I really like your deck, but I just noticed you have 102 cards in your list.
You're right - I didn't amend the lands out from a recent update. Land count in the list was 39, should be 37. I've since fixed it. Thanks for the positive feedback, too! It's a super fun deck to play, which is surprising for mono-W.
Twilight Shepherd leaves for Bastion Protector. Turns Brisela into a combat threat, Brisela into a two-hitter, and obvious resiliency is nice. For a lot less. TS was a LOT of hoops to jump through for not enough value, and too high a cost.
Out: Mother of Runes - I just haven't seen the need. Makes me really question the value of Ranger of Eos here now. Ideally he'd be Recruiter of the Guard, but I don't have a copy. Urza's Ruinous Blast - This just leaves too many key pieces unscathed. Trading Post - As much utility as it has, it sits in hand and doesn't get played.
I've been doing some playtesting recently, and found a couple of issues. Nothing mono-white isn't used to, it's mostly extended draw into mid-game. Other than that, I've made some changes to make the deck a little more....well, controlling and griefy I guess. Bruna likes the environment when it's locked a little, and I've added some things to support that.
Ranger was a little redundant after Mother of Runes left, Baird and Bodyguards are a little more defensive and taking them out drops the curve. I've been wanting to add The Sun for a while, but it did shoot up in price. The draw I'm happy enough with, and happy with the overall changes.
For now, I've got a small list of wants to add soon. Once I have money.
I guess this represents moving from a more passive defensive plan to becoming a bit more aggressive. Not necessarily aggro, just pushing a little harder. Currently, I find myself forting out until I can assemble Brisela as my main plan. I don't want to rely on that. The trumpet I'm in two minds about. It could be absolutely savage, especially with some of the combat modifiers I run here, but it will require judicious use, and probably only needs to be dropped in particular situations. But it could do great work. Conviction will be nasty, no doubt. The Altar is here for a way to make sure my key pieces stay mine, or are early ramp for me and me only. It doesn't combo here, but it should do some decent work regardless.
I feel like Altar of Dementia is probably a lot more relevant here than Ashnods given its not really a token based deck. I have been running it myself for some time with some good results.
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I feel like Altar of Dementia is probably a lot more relevant here than Ashnods given its not really a token based deck. I have been running it myself for some time with some good results.
Yeah, I don't disagree, but I don't have a spare copy unfortunately. For now, it's an acceptable, if imperfect, sacrifice outlet that doesn't quite do perfectly for the deck but does well enough. Given that I don't have access to some of the stronger ramp available (Land Tax and Tithe essentially) I'm not averse to having this present.
Cool to see a primer on this list. Some thoughts on cards:
Lands: New Benalia, Path of Ancestry, Zhalfirin Void. All scry Benalia and Void I have been running in Mono white budget lists and have always enjoyed having them given the limited access to card quality / draw white has.
Terrain Generator, I've loved this card as well obviously its better with Land Tax but I run it in budget decks to good effect.
I would give Palace Jailer and possibly Protector of the Crown a look. I have a budget Mangara deck and I suspect that Palace Jailer is better for you then Mangara in the 99. People commonly play around the card incorrectly when you target commanders and I've found that puttting out the monarch is rather good for mono white as you're likely able to hold onto it.
Artifacts:
Expedition Map and Thaumatic Compass, really surprised to not see these here. Map finds Sky Ruin or other useful lands and Compass well means you keep hitting land drops which is really something I imagine you're in the market for.
Sorcery:
Cleansing Nova, I suspect you just haven't picked up a copy but looks great for you.
Thanks! It's not a primer officially, there'd be a lot of work to do before I'd be happy to have it as an official guide. Maybe sometime in the future.
New Benalia, Path of Ancestry, Zhalfirin Void. All scry Benalia and Void I have been running in Mono white budget lists and have always enjoyed having them given the limited access to card quality / draw white has.
Terrain Generator, I've loved this card as well obviously its better with Land Tax but I run it in budget decks to good effect.
Arch of Orazca, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, and Throne of the High City can all draw you cards. Two of which are legendary so Thalia's Lancers can find them, which has been very significant to me.
Opal Palace seems loose here in particular.
