Infantry Veteran

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Legality

Format Legality
1v1 Commander Legal
Archenemy Legal
Block Constructed Legal
Canadian Highlander Legal
Casual Legal
Commander / EDH Legal
Commander: Rule 0 Legal
Custom Legal
Duel Commander Legal
Highlander Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pauper Legal
Pauper Duel Commander Legal
Pauper EDH Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Premodern Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Infantry Veteran

Creature — Human Soldier

: Target attacking creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

multimedia on Liesa, Liesa, they so flying...

2 years ago

Hey, if you want to stop No Mercy then consider Cathar Commando? It's a budget creature so it can be reanimated or recurred with Liesa, Forgotten Archangel as well as other ways which I will mention in my next comment :)

If your getting Jumpstart packs there's several cards to look for other than Exquisite Blood:

I believe in using my money getting singles to build my decks not on $5 packs, but if you enjoy cracking Jumpstart packs look for these cards. Selfless Savior and Blood Artist are uncommons, you might have these cards.


If you're interested in Exquisite Blood then maybe you want to make your deck more combo? I don't think Exquisite is worth $18 since with $18 you can make several upgrades not just one card. For $18 you can make close to 20 card upgrades. Even if you're playing casual having a combo to win the game is helpful. Just don't combo off right away, let the game build up, have fun and then boom.

There's no budget alternative card for Exquisite Blood, but you can mimic the outcome of what the Blood combo does with budget cards. By making yourself lose a lot of life and then gaining the life you lost right back.

Vizkopa Guildmage's ability is like Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose/Sanguine Bond except it's more powerful because it affects each opponent all at once not just one opponent. It however costs three mana to have the effect until end of turn. The combo is to cast a spell or activate an effect to lose a lot of life such as Bond of Agony where you can control how much life you lose which then makes each opponent lose that same amount of life. When you lose the life then sac either Children of Korlis or Tainted Sigil to gain all that life back. This then triggers Guildmage to make each opponent lose that same amount of life again, most likely killing each of your opponents for having 0 life and you win the game.

Children of Korlis is a good card for gaining life because it looks at all life you lose for the entire turn. You can gain a lot at one time after a big attack from opponent doing combat damage to you or a small amount, you choose. It's a one drop creature who can be reanimated or recurred to repeat this effect, great with Liesa, Forgotten Archangel. Outside the combo if you're paying a lot of life for draw such as with Greed then Children can help to gain that life back.

In my last comment I mentioned you can get quality from filler creature cards you play with Infantry Veteran as example of not quality. Children of Korlis and Selfless Savior are examples of quality budget one drops. Mischievous Poltergeist/Wall of Blood's ability can be paid as much as you want, each time losing 1 life, but it's not a good card outside the combo. I suggested it because it's a creature who can be easily reanimated or recurred which can be helpful to more easily combo or repeat the combo. If I was playing this combo I would play it for that reason.

I'll continue with more advice in another comment later.

multimedia on Liesa, Liesa, they so flying...

2 years ago

Hey, you're welcome. Nice, those are good changes to make :)

Think bigger when it comes to your gameplan and card quality? Gideon's Avenger and Vampire Scrivener are low power level creatures who need other cards to make them good and to fit with the deck's strategy. Their game impact is very low. Vampire Scrivener being a five drop 2/2 flier is worse because it doesn't do anything for five mana. Which is not good when you have other five drops like Liesa, Stinging Study, Liesa, Forgotten Archangel, casting + equipping Sword of Feast and Famine, etc. can impact the game for five mana right away.

Your best attacker and life gaining is Liesa since she has flying, lifelink and she's your Commander meaning she does Commander damage. If you need a blocker then give Liesa vigilance which is what Loyal Unicorn does and it's a good card to keep for this reason. I don't think attacking with lots of creatures or building creatures to be attackers should be your game plan here. Liesa as attacker yes, but instead the creatures you play should support the life gaining strategy for value, draw, protect Liesa, make Liesa a better attacker, be sacrificed to keep Leisa alive, etc. Creatures with lifelink are preferred since if they get to attack they might gain life, but think of that as a bonus.

Liesa, Forgotten Archangel is your second best attacker/life gaining and her other abilities are excellent. Markov Purifier is a good example of a quality budget support creature with Liesa since he can be repeatable draw and if you get to attack with him then he might gