1. Introduction
Greetings fellow multiplayer Magic enthusiasts! For those of you who don't know me my name is Prid3 and I'm a 15+ year Magic: The Gathering veteran. I've been playing and following the game at a competitive-level since the year 2000 and so I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've literally poured tens of thousands of hours into mastering this game. While some Mages love Legacy and others can't live without EDH for as long as I've slung spells I've been a multiplayer Magic fanatic. Be it Constructed, Cube or EDH I've played every major multiplayer format to the ground while approaching every aspect (from deck-building to strategy) from a competitive mindset. As you've undoubtedly surmised by now the purpose of this guide is to expedite your transition from Magic duels (i.e. 1v1 games) to the substantially different world of multiplayer. It's an unquestionably difficult passage for players of all skill-levels to make and I'm hoping that my expertise and guidance will ultimately arm you with the knowledge that you'll need in order to thrive. Moreover, I recognize that Magic isn't played in a vacuum and that real-world players have real-world budgets. Unlike similar guides I won't blindly assume that you'll be able to drop thousands of dollars on a casual hobby without batting an eye. That isn't to say that I'll compromise my competitive nature by pushing sub-optimal and/or weak cards upon you but rather that the focus of this guide will be on affordable (yet competitive) staples that will still allow you to prosper in any multiplayer sphere.
2. Strongest Creatures and Spells
If you're a newer player who's trying to build his or her first decks then you've come to the right place my friends. Think of this section as your "cheat sheet" as it should more-or-less obsolete your need to scour across search engines for hours and/or prod random Internet strangers for card ideas. It exists solely to highlight and explain the most blatantly powerful creatures and spells that you should be looking to field whenever possible. If you ever find yourself stumped about what to play and/or how to flesh out your curves then this should give you a solid snapshot of your strongest options.
2 CMC Stoneforge Mystic, Relic Seeker: From Skullclamp to Umezawa's Jitte to Batterskull there's no shortage of amazing Equipment to fetch and their bodies are relevant for Blink effects. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: Disruptive hatebear who pairs well with otherStaxeffects to significantly hinder your opposition. Grand Abolisher: Stellar hatebear that neutralizes counterspells, spot removal, on-board tricks, everything. Containment Priest: Menacing hatebear that combos with Eldrazi Displacer to trivialize creature-based strategies. Spirit of the Labyrinth: Imposing hatebear who neutralizes card draw. Combos with Wheels to force each player to "mulligan to 1." Kataki, War's Wage: Taxing hatebear that excels in big mana formats such as Vintage and EDH that are plagued with Artifact-based acceleration. Serene Master: Fearsome blocker that effectively dissuades aggression. Only relevant for extremely aggressive metas. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails: Solid mid-to-lategame mana sink that provides a passable body early on. Thwarts attackers, denies blockers, blanks bounce/removal, on and on and on. Syndic of Tithes: Reasonable lifegain engine that brings a touch of reach to your lists. Wall of Omens: Passable blocker who boasts immense synergy with blink/sacrifice effects. See also: Thraben Inspector.
X Spells Unexpectedly Absent: Popular in formats/metas swarming with Fetchlands and/or other cheap shuffle effects. Casting it in response to one forces your opponent to shuffle their permanent away making it a pseudo-Vindicate for only 2 mana.
1 CMC Limited Resources: 1 mana "you win the game." Balanced. For best results pair with Aether Vial, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Thorn of Amethyst, Sphere of Resistance, Vryn Wingmare, etc. Silence: The (arguably) most powerful disruption spell in the entire game. Perfect for degenerate combo decks seeking to end matches in a single turn. Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile: Two of the best spot removal spells in the game (with StP being the literal best). Any creature, anywhere, anytime for a single mana is an absurd rate. Land Tax: Tremendously powerful card advantage engine that will enable you to hit your land drops each and every turn. Combos with Scroll Rack to build your own Ancestral Recall every circuit. Enlightened Tutor: Brings an enormous amount of consistency to your lists while simultaneously allowing you to reliably locate game-changing silver-bullets. Tithe: Free 2-for-1 in a color that lacks card draw in general. It enables you to hit your early land drops and curve out into your lategame bombs. Steelshaper's Gift: From Skullclamp to Umezawa's Jitte to Godsend to Strata Scythe to Bonehoard to Batterskull there's no shortage of amazing Equipment to fetch.
2 CMC Balance: A 2 mana Mind Twist + Wrath of God + Armageddon is anything but balanced. The irony! Pair with fastmana and Zuran Orb for best effect. Luminarch Ascension: Not only is this thing ridiculously easy to activate but it basically wins the game on the spot if people aren't able to remove it in a timely fashion. Serenity: This card isn't even remotely fair. 2 mana for every Artifact and Enchantment is an oppressive return on your investment. Loves Sun Titan. Rest in Peace: Most colors are very good at utilizing their graveyards as additional sources of value which provides you with a strong incentive to deny it from them. Stony Silence: Hoses mana rocks such as Moxes, Black Lotus, Sol Ring, Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo, etc. making it ideal for "big mana" formats. Suppression Field: While I wouldn't advocate playing 4 of these or anything it's hilarious how disruptive the first can be. Note that cracking Fetchlands isn't a mana ability! Gift of Estates: While it's the worst of the "Tithe" effects it's still perfectly playable. That being said I personally recommend running Oreskos Explorer instead. Tariff: Decent early-game "Innocent Blood" that can still get people once they start to jam their 6 drops.
3 CMC Grasp of Fate: Likely the single best spot removal spell in the entire game. 3 mana to exile a threat from each opponent is an absurd return on your investment. Aura of Silence: Stellar Disenchant alternative that keeps abusive Enchantment-based strategies in check. The extra mana is well worth it. Act of Authority: Stellar (2+N)-for-1 that will frequently exile 4-5 things before someone decides to have it consume itself. It's a nonbo with Grasp of Fate but completely amazing in general. Council's Judgment: Permanent Oblivion Ring that will occasionally remove multiple threats. Abolish: "Free" instant-speed interaction. Gift of Immortality: Fantastic long-term value spell that combos amazingly well with creatures such as Sun Titan. Ghostway, Eerie Interlude: Blinks your entire team to abuse their ETB triggers, blanks removal (both spot and mass, both yours and theirs), negates combat tricks, etc. Ghostly Prison: Decent defensive threat if you can stack a bunch of them together and/or destroy everyone's lands. Idyllic Tutor: White has a large number of rather oppressive Enchantments that are worth spending an extra 3 mana to secure. Sacred Mesa: Non-interactive and reliable (albeit slow) win condition.
4 CMC Humility: One of the most oppressive spells in the entire game since it completely obsoletes creature-based strategies. Note that it doesn't affect manlands nor prevent cast triggers. Cataclysm: It's (virtually) impossible for the other players to play around the effect and it's fantastic whether you're ahead or behind. This card is soul-crushing to play against. Armageddon, Ravages of War: Get ahead on board, destroy all lands, secure victory. White has ridiculously oppressive mana denial effects. Wrath of God, Day of Judgment: The gold standard for mass removal. You can't go wrong with jamming these in any multiplayer list. Return to Dust: From Purphoros, God of the Forge to Grave Pact to Blightsteel Colossus it exiles any of the oppressive Enchantments/Artifacts that would otherwise ruin your day. Parallax Wave: Abuses ETB triggers, removes blockers, thwarts attackers, on and on and on. Replenish: The glue that holds most Enchantment-based strategies together. Moat: Slightly more tolerable than Humility but still an incredibly oppressive effect to play against in general. Congregate: Considering that this can easily gain 20+ life at EOT it's hard to argue against running 1 or 2 in your lists.
5 CMC Tragic Arrogance: Much like Balance there's no world in which this is a fair effect. Mind's Eye: Brings some much needed card draw to a color that sorely lacks it. Cathars' Crusade: Utterly insane finisher in any token, weenie, creature-based and/or Blink archetype. Rout: A 5 CMC Wrath of God is still passable but its true strength lies in its ability to be cast an instant-speed once you reach 7+ mana. Hallowed Burial: While weaker than a normal Wrath in a vacuum these kinds of cards shine in metas plagued with Indestructible/Persist/Undying critters.
6+ CMC Catastrophe: While it can function as a Wrath in a pinch this is basically a "bad Armageddon." Still a crazy powerful card by the way! True Conviction: Creature-based shells usually need a reliable way to close games out and this is one of the strongest trumps available to you if board stalls are a concern. Final Judgment, Descend Upon the Sinful: In a world of resilient threats, recursion and a host of "graveyard matters" effects Wrath of God doesn't always cut it. Terminus: A 1 mana Wrath is almost always insane in practice and so you'll rarely find yourself passing-up on the opportunity to fire it off. Austere Command: One of the most powerful and flexible forms of mass removal in the game. Akroma's Vengeance, Planar Cleansing: Sometimes blowing up "the everything" is exactly what the doctor ordered. Martyr's Bond: A blanket Grave Pact which makes it virtually impossible for players to profitably interact with you. Mass Calcify: "Plague Wind" is perfect for closing games out when board-stalls occur.
For Planeswalkers I'm going to do something slightly different since they tend to lose a lot of their inherent value in MP formats. All things being equal players will typically remove them over smacking adversaries for trivial amounts of damage and since it's significantly harder to stabilize the board in MP than it is in duels this dramatically reduces their overall power-levels in my experience. While some remain competitive even in the face of multiple adversaries the vast majority of them don't pass muster when tasked to thrive against a slew of enemy combatants. As such I'll separate them between Competitive, Casual and Niche. The "Competitive" title will be reserved for Planesalkers that I'd actively field in any MP format against any number of players. The "Casual" section will highlight ones that I wouldn't expect to dominate big free-for-all/EDH/Cube games but that should experience moderate success in team and/or "small" formats such as 2HG, Emperor and 3-player FFA. The "Niche" section will showcase unique combos/interactions that could conceivably make certain Planeswalkers competitive that you'd never otherwise field. Ones not listed in any section are basically unplayable and can safely be ignored.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant: Knight-Errant is a premium token producer who quickly builds towards an extremely powerful ultimate. She plays especially well in White given her inherent synergy with both mass removal and mass land destruction both of which the colors has in spades. This makes her an ideal finisher for Control/Stax/Prison archetypes that can control the board and limit your adversaries' ability to interact with her. While her "to the skies" mode might seem trivial it's actually quite useful for breaking stalemates which can often be the bane of more casual metas. A 9/9 flying, vigilant Sun Titan (or whatever) is no joke and tends to kill players off rather quickly. That being said you're going to be producing tokens with her the overwhelming majority of the time while making a beeline for her ultimate. Whenever possible you should attempt to protect her with mass removal/mass land destruction given that she's already a natural fit for Control/Stax strategies.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion: Sun's Champion is a premier Midrange/Control/Prison finisher that strikes the perfect balance between Wrath of God, Increasing Devotion and Dictate of Heliod. White is perfectly adept at protecting her with its plethora of mass removal options and curving her into an Armageddon isn't easy to beat. Pumping out 3 warm bodies a turn is extremely relevant, especially if you already have cards like Cathars' Crusade in your list. Otherwise her ult will eventually win games if left unchecked since it adds another "over-the-top" finisher to your lists without consuming a precious deck slot.
Ajani, Caller of the Pride: Decent build-around-me for team formats such as 2HG and Emperor since you can +1 him on your Ally's threats in order to A) protect him and B) quickly build towards an ultimate that wins the game. Alternatively you can try for turn 2-3 Ajani into a turn 3-4 Armageddon at which point it's conceivable that you could ult and win the game before anyone recovers. Mother of Runes into Grand Arbiter into Ajani into Armageddon (or something similar) isn't easy to beat and between cards like Gemstone Caverns and/or Chrome Mox that can easily come down on turn 3.
Gideon Jura: Gideon is a workhorse in formats such as 2HG and 3 player FFAs with small numbers of players. All of his modes are extremely relevant as he's frequently able to force your opponents to suicide their threats into your blockers before beating in for 6 every turn. Otherwise you can pair him Wraths/mass land destruction at which point he can easily finish the job or even field him as a generic "Flametongue Kavu" that kills a critter while leaving a solid threat behind.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: Much like Jura this Gideon is a solid beater but unlike his 5 CMC brother he has significantly more value in token-based decks. An indestructible Glorious Anthem is sweet and the ability to churn out a 2/2 every turn gets insanely out-of-hand over time. While he shines in smaller formats such as 2HG he struggles to generate significant value in larger Chaos games.
Elspeth Tirel: Decent value engine/lifegain spell for token decks. Her main strength is her ability to +2 the turn that she comes into play and -5 on the following one in order to Hour of Reckoning the field (and then some!) without dying in the process. Her -2 is "fine" but at that point you may well play Sun's Champion so don't field Tirel unless you're looking for a Wrath effect for your token-based shells.
Nahiri, the Lithomancer: Reasonable value engine for Equipment-based decks. A common "trick" to employ with her is to attack with your Equipped creatures and then activate Nahiri's +1 post-combat build a burly blocker without having to spend any mana. Otherwise she recurs fallen armaments and her ultimate wins the game extremely quickly should you manage to reach it.
Consult this thread for all your multicolored needs. It lists the most powerful gold cards that the various color combos have to offer.