The first three here are all good adds. Path and Void I simply don't have copies of, but I see no reason for Benalia not to be in here. Any advantage you can get is good advantage in mono white. TG I don't have a copy of, but if I did it would definitely have a place here. I definitely want a copy of Arch of Orazca in here, although I'm hesitant to add group draw. I've found this deck at its best playing a mild resource denial game, so I don't really want to add any benefit to other players unless I can help it.
Opal Palace is one of those cards that I usually never run. Because Bruna gets destroyed quite often, so I've found she benefits well from the pump it offers.
I would give Palace Jailer and possibly Protector of the Crown a look. I have a budget Mangara deck and I suspect that Palace Jailer is better for you then Mangara in the 99. People commonly play around the card incorrectly when you target commanders and I've found that puttting out the monarch is rather good for mono white as you're likely able to hold onto it.
I do like the monarch mechanic, but I'm not sure either one of these do enough to warrant a spot. Mangara or Corondor has been decent thus far. It kept me alive yesterday against a Nekusar wheel deck, and I like that it's not particular to creature removal. That being said, Fiend Hunter has been a little lackluster, so it could see replacement.
Expedition Map and Thaumatic Compass, really surprised to not see these here. Map finds Sky Ruin or other useful lands and Compass well means you keep hitting land drops which is really something I imagine you're in the market for.
I'd love a copy of Expedition Map in here, but don't have a spare. Finding Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is always strong. I've looked at Thaumatic Compass before, too. It could be valuable here. I don't have a copy, but I'd be interested to track one down.
Cleansing Nova, I suspect you just haven't picked up a copy but looks great for you.
It does look good. I've been eyeing up a copy of Austere Command as a decent versatile sweeper, so this could be a slightly cheaper option.
My current list of wants is fairly small, and I'm trying to keep it that way, as a lot of what I could add here is expensive. I'd love to add Azor's Gateway, Mind's Eye and Arch of Orazca, with an expanded list of less budget options as a long term goal.
Pretty happy with all changes, they should all work just fine. The Brooch I am hoping will be more of a deterrent than anything, but if I ever do have to use it I'm able to reanimate a lot of what I'm turfing, so it's not the worst thing in the world.
Had a few games over the weekend, 2 with my Dralnu build, one with Bruna. She did remarkably well, although I feel it was probably due to bad draws from my opponents and a great start from me. It was 3v3 against Saskia, the Unyielding and Adeliz, the Cinder Wind. Landed a ton of early rocks with Sol Ring, Thran Dynamo and Mind Stone doing work, and locked the board down with Magus of the Moat, which was followed literally the next turn with Magus of the Moon from Adeliz. This basically took Saskia out of the game. He landed a whole lot of stuff, but couldn't do anything with it.
Azor's Gateway performed well - I never got close to flipping it, but the general idea is to flip the dross from your hand to give you the best options, and it did this well. Quite happy with the addition. Eventually I drew into Emeria Shepherd and Sublime Archangel, Azors activated me into True Conviction and I spent the game swinging for bouts of 16 each turn. Admittedly it wasn't much of an arm wrestle, but I was happy with the momentum.
The mill is worth more here than instant mana. Vice versa, the instant mana is more valuable to Dralnu than mill. I'm looking forward to seeing what this can do - especially considering our reanimation game is so strong.
The mill is worth more here than instant mana. Vice versa, the instant mana is more valuable to Dralnu than mill. I'm looking forward to seeing what this can do - especially considering our reanimation game is so strong.
Seems like a good move.
I suspect its due to budget / not having one but why no Lyra Dawnbringer? She has been really powerful for me so far even just giving my commander a little bump not to mention the number of angels this commander tends to play.
Karmic Guide seems kind of random in here just given it doesn't seem like you have many ways to abuse it and most all of your creatures are already rez targets for your commander. I like the guide a lot more when I plan to abuse it by things like Skullclamp / Birthing Pod aka getting more value out of it beyond the rez.
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The mill is worth more here than instant mana. Vice versa, the instant mana is more valuable to Dralnu than mill. I'm looking forward to seeing what this can do - especially considering our reanimation game is so strong.
Seems like a good move.
I suspect its due to budget / not having one but why no Lyra Dawnbringer? She has been really powerful for me so far even just giving my commander a little bump not to mention the number of angels this commander tends to play.
Karmic Guide seems kind of random in here just given it doesn't seem like you have many ways to abuse it and most all of your creatures are already rez targets for your commander. I like the guide a lot more when I plan to abuse it by things like Skullclamp / Birthing Pod aka getting more value out of it beyond the rez.
Lyra's absence is absolutely down to budget. I mean, there's at least another couple of big budget angels that I'd put in if I could afford too - Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Linvala, Keeper of Silence. Maybe on Linvala, I guess she's a meta call. Even for humans though, Loyal Retainers is another big budget I would add. Then there's Land Tax and the more expensive rocks, some decent equipment and such. Maybe Lyra will see an add post rotation at some point.
Karmic Guide has done ok for me. I mean yeah, I don't have a ton of ways to abuse it drastically - there's not really a place for Reveillark, and I don't have a ton of blink synergy (although I have thought of adding Eldrazi Displacer as a way to spam ETB and Mangara triggers). But it does well enough. I'd be happy to consider other options if you have suggestions, though.
Really glad to see someone else interested in mid-range monowhite! I've had a Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle deck for a while, but I missed playing some of my favorite white fatties. Your deck seemed like a great way to do that! I made some changes in favor of cards I either liked better or happened to have upgrades to on hand. I'd love to discuss!
Really glad to see someone else interested in mid-range monowhite! I've had a Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle deck for a while, but I missed playing some of my favorite white fatties. Your deck seemed like a great way to do that! I made some changes in favor of cards I either liked better or happened to have upgrades to on hand. I'd love to discuss!
Very happy to discuss! Mono white seems boring to others, but honestly I kind of enjoy the challenge.
Our decks utilise many of the same cards, but it does seem like we're heading in different directions. Yours is more midrange beatdown, mine is more control with a reanimator subtheme. That being said, you are playing some cards I'm interested to hear about.
How have you found Bounty Agent playing out for you? It could be great with enough ways to recur it, although it is a shame it's not as abusable as Mangara. That guy is disgusting value.
I've tossed up trying out Thaumatic Compass before, how have you found it? I'm not entirely sure I need it anymore, especially with Kor Haven in the list, but there's a good chance it could put in work.
Why Brimaz, King or Oreskos? It's a great card in some ways, but my feeling is it doesn't scale well to EDH. It dies easily, and I'm not sure it's worth the chump blockers it provides. Or is the idea to get you some Skullclamp triggers?
I can see why you'd play Elspeth, Knight Errant here, but why Karn, Scion of Urza and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar? Is Gid primarily for the emblem? Karn just really seems too slow and inefficient to do anything the deck might want to do. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - I've considered it in the past, how often does it backfire for you? There's a reasonable degree of reliance on rocks as ramp and control in my build, as well as some tricks. I'd hate to screw myself out of mana trying to lock everyone else out. I assume it'd be great in a combo meta, though.
I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on my build as it stands - it's not perfect and budget is a concern, but I'm always interested in angles I may have missed.
Really glad to see someone else interested in mid-range monowhite! I've had a Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle deck for a while, but I missed playing some of my favorite white fatties. Your deck seemed like a great way to do that! I made some changes in favor of cards I either liked better or happened to have upgrades to on hand. I'd love to discuss!
Very happy to discuss! Mono white seems boring to others, but honestly I kind of enjoy the challenge.
Our decks utilise many of the same cards, but it does seem like we're heading in different directions. Yours is more midrange beatdown, mine is more control with a reanimator subtheme. That being said, you are playing some cards I'm interested to hear about.
How have you found Bounty Agent playing out for you? It could be great with enough ways to recur it, although it is a shame it's not as abusable as Mangara. That guy is disgusting value.
I've tossed up trying out Thaumatic Compass before, how have you found it? I'm not entirely sure I need it anymore, especially with Kor Haven in the list, but there's a good chance it could put in work.
Why Brimaz, King or Oreskos? It's a great card in some ways, but my feeling is it doesn't scale well to EDH. It dies easily, and I'm not sure it's worth the chump blockers it provides. Or is the idea to get you some Skullclamp triggers?
