Rebels were a really fun tribe in the late 1990s/early 2000s. They have had two primary weaknesses, (1) a lack of mana ramp in white to keep feeding their voracious appetite for mana; and (2) a lack of power to really hit someone for an alpha strike.
The most appealing factor for me to play this deck besides nostalgia? Instant speed answers and card advantage in white!!! Rebels have been very good at playing defensively. Luckily, if we expand our sight to what white has always been strong with, enchantments and defensive cards, we can build a decent mono-white commander deck with Lin Sivvi as our fearless leader! This isn't a high-end competitive deck, but my intention is to take Rebels and make them as competitive as possible in the format. I have been able to make this deck reasonably competitive at a normal open commander night and a table for 3-5 players. I have never tried taking it to a high-end tournament against Tier 1 decks, and I don't imagine this is anything close to Tier 1. But I think it's pretty good for what mono-white Rebels allows me to work with.
Serra's Sanctum is really the lynchpin to a lot of this strategy. Serra's Sanctum is great mana ramp, especially in a white deck that sorely lacks other methods of ramping. Combine that with a heavy enchantment package and enchantment tutors (like Enlightened Tutor and Idyllic Tutor), we can really start to see a defensive pillowfort built that also runs up mana. Snow Plains/Extraplanar Lens, Weathered Wayfarer, Thran Dynamo, Tithe, Gift of Estates, Gilded Lotus, Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power, Sol Ring, Solemn Simulacrum, etc. all help buff the mana count up.
Mirror Entity's tap X for all creatures to be X/X is the primary wincon. However, Lin Sivvi has a great recursion ability to keep rebels out of the graveyard. Sun Titan does well with this too where we get a 6/6 beatstick that brings permanents out of the graveyard. Honor of the Pure, Elesh Norn, Always Watching, etc. all help keep the rebels buff enough to ward off random attacks until the end of the game when we bring out Mirror Entity for an overwhelming kill.
Whipcorder, Defiant Vanguard, Shield Dancer, Reveille Squad, Ghostly Prison, Sphere of Safety, Bound in Silence, Crackdown, etc. all serve as excellent defensive pillowfort cards.
You really want to try and make attacking you or targeting you as difficult and unappealing as possible while you have your weenie rebel army. Granted, the savvy players often know a Mirror Entity is coming, but you can still discourage attacks when easier targets are available that don't involve heavy taxes to pay per creature or the threat of losing permanents every time an attack is launched. Anthems aren't usually a preferred card type for me to use in EDH, but in this deck they just work. You don't want too many of them. But having a handful of anthems, 1 super lord (mirror entity), Elesh Norn, and the mana doublers still insure that I'm always able to make a strong board presence in the late game.
As far as Rebel decks go and mono-white decks go, this is decidedly NOT a budget deck. But it still isn't close to the $1,000+ monstrosities that you can see like a Zur and others.
I always love getting feedback and suggestions as to what directions you guys think that I could take this and any improvements that I could make.
