My Heliod, God of the Sun deck was built some time ago. I had noticed that after a few of my decks had been retired, I had not been running white at all for a considerable amount of time, so I decided that it was time to create a new deck. Immediately, two things stuck to me - that my main playstyle revolved around heavy resource acquisition, both ramp and draw; and that Heliod would be a deck that wanted both. It turns out that card draw can actually be quite a bit lighter, but the ramp was still a crucial aspect.
This deck is well over a year old by now, but I never got around to posting it online. As a mono-white 'combo-esque' deck, people have noted the surprisingly incredible ramp power. One game involved me out-ramping three green decks, ending up with almost more lands out than all three put together. With Serra's Sanctum, I did have more mana.
That said, ramping in non-green can still be difficult, and inconsistent. Some games you'll be able to ramp leading with an Emeria, the Sky Ruin into a Burnished Hart into a Sun Titan, to being able to strip every land from the deck. Other games may be considerably slower. Even so, recent additions to the colorless and white land searching capabilities have done much to augment this deck's stability and consistency.
Initially, the deck was more grind focused. With the printing of Skybind, the deck became more of a combo feel, with Skybind often closing out games shortly after hitting the field.
Why Heliod?
My Heliod doesn't have some sort of crazy backstory to him. I had simply decided I wanted to build mono-white, and that I wanted to incorporate heavy ramp aspects into it, to keep up with, or surpass green decks. Heliod looked like a commander that I could enjoy building and playing, and who would also benefit from the mass mana play that I was opting to go for.
That said, Heliod is a very unique addition to the mono white lineup, allowing for a both heavy token and heavy enchantress lines of play. Heliod provides great value in being able to provide virtual card advantage from the command zone. Even if you are otherwise dead in the water, Heliod provides you with bodies to either stay afloat or remain aggressive. On top of that, his vigilance granting ability is excellent to be able to take an aggressive stance and whittle away life totals, without exposing yourself to retaliation.
Heliod does have some weaknesses though. Despite being a legendary form of Mobilization, he is very mana hungry. 4 mana to make a 2/1 isn't terribly mama-efficient. Furthermore, even with his indestructibility, Heliod remains vulnerable to certain forms of removal. Since your game plan revolves around him, he'll be a high-target threat to your opponents.
Other Commanders
Darien, King of Kjeldor
Darien, King of Kjeldor is the more well-know white token Commander. Darien uses various pain lands or other artifacts to self hit himself for high volumes of cheap tokens, and then uses various, soulsisters to immediately regain the life. Darien is quick, powerful, and consistent, but is also a known force. If you're looking for a more standard and powerful build, Darien is a likely choice.
Nemata, Grove Guardian
You're more likely to find more token builds in Green or Green/White. Nemata, Grove Guardian isn't actually a highly popular commander in his own right, but this deck plays quite similarly to my own Nemata [Primer], and many similarities can be found in their playstyles.
Strategy
The strategy of this deck is incredibly simple. You ramp like a madman, until you have enough capabilities to simply out-flood the board with clerics. The rest of the deck is built to help you get there, or to make your clerics more effective once flooded. There's really no subtlety
Heliod
The goal of this deck is to NOT devotion up Heliod. The deck is very focused on having Heliod as a mana-sink, and is very commander-centric. Having him remain as an Enchantment, and not a creature makes it hard for opponents to remove him. Eventually Heliod will go active on devotion, there's really no way around that, but the idea is to typically stall that point as long as possible to dodge removal. Sometimes though, you need to power him online quickly to have some stopping power to stay alive.
Do remember, Heliod does not give himself vigilance, so be sparing on the offensive plays with him, as he's a better deterrent defensively. This does not apply if you have Reconnaissance.
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is able to untap your creatures even after they deal combat damage. Not only does this allow you to swing with almost impunity (barring an unfortunate Krosan Grip), but it gives your entire team pseudo-vigilance. Once Heliod is out giving actual vigilance, the untap effect can come into play as well. For example, you can attack with Endbringer, activate one of his abilities, then pull him out of combat, untapping him for another ability use.
Adding Value to the Cleric Tokens
Aside from Reconnaissance, a few other cards allow us to attack or defend with our tokens with impunity. If Valor ever hits the graveyard, the first strike means that our clerics become a bristling wall of death when defending. Likewise, Glory and Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant are both powerful deterrents to being attacked, while both of them also allow you to simply swing out with impunity. Akroma's Memorial and Angelic Skirmisher also fulfill that role, should you wish to add them to your deck.
Skybind
With Skybind and some form of mana-production increaser (Gauntlet of Power) or Serra's Sanctum, you can flicker out your lands during each player's Second Main phase, that way they return untapped, and you can make more clerics. This provides a very quick army. Further more, on the last player's turn, you can blink out your stuff on their second main, have it return during their end step, and make more clerics during the end step. Since the end step is already started, anything you blink out won't return until your end step, so you use this opportunity to remove any obstacles/blockers in your way.
Extraplanar Lens - For a mass mana deck, this can be a good doubler, if you're willing to pay the risk of its demise.
Auriok Salvagers - Not evident at first, but Salvagers can power up Wayfarer's Bauble and Expedition Map for lands, as well as several baubles for card draw. The deck would need to shift a bit to accommodate him, but he makes for a good white ramp option due to these synergies. He also allows for repeated Dispeller's Capsule use, adding removal to his suite of power.
This deck was built quite a while back, and hasn't been updated in some time. Taking the time to post it has shown me a few viable new cards to put in from recent sets, and old:
Recent sets have given a bit more land search and Oreskos Explorer should feel right at home in this deck. Likewise, Surveyor's scope could come back in, especially if I re-add fetch lands, though scope isn't a priority. However, Sword of the Animist should feel right at home, which may also warrant seeing if I can find another Relic Seeker for this deck.
Tragic Arrogance is a recent favorite of mine, and should join the wrath line up quite nicely.
Rings of Brighthearth has been a shoe in for this deck for a while, but I didn't have mine on hand when building the deck, and was a bit lazy to search for it. While the reduction of cost for the commander is negligible, it still works with a lot of aspects of the deck. Swords to plowshares was also a victim of laziness, but I recently re-found my stash.
Emeria Shepherd is another new powerhouse, and is precisely the recursion engine this deck needs.
Finally, Eldrazi displacer should find himself at home in this deck, even with the focus being predominantly in the white-mana generation.
Angel of Serenity would be another solid addition to the lineup of this deck.
Endbringer would need to be watched as a potential extra draw source, as well as general utility, and Mirrorpool is a great land to pair with Sun Titan.
First off, I outramped Roon the entire game, so, win. Secondly, I drew the displacer, but never really go to use him.
Red Akroma was a serious threat with burn potential, using Searing Wind + copy effects and damage doublers. Roon kills off my own mana doublers, though Wayfarer's Bauble + Burnished Hart + Marshall's Anthem led to some fun. Red Akroma tried to kill us both off with an Overloaded Mizzix's Mastery, using the gamble to get a fork, but sadly discarded the very fork he got, aiming 20 searing wind (Dictate of the Twin Gods) at Roon (who was at 20 already due to an earlier chandra copied Searing Wind with no doublers), and forking only a single copy at me for 20 (with Chandra -2). I swords Roon to keep him alive, that way his elf returned and killed the doubler. (I also had a soul warden on the field to survive the 40 hit as well, if needed).
Then I cracked the Buried Ruin for my gauntlet back, killed Roon with Clerics, dropped the doubler, and took out Akroma with clerics afterwards.
Heliod vs. Kemba boots and cats, and Ayli sac for profit.
I keep a hand with 3 lands, a Solemn simulacrum and a Kor cartographer. Seems good, right? I finally draw a land on t4, but it enters tapped (hideaway). luckily, this lets me start getting my sad robot out the turn after.
I lead with a turn 3 essence of prevent damage to my team, but kemba starts off with a T1 sol ring + Wayfarer's Bauble, which means... ew. Goes into T2 boots + crack bauble for land, T3 kemba equipped and pain begins.
Ayli manages to land a False Prophet on the table, which is somewhat sad for me, since my sad robot can't die, since all damage is perevented. This leads me to not wanting to lead out with too many creatures, so I drop a Sword of the Animist to keep up the ramp, and eat some more Kemba damage (Sword of Vengeance giving trample). The next turn I drop heliod so that my Sad robot can attack and soak some damage, and keep up with the ramp, and the false prohpet finally bites it.
I finally drop my Caged Sun into a Kor Cartographer. Kemba moves into an Iona on white. Ew. Well, I'm locked. Luckily, Ayli can remove it, unluckily, that was a living Death, which means Ayli is still sitting mid-40's on life (not quite active), but also that the prophet is back in business. With a sac outlet on the board in the form of Ayli. Well, now we know who the new threat is.
Ayli sac tricks a Leonin Relic Warder to clear off some of Kemba's equips, but Kemba uses the counters on his Umezawa's Jitte to force the Prophet early. I lead into a Sun Titan returning a sac land to get back into this game. He actually lives through a round, so I attack for another 2 lands (titan+sword), so it's time (feels early, but needed) to drop the Skybind I drew, as well as reconnaissance, which blinks out the titan and a land. From there it's a cleric a turn to blink out the titan and keep getting lands. It doesn't take long to clear out my deck and lay the pain on people. I got 4 tokens on the first round, and was heading on 20 in the second (and ran out of lands), but unfortunately Kemba went for Worldslayer, which, since I was thinned out would have been 'bad.' Luckily, I skybind his attack with it, but that leaves me defenseless for Ayli, who not only reanimates and kills his prophet (my army!), but also exiles my Skybind, and my Caged Sun. Well. There goes my glorious attempt.