I can see why you'd play Elspeth, Knight Errant here, but why Karn, Scion of Urza and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar? Is Gid primarily for the emblem? Karn just really seems too slow and inefficient to do anything the deck might want to do. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - I've considered it in the past, how often does it backfire for you? There's a reasonable degree of reliance on rocks as ramp and control in my build, as well as some tricks. I'd hate to screw myself out of mana trying to lock everyone else out. I assume it'd be great in a combo meta, though.
I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on my build as it stands - it's not perfect and budget is a concern, but I'm always interested in angles I may have missed.
I'm gonna be honest; a lot of the cards you're asking about are carryovers from my Teshar deck that on second thought don't make as much sense.
Bounty Agent is a new card I didn't get to try yet. It was a shoe-in for Teshar because I can just keep recurring him, but may be less useful for Bruna. We shall see.
Thaumatic Compass I figured was solid ramp that turns into another useful land late game. I like it and I have a shiny promo version and I've got a bit of a weakness for that, haha. For whatever reason I'm not a fan of Kor Cartographer so that mostly came down to personal preference.
Brimaz, King of Oreskos was solid in Teshar, less so in Bruna. Figured it was a solid midgame 3-drop, but you're right: there are better options. I completely forgot Alms Collector existed so I may use him instead.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben was fantastic in Teshar and I love the art. Since this deck uses more non-creature spells she may be of less use. I definitely want to test that out.
How's Dowsing Dagger working out for you? The three Mana land is always tempting, but I keep cutting this card every time I try to find a place for it.
I'm gonna be honest; a lot of the cards you're asking about are carryovers from my Teshar deck that on second thought don't make as much sense.
That's fair enough. Most decks are an evolving thing. This deck started life as a Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker deck of all things.
Bounty Agent is a new card I didn't get to try yet. It was a shoe-in for Teshar because I can just keep recurring him, but may be less useful for Bruna. We shall see.
I'll be interested in hearing how this goes. I don't have especially high hopes for it, but it might surprise me.
Brimaz, King of Oreskos was solid in Teshar, less so in Bruna. Figured it was a solid midgame 3-drop, but you're right: there are better options. I completely forgot Alms Collector existed so I may use him instead.
I mean he might do some milage, I don't know. My preference here is clearly to limit combat requirements via things like Magus of the Moat, Silent Arbiter and such rather than generate chump blockers. But this could work, you never know.
Karn, Scion of Urza is in there purely for draw. I thought of him as a 4-drop Staff of Nin and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is a permanent, unremovable anthem. Kinda worth it for 2WW in my opinion.
Fair enough. Gideon could put in work, and I can see how Karn could be advantageous. I don't have a copy of either, so it's a moot point for my build. Also it seems like I either run The Immortal Sun or walkers, not both.
How's Dowsing Dagger working out for you? The three Mana land is always tempting, but I keep cutting this card every time I try to find a place for it.
It's been pretty decent. The plants are obviously chump at best, and running it in a deck that predominantly runs fliers and limits combat means that the card flips pretty easy. You can also give the plants to one person and swing at another, so that's a decent thing. Usually the idea is to drop it early and swing with a utility angel to flip it, but the flip trigger is a 'may' too, so if you really want the buff it does work there too. Especially when I have True Conviction in play
I guess I haven't realized how many of these guys are fliers now. Might have to get my hands on a Magus of the Moat.
How is Silent Arbiter working out for you? I have one, but I figured I'd usually be attacking with more than one dude. Do you ever find it limiting you too much?
I'm also curious about the two new white cards that reward White lifegain: Dawn of Hope and Resplendent Angel. The deck isn't exactly based around lifegain, but do you find yourself gaining life through Lifelink or other means to make either of these worth a try?
I guess I haven't realized how many of these guys are fliers now. Might have to get my hands on a Magus of the Moat.
Do it, and you won't regret it. It's easily recurrable by Bruna, and the amount of decks it'll shut down makes it really decent.
How is Silent Arbiter working out for you? I have one, but I figured I'd usually be attacking with more than one dude. Do you ever find it limiting you too much?
