Hey! TThis thread seems dead, but the deck certainly isn't. About your question: I love UW and have both decks, UW Emeria Titan and UW Midrange. The play a different game, but they have similarities, the problem of Emeria is that it is very very slow to close out a game. That said, I prefer UW Midrange, but I incorporated some things from Emeria on my list. My deck right now has a Enter the Battlefield theme, and it plays very well. My list:
Hey all! I've tried to mix the principles of the pure form of this deck with a midrange-y approach I had in one of my UW decks, and I've been having decent results testing on Xmage. Here is the current list:
As you can see, the deck has some aggressive ways other than Sun Titan (the sequence of Blade Splicer -> Restoration Angel puts a great deal of pressure on the board).
My main deviations from the common lists were:
1) No Pilgrim's Eye: while it is good to fetch lands, my 3-drop slot is very crowded;
2) No Aether Spellbomb: its main application is against Twin, and the deck has enough ways to interact with the combo already;
3) No Mortarpod: I think this is kind of a win-more card when you have an active Titan or Emeria on the board, and to ping things it is very inefficient;
4) Tectonic Edges instead of Ghost Quarters: This deck is running 4 Mana Leaks, so it's nice to have a way to reduce the available mana on the field. While we lose percentages against Tron, the counterspells make up for that.
5) A complete set of Mana Leak: Leak is amazing early game, which is the weakest stage for this deck. Late game it still can catch one thing or another, and even if it can't, our superior late makes up for that.
6) 2 Titans, 2 Venser and Sea Gate Oracle instead of Court Hussar: this is the place I am most unsure. I did split Venser and Titan 2-2 as they both are very strong threats, produce card advantage and will win the game in their own if left unchecked. Due to the presence of Venser and the Angels, I swapped Hussar for Sea Gate Oracle, as it still survives for another round when blinked/flicked. Of course Titan can't grab an Oracle every turn like with Hussar, and a look 2 cards deep instead of 3 is notable, but the sinergy with Venser seems to be worth it.
The sideboard have some broad answers that are weaker than specific ones, like Damping Matrix (it is less effective against affinity and tron, but it helps against Twin and Melira/Anafenza combos as well). Scrabbling Claws helps against all decks that are delving, Snapcaster Mage and Eternal Witness and to some extent Gifts Ungiven. It is not an answer against graveyard centric decks like Living End or Dredgevine, but it still can do work. Nevermore is basically here for Amulet Bloom, as naming Summoning Pact will cover you against Titan chains and the more commom form of the Hivemind combo. But it is a card good against combo decks in general and engine decks (naming Chord of Calling or Collected Company is very good). The rest is very intuitive, a couple color specific hate cards, Dispel and Swan Song as very efficient interaction, a third copy of Verdict against many creature decks, Spreading Seas against Tron and Bloom, Sundering Growth against Affinity and random artifact/enchantments decks (like Lantern Control) and a copy of Timely Reinforcements against Burn primarily but also the hyperaggressive 1 drop aggro decks like Small Zoo or RG Aggro.
The mana base was slightly adjusted to incorporate 4 Fountains plus 2 Prairie Streams, as the need for blue is higgher. The only lands that don't activate Emeria are the 3 Emerias, the basic Island and the 3 Edges, 7 out of 24.
I liked the deck in testing and am going to try it for real Saturday in my LGS's Modern afternoon, I'm sure to see Twin, Amulet Bloom, Abzan Company, Tron, BW Tokens, Naya Burn, Mono G Stompy and UW/Esper Control. There is always at least 1 Jund/Junk in the room and 2-3 other less played decks like KCI Eggs, Mono Black, U Tron, Heartless Summoning Combo, Scapeshift, etc. I plan to report back with my results.
The deck looks solid, but I would make a few changes.
Knights usually are superior on ground combat due to First Strike, and the creatures are very powerful by themselves, every one is high impact, we should maximize that, as the opponent will have a limited number of removal to play against us.
I don't like Accorder Paladin a lot, as Knights usually isn't that much of a swarm strategy.
I think Mirran Crusader should be maxed out as it is a very powerful threat. Stillmoon Cavalier should be in the Sideboard, as against the many UR strategies out there it is a very overcosted 2/1.
Another change I would do is to decrease the land count to 19-20 and find room for a set of Knight of the White Orchid, he is one of the very few ways a Knights deck can get card advantage.
Thalia can be a very powerful hate creature if you keep your non creature at 1cmc.
The sideboard could include a couple swords for the grindy matchups. The rest is the basic White hate cards and a little more discard for combo and extra removal.
That said, this is the list I would play:
___________________________________________________________
4 Student of Warfare
4 Knight of the White Orchid
3 Knight of Meadowgrain
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Knight Exemplar
2 Hero of Bladehold
____________________________27 Creatures
4 Path to Exile
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
3 Brave the Elements
___________________________13 Other Spells
4 Marsh Flats
3 Godless Shrine
3 Caves of Koilos
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Vault of the Archangel
7 Plains
____________________________20 Lands
Sideboard:
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
2 Duress
2 Dismember
3 Kor Firewalker
1 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Disenchant
2 Stillmoon Cavalier
Mana Tithe is amazing. I recommend 2-3 of it maindeck. They don't necessarily need to be sided out, as the opponent may or may not play around it. As even a player playing it is unlikely to run a full set (or even 3, it's a high number, but they work well in multiples, so...), it's almost always correct to not play around it, as against a Knights deck tempo is crucial. My best advice is to run a good amount of 1 mana instants, like path and brave, then, showing your 1 untapped plains is not a telegraph saying "hey, I have tithe here!". And even if they play around it, your tempo gain is well worth it. Playing around both path, brave and tithe can be really difficult (I like to include harm's way as well, it really screws Red). My actual instants distribution is 3 Path to Exile, 3 Brave the Elements, 3 Harm's Way and 2 Mana Tithe.
The deck has only 1 real target for discard to really hurt: Heartless Summoning.
If a turn 1 Thoughtseize/IoK/Duress is played and we only have 1 Heartless in hand (usually) it's really effective. However, the deck has ways to tutor for another copy with Muddle the Mixture or dig for it with Thirst for Knowledge, but we are indeed in a bad spot then (but right now in my meta there aren't that many decks running black, the main one being Birthing Pod post-sideboard).
The other cards being discarded usually isn't a problem (unless they discard Altar of the Brood and exile it/the entire graveyard). Other cards things to worry about are Graveyard hate and Enchantment Removal (the main one to keep and eye is Abrupt Decay). Rule of Law shuts down the combo as well. Eidolon of Rhetoric (or any other creature, really) can just be easily removed. Note that Leyline of Sanctity doesn't stop our combo, as Altar of the Brood reads "each opponent", so we never target and just win at their draw step.
But, even if things go bad for us, if we can guarantee a Heartless Summoning in play, we can go the attrition route as well and win in the long run due to card advantage provided by Havengul Lich and Steel Hellkite, or we can just beatdown with a couple Myr Superion while we delay the opponent with our disruption. The deck isn't an all-in combo, and this is its main strenght I think.
This is a deck I've been using lately and finding great success with. It's a combo/control hybrid which can go down the aggro route as well. Let me explain the deck engines and how it plays.
First, the most important card in this deck is Heartless Summoning. It enables all sort of shenanigans. It is like Birthing Pod is in its deck.
Second, we have the combo win condition. It consists of Heartless Summoning, Altar of the Brood and 2x Myr Retriever (one can be in your graveyard instead of hand). With Altar of the Brood and Heartless Summoning in play, cast Myr Retriever for free. As it enters the battlefield, you mill 1 from your opponent's deck and the little myr immediatley dies, returning another artifact from your graveyard to your hand. If there isn't any other Myr Retriever in your graveyard, returning anything, it doesn't matter. Cast the second Retriever, also for free, doing exactly the same thing, but this time returning the other Retriever from the graveyard. Repeat until you mill your opponent's entire deck, pass the turn, and, if you're not at 3 life and he doesn't have a Lightning Bolt, win.
To get this to work, the deck has some ways to get more consistency. Trinket mage can fetch any artifact with CC 1 or less, which allows us to play only 1 copy of Altar of the Brood (a dead card outside the combo). Chalice of the Void alone stops Delver and Burn decks. Executioner's Capsule is tutorable and reusable (thanks to Myr Retriever!) removal. The Myr Retrievers should be used without fear to get any artifact we might be needing from the graveyard. Later, the combo is still possible with a Havengul Lich. Thirst for Knowledge should be used to get the cards we need in the moment, usually pitching an artifact (that we can get back later with Myr Retriever). Muddle the Mixture is a 3 mana uncounterable tutor for our most important spells and can double-duty disrupting a combo or a mass removal here or there.
We can play aggro/tempo with a Heartless Summoning and a couple of Myr Superion (which at this point is a 4/5 for free, much better than Tarmogoyf). We can play an attrition deck and rely on Havengul Lich to overhelm the opponent with card advantage later. We can play control and stick to a Steel Hellkite as a must-answer threat.
The deck has many, many lines of play, and in each matchup you are presented hard choices every turn. You must choose the best route to win, may it be the combo, may it be control until a dragon can take over the game, may it be a back and forth attrition game a la GB The Rock style decks, may it be a tempo game using Myr Superion as a beat stick. You must identify correctly in every game where you stand: are you the aggressor? are you going for the combo ASAP? are you holding on early to find a way to win later? Answering these questions correctly is the key to play this deck well, and it's incredibly satisfying to do so.
The deck has almost no dead matchups and can go toe to toe against the top dogs of the format. The sideboard could be better tuned, I'm not that good with it. Some decks are virtually dead when presented with a Chalice on 1 (delver and burn being the most notable targets).
The manabase is smooth, but could go better with fetches and shocks. Wurmcoil Engine could have a slot or two in the deck, but right now there's no room for it, every card has it's purpose on the build.
If you have the cards, or the budget to build it (this isn't a very expensive deck), I would recommend you to give it a try. It's a very fun deck to play and I believe that, with enough practice and in the hands of a good pilot (one better than me) it could get great results in this meta.
I've been lurking around here and this thread for a while, and I'm a knight player as well, so, maybe I should share my build, which got me some good finishes on FNMs:
The sideboard is an always mutating animal, but it usually has the powerful white hate (RIP, Sup. Field, Stony Silence, etc), 2 more Brave the Elements, 2 Kinsbaile Cavalier and other specific goodies as needed for the meta.
Mind you, this is a budget brew, to cut the costs even further one can swap the PtEs for Unmake. While turning the deck weaker, this is possible and not disaster (I've been trying this on some casual games, and the results are not that bad).
About the build: a couple Mana Tithe here in the place of the 2 BtE on the side (that usually are in the main in most builds)to give us surprise effect. No one sees Mana Tithe coming. Even against people who knows you run them they're good, because with only a couple, you win if you can counter something important, and you win if you can delay an important play by them because they're affraid you have the white counter spell. More than 2 is not advisable.
A set of Harm's Way are here to really push those last points of damage through, but the aplications this card have are so many, so many, that I'm always happy to have a couple in my hand. They make sure you'll always win combat and trade favorably, many times 1 for 2. They are better than Brave the Elements when Lightning Bolts are present in the match. They're really a MVP against red decks, and burn have nightmares because of this card. I don't see playing less than 4 in the main anytime soon.
War Falcon and Bonesplitter are our 1-drops. War Falcon is lackluster sometimes, but there isn't any other better options. Student of Warfare is great, indeed, but it isn't really a 1-drop. And flying matters. A. LOT. While nothing better comes from the WotC magical lands for knights, I'm settling with the bird. The Bonesplitter works very well in the deck because we have most of our critters with First Strike, meaning we usually will win combat when a guy attacks equipped with it. And it's cheap. The sinergy with Mirran Crusader is over the top, we don't need to mention it here.
The 3 couple 2-drops have niche effects, but usually worth their inclusion. I would really like to have Silver Knight in modern to play it as well.
The 2 sets of 2-drops are our bread and butter: KotWO will give us free lands (happens almost always, since we run a very low amount) and Leonin Skyhunter is our best attacker, usually. Flying matters.
Our 3 drops are self-explanatory, Exemplar, our lord, and Crusader, one of the best white 3-drop in the entire game. Drop them and they are must-answer threats.
PtE is our removal, the best one in modern. Worth noting that any other removal going in PtE's place MUST be instant-speed, because they're our safe card against "I win" plays.
Brave wraps up the deck, providing much utility, both on the defense against removal and on the attack, to pass through blockers and alpha strike for the victory.
PS: while this is a budget deck in its essence, I tryed both Mutavault and Aether Flask. Flask is good as a first turn play, otherwise it's lackluster in this deck. Running 1 makes nothing, running a set can give us some awkward topdecks. Mutavault is powerful, but running low on lands, we need every single one to provide white mana, as having 2 white is essential on the 2nd turn. The cards I would really like to try in this deck are Cavern of Souls and Flagstones of Trokair.
