side the fore mentioned Martyr's Cause. Untargeted Lifeloss on the other hand (well timed recurring Kokusho's/Grey Merchants/ Exsanguinate's) is tough to get around though sometimes if graveyard hate is not on hand, and is actually the leading cause of any game losses I incur.
I'm looking forward to seeing another Heliod brew.
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Rhys decks are great, I haven't played versus/seen one in a long time,... almost a year. I'd maybe make a Rhys the Redeemed deck...maybe in the future...
As of right now after almost 18 months of running Heliod, I still have a good ol' time every game. Nobody else runs Heliod in my neck of the woods, or anywhere else I've played (like out of state), so he's unique, and has a certain WTF??? factor when some people play versus the deck. It just doesn't get old for me.:)
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~
Commander/EDH:
WU Hanna, Ship's Navigator WU
GW Saffi Eriksdotter GW
BW Selenia, Dark Angel BW
W Heliod, God of Sun W
Retired:
Jenara, Asura of War Thada Adel, Acquisitor Jaya Ballard, Task Mage Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero Lyzolda, the Blood Witch Akroma, Angel of Wrath Nath of the Gilt-Leaf Tajic, Blade of the Legion Selvala, Explorer Returned Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Tiny Leaders:
W Mangara of Corondor W
LoL!! That sounds like it was one hell of a game!! Mastery of the Unseen is a very interesting card, I see you've found a way to break it. Very nice!
You've got me thinking now.....
Pauper EDH: ~ Rhox War Monk ~ Scornful Aether-Lich ~ Ashenmoor Gouger ~ Ascended Lawmage ~ Nightscape Battlemage ~ Warden of the Eye ~ Hedge Troll ~ Dinrova Horror ~ Renata
Pauper 60: ~ Caw Blade ~ MonoU Delver ~ MonoW Monk Fish ~
Standard: ~ Boros Knights ~ RDW ~
Pioneer: ~ U BControl ~
Modern: ~ UB Control ~
Legacy/Vintage: ~ MonoU Delver ~
93/94: ~ Erhnamgeddon ~