After a little bit of tweaking, this list is shaping up pretty well. It turns out white weenie is actually a remarkably fun strategy for EDH, and the sheer volume of hate creatures you can run means it scales decently well. The list does better in smaller games, for reasons that should be apparent, but can generally hold its own in larger games. The biggest issue is that you're not making any friends with the taxing effects, and aggro decks tend to draw retaliation. Without further ado,
Like I said earlier, this is basically a white weenie deck. There are several anthem effects, a few token producers, a couple of equipment, and just a hint of a stax theme. Thalia, the land-d, and the other tax effects should slow things down enough to ride creatures to victory.
That was quick. These go up in the hour I was practicing guitar and you've already made a Thalia deck.
Not sure if I like the "Tax/Stax" part of the deck, but I guess if you're going to irk people with 1increase, might as well go the full yard.
Ghostly Prison and Windborn Muse perhaps?
The Stonehewer Package seems a bit odd for a "Weenie" deck as well. More WEENIES BEATDOWN!
It's less a full stax theme and more just trying to slow down the answers to my creatures. She's already playing that role to some degree, so supplementing it seems like a natural way to go. The equips are definitely a weak point at the moment.
Prison and Muse seem too defensive for this deck as it is now. With the plan of overrunning opponents before they can fully stabilize, I'm not too worried about being attacked. I'm actually considering losing the answer cards, like most of the wraths, in favor of more threats. Obviously I haven't had a chance to test it out yet, so I'm not sure if this is at all a viable plan for the deck. Muse, as a creature, might be worth testing though. Thanks for looking!
With the plan of overrunning opponents before they can fully stabilize, I'm not too worried about being attacked. I'm actually considering losing the answer cards, like most of the wraths, in favor of more threats.
After playing against, with, and building a fair amount of mono white. I've found that unless you're going to be working with mass land d, the best way to succeed is simply by being able to answer board positions and wreck people from being able to do anything. Taking out these answers makes the deck (in my opinion) much weaker.
@Gaka, which hate bears am I missing? I'd love to lose a few of the less ideal noncreatures in favor of creatures, but I'm blanking on which ones to include.
@nurse.jason, I'm running all the mass land-D available in mono-W. I don't want to take this in too much of a control direction, as that kind of defeats the purpose of the deck.
Considering Crucible of Worlds and fetches, to go along with the land-D I do have. I'd also like to find creature subs, preferably disruptive ones, for the majority of the equips and noncreatures. Contrary to Elesh, I'd also like to drop the curve a bit, so suggestions in that direction are very welcome. Thanks for looking, all.
Leonin Arbiter, Leonin-Relic Warden, Samurai of the Pale Curtain are pretty good hatebears. Hero of bladehold, celestial crusader and ranger of eos could be quite good as well. Auriok steelshaper is good if you play a lot of equips and has synergy with thalia's typing.
Mishra's factory, mutavault and eijanjo castle would be good lands to include.
Your critters WILL die, like it or not, so why not include Marshal's Anthem(as was recently posted) for some form of recursion? And yeah, like gaka said, it feels short of creatures.
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Life it seems will fade away...
Life's for my own, to live my own way...
Currently playing:
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:symu::symr::symw: Ruhan the Combolicious
Momir Vig Elfball combo
Kemba tokenator/voltron
Omnath, locus of muscle
Leonin Arbiter, Leonin-Relic Warden, Samurai of the Pale Curtain are pretty good hatebears. Hero of bladehold, celestial crusader and ranger of eos could be quite good as well. Auriok steelshaper is good if you play a lot of equips and has synergy with thalia's typing.
Mishra's factory, mutavault and eijanjo castle would be good lands to include.
I like most of these suggestions. Steelshaper is probably a no go, as I'm shifting away from the equipment as I am reminded/remember some of the easy creatures that I skipped in the first draft. I like the manland plan as well, though I went for Forbidding Watchtower for something on color.
Your critters WILL die, like it or not, so why not include Marshal's Anthem(as was recently posted) for some form of recursion? And yeah, like gaka said, it feels short of creatures.
Marshal's Anthem already made its way in, and I agree that it needs more creatures. I'm shifting away from the equips in favor of all the little hatebears and aggro creatures I skipped last night.
What are your thoughts on a rebel subtheme? Even if it is a small package if you run some of the tutoring guys it allows you to sort of chain some bodies as well as utility together. Tutoring is always fun too.
P.S. I have been trying to push a rebel theme on like everything for a while now so it could be a bad idea but I keep trying to make them work well somewhere.
EDIT: no Ranger of Eos? You already have a bit of a 1 drop package started so it could work nicely with that.
EDIT 2: I could also see a bigger equip package as well. Sword of Light and Shadow gives good protections as well as the ability to rez a creature a turn which is huge for mono white. Nim Deathmantle could be decent as well to get through the creature hate as well as give some evasion.
EDIT 3: ooooo Winter Orb too would be some hatemongering good luck casting anything with everything being taxed only untapping 2 lands a turn lolz.
Definitely could use more manlands. I'd ditch Forbidding Watchtower and Scrying Sheets for Mutavault and Mishra's Factory for starters. Reveillark would be fantastic in this deck to help you against sweepers which are going to be by far your biggest problem. Tangle Wire is excellent disruption at any stage of the game and fits your theme well despite not being a creature. Pianna, Nomad Captain and Soltari Champion are glaring omissions. Ajani Goldmane may be good enough to make the cut as well though I suspect he ultimately will get cut once you refine the list.
Cards I'm not such a fan of are Caged Sun due to cost (I think this isn't very good when it costs 6, at 7 mana....), Martial Coup (people should be sweeping you and if you actually need this card you very likely won't be holding it or have any way to get it), Gauntlet of Power (same reason as Caged Sun and worse this negates your tax effects if they're running Plains) and Eiganjo (does this really even do anything?). Not really a fan of Top since it's somewhat of a nonbo with your commander and it ties up your mana. Also really dislike Mind's Eye due to being slow and clunky...do you need it that badly?
Hrm you could also maybe consider using Suppression Field and Mana Web to slow everyone down a little more. I'm also building a white weenie deck and I really like things like Meek Stone and Marble Titan to mess with everyone's fatties; Retribution of the Meek serves the same purpose. Also maybe Ward of Bones although it is a bit expensive and not a creature.
Definitely could use more manlands. I'd ditch Forbidding Watchtower and Scrying Sheets for Mutavault and Mishra's Factory for starters. Reveillark would be fantastic in this deck to help you against sweepers which are going to be by far your biggest problem. Tangle Wire is excellent disruption at any stage of the game and fits your theme well despite not being a creature. Pianna, Nomad Captain and Soltari Champion are glaring omissions. Ajani Goldmane may be good enough to make the cut as well though I suspect he ultimately will get cut once you refine the list.
Cards I'm not such a fan of are Caged Sun due to cost (I think this isn't very good when it costs 6, at 7 mana....), Martial Coup (people should be sweeping you and if you actually need this card you very likely won't be holding it or have any way to get it), Gauntlet of Power (same reason as Caged Sun and worse this negates your tax effects if they're running Plains) and Eiganjo (does this really even do anything?). Not really a fan of Top since it's somewhat of a nonbo with your commander and it ties up your mana. Also really dislike Mind's Eye due to being slow and clunky...do you need it that badly?
Watchtower is getting a nod solely due to the fact that it turns to a white creature rather than an artifact. It's on the watchlist of things to cut if the tempo loss hurts too much once I start testing the list. I agree with most of the other stuff you've got here, other than Ajani, including most of the cuts. Several of those are force of habit for mono-colored decks. Eiganjo doesn't have much of an effect, but it also doesn't have much of a cost, especially if I lose Scrying Sheets.
What are your thoughts on a rebel subtheme? Even if it is a small package if you run some of the tutoring guys it allows you to sort of chain some bodies as well as utility together. Tutoring is always fun too.