I draw into the propaganda thing for enchantments, as well as a Endbringer, which powers me into cards (I was rather low), as well as doing some damage here and there. Sadly, Kemba suits up and moves in on me for the kill, before my enchantments make it so he can't attack (he had to pay 12). I try to stop the attack with Endbringer, in response to a boots activation, but Stonehewer Giant gos in for the save with more boots, and I take 28 Kemba damage to the face, from 18.
Ayli puts up a fight, with Kokusho and Exsanguinate, on top of 4x lifegain, keeping him above lethal (he could stop the Kemba), but Kemba returns an Iona which he recovered with a Sword of Light and Shadow to seal the game from Ayli.
Winner goes to Kemba.
====
During the game, I noticed that 14 plains seemed very light, (I removed 3 for 2 wastes + Terminal Morraine) so I may want to scale back the other way. On top of that, I noticed that I now had 2 Morraines in the deck (oops), so one will need to be replaced, but I'm not really feeling them to begin with. Both may simply become plains.
Also considering adding Arcane Lighthouse though, so I'll need to find a cut for that.
I'm also wondering if I should add some Iona removal to the deck, since I have literally 0 ways to fight through her, short of hoping heliod is on the board and making lots of clerics and killing the player who has the Iona.
I also still need to find a slot for Rings of Brighthearth, which I think I've decided to steal from my Kurkesh deck, where it's just for redundancy.
No Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite? Seems perfect for buffing your clerics and has vigilance for some extra combat efficiency.
Private Mod Note
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EDH WURRuhan of the Fomori[Primer] | WGR Marath, Will of the Wild | WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician | WUB Sharuum, the Hegemon | WBGR Tymna the Weaver / Tana, the Bloodsower | BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots | BUG Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Elesh... would be rather solid in this list. It's been mentioned more than a few times by people I play with, but I typically don't give it more of a thought since I don't own one. Maybe I'll need to correct that. She's a bit above $ than I typically like to spend, but maybe I can find one for trade, or finally offload some of those cards I've been meaning to.
Marble Diamond -> Mindstone. While heliod needs colored mana, he can still sink colorless, and with Eldrazi Displacer and Mirrorpool in the deck, colorless counts need to go up. This also means my rock comes in untapped now, and has added untility. Win-win.
Crystal Chimes -> Rings of Brighthearth - this one hurt. Chimes is a powerful recursion tool that no one expects; however, with the Emeria Shepherd added to the deck to balance the recursion on that side, I think this cut makes the most sense to get the Rings into the deck. Depending on other situations, Chimes could always return.
Plains + Terminal Morraine -> 2x Wastes - With the Displacer, Endbringer, and Mirrorpool, I want to be sure I have plenty of access to colorless sources. 2 are added so that Burnished Hart isn't a waste if I use it to fetch, and also to allow Sword of the Animist to pull up multiples over time. Terminal Morraine hasn't been terribly impressive.
Homeward Path -> Kor Haven - I don't have a lot of creatures to steal, and none of them terribly matter other than my Commander. If he gets stolen, then Homeward path does nothing. Kor Haven should prove an acceptable deterrent if needed, and the open mana can turn into a cleric if it isn't.
Still not sure that's the right cut, so I'll see if something else wants to come out for the skirmisher. I like the lifelink, backup vigilance, and defensive first strike with the tokens. Perhaps Endless Horizons now that Oreskos Explorer has made it into the deck? Will sleep on it.
===
I also realized that I confused Burnished Hart and Myriad Landscape's search requirements, so that Hart can indeed get 2 different basics. This is important as that was one of the reasons I ran 2 wastes, since Landscape can't get 2 wastes at all, and can simply be used for colorless on its own anyways. As is, I think I'll stay with 2 wastes for now and keep testing that number, since I want multiple colorless anyways, but it's a bit of a softer number now.
This deck is pretty cool man i like the different take on white similar to how im building my mono white deck. Mine is 99 Permanents Mono White (Ive dubbed it mono white primal surge lol) basically heavy recursion theme snd built to abuse Sun Titan and Emeria Shepard.
This deck is pretty cool man i like the different take on white similar to how im building my mono white deck. Mine is 99 Permanents Mono White (Ive dubbed it mono white primal surge lol) basically heavy recursion theme snd built to abuse Sun Titan and Emeria Shepard.
Thanks! Do you have a list to your deck anywhere? I run a fair amount of recursion myself, but wouldn't call it one of the main priorities of the deck.