3. Strengths and Weaknesses
Every color brings a unique set of strengths and weaknesses to multiplayer that players of all skill levels should all be made aware of. Not only will it enable you to make better deckbuilding decisions but it will also prepare you to expose and exploit the inherent faults in opposing ones. Being in-tune with a color's strong points will save you time, mental energy, boost your self-confidence and improve your overall happiness during your games. After all, knowledge is power, especially when it comes to things that we're good at. This will ultimately allow you to grow as a player faster than you ever thought possible which is why it's vital to understand what you're capable of doing and why. Moreover, knowing your limitations will prevent you from engaging in activities where you won't be able to make much of an impact. After all, frivolous pursuits are immensely frustrating and the last thing that you want to do is tilt yourself into making rash, emotional and/or irrational decisions out of impatience. Furthermore, weaknesses are opportunities that your adversaries will frequently be be seeking to exploit and you'll need to adjust your tactics accordingly. Preemptively enacting counter-measures and developing robust strategies is a must if you truly want to thrive in a multiplayer setting and you'll need conscious knowledge of your decks' flaws in order to prepare those.
Mass Removal
Mass removal plays an vital role in multiplayer given that it enables players to profitably interact with their adversaries without falling impossibly far behind in resources. Spot removal clearly has its uses but it's not as though you can Swords to Plowshares every threat played by every opponent and still expect to emerge victorious. A short list of extremely powerful options includes Balance, Tariff, Planar Collapse, Grasp of Fate, Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, Tragic Arrogance, Terminus and Austere Command. Are people on aggro? Day of Judgment them back to the Stone Age. Are people on Black/Green recursion decks? Hallowed Burial/Descend Upon the Sinful their butts. Are pillow-fort decks causing you fits? Tell them to suck an Austere Command. The onus ultimately falls on you to balance their pros and cons however there should almost always be something that will excel for you and your meta.
Mass Land Destruction
Between Limited Resources, Armageddon, Ravages of War, Cataclysm, Hokori, Dust Drinker and Catastrophe it's clear that White is the uncontested king of MLD. This is especially relevant in the context of multiplayer Magic given that outside of combo kills one of the easiest way to secure wins is to get ahead on the board before enacting the apocalypse. It leaves everyone powerless to thwart your advances ensuring that you'll secure victory at some point down the road. This makes White one of the premier multiplayer Stax/Mana Denial/Prison colors as it's one of the few that's consistently capable of severely hindering the mana progression of each of your adversaries.
Artifact and Enchantment Removal
Most multiplayer formats are defined by powerful Artifacts and Enchantments and luckily for White mages that typically isn't much of a concern. For spot removal there's plenty of competitive staples such as Abolish, Act of Authority, Grasp of Fate and/or Return to Dust that offer an absurd return on investment. Moving on Serenity is a complete joke of a card that will usually pay for itself ten times over and that's even before your Sun Titans begin to recur them. There's also Aura of Silence which is the best Disenchant that you'll ever get your hands on since the disruption is extremely relevant and keeps people honest. Otherwise there's Fracturing Gust which brings a bit of lifegain to your lists or even Austere Command which serves double-duty as an answer to creatures. Beyond that there's a half-dozen Paraselene effects in circulation including Cleansing Meditation if you're in the market to keep your own goodies around. While White doesn't possess any "Creeping Corrosion" type spells that nuke all Artifacts Dust to Dust is still fine in a pinch.
Spot Removal
While I recognize that spot removal is at its worst in multiplayer it's still a necessary evil at times. You're not going to beat that turn 2 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur otherwise nor can you allow that Consecrated Sphinx/Void Winnower (or whatever) to persist unchecked. Swords to Plowshares always has and always will be the single strongest spot removal spell in the entire game. Period. Paying a single mana to exile a creature is a ridiculous rate that will demoralize people trying to combo-off and/or slam 6+ CMC bombs. Path to Exile, Condemn, Unexpectedly Absent, Darksteel Mutation and Declaration in Stone are other examples of extremely potent forms of spot removal that will enable you to interact with any creature under the sun. When paired with versatile "Vindicates" (such as Oblivion Ring and Council's Judgment) and solid N-for-1s (such as Grasp of Fate, Act of Authority and Return to Dust) you should be able to answer most things that your opponents will throw at you. In that sense it's easy to see why White is the king of spot removal given it's unparalleled ability to neutralize key threats both quickly and efficiently.
"Infinite" Value
While White isn't much a combo color it offers extremely resilient endgame strategies focused on generating "infinite" value in order to slowly grind your opposition out of the game. Basic examples include cards such as Sun Titan, Angel of Serenity and/or Emeria Shepherd that enable you to recur everything fallen forces lost throughout your matches. Moreover there's cards such as Eldrazi Displacer which pair with powerful ETB/LTB triggers in order to to generate an obscene amount of value over time. Beyond that there's also Emeria, the Sky Ruin which is yet another resilient + persistent form of recursion that will permit you to grind your opposition to the ground. On a similar note White has plenty of robust token generators such as Kjeldoran Outpost, Luminarch Ascension, Mastery of the Unseen and Sacred Mesa that boast immense synergy with Equipment which they can employ to secure wins in the long-run.
No Card Draw
White only has access to a small number of spells that even state "draw a card" on them and most are either wildly unplayable and/or extremely conditional. While it's still clearly capable of generating card advantage its only generic options for card draw are Artifact-based solutions such as Mind's Eye and Staff of Nin. As such it struggles to keep pace with the likes of Blue/Green/Black which are easily capable of supporting robust forms of card advantage with actual card draw such as Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Greater Good, Syphon Mind and Consecrated Sphinx. It's not as though White is the king of card advantage to begin with and since it literally has no generic forms of card draw it can be difficult to justify building base-White decks unless you're employing various Stax/denial tactics which will prevent people from being able to take advantage of their additional resources.
Slow
Earlier I explained how White has a plethora of powerful lategame recursive finishers such as Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Sun Titan and Emeria Shepherd that eventually defeat any number of players through any amount of removal. Unfortunately for White most of the other colors have equally powerful value engines that cost significantly less mana. Mystic Remora, Animate Dead, Sylvan Library, Survival of the Fittest, Phyrexian Arena, Recurring Nightmare, Greater Good and more are examples of cheap value engines that can secure wins long before 6-8 drops become a concern. While White does possess a small number of extremely powerful value threats they're typically conditional, niche, obscure and/or expensive $ wise (think Luminarch Ascension, Loyal Retainers and Academy Rector). This makes them impractical solutions at best for the vast majority of the casual playerbase. The unfortunate reality is that White decks typically fall too far behind too early and never reach those ultra-lategame scenarios where cards like Emeria Shepherd seize complete control of the game.
4. Sample Decklists
The purpose of this section will be to provide you with an idea of what completed multiplayer decklists could look like. They're all going to be built with a reasonable budgets in mind (no cards that cost more than $5.00 whenever possible) while adhering to the Legacy banned and restricted list. Don't expect me to go all-out on degenerate combos or extremely unfun mechanics either. I want to showcase reasonably interactive decks that play relatively fun, fair Magic. I'll do my best to highlight the most important interactions and synergies among the various cards which probably means that I won't spend too much time explaining why Mizzium Mortars is in the deck. They'll be good starting points for anyone looking to build similar lists by highlighting some of the most obvious card choices. Finally, please bear in mind that these deck lists will become somewhat outdated and sub-optimal over time. I'll make every effort to update them as frequently as needed but at the end of the day I'm only one man. They'll still be useful learning tools even if they're not always especially relevant.
This is a rough shell for a generic Relic Seeker + Squadron Hawk + Equipment deck that abuses Mistveil Plains in order to generate "infinite" flying threats. The idea here is to constantly reshuffle fallen Squadron Hawks back in to your library with Mistveil Plains and to ensure that you never play more than 2 at a time. That way you'll always have a target for your Equipment and so you should be able to grind people out over time. Grasp of Fate and Day of Judgment provide you with interaction against most opposing strategies and the rest of the deck is focused around generating value via ETB triggers and Blink effects. Mirrorpool + Sun Titan gives the deck solid inevitability, especially when you take Emeria Shepherd into account. Having Sun Titan recur a Myriad Landscape only to fetch 2 Plains and recur 3 permanents to play tends to spell lights out for your opposition. Otherwise Emeria, the Sky Ruin is the ultimate value engine and should ensure that no one can run you out of threats.
Devotion strategies tend to center around the card Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Gods (Heliod, God of the Sun in this instance) and tend to be more explosive than generic midrange archetypes. Try to limit them to 1-2 colors whenever possible and take advantage of things like Boros Reckoner and/or Divinity of Pride that have a lot of W symbols in their costs. Give preference to permanents over non-permanents when you're looking for a specific effect even if the non-permanent version is arguably more powerful. Banisher Priest isn't better than Swords to Plowshares in a vacuum but in the context of a deck that wants to activate Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx/Heliod, God of the Sun the "weaker" spell can often be superior.
Decks like these are easy to pilot because your only goal is to cast anything and everything that will increase your Devotion in order to transform your Nykthoses and Heliods into insanely powerful Magic cards. If you're looking to splash, again, keep it to one color whenever possible. Play some number of mana sinks as you'll want to be able to spend the 10+ mana that you'll have access to on your turns. On that note don't be shy about fielding a small number of incredibly expensive game-enders because you'll easily be able to support them. I also want to stress how should try and get creative and look for unique opportunities to abuse off-the-wall cards. For example if you activate Nykthos after Herald of the Host has attacked you'll generate the extra 2N mana where N is the number of Myriad copies created. Assuming that you have a Mastery of the Unseen in play that's almost always going to be at least another free activation.
SoulSisters scale insanely well with the # of players and can fuel any number of lifegain matters cards such as Ajani's Pridemate, Well of Lost Dreams, Archanegl of Thune and Felidar Sovereign. Given enough time and lifegain you should be able to eventually secure a victory using cards like Test of Endurance and/or leaning on Emeria to recur your Felidar Sovereigns until one sticks. Until then your primary goal should be to gum up the ground and/or clear the board until you can stick something that will actually win the game.
The archetype speaks for itself and while there's endless ways to go about building it the one that I've showcased is mostly concerned about fielding big blockers and abusing the increased number of players that multiplayer matches offer. Note that the deck can easily be built without all of the cheesy "auto-win" cards but I think that it's important to highlight them since this one of the easiest shells with which to abuse them.
Token decks are basically just an excuse to play with Intangible Virtue and Cathars' Crusade which are both immensely powerful Magic cards that you should be looking to abuse as much as humanely possible. The goal of these decks is to flood the board with tons of small-fries, beef them up and then go to town on people after clearing their blockers away.
Things like Mentor of the Meek, Flashback spells, and persistent token producing engines give you a decent game against Control decks and ensure that you won't lose outright to a bit of mass removal. This particular version of the deck is a bit soft to Enchantments/Artifacts but you can always shore that weakness up by adding cards such as Grasp of Fate or Return to Dust if you're especially worried about them. Hour of Reckoning is typically the strongest Wrath to field in my experience but things like Austere Command and Martial Coup have their uses as well. As always the card choices basically speak for themselves and there's nothing too new or innovative present in the list. Feel free to change the numbers to suit your own personal needs but something close to this is what you should probably be aiming for.
Insofar as Wizards keeps printing cards like Day of Judgment White-based Control will always be a powerful archetype. Though the color has never gotten any remotely playable forms of card draw it tends to receive the lion's share of the removal in a given format. Combo and Blue-based Control strategies can given it a lot of trouble in that sense but in the context of fair, creature-based metagames the color can be oppressively dominant.
This is a basic White Control deck that pairs solid removal with great defensive bodies and uninteractive win conditions. There are various combo-kills at your disposal include things like Rest in Peace + Helm of Obedience, Land Tax/Endless Horizons + Goblin Charbelcher and/or turn 1 Perimeter Captain into turn 2 Luminarch Ascension. The aforementioned Land Tax can also be paired with Scroll Rack to "Ancestral Recall" every turn which is easily the strongest draw engine that you'll ever find in mono-White. Otherwise you'll have to lean on Artifact-based alternatives such as the ones that I've proposed. I purposely kept some of the more expensive cards out of the sample deck but it's important to keep them all in mind.
For as long as there have been creatures with powerful "enters the battlefield" triggers Blink decks have thrived. The basic goal is to lead with creatures that provide immediate value and proceed to Flickerwisp, Restoration Angel, Sun Titan and Angel of Serenity them until the end of time. White may not have much in the way of actual card draw but when that's your gameplan you'll certainly never find yourself lacking in the card advantage department. Let's start things off with a rough shell:
As always the deck speaks for itself in that it's nothing but a pile of blinkers and things that want to be blinked. The Cloudpost manabase is perfect for fueling Eldrazi Displacer and ensures that your lategame value potential is limitless. This is especially true if you can assemble Gift of Immorality + Sun Titan (who can then recur fallen Displacers) which tends to provide absurd amounts of value over time. If you can afford to field Restoration Angel then it's a no-brainer swap over Glimmerpoint Stag but even Galepowder Mage is a reasonable alternative.
One of White's flagship archetypes is the enchantment-based "pillow-fort" archetype that seeks to create board states in which it cannot possibly lose. You can achieve this either by comboing cards like Humility and Orim's Prayer together or simply by amassing a bunch of Ghostly Prisons, Sphere of Safetys, etc. to the point where no one can realistically attack you. From there a card like Dovescape can often (figuratively) end the game on the spot. As long as you have something, anything in play that can win the game it'll get there eventually. A sample deck might look something like:
That being said there are a million ways to build the thing so don't worry too much about this exact list. Whenever possible you'll want to field big mana lands such as Serra's Sanctum and/or Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to fuel things like Enduring Ideal which can seize complete control of the game. Once Ideal is online you can fetch things like Dovescape into multiple Sphere of Safetys which should lock most players out of the game. From there you can find a Luminarch Ascension or whatever in order to win. Note that these decks can be as combo-focused as you want them to be. Want Land Tax + Scroll Rack? Get it in there. Want Rest in Peace + Helm of Obedience? Go for it. Endless Horizons + Goblin Charbelcher? That works too. If you can afford Enlightened Tutor and/or Idyllic Tutor, by all means, add them too for some added consistency.
