I'm sure that this has been discussed before somewhere but I'm not finding what I want easily... My friend has a very sub-optimal Darien, King of Kjeldor deck and refuses to update it. There have been some pretty good soldiers printed in the last few sets + C15 and I'd like to make a real solid W soldier deck with him at the helm. I also like the idea of suicide white in order to proc my general myself but I'm not sure how to do that in W. Any suggestions would be appreciated; especially combos with some of the newer cards. Budget is not an issue as I have a pretty decent balance saved up on Pucatrade at the moment.
Side question, are Angel's Grace or Lich's Tomb worth a slot to possibly save myself super late game?
Ramp is important, too, as the better/more entertaining soldier cards start around 6cmc. Still, a variety of mana rocks, Tithe, Gift of Estates, Oath of Lieges, and a few others go a long way towards staying ahead. The iconic Land Tax+Scroll Rack helps both draws and lands.
There are many directions you can take a Darien deck. I've seen decks stuffed with as many soldier creatures as possible and decks that cater heavily towards abusing Darien's ability with cards like Jinxed Idol and Jinxed Choker. Me personally I've taken a conservative approach with relying on Darien and play with a heavy soldier token theme; I've found that having too many cards that only shine when Darien is out makes the deck fragile and easy for opponents to play around. I'm not sure what kind of build your friend has for Darien, but from my experience I would advise he consider running the following
Ancient Tomb - Great mana accel that works perfect with Darien[/CARD] Tarnished Citadel - I prefer this over other painlands because it comes into play untapped and the pain is optional. Mana Vault - Get Darien out on turn 3 with this and enjoy a free soldier every turn Mana Crypt - Not for the budget friendly, but an absolute beast in this deck Staff of Nin - Card draw is important for white and the extra damage is versatile for your deck. Ping an opponent's utility creature or make a solider token when Darien's out Sivvi's Valor - I love this card. It's Jade Monolith, but much sneakier, so your opponent's can't play around it as easily. Playing it for free means no one sees it coming. Worst case scenario, you use it for its intended purpose and save a very important creature. Enjoy your free army otherwise Scout's Warning - Popping Darien in for some surprise tokens. Becomes stronger if you have other creature cards in your deck to utilize it as well
A couple of other random suggestions
Blighted Steppe - life gain in land form. Almost no reason not to run this Spear of Heliod - No one is going to attack into you with Darien on the board unless they have a way to remove it. This card serves as an extra layer of security if they are able to remove Darien after you've declared no blocks. The anthem effect is also welcome in the deck
Side question, are Angel's Grace or Lich's Tomb worth a slot to possibly save myself super late game?
I've never played either card. I feel Angel's Grace will play out more like Final Fortune. It gives you one more turn to win the game (unless your friend has a ridiculous amount of life gain in the deck). Lich's Tomb is only useful if you have a ton of permanents (tokens) in play, but at that point you should be winning, not losing! Worship is a much better version of the tomb if you're looking for an effect like that.
Angel's Grace is actually quite wonderful because it's super sneaky and as long as you've got a life gain source out it usually changes an alpha strike against you into a complete win for you. You're still taking damage and getting a bunch of tokens but they can't actually kill you which is one of my bigger issues with my Darien deck (no one attacks me until they can wipe me out in one fell swoop.)
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Playing Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth with Karma and Stern Judge can be really brutal, but remember to play soul sisters then.
Only Karma will give you soldiers though, so the Judge might not be that good, but add a bit of consistency.
I guess this might be a little obvious, but Skullclamp is just incredible in W/x token decks. It's so good I put in Steelshaper's Gift just as a pseudo second copy, even without an overall equipment theme.
Blighted Steppe - life gain in land form. Almost no reason not to run this Spear of Heliod - No one is going to attack into you with Darien on the board unless they have a way to remove it. This card serves as an extra layer of security if they are able to remove Darien after you've declared no blocks. The anthem effect is also welcome in the deck
Side question, are Angel's Grace or Lich's Tomb worth a slot to possibly save myself super late game?
