Note: primer still in progress. Current playtest list is here.
The deck ideally plays as low curve hatebear deck that stops people from doing broken things until it can assemble a combo finish, playing to white's strength in tutors for equipment, creatures, and lands. Think of it like Death and Taxes meets Metalworker MUD meets Kai Budde's Pro Tour Chicago 2000 deck.
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
enables this game plan in a way that makes her much better than traditional hate bear commanders like
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
or
Gaddock Teeg
. Just as a preview,
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
can help you draw cards (sometimes infinite cards), ramp your mana (sometimes infinite mana), and bring in a game-ending alpha strike (sometimes with infinite/infinite creatures). She can also gain you infinite life, a feature that makes this deck a huge problem for any decks that plan on turning creatures sideways (a style of deck that often preys on hate bear decks).
The Win Conditions
I find it useful to start with win conditions. This deck uses a small redundant win condition package based in artifacts, creatures, and lands.
The three kill spells are:
Walking Ballista
Aetherflux Reservoir
Mirror Entity
All of these are tutorable in mono-white, and
Mirror Entity
is specifically tutorable with
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
.
Mirror Entity
really takes advantage of the fact that this a hate bear deck the often has many creatures on the board - you're bound to break through any blockers.
The deck has a compact package to generate the infinite mana or life needed to win. The first is the famous rebel infinite life combo.
The Infinite Life Combo
If you play Rebels, you need to play the infinite life combo. Infinite life isn't great against Commander damage or combo decks, but it does shut down many decks completely and enables wins with
Aetherflux Reservoir
. There are a few ways to pull off the infinite life combo with
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
using the Life.dec combo:
Group A:
Task Force
Group B:
Outrider en-Kor
Umbral Mantle
Infinite mana +
Basilisk Collar
/
Skullclamp
Group C:
Miren, the Moaning Well
All of the pieces are toolbox-tutorable. You can also gain infinite life a few other ways:
Infinite Mana +
Staff of Domination
Infinite Mana +
Mirror Entity
+
Miren, the Moaning Well
Infinite Mana +
Children of Korlis
+
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
+
Umbral Mantle
+
Ancient Tomb
/
Shefet Dunes
/Fetchland
So how do we make infinite mana?
The Infinite Mana Combos
The two cards at the center of this package are
Metalworker
and
Rings of Brighthearth
. They are good spells independent of their combo potential, and both are tutorable in mono-white.
First, a combo that involves them both:
Metalworker
+
Rings of Brighthearth
+
Staff of Domination
(requires 2 artifacts in hand)
The two
Metalworker
-specific infinite mana combos are:
Metalworker
+
Staff of Domination
(requires 3 artifacts in hand)
Metalworker
+
Umbral Mantle
(requires 2 artifacts in hand)
Comboing with
Staff of Domination
will win the game on the spot, with either
Walking Ballista
or
Aetherflux Reservoir
.
Umbral Mantle
can also pump the whole team under certain circumstances (
Paradise Mantle
or
Smuggler's Copter
in play), but usually needs an addition way to find a pay-off. It's often fun to use this combo:
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
+
Skullclamp
+
Umbral Mantle
Just keep Rebel tutoring for a X/1 rebel, clamping, and bottoming to draw your whole deck.
The two
Rings of Brighthearth
-specific combos:
Basalt Monolith
+
Rings of Brighthearth
Deserted Temple
+
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
+
Rings of Brighthearth
(requires devotion to white of 6+)
The land based combo is nice as it doesn't take up more non-land card slots. And of course, with either of the Rings-based infinite mana combos, you can throw in
Sensei's Divining Top
to draw your deck.
The Hatebears
In order to combo off, you need to survive until you have the right cards. This deck uses hatebears to stop your opponents from running wild too early on.
We like to slow the game down. We use a tax package of
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
,
Glowrider
,
Vryn Wingmare
and
Thorn of Amethyst
(I know, not a bear) to slow down people looking to ramp, cantrip, or tutor.
We need to hate on combo decks, or we'll lose because they're faster than us. We pack
Aven Mindcensor
because they're bound to need tutor,
Spirit of the Labyrinth
because they're bound to need to draw extra cards, and
Ethersworn Canonist
because most combo decks prefer to cast multiple spells a turn.
Sanctum Prelate
also just says no to a lot of combo decks. When in doubt, set to two - we don't have a lot of non-creature spells at 2 CMC and most other decks will.
Hope of Ghirapur
can shut someone down for a turn when you know they might be ready to go off.
We can hate on graveyard-based combo decks with
Remorseful Cleric
and
Samurai of the Pale Curtain
. It's important that
Protean Hulk
doesn't hit the graveyard, so we also include a
Rest in Peace
. Even if it does, we have a
Scavenger Grounds
to stop any nonsense afterwards.
We can hate on
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
combo decks with
Thalia, Heretic Cathar
and
Linvala, Keeper of Silence
.
Blind Obedience
also helps here, in addition to slowing down fast mana.
We can hate on creature-based decks with our heavy package of removal, but nothing feels spicier than depriving people attack triggers with
Whipcorder
.
Zealot il-Vec
also kills mana dorks and can wear a
Basilisk Collar
to clear out problems (
Walking Ballista
likes the Collar too). You also can grab
Bound in Silence
with the rebel tutors, which gets around hexproof and shroud to shut down the likes of
Narset, Enlightened Master
.
It's good to play at instant speed, and also good when your hatebears aren't countered.
Aether Vial
is great with our curve.
Protecting and Enabling Going off
The game goes best no one can stop you. To ensure this, the deck includes some low cost protection.
Grand Abolisher
and
Hope of Ghirapur
can protect you on the turn you go off.
Cavern of Souls
and
Aether Vial
can protect you from counters to some extent as well.
Mother of Runes
and
Eiganjo Castle
specifically protect
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
when you're using her as an outlet, but
Mother of Runes
can also protect your hate bears and Metalwoker (and
Eiganjo Castle
hits a few other bears).
The Tutors
The deck runs several toolboxes in the forms off Rebels, Artifacts/Equipments, Enchantments/Auras, Weenies, and Lands.
The Rebel toolbox can be accessed with
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
,
Defiant Falcon
, and
Ramosian Sergeant
.
The Artifact and Equipment toolboxes can be accessed used
Enlightened Tutor
and
Inventors' Fair
, and the Equipment toolbox can be additionally accessed with
Open the Armory
,
Stoneforge Mystic
, and
Steelshaper's Gift
.
The Enchantment and Aura toolboxes can be accessed using
Enlightened Tutor
. The aura toolbox can also be accessed using
Open the Armory
.
The weenie toolbox accessible by
Recruiter of the Guard
.
The land toolbox is accessible using
Expedition Map
and
Weathered Wayfarer
.
Grinding Out Card Advantage
The deck has some ways to grind out card advantage/quality. Of course,
Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
can net you a card each activation, which is helpful for building devotion or putting enough creatures into play for a lethal
Mirror Entity
. In addition to that you have the following engines:
Land Tax
+
Scroll Rack
Mask of Memory
Palace Jailer
Smuggler's Copter
Skullclamp
Card advantage is the deck's major weakness, so if you have time to setup one of these engines, do so ASAP.
Smuggler's Copter
and
Mask of Memory
are great for making use of your creatures while filtering though lands you've pulled from
Land Tax
,
Tithe
, or
Weathered Wayfarer
, as well hatebears that aren't relevant to the match or Rebels you probably don't want to waste time casting.
