Strangely, mine doesn't draw hate - Bruna kind of has the opposite effect. People are like 'Í would remove Bruna, but I wanna see her meld
Same here. People take pictures of Brisela with their phones when I get the meld to go off. lol
Sword and Shepherd - it's the best synergy in the deck, imo.
I took out Sword of the Animist, but you’re making me want to put it back in. It’s also great to get out an early angel, equip, and just start building mana. I guess my issue with it is so many times I’ve only gotten 1 land from it, then it gets blown up. What do you think of Burnished Hart? That card goes nuts with the Shepherd. Hart can get itself back from the yard and 1 other thing. You can do this for every 3 mana you have. That’s massive ramp and getting most everything back from your yard. Unfortunately, on its own it’s pretty slow.
Gift of Estates is really great early. Weathered Wayfarer picks up your utilities. Endless Atlas has played out really, really well for me. Azor's Gateway - seems risky, but it's great cheap filtering bare minimum. Sword of the Animist - this is an attack trigger, so you don't have to beat face to ramp. Chuck it on a weenie and swing away. Dowsing Dagger - We run fliers, so this is easy to flip.
Otherwise, I run a fair amount of rocks personally, and of course Land Tax. It's weird, knowing that it's a weakness in mono white means you sort of compensate for it, and that has kind of kicked the deck right back the other way to being really quite consistent. It's not like Azusa turbo ramp or anything, but it is pretty rare I miss a land drop or struggle with screw.
Cards like Gift of Estates are good, but I don’t consider them ramp. I do run it, though. Like Land Tax, it ensures I don’t miss land drops. The two equipment you listed are excellent. They have been the main reasons I’m able to keep recasting Bruna, and they go so well with fliers.
Azor’s Gateway is good. It’s card disadvantage of one card, but the card quality more than makes up for it. It sucks to run out of cards, and the Gateway could have been an actual card. However, it gives mono white the ability to dig to get to the actual card drawing. That’s huge. I’ve run Treasure Map/Treasure Cove too. Early game it’s about as good as the gateway, but it’s a sucky top deck later if you’re out of steam. I do still like it though, and have even drawn a couple of cards off the flip.
The Doran/Condemnation wasn’t the best example. lol But the gist of it is that I feel outclassed before I get Bruna out, unless I draw the right lifelinkers or Magus of the Moat for grounders. Stonehewer Giant has been pretty good for me. Also, simply chump blocking with random dudes like Solemn or Recruiter is usually enough to make me last until Bruna comes out.
Maybe I could use more early ramp. I tend to just make sure I hit all my land drops with cards like Land Tax. I have some early ramp, but not enough that I consistently draw it early game every game.
I don’t know how y’all are keeping up with green and black when it comes to mana. That doesn’t seem possible unless your meta just doesn’t like ramp.
Another option I used to run was Weathered Bodyguards. It's expensive to cast, but if you can keep it protected with Greaves or whatever it's a fort of a card. Plus being a human you can reanimate it to your heart's content here
He’s pretty cool. I’m scared to not block their creatures, only for them to kill the bodyguard and me take a bunch of damage. The greaves are definitely a must with him.
One fundamental problem I’ve had with Bruna are the turns leading up to casting her. Most angels/humans suck compare to what’ll be on the battlefield. If I get Serra Ascendent, Gisela, Baneslayer or Lyra I’m fine. Sometimes though I’m facing down Doran, the Siege Tower and another beater with nothing but an Angel of Condemnation. Once I cast Bruna and get something back, it’s incredible value and stats on the table, but until then things can get rough.
On a different topic, I’ve had tremendous success with Palace Jailer and Protector of the Crown. My deck is very good at keeping the crown, and getting it back with fliers if I have to. The jailer is a great Bruna target, and I can tutor for him with Recruiter of the Guard. And the protector combos nicely with Avacyn. The crown does put a target on you, though. But when you lose the crown it puts aggro on someone else. Monarch has only backfired on me in one game. It was down to me and one last player. He got the crown with The Locust God tokens, and I just couldn’t get it back or get back in control of that game. However, in every other game I’ve ever had the monarch, it was tremendous card drawing.
Yeah, and I do like Moat. The advantage of it over another wrath is that 1) it stays there forever until handled, and 2) your fliers can keep attacking. For me, Knight-Captain has been better, but yeah, it’s a meta thing.