Puresteel Paladin does a ton of work as your primary draw engine and if you can achieve Metalcraft (hence the artifact lands) then you can destroy people with things like Argentum Armor and Godsend. Otherwise the decks plays a lot of recursion and token producers to ensure that you'll always have a home for your weapons. Oh, I do realize that this deck doesn't have Stoneforge Mystic, Umezawa's Jitte, Sword of Fire and Ice, Batterskull, etc. but, again, these decks are built with budgets in mind. If you own those cards, awesome! If you want to field different equipment/critters, by all means! This is an extremely rough list and that you can fool around with as much as you want.
While Red may possess Wildfire and Black Death Cloud no other color has anything remotely close to Armageddon. Although mass land destruction is one of the most despised strategies in the entire game it's also exceptionally powerful which compels me to cover it in some way, shape or form. These decks tend pilot themselves in the sense that your one and only gameplan is to curve out with dudes on turns 1-3 and then (hopefully) cast some sort of 'Geddon effect on turn 4 to seal the game in your favor. I want to stress that people will HATE you for playing this type of deck so please proceed with caution. You wouldn't want to invest into a deck only to have it banned after a single game!
While I generally try and propose Legacy-legal decks it would be a crying shame if I didn't post something that abuses the oh-so-affordable Skullclamp. This is a classic "Planeswalker into MLD" shell seeking to to curve 1-2-3-Armageddon each and every game. From there you'll ideally build towards a game-winning ultimate while protecting your Planeswalker with defensive threats and/or removal. Otherwise you can lean on the absurd card advantage generated by Skullclamp in order to tear through your deck at an insane pace.
5. Functional Lists
Bluntly put it's far too impractical to have me discuss every possible playable in detail. At some point it all starts to read the same given that Magic is filled with redundant effects that accomplish the same goal. This section is more-or-less a raw information dump that will house (what I believe to be) the most important types of cards and the strongest options available to you within those groups. Now, be forewarned that it's not going to showcase "every possible playable" and/or "every possible type of card." I'm going to focus on the ones that will win you multiplayer games on a consistent basis since my end-goal here is to arm you with the tools that you'll need to compete. Anything too niche and/or too marginal isn't going to make the cut so don't be surprised when you see how bare some of the sections are. For what it's worth I find that these kinds of lists are invaluable for singleton formats such as Cube and EDH and highly recommend that you start your search here if you're looking for key role-players.
6. General Strategies
In this section I'll discuss broader subjects that aren't necessarily limited to specific colors. After all, my goal is ultimately to teach you the ins-and-outs of multiplayer deckbuilding from start to finish and that clearly entails a lot more than simply covering your relevant card choices. From deck composition to constructing a manabase to developing an overarching strategy there's countless variables for you to take into consideration and I'll make every effort to cover some of the more important subjects. While I clearly won't be able to hit on everything consider these to "must reads" if you're looking to take your game to the next level.
Early Game (turns 1-3)
Of all the colors White's early-game is by far and away the most intricate and varied. First of all it has access to some of the strongest interaction in the form of cards like Swords to Plowshares, Serenity and Grasp of Fate. All are ludicrously undercosted and provide an insane return on your investment. Moreover the color has access to stupidly disruptive threats such as Stony Silence, Rest in Peace, Suppression Field, Grand Abolisher, Containment Priest, Hushwing Gryff, Aven Mindcensor and many more which can all neutralize the unfair advances of your opposition. I want to stress the "and many more" clause as well because I could literally sit here and list a dozen other extremely competitive possibilities. As if that wasn't enough White also has access to amazing land fetchers such as Weathered Wayfarer, Land Tax, Oreskos Explorer and more which virtually ensure that you'll never miss a single land drop for the rest of the game. It's somewhat mind-blowing to think that it also has access to value engines such as Relic Seeker, Knight of the White Orchid and Eldrazi Displacer that will add to your board while "drawing cards" which should ensure that you don't get cheesed-out early on.
Mid Game (turns 4-6)
While it's incredibly difficult to make sweeping statements regarding White's midgame plans it's usually centered around disruption, mass removal and long-term value. It's typically not a color that draws cards, counters spells, ramps fatties and/or combos-off which means that you're frequently using this opportunity to set up for the lategame as opposed to trying squeak out some cheesy wins. A small % of the time you might go off with a turn 2 Luminarch Ascension but in general turns 4-6 are reserved for things like Wrath of God, Armageddon, Cathars' Crusade and Reveillark that seek to control the overall flow of the game as opposed to ending them in the short-run. You should still be making all of your land drops thanks to cards like Oreskos Explorer and if your list is creature-based then this is about the time where your key Equipment will start to come online. Your value won't come in the form of card draw but rather recursion, blinking creatures with ETB triggers and slamming efficient (mass) removal spells.
Late Game (turns 7+)
All of those Myriad Landscapes, Weathered Wayfarers, Oreskos Explorers, etc. have hopefully put you in a position to close games out using Battlecruisers such as Sun Titan, Luminate Primordial, Angel of Serenity and Emeria Shepherd. They frequently enable "infinite value" chains, especially if you have like Mirrorpool to recur with your Sun Titans. Emeria, the Sky Ruin should also be online at this stage of the game and will make those endgame bombs that much more difficult to handle. Even if you're not on the "all Plains" plan you can still abuse things like Cloudpost/Storage Lands/etc. to fuel cards like Eldrazi Displacer, Mind's Eye and Endbringer or even have Sun Titan/Emeria Shepherd constantly recur your Mirrorpools. Moving on your creature-based/token/swarm decks should probably be looking towards things like Crescendo of War, Cathars' Crusade and/or True Conviction to close games. Otherwise token engines such as Luminarch Ascension and Sacred Mesa should have officially reached God-tier status given their ability to churn out endless amounts of threats. Either pair them with an Anthem or slap some Equipment on them and you should be good to go. Along those lines Blinkers such as Eldrazi Displacer can usually be activated 3+ times per circuit at this stage which is ridiculously overpowered when it's used on most 4-8 drops with solid ETB triggers. It also clears blockers and thwarts attackers making combat truly Hellish for your opposition. Even Mistveil Plains plays a significant role in that it can infinitely recur Squadron Hawks dawning Bonehoards/Strata Scythes or any other form of Equipment to hopefully squeak through for those last few points.
Consult this thread if you want to learn the basics on how to build proper multiplayer manabases that will consistently be able to cast their spells.
7. Conclusion
Since our time together is coming to a close I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on taking an active role in your extended Magic education. It's my hope that my guides have steered you in the right in the direction by clearly demonstrating to you what multiplayer decks should look like. From bright-eyed newcomers to grizzled veterans I'd like to think that there's something for everyone hidden within these walls of text and it's my hope that everyone who's taken the time to read this has emerged a stronger player as a result. If not, please feel free to let me know where I fell short as I'm always open to new ideas when it comes to the wide world of multiplayer Magic. Teaching is a give-and-take process and I'm largely reliant on the feedback of others to grow and evolve my methods. As much as I love to read cheerful emails from delighted students I also take any and all constructive criticism to heart. If you can dish it I can take it so please don't feel free to voice your discontent if you feel that I've lead you down or led you astray. Otherwise I'll thank you one last time for showing an active interest and involvement in improving as a player and it's my sincerest hope that you'll grow into a respectable Magician as a result. Finally, I'll stress that I'm always on the prowl in the multiplayer forums and I do my best to respond to every PM that gets sent my way. I'm not perfect but I make every effort to help those in need so feel free to contact me with any of your multiplayer concerns. From decklists to strategies to advice there's nothing that I can't help with and I encourage you to think of me as your ongoing mentor. Best of luck my friends!
Is Oath of Lieges potent enough for your Global Effects section?
It is always enjoyed in metas where I've played it... it makes casting Planar Cleansing easier, plus it provides more things for that Planar Cleansing to kill!
Cheers!
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If in the area, check out Gamers N Geeks and Mini War Games in Mobile, Alabama and Underhill's Games in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
Kjeldoran Outpost is my preferred token-maker. Still, one guy per turn isn't much in a MP game.
Kor Haven is meta-dependent, but can be a house in large-creature land.
Mistveil Plains allows for limited recursion and can somewhat help against mill.
New Benalia's only drawback is EBT, but its Scry 1 can be useful, with White's limited library tricks. It also dodges Flashfires and the like (yes, these cards pop up now and again in one of my groups).
An honorable mention to the Zendikar two-color manlands and Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion - giving doublestrike to any creature swings games.
I'm doing my best to keep the guides "pure." I only want to mention White cards since there are many formats (EDH, Star) that have strict color requirements and so I'd like to keep everything as relevant as possible. It also needless complicates things since there are hundreds of 2 card combos, multicolored cards and synergies in the game and I'd rather not have to discuss them all at length. I try to think of these guides as storehouses for the "better" cards of the color that anyone can throw into their decks. I want people to look at this and see good cards; not something that's going to put them into other colors.
Is Well of Lost Dreams worth considering under the artifact section as an alternative card drawing option? Only really works (obviously) in a lifegain deck, but in one, it can get a lot of cards if left unchecked, and is a bit cheaper (both mana and money) than the big alternative, Mind's Eye.
Is Well of Lost Dreams worth considering under the artifact section as an alternative card drawing option? Only really works (obviously) in a lifegain deck, but in one, it can get a lot of cards if left unchecked, and is a bit cheaper (both mana and money) than the big alternative, Mind's Eye.
I can't say that I've ever used the card, nor do I plan to, but that actually seems fairly legitimate. I could see it working fairly well in a Soul Sister deck with a bunch of Soul Warden creatures, since it would basically be a Mind's Eye at that point (assuming an aggro heavy meta obviously).
To be honest, I'm somewhat at a loss when it comes to pairing artifacts with White. The ones that work well with the color (Scroll Rack, Goblin Charbelcher) work VERY well, but everything else feels meh. It doesn't need the Oblivion Stone mass removal spells (it has a ton of those), it doesn't need Witchbane Orb effects, it doesn't need defensive cards (not many anyways)... it doesn't really need anything.
Thats a great guide tich! I didn't expect you to cover so many lifegain strategies but I gues thats what white does well.
Heartseeker is way better than the heavy bastilla in the equipment deck.
And since you asked, heres a new white deck. It's a combo/token strategy. Quickly play heaps of 1/1's then use Ashnod's Altar or Windbrisk Heights to cast something rediculuos like Storm Herd.
Thats a great guide tich! I didn't expect you to cover so many lifegain strategies but I gues thats what white does well.
I don't mind any strategy that actively tries to win the game. As much as I hate pointless lifegain, I don't have anything against it when it serves a purpose.
And since you asked, heres a new white deck. It's a combo/token strategy. Quickly play heaps of 1/1's then use Ashnod's Altar or Windbrisk Heights to cast something rediculuos like Storm Herd.
I want to keep this within Modern mainly because I like the newer look of the cards Looking for suggestions and my group of friends aren't really serious so it doesn't need to be as good as possible.
What about Knight of the holy Nimbus? Most resilient card I know, in most cases it reads: Indestructible, because no one wants to pay for it.
It's too risky in my mind. If someone does have 2 mana up, they basically have no reason not to pay it. It's also just a 2 mana 2/2, and even though it's resilient, that's not exactly going to take you very far. I can't imagine ever playing the card in a deck.
No Ajanis in the Planeswalkers list! M13 Ajani is probably too new to evaluate here, but Ajani Goldmane still deserves a mention. His ultimate goes off often, and is a hoot next to Wall of Reverence (I'm waiting for someone to pull this combo off in my MP Cube)!
Angel of Flight Alabaster under the permanent recursion dudes. One of my resident Threats has actually got this card working.
Mageta the Lion under mass creature removal (if you have ways of making him hexproof or indestructible, GG).
Aura of Silence under scaling cards. This thing nowadays affects all opponents (and is damned good).
Under WR, I am a massive fan of the Balefire Liege deck. And Balefire adores having Glory of Warfare and Nobilis of War sitting around too. All three cards are worthy of a mention. Intimidation Bolt, too (Fog, Bolt and trap card all in one - seriously good next to the Liege).
Zuran Orb's card tags are busted under "Prison/Stax Strategies".
One of my buddies at one point had a brutal mono-white control deck that ran World Queller next to It That Betrays. Pretty sure he just kept dropping Extraplanar Lenses and so forth to power them out fast, but once it was out... hootenanny! Probably worth a mention under control strategies!
I'd probably have some of the better angels under the Creature Curve section. Certainly Linvala, Keeper of Silence under 4CC (completely shuts down Elf decks). And 6CC+ probably deserves to at least mention Iona and Avacyn (both of which are amazing).
No Ajanis in the Planeswalkers list! M13 Ajani is probably too new to evaluate here, but Ajani Goldmane still deserves a mention. His ultimate goes off often, and is a hoot next to Wall of Reverence (I'm waiting for someone to pull this combo off in my MP Cube)!
Angel of Flight Alabaster under the permanent recursion dudes. One of my resident Threats has actually got this card working.
Mageta the Lion under mass creature removal (if you have ways of making him hexproof or indestructible, GG).
Aura of Silence under scaling cards. This thing nowadays affects all opponents (and is damned good).
Under WR, I am a massive fan of the Balefire Liege deck. And Balefire adores having Glory of Warfare and Nobilis of War sitting around too. All three cards are worthy of a mention. Intimidation Bolt, too (Fog, Bolt and trap card all in one - seriously good next to the Liege).
Zuran Orb's card tags are busted under "Prison/Stax Strategies".
One of my buddies at one point had a brutal mono-white control deck that ran World Queller next to It That Betrays. Pretty sure he just kept dropping Extraplanar Lenses and so forth to power them out fast, but once it was out... hootenanny! Probably worth a mention under control strategies!
I'd probably have some of the better angels under the Creature Curve section. Certainly Linvala, Keeper of Silence under 4CC (completely shuts down Elf decks). And 6CC+ probably deserves to at least mention Iona and Avacyn (both of which are amazing).
I agree with most of this. Aura of Silence isn't a scaling card though. That's for the Mortivores of the world that scale in power. It has a nice persistent, global effect, so it's listed under the persistent card section, but it's not much beyond that.
One annoying thing about writing these guides is that copy pasting from anything, even Notepad, always causes problems. Even on a .txt document with no tweaking, an even if Zuran Orb is written and spaced correctly, the links just won't work. It's one of the reasons why I end up posting "incomplete guides" only to finish them off later on.
Ajanis weren't on the list because I've always found them to be terrible, but then again all Walkers are terrible, so meh, may as well put them all on. It's either that or take them all off, something which I'm quite inclined to do at this point.
I felt the Grinding Station swap alleviated the need for some of your creatures to need power > 0. And also only cost me $0.99 instead of $20.00 for a set. I dropped down to 2 Greater Auramancy and added 2 Hanna's Custody to protect pretty much the majority of my combo now that people don't just let me sit there.
The deck is surprisingly consistent and I can land turn 4 kills a disgusting amount of times, so I usually try not to play it too many times in one sitting, lol. Not that this really added too much to the thread, just thought I'd toss in my 2 cents.
First off, I want to thank you for your excellent article. I've been playing for a decent amount of time and with white being my favorite color, this seems to be a pretty definitive guide. This has shown me quite a few great tricks that will up my game. I've been wanting to run a mono white for awhile, and this inspires me.
An excellent white card that I believe is worth mentioning is Battletide Alchemist. This card has bought me time for Felidar Sovereign many times. (Which considering I run a cleric deck is really easy.) As long as you can keep them covered they do absolute wonders.
Again though, thank you very much for writing this! I loved it.
I've tried the tokens sample deck provided in the sample decklist section. I've won twice in a row, but could not shake the feeling that the cards are sometimes working against themselves. Sometimes I have tokens and want to make more, but then I happen to blow up everything else. The token makers die when I want to keep everything else intact. Can't use Elspeth ultimate because everything but tokens die. Away goes Mobilize and Ascension.
I need some pointers to make it fully a token maker *with spells!
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God listens ... TO SLAYER!!!!!
Originally posted by mondu_the_fat: One minute you're arguing about meatlof and the next thing you know someone's sex life is being dredged up.
My playgroup: four people total.
We use the Legacy B&R list.
My meta consists of combo, control and some aggro / midrange decks.
My group uses proxies, so budget is not an issue. Because of this, things can get out of hand.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Strongest Creatures and Spells
3. Strengths and Weaknesses
4. Sample Decklists
5. Functional Lists
6. General Strategies
7. Conclusion
1. Introduction
Greetings fellow multiplayer Magic enthusiasts! For those of you who don't know me my name is Prid3 and I'm a 15+ year Magic: The Gathering veteran. I've been playing and following the game at a competitive-level since the year 2000 and so I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've literally poured tens of thousands of hours into mastering this game. While some Mages love Legacy and others can't live without EDH for as long as I've slung spells I've been a multiplayer Magic fanatic. Be it Constructed, Cube or EDH I've played every major multiplayer format to the ground while approaching every aspect (from deck-building to strategy) from a competitive mindset. As you've undoubtedly surmised by now the purpose of this guide is to expedite your transition from Magic duels (i.e. 1v1 games) to the substantially different world of multiplayer. It's an unquestionably difficult passage for players of all skill-levels to make and I'm hoping that my expertise and guidance will ultimately arm you with the knowledge that you'll need in order to thrive. Moreover, I recognize that Magic isn't played in a vacuum and that real-world players have real-world budgets. Unlike similar guides I won't blindly assume that you'll be able to drop thousands of dollars on a casual hobby without batting an eye. That isn't to say that I'll compromise my competitive nature by pushing sub-optimal and/or weak cards upon you but rather that the focus of this guide will be on affordable (yet competitive) staples that will still allow you to prosper in any multiplayer sphere.
2. Strongest Creatures and Spells
If you're a newer player who's trying to build his or her first decks then you've come to the right place my friends. Think of this section as your "cheat sheet" as it should more-or-less obsolete your need to scour across search engines for hours and/or prod random Internet strangers for card ideas. It exists solely to highlight and explain the most blatantly powerful creatures and spells that you should be looking to field whenever possible. If you ever find yourself stumped about what to play and/or how to flesh out your curves then this should give you a solid snapshot of your strongest options.
Limited Resources
Silence
Swords to Plowshares
Steelshaper's Gift, Relic Seeker
Balance
Luminarch Ascension
Serenity
Knight of the White Orchid, Oreskos Explorer
Rest in Peace
Grasp of Fate
Eldrazi Displacer
Act of Authority, Aura of Silence
Hushwing Gryff
Cataclysm
Armageddon
Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, Tragic Arrogance, Terminus
Cathars' Crusade
Karmic Guide
Sun Titan
Luminate Primordial
Angel of Serenity
Emeria Shepherd
Land Tax (+ Scroll Rack)
Weathered Wayfarer
Enlightened Tutor
Stoneforge Mystic
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Stony Silence
Containment Priest
Recruiter of the Guard
Aven Mindcensor
Humility
Ravages of War
Academy Rector
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Moat
Reveillark
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 CMC
Weathered Wayfarer: As long as you're not on the play you can continually activate this workhorse to ensure that you'll never fall behind on mana. Note that she fetches any land from Emeria, the Sky Ruin to Cloudpost.
Serra Ascendant: Busted in formats such as 2HG and EDH where you start with 30+ life.
Soul Warden, Soul's Attendant: Lifegain engines for players looking to abuse various synergies. See also: Authority of the Consuls, Auriok Champion.
Mother of Runes: In creature + removal based metagames she's a dominant force that makes combat/interaction Hellish for your opposition.
2 CMC
Stoneforge Mystic, Relic Seeker: From Skullclamp to Umezawa's Jitte to Batterskull there's no shortage of amazing Equipment to fetch and their bodies are relevant for Blink effects.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: Disruptive hatebear who pairs well with other Stax effects to significantly hinder your opposition.
Grand Abolisher: Stellar hatebear that neutralizes counterspells, spot removal, on-board tricks, everything.
Containment Priest: Menacing hatebear that combos with Eldrazi Displacer to trivialize creature-based strategies.
Spirit of the Labyrinth: Imposing hatebear who neutralizes card draw. Combos with Wheels to force each player to "mulligan to 1."
Kataki, War's Wage: Taxing hatebear that excels in big mana formats such as Vintage and EDH that are plagued with Artifact-based acceleration.
Serene Master: Fearsome blocker that effectively dissuades aggression. Only relevant for extremely aggressive metas.
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails: Solid mid-to-lategame mana sink that provides a passable body early on. Thwarts attackers, denies blockers, blanks bounce/removal, on and on and on.
Syndic of Tithes: Reasonable lifegain engine that brings a touch of reach to your lists.
Wall of Omens: Passable blocker who boasts immense synergy with blink/sacrifice effects. See also: Thraben Inspector.
3 CMC
Eldrazi Displacer: Magic's most powerful Blink engine by a fair margin. Thwarts attackers, clears blockers, abuses ETB triggers, on and on and on.
Recruiter of the Guard: Versatile tutor that nabs 95% of White's relevant 1-3 drops in addition to bombs such as Academy Rector and Karmic Guide. Pairs well with Blink effects.
Knight of the White Orchid: Blocker, accelerator, color fixer and Blink target. Note that this fetches any Plains, not just Basic ones.
Oreskos Explorer: Ensures that you'll never miss any land drops. Fetches any Plains including Mistveil Plains, Duals and Shocks.
Flickerwisp: Cheap blink enabler that effectively abuses your ETB triggers. Boasts immense synergy with Sun Titan since recurring them is essentially free.
Hushwing Gryff: In a world of Titans and Primordials any and all Torpor Orb effects are typically awesome.
Aven Mindcensor: Blanks Fetches, tutors, etc.
Peacekeeper: The cheapest Moat on the market. Being a small creature is even relevant for White's competitive revival effects.
Glowrider, Vryn Wingmare: While weaker than Thalia these disruptive spheres are nonetheless relevant for your degenerate Stax decks.
Loyal Retainers: Cheap recursion spell for bombs such as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Iona, Shield of Emeria.
Stonecloaker: Inexpensive flier who disrupts graveyard-based strategies, blanks spot removal and/or abuses ETB triggers.
Mirror Entity: Tremendously powerful finisher for token/weenie decks.
Custodi Soulcaller, Mirran Crusader, Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Blade Splicer, Boros Reckoner, Hallowed Spiritkeeper: Generic brutes if you're looking for stat monsters to flesh out your curves.
4 CMC
Academy Rector: Fetches Survival of the Fittest, Necropotence, Birthing Pod, Yawgmoth's Bargain, Omniscience, whatever your heart desires.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence: Immensely disruptive threat that neuters legions of utility critters.
Hokori, Dust Drinker: Powerful Stax enabler that heavily disrupts your opposition.
False Prophet, Magus of the Disk: Formidable mass removal threats that are easy to recur.
Restoration Angel, Glimmerpoint Stag, Galepowder Mage: Value threats who abuse your ETB triggers.
Angel of Finality: Blinkable graveyard hoser.
Archangel of Tithes, Windborn Muse: Taxing, defensive threats that combo well with cards like Ghostly Prison and Sphere of Safety.
Rhox Faithmender: Possesses obvious applications in lifegain-orientated strategies. Think Soul Sisters.
Emeria Angel, Hero of Bladehold: Token producers for swarm decks.
5 CMC
Cataclysmic Gearhulk: While less powerful than Tragic Arrogance in a vacuum the body enables you to recur it with things like Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Karmic Guide, Angel of Serenity, Emeria Shepherd, etc.
Archangel Avacyn: The obscenely powerful love-child of Boros Charm and Flamebreak. Loves Blink effects and blows mass removal out of the water.
Reveillark, Karmic Guide: Formidable forms of recursion.
Stonehewer Giant: Repeatable Equipment tutor that loves Blink effects.
Herald of the Host: Stellar beater + blocker who pairs insanely well with sac outlets.
Knight-Captain of Eos: Extremely effective deterrent that's effortless to support. Good in Blink decks, easy to recur, easy to enable, on and on and on.
Glory: Commanding lategame mana sink. Blanks removal, neuters attackers, prevents blocking, etc.
Sunscorch Regent: Giant beater + lifegain engine for cards like Well of Lost Dreams.
Archangel of Thune: Imposing threat for lifegain-orientated strategies. Goes infinite with Spike Feeder.
Archon of Justice: Defensive threat + versatile removal spell rolled into one.
Cloudgoat Ranger, Geist-Honored Monk: Token producers for token strategies.
Wingmate Roc, Angel of Invention, Avacyn, Guardian Angel, Baneslayer Angel: Gladiators with moderately powerful effects.
6+ CMC
Sun Titan: Burly attacker + blocker and recursion engine. Loves Mirrorpool, Serenity, Flickerwisp, Eldrazi Displacer, on and on and on.
Sunblast Angel: Devastating form of mass removal that's Blinkable.
Felidar Sovereign: Non-interactive win condition for lifegain-based strategies. Stupidly powerful in formats such as EDH where you start at 40+ life.
Linvala, the Preserver: Decent value 6 drop ala Thragtusk. Pairs decently well with Blink effects and such.
Endbringer: Brings some much needed card draw to a color that sorely lacks it. Only requires a basic Cloudpost manabase to support.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite: A persistent Wrath of God + Dictate of Heliod is exactly as oppressive as it looks.
Angel of Serenity: Dominant form of removal and/or recursion. Combos with sac outlets to permanently exile key threats or alternatively can be used to generate tons of value for yourself.
Luminate Primordial: Potent form of mass removal that pairs well with Blink effects.
Emeria Shepherd: Degenerate form of mass recursion that provides immense value as the game progresses.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope: Heinously uninteractive + defensively slanted finisher.
Iona, Shield of Emeria: Oppressively disruptive threat that can completely lock (a) player(s) out of the game.
X Spells
Unexpectedly Absent: Popular in formats/metas swarming with Fetchlands and/or other cheap shuffle effects. Casting it in response to one forces your opponent to shuffle their permanent away making it a pseudo-Vindicate for only 2 mana.
1 CMC
Limited Resources: 1 mana "you win the game." Balanced. For best results pair with Aether Vial, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Thorn of Amethyst, Sphere of Resistance, Vryn Wingmare, etc.
Silence: The (arguably) most powerful disruption spell in the entire game. Perfect for degenerate combo decks seeking to end matches in a single turn.
Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile: Two of the best spot removal spells in the game (with StP being the literal best). Any creature, anywhere, anytime for a single mana is an absurd rate.
Land Tax: Tremendously powerful card advantage engine that will enable you to hit your land drops each and every turn. Combos with Scroll Rack to build your own Ancestral Recall every circuit.
Enlightened Tutor: Brings an enormous amount of consistency to your lists while simultaneously allowing you to reliably locate game-changing silver-bullets.
Tithe: Free 2-for-1 in a color that lacks card draw in general. It enables you to hit your early land drops and curve out into your lategame bombs.
Steelshaper's Gift: From Skullclamp to Umezawa's Jitte to Godsend to Strata Scythe to Bonehoard to Batterskull there's no shortage of amazing Equipment to fetch.
2 CMC
Balance: A 2 mana Mind Twist + Wrath of God + Armageddon is anything but balanced. The irony! Pair with fast mana and Zuran Orb for best effect.