Hm. While Archangel makes a decent Cathars' Crusade impresseion with either of the soul sisters I have, I don't think there's enough consistent lifegain to really make her solid, unlike my Trostani deck, where having that soul sister effect in the command zone can guarantee it to be online.
Since Darien decks run more soul sister effects, she might be strong in that type of shell. I have an Archangel of Thune lying around, trying to get into Trostani, but I'll keep an eye on here and see if it could fit.
Although, I'm in the process of building Karlov, and that seems like the most solid fit...
Yeah, of the ones you mentioned, Karlov will appreciate Thune the most. But I'm pretty sure she'd be pretty good here on her own, I mean she has lifelink already.
a Single +1 counter per turn doesn't impress me as much though, compared to say Cathars' Crusade and Skybind, which straight up win in a turn rotation or two. Still, perhaps it should be a consideration until Karlov gets put together.
Isn't Cathars' Crusade a logistics nightmare, as you suddenly end up with 10+ bodies, all of different sizes? It's obviously strong as hell, but isn't sorting out the counters a massive pain? Seeing how you run it, maybe you have some suggestions for stuff, as I have two measly copies of Spirit tokens
Well the first trick is that you can respond to the trigger, so you can end up with bunches of things the same size. For example, if you have 16 mana available, you can make 4 clerics, each with 4 counters on them.
The other trick, is to simply make groupings and set up dice across your board, and everything under that dice has that many +1/+1 counters. As stuff enters your battlefield, you just slide all your cards 1 spot to the right, etc. That way you don't have to keep cranking up dice.
Both valid suggestions, but still don't really help with the fact I'd need a swarm of tokens to pull it off. I guess if I do commit (it looks like a very nice finisher option to consider), I'll just buy a boatload of appropriate tokens on MCM and be done with it.
With regards to cuts, I was going to bring up Auriok Champion as she brings a lot of devotion to the table and is "just" a soul sister, but since you're considering how to slot in Thune then it would be obvious wasted potential Maybe Renounce the Guilds? But I can see it being good too...
Mirror Strike is fun because if someone tries to one-shot you with a Commander, they can actually kill themselves since it's a redirection effect. Comeuppance itself deals the damage though.
However, due to the targeting on Mirror Strike, and how broadly useful comeuppance is... I may just need to make that switch.
Terminus vs Hallowed Burial is really a barely any difference. Since I don't have any topdeck manipulation, I've avoided Hallowed Burial, since I'd rather have the generally cheaper cost - I'd rather hold the wrath for when I actually want to fire it, rather than be tempted to fire from the hip, even if it costs 1.
Top should probably come in, since with Rings it's now 3: draw a card, which is decent for mono-w. Especially since I've added in the fetches and Sword of the Animist already for reshuffles.
===
To top off the trouble on finding cards to cut, unless my eyes/math deceives me, the deck actually appears to be 100 cards + commander, making me already 1 card over.
just another thought...
maybe a Tithe over the Oreskos Explorer? Tithe may be more reliable, and you wont need the body persay, but the cheaper cost may not be worth the synergy of Oreskos with Sun Titan/Emeria, the Sky Ruin. Addition of tithe may warrant a Mistveil Plains too.
Mistveil Plains will come in. With as many white decks as I've built recently, I'd actually run out of them (although Heliod was the first one I built, I kind of just missed putting it in). I did just get some extras though. (specifically because of this deck too)
I noticed it conspicuously missing when I had an Emeria Shepherd under the hideaway land, but she was made nearly useless by the fact that I had no more plains to actually play. In my Trostani deck, I've gotten around that at times by Ghost Quartering my own plains so that I could either Mistveil it to the bottom and search it back up, or play it again from the grave.
We're drawing all the cards (which is Patron's plan, mind you). I also draw into a burnished hart, and another fetch land, so I'm pretty close to out of basic lands in my deck. I also have a few Clerics out. Phage tries to take me out, so I Wing Shards to keep her off of me, and retaliate, but only do about 20 damage, thanks to the Cathars' Crusade and Eldrazi Monument, as I switch into kill mode.
Patron then bounces a bunch of my stuff, and also drops an Ensnaring Bridge, so my next turn involves a Gauntlet of Power, replaying some stuff, and holding 10 mana open to Mind's Eye for removal (Totally forgot that I was holding an Oblation, the entire game).
Time gets called, but top card was an Aura Shards, so Patron would have likely died on my next turn, and I think I was in a good position to take the game from there, but time got called on the game.
Everyone else scooped first though! So I claim Victory! Kind of! Maybe!
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StaffThis deck is well over a year old by now, but I never got around to posting it online. As a mono-white 'combo-esque' deck, people have noted the surprisingly incredible ramp power. One game involved me out-ramping three green decks, ending up with almost more lands out than all three put together. With Serra's Sanctum, I did have more mana.
That said, ramping in non-green can still be difficult, and inconsistent. Some games you'll be able to ramp leading with an Emeria, the Sky Ruin into a Burnished Hart into a Sun Titan, to being able to strip every land from the deck. Other games may be considerably slower. Even so, recent additions to the colorless and white land searching capabilities have done much to augment this deck's stability and consistency.
Initially, the deck was more grind focused. With the printing of Skybind, the deck became more of a combo feel, with Skybind often closing out games shortly after hitting the field.
Why Heliod?
That said, Heliod is a very unique addition to the mono white lineup, allowing for a both heavy token and heavy enchantress lines of play. Heliod provides great value in being able to provide virtual card advantage from the command zone. Even if you are otherwise dead in the water, Heliod provides you with bodies to either stay afloat or remain aggressive. On top of that, his vigilance granting ability is excellent to be able to take an aggressive stance and whittle away life totals, without exposing yourself to retaliation.
Heliod does have some weaknesses though. Despite being a legendary form of Mobilization, he is very mana hungry. 4 mana to make a 2/1 isn't terribly mama-efficient. Furthermore, even with his indestructibility, Heliod remains vulnerable to certain forms of removal. Since your game plan revolves around him, he'll be a high-target threat to your opponents.
Other Commanders
Nemata, Grove Guardian
Strategy
Heliod
The goal of this deck is to NOT devotion up Heliod. The deck is very focused on having Heliod as a mana-sink, and is very commander-centric. Having him remain as an Enchantment, and not a creature makes it hard for opponents to remove him. Eventually Heliod will go active on devotion, there's really no way around that, but the idea is to typically stall that point as long as possible to dodge removal. Sometimes though, you need to power him online quickly to have some stopping power to stay alive.
Do remember, Heliod does not give himself vigilance, so be sparing on the offensive plays with him, as he's a better deterrent defensively. This does not apply if you have Reconnaissance.
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is able to untap your creatures even after they deal combat damage. Not only does this allow you to swing with almost impunity (barring an unfortunate Krosan Grip), but it gives your entire team pseudo-vigilance. Once Heliod is out giving actual vigilance, the untap effect can come into play as well. For example, you can attack with Endbringer, activate one of his abilities, then pull him out of combat, untapping him for another ability use.
Adding Value to the Cleric Tokens
Aside from Reconnaissance, a few other cards allow us to attack or defend with our tokens with impunity. If Valor ever hits the graveyard, the first strike means that our clerics become a bristling wall of death when defending. Likewise, Glory and Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant are both powerful deterrents to being attacked, while both of them also allow you to simply swing out with impunity. Akroma's Memorial and Angelic Skirmisher also fulfill that role, should you wish to add them to your deck.
Skybind
With Skybind and some form of mana-production increaser (Gauntlet of Power) or Serra's Sanctum, you can flicker out your lands during each player's Second Main phase, that way they return untapped, and you can make more clerics. This provides a very quick army. Further more, on the last player's turn, you can blink out your stuff on their second main, have it return during their end step, and make more clerics during the end step. Since the end step is already started, anything you blink out won't return until your end step, so you use this opportunity to remove any obstacles/blockers in your way.
4 Heliod, God of the Sun
Creatures - 20
1 Soul Warden
2 Auriok Champion
2 Oreskos Explorer
2 Relic Seeker
3 Burnished Hart
3 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Mentor of the Meek
3 Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
3 Twilight Drover
4 Hero of Bladehold
4 Kor Cartographer
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Valor
5 Glory
5 Knight-Captain of Eos
6 Endbringer
6 Sun Titan
7 Angel of Serenity
7 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
7 Emeria Shepherd
Artifact - 16
1 Expedition Map
1 Meekstone
1 Sol Ring
1 Skullclamp
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
2 Mindstone
2 Sword of the Animist
3 Darksteel Ingot
3 Rings of Brighthearth
3 Worn Powerstone
4 Helm of Possession
5 Eldrazi Monument
5 Gauntlet of Power
5 Mind's Eye
5 Ring of Three Wishes
6 Caged Sun
1 Reconnaissance
1 Soul Snare
2 Greater Auramancy
2 Rest in Peace
3 Act of Authority
3 Aura of Silence
3 Crackdown
4 Endless Horizons
4 Marshal's Anthem
5 Cathars' Crusade
5 Skybind
5 Sphere of Safety
Instant - 8
1 Angel's Grace
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Renounce the Guilds
3 Oblation
3 Wing Shards
4 Return to Dust
4 Mirror Strike
Sorcery - 7
3 Idyllic Tutor
4 Replenish
5 Hallowed Burial
5 Rout
5 Tragic Arrogance
6 Akroma's Vengeance
6 Austere Command
Land - 37
15 Plains
1 Buried Ruin
1 Deserted Temple
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Flooded Strand
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Kor Haven
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Marsh Flats
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Mirrorpool
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Strip Mine
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Terrain Generator
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Tower of the Magistrate
2 Wastes
1 Windbrisk Heights
Current Notable Exclusions
Changelog
March 12, 2016
IN: Swords to Plowshares, Oreskos Explorer, Sword of the Animist, Relic Seeker, Crystal Chimes, Eldrazi Displacer, Tragic Arrogance, c]Endbringer[/c], Angel of Serenity, Emeria Shepherd, Flooded Strand, Ghost Quarter, Marsh Flats, Mirrorpool, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Terminal Moraine, Windbrisk Heights
Explanation of Changes
April 7, 2016
IN: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobyte.
Explanation of Changes
April 14, 2016
IN: Mistveil Plains.
Explanation of Changes
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
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StaffRecent sets have given a bit more land search and Oreskos Explorer should feel right at home in this deck. Likewise, Surveyor's scope could come back in, especially if I re-add fetch lands, though scope isn't a priority. However, Sword of the Animist should feel right at home, which may also warrant seeing if I can find another Relic Seeker for this deck.
Tragic Arrogance is a recent favorite of mine, and should join the wrath line up quite nicely.
Rings of Brighthearth has been a shoe in for this deck for a while, but I didn't have mine on hand when building the deck, and was a bit lazy to search for it. While the reduction of cost for the commander is negligible, it still works with a lot of aspects of the deck.
Swords to plowshares was also a victim of laziness, but I recently re-found my stash.
Emeria Shepherd is another new powerhouse, and is precisely the recursion engine this deck needs.
Finally, Eldrazi displacer should find himself at home in this deck, even with the focus being predominantly in the white-mana generation.
Angel of Serenity would be another solid addition to the lineup of this deck.
Endbringer would need to be watched as a potential extra draw source, as well as general utility, and Mirrorpool is a great land to pair with Sun Titan.
CHANGES
3 Monastery Mentor
1 Myth Realized
3 banishing Light
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Spear of Heliod
4 Crescendo of War
2 Wipe Clean
3 Crib Swap
2x Unexpectedly Absent
4x Decree of Justice
0 plains
0 plains
0 plains
0 plains
0 plains
0 plains
0 plains
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Oreskos Explorer
2 Sword of the Animist
2 Relic Seeker
3 Crystal Chimes
3 Eldrazi Displacer
5 Tragic Arrogance
6 Endbringer
7 Angel of Serenity
7 Emeria Shepherd
1 Flooded Strand
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Marsh Flats
1 Mirrorpool
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Terminal Moraine
1 Windbrisk Heights
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
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StaffPossibly add another utility land.
Still searching for an extra Rings of Brighthearth.
Haven't tried out the changes in game yet, but goldfishing a few hands, and Mirrorpool on Sun Titan is about as disgusting as you'd expect.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
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StaffHeliod, vs. Red Akroma, Roon
First off, I outramped Roon the entire game, so, win. Secondly, I drew the displacer, but never really go to use him.
Red Akroma was a serious threat with burn potential, using Searing Wind + copy effects and damage doublers. Roon kills off my own mana doublers, though Wayfarer's Bauble + Burnished Hart + Marshall's Anthem led to some fun. Red Akroma tried to kill us both off with an Overloaded Mizzix's Mastery, using the gamble to get a fork, but sadly discarded the very fork he got, aiming 20 searing wind (Dictate of the Twin Gods) at Roon (who was at 20 already due to an earlier chandra copied Searing Wind with no doublers), and forking only a single copy at me for 20 (with Chandra -2). I swords Roon to keep him alive, that way his elf returned and killed the doubler. (I also had a soul warden on the field to survive the 40 hit as well, if needed).
Then I cracked the Buried Ruin for my gauntlet back, killed Roon with Clerics, dropped the doubler, and took out Akroma with clerics afterwards.
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StaffHeliod vs. Kemba boots and cats, and Ayli sac for profit.
I keep a hand with 3 lands, a Solemn simulacrum and a Kor cartographer. Seems good, right? I finally draw a land on t4, but it enters tapped (hideaway). luckily, this lets me start getting my sad robot out the turn after.
I lead with a turn 3 essence of prevent damage to my team, but kemba starts off with a T1 sol ring + Wayfarer's Bauble, which means... ew. Goes into T2 boots + crack bauble for land, T3 kemba equipped and pain begins.
Ayli manages to land a False Prophet on the table, which is somewhat sad for me, since my sad robot can't die, since all damage is perevented. This leads me to not wanting to lead out with too many creatures, so I drop a Sword of the Animist to keep up the ramp, and eat some more Kemba damage (Sword of Vengeance giving trample). The next turn I drop heliod so that my Sad robot can attack and soak some damage, and keep up with the ramp, and the false prohpet finally bites it.
