I would max out on the more important dudes like catapult squad. You really want to see them often. I'm not sure you need the knight-captians, as the captain of the watch does what she does better, and the fog effects aren't terribly useful in a deck like this, especially if we can lock down the combat phase with catapult squad and deftblade elite.
all your pump enchantments are way to expensive. they are only ever going to really do anything in matches that you are already doing ok in. mobilization is the only one there that I would keep. Run honor of the pure instead as you can drop it and actually make use of it before like turn 6. Oh, and if you can afford it get the better elspeth, knight errant instead of the one you have (both are good, but the knight errant one is easier to play)
I would also try to find what cards you think are most important and max them out to 4. you have a lot of 2/3 ofs which is ok but you could improve in consistency by picking what is really bonkers and running the most of them.
Here's something that I think your deck should try to look like ( it doesn't have to be exactly like this, this is just my recommendation)
It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.
Hi, I'm relatively new to Magic and need some help. Most of the people I play with all have a great deck that is themed around one type of creature. (ie, elf, treefolk, kor) I decided to try soldier but still get whomped every time please help me, any advice is appreciated!
PS-I don't play in any formal competitions so any card works except unhinged and unglued. And money shouldn't be too much of a problem. (Try and keep it cheep though.)
Hi, I'm relatively new to Magic and need some help. Most of the people I play with all have a great deck that is themed around one type of creature. (ie, elf, treefolk, kor) I decided to try soldier but still get whomped every time please help me, any advice is appreciated!
PS-I don't play in any formal competitions so any card works except unhinged and unglued. And money shouldn't be too much of a problem. (Try and keep it cheep though.)
As for my spells I only run two Honor of the Pure and really that's all I've ever needed. Having Oblivion Ring is a life saver because it gets rid of anything on the field, creature, artifact, enchantment and planeswalkers. I split my Path to Exile with Swords to Plowshares because I don't want to give to much mana or life.
The sideboard is pretty obvious as it gives me more hate against certain things or protection.
As for my deck, it routinely beats down zombies, knights, jund, elves and many more things usually by turn 4-5. That isn't to say it doesn't lose but the speed of the deck is usually overwhelming in most cases.
Any more help would be great, I know its not perfect yet!
I personally would max out Champion of the Parish to four, because he is getting pump from almost every single soldier you are playing so he can become very big and very scary around turn 4-5.
Hello ladies and gentlemen. I'm new to this forum and quite new to magic, having started this fall. I've built a few decks (all casual for now), one of which is a soldier deck. I feel I am in need of advice for my decks, so let's start with the soldier deck (which is mostly mono-white). It's the one I have the most frustration with. There are so many cool cards to choose from! Also, I'm not the kind to put 4 examples of the same card. It's less efficient, yes, but it's, in my opinion, more fun to have diversity. So without further introduction, I'll present it. Could you give me advice please? (I read the primer before posting, I know i don't have a lot of 1 drop...)
Edited your deck.
Your mana base is short for a 6 cmc mana curve, you need at list 24 landsfor that high cmc.
As your top mana curve cards are not that great, just cut them off.
Inserted Officer for CA. Youre lacking removal, you need a set alongside Rings, but you didnt listed cards of that type as options.Marshall is 4-of.
Skyfisher combos with Officer.
2 Ballyrush Banneret (with a lower cmc its unnecessary)
2 Intrepid hero (bad ability and a hugh cmc)
2 Crusader of Odric (situational)
1 Gustcloak Savior (bad ability. You wont attack if your critter would just die)
1 Darien, King of Kjeldor (high cmc)
1 Captain of the watch (high cmc)
1 Pearl Medallion (unnecessary with a lower curve)
2 Parallel Lives (green has no place here)
1 Cathars' crusade (costy)
1 True Conviction (costy)
Coming back to MTG after a couple years out, updating my old decks with new cards. Soldier of the Pantheon is the only thing I really saw for this deck.
I cut Benalish Commander to make room for it - that's splashy, but either costs a lot or takes awhile. I had thought of upgrading the Elite Vanguards, but I like the fast curve of having two playsets of 2/1's for W.