P.S. I have been trying to push a rebel theme on like everything for a while now so it could be a bad idea but I keep trying to make them work well somewhere.
EDIT: no Ranger of Eos? You already have a bit of a 1 drop package started so it could work nicely with that.
EDIT 2: I could also see a bigger equip package as well. Sword of Light and Shadow gives good protections as well as the ability to rez a creature a turn which is huge for mono white. Nim Deathmantle could be decent as well to get through the creature hate as well as give some evasion.
EDIT 3: ooooo Winter Orb too would be some hatemongering good luck casting anything with everything being taxed only untapping 2 lands a turn lolz.
Rebels don't seem to give me enough to justify the space they take up in the deck. There are only a handful I would consider independently of the others, and they bring along too many friends for me to be comfortable with them. I'll keep them in mind, but I'm definitely starting without them. On equipment, I'm trying to cut down on a lot of it, though SoLaS might be a worthwhile one. Deathmantle is too mana hungry for what this deck wants to be doing.
Hrm you could also maybe consider using Suppression Field and Mana Web to slow everyone down a little more. I'm also building a white weenie deck and I really like things like Meek Stone and Marble Titan to mess with everyone's fatties; Retribution of the Meek serves the same purpose. Also maybe Ward of Bones although it is a bit expensive and not a creature.
The trick to Meekstone and Marble Titan is that one anthem locks out a significant chunk of my creatures as well, which I'm not a fan of. Traded out Fountain Watch for Crackdown, which has a similar effect. While I'm not a huge fan of losing a creature for a noncreature, Fountain Watch is questionable as I take out more of what it's protecting and Crackdown should keep the board clearer enough to justify it. I', considering losing Path for Suppression Field as well. Currently affects 6 of my dudes, which doesn't seem too bad.
Watchtower is getting a nod solely due to the fact that it turns to a white creature rather than an artifact. It's on the watchlist of things to cut if the tempo loss hurts too much once I start testing the list. I agree with most of the other stuff you've got here, other than Ajani, including most of the cuts. Several of those are force of habit for mono-colored decks. Eiganjo doesn't have much of an effect, but it also doesn't have much of a cost, especially if I lose Scrying Sheets.
EDIT: I'm stupid and I misread your post. Please ignore this.
EDIT 2: Except the part about Ghostway being a card to consider as a form of sweeper protection (and possible ETB abuse). That part made sense I think.
EDIT: I'm stupid and I misread your post. Please ignore this.
EDIT 2: Except the part about Ghostway being a card to consider as a form of sweeper protection (and possible ETB abuse). That part made sense I think.
Yeah, I've been thinking Ghostway. I'm leaning more towards things like Hero of Bladehold and Emeria Angel at the moment, as they're more useful outside of the niche Ghostway situations. I am planning on trying it out at some point.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
Anything that's both a dude and an anthem should be really strong. Even Accorder Paladin seems pretty good. He hits pretty hard for a 2 drop while pumping the rest of your team. It gets me thinking that Glorious Anthem may not even be good enough once you get enough creature anthems in there.
What about Mistveil Plains? It may not be the greatest thing, but it does count as a plains for Emeria...and it sort of gives you another way to "recur" things.
Proxied up a list (~5 cards off the one in the first post) and played a couple games tonight. I haven't run into anything that I actively dislike yet, though the list is a ton of fun to play. Turn 2 Thalia every game is kind of a beating, and the possibility of T1 is nasty. I may try Chrome Mox or Mox Diamond to improve the odds of that happening.
I think the deck needs some more evasion. Towards the end of one game, one player had scooped in frustration that his linear Zur deck couldn't handle the aggro from me and the control from the other guy (though I had him in 2 turns anyways), and the remaining player had the ground pretty well locked up. Elspeth and Linvala were doing a pretty solid job of getting damage through, but it would have been nice to get even one more evasive beater in there.
Other notes:
Turn 2 Thalia, turn 3 Glowrider is an absolute beating.