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Hallowed Fountain
2x Prairie Stream
4x Plains
2x Island
1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
3x Tectonic Edge
4x Wall of Omens
4x Blade Splicer
2x Kitchen Finks
4x Restoration Angel
1x Sun Titan
1x Gideon Jura
1x Venser, the Sojourner
4x Path to Exile
1x Celestial Flare
3x Mana Leak
2x Deprive
2x Negate
1x Remand
1x Spell Snare
1x Cryptic Command
2x Detention Sphere
2x Supreme Verdict
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Celestial Flare
1x Celestial Purge
1x Timely Reinforcements
1x Dispel
1x Nevermore
1x Pithing Needle
2x Rest in Peace
2x Spreading Seas
3x Sundering Growth
2 Lone Missionary
4 Blade Splicer
3 Sea Gate Oracle
2 Kitchen Finks
3 Restoration Angel
2 Sun Titan
2 Venser, the Sojourner
4 Path to Exile
4 Mana Leak
2 Negate
2 Detention Sphere
2 Supreme Verdict
4 Flooded Strand
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
3 Tectonic Edge
7 Plains
2 Prairie Stream
1 Island
2 Scrabbling Claws
2 Sundering Growth
2 Nevermore
1 Dispel
1 Flashfreeze
1 Celestial Purge
2 Spreading Seas
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Swan Song
As you can see, the deck has some aggressive ways other than Sun Titan (the sequence of Blade Splicer -> Restoration Angel puts a great deal of pressure on the board).
My main deviations from the common lists were:
1) No Pilgrim's Eye: while it is good to fetch lands, my 3-drop slot is very crowded;
2) No Aether Spellbomb: its main application is against Twin, and the deck has enough ways to interact with the combo already;
3) No Mortarpod: I think this is kind of a win-more card when you have an active Titan or Emeria on the board, and to ping things it is very inefficient;
4) Tectonic Edges instead of Ghost Quarters: This deck is running 4 Mana Leaks, so it's nice to have a way to reduce the available mana on the field. While we lose percentages against Tron, the counterspells make up for that.
5) A complete set of Mana Leak: Leak is amazing early game, which is the weakest stage for this deck. Late game it still can catch one thing or another, and even if it can't, our superior late makes up for that.
6) 2 Titans, 2 Venser and Sea Gate Oracle instead of Court Hussar: this is the place I am most unsure. I did split Venser and Titan 2-2 as they both are very strong threats, produce card advantage and will win the game in their own if left unchecked. Due to the presence of Venser and the Angels, I swapped Hussar for Sea Gate Oracle, as it still survives for another round when blinked/flicked. Of course Titan can't grab an Oracle every turn like with Hussar, and a look 2 cards deep instead of 3 is notable, but the sinergy with Venser seems to be worth it.
The sideboard have some broad answers that are weaker than specific ones, like Damping Matrix (it is less effective against affinity and tron, but it helps against Twin and Melira/Anafenza combos as well). Scrabbling Claws helps against all decks that are delving, Snapcaster Mage and Eternal Witness and to some extent Gifts Ungiven. It is not an answer against graveyard centric decks like Living End or Dredgevine, but it still can do work. Nevermore is basically here for Amulet Bloom, as naming Summoning Pact will cover you against Titan chains and the more commom form of the Hivemind combo. But it is a card good against combo decks in general and engine decks (naming Chord of Calling or Collected Company is very good). The rest is very intuitive, a couple color specific hate cards, Dispel and Swan Song as very efficient interaction, a third copy of Verdict against many creature decks, Spreading Seas against Tron and Bloom, Sundering Growth against Affinity and random artifact/enchantments decks (like Lantern Control) and a copy of Timely Reinforcements against Burn primarily but also the hyperaggressive 1 drop aggro decks like Small Zoo or RG Aggro.
The mana base was slightly adjusted to incorporate 4 Fountains plus 2 Prairie Streams, as the need for blue is higgher. The only lands that don't activate Emeria are the 3 Emerias, the basic Island and the 3 Edges, 7 out of 24.
I liked the deck in testing and am going to try it for real Saturday in my LGS's Modern afternoon, I'm sure to see Twin, Amulet Bloom, Abzan Company, Tron, BW Tokens, Naya Burn, Mono G Stompy and UW/Esper Control. There is always at least 1 Jund/Junk in the room and 2-3 other less played decks like KCI Eggs, Mono Black, U Tron, Heartless Summoning Combo, Scapeshift, etc. I plan to report back with my results.
Knights usually are superior on ground combat due to First Strike, and the creatures are very powerful by themselves, every one is high impact, we should maximize that, as the opponent will have a limited number of removal to play against us.
I don't like Accorder Paladin a lot, as Knights usually isn't that much of a swarm strategy.