Someone mentioned Dryad Militant, but that's anti-synergistic with Kjeldoran War Cry, and that card seems to make a big difference whenever I drop it, often helping an alpha strike be big enough for the win.
I don't care that Swords to Plowshares is off-flavor for this deck; Unified Strike is just too conditional.
EDIT: Found a box of my spares that included 2 Mobilization. Cut 2 Martial Coup for them - MC being a splashy but expensive spell that I wanted but not as a 4 of. Mobilization is boss so far, testing against another one of my aggro decks. I thought it would be great as a token maker, but the Vigilance has been most helpful.
Kjeldoran War Cry is a pretty neat card, and one that would make running Dryad Militant a poor choice. Both are cards, along with several others, I need to add to the primer. I'm also considering adding a boros section, as Boros soldiers has gotten a significant boost since I posted this primer originally with cards like Legion Loyalist, Akroan Crusader, and Tajic, Blade of the Legion really making a good case for going boros. Not to mention that opens up amazing cards like sunforger and lightning helix.
Kjeldoran War Cry is a pretty neat card, and one that would make running Dryad Militant a poor choice. Both are cards, along with several others, I need to add to the primer. I'm also considering adding a boros section, as Boros soldiers has gotten a significant boost since I posted this primer originally with cards like Legion Loyalist, Akroan Crusader, and Tajic, Blade of the Legion really making a good case for going boros. Not to mention that opens up amazing cards like sunforger and lightning helix.
Yep, they're both cool cards, but you have to play one or the other.
I might run Militant instead of War Cry after all. I'm running into a lot of counters and removal, which means there isn't as much for War Cry to pump and I want more creatures to overwhelm the opponent's answers.
I definitely want to put in my spare Ranger of Eos, but I'm not sure about the other 3 slots. I suppose I'll put in 3 Enlistment Officer and cut the vanguards to make room for the Militants. I feel I don't have room for Vanilla anymore.
I have been trying to make a cheap white weenie deck for casual play with my friends, and I noticed most of my cards were soldiers. So, I decided to go all-in on a soldier deck. Because I am cheap, I am making this deck out of cards that cost less than $1. What do you guys think?
The two creatures I am unsure about are Elite Vanguard and Precinct Captain. They're both great cards, but I don't know if there are better options or if I need 4x of each.
30x creatures seems like a lot to me, and I'm only running 10 enchantments, but I don't know if I have the land to support 4x Oblivion Rings. I suppose I could do the following: -4x Elite Vanguard, +1x Oblivion Ring, and +1 Plains, but this would require further playtesting.
I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions you guys have, however, please remember I want each card to be less than $!
I was going through the prices, and apparently Champion of the Parish is over my budget, but Swords to Plowshares and Honor of the Pure are affordable. I've fallen for the Deftblade+Catapult combo, so I have included them. Here's an update:
Obviously, Field Marshal would be a much better choice than Veteran Swordsmith. However, the deck costs only $20 with Veteran Swordsmith, and it costs $40 with Field Marshal. I don't think that Field Marshal alone is worth doubling the cost of the deck, especially since I already have 8 creatures with first strike, and Veteran Swordsmith isn't a bad card--just outclassed. Somebody suggested Archetype of Courage, which is essentially Field Marshal without the +1/+1 for everybody. I don't know if I would prefer that or Veteran Swordsmith, but both are affordable.
I have 4x Icatian Javelineers, because I think the utility they provide is worth more than the extra damage I can get from Dryad Militant, however I may change my mind. If I can afford it, I will use Champion of the Parish instead.
Elite Inquisitor is here because he is a good card with first strike (since I'm not using Field Marshal) and affordable. I think I have enough removal to deal with annoying flyers, otherwise I would use Longbow Archer. Most of my friends use black decks with zombies and vampires, so his protection is nice, too. I like the idea of having Precinct Captain in here, so I might try him out instead of Elite Inquisitor. If I attack with Precinct Captain, they either let him through and I get a token, or they block him and I get to launch Catapult.
This deck is more aggressive and doesn't work on controlling the battlefield like the Catapult build does. It's only $20-25.
If I built the Catapult deck with everything I wanted (Field Marshal, Champion of the Parish), it would run for about $45. Replacing Field Marshal and Champion of the Parish with Veteran Swordsmith and Icatian Javelineers, it costs $20-25.
So, for the same price, how do these two decks compare? And how would the aggro-soldiers deck compare to the standard $45 version of the Catapult deck?
Enlistments Officer is really good at refilling your hand, but if you play him, you need to raise the number of soldiers in your deck or you will miss with him a lot. If you go to 34-36 soldiers, he might draw you 3-4 cards.
Are there any good shapeshifters that could be thrown in, not counting mutavault? And is Enlistment Officer the only real draw?
I haven't looked through the rest of the posts here yet but Mirror Entity is a great card for soldier decks. Also a one-of of Emeria, the Sky Ruin can do wonders.
My first ever deck was a soldier deck back during Zendikar/Scars. I'll post more of my thought later in the morning when I turn on my comp (using my phone now and it's not the easiest)
Emeria, the Sky Ruin is amazing as a 1-2-of, as late game you can consistently keep putting pressure on by getting your soldiers back.
Æther Vial is a good card but must be built around. You'll want more 1 or 2 drops to make it work, although Vialing in a Preeminent Captain and then dropping Captain of the Watch is always fun.
A new card that I feel could use exploring is Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. Since many of our cards are WW or more, adding 1-2 of them in as well as ways to use that mana: Launch the Fleet, Nomads' Assembly, Conqueror's Pledge, Martial Coup, etc, I feel like this could be an avenue worth exploring. I've been working on a brew using it, here's my initial list.
Enlistments Officer is really good at refilling your hand, but if you play him, you need to raise the number of soldiers in your deck or you will miss with him a lot. If you go to 34-36 soldiers, he might draw you 3-4 cards.
Thoughts on my current version of my soldier deck? I know the typical Mutavault inclusion but I don't want to drop $60.00 for four cards and Æther Vial doesn't seem to speed it up all that much.
I removed Champion of the Parish in favor of Precinct Captain, I just feel as if he can create more threat then a single creature by himself, albeit a strong one if allowed to get there.
What about a stompy soldier deck? If we can cheat out Preeminent Captain early! he becomes WAY better. I also think that Enlistment Officer is one of the top choices for the deck. My list runs all the cost decreasing creatures, which is why I think Veteran Swordsmith is superior to Field Marshall here. I also like that it has an extra attack.
I run a bit of disruption in the form of Thalia and the Thorns.
Hey guys! I really would like some help with this deck. I am relatively new to magic and think this deck is pretty cool but was wondering what you think and what tips you have for the deck. THANKS!
To be honest I'm not really sold on Catapult Squad for any deck. Coordinated Barrage plays a very similar role only it doesn't require you to tap your own creatures down. Yeah, it's not free or repeatable, but since you probably plan to win fast/early or not at all that's fine.
If you're on a budget, also Aven Squire can be used to put some damage in the air, and will buff your t2 attack (and any others if you want). Cenn Tactician will give you some reach when you have nothing else to spend mana on, and blocking multiple creatures with a first striking defender is a good feeling. The more of these you play, the less good Champion of the Parish is, so you may want to consider Expedition Envoy instead if you're playing some allies. The ally-soldiers offer you a lot of options, and have built in synergy with Cenn Tactician (which only cares if a card has a +1/+1 token on it, not where it came from). If you like allies, Join the Ranks offers combat tricks (pump your guys mid-combat to survive trades) or if you're playing planeswalkers Oath of Gideon makes allies (but not soldiers). Oath makes Ajani go off turn 2 (enters with 5, +1 the turn he hits the board). Mosquito Guard can also be good on a budget: if you draw him late you can always use his reinforce to buff someone you already have on the board, and if you draw him early he is a 1/1 first striker.