An anthem effect and 2 or 3 creatures is a very respectable way to start the game and a solid board position. Reveillark is an all star. A lot of those taxing guys make great targets (I returned Grand Abolisher and Glowrider post wrath and got some pretty good beats in for a couple turns).
Stating the obvious, Skullclamp is still a great card when you don't abuse it.
I'm still trying to think of other worthwhile taxing/anthem guys. I'm currently considering Spelltithe Enforcer (who seems pretty viable) and Loxodon Partisan (who seems less viable, but is still a possibility). Any suggestions along those lines would be hugely welcome.
Anything that's both a dude and an anthem should be really strong. Even Accorder Paladin seems pretty good. He hits pretty hard for a 2 drop while pumping the rest of your team. It gets me thinking that Glorious Anthem may not even be good enough once you get enough creature anthems in there.
I made this switch, though I may switch back depending on how well dudes like Accorder Paladin perform. I'm interested in seeing both at work, so it's a mix at the moment.
What about Mistveil Plains? It may not be the greatest thing, but it does count as a plains for Emeria...and it sort of gives you another way to "recur" things.
Mistveil's tempo hit is more damaging than its recursion is helpful. I don't reasonably expect to see anything that I bury within the same game, but Mistveil will always come in tapped.
L&S is a possibility, though I don't own one (sadly). While that hasn't stopped me from trying some things, I am planning on actually having this deck built and playable. F&F was in an earlier draft, but the untap doesn't actually do much besides encourage me to overextend, and the taxing should be keeping opposing hands relatively full. I just got the list proxied and sleeved, so it's going to take some time to try everything.
Overall, the deck is a ton of fun to play and a welcome change of pace from the normal stable of EDH decks I run. I'm absolutely going forward with this, and definitely looking forward to the prerelease where I'll be trading fairly aggressively to get a foil Thalia.
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Pulled Ravages of War, which I will realistically never get, in favor of Spelltithe Enforcer. I'm a little wary of having a taxing guy at 5 CMC, but he seems solid and is definitely on theme. Same CMC when Thalia is out helps to ease my fears a bit.
Got myself a Thalia (not foil yet, but the set's not even out) and tried her out some more last night. Despite needing to keep a one land hand and not seeing a second one for 4 turns, I managed to get one player (Chainer, Dementia Master to refuse to play against her a second time.
Notes:
Flooding the board with hate bears is solid, and little first strikers backed up by battle cry is a beating.
Lack of card draw hasn't been a problem. My guys slow the game down enough that I'm not at a significant disadvantage, and the anthems help to keep them at the same level as the rest of the board.
I think I'd like to try a global first strike effect like Chieftain en-Dal in there, and Victory's Herald is going to get a trial as a way to close out games when the ground clogs up too much for my weenies to swing. I'm considering Concerted Effort, but I don't think it's going to be a good fit. Skullclamp makes people paranoid. Again, not really anything new about that, but it's funny to see how worried people get about it.
On anthems, I'm a big fan of the creature based stuff. Of the others, the only ones I'm planning on keeping right now are Honor of the Pure and Crusade, as they're still reasonably priced when Thalia hits.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
Pulled Ravages of War, which I will realistically never get, in favor of Spelltithe Enforcer. I'm a little wary of having a taxing guy at 5 CMC, but he seems solid and is definitely on theme. Same CMC when Thalia is out helps to ease my fears a bit.
Got myself a Thalia (not foil yet, but the set's not even out) and tried her out some more last night. Despite needing to keep a one land hand and not seeing a second one for 4 turns, I managed to get one player (Chainer, Dementia Master to refuse to play against her a second time.
Notes:
Flooding the board with hate bears is solid, and little first strikers backed up by battle cry is a beating.
Lack of card draw hasn't been a problem. My guys slow the game down enough that I'm not at a significant disadvantage, and the anthems help to keep them at the same level as the rest of the board.
I think I'd like to try a global first strike effect like Chieftain en-Dal in there, and Victory's Herald is going to get a trial as a way to close out games when the ground clogs up too much for my weenies to swing. I'm considering Concerted Effort, but I don't think it's going to be a good fit. Skullclamp makes people paranoid. Again, not really anything new about that, but it's funny to see how worried people get about it.
On anthems, I'm a big fan of the creature based stuff. Of the others, the only ones I'm planning on keeping right now are Honor of the Pure and Crusade, as they're still reasonably priced when Thalia hits.
Concerted Effort doesn't seem too potent when it will likely end up costing +1 or +2 to play and it's only going to consistently give First Strike. At that point, I'd agree that Victory's Herald would be the way to go. Have you considered Basilisk Collar? Especially if you can get it down early, or cheat it in with someone like Stoneforge? It seems powerful with the first strike.
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1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
//Creatures
1 Accorder Paladin
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Captain of the Watch
1 Celestial Crusader
1 Chieftain en-Dal
1 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
1 Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Emeria Angel
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Glowrider
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Leonin Arbiter
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Lodestone Golem
1 Loxodon Gatekeeper
1 Mangara of Corondor
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch
1 Mirror Entity
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Pianna, Nomad Captain
1 Reveillark
1 Samurai of the Pale Curtain
1 Serra Ascendant
1 Soltari Champion
1 Spelltithe Enforcer
1 Stonecloaker
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sun Titan
1 Victory's Herald
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Diamond
1 Scroll Rack
1 Skullclamp
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Tangle Wire
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Winter Orb
//Enchantments
1 Aura of Silence
1 Crackdown
1 Crusade
1 Honor of the Pure
1 Land Tax
//Planeswalker
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
//Instants
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Oblation
1 Path to Exile
1 Return to Dust
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 White Sun's Zenith
//Sorceries
1 Armageddon
1 Austere Command
1 Catastrophe
1 Decree of Justice
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Forbidding Watchtower
1 Gemstone Caverns
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Kor Haven
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Windbrisk Heights
27 Plains
Like I said earlier, this is basically a white weenie deck. There are several anthem effects, a few token producers, a couple of equipment, and just a hint of a stax theme. Thalia, the land-d, and the other tax effects should slow things down enough to ride creatures to victory.
Not sure if I like the "Tax/Stax" part of the deck, but I guess if you're going to irk people with 1increase, might as well go the full yard.
Ghostly Prison and Windborn Muse perhaps?
The Stonehewer Package seems a bit odd for a "Weenie" deck as well. More WEENIES BEATDOWN!
EDH:
UBGMimeoplasm (Reanimator Control)
WGBURProgenitus (Dream Halls//Good Stuff)
RNorin, the Wary (Metaddited Gaka List)
Thanks to Heroes of the Plane Studios!
It's less a full stax theme and more just trying to slow down the answers to my creatures. She's already playing that role to some degree, so supplementing it seems like a natural way to go. The equips are definitely a weak point at the moment.
Prison and Muse seem too defensive for this deck as it is now. With the plan of overrunning opponents before they can fully stabilize, I'm not too worried about being attacked. I'm actually considering losing the answer cards, like most of the wraths, in favor of more threats. Obviously I haven't had a chance to test it out yet, so I'm not sure if this is at all a viable plan for the deck. Muse, as a creature, might be worth testing though. Thanks for looking!
I did. Fixed.
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
EDH:
RNorin the WaryR <-Link! (Primer - Mono Red Control)
GUEdric, Spymaster of TrestUG <- Link! (Mini-Primer - Dredge)
Duel Commander:
WUGeist of Saint TraftUW <- Link! (Aggro-Control)
BGSkullbriar, the Walking GraveGB <- Link! (Aggro)
BUGDamia, Sage of StoneGUB <- Link! (Extinction Control)
Church of the Wary
Edit:
After playing against, with, and building a fair amount of mono white. I've found that unless you're going to be working with mass land d, the best way to succeed is simply by being able to answer board positions and wreck people from being able to do anything. Taking out these answers makes the deck (in my opinion) much weaker.
@Gaka, which hate bears am I missing? I'd love to lose a few of the less ideal noncreatures in favor of creatures, but I'm blanking on which ones to include.