I think Mirran Crusader should be maxed out as it is a very powerful threat. Stillmoon Cavalier should be in the Sideboard, as against the many UR strategies out there it is a very overcosted 2/1.
Another change I would do is to decrease the land count to 19-20 and find room for a set of Knight of the White Orchid, he is one of the very few ways a Knights deck can get card advantage.
Thalia can be a very powerful hate creature if you keep your non creature at 1cmc.
The sideboard could include a couple swords for the grindy matchups. The rest is the basic White hate cards and a little more discard for combo and extra removal.
That said, this is the list I would play:
___________________________________________________________
4 Student of Warfare
4 Knight of the White Orchid
3 Knight of Meadowgrain
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Knight Exemplar
2 Hero of Bladehold
____________________________27 Creatures
4 Path to Exile
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
3 Brave the Elements
___________________________13 Other Spells
4 Marsh Flats
3 Godless Shrine
3 Caves of Koilos
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Vault of the Archangel
7 Plains
____________________________20 Lands
Sideboard:
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
2 Duress
2 Dismember
3 Kor Firewalker
1 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Disenchant
2 Stillmoon Cavalier
If a turn 1 Thoughtseize/IoK/Duress is played and we only have 1 Heartless in hand (usually) it's really effective. However, the deck has ways to tutor for another copy with Muddle the Mixture or dig for it with Thirst for Knowledge, but we are indeed in a bad spot then (but right now in my meta there aren't that many decks running black, the main one being Birthing Pod post-sideboard).
The other cards being discarded usually isn't a problem (unless they discard Altar of the Brood and exile it/the entire graveyard). Other cards things to worry about are Graveyard hate and Enchantment Removal (the main one to keep and eye is Abrupt Decay). Rule of Law shuts down the combo as well. Eidolon of Rhetoric (or any other creature, really) can just be easily removed. Note that Leyline of Sanctity doesn't stop our combo, as Altar of the Brood reads "each opponent", so we never target and just win at their draw step.
But, even if things go bad for us, if we can guarantee a Heartless Summoning in play, we can go the attrition route as well and win in the long run due to card advantage provided by Havengul Lich and Steel Hellkite, or we can just beatdown with a couple Myr Superion while we delay the opponent with our disruption. The deck isn't an all-in combo, and this is its main strenght I think.
4x Myr Retriever
4x Trinket Mage
2x Havengul Lich
2x Steel Hellkite
4x Heartless Summoning
4x Thirst for Knowledge
4x Muddle the Mixture
3x Mana Leak
2x Dismember
1x Altar of the Brood
1x Chalice of the Void
2x Executioner's Capsule
4x Drowned Catacomb
7x Swamp
8x Island
2x Elixir of Immortality
1x Chalice of the Void
1x Pithing Needle
1x Executioner's Capsule
3x Duress
3x Drown in Sorrow
2x Countersquall
This is a deck I've been using lately and finding great success with. It's a combo/control hybrid which can go down the aggro route as well. Let me explain the deck engines and how it plays.
First, the most important card in this deck is Heartless Summoning. It enables all sort of shenanigans. It is like Birthing Pod is in its deck.
Second, we have the combo win condition. It consists of Heartless Summoning, Altar of the Brood and 2x Myr Retriever (one can be in your graveyard instead of hand). With Altar of the Brood and Heartless Summoning in play, cast Myr Retriever for free. As it enters the battlefield, you mill 1 from your opponent's deck and the little myr immediatley dies, returning another artifact from your graveyard to your hand. If there isn't any other Myr Retriever in your graveyard, returning anything, it doesn't matter. Cast the second Retriever, also for free, doing exactly the same thing, but this time returning the other Retriever from the graveyard. Repeat until you mill your opponent's entire deck, pass the turn, and, if you're not at 3 life and he doesn't have a Lightning Bolt, win.
To get this to work, the deck has some ways to get more consistency. Trinket mage can fetch any artifact with CC 1 or less, which allows us to play only 1 copy of Altar of the Brood (a dead card outside the combo). Chalice of the Void alone stops Delver and Burn decks. Executioner's Capsule is tutorable and reusable (thanks to Myr Retriever!) removal. The Myr Retrievers should be used without fear to get any artifact we might be needing from the graveyard. Later, the combo is still possible with a Havengul Lich. Thirst for Knowledge should be used to get the cards we need in the moment, usually pitching an artifact (that we can get back later with Myr Retriever). Muddle the Mixture is a 3 mana uncounterable tutor for our most important spells and can double-duty disrupting a combo or a mass removal here or there.
We can play aggro/tempo with a Heartless Summoning and a couple of Myr Superion (which at this point is a 4/5 for free, much better than Tarmogoyf). We can play an attrition deck and rely on Havengul Lich to overhelm the opponent with card advantage later. We can play control and stick to a Steel Hellkite as a must-answer threat.
The deck has many, many lines of play, and in each matchup you are presented hard choices every turn. You must choose the best route to win, may it be the combo, may it be control until a dragon can take over the game, may it be a back and forth attrition game a la GB The Rock style decks, may it be a tempo game using Myr Superion as a beat stick. You must identify correctly in every game where you stand: are you the aggressor? are you going for the combo ASAP? are you holding on early to find a way to win later? Answering these questions correctly is the key to play this deck well, and it's incredibly satisfying to do so.
The deck has almost no dead matchups and can go toe to toe against the top dogs of the format. The sideboard could be better tuned, I'm not that good with it. Some decks are virtually dead when presented with a Chalice on 1 (delver and burn being the most notable targets).
The manabase is smooth, but could go better with fetches and shocks. Wurmcoil Engine could have a slot or two in the deck, but right now there's no room for it, every card has it's purpose on the build.
If you have the cards, or the budget to build it (this isn't a very expensive deck), I would recommend you to give it a try. It's a very fun deck to play and I believe that, with enough practice and in the hands of a good pilot (one better than me) it could get great results in this meta.
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Leonin Skyhunter
2 White Knight
2 Knight of Meadowgrain
2 Knight of the Holy Nimbus
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Knight Exemplar
4 Harm's Way
4 Path to Exile
2 Brave the Elements
2 Mana Tithe
The sideboard is an always mutating animal, but it usually has the powerful white hate (RIP, Sup. Field, Stony Silence, etc), 2 more Brave the Elements, 2 Kinsbaile Cavalier and other specific goodies as needed for the meta.
Mind you, this is a budget brew, to cut the costs even further one can swap the PtEs for Unmake. While turning the deck weaker, this is possible and not disaster (I've been trying this on some casual games, and the results are not that bad).
About the build: a couple Mana Tithe here in the place of the 2 BtE on the side (that usually are in the main in most builds)to give us surprise effect. No one sees Mana Tithe coming. Even against people who knows you run them they're good, because with only a couple, you win if you can counter something important, and you win if you can delay an important play by them because they're affraid you have the white counter spell. More than 2 is not advisable.
A set of Harm's Way are here to really push those last points of damage through, but the aplications this card have are so many, so many, that I'm always happy to have a couple in my hand. They make sure you'll always win combat and trade favorably, many times 1 for 2. They are better than Brave the Elements when Lightning Bolts are present in the match. They're really a MVP against red decks, and burn have nightmares because of this card. I don't see playing less than 4 in the main anytime soon.
War Falcon and Bonesplitter are our 1-drops. War Falcon is lackluster sometimes, but there isn't any other better options. Student of Warfare is great, indeed, but it isn't really a 1-drop. And flying matters. A. LOT. While nothing better comes from the WotC magical lands for knights, I'm settling with the bird. The Bonesplitter works very well in the deck because we have most of our critters with First Strike, meaning we usually will win combat when a guy attacks equipped with it. And it's cheap. The sinergy with Mirran Crusader is over the top, we don't need to mention it here.
The 3 couple 2-drops have niche effects, but usually worth their inclusion. I would really like to have Silver Knight in modern to play it as well.
The 2 sets of 2-drops are our bread and butter: KotWO will give us free lands (happens almost always, since we run a very low amount) and Leonin Skyhunter is our best attacker, usually. Flying matters.
Our 3 drops are self-explanatory, Exemplar, our lord, and Crusader, one of the best white 3-drop in the entire game. Drop them and they are must-answer threats.
PtE is our removal, the best one in modern. Worth noting that any other removal going in PtE's place MUST be instant-speed, because they're our safe card against "I win" plays.
Brave wraps up the deck, providing much utility, both on the defense against removal and on the attack, to pass through blockers and alpha strike for the victory.
PS: while this is a budget deck in its essence, I tryed both Mutavault and Aether Flask. Flask is good as a first turn play, otherwise it's lackluster in this deck. Running 1 makes nothing, running a set can give us some awkward topdecks. Mutavault is powerful, but running low on lands, we need every single one to provide white mana, as having 2 white is essential on the 2nd turn. The cards I would really like to try in this deck are Cavern of Souls and Flagstones of Trokair.