So what do y’all think about Erratic Portal? It has obvious synergy, but I’ve never actually run it. It’s not like I’ll be bouncing Bruna every turn, and there aren’t a lot of etb creatures in my deck. However, Bruna starts to cost a LOT of mana, and the portal helps with that big time, while also being a nuisance to other players.
I asked two of my magic buddies if I should cut Magus of the Moat. They told me I was crazy. lol For the record though, moat has backfired on me. It’s a symmetrical effect. When you play it, it’s like everyone played it. You could be helping your opponents just as much as hurting them. Even if when you played it was a good idea, the game state can change where moat can begin helping another player more than you. When an opponent is running away with the game, the last thing you want to do is prevent the table from attacking him. I’ll definitely keep it in my build, but the card has some drawbacks.
Similar to the knight-captain, moat doesn’t actually handle their threats. So the same criticism of the knight-captain should be applied to moat, too. They’re similar cards actually. Both prevent them from attacking. Moat only handles grounders. Knight-captain handles anything, but only works twice. Also, there is a subtle but powerful advantage to the knight-captain. Unlike moat, he allows your opponents to attack each other. That’s pretty strong. Moat stops aggro, but the knight-captain sends it another way. That can be so much better. I run Kor Haven, Maze of Ith and Thaumatic Compass/Spires of Orazca for this reason as well. I would go so far as to say those three cards have done more damage for me than any other card in my deck. Letting your opponents do things for you is a big part of multiplayer.
Great write up. I think some of my suggestions are very meta based. My group loves big creatures and dragons. Knight-Captain has been good every time I’ve drawn him. Seraph of the Sword I admit has sometimes done nothing. However, the same is true for Magus of the Moat. In fact, not only has he been a dead card, he’s actually helped an opponent who started running away with the game. He benefitted more from the moat than me. I actually wished I had been able to kill my own Magus.
You make a good case against Silverblade Paladin. When Bruna dies, I don’t want to be left with nothing but a Grizzly Bears. I went a somewhat toolbox route with my angels/humans, and double strike is a unique effect (plus I run Recruiter of the Guard), but really the paladin is better when I cast him right before attacking. He’s not very good getting him back with Bruna.
Maybe this is crazy, but Bastion Protector hasn’t been that great for me. I love the theme of this card, but my problem is she’s not good without Bruna in play. And even then, there is so much removal that ignores indestructible. To be sure, there have been times where she was good, but for me it’s too situational.
What’s your take on Intrepid Hero? I’ve had a lot of success with him.
Also, would Silverblade Paladin be right for this deck? On the one hand, your deck is more defensive. On the other, he makes your angels compete with the bigger creatures that you’ll have to deal with. Bruna soul bonded may earn you a kill that otherwise wouldn’t have happened. And he also has synergy with Archangel of Thune, Mask of Memory, Sword of Fire and Ice, and really any life linker.
Finally, perhaps more appropriate for this build, how do you feel about Seraph of the Sword and Knight-Captain of Eos? I like them as aggro deterrent, which I find to be a winning strategy. Throw up a fortress. Let them fight amongst themselves. Pick off anyone I can
Same here. People take pictures of Brisela with their phones when I get the meld to go off. lol
I took out Sword of the Animist, but you’re making me want to put it back in. It’s also great to get out an early angel, equip, and just start building mana. I guess my issue with it is so many times I’ve only gotten 1 land from it, then it gets blown up. What do you think of Burnished Hart? That card goes nuts with the Shepherd. Hart can get itself back from the yard and 1 other thing. You can do this for every 3 mana you have. That’s massive ramp and getting most everything back from your yard. Unfortunately, on its own it’s pretty slow.
Cards like Gift of Estates are good, but I don’t consider them ramp. I do run it, though. Like Land Tax, it ensures I don’t miss land drops. The two equipment you listed are excellent. They have been the main reasons I’m able to keep recasting Bruna, and they go so well with fliers.
Azor’s Gateway is good. It’s card disadvantage of one card, but the card quality more than makes up for it. It sucks to run out of cards, and the Gateway could have been an actual card. However, it gives mono white the ability to dig to get to the actual card drawing. That’s huge. I’ve run Treasure Map/Treasure Cove too. Early game it’s about as good as the gateway, but it’s a sucky top deck later if you’re out of steam. I do still like it though, and have even drawn a couple of cards off the flip.
