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Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Arena | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Pauper Duel Commander | Legal |
| Pauper EDH | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Alabaster Mage
Creature — Human Wizard
: Target creature you control gains lifelink until end of turn.
DemonDragonJ on Other 'Philes
2 years ago
The new Triskaidekaphile is a very awesome card, but I do not like how only blue has another alternate win condition, so I have decided to make a new 'phile for each of the other colors. The general rule that I followed was that each creature would have a static ability, an activated ability, and a win condition that would trigger at the beginning of the player’s upkeep that both the activated ability and static ability could facilitate.
Luxophile Show
The name of this card means "light lover" or "lover of light," and it is a combination of Alabaster Mage and Felidar Sovereign, but the win condition is stricter, since player begin at 40 life by default in EDH. To balance that, it can also increase the power and toughness of creatures, to make it easier to reach the require life total.
Necrophile Show
The name of this card means "death lover" or "lover of death," and it combines Onyx Mage and Mortal Combat, but I changed the conditions for the triggered ability; I made it count all graveyards and then increased the number of creature cards that were required to win the game. I also gave it a way to put creatures into graveyards, which the original enchantment cannot do.
Here is an alternate version of necrophile that I also made.
Necrophile Show
This is an alternate version of necrophile that functions as a sacrifice outlet, to fulfill its win condition even more easily, but it also breaks from the mold of the other creatures, so I am not certain which version I prefer.
Pyrophile Show
The name of this card means "fire lover" or "lover of fire," and it is modeled after Chance Encounter, whose main problem is that it does not provide a method for flipping coins, so I added such an ability to this creature. I also chose to use +1/+1 counters, rather than luck counters, because they have a better synergy with creatures, but I also increased the requires number of counters, because of how easy those counters are to exploit. My original version of the activated ability was ", : flip a coin, if you win the flip, pyrophile deals 3 damage to any target; if you lose the flip, pyrophile deals 2 damage to any target and 1 damage to you," but I changed it to be higher risk, higher reward, which is a central philosophy of red (that it also shares with black). Is 3 power too high for this creature? Should it instead be a 2/1?
Zoophile Show
The name of this creature means “animal lover” or “lover of animals,” and I am perfectly aware that both this creature and necrophile have highly suggestive names, but I feel that those names are appropriate for these creatures, given their abilities. This creature is a combination of Jade Mage and Epic Struggle, but I made the activated ability more color-intensive and also increased the number of creatures required to win, since it now compensates for the enchantment’s weakness of not being able to generate creatures on its own.
What does everyone else say about these creatures? Do you like them?
Darth_Savage on
Give Me Your Life
7 years ago
The deck isn't overly efficient, by that I mean you aren't running 4 of anything meaning it will be inconsistent... For instance why run 2 Child of Night over 4 Gifted Aetherborn when the latter is a better card? Or why run Alabaster Mage or Lifelink when most of your creatures already have lifelink?
I also think the deck is light on removal/disruption for a black/white deck you can run a gamut of discard and removal spells as well as taxing spells.
Now what you do have is a reasonable start for an EDH/Commander deck, being that most of your card choices are singleton anyway. If you are looking to go to a store and play casually EDH is the way to go.
If you don't fancy going the EDH route try to improve the focus of the deck, work out the 5 cards you ideally want in your opening hand and run 4 of them, you won't always see them but this is a good place to start from.
SilverhawkPX45 on
Archangel Avacyn
7 years ago
The deck right now is perfectly servicable as a R/W midrange archetype, but I get the impression it doesn't really know what it wants to be yet. In adding cards like Boros Reckoner and Spitemare, you've created more payoff when Avacyn transforms from white to red, but those guys seem rather lackluster when you have Light of Sanction or Mark of Asylum on the battlefield. I'd either go further into the "protect all my guys from global damage"-theme and remove the punisher cards or alternatively you could maybe embrace the fact that your creatures will get damaged, in which case you'd want to cut cards like Repercussion. As it is, I feel there are a couple of boardstates where the deck might be it's own worst enemy. Either way, you could use some more non-angel creatures you can sacrifice at will or alternatively some more reliable token producers, possibly in the manabase (Kjeldoran Outpost and Kher Keep seem like good options to me).
There are a couple of cards I don't really see much use for regardless of the theme of the deck. Those include Braid of Fire and Flickerform. I can't see any mana sinks to use the mana provided by Braid of Fire during upkeep. Keep in mind that mana pools empty between turn phases. While I can guess that Flickerform is supposed to be used as a reset button for Avacyn, I'd wager that it's not necessary to flip her back this often. Maybe just play a simple instant speed flicker effect or two if you feel it's important for the deck strategy.
Since most of your creatures have flying and likely won't lose in 1v1 combat, I'd maybe think about playing some sweepers that only hit grounded creatures like Molten Disaster or Fault Line.
Personally, I recommend cutting Boros Reckoner and it's ilk and going for some more damage prevention. That'd suggest the following cards, specifically:
Alabaster Mage (for huge lifegains whenever Avacyn transforms)
TheVectornaut on
White Angels
7 years ago
I like the lifegain plan that's worked in here, but I feel like it needs another way to capitalize on it. Sure you could just run Felidar Sovereign, but the card I was thinking of is actually Angelic Accord. It certainly isn't necessary to go this route, but since it was what jumped out at me, it's what I'll be basing my suggestions on. There are plenty of ways to gain life so the challenge is to find which ways are the most efficient while also providing other utility. The best strategy is to forego most of the big angels in exchange for cheap threats that work towards producing more tokens so you're never left without a board presence. This means that the slower cards of Guardian of the Gateless, Angel of the Dire Hour, Entreat the Angels, and Defy Death can probably go. If you really want some big hitters to finish the game, I'd try a few copies of Avacyn, Angel of Hope or Iona, Shield of Emeria. I'd also cut Angel's Mercy since it offers no additional benefit beyond the life.