The pros: Most things will lord your ally-soldiers, and all your ally-soldiers are cost effective. Running Brave the Elements mean you can alpha-strike against a lot of decks, and protect your weenies against damage based sweepers. Silence is a surprisingly good card for helping you get that last bit of damage in (cast it during your opponent's upkeep and they can't cast any creature spells.
Cons: little spot removal/interactivity with the board. Not much protection from sweepers, and with so many low cost guys it's easy to get blown out. Cavern is ludicrously expensive. No draw/filtering. No way to go to the dome to finish them off if they stabilize.
Hey guys i recently got into mtg again with most of my friends, we are about 8 people and everyone decided to make Casual decks (doesnt matter the edition or if its banned or not). I thought about what to make and was thinking either humans or just soldiers, and decided with soldiers, with this said this is what i came up with, i havent tested it or odered anything yet so feedback would be very helpful. Im still undecided about which path to choose a more aggro way or go with deftblade elite and Catapult squadcombo for a more control approach, ive also thought about Preeminent Captain but would rather stay mostly using humans.
all your pump enchantments are way to expensive. they are only ever going to really do anything in matches that you are already doing ok in. mobilization is the only one there that I would keep. Run honor of the pure instead as you can drop it and actually make use of it before like turn 6. Oh, and if you can afford it get the better elspeth, knight errant instead of the one you have (both are good, but the knight errant one is easier to play)
I would also try to find what cards you think are most important and max them out to 4. you have a lot of 2/3 ofs which is ok but you could improve in consistency by picking what is really bonkers and running the most of them.
Here's something that I think your deck should try to look like ( it doesn't have to be exactly like this, this is just my recommendation)
4 deftblade elite
4 precinct captain
4 catapult squad
4 field marshal
4 preeminent captain
2 captain of the watch
2 mobilization
2 land tax
2 elspeth, knight errant
4 oblivion ring
4 path to exile
PS-I don't play in any formal competitions so any card works except unhinged and unglued. And money shouldn't be too much of a problem. (Try and keep it cheep though.)
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Captain of the Watch
4 Daru Warchief
3 Field Marshal
2 Oathsworn Giant
4 Ballyrush Banneret
1 Veteran Swordsmith
1 Veteran Armorsmith
4 Honor of the Pure
2 Glorious Anthem
3 Path to Exile
2 True Conviction
1 Ajani Goldmane
THANK YOU
Greetings, and welcome to Magic.
I'll just number off some things that I see wrong in my opinion.
1: You are running way to many Captain of the Watch.
2: You are running Veteran Swordsmith and Veteran Armorsmith which is a mistake since you have much better lords already.
3: You have no early game, you need some serious one mana drop creatures.
4: You already have plenty of pump so you don't need Glorious Anthem.
5: You don't need to run Ballyrush Banneret if you run some cheaper options.
6: Both True Conviction and Oathsworn Giant are just way too expensive to cast.
I'll post up my deck so you can see the difference and why I made what choices I did.
You can see that I have plenty of 1 drop creatures, Hada Freeblade gets pumped up by not only himself but also Kazandu Blademaster. Deftblade Elite in conjunction with Catapult Squad are about the best soldier combination ever created so you need to run those. Also Champion of the Parish gets human pump by every single creature almost in the deck including Deftblade Elite and Catapult Squad because they are considered humans.
As for my spells I only run two Honor of the Pure and really that's all I've ever needed. Having Oblivion Ring is a life saver because it gets rid of anything on the field, creature, artifact, enchantment and planeswalkers. I split my Path to Exile with Swords to Plowshares because I don't want to give to much mana or life.
The sideboard is pretty obvious as it gives me more hate against certain things or protection.
As for my deck, it routinely beats down zombies, knights, jund, elves and many more things usually by turn 4-5. That isn't to say it doesn't lose but the speed of the deck is usually overwhelming in most cases.