Endless Atlas is invaluable. An uncuttable card.
The Doran/Condemnation wasn’t the best example. lol But the gist of it is that I feel outclassed before I get Bruna out, unless I draw the right lifelinkers or Magus of the Moat for grounders. Stonehewer Giant has been pretty good for me. Also, simply chump blocking with random dudes like Solemn or Recruiter is usually enough to make me last until Bruna comes out.
Maybe I could use more early ramp. I tend to just make sure I hit all my land drops with cards like Land Tax. I have some early ramp, but not enough that I consistently draw it early game every game.
I don’t know how y’all are keeping up with green and black when it comes to mana. That doesn’t seem possible unless your meta just doesn’t like ramp.
He’s pretty cool. I’m scared to not block their creatures, only for them to kill the bodyguard and me take a bunch of damage. The greaves are definitely a must with him.
One fundamental problem I’ve had with Bruna are the turns leading up to casting her. Most angels/humans suck compare to what’ll be on the battlefield. If I get Serra Ascendent, Gisela, Baneslayer or Lyra I’m fine. Sometimes though I’m facing down Doran, the Siege Tower and another beater with nothing but an Angel of Condemnation. Once I cast Bruna and get something back, it’s incredible value and stats on the table, but until then things can get rough.
On a different topic, I’ve had tremendous success with Palace Jailer and Protector of the Crown. My deck is very good at keeping the crown, and getting it back with fliers if I have to. The jailer is a great Bruna target, and I can tutor for him with Recruiter of the Guard. And the protector combos nicely with Avacyn. The crown does put a target on you, though. But when you lose the crown it puts aggro on someone else. Monarch has only backfired on me in one game. It was down to me and one last player. He got the crown with The Locust God tokens, and I just couldn’t get it back or get back in control of that game. However, in every other game I’ve ever had the monarch, it was tremendous card drawing.
So what do y’all think about Erratic Portal? It has obvious synergy, but I’ve never actually run it. It’s not like I’ll be bouncing Bruna every turn, and there aren’t a lot of etb creatures in my deck. However, Bruna starts to cost a LOT of mana, and the portal helps with that big time, while also being a nuisance to other players.
Similar to the knight-captain, moat doesn’t actually handle their threats. So the same criticism of the knight-captain should be applied to moat, too. They’re similar cards actually. Both prevent them from attacking. Moat only handles grounders. Knight-captain handles anything, but only works twice. Also, there is a subtle but powerful advantage to the knight-captain. Unlike moat, he allows your opponents to attack each other. That’s pretty strong. Moat stops aggro, but the knight-captain sends it another way. That can be so much better. I run Kor Haven, Maze of Ith and Thaumatic Compass/Spires of Orazca for this reason as well. I would go so far as to say those three cards have done more damage for me than any other card in my deck. Letting your opponents do things for you is a big part of multiplayer.
You make a good case against Silverblade Paladin. When Bruna dies, I don’t want to be left with nothing but a Grizzly Bears. I went a somewhat toolbox route with my angels/humans, and double strike is a unique effect (plus I run Recruiter of the Guard), but really the paladin is better when I cast him right before attacking. He’s not very good getting him back with Bruna.
Maybe this is crazy, but Bastion Protector hasn’t been that great for me. I love the theme of this card, but my problem is she’s not good without Bruna in play. And even then, there is so much removal that ignores indestructible. To be sure, there have been times where she was good, but for me it’s too situational.
Also, would Silverblade Paladin be right for this deck? On the one hand, your deck is more defensive. On the other, he makes your angels compete with the bigger creatures that you’ll have to deal with. Bruna soul bonded may earn you a kill that otherwise wouldn’t have happened. And he also has synergy with Archangel of Thune, Mask of Memory, Sword of Fire and Ice, and really any life linker.
Finally, perhaps more appropriate for this build, how do you feel about Seraph of the Sword and Knight-Captain of Eos? I like them as aggro deterrent, which I find to be a winning strategy. Throw up a fortress. Let them fight amongst themselves. Pick off anyone I can