@nurse.jason, I'm running all the mass land-D available in mono-W. I don't want to take this in too much of a control direction, as that kind of defeats the purpose of the deck.
Considering Crucible of Worlds and fetches, to go along with the land-D I do have. I'd also like to find creature subs, preferably disruptive ones, for the majority of the equips and noncreatures. Contrary to Elesh, I'd also like to drop the curve a bit, so suggestions in that direction are very welcome. Thanks for looking, all.
Mishra's factory, mutavault and eijanjo castle would be good lands to include.
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
Life's for my own, to live my own way...
Currently playing:
EDH
:symu::symr::symw: Ruhan the Combolicious
Momir Vig Elfball combo
Kemba tokenator/voltron
Omnath, locus of muscle
I like most of these suggestions. Steelshaper is probably a no go, as I'm shifting away from the equipment as I am reminded/remember some of the easy creatures that I skipped in the first draft. I like the manland plan as well, though I went for Forbidding Watchtower for something on color.
Marshal's Anthem already made its way in, and I agree that it needs more creatures. I'm shifting away from the equips in favor of all the little hatebears and aggro creatures I skipped last night.
Losing Grafted Exoskeleton, Loxodon Warhammer, Sword of Feast and Famine, Leonin Abunas, and Divine Reckoning in favor of Celestial Crusader, Hero of Bladehold, Leonin Arbiter, Leonin Relic-Warder, and Samurai of the Pale Curtain. This is feeling better than it started, though I still feel like I could use more hate cards and possibly some wrath protection. The curve also feels a little high for what this deck wants to do, so I'll work on that in the not too distant future. Once again, thanks to everyone for looking!
P.S. I have been trying to push a rebel theme on like everything for a while now so it could be a bad idea but I keep trying to make them work well somewhere.
EDIT: no Ranger of Eos? You already have a bit of a 1 drop package started so it could work nicely with that.
EDIT 2: I could also see a bigger equip package as well. Sword of Light and Shadow gives good protections as well as the ability to rez a creature a turn which is huge for mono white. Nim Deathmantle could be decent as well to get through the creature hate as well as give some evasion.
EDIT 3: ooooo Winter Orb too would be some hatemongering good luck casting anything with everything being taxed only untapping 2 lands a turn lolz.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Angelic Destiny anyone?
EDIT: It might be in part due to being the same artist.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Cards I'm not such a fan of are Caged Sun due to cost (I think this isn't very good when it costs 6, at 7 mana....), Martial Coup (people should be sweeping you and if you actually need this card you very likely won't be holding it or have any way to get it), Gauntlet of Power (same reason as Caged Sun and worse this negates your tax effects if they're running Plains) and Eiganjo (does this really even do anything?). Not really a fan of Top since it's somewhat of a nonbo with your commander and it ties up your mana. Also really dislike Mind's Eye due to being slow and clunky...do you need it that badly?
Watchtower is getting a nod solely due to the fact that it turns to a white creature rather than an artifact. It's on the watchlist of things to cut if the tempo loss hurts too much once I start testing the list. I agree with most of the other stuff you've got here, other than Ajani, including most of the cuts. Several of those are force of habit for mono-colored decks. Eiganjo doesn't have much of an effect, but it also doesn't have much of a cost, especially if I lose Scrying Sheets.
Rebels don't seem to give me enough to justify the space they take up in the deck. There are only a handful I would consider independently of the others, and they bring along too many friends for me to be comfortable with them. I'll keep them in mind, but I'm definitely starting without them. On equipment, I'm trying to cut down on a lot of it, though SoLaS might be a worthwhile one. Deathmantle is too mana hungry for what this deck wants to be doing.
Explains why she looked oddly familiar.
In
edit:
The trick to Meekstone and Marble Titan is that one anthem locks out a significant chunk of my creatures as well, which I'm not a fan of. Traded out Fountain Watch for Crackdown, which has a similar effect. While I'm not a huge fan of losing a creature for a noncreature, Fountain Watch is questionable as I take out more of what it's protecting and Crackdown should keep the board clearer enough to justify it. I', considering losing Path for Suppression Field as well. Currently affects 6 of my dudes, which doesn't seem too bad.