2 Captain of the Watch
4 Catapult Squad
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Deftblade Elite
4 Field Marshal
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Preeminent Captain
2 Honor of the Pure
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Path of Exile
Lands 20
20 Plains
1 Captain of the Watch
2 Holy Light
2 Honor of the Pure
3 Prismatic Strands
3 Dust to Dust
4 Raise the Alarm
W White Weenie
20 Plains
Creatures
3 Preeminent Captain
2 Captain of the Watch
4 Daru Warchief
3 Field Marshal
2 Ballyrush Banneret
3 Hada Freeblade
3 Kazandu Blademaster
2 Catapult Squad
2 Deftblade Elite
2 Champion of the Parish
2 Oblivion ring
2 Swords to plowshares
3 Honor of the Pure
2 Path to Exile
2 Brave the Elements
1 Land Tax
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
Any more help would be great, I know its not perfect yet!
I personally would max out Champion of the Parish to four, because he is getting pump from almost every single soldier you are playing so he can become very big and very scary around turn 4-5.
W White Weenie
15 plains
4 sunpetal grove
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Creatures (26)
1 Boros Elite
2 Elite Vanguard
2 Ballyrush Banneret
2 Kor Skyfisher
3 Precinct Captain
3 Veteran Armorsmith
2 Intrepid hero
3 Field Marshal
2 Crusader of Odric
1 Odric, Master Tactician
2 Hero of Bladehold
1 Gustcloak Savior
1 Darien, King of Kjeldor
1 Captain of the watch
2 Militia's Pride
2 Honor of the pure
1 Pearl Medallion
2 Oblivion ring
2 Parallel Lives
1 Cathars' crusade
2 Coat of arms
1 True Conviction
1 Elspeth, Knight-errant
Cards I could not put in:
Your mana base is short for a 6 cmc mana curve, you need at list 24 landsfor that high cmc.
As your top mana curve cards are not that great, just cut them off.
Inserted Officer for CA. Youre lacking removal, you need a set alongside Rings, but you didnt listed cards of that type as options.Marshall is 4-of.
Skyfisher combos with Officer.
22 Plains
Creatures (28)
3 Boros Elite
4 Elite Vanguard
2 Kor Skyfisher
2 Catapult Master
4 Precinct Captain
4 Veteran Armorsmith
4 Field Marshal
1 Odric, Master Tactician
2 Hero of Bladehold
2 Enlistment Officer
2 Militia's Pride
2 Honor of the pure
2 Oblivion ring
2 Coat of arms
1 Worship
1 Elspeth, Knight-errant
Cards removed:
2 Ballyrush Banneret (with a lower cmc its unnecessary)
2 Intrepid hero (bad ability and a hugh cmc)
2 Crusader of Odric (situational)
1 Gustcloak Savior (bad ability. You wont attack if your critter would just die)
1 Darien, King of Kjeldor (high cmc)
1 Captain of the watch (high cmc)
1 Pearl Medallion (unnecessary with a lower curve)
2 Parallel Lives (green has no place here)
1 Cathars' crusade (costy)
1 True Conviction (costy)
22 Plains
Creatures (22)
2 Captain of the Watch
4 Daru Warchief
4 Elite Vanguard
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
2 Martial Coup
Instant (8)
4 Kjeldoran War Cry
4 Swords to Plowshares
Enchantment (6)
4 Honor of the Pure
2 Mobilization
Coming back to MTG after a couple years out, updating my old decks with new cards. Soldier of the Pantheon is the only thing I really saw for this deck.
I cut Benalish Commander to make room for it - that's splashy, but either costs a lot or takes awhile. I had thought of upgrading the Elite Vanguards, but I like the fast curve of having two playsets of 2/1's for W.
Someone mentioned Dryad Militant, but that's anti-synergistic with Kjeldoran War Cry, and that card seems to make a big difference whenever I drop it, often helping an alpha strike be big enough for the win.
I don't care that Swords to Plowshares is off-flavor for this deck; Unified Strike is just too conditional.
EDIT: Found a box of my spares that included 2 Mobilization. Cut 2 Martial Coup for them - MC being a splashy but expensive spell that I wanted but not as a 4 of. Mobilization is boss so far, testing against another one of my aggro decks. I thought it would be great as a token maker, but the Vigilance has been most helpful.
Vintage: Dredge | Legacy: Burn, Goblins, Soldier | Standard: Mono-Red Aggro
Commander: Nicol Bolas, Sliver Overlord, Rafiq
Casual: Selesnya Saproling Smackdown, Izzet Labs, Rebel
Played since June 2004, mostly inactive June 2011 to March 2018
Other usernames include AlanFromRochester, homerthebeerbaron
MTG checklists from Alpha to Ravnica Allegiance - https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/other-magic-products/third-party-products/805324-checklists-for-everything-from-alpha-to-ravnica
Soldier Primer
Sig by ol MISAKA lo
My Trades
Captain of the Watch + Preeminent Captain = Soldier equivalent of Goblin Lackey+Siege-Gang Commander
Speaking of Goblin comparisons, I know how boss Goblin Ringleader is and Ranger of Eos and Enlistment Officer both do that kind of thing.
Some typos in your autocards:
Daru Cavalier, Icatian Javelineers
Preeminent Captain in the Captain of the Watch section
Recruitment Officer is really Enlistment Officer, Soltari Soldier is really Soltari Foot Soldier
Yep, they're both cool cards, but you have to play one or the other.
I might run Militant instead of War Cry after all. I'm running into a lot of counters and removal, which means there isn't as much for War Cry to pump and I want more creatures to overwhelm the opponent's answers.
I definitely want to put in my spare Ranger of Eos, but I'm not sure about the other 3 slots. I suppose I'll put in 3 Enlistment Officer and cut the vanguards to make room for the Militants. I feel I don't have room for Vanilla anymore.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is a relatively new card I heard about another thread.
Cutting Martial Coup because of its high manacost makes sense.
I can see a red splash for Boros, but I'm keeping mine straight-up WW.
22 Plains
Creatures (28)
2 Captain of the Watch
4 Daru Warchief
4 Dryad Militant
3 Enlistment Officer
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
1 Ranger of Eos
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Swords to Plowshares
Enchantment (6)
4 Honor of the Pure
2 Mobilization
4 Brave the Elements
4 Celestial Purge
1 Path to Exile
4 Rest in Peace
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Vintage: Dredge | Legacy: Burn, Goblins, Soldier | Standard: Mono-Red Aggro
Commander: Nicol Bolas, Sliver Overlord, Rafiq
Casual: Selesnya Saproling Smackdown, Izzet Labs, Rebel
Played since June 2004, mostly inactive June 2011 to March 2018
Other usernames include AlanFromRochester, homerthebeerbaron
MTG checklists from Alpha to Ravnica Allegiance - https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/other-magic-products/third-party-products/805324-checklists-for-everything-from-alpha-to-ravnica
20 plains
Creatures (30)
4 champion of the parish
4 elite vanguard
4 hada freeblade
4 kazandu blademaster
4 precinct captain
4 veteran armorsmith
4 veteran swordsmith
2 Enlistment Officer
4 crusade
4 journey to nowhere
2 oblivion ring
Crusade is used instead of Honor of the Pure because it is cheaper. The same for Journey to Nowhere over Swords to Plowshares. I chose Enlistment Officer over Daru Warchief because I need some sort of draw later and I can't make use of the mana cost reduction Daru provides.
The two creatures I am unsure about are Elite Vanguard and Precinct Captain. They're both great cards, but I don't know if there are better options or if I need 4x of each.
30x creatures seems like a lot to me, and I'm only running 10 enchantments, but I don't know if I have the land to support 4x Oblivion Rings. I suppose I could do the following: -4x Elite Vanguard, +1x Oblivion Ring, and +1 Plains, but this would require further playtesting.
I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions you guys have, however, please remember I want each card to be less than $!
4x Hada Freeblade
4x Deftblade Elite
4x Icatian Javelineers
4x Catapult Squad
4x Kazandu Blademaster
4x Elite Inquisitor
4x Veteran Swordsmith
4x swords to plowshares
4x honor of the pure
4x oblivion ring
20x plains
Obviously, Field Marshal would be a much better choice than Veteran Swordsmith. However, the deck costs only $20 with Veteran Swordsmith, and it costs $40 with Field Marshal. I don't think that Field Marshal alone is worth doubling the cost of the deck, especially since I already have 8 creatures with first strike, and Veteran Swordsmith isn't a bad card--just outclassed. Somebody suggested Archetype of Courage, which is essentially Field Marshal without the +1/+1 for everybody. I don't know if I would prefer that or Veteran Swordsmith, but both are affordable.
I have 4x Icatian Javelineers, because I think the utility they provide is worth more than the extra damage I can get from Dryad Militant, however I may change my mind. If I can afford it, I will use Champion of the Parish instead.
Elite Inquisitor is here because he is a good card with first strike (since I'm not using Field Marshal) and affordable. I think I have enough removal to deal with annoying flyers, otherwise I would use Longbow Archer. Most of my friends use black decks with zombies and vampires, so his protection is nice, too. I like the idea of having Precinct Captain in here, so I might try him out instead of Elite Inquisitor. If I attack with Precinct Captain, they either let him through and I get a token, or they block him and I get to launch Catapult.
I don't think I need an 4-drops, but I haven't ruled adding 2x Enlistment Officer by taking out some of the Honor of the Pure or Oblivion Ring.
I also made some revisions on the aggro-soldiers deck based on what I can afford, and I came up with this:
4x champion of the parish
4x enlistment officer
4x gideon's lawkeeper
4x hada freeblade
4x kazandu blademaster
4x veteran armorsmith
4x veteran swordsmith
4x honor of the pure
4x oblivion ring
4x swords to plowshares
20x plains
This deck is more aggressive and doesn't work on controlling the battlefield like the Catapult build does. It's only $20-25.
If I built the Catapult deck with everything I wanted (Field Marshal, Champion of the Parish), it would run for about $45. Replacing Field Marshal and Champion of the Parish with Veteran Swordsmith and Icatian Javelineers, it costs $20-25.
So, for the same price, how do these two decks compare? And how would the aggro-soldiers deck compare to the standard $45 version of the Catapult deck?
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Catapult Squad
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Field Marshal
4 Enlistment Officer
4 oblivion ring
4 swords to plowshares
4 sword of vengeance
I haven't looked through the rest of the posts here yet but Mirror Entity is a great card for soldier decks. Also a one-of of Emeria, the Sky Ruin can do wonders.
My first ever deck was a soldier deck back during Zendikar/Scars. I'll post more of my thought later in the morning when I turn on my comp (using my phone now and it's not the easiest)
As mentioned above, I've always felt that for the 3-drop slot, Mirror Entity can do wonders, particularly if you're running it with token creators like Captain of the Watch or Precinct Captain. Pair that with a Brave the Elements (which is another card I think EVERY soldier deck should main 4-of, and you'll just win. It does compete with Field Marshal and Preeminent Captain though. Veteran Swordsmith I feel doesn't deserve a slot unless you're doing budget.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin is amazing as a 1-2-of, as late game you can consistently keep putting pressure on by getting your soldiers back.
Æther Vial is a good card but must be built around. You'll want more 1 or 2 drops to make it work, although Vialing in a Preeminent Captain and then dropping Captain of the Watch is always fun.
A new card that I feel could use exploring is Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. Since many of our cards are WW or more, adding 1-2 of them in as well as ways to use that mana: Launch the Fleet, Nomads' Assembly, Conqueror's Pledge, Martial Coup, etc, I feel like this could be an avenue worth exploring. I've been working on a brew using it, here's my initial list.
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Elite Inquisitor
4 Precinct Captain
4 Veteran Armorsmith
3 Mirror Entity
2 Captain of the Watch
4 Brave the Elements
4 Honor of the Pure
2 Launch the Fleet
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
18 Plains
Is this better?
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Catapult Squad
4 Champion of the Parish
4 deftblade elite
4 Archetype of Courage
4 oblivion ring
4 swords to plowshares
4 sword of vengeance
I removed Champion of the Parish in favor of Precinct Captain, I just feel as if he can create more threat then a single creature by himself, albeit a strong one if allowed to get there.
I kept in Kazandu Blademaster since I feel he is a better version of Elite Inquisitor.
I also removed Hada Freeblade, I know a one drop is nice but I figured go for massive pump in the form of Daru Warchief instead.
20 Plains
Creatures
4 Deftblade Elite
4 Catapult Squad
4 Precinct Captain
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Field Marshal
4 Daru Warchief
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Path to Exile
2 Honor of the Pure
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
W White Weenie
4 City of Traitors
10 Plains
4 Chrome Mox
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Veteran Swordsmith
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Daru Warchief
4 Ballyrush Banneret
3 Captain of the Watch
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Brave the Elements
What about a stompy soldier deck? If we can cheat out Preeminent Captain early! he becomes WAY better. I also think that Enlistment Officer is one of the top choices for the deck. My list runs all the cost decreasing creatures, which is why I think Veteran Swordsmith is superior to Field Marshall here. I also like that it has an extra attack.
I run a bit of disruption in the form of Thalia and the Thorns.
4x Ballyrush Banneret
4x Captain of the Watch
4x Daru Warchief
3x Field Marshal
1x Oathsworn Giant
4x Preeminent Captain
2x Veteran Armorsmith
1x Veteran Swordsmith
2x Glorious Anthem
4x Honor of the Pure
2x True Conviction
Land (23)
23x Plains
Planeswalker (3)
1x Ajani Goldmane
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3x Path to Exile
You can playtest it here: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/mono-white-soldiers-27-damage-turn-four/
If you're on a budget, also Aven Squire can be used to put some damage in the air, and will buff your t2 attack (and any others if you want). Cenn Tactician will give you some reach when you have nothing else to spend mana on, and blocking multiple creatures with a first striking defender is a good feeling. The more of these you play, the less good Champion of the Parish is, so you may want to consider Expedition Envoy instead if you're playing some allies. The ally-soldiers offer you a lot of options, and have built in synergy with Cenn Tactician (which only cares if a card has a +1/+1 token on it, not where it came from). If you like allies, Join the Ranks offers combat tricks (pump your guys mid-combat to survive trades) or if you're playing planeswalkers Oath of Gideon makes allies (but not soldiers). Oath makes Ajani go off turn 2 (enters with 5, +1 the turn he hits the board). Mosquito Guard can also be good on a budget: if you draw him late you can always use his reinforce to buff someone you already have on the board, and if you draw him early he is a 1/1 first striker.
The pros: Most things will lord your ally-soldiers, and all your ally-soldiers are cost effective. Running Brave the Elements mean you can alpha-strike against a lot of decks, and protect your weenies against damage based sweepers. Silence is a surprisingly good card for helping you get that last bit of damage in (cast it during your opponent's upkeep and they can't cast any creature spells.
Cons: little spot removal/interactivity with the board. Not much protection from sweepers, and with so many low cost guys it's easy to get blown out. Cavern is ludicrously expensive. No draw/filtering. No way to go to the dome to finish them off if they stabilize.
Creatures: 23
Hada Freebalde x4
Kazandu Blademaster x4
Champion of the Parish x4
Field Marshall x4
Preeminent Captain x4
Captain of the Watch x3
Enchantments: 4
Honor of the Purex4
Instants: 10
Path to Exile x3
Brave the Elements x4
Silence x3
Lands: 23
Plains x19
Cavern of Souls x4
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Thalia's Lieutenant
4x Precinct Captain
4x Field Marshal
4x Daru Warchief
4x Mentor of the Meek
1x Captain of the Watch
2x Door of Destinies
1x Akroma's Memorial
4x Swords to plowshares
2x Brave the Elements
2x Oblivion Ring
2x Crusade
1x Elspeth Tirel
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Lands
20x Plains