I've never played either card. I feel Angel's Grace will play out more like Final Fortune. It gives you one more turn to win the game (unless your friend has a ridiculous amount of life gain in the deck). Lich's Tomb is only useful if you have a ton of permanents (tokens) in play, but at that point you should be winning, not losing! Worship is a much better version of the tomb if you're looking for an effect like that.
angel's grace is a pretty niche card in a deck like darien. im not sure if itd be worth the slot, when you could instead be beating your opponents down. you might even wanna consider Angelic Skirmisher, Soul of Theros or even True Conviction to help offset your life loss.
Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Side question, are Angel's Grace or Lich's Tomb worth a slot to possibly save myself super late game?
WUB Sharuum the Hegemon, the Destroyer of Darksteel
BGW Teneb, the Harvester, my Pimped Out Reanimator
GUB The Mimeoplasm Ooze-Mill
GWU Rafiq the Exalted
Mentor of the Meek for drawing.
Maybe Blood of the Martyr or Jade Monolith have a home in here?
Chees!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
WUB Sharuum the Hegemon, the Destroyer of Darksteel
BGW Teneb, the Harvester, my Pimped Out Reanimator
GUB The Mimeoplasm Ooze-Mill
GWU Rafiq the Exalted
Ramp is important, too, as the better/more entertaining soldier cards start around 6cmc. Still, a variety of mana rocks, Tithe, Gift of Estates, Oath of Lieges, and a few others go a long way towards staying ahead. The iconic Land Tax+Scroll Rack helps both draws and lands.
Despite auras' bad rap as easily-killed, I want to mention Armored Ascension and Gift of Immortality.
Cheers!
Krichaiushii on PucaTrade.
Ancient Tomb - Great mana accel that works perfect with Darien[/CARD]
Tarnished Citadel - I prefer this over other painlands because it comes into play untapped and the pain is optional.
Mana Vault - Get Darien out on turn 3 with this and enjoy a free soldier every turn
Mana Crypt - Not for the budget friendly, but an absolute beast in this deck
Staff of Nin - Card draw is important for white and the extra damage is versatile for your deck. Ping an opponent's utility creature or make a solider token when Darien's out
Sivvi's Valor - I love this card. It's Jade Monolith, but much sneakier, so your opponent's can't play around it as easily. Playing it for free means no one sees it coming. Worst case scenario, you use it for its intended purpose and save a very important creature. Enjoy your free army otherwise
Scout's Warning - Popping Darien in for some surprise tokens. Becomes stronger if you have other creature cards in your deck to utilize it as well
A couple of other random suggestions
Blighted Steppe - life gain in land form. Almost no reason not to run this
Spear of Heliod - No one is going to attack into you with Darien on the board unless they have a way to remove it. This card serves as an extra layer of security if they are able to remove Darien after you've declared no blocks. The anthem effect is also welcome in the deck
I've never played either card. I feel Angel's Grace will play out more like Final Fortune. It gives you one more turn to win the game (unless your friend has a ridiculous amount of life gain in the deck). Lich's Tomb is only useful if you have a ton of permanents (tokens) in play, but at that point you should be winning, not losing! Worship is a much better version of the tomb if you're looking for an effect like that.
Court Street Denizen can tap down opponent creatures.
Healer of the Pride you can gain more life.
Blasting Station allows for some combos by pinging yourself.
P/T boost with Valor in Akros, Goldnight Commander, or Cathars' Crusade.
Life gain effects.
More draws with Mentor of the Meek.
Tap more of the opponent's creatures with Court Street Denizen.
On phasing:
Only Karma will give you soldiers though, so the Judge might not be that good, but add a bit of consistency.
I guess this might be a little obvious, but Skullclamp is just incredible in W/x token decks. It's so good I put in Steelshaper's Gift just as a pseudo second copy, even without an overall equipment theme.
I like even damage effects that damage you and opponents, like Ankh of Mishra or Psychogenic Probe.
The sisters, Ivory Tower, Sun Droplet can all help mitigate lifeloss.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
angel's grace is a pretty niche card in a deck like darien. im not sure if itd be worth the slot, when you could instead be beating your opponents down. you might even wanna consider Angelic Skirmisher, Soul of Theros or even True Conviction to help offset your life loss.
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
On phasing: