The deck I first started playing Magic with was Mono White Soldiers. With
Kytheon, Hero of Akros
, as well as other strong soldiers such as Brimaz, King of Oreskos I'm hoping this deck can be reliable in competitive play.
Kytheon,
Soldier of the Pantheon
, and
Mardu Woe-Reaper
comprise the front line; I was skeptical about Woe-Reaper at first, but he can permanently get rid of the ever so popular
Deathmist Raptor
, which I'm stoked about. Also hurts whip decks and Delve cards, and gains life, which is pretty neat for a one drop.
Consul's Lieutenant
is a bro, even more so when he becomes Renowned. Play him turn 2, then Hall of Triumph or Spear of Heliod turn 3 to buff him just enough to get through Deathmist or Sylvan Caryatid. His pump even works on the cat tokens that Brimaz, King of Oreskos spawns when he attacks!
Archangel of Tithes brings this deck together. The deck relies on hitting fast with multiple creatures, and the more creatures you're swinging with, the more your opponent has to pay to block. A toughness of 5 means she can block a slew of threats safely. She even synergizes nicely with Kytheon/Gideon. Turn 4 drop, turn 5 swing with Kytheon and flip to
Gideon, Battle-Forged
, then +1 to untap and make her Indestructible to protect your new Planeswalker, as well as force your opponent to pay to swing, limiting their options even further.
Board wipes are going to be devastating, since it's a creature deck. Languish is going to be a problem particularly; fortunately Archangel dodges it (Brimaz and Roc if we have Hall/Spear).
Originally I had hoped that
Vryn Wingmare
's ability to disrupt the curve would be more useful. At best he is a minor annoyance. He always died quickly, either as a chump blocker or with a removal spell. He just isn't that impactful. It'll shift the curve down a little bit, but I'm going to experiment with
Glaring Aegis
instead. It automatically puts all of my creatures out of range of a slew of burn and removal spells, and the tap ability can allow for a
Consul's Lieutenant
to get through and become renowned when it otherwise would not.
Thanks to Jellyfish42's suggestion, I added
Celestial Flare
to the deck. This can help take care of the dreaded Stormbreath Dragon, in addition to Gaea's Revenge. A friend even showed me a nifty (but painful) combat trick with it: Say your opponent has a Stormbreath out (or some other big nasty creature), but wants to play around Flare by swinging with another creature. Place as many blockers as needed on the secondary creature to kill it, take the damage from Stormbreath, then at the end of combat cast Flare. Since it's still during combat, Stormbreath is still considered an "attacking creature," and it will be sacrificed. It could lead to a 2-3 for 2 trade, as well as a blow to the dome, but Stormbreath will be off the board, and we can still stabilize our life with
Mardu Woe-Reaper
, Wingmate Roc, and maybe
Soldier of the Pantheon
depending on the deck.
I added
Mastery of the Unseen
to the mainboard a while ago, but forgot to make the change. It's one of the few ways I can get a good board state back after a Languish or an End Hostilities. Some of the times I see it, it just sits there; I'll be able to curve out just fine, and my soldiers and Angels get the job done on their own. When I start getting low on cards, this is what I turn to. The life-gain can be a huge game changer, and always having access to creatures is wonderful, and you can cast them at Instant Speed (which I LOVE) as long as you have the mana.
Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