Luminarch Ascension: Not only is this thing ridiculously easy to activate but it basically wins the game on the spot if people aren't able to remove it in a timely fashion.
Serenity: This card isn't even remotely fair. 2 mana for every Artifact and Enchantment is an oppressive return on your investment. Loves Sun Titan.
Rest in Peace: Most colors are very good at utilizing their graveyards as additional sources of value which provides you with a strong incentive to deny it from them.
Stony Silence: Hoses mana rocks such as Moxes, Black Lotus, Sol Ring, Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo, etc. making it ideal for "big mana" formats.
Suppression Field: While I wouldn't advocate playing 4 of these or anything it's hilarious how disruptive the first can be. Note that cracking Fetchlands isn't a mana ability!
Gift of Estates: While it's the worst of the "Tithe" effects it's still perfectly playable. That being said I personally recommend running Oreskos Explorer instead.
Tariff: Decent early-game "Innocent Blood" that can still get people once they start to jam their 6 drops.
3 CMC
Grasp of Fate: Likely the single best spot removal spell in the entire game. 3 mana to exile a threat from each opponent is an absurd return on your investment.
Aura of Silence: Stellar Disenchant alternative that keeps abusive Enchantment-based strategies in check. The extra mana is well worth it.
Act of Authority: Stellar (2+N)-for-1 that will frequently exile 4-5 things before someone decides to have it consume itself. It's a nonbo with Grasp of Fate but completely amazing in general.
Council's Judgment: Permanent Oblivion Ring that will occasionally remove multiple threats.
Abolish: "Free" instant-speed interaction.
Gift of Immortality: Fantastic long-term value spell that combos amazingly well with creatures such as Sun Titan.
Ghostway, Eerie Interlude: Blinks your entire team to abuse their ETB triggers, blanks removal (both spot and mass, both yours and theirs), negates combat tricks, etc.
Ghostly Prison: Decent defensive threat if you can stack a bunch of them together and/or destroy everyone's lands.
Idyllic Tutor: White has a large number of rather oppressive Enchantments that are worth spending an extra 3 mana to secure.
Sacred Mesa: Non-interactive and reliable (albeit slow) win condition.
4 CMC
Humility: One of the most oppressive spells in the entire game since it completely obsoletes creature-based strategies. Note that it doesn't affect manlands nor prevent cast triggers.
Cataclysm: It's (virtually) impossible for the other players to play around the effect and it's fantastic whether you're ahead or behind. This card is soul-crushing to play against.
Armageddon, Ravages of War: Get ahead on board, destroy all lands, secure victory. White has ridiculously oppressive mana denial effects.
Wrath of God, Day of Judgment: The gold standard for mass removal. You can't go wrong with jamming these in any multiplayer list.
Return to Dust: From Purphoros, God of the Forge to Grave Pact to Blightsteel Colossus it exiles any of the oppressive Enchantments/Artifacts that would otherwise ruin your day.
Parallax Wave: Abuses ETB triggers, removes blockers, thwarts attackers, on and on and on.
Replenish: The glue that holds most Enchantment-based strategies together.
Moat: Slightly more tolerable than Humility but still an incredibly oppressive effect to play against in general.
Congregate: Considering that this can easily gain 20+ life at EOT it's hard to argue against running 1 or 2 in your lists.
5 CMC
Tragic Arrogance: Much like Balance there's no world in which this is a fair effect.
Mind's Eye: Brings some much needed card draw to a color that sorely lacks it.
Cathars' Crusade: Utterly insane finisher in any token, weenie, creature-based and/or Blink archetype.
Rout: A 5 CMC Wrath of God is still passable but its true strength lies in its ability to be cast an instant-speed once you reach 7+ mana.
Hallowed Burial: While weaker than a normal Wrath in a vacuum these kinds of cards shine in metas plagued with Indestructible/Persist/Undying critters.
6+ CMC
Catastrophe: While it can function as a Wrath in a pinch this is basically a "bad Armageddon." Still a crazy powerful card by the way!
True Conviction: Creature-based shells usually need a reliable way to close games out and this is one of the strongest trumps available to you if board stalls are a concern.
Final Judgment, Descend Upon the Sinful: In a world of resilient threats, recursion and a host of "graveyard matters" effects Wrath of God doesn't always cut it.
Terminus: A 1 mana Wrath is almost always insane in practice and so you'll rarely find yourself passing-up on the opportunity to fire it off.
Austere Command: One of the most powerful and flexible forms of mass removal in the game.
Akroma's Vengeance, Planar Cleansing: Sometimes blowing up "the everything" is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Martyr's Bond: A blanket Grave Pact which makes it virtually impossible for players to profitably interact with you.
Mass Calcify: "Plague Wind" is perfect for closing games out when board-stalls occur.
Fiend Hunter, Reveillark, Karmic Guide, Sun Titan: Combo with each other, Saffi Eriksdotter, sac outlets and/or death triggers. Consult this thread for more details.
Boonweaver Giant: Combos with Pattern of Rebirth and any sac outlet. Consult this thread for more details.
Angel of Glory's Rise: Combos with any sac outlet, Fiend Hunter and any death trigger.
Land Tax, Endless Horizons: Combo with Goblin Charbelcher.
Rest in Peace: Combos with Helm of Obedience.
Enchanted Evening: Combos with Cleansing Meditation
For Planeswalkers I'm going to do something slightly different since they tend to lose a lot of their inherent value in MP formats. All things being equal players will typically remove them over smacking adversaries for trivial amounts of damage and since it's significantly harder to stabilize the board in MP than it is in duels this dramatically reduces their overall power-levels in my experience. While some remain competitive even in the face of multiple adversaries the vast majority of them don't pass muster when tasked to thrive against a slew of enemy combatants. As such I'll separate them between Competitive, Casual and Niche. The "Competitive" title will be reserved for Planesalkers that I'd actively field in any MP format against any number of players. The "Casual" section will highlight ones that I wouldn't expect to dominate big free-for-all/EDH/Cube games but that should experience moderate success in team and/or "small" formats such as 2HG, Emperor and 3-player FFA. The "Niche" section will showcase unique combos/interactions that could conceivably make certain Planeswalkers competitive that you'd never otherwise field. Ones not listed in any section are basically unplayable and can safely be ignored.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant: Knight-Errant is a premium token producer who quickly builds towards an extremely powerful ultimate. She plays especially well in White given her inherent synergy with both mass removal and mass land destruction both of which the colors has in spades. This makes her an ideal finisher for Control/Stax/Prison archetypes that can control the board and limit your adversaries' ability to interact with her. While her "to the skies" mode might seem trivial it's actually quite useful for breaking stalemates which can often be the bane of more casual metas. A 9/9 flying, vigilant Sun Titan (or whatever) is no joke and tends to kill players off rather quickly. That being said you're going to be producing tokens with her the overwhelming majority of the time while making a beeline for her ultimate. Whenever possible you should attempt to protect her with mass removal/mass land destruction given that she's already a natural fit for Control/Stax strategies.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion: Sun's Champion is a premier Midrange/Control/Prison finisher that strikes the perfect balance between Wrath of God, Increasing Devotion and Dictate of Heliod. White is perfectly adept at protecting her with its plethora of mass removal options and curving her into an Armageddon isn't easy to beat. Pumping out 3 warm bodies a turn is extremely relevant, especially if you already have cards like Cathars' Crusade in your list. Otherwise her ult will eventually win games if left unchecked since it adds another "over-the-top" finisher to your lists without consuming a precious deck slot.
Ajani, Caller of the Pride: Decent build-around-me for team formats such as 2HG and Emperor since you can +1 him on your Ally's threats in order to A) protect him and B) quickly build towards an ultimate that wins the game. Alternatively you can try for turn 2-3 Ajani into a turn 3-4 Armageddon at which point it's conceivable that you could ult and win the game before anyone recovers. Mother of Runes into Grand Arbiter into Ajani into Armageddon (or something similar) isn't easy to beat and between cards like Gemstone Caverns and/or Chrome Mox that can easily come down on turn 3.
Gideon Jura: Gideon is a workhorse in formats such as 2HG and 3 player FFAs with small numbers of players. All of his modes are extremely relevant as he's frequently able to force your opponents to suicide their threats into your blockers before beating in for 6 every turn. Otherwise you can pair him Wraths/mass land destruction at which point he can easily finish the job or even field him as a generic "Flametongue Kavu" that kills a critter while leaving a solid threat behind.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: Much like Jura this Gideon is a solid beater but unlike his 5 CMC brother he has significantly more value in token-based decks. An indestructible Glorious Anthem is sweet and the ability to churn out a 2/2 every turn gets insanely out-of-hand over time. While he shines in smaller formats such as 2HG he struggles to generate significant value in larger Chaos games.
Elspeth Tirel: Decent value engine/lifegain spell for token decks. Her main strength is her ability to +2 the turn that she comes into play and -5 on the following one in order to Hour of Reckoning the field (and then some!) without dying in the process. Her -2 is "fine" but at that point you may well play Sun's Champion so don't field Tirel unless you're looking for a Wrath effect for your token-based shells.
Nahiri, the Lithomancer: Reasonable value engine for Equipment-based decks. A common "trick" to employ with her is to attack with your Equipped creatures and then activate Nahiri's +1 post-combat build a burly blocker without having to spend any mana. Otherwise she recurs fallen armaments and her ultimate wins the game extremely quickly should you manage to reach it.
Myriad Landscape: Free 2-for-1 for 1-2 color decks with manageable color requirements. Fetching Plains is relevant for Emeria, the Sky Ruin and such.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin: Having a few of these in your decks is almost always advisable. It provides you with a powerful lategame recursion engine at a very low opportunity cost.
Karoo, Bouncelands: Free 2-for-1s that will enable you to curve out into 6-8 drops that much more easily. Nonbos with Emeria, the Sky Ruin unfortunately.
Mistveil Plains: Provides value to things like Squadron Hawk and Stoneforge Mystic. It's Fetchable and Emeria, the Sky Ruin recognizes it.
Mirrorpool: Amazing value engine for Sun Titan/Emeria Shepherd lists.
Kor Haven: A Maze of Ith that doesn't untap the attacker is a welcome addition to most Control decks (especially in EDH).
Kjeldoran Outpost: Decent way to add inevitability to lists already running equipment such as Strata Scythe and/or Bonehoard.
Karakas: "Strictly better" Plains that randomly provides disruption, protects your own Legends and/or combos with Mangara of Corondor.
Serra's Sanctum: Bonkers in enchantment-based decks.
Flagstones of Trokair: "Strictly better" Plains that thins your deck and that has obvious synergy with "Armageddon" type spells and effects.
Windbrisk Heights: Free 2-for-1 for token/weenie-based strategies.
Westvale Abbey: White has plenty of Kjeldoran Outpost, Mobilization and/or Increasing Devotion-esque token engines/generators that it can employ to fuel Ormendahl, Profane Prince.
Consult this thread for all your multicolored needs. It lists the most powerful gold cards that the various color combos have to offer.
3. Strengths and Weaknesses
Every color brings a unique set of strengths and weaknesses to multiplayer that players of all skill levels should all be made aware of. Not only will it enable you to make better deckbuilding decisions but it will also prepare you to expose and exploit the inherent faults in opposing ones. Being in-tune with a color's strong points will save you time, mental energy, boost your self-confidence and improve your overall happiness during your games. After all, knowledge is power, especially when it comes to things that we're good at. This will ultimately allow you to grow as a player faster than you ever thought possible which is why it's vital to understand what you're capable of doing and why. Moreover, knowing your limitations will prevent you from engaging in activities where you won't be able to make much of an impact. After all, frivolous pursuits are immensely frustrating and the last thing that you want to do is tilt yourself into making rash, emotional and/or irrational decisions out of impatience. Furthermore, weaknesses are opportunities that your adversaries will frequently be be seeking to exploit and you'll need to adjust your tactics accordingly. Preemptively enacting counter-measures and developing robust strategies is a must if you truly want to thrive in a multiplayer setting and you'll need conscious knowledge of your decks' flaws in order to prepare those.
Mass Removal
Mass removal plays an vital role in multiplayer given that it enables players to profitably interact with their adversaries without falling impossibly far behind in resources. Spot removal clearly has its uses but it's not as though you can Swords to Plowshares every threat played by every opponent and still expect to emerge victorious. A short list of extremely powerful options includes Balance, Tariff, Planar Collapse, Grasp of Fate, Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, Tragic Arrogance, Terminus and Austere Command. Are people on aggro? Day of Judgment them back to the Stone Age. Are people on Black/Green recursion decks? Hallowed Burial/Descend Upon the Sinful their butts. Are pillow-fort decks causing you fits? Tell them to suck an Austere Command. The onus ultimately falls on you to balance their pros and cons however there should almost always be something that will excel for you and your meta.
Mass Land Destruction
Between Limited Resources, Armageddon, Ravages of War, Cataclysm, Hokori, Dust Drinker and Catastrophe it's clear that White is the uncontested king of MLD. This is especially relevant in the context of multiplayer Magic given that outside of combo kills one of the easiest way to secure wins is to get ahead on the board before enacting the apocalypse. It leaves everyone powerless to thwart your advances ensuring that you'll secure victory at some point down the road. This makes White one of the premier multiplayer Stax/Mana Denial/Prison colors as it's one of the few that's consistently capable of severely hindering the mana progression of each of your adversaries.