So let's look at some heals. While I normally wouldn't recommend Scroll of Avacyn or Staff of the Sun Magus, I think they can actually work here since they both work towards that magic number of 4 life. Gaining 5 works by itself while gaining 1 lets a Cathedral Sanctifier finish the job. Some other creatures that do similar things are Arashin Cleric and Lone Missionary. You've probably already gleaned that these effects work very well with Emancipation Angel, but they can also be used with flicker effects like Cloudshift, Restoration Angel, and Eerie Interlude. Some other single heals that I've seen used are Children of Korlis and Swords to Plowshares targeting your own creatures. Another way to gain life is with repeatable effects like Soulmender, Ajani's Mantra/Nyx-Fleece Ram, and Wall of Essence. A less popular card that I think could actually work here is Trading Post. It may even justify running artifact lifegain like Bubbling Cauldron and Chalice of Life Flip. Elixir of Immortality is another solid option there. The last obvious way to gain life is by using lifelinkers. In addition to Fiendslayer Paladin, Lone Rider Flip, Alabaster Mage, and Serra Ascendant stand out. These cards will get the most value out of equipment like Godsend and enchantments like Sunbond. You don't necessarily want to run a little of everything from above. Sometimes it's best to choose a path and stick with it for the best chance at synergy.
The last thing I'd do is swap around some of the removal pieces to either provide more healing or provide more speed. I like that Exile can gain life, but the limitations make it seem more like a sideboard card to me. Last Breath and Solemn Offering fall in the same boat. One card that is probably good enough is Faith's Fetters as another Pacifism. For the early threats, Path to Exile has always been the white staple. Given the changes, I think board clears like Wrath of God are weaker, but it doesn't hurt to have 1 hanging around just in case. Armageddon, on the other hand, seems too limited since you can only afford to play it if you're already far ahead and if you're certain your opponent can't catch back up and wipe your board.
Anyway, I hope I didn't leave out anything that was here the first time I tried to write this. If you have any comments, just message me whenever.
ventergh on
Karlov of the Ghost Council - Competitive TL
7 years ago
I attempted creating a more budget-friendly version of your deck. I'd love to hear your thoughts about it as you seem to have more experience with this deck.
Also, wouldn't Nearheath Pilgrim be better than Alabaster Mage?
EssTea on
If you go white you can't go wrong!
8 years ago
Hey you asked for my advice so here I am!
I think your deck looks fine but could benefit from a little focus. My recommendations are going to go this way :
1. Try and focus your deck on a specific strategy, so you can have a clear idea on how you see yourself winning with it (and how you will most of the times).
2. Adjust your curve which is packed at the 3 slot.
3. Debate on cards in your list I feel are not accomplishing much or that could be left for better cards.
So about your overall strategy... You've got to grasp the difference between Mono-white aggro (weenies), Mono-green aggro (elves), and mono-red aggro (burn). What changes is the way the deck deals its points of damage, but more than that, its the way the deck deals its last points of damage a.k.a. reach. Mono-green executes a mana combo that pumps everything to 6/6 trample, mono-red deals its last points with a burn to the face, mono-white has always been the least played aggro deck because it lacks this simplessness, however you've got some tools at your disposal to get some reach and I would resume it this way : Go wide, buff the whole board and sometimes use protection from colors as evasion.
Cards that fit this strategy : Doomed Traveler (when he dies you have a flier), Soldier of the Pantheon (pro multi), Raise the Alarm, Midnight Haunting, Gather the Townsfolk, Martial Coup, Mirran Crusader (protection for evasive purposes and a devastating double strike), Kytheon, Hero of Akros
Flip (fast on board with added utility if he flips).
As for the buffs : Honor of the Pure, Crusade, Divine Sacrament and if you're made of money Jihad (that should be the last addition to your deck, there are more important things.)
Cards that do not fit this strategy but that I deem very good : Knight of the White Orchid (first strike helps early attacks and he generates value on the draw), Unexpectedly Absent and Council's Judgment as an answer to everything (the format is pretty diverse), and finally Windbrisk Heights.
If you ever have the money I would add the Stoneforge Mystic
+
Sword of Feast and Famine
+
Sword of Fire and Ice
package, but that's not necessary to making your deck strong.
As you can see, a large part of my suggestions already lower your curve if you replace them with some 3 drops!
As for cards I think are not really optimal in your deck :
Alabaster Mage : I think that if you need to lifelink in a game you're probably losing hard. You should be the one applying pressure and focus on winning, not on not losing (aggro!)
Intrepid Hero : A 1/1 for 3 that will never attack and that takes a turn to setup a kill. Again, you should be focusing on attacking not defending and there are more efficient ways (as mentionned above, and you also have the two best removal white gives (path and swords).
Thraben Doomsayer : seems pretty slow, he won't be attacking and it takes 3 turns before his tokens would deal more damage than himself... The fateful hour thing is pretty darn situational.
Path of Bravery : There are just better, cheaper options for buffing your team.
Elixir of Immortality : is there a mill player you always play against? You should be on the offensive not the defensive!
Expedition Map : The lands you can go get are not high impact enough to be worth 3 mana and a card.
Hope that helps!