EDIT: I'm stupid and I misread your post. Please ignore this.
EDIT 2: Except the part about Ghostway being a card to consider as a form of sweeper protection (and possible ETB abuse). That part made sense I think.
Yeah, I've been thinking Ghostway. I'm leaning more towards things like Hero of Bladehold and Emeria Angel at the moment, as they're more useful outside of the niche Ghostway situations. I am planning on trying it out at some point.
Also, Sword of Light and Shadow is probably worth it. Feast and Famine may get there as well.
I think the deck needs some more evasion. Towards the end of one game, one player had scooped in frustration that his linear Zur deck couldn't handle the aggro from me and the control from the other guy (though I had him in 2 turns anyways), and the remaining player had the ground pretty well locked up. Elspeth and Linvala were doing a pretty solid job of getting damage through, but it would have been nice to get even one more evasive beater in there.
Other notes:
Turn 2 Thalia, turn 3 Glowrider is an absolute beating.
An anthem effect and 2 or 3 creatures is a very respectable way to start the game and a solid board position.
Reveillark is an all star. A lot of those taxing guys make great targets (I returned Grand Abolisher and Glowrider post wrath and got some pretty good beats in for a couple turns).
Stating the obvious, Skullclamp is still a great card when you don't abuse it.
I'm still trying to think of other worthwhile taxing/anthem guys. I'm currently considering Spelltithe Enforcer (who seems pretty viable) and Loxodon Partisan (who seems less viable, but is still a possibility). Any suggestions along those lines would be hugely welcome.
I made this switch, though I may switch back depending on how well dudes like Accorder Paladin perform. I'm interested in seeing both at work, so it's a mix at the moment.
Mistveil's tempo hit is more damaging than its recursion is helpful. I don't reasonably expect to see anything that I bury within the same game, but Mistveil will always come in tapped.
L&S is a possibility, though I don't own one (sadly). While that hasn't stopped me from trying some things, I am planning on actually having this deck built and playable. F&F was in an earlier draft, but the untap doesn't actually do much besides encourage me to overextend, and the taxing should be keeping opposing hands relatively full. I just got the list proxied and sleeved, so it's going to take some time to try everything.
Overall, the deck is a ton of fun to play and a welcome change of pace from the normal stable of EDH decks I run. I'm absolutely going forward with this, and definitely looking forward to the prerelease where I'll be trading fairly aggressively to get a foil Thalia.
Got myself a Thalia (not foil yet, but the set's not even out) and tried her out some more last night. Despite needing to keep a one land hand and not seeing a second one for 4 turns, I managed to get one player (Chainer, Dementia Master to refuse to play against her a second time.
Notes:
Flooding the board with hate bears is solid, and little first strikers backed up by battle cry is a beating.
Lack of card draw hasn't been a problem. My guys slow the game down enough that I'm not at a significant disadvantage, and the anthems help to keep them at the same level as the rest of the board.
I think I'd like to try a global first strike effect like Chieftain en-Dal in there, and Victory's Herald is going to get a trial as a way to close out games when the ground clogs up too much for my weenies to swing. I'm considering Concerted Effort, but I don't think it's going to be a good fit.
Skullclamp makes people paranoid. Again, not really anything new about that, but it's funny to see how worried people get about it.
On anthems, I'm a big fan of the creature based stuff. Of the others, the only ones I'm planning on keeping right now are Honor of the Pure and Crusade, as they're still reasonably priced when Thalia hits.
Concerted Effort doesn't seem too potent when it will likely end up costing +1 or +2 to play and it's only going to consistently give First Strike. At that point, I'd agree that Victory's Herald would be the way to go. Have you considered Basilisk Collar? Especially if you can get it down early, or cheat it in with someone like Stoneforge? It seems powerful with the first strike.