Artifact and Enchantment Removal
Most multiplayer formats are defined by powerful Artifacts and Enchantments and luckily for White mages that typically isn't much of a concern. For spot removal there's plenty of competitive staples such as Abolish, Act of Authority, Grasp of Fate and/or Return to Dust that offer an absurd return on investment. Moving on Serenity is a complete joke of a card that will usually pay for itself ten times over and that's even before your Sun Titans begin to recur them. There's also Aura of Silence which is the best Disenchant that you'll ever get your hands on since the disruption is extremely relevant and keeps people honest. Otherwise there's Fracturing Gust which brings a bit of lifegain to your lists or even Austere Command which serves double-duty as an answer to creatures. Beyond that there's a half-dozen Paraselene effects in circulation including Cleansing Meditation if you're in the market to keep your own goodies around. While White doesn't possess any "Creeping Corrosion" type spells that nuke all Artifacts Dust to Dust is still fine in a pinch.
Early Game Creatures
Most colors have incredibly anemic early game creatures that typically don't accomplish anything significant. White, on the other hand, has plenty of competitive staples that you can and should feel actively happy to cast on curve. At 1 CMC there's Weathered Wayfarer which is playable in any Wx shell in any multiplayer format and in the context of 2HG and EDH you also get to toss Serra Ascendant's name into the mix. At 2 CMC there's cards like Stoneforge Mystic and Relic Seeker which are absurdly powerful for their cost. Fetching Skullclamp, Umezawa's Jitte, Sword of Fire and Ice, etc. is fantastic and makes them playable in most multiplayer spheres. Otherwise it also has a slew of disruptive threats such as Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Containment Priest, Grand Abolisher, Kataki, War's Wage, Spirit of the Labyrinth and more all of which are infuriating to play against. Even the 3 CMC slot is jam-packed with goodies such as Knight of the White Orchid, Oreskos Explorer, Eldrazi Displacer, Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Aven Mindcensor and Hushwing Gryff. All these are more are absurd cards in every MP format and competitive at (basically) every level of play.
Spot Removal
While I recognize that spot removal is at its worst in multiplayer it's still a necessary evil at times. You're not going to beat that turn 2 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur otherwise nor can you allow that Consecrated Sphinx/Void Winnower (or whatever) to persist unchecked. Swords to Plowshares always has and always will be the single strongest spot removal spell in the entire game. Period. Paying a single mana to exile a creature is a ridiculous rate that will demoralize people trying to combo-off and/or slam 6+ CMC bombs. Path to Exile, Condemn, Unexpectedly Absent, Darksteel Mutation and Declaration in Stone are other examples of extremely potent forms of spot removal that will enable you to interact with any creature under the sun. When paired with versatile "Vindicates" (such as Oblivion Ring and Council's Judgment) and solid N-for-1s (such as Grasp of Fate, Act of Authority and Return to Dust) you should be able to answer most things that your opponents will throw at you. In that sense it's easy to see why White is the king of spot removal given it's unparalleled ability to neutralize key threats both quickly and efficiently.
Disruption
In multiplayer you typically need to lean heavily on persistent + global forms of disruption such as Grafdigger's Cage, Null Rod, Cursed Totem and Torpor Orb in order to adequately defend yourself from degenerate combos and oppressive synergies. While White may not be able to Tinker out a Blightsteel Colossus nor Animate Dead an Entombed Griselbrand it can make life a living Hell for those kinds of strategies. Limited Resources, Silence, Rest in Peace, Suppression Field, Grand Abolisher, Stony Silence, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Containment Priest, Aura of Silence, Vryn Wingmare, Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Hushwing Gryff, Aven Mindcensor, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Humility, Linvala, Keeper of Silence and more are all fantastic solutions to degenerate gameplans that force people to play honest games of Magic. Even though it's one of the most fair colors (fair being an undesirable adjective in this instance) it's also the best one at preventing others from enacting their own oppressive gameplans which, all things being equal, is still a fantastic place to be.
"Infinite" Value
While White isn't much a combo color it offers extremely resilient endgame strategies focused on generating "infinite" value in order to slowly grind your opposition out of the game. Basic examples include cards such as Sun Titan, Angel of Serenity and/or Emeria Shepherd that enable you to recur everything fallen forces lost throughout your matches. Moreover there's cards such as Eldrazi Displacer which pair with powerful ETB/LTB triggers in order to to generate an obscene amount of value over time. Beyond that there's also Emeria, the Sky Ruin which is yet another resilient + persistent form of recursion that will permit you to grind your opposition to the ground. On a similar note White has plenty of robust token generators such as Kjeldoran Outpost, Luminarch Ascension, Mastery of the Unseen and Sacred Mesa that boast immense synergy with Equipment which they can employ to secure wins in the long-run.
Weak Combos
White is a weak combo color in terms of both quantity and quality. Of the few that it does possess (think Rest in Peace + Helm of Obedience and Land Tax/Endless Horizons + Goblin Charbelcher) they tend to be relatively slow, only kill a single opponent each turn and are vulnerable to removal in the interim. Whereas Black can Victimize a Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion, Blue can Enter the Infinite into Beacon of Tomorrows, Green can Tooth and Nail a Pestermite + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Red can Repercussion + Blasphemous Act, etc. White doesn't possess many "auto win" cards/combos that function against any number of adversaries. Since combos are the most reliable multiplayer win conditions by many orders of magnitude this makes White significantly less appealing since it lacks reliable ways to close games out.
No Card Draw
White only has access to a small number of spells that even state "draw a card" on them and most are either wildly unplayable and/or extremely conditional. While it's still clearly capable of generating card advantage its only generic options for card draw are Artifact-based solutions such as Mind's Eye and Staff of Nin. As such it struggles to keep pace with the likes of Blue/Green/Black which are easily capable of supporting robust forms of card advantage with actual card draw such as Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Greater Good, Syphon Mind and Consecrated Sphinx. It's not as though White is the king of card advantage to begin with and since it literally has no generic forms of card draw it can be difficult to justify building base-White decks unless you're employing various Stax/denial tactics which will prevent people from being able to take advantage of their additional resources.
Slow
Earlier I explained how White has a plethora of powerful lategame recursive finishers such as Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Sun Titan and Emeria Shepherd that eventually defeat any number of players through any amount of removal. Unfortunately for White most of the other colors have equally powerful value engines that cost significantly less mana. Mystic Remora, Animate Dead, Sylvan Library, Survival of the Fittest, Phyrexian Arena, Recurring Nightmare, Greater Good and more are examples of cheap value engines that can secure wins long before 6-8 drops become a concern. While White does possess a small number of extremely powerful value threats they're typically conditional, niche, obscure and/or expensive $ wise (think Luminarch Ascension, Loyal Retainers and Academy Rector). This makes them impractical solutions at best for the vast majority of the casual playerbase. The unfortunate reality is that White decks typically fall too far behind too early and never reach those ultra-lategame scenarios where cards like Emeria Shepherd seize complete control of the game.
4. Sample Decklists
The purpose of this section will be to provide you with an idea of what completed multiplayer decklists could look like. They're all going to be built with a reasonable budgets in mind (no cards that cost more than $5.00 whenever possible) while adhering to the Legacy banned and restricted list. Don't expect me to go all-out on degenerate combos or extremely unfun mechanics either. I want to showcase reasonably interactive decks that play relatively fun, fair Magic. I'll do my best to highlight the most important interactions and synergies among the various cards which probably means that I won't spend too much time explaining why Mizzium Mortars is in the deck. They'll be good starting points for anyone looking to build similar lists by highlighting some of the most obvious card choices. Finally, please bear in mind that these deck lists will become somewhat outdated and sub-optimal over time. I'll make every effort to update them as frequently as needed but at the end of the day I'm only one man. They'll still be useful learning tools even if they're not always especially relevant.
13x Plains
4x Myriad Landscape
4x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
2x Mirrorpool
1x Mistveil Plains
Creatures (24)
4x Relic Seeker
4x Squadron Hawk
2x Oreskos Explorer
2x Knight of the White Orchid
4x Flickerwisp
4x Sun Titan
1x Angel of Serenity
1x Luminate Primordial
2x Emeria Shepherd
1x Sword of the Animist
4x Grasp of Fate
1x Loxodon Warhammer
1x Aura of Silence
4x Day of Judgment
1x Bonehoard
This is a rough shell for a generic Relic Seeker + Squadron Hawk + Equipment deck that abuses Mistveil Plains in order to generate "infinite" flying threats. The idea here is to constantly reshuffle fallen Squadron Hawks back in to your library with Mistveil Plains and to ensure that you never play more than 2 at a time. That way you'll always have a target for your Equipment and so you should be able to grind people out over time. Grasp of Fate and Day of Judgment provide you with interaction against most opposing strategies and the rest of the deck is focused around generating value via ETB triggers and Blink effects. Mirrorpool + Sun Titan gives the deck solid inevitability, especially when you take Emeria Shepherd into account. Having Sun Titan recur a Myriad Landscape only to fetch 2 Plains and recur 3 permanents to play tends to spell lights out for your opposition. Otherwise Emeria, the Sky Ruin is the ultimate value engine and should ensure that no one can run you out of threats.
Some interactions to keep in mind include:
Mistveil Plains + Squadron Hawk = "infinite" threats,
Oreskos Explorer/Knight of the White Orchid can fetch Mistveil Plains,
Flickerwisp can reset Grasp of Fate to choose newer, more important targets,
Sun Titan recurring Myriad Landscape fuels Emeria, the Sky Ruin and Emeria Shepherd,
Mirrorpool + Sun Titan generates a ton of midgame value.
Devotion strategies tend to center around the card Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Gods (Heliod, God of the Sun in this instance) and tend to be more explosive than generic midrange archetypes. Try to limit them to 1-2 colors whenever possible and take advantage of things like Boros Reckoner and/or Divinity of Pride that have a lot of W symbols in their costs. Give preference to permanents over non-permanents when you're looking for a specific effect even if the non-permanent version is arguably more powerful. Banisher Priest isn't better than Swords to Plowshares in a vacuum but in the context of a deck that wants to activate Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx/Heliod, God of the Sun the "weaker" spell can often be superior.
20x Plains
3x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Creatures (23)
4x Figure of Destiny
2x Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
2x Syndic of Tithes
4x Knight of the White Orchid
4x Archangel of Tithes
1x Heliod, God of the Sun
1x Avacyn, Guardian Angel
1x Glory
1x Herald of the Host
1x Sun Titan
1x Diluvian Primordial
1x Emeria Shepherd
4x Mastery of the Unseen
2x Quarantine Field
4x Grasp of Fate
2x Mass Calcify
Note: in an ideal world your 1 drop of choice would be Weathered Wayfarer given his ability to tutor up key lands such as Emeria, the Sky Ruin and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.
Decks like these are easy to pilot because your only goal is to cast anything and everything that will increase your Devotion in order to transform your Nykthoses and Heliods into insanely powerful Magic cards. If you're looking to splash, again, keep it to one color whenever possible. Play some number of mana sinks as you'll want to be able to spend the 10+ mana that you'll have access to on your turns. On that note don't be shy about fielding a small number of incredibly expensive game-enders because you'll easily be able to support them. I also want to stress how should try and get creative and look for unique opportunities to abuse off-the-wall cards. For example if you activate Nykthos after Herald of the Host has attacked you'll generate the extra 2N mana where N is the number of Myriad copies created. Assuming that you have a Mastery of the Unseen in play that's almost always going to be at least another free activation.
Soul Sisters scale insanely well with the # of players and can fuel any number of lifegain matters cards such as Ajani's Pridemate, Well of Lost Dreams, Archanegl of Thune and Felidar Sovereign. Given enough time and lifegain you should be able to eventually secure a victory using cards like Test of Endurance and/or leaning on Emeria to recur your Felidar Sovereigns until one sticks. Until then your primary goal should be to gum up the ground and/or clear the board until you can stick something that will actually win the game.
16x Plains
4x Myriad Landscape
4x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Creatures (28)
4x Soul Warden
4x Soul's Attendant
4x Ajani's Pridemate
4x Spectral Procession
2x Oreskos Explorer
2x Rhox Faithmender
4x Sunscorch Regent
4x Felidar Sovereign
2x Authority of the Consuls
4x Well of Lost Dreams
1x Test of Endurance
1x Alhammarret's Archive
The archetype speaks for itself and while there's endless ways to go about building it the one that I've showcased is mostly concerned about fielding big blockers and abusing the increased number of players that multiplayer matches offer. Note that the deck can easily be built without all of the cheesy "auto-win" cards but I think that it's important to highlight them since this one of the easiest shells with which to abuse them.
Token decks are basically just an excuse to play with Intangible Virtue and Cathars' Crusade which are both immensely powerful Magic cards that you should be looking to abuse as much as humanely possible. The goal of these decks is to flood the board with tons of small-fries, beef them up and then go to town on people after clearing their blockers away.
17x Plains
4x Windbrisk Heights
4x Westvale Abbey
Spells (35)
4x Secure the Wastes
2x Raise the Alarm
4x Intangible Virtue
4x Spectral Procession
2x Sacred Mesa
4x Benevolent Offering
2x Crescendo of War
4x Increasing Devotion
4x Cathars' Crusade
1x True Conviction
4x Hour of Reckoning
Things like Mentor of the Meek, Flashback spells, and persistent token producing engines give you a decent game against Control decks and ensure that you won't lose outright to a bit of mass removal. This particular version of the deck is a bit soft to Enchantments/Artifacts but you can always shore that weakness up by adding cards such as Grasp of Fate or Return to Dust if you're especially worried about them. Hour of Reckoning is typically the strongest Wrath to field in my experience but things like Austere Command and Martial Coup have their uses as well. As always the card choices basically speak for themselves and there's nothing too new or innovative present in the list. Feel free to change the numbers to suit your own personal needs but something close to this is what you should probably be aiming for.
Insofar as Wizards keeps printing cards like Day of Judgment White-based Control will always be a powerful archetype. Though the color has never gotten any remotely playable forms of card draw it tends to receive the lion's share of the removal in a given format. Combo and Blue-based Control strategies can given it a lot of trouble in that sense but in the context of fair, creature-based metagames the color can be oppressively dominant.
24x Plains
Creatures (12)
4x Perimeter Captain
4x Serene Master
4x Oreskos Explorer
Spells (24)
2x Swords to Plowshares
4x Luminarch Ascension
2x Tariff
2x Grasp of Fate
1x Sacred Mesa
1x Ajani, Caller of the Pride
4x Day of Judgment
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4x Tragic Arrogance
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Staff of Nin
This is a basic White Control deck that pairs solid removal with great defensive bodies and uninteractive win conditions. There are various combo-kills at your disposal include things like Rest in Peace + Helm of Obedience, Land Tax/Endless Horizons + Goblin Charbelcher and/or turn 1 Perimeter Captain into turn 2 Luminarch Ascension. The aforementioned Land Tax can also be paired with Scroll Rack to "Ancestral Recall" every turn which is easily the strongest draw engine that you'll ever find in mono-White. Otherwise you'll have to lean on Artifact-based alternatives such as the ones that I've proposed. I purposely kept some of the more expensive cards out of the sample deck but it's important to keep them all in mind.
For as long as there have been creatures with powerful "enters the battlefield" triggers Blink decks have thrived. The basic goal is to lead with creatures that provide immediate value and proceed to Flickerwisp, Restoration Angel, Sun Titan and Angel of Serenity them until the end of time. White may not have much in the way of actual card draw but when that's your gameplan you'll certainly never find yourself lacking in the card advantage department. Let's start things off with a rough shell:
14x Plains
4x Cloudpost
4x Glimmerpost
2x Thespian's Stage
Creatures (26)
2x Thraben Inspector
4x Wall of Omens
4x Eldrazi Displacer
2x Knight of the White Orchid
2x Oreskos Explorer
4x Glimmerpoint Stag
1x Angel of Finality
2x Knight-Captain of Eos
2x Sun Titan
1x Sunblast Angel
1x Subjugator Angel
1x Luminate Primordial
4x Gift of Immortality
4x Eerie Interlude
2x Panharmonicon
As always the deck speaks for itself in that it's nothing but a pile of blinkers and things that want to be blinked. The Cloudpost manabase is perfect for fueling Eldrazi Displacer and ensures that your lategame value potential is limitless. This is especially true if you can assemble Gift of Immorality + Sun Titan (who can then recur fallen Displacers) which tends to provide absurd amounts of value over time. If you can afford to field Restoration Angel then it's a no-brainer swap over Glimmerpoint Stag but even Galepowder Mage is a reasonable alternative.
One of White's flagship archetypes is the enchantment-based "pillow-fort" archetype that seeks to create board states in which it cannot possibly lose. You can achieve this either by comboing cards like Humility and Orim's Prayer together or simply by amassing a bunch of Ghostly Prisons, Sphere of Safetys, etc. to the point where no one can realistically attack you. From there a card like Dovescape can often (figuratively) end the game on the spot. As long as you have something, anything in play that can win the game it'll get there eventually. A sample deck might look something like:
21x Plains
3x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Creatures (4)
4x Mesa Enchantress
Spells (32)
4x Soul Snare
4x Planar Collapse
2x Luminarch Ascension
1x Blind Obedience
4x Ghostly Prison
2x Grasp of Fate
1x Karmic Justice
4x Wrath of God
1x Ivory Mask
4x Sphere of Safety
2x Sigil of the Empty Throne
1x Dovescape
2x Open the Vaults
That being said there are a million ways to build the thing so don't worry too much about this exact list. Whenever possible you'll want to field big mana lands such as Serra's Sanctum and/or Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to fuel things like Enduring Ideal which can seize complete control of the game. Once Ideal is online you can fetch things like Dovescape into multiple Sphere of Safetys which should lock most players out of the game. From there you can find a Luminarch Ascension or whatever in order to win. Note that these decks can be as combo-focused as you want them to be. Want Land Tax + Scroll Rack? Get it in there. Want Rest in Peace + Helm of Obedience? Go for it. Endless Horizons + Goblin Charbelcher? That works too. If you can afford Enlightened Tutor and/or Idyllic Tutor, by all means, add them too for some added consistency.
With respect to splashes, the 2 main ones are Green and Blue. Green offers things like Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl, Argothian Enchantress (+ Green Sun's Zenith), Enchantress's Presence and Eidolon of Blossoms which bring a whole new level of speed and consistency. It also gives you access to Elephant Grass, Sterling Grove, Wheel of Sun and Moon, Privileged Position and more. With respect to Blue, you're looking at things like Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Propaganda, Copy Enchantment, Pendrell Mists and Meishin, the Mind Cage as your primary options. WU lists aren't as explosive as WG ones and your card draw is frequently less consistent but on the plus side the cards are all inexpensive and they still get the job done.
Unsurprisingly the color with Relic Seeker and Stoneforge Mystic is very good at building Equipment-based decks. Between Steelshaper's Gift, Sigarda's Aid, Stone Haven Outfitter, Open the Armory, Puresteel Paladin and Stonehewer Giant there's literally dozens of ways to abuse them and the only thing that you're tasked to do is pair your most menacing threats with the best armaments that you can get your hands on.
14x Plains
4x Ancient Den
4x Darksteel Citadel
1x Kjeldoran Outpost
Creatures (17)
4x Relic Seeker
4x Puresteel Paladin
4x Stone Haven Outfitter
1x Leonin Shikari
2x Kemba, Kha Regent
1x Stonehewer Giant
1x Sun Titan
4x Flayer Husk
2x Sigarda's Aid
1x Sword of the Animist
1x Mortarpod
1x Mobilization
1x Godsend
1x Loxodon Warhammer
1x Strata Scythe
1x Heartseeker
1x Bonehoard
4x Wrath of God
1x Nahiri, the Lithomancer
1x Argentum Armor
Puresteel Paladin does a ton of work as your primary draw engine and if you can achieve Metalcraft (hence the artifact lands) then you can destroy people with things like Argentum Armor and Godsend. Otherwise the decks plays a lot of recursion and token producers to ensure that you'll always have a home for your weapons. Oh, I do realize that this deck doesn't have Stoneforge Mystic, Umezawa's Jitte, Sword of Fire and Ice, Batterskull, etc. but, again, these decks are built with budgets in mind. If you own those cards, awesome! If you want to field different equipment/critters, by all means! This is an extremely rough list and that you can fool around with as much as you want.
While Red may possess Wildfire and Black Death Cloud no other color has anything remotely close to Armageddon. Although mass land destruction is one of the most despised strategies in the entire game it's also exceptionally powerful which compels me to cover it in some way, shape or form. These decks tend pilot themselves in the sense that your one and only gameplan is to curve out with dudes on turns 1-3 and then (hopefully) cast some sort of 'Geddon effect on turn 4 to seal the game in your favor. I want to stress that people will HATE you for playing this type of deck so please proceed with caution. You wouldn't want to invest into a deck only to have it banned after a single game!
24x Plains
Creatures (24)
4x Mother of Runes
4x Relic Seeker
4x Hangarback Walker
4x Spirit of the Labyrinth
4x Blade Splicer
4x Hallowed Spiritkeeper
4x Skullclamp
4x Ajani, Caller of the Pride
4x Armageddon
While I generally try and propose Legacy-legal decks it would be a crying shame if I didn't post something that abuses the oh-so-affordable Skullclamp. This is a classic "Planeswalker into MLD" shell seeking to to curve 1-2-3-Armageddon each and every game. From there you'll ideally build towards a game-winning ultimate while protecting your Planeswalker with defensive threats and/or removal. Otherwise you can lean on the absurd card advantage generated by Skullclamp in order to tear through your deck at an insane pace.
5. Functional Lists
Bluntly put it's far too impractical to have me discuss every possible playable in detail. At some point it all starts to read the same given that Magic is filled with redundant effects that accomplish the same goal. This section is more-or-less a raw information dump that will house (what I believe to be) the most important types of cards and the strongest options available to you within those groups. Now, be forewarned that it's not going to showcase "every possible playable" and/or "every possible type of card." I'm going to focus on the ones that will win you multiplayer games on a consistent basis since my end-goal here is to arm you with the tools that you'll need to compete. Anything too niche and/or too marginal isn't going to make the cut so don't be surprised when you see how bare some of the sections are. For what it's worth I find that these kinds of lists are invaluable for singleton formats such as Cube and EDH and highly recommend that you start your search here if you're looking for key role-players.
Unexpectedly Absent: Only relevant in metas with large quantities of cheap shuffle effects.
Grasp of Fate
Council's Judgment
Oblation
Oblivion Ring, Banishing Light
Quarantine Field
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Condemn
Declaration in Stone
Darksteel Mutation
Grasp of Fate
Porphyry Nodes
Balance
Tariff
Planar Collapse
Martial Coup
Grasp of Fate
Wrath of God, Day of Judgment
False Prophet
Magus of the Disk
Tragic Arrogance
Hallowed Burial
Rout
Terminus
Austere Command
Phyrexian Rebirth
Akroma's Vengeance, Planar Cleansing
Final Judgment, Descend Upon the Sinful
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Mass Calcify
Sunscour
Limited Resources
Balance
Cataclysm
Armageddon, Ravages of War
Catastrophe
Serenity
Abolish
Act of Authority
Aura of Silence
Grasp of Fate
Dust to Dust
Cleansing Meditation
Cleanfall, Paraselene, Tempest of Light
Return to Dust
Fracturing Gust
Austere Command
Silence
Limited Resources
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Vryn Wingmare
Grand Abolisher
Containment Priest
Rest in Peace
Stony Silence
Kataki, War's Wage
Suppression Field
Spirit of the Labyrinth
Ethersworn Canonist
Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric
Leonin Arbiter, Aven Mindcensor
Hushwing Gryff
Thalia, Heretic Cathar
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Reconnaissance: Can be used to untap/protect your creatures after procing their "when ~ attacks" trigger and/or after they've dealt combat damage.
Astral Slide
Séance
Remembrance
Rally the Ancestors
Return to the Ranks
Loyal Retainers
Second Sunrise, Faith's Reward
Proclamation of Rebirth
Reveillark
Karmic Guide
Sun Titan
Angel of Serenity
Emeria Shepherd
Second Sunrise, Faith's Reward
Replenish
Retether
Starfield of Nyx
Sun Titan
Open the Vaults
Emeria Shepherd
Land Tax
Weathered Wayfarer
Tithe
Oreskos Explorer
Gift of Estates
Endless Horizons
Land Tax + Scroll Rack
Inheritance
Puresteel Paladin
Stone Haven Outfitter
Kor Spiritdancer
Mentor of the Meek
Mesa Enchantress
Bygone Bishop
Mind's Eye
Staff of Nin
Endbringer
Enlightened Tutor
Steelshaper's Gift, Open the Armory, Stoneforge Mystic, Relic Seeker, Stonehewer Giant
Recruiter of the Guard
Idyllic Tutor
Heliod's Pilgrim
Ranger of Eos
Thalia's Lancers
Peacekeeper
Solitary Confinement
Aurification
Worship
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
Comeuppance
Mystic Barrier
Flagstones of Trokair
Limited Resources
Balance
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Glowrider, Vryn Wingmare, Spelltithe Enforcer
Leonin Arbiter, Suppression Field, Aura of Silence
Stony Silence, Rest in Peace
Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Loxodon Gatekeeper, Kismet, Hokori, Dust Drinker
Peacekeeper
Ghostly Prison, Windborn Muse, Magus of the Tabernacle
Sanctum Prelate
Humility, Moat
Cataclysm, Armageddon, Ravages of War, Catastrophe
World Queller
Cloudshift, Otherworldly Journey, Long Road Home
Flickerform
Eldrazi Displacer
Ghostway, Eerie Interlude
Stonecloaker
Flickerwisp
Gift of Immortality
Parallax Wave
Restoration Angel, Glimmerpoint Stag
Galepowder Mage
Soul Snare, Nyx-Fleece Ram
Island Sanctuary, Solitary Confinement
Greater Auramancy
Luminarch Ascension, Sacred Mesa, Heliod, God of the Sun, Sigil of the Empty Throne
Stony Silence, Suppression Field, Rest in Peace, Blind Obedience
Ghostly Prison, Sphere of Safety
Grasp of Fate
Aura of Silence, Act of Authority
Karmic Justice, Martyr's Bond
Moat
Humility (+ Orim's Prayer, Righteous Cause)
Ivory Mask, Leyline of Sanctity, Imperial Mask
Dovescape (+ Orim's Prayer, Righteous Cause)
Serra's Sanctum, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Enlightened Tutor, Idyllic Tutor, Plea for Guidance
Mesa Enchantress
Replenish, Open the Vaults
Opalescence, Starfield of Nyx
Ajani's Chosen
Enduring Ideal
Soul Warden, Soul's Attendant, Authority of the Consuls, Auriok Champion, Sunscorch Regent
Syndic of Tithes, Blind Obedience, Basilica Guards, Knight of Obligation
Congregate, Righteous Cause, Shattered Angel
Rhox Faithmender, Boon Reflection, Alhammarret's Archive
Fracturing Gust
Wurmcoil Engine
Beacon of Immortality
Serra Ascendant
Ajani's Pridemate, Karlov of the Ghost Council
Test of Endurance, Felidar Sovereign
Well of Lost Dreams, Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Archangel of Thune
Divinity of Pride, Blood Baron of Vizkopa
Kjeldoran Outpost
Secure the Wastes, White Sun's Zenith, Decree of Justice
Luminarch Ascension, Mastery of the Unseen, Sacred Mesa
Raise the Alarm, Gather the Townsfolk, Hanweir Militia Captain
Spectral Procession, Promise of Bunrei, Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Benevolent Offering, Battle Screech, Hero of Bladehold, Emeria Angel
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Elspeth Tirel, Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Increasing Devotion, Conqueror's Pledge, Cloudgoat Ranger, Geist-Honored Monk, Knight-Captain of Eos, Angel of Invention
Nomads' Assembly
Deploy to the Front
Storm Herd
Intangible Virtue
Martial Coup
Mentor of the Meek
Mirror Entity
Crescendo of War
Jazal Goldmane
Cathars' Crusade
Dictate of Heliod
True Conviction
Hour of Reckoning
Steelshaper's Gift, Open the Armory
Sigarda's Aid
Stoneforge Mystic, Relic Seeker, Stonehewer Giant
Puresteel Paladin, Stone Haven Outfitter
Leonin Shikari
Auriok Steelshaper
Kemba, Kha Regent
Nahiri, the Lithomancer
Open the Vaults, Roar of Reclamation
Open the Armory, Three Dreams
Sigarda's Aid
Hyena Umbra, Ethereal Armor, Spirit Mantle, Spirit Link, Daybreak Coronet
Kor Spiritdancer
Nomad Mythmaker
Auramancer, Replenish, Retether, Open the Vaults
Heliod's Pilgrim, Totem-Guide Hartebeest, Auratouched Mage, Boonweaver Giant
Umbra Mystic
Ajani's Chosen
Starfield of Nyx
Intangible Virtue
Honor of the Pure, Crusade
Glorious Anthem, Spear of Heliod
Path of Bravery, Always Watching, Tempered Steel
Marshal's Anthem
Crescendo of War
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Dictate of Heliod
Cathars' Crusade
True Conviction
6. General Strategies
In this section I'll discuss broader subjects that aren't necessarily limited to specific colors. After all, my goal is ultimately to teach you the ins-and-outs of multiplayer deckbuilding from start to finish and that clearly entails a lot more than simply covering your relevant card choices. From deck composition to constructing a manabase to developing an overarching strategy there's countless variables for you to take into consideration and I'll make every effort to cover some of the more important subjects. While I clearly won't be able to hit on everything consider these to "must reads" if you're looking to take your game to the next level.