It's been OK. Between Arbiter, Crawlspace and the two Magi I run, it helps keep me relevant in combat. Sublime Archangel is a big part of my combat, too. So holding back some dudes can make the one creature I do attack with really fkn hurt bad. Besides, if I really want to alpha strike I have at least a couple of ways to sac any one of these guys; Magus of the Tabernacle can sac itself, High Market, Altar of Dementia, Angel of Condemnation, Angel of Serenity...there's plenty of ways to get around all of that.
I'm also curious about the two new white cards that reward White lifegain: Dawn of Hope and Resplendent Angel. The deck isn't exactly based around lifegain, but do you find yourself gaining life through Lifelink or other means to make either of these worth a try?
If I were building around Gisela, I'd maybe be a bit more interested. Resplendent Angel is pretty damn strong as a 3 drop angel with evasion and a token generator, so I'd be interested in adding it anyway, but Dawn of Hope is still too expensive per card draw to my mind. I'd almost never use that token generator either.
Trying out a minor change I've suggested here before: Eldrazi Displacer is coming in for Prison Term. I like the Term, but it's been a placeholder in hand more often than not. There's a lot of triggers here to abuse, so hopefully the Displacer will see some mileage.
I don't know about Displacer, sure there are a few decent targets to flicker but I think they are kind of few and far between. It is also off creature type. What about adding something like Endless Atlas instead? Its cheap repeatable draw that mono white rarely has access to and I don't see it in your OP. I guess I haven't updated my list to run it yet either but it seems nice for a white control deck.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Honestly, I haven't picked up anything from C18 yet, so I haven't yet been able to give any of those bits and pieces a go. Which is really frustrating, because I'm looking forward to building around Varina, Lich Queen.
Anyway, Endless Atlas does look good. I guess I'm just looking for more ways to eke out advantage now. I can soft lock a board nicely and stay in a game pretty good too, but I don't like the idea of pinning all my hopes on Brisela. Any suggestions in that respect I'd gladly take on board.
You're right - I didn't amend the lands out from a recent update. Land count in the list was 39, should be 37. I've since fixed it. Thanks for the positive feedback, too! It's a super fun deck to play, which is surprising for mono-W.
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Sword of the Animist
4 Magus of the Tabernacle
5 Blinding Angel
6 Hour of Revelation
1 Plains
2 Damping Sphere
2 Blind Obedience
6 Fall of the Thran
7 Chancellor of the Annex
Pretty happy with all of this.
Twilight Shepherd leaves for Bastion Protector. Turns Brisela into a combat threat, Brisela into a two-hitter, and obvious resiliency is nice. For a lot less. TS was a LOT of hoops to jump through for not enough value, and too high a cost.
In:
Thran Dynamo - I had it lying around, it's decent acceleration, I'll give it a go here.
False Prophet - It's kind of a rattlesnake, I'm not sure if it'll work out but I'll give it a whirl.
Open the Armory - Gets me ramp pieces and protection in Sword of the Animist, Dowsing Dagger, Swiftfoot Boots.
Out:
Mother of Runes - I just haven't seen the need. Makes me really question the value of Ranger of Eos here now. Ideally he'd be Recruiter of the Guard, but I don't have a copy.
Urza's Ruinous Blast - This just leaves too many key pieces unscathed.
Trading Post - As much utility as it has, it sits in hand and doesn't get played.
In:
Rogue's Passage - For the commander damage - it's something that was an issue once Brisela hits the field.
Mind Stone
Infiltration Lens
Prison Term
Eidolon of Rhetoric
The Immortal Sun
Out:
Haunted Fengraf
Ranger of Eos
Oreskos Explorer
Baird, Steward of Argive
Weathered Bodyguards
Caged Sun
Ranger was a little redundant after Mother of Runes left, Baird and Bodyguards are a little more defensive and taking them out drops the curve. I've been wanting to add The Sun for a while, but it did shoot up in price. The draw I'm happy enough with, and happy with the overall changes.
For now, I've got a small list of wants to add soon. Once I have money.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Mind's Eye
Recruiter of the Guard
Eldrazi Displacer
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Loyal Retainers
In:
Ashnod's Altar
Angel's Trumpet
True Conviction
Out:
Strionic Resonator
Selfless Squire
Herald Of War
I guess this represents moving from a more passive defensive plan to becoming a bit more aggressive. Not necessarily aggro, just pushing a little harder. Currently, I find myself forting out until I can assemble Brisela as my main plan. I don't want to rely on that. The trumpet I'm in two minds about. It could be absolutely savage, especially with some of the combat modifiers I run here, but it will require judicious use, and probably only needs to be dropped in particular situations. But it could do great work. Conviction will be nasty, no doubt. The Altar is here for a way to make sure my key pieces stay mine, or are early ramp for me and me only. It doesn't combo here, but it should do some decent work regardless.