I finally drop my Caged Sun into a Kor Cartographer. Kemba moves into an Iona on white. Ew. Well, I'm locked. Luckily, Ayli can remove it, unluckily, that was a living Death, which means Ayli is still sitting mid-40's on life (not quite active), but also that the prophet is back in business. With a sac outlet on the board in the form of Ayli. Well, now we know who the new threat is.
Ayli sac tricks a Leonin Relic Warder to clear off some of Kemba's equips, but Kemba uses the counters on his Umezawa's Jitte to force the Prophet early. I lead into a Sun Titan returning a sac land to get back into this game. He actually lives through a round, so I attack for another 2 lands (titan+sword), so it's time (feels early, but needed) to drop the Skybind I drew, as well as reconnaissance, which blinks out the titan and a land. From there it's a cleric a turn to blink out the titan and keep getting lands. It doesn't take long to clear out my deck and lay the pain on people. I got 4 tokens on the first round, and was heading on 20 in the second (and ran out of lands), but unfortunately Kemba went for Worldslayer, which, since I was thinned out would have been 'bad.' Luckily, I skybind his attack with it, but that leaves me defenseless for Ayli, who not only reanimates and kills his prophet (my army!), but also exiles my Skybind, and my Caged Sun. Well. There goes my glorious attempt.
I draw into the propaganda thing for enchantments, as well as a Endbringer, which powers me into cards (I was rather low), as well as doing some damage here and there. Sadly, Kemba suits up and moves in on me for the kill, before my enchantments make it so he can't attack (he had to pay 12). I try to stop the attack with Endbringer, in response to a boots activation, but Stonehewer Giant gos in for the save with more boots, and I take 28 Kemba damage to the face, from 18.
Ayli puts up a fight, with Kokusho and Exsanguinate, on top of 4x lifegain, keeping him above lethal (he could stop the Kemba), but Kemba returns an Iona which he recovered with a Sword of Light and Shadow to seal the game from Ayli.
Winner goes to Kemba.
====
During the game, I noticed that 14 plains seemed very light, (I removed 3 for 2 wastes + Terminal Morraine) so I may want to scale back the other way. On top of that, I noticed that I now had 2 Morraines in the deck (oops), so one will need to be replaced, but I'm not really feeling them to begin with. Both may simply become plains.
Also considering adding Arcane Lighthouse though, so I'll need to find a cut for that.
I'm also wondering if I should add some Iona removal to the deck, since I have literally 0 ways to fight through her, short of hoping heliod is on the board and making lots of clerics and killing the player who has the Iona.
I also still need to find a slot for Rings of Brighthearth, which I think I've decided to steal from my Kurkesh deck, where it's just for redundancy.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
WUR Ruhan of the Fomori [Primer] | WGR Marath, Will of the Wild | WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician | WUB Sharuum, the Hegemon | WBGR Tymna the Weaver / Tana, the Bloodsower | BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots | BUG Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
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StaffI'll put her on my wishlist for it.
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StaffMarble Diamond -> Mindstone. While heliod needs colored mana, he can still sink colorless, and with Eldrazi Displacer and Mirrorpool in the deck, colorless counts need to go up. This also means my rock comes in untapped now, and has added untility. Win-win.
Coldsteel Heart -> Worn Powerstone. Same reasoning as the other mana rock.
Crystal Chimes -> Rings of Brighthearth - this one hurt. Chimes is a powerful recursion tool that no one expects; however, with the Emeria Shepherd added to the deck to balance the recursion on that side, I think this cut makes the most sense to get the Rings into the deck. Depending on other situations, Chimes could always return.
Plains + Terminal Morraine -> 2x Wastes - With the Displacer, Endbringer, and Mirrorpool, I want to be sure I have plenty of access to colorless sources.
2 are added so that Burnished Hart isn't a waste if I use it to fetch, and also to allow Sword of the Animist to pull up multiples over time. Terminal Morraine hasn't been terribly impressive.Homeward Path -> Kor Haven - I don't have a lot of creatures to steal, and none of them terribly matter other than my Commander. If he gets stolen, then Homeward path does nothing. Kor Haven should prove an acceptable deterrent if needed, and the open mana can turn into a cleric if it isn't.
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Staff-Angelic Skirmisher +Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Still not sure that's the right cut, so I'll see if something else wants to come out for the skirmisher. I like the lifelink, backup vigilance, and defensive first strike with the tokens. Perhaps Endless Horizons now that Oreskos Explorer has made it into the deck? Will sleep on it.
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I also realized that I confused Burnished Hart and Myriad Landscape's search requirements, so that Hart can indeed get 2 different basics. This is important as that was one of the reasons I ran 2 wastes, since Landscape can't get 2 wastes at all, and can simply be used for colorless on its own anyways. As is, I think I'll stay with 2 wastes for now and keep testing that number, since I want multiple colorless anyways, but it's a bit of a softer number now.
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StaffRetired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
[EDH In Development] Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Queen Marchesa | Ruhan of the Fomori | Yahenni, Undying Partisan
[EDH Retired] Ertai, The Corrupted | Sigarda, Host of Herons | Tariel, Reckoner of Souls | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
[Modern] Stuffy Doll Combo Burn | Demigod of Revenge
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StaffSince Darien decks run more soul sister effects, she might be strong in that type of shell. I have an Archangel of Thune lying around, trying to get into Trostani, but I'll keep an eye on here and see if it could fit.
Although, I'm in the process of building Karlov, and that seems like the most solid fit...
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StaffWhat two cards should I cut in order to add in Angelic Skirmisher and Archangel of Thune?
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StaffThe other trick, is to simply make groupings and set up dice across your board, and everything under that dice has that many +1/+1 counters. As stuff enters your battlefield, you just slide all your cards 1 spot to the right, etc. That way you don't have to keep cranking up dice.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
With regards to cuts, I was going to bring up Auriok Champion as she brings a lot of devotion to the table and is "just" a soul sister, but since you're considering how to slot in Thune then it would be obvious wasted potential
(unrelated chatter - Comeuppance over Mirror Strike, and Terminus over Hallowed Burial maybe?)
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StaffHowever, due to the targeting on Mirror Strike, and how broadly useful comeuppance is... I may just need to make that switch.
Terminus vs Hallowed Burial is really a barely any difference. Since I don't have any topdeck manipulation, I've avoided Hallowed Burial, since I'd rather have the generally cheaper cost - I'd rather hold the wrath for when I actually want to fire it, rather than be tempted to fire from the hip, even if it costs 1.
If I can wiggle Scroll Rack (+land tax?) and Sensei's divining top in, then Terminus makes more sense.
Top should probably come in, since with Rings it's now 3: draw a card, which is decent for mono-w. Especially since I've added in the fetches and Sword of the Animist already for reshuffles.
===
To top off the trouble on finding cards to cut, unless my eyes/math deceives me, the deck actually appears to be 100 cards + commander, making me already 1 card over.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
maybe a Tithe over the Oreskos Explorer? Tithe may be more reliable, and you wont need the body persay, but the cheaper cost may not be worth the synergy of Oreskos with Sun Titan/Emeria, the Sky Ruin. Addition of tithe may warrant a Mistveil Plains too.
Just thinking out loud
[EDH In Development] Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Queen Marchesa | Ruhan of the Fomori | Yahenni, Undying Partisan
[EDH Retired] Ertai, The Corrupted | Sigarda, Host of Herons | Tariel, Reckoner of Souls | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
[Modern] Stuffy Doll Combo Burn | Demigod of Revenge
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StaffI noticed it conspicuously missing when I had an Emeria Shepherd under the hideaway land, but she was made nearly useless by the fact that I had no more plains to actually play. In my Trostani deck, I've gotten around that at times by Ghost Quartering my own plains so that I could either Mistveil it to the bottom and search it back up, or play it again from the grave.
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Staff1 plains
1 mistveil plains
How shocking!
===
The Game!
Heliod vs Phage, you're going to die! Patron of... THE MOON! lands and card draw!, and ... something.
I open up discovering I have a Rings of Brighthearth and a fetchland, so I t3 a Rings, and t4 the fetchland and drop a Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant. Next turn yields a Kor Cartographer and I clamp it.
Phage drops a Mind's Eye, and I follow up with one the next turn. Aside from drawing all the cards from each other, Patron by now has out Grafted Skullcap, Bottled Cloister, Psychic Vortex, Mind Unbound, and more.
We're drawing all the cards (which is Patron's plan, mind you). I also draw into a burnished hart, and another fetch land, so I'm pretty close to out of basic lands in my deck. I also have a few Clerics out. Phage tries to take me out, so I Wing Shards to keep her off of me, and retaliate, but only do about 20 damage, thanks to the Cathars' Crusade and Eldrazi Monument, as I switch into kill mode.
Patron then bounces a bunch of my stuff, and also drops an Ensnaring Bridge, so my next turn involves a Gauntlet of Power, replaying some stuff, and holding 10 mana open to Mind's Eye for removal (Totally forgot that I was holding an Oblation, the entire game).
Time gets called, but top card was an Aura Shards, so Patron would have likely died on my next turn, and I think I was in a good position to take the game from there, but time got called on the game.
Everyone else scooped first though! So I claim Victory! Kind of! Maybe!
(We'll have to do a rematch)
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