Early Game (turns 1-3)
Of all the colors White's early-game is by far and away the most intricate and varied. First of all it has access to some of the strongest interaction in the form of cards like Swords to Plowshares, Serenity and Grasp of Fate. All are ludicrously undercosted and provide an insane return on your investment. Moreover the color has access to stupidly disruptive threats such as Stony Silence, Rest in Peace, Suppression Field, Grand Abolisher, Containment Priest, Hushwing Gryff, Aven Mindcensor and many more which can all neutralize the unfair advances of your opposition. I want to stress the "and many more" clause as well because I could literally sit here and list a dozen other extremely competitive possibilities. As if that wasn't enough White also has access to amazing land fetchers such as Weathered Wayfarer, Land Tax, Oreskos Explorer and more which virtually ensure that you'll never miss a single land drop for the rest of the game. It's somewhat mind-blowing to think that it also has access to value engines such as Relic Seeker, Knight of the White Orchid and Eldrazi Displacer that will add to your board while "drawing cards" which should ensure that you don't get cheesed-out early on.
Mid Game (turns 4-6)
While it's incredibly difficult to make sweeping statements regarding White's midgame plans it's usually centered around disruption, mass removal and long-term value. It's typically not a color that draws cards, counters spells, ramps fatties and/or combos-off which means that you're frequently using this opportunity to set up for the lategame as opposed to trying squeak out some cheesy wins. A small % of the time you might go off with a turn 2 Luminarch Ascension but in general turns 4-6 are reserved for things like Wrath of God, Armageddon, Cathars' Crusade and Reveillark that seek to control the overall flow of the game as opposed to ending them in the short-run. You should still be making all of your land drops thanks to cards like Oreskos Explorer and if your list is creature-based then this is about the time where your key Equipment will start to come online. Your value won't come in the form of card draw but rather recursion, blinking creatures with ETB triggers and slamming efficient (mass) removal spells.
Late Game (turns 7+)
All of those Myriad Landscapes, Weathered Wayfarers, Oreskos Explorers, etc. have hopefully put you in a position to close games out using Battlecruisers such as Sun Titan, Luminate Primordial, Angel of Serenity and Emeria Shepherd. They frequently enable "infinite value" chains, especially if you have like Mirrorpool to recur with your Sun Titans. Emeria, the Sky Ruin should also be online at this stage of the game and will make those endgame bombs that much more difficult to handle. Even if you're not on the "all Plains" plan you can still abuse things like Cloudpost/Storage Lands/etc. to fuel cards like Eldrazi Displacer, Mind's Eye and Endbringer or even have Sun Titan/Emeria Shepherd constantly recur your Mirrorpools. Moving on your creature-based/token/swarm decks should probably be looking towards things like Crescendo of War, Cathars' Crusade and/or True Conviction to close games. Otherwise token engines such as Luminarch Ascension and Sacred Mesa should have officially reached God-tier status given their ability to churn out endless amounts of threats. Either pair them with an Anthem or slap some Equipment on them and you should be good to go. Along those lines Blinkers such as Eldrazi Displacer can usually be activated 3+ times per circuit at this stage which is ridiculously overpowered when it's used on most 4-8 drops with solid ETB triggers. It also clears blockers and thwarts attackers making combat truly Hellish for your opposition. Even Mistveil Plains plays a significant role in that it can infinitely recur Squadron Hawks dawning Bonehoards/Strata Scythes or any other form of Equipment to hopefully squeak through for those last few points.
Consult this thread if you want to learn the basics on how to build proper multiplayer manabases that will consistently be able to cast their spells.
7. Conclusion
Since our time together is coming to a close I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on taking an active role in your extended Magic education. It's my hope that my guides have steered you in the right in the direction by clearly demonstrating to you what multiplayer decks should look like. From bright-eyed newcomers to grizzled veterans I'd like to think that there's something for everyone hidden within these walls of text and it's my hope that everyone who's taken the time to read this has emerged a stronger player as a result. If not, please feel free to let me know where I fell short as I'm always open to new ideas when it comes to the wide world of multiplayer Magic. Teaching is a give-and-take process and I'm largely reliant on the feedback of others to grow and evolve my methods. As much as I love to read cheerful emails from delighted students I also take any and all constructive criticism to heart. If you can dish it I can take it so please don't feel free to voice your discontent if you feel that I've lead you down or led you astray. Otherwise I'll thank you one last time for showing an active interest and involvement in improving as a player and it's my sincerest hope that you'll grow into a respectable Magician as a result. Finally, I'll stress that I'm always on the prowl in the multiplayer forums and I do my best to respond to every PM that gets sent my way. I'm not perfect but I make every effort to help those in need so feel free to contact me with any of your multiplayer concerns. From decklists to strategies to advice there's nothing that I can't help with and I encourage you to think of me as your ongoing mentor. Best of luck my friends!
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
It is always enjoyed in metas where I've played it... it makes casting Planar Cleansing easier, plus it provides more things for that Planar Cleansing to kill!
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
Yep. Added.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Karakas for your own Legend-based shenanigans or for a Legend-heavy metagame.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin is a hoot, especially alongside all of the great sweepers white has.
Flagstones of Trokair pairs well with Armageddon and company.
Kjeldoran Outpost is my preferred token-maker. Still, one guy per turn isn't much in a MP game.
Kor Haven is meta-dependent, but can be a house in large-creature land.
Mistveil Plains allows for limited recursion and can somewhat help against mill.
New Benalia's only drawback is EBT, but its Scry 1 can be useful, with White's limited library tricks. It also dodges Flashfires and the like (yes, these cards pop up now and again in one of my groups).
Secluded Steppe has cycling. Good stuff, cycling.
Serra's Sanctum is a card with potential, but one I've never gotten to work. Perhaps I need to try harder?
While Windbrisk Heights encourages overextending, it still works in sweeper-light metas. Like mine!
An honorable mention to the Zendikar two-color manlands and Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion - giving doublestrike to any creature swings games.
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
Seconded that. My favorite color is also White, therefore I'm always delighted to see a writeup for white players.
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
I'm doing my best to keep the guides "pure." I only want to mention White cards since there are many formats (EDH, Star) that have strict color requirements and so I'd like to keep everything as relevant as possible. It also needless complicates things since there are hundreds of 2 card combos, multicolored cards and synergies in the game and I'd rather not have to discuss them all at length. I try to think of these guides as storehouses for the "better" cards of the color that anyone can throw into their decks. I want people to look at this and see good cards; not something that's going to put them into other colors.
I've updated the Strategy section (finally) so hopefully it will help you come up with some ideas.
Thanks for reminding me to add a lifegain section.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
I can't say that I've ever used the card, nor do I plan to, but that actually seems fairly legitimate. I could see it working fairly well in a Soul Sister deck with a bunch of Soul Warden creatures, since it would basically be a Mind's Eye at that point (assuming an aggro heavy meta obviously).
To be honest, I'm somewhat at a loss when it comes to pairing artifacts with White. The ones that work well with the color (Scroll Rack, Goblin Charbelcher) work VERY well, but everything else feels meh. It doesn't need the Oblivion Stone mass removal spells (it has a ton of those), it doesn't need Witchbane Orb effects, it doesn't need defensive cards (not many anyways)... it doesn't really need anything.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Heartseeker is way better than the heavy bastilla in the equipment deck.
And since you asked, heres a new white deck. It's a combo/token strategy. Quickly play heaps of 1/1's then use Ashnod's Altar or Windbrisk Heights to cast something rediculuos like Storm Herd.
17 Plains
4 Windbrisk Heights
3 Secluded Steppe
Creatures:
4 Doomed Traveler
2 Myr Sire
3 Elvish Hexhunter
4 Ashnod's Altar
1 Skullclamp
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Spectral Procession
2 Steelshaper's Gift
4 Martial Coup
4 Storm Herd
4 Hour of Reckoning
Another good strategy would be a flicker deck. You already mentioned Mangara of Corondor. Imagine casting Ghostway with stuff like Wall of Omens and Reveillark in play.
My Cube.
Casual Decks
UG Madness GU
W Stonehewer Equipment W
WU Millfolk UW
B Necroskitter (FFA) B
WU Multi-Kicker (FFA) UW
BW Near-Death Experience (FFA) WB
I don't mind any strategy that actively tries to win the game. As much as I hate pointless lifegain, I don't have anything against it when it serves a purpose.
I like the ability to ping players to be honest, but I'll still be adding it in anyways. It's a good way to Plague Wind the table.
Thanks for the list. I'll consider writing up another token deck.
Good catch. I'll try and concoct something for that too.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
4 Mesa Enchantress
3 Holy Day
3 Rebuff the Wicked
3 Open the Vaults
4 Greater Auramancy
1 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Luminarch Ascension
4 Oblivion Ring
3 Sigil of the Empty Throne
4 Seraph Sanctuary
I want to keep this within Modern mainly because I like the newer look of the cards
It's too risky in my mind. If someone does have 2 mana up, they basically have no reason not to pay it. It's also just a 2 mana 2/2, and even though it's resilient, that's not exactly going to take you very far. I can't imagine ever playing the card in a deck.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
A few things I picked up:
My Stupidly Large Number of Current Decks
PucaTrade with me!
The Multiplayer Power Rankings
Cube: the Gittening (My Multiplayer Cube) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor
The N00b Cube (Peasant cube for new players) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor
I agree with most of this. Aura of Silence isn't a scaling card though. That's for the Mortivores of the world that scale in power. It has a nice persistent, global effect, so it's listed under the persistent card section, but it's not much beyond that.
One annoying thing about writing these guides is that copy pasting from anything, even Notepad, always causes problems. Even on a .txt document with no tweaking, an even if Zuran Orb is written and spaced correctly, the links just won't work. It's one of the reasons why I end up posting "incomplete guides" only to finish them off later on.
Ajanis weren't on the list because I've always found them to be terrible, but then again all Walkers are terrible, so meh, may as well put them all on. It's either that or take them all off, something which I'm quite inclined to do at this point.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
I think that Meekstone works pretty well in weenie based strategies.
Good point! I'll be sure that add it in at the next update.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
4 Blasting Station
4 Grinding Station
4 Memnite
4 Phyrexian Walker
3 Idyllic Tutor
2 Greater Auramancy
2 Hanna's Custody
1 Sol Ring
I felt the Grinding Station swap alleviated the need for some of your creatures to need power > 0. And also only cost me $0.99 instead of $20.00 for a set. I dropped down to 2 Greater Auramancy and added 2 Hanna's Custody to protect pretty much the majority of my combo now that people don't just let me sit there.
The deck is surprisingly consistent and I can land turn 4 kills a disgusting amount of times, so I usually try not to play it too many times in one sitting, lol. Not that this really added too much to the thread, just thought I'd toss in my 2 cents.
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"A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer's hands."
- Seneca
An excellent white card that I believe is worth mentioning is Battletide Alchemist. This card has bought me time for Felidar Sovereign many times. (Which considering I run a cleric deck is really easy.) As long as you can keep them covered they do absolute wonders.
Again though, thank you very much for writing this! I loved it.
I need some pointers to make it fully a token maker *with spells!
My playgroup: four people total.
We use the Legacy B&R list.
My meta consists of combo, control and some aggro / midrange decks.
My group uses proxies, so budget is not an issue. Because of this, things can get out of hand.
You mentioned a singleton in token decks, but the card also works well in tribal, weenies, or with creatures with Double-Strike or evasion.
Depending on your meta, the tribal decks of your opponents could also end up helping you.
Moreover, you can activate its pump ability in response to removal to protect your dudes.
In multiplayer games where you can end up with a lot of mana, he can be very dangerous, even on the same turn you play him.