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Yeah, I don't disagree, but I don't have a spare copy unfortunately. For now, it's an acceptable, if imperfect, sacrifice outlet that doesn't quite do perfectly for the deck but does well enough. Given that I don't have access to some of the stronger ramp available (Land Tax and Tithe essentially) I'm not averse to having this present.
Lands:
New Benalia, Path of Ancestry, Zhalfirin Void. All scry Benalia and Void I have been running in Mono white budget lists and have always enjoyed having them given the limited access to card quality / draw white has.
Terrain Generator, I've loved this card as well obviously its better with Land Tax but I run it in budget decks to good effect.
Arch of Orazca, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, and Throne of the High City can all draw you cards. Two of which are legendary so Thalia's Lancers can find them, which has been very significant to me.
Opal Palace seems loose here in particular.
Creatures:
I would give Palace Jailer and possibly Protector of the Crown a look. I have a budget Mangara deck and I suspect that Palace Jailer is better for you then Mangara in the 99. People commonly play around the card incorrectly when you target commanders and I've found that puttting out the monarch is rather good for mono white as you're likely able to hold onto it.
Artifacts:
Expedition Map and Thaumatic Compass, really surprised to not see these here. Map finds Sky Ruin or other useful lands and Compass well means you keep hitting land drops which is really something I imagine you're in the market for.
Sorcery:
Cleansing Nova, I suspect you just haven't picked up a copy but looks great for you.
UBRNicol Bolas, the RavagerUBR
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage R
2DH / Budget Commanders:
WMangara of Corondor 2DHW
BRXantcha, Sleeper Agent 2DHBR
The first three here are all good adds. Path and Void I simply don't have copies of, but I see no reason for Benalia not to be in here. Any advantage you can get is good advantage in mono white. TG I don't have a copy of, but if I did it would definitely have a place here. I definitely want a copy of Arch of Orazca in here, although I'm hesitant to add group draw. I've found this deck at its best playing a mild resource denial game, so I don't really want to add any benefit to other players unless I can help it.
Opal Palace is one of those cards that I usually never run. Because Bruna gets destroyed quite often, so I've found she benefits well from the pump it offers.
I do like the monarch mechanic, but I'm not sure either one of these do enough to warrant a spot. Mangara or Corondor has been decent thus far. It kept me alive yesterday against a Nekusar wheel deck, and I like that it's not particular to creature removal. That being said, Fiend Hunter has been a little lackluster, so it could see replacement.
I'd love a copy of Expedition Map in here, but don't have a spare. Finding Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is always strong. I've looked at Thaumatic Compass before, too. It could be valuable here. I don't have a copy, but I'd be interested to track one down.
It does look good. I've been eyeing up a copy of Austere Command as a decent versatile sweeper, so this could be a slightly cheaper option.
My current list of wants is fairly small, and I'm trying to keep it that way, as a lot of what I could add here is expensive. I'd love to add Azor's Gateway, Mind's Eye and Arch of Orazca, with an expanded list of less budget options as a long term goal.
As a slight gameplay update, Eidolon of Rhetoric has been doing some good work, as has Prison Term.
In:
Mind's Eye
Silent Arbiter
Out:
Equipoise
Tamiyo's Journal
Both outs are outclassed by the adds, in terms of card advantage and control.
In:
Kor Haven
Azor's Gateway
Arch of Orazca
Null Brooch
Out:
Infiltration Lens
Angel's Trumpet
Secluded Steppe
Drifting Meadow
Pretty happy with all changes, they should all work just fine. The Brooch I am hoping will be more of a deterrent than anything, but if I ever do have to use it I'm able to reanimate a lot of what I'm turfing, so it's not the worst thing in the world.
