MTG Salvation

White is largely regarded as the weakest choice for mono-color EDH. I've really only seen four mono-white EDH decks that I thought were effective. They were, in order of effectiveness:

Elesh Norn control. This deck was brutal. It played with a full range of mono-white removal, including wraths and lots of spot removal, and tons of artifact ramp.

Eight-and-a-Half Tails. The versions I've seen work for this general have tended to be control/pillow fort. I've seen a couple do very well, but I've also seen them get stomped by really fast decks.

Kemba, Kha Regent voltron/swarm. Lots of equipment. Lots of cat tokens. Surprisingly fast and effective at times.

Isamaru, Hound of Konda voltron. I've seen this really do well in 1v1, and I've seen it occasionally pull off a win in group play due to how quickly it can rebuild post-wrath.

So, what have you seen do well in terms of mono-white? Note that I'm primarily interested in standard multiplayer EDH.

Mikaeus is the strongest I've seen outside of stax.

My Brigid Voltron deck did surprisingly well. She owned combat, equipped fatties, and a fair dose of control. That said, I have never seen an actual "good" Monowhite deck.

The only good mono-white deck I've ever encountered is Avacyn, Angel of Hope. I guess Iona could work sometimes too, but not as effective.

Kemba stax is pretty cool.

My buddy had a pretty brutal Linvala deck once.

(I'd still say Boros is the weakest option for your deck's color identity.)

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben White Weenie is the only good mono-W deck I've seen. Obligatory disclaimer that I don't play multiplayer, so I am speaking exclusively of 1v1.

Quote from Ryujin

Mikaeus is the strongest I've seen outside of stax.

Quote from Galspanic

My Brigid Voltron deck did surprisingly well. She owned combat, equipped fatties, and a fair dose of control. That said, I have never seen an actual "good" Monowhite deck.

Quote from Cabz

The only good mono-white deck I've ever encountered is Avacyn, Angel of Hope.

Quote from MRdown2urth

My buddy had a pretty brutal Linvala deck once.

(I'd still say Boros is the weakest option for your deck's color identity.)

The Kemba Stax, I can see how that would work. The others, I'd love to hear more. What made these other decks work?

Gals, do you have the Brigid decklist here on MTGS? I've done some craziness with Brigid + Basilisk Collar, but haven't really considered using her as a general.

I have definitely won a few with my Eight-and-a-Half-Tails build. This is still one of my favorite decks to play as it seems to frustrate others with it's unique blend of protection and control.

I am able to get this deck to work by setting up a force field with protection from white shenanigans and pariah effects. Then slowly take control and win with Gideon, Champion of Justice, Ajani/Luminarch Ascension tokens or Voltron damage with swords. Deck list in my signature!

I like to think that my Darien, King of Kjeldor deck is the best mono white deck I've seen, and I'm not just saying that because its mine. I've played against other mono white decks before and none of them seem to have the kick that mine has and the ability to rebuild after a wrath. This was the second deck that I ever made and have been tweaking it for over 4 years now. The list in my sig is very out of date btw I will eventually get around to redoing it some day.

It's here: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=262250

Clearly not up to date since I haven't looked at that thread in forever. Still, it was fun and white has seen a lot of great cards in the 2.5 years since I made that deck.

Well, white has all the wraths you could want, and recursion exists in this color. You can dig up lands with Land Tax, and there are numerous other permanent tutors. Token creators and Ghostly Prison variants let you persevere through combat.

I think this topic has forgotten the existence of this chick.

My Elesh Norn deck obv.

Quote from MRdown2urth

Well, white has all the wraths you could want, and recursion exists in this color. You can dig up lands with Land Tax, and there are numerous other permanent tutors. Token creators and Ghostly Prison variants let you persevere through combat.

And yet it has the darndest time interacting with the stack (Oblation aside). It's not bad at Draw-Go style Battleship EDH, but it feels really limited when I try it.

I have a Kong Ming white weenie anthems deck, when it rolls it's a tsunami, when the opponent is turbo-combos or specificaly build to prevent combat, it doesn't do so good.

Quote from JWK

-The others, I'd love to hear more. What made these other decks work?

I think the Avacyn deck was decent because when Avacyn drops, she is incredibly hard to remove if you are not running W. She also makes all other permanents hard to remove-- effectively nullifying things like Sylvan Primordial, Woodfall Primus, etc. I've found myself scrambling to find my Duplicant if I'm facing an Avacyn without White in my deck, because a lot of the time I'm out of counters or a Cavern of Souls is already on the field by the time Avacyn is about to hit. Not to mention she is a fastclock that has Vigilance and Flying, making her a voltron without effort.

Granted, if she's countered or bounced or of course.. exiled/tucked, she (and the rest of the deck) becomes a lot less of a problem, but still becomes the number 1 priority to get rid of when she drops.

Quote from danissimus

I believe we have played a game or two in Cockatrice.. (btw. the deck has about 75% win percentage in 4-players pods there..)

We probably have, you might be the player in question haha. I don't think I've encountered you for a while, though.

I really enjoy mono white and Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero is strong. I even play her outside of EDH in 5 player casual with her on the field almost every game. I've played a very good Avacyn, Angel of Hope deck and it can work. While Odric, Master Tactician is fun, Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero is a very reliable general with multiple ways to kill an entire table with combat damage.

Cards like Aura of Silence and Rule of Law can slow the game down making it easier for white to win. I've also found Banishing Stroke to be one of my favorite removals.

Quote from JWK

The Kemba Stax, I can see how that would work. The others, I'd love to hear more. What made these other decks work?

The Mikaeus deck was just your average token build. My buddy used to run Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, but Mikaeus ended up being so much faster.

The Yosei combo deck in my sig is very good, IMO.

Surprised I haven't seen anybody mention Akroma, Angel of Wrath yet. She's a pretty mean control commander, serving as an ever-present four turn clock (which can be made into a three-turn clock so easily it's practically a given) and starts the count off one turn early thanks to haste. Not only is she really hard to remove, but with enough mana and/or some reanimator pieces, leaving play isn't even a speedbump for her.

Quote from Pyramus

I've had a Mageta the Lion control deck that did very well. It basically focused on keeping the board clean of anything but Mageta and my own indestructible stuff. Only downside was that it could be rather slow.

I picked up a copy of Mageta recently, because I'm planning to make a Mageta deck eventually. I've never played against one. I've also never played against a Lin Sivvi deck, though I can see how it would be good.

Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero brings a consistency to mono white that is quite rare. Rebel tutoring also works as a form of card advantage as it generates utility and creatures without burning cards from hand. You can also dig your way out of being tucked with rebels which is incredibly difficult for most any other mono white option to do as you have to work with things like Citanul Flute generally speaking outside of rebels.

I have a really hard time with most other mono white commanders because they tend to be build around with little to no way to recover from tuck. I love Akroma, Angel of Wrath as a commander but tucks are so rough......

My buddy plays a mass soldier, Linvala deck.
Funny that you say White is considered the weakest, most people i ask say that red is the weakest (mono color) and I agree with them.
But in dual color, Boros is easily the weakest.