Had a few games over the weekend, 2 with my Dralnu build, one with Bruna. She did remarkably well, although I feel it was probably due to bad draws from my opponents and a great start from me. It was 3v3 against Saskia, the Unyielding and Adeliz, the Cinder Wind. Landed a ton of early rocks with Sol Ring, Thran Dynamo and Mind Stone doing work, and locked the board down with Magus of the Moat, which was followed literally the next turn with Magus of the Moon from Adeliz. This basically took Saskia out of the game. He landed a whole lot of stuff, but couldn't do anything with it.
Azor's Gateway performed well - I never got close to flipping it, but the general idea is to flip the dross from your hand to give you the best options, and it did this well. Quite happy with the addition. Eventually I drew into Emeria Shepherd and Sublime Archangel, Azors activated me into True Conviction and I spent the game swinging for bouts of 16 each turn. Admittedly it wasn't much of an arm wrestle, but I was happy with the momentum.
In
Altar of Dementia
Out
Ashnod's Altar
The mill is worth more here than instant mana. Vice versa, the instant mana is more valuable to Dralnu than mill. I'm looking forward to seeing what this can do - especially considering our reanimation game is so strong.
Seems like a good move.
I suspect its due to budget / not having one but why no Lyra Dawnbringer? She has been really powerful for me so far even just giving my commander a little bump not to mention the number of angels this commander tends to play.
Karmic Guide seems kind of random in here just given it doesn't seem like you have many ways to abuse it and most all of your creatures are already rez targets for your commander. I like the guide a lot more when I plan to abuse it by things like Skullclamp / Birthing Pod aka getting more value out of it beyond the rez.
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[Modern] Allies
Lyra's absence is absolutely down to budget. I mean, there's at least another couple of big budget angels that I'd put in if I could afford too - Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Linvala, Keeper of Silence. Maybe on Linvala, I guess she's a meta call. Even for humans though, Loyal Retainers is another big budget I would add. Then there's Land Tax and the more expensive rocks, some decent equipment and such. Maybe Lyra will see an add post rotation at some point.
Karmic Guide has done ok for me. I mean yeah, I don't have a ton of ways to abuse it drastically - there's not really a place for Reveillark, and I don't have a ton of blink synergy (although I have thought of adding Eldrazi Displacer as a way to spam ETB and Mangara triggers). But it does well enough. I'd be happy to consider other options if you have suggestions, though.
1 Bruna, the Fading Light
Creature
1 Gisela, the Broken Blade
1 Boreas Charger
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Mangara of Corondor
1 Masako the Humorless
1 Silverblade Paladin
1 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Karmic Guide
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Magus of the Balance
1 Bounty Agent
1 Angel of Jubilation
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Archangel of Tithes
1 Bastion Protector
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Angel of Condemnation
1 Restoration Angel
1 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
1 Emeria Shepherd
1 Thalia's Lancers
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Angel of Serenity
1 Sun Titan
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Luminarch Ascension
1 Land Tax
Land
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Terrain Generator
1 Arch of Orazca
1 Myriad Landscape
29 Plains
Artifact
1 Caged Sun
1 Mask of Memory
1 Pearl Medallion
1 Expedition Map
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Thaumatic Compass
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Staff of Nin
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Mind Stone
1 Azor's Gateway
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Mind's Eye
1 Mana Tithe
1 Teferi's Protection
1 Return to Dust
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
Sorcery
1 Gift of Estates
1 Hour of Revelation
1 Austere Command
1 Wrath of God
Planeswalker
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
Very happy to discuss! Mono white seems boring to others, but honestly I kind of enjoy the challenge.
Our decks utilise many of the same cards, but it does seem like we're heading in different directions. Yours is more midrange beatdown, mine is more control with a reanimator subtheme. That being said, you are playing some cards I'm interested to hear about.
How have you found Bounty Agent playing out for you? It could be great with enough ways to recur it, although it is a shame it's not as abusable as Mangara. That guy is disgusting value.
I've tossed up trying out Thaumatic Compass before, how have you found it? I'm not entirely sure I need it anymore, especially with Kor Haven in the list, but there's a good chance it could put in work.
Why Brimaz, King or Oreskos? It's a great card in some ways, but my feeling is it doesn't scale well to EDH. It dies easily, and I'm not sure it's worth the chump blockers it provides. Or is the idea to get you some Skullclamp triggers?
I can see why you'd play Elspeth, Knight Errant here, but why Karn, Scion of Urza and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar? Is Gid primarily for the emblem? Karn just really seems too slow and inefficient to do anything the deck might want to do.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - I've considered it in the past, how often does it backfire for you? There's a reasonable degree of reliance on rocks as ramp and control in my build, as well as some tricks. I'd hate to screw myself out of mana trying to lock everyone else out. I assume it'd be great in a combo meta, though.
I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on my build as it stands - it's not perfect and budget is a concern, but I'm always interested in angles I may have missed.
I'm gonna be honest; a lot of the cards you're asking about are carryovers from my Teshar deck that on second thought don't make as much sense.
Bounty Agent is a new card I didn't get to try yet. It was a shoe-in for Teshar because I can just keep recurring him, but may be less useful for Bruna. We shall see.
Thaumatic Compass I figured was solid ramp that turns into another useful land late game. I like it and I have a shiny promo version and I've got a bit of a weakness for that, haha. For whatever reason I'm not a fan of Kor Cartographer so that mostly came down to personal preference.
Brimaz, King of Oreskos was solid in Teshar, less so in Bruna. Figured it was a solid midgame 3-drop, but you're right: there are better options. I completely forgot Alms Collector existed so I may use him instead.
Karn, Scion of Urza is in there purely for draw. I thought of him as a 4-drop Staff of Nin and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is a permanent, unremovable anthem. Kinda worth it for 2WW in my opinion.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben was fantastic in Teshar and I love the art. Since this deck uses more non-creature spells she may be of less use. I definitely want to test that out.
How's Dowsing Dagger working out for you? The three Mana land is always tempting, but I keep cutting this card every time I try to find a place for it.
That's fair enough. Most decks are an evolving thing. This deck started life as a Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker deck of all things.
I'll be interested in hearing how this goes. I don't have especially high hopes for it, but it might surprise me.
I mean he might do some milage, I don't know. My preference here is clearly to limit combat requirements via things like Magus of the Moat, Silent Arbiter and such rather than generate chump blockers. But this could work, you never know.
Fair enough. Gideon could put in work, and I can see how Karn could be advantageous. I don't have a copy of either, so it's a moot point for my build. Also it seems like I either run The Immortal Sun or walkers, not both.
It's been pretty decent. The plants are obviously chump at best, and running it in a deck that predominantly runs fliers and limits combat means that the card flips pretty easy. You can also give the plants to one person and swing at another, so that's a decent thing. Usually the idea is to drop it early and swing with a utility angel to flip it, but the flip trigger is a 'may' too, so if you really want the buff it does work there too. Especially when I have True Conviction in play
How is Silent Arbiter working out for you? I have one, but I figured I'd usually be attacking with more than one dude. Do you ever find it limiting you too much?
I'm also curious about the two new white cards that reward White lifegain: Dawn of Hope and Resplendent Angel. The deck isn't exactly based around lifegain, but do you find yourself gaining life through Lifelink or other means to make either of these worth a try?
Do it, and you won't regret it. It's easily recurrable by Bruna, and the amount of decks it'll shut down makes it really decent.
It's been OK. Between Arbiter, Crawlspace and the two Magi I run, it helps keep me relevant in combat. Sublime Archangel is a big part of my combat, too. So holding back some dudes can make the one creature I do attack with really fkn hurt bad. Besides, if I really want to alpha strike I have at least a couple of ways to sac any one of these guys; Magus of the Tabernacle can sac itself, High Market, Altar of Dementia, Angel of Condemnation, Angel of Serenity...there's plenty of ways to get around all of that.
If I were building around Gisela, I'd maybe be a bit more interested. Resplendent Angel is pretty damn strong as a 3 drop angel with evasion and a token generator, so I'd be interested in adding it anyway, but Dawn of Hope is still too expensive per card draw to my mind. I'd almost never use that token generator either.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Anyway, Endless Atlas does look good. I guess I'm just looking for more ways to eke out advantage now. I can soft lock a board nicely and stay in a game pretty good too, but I don't like the idea of pinning all my hopes on Brisela. Any suggestions in that respect I'd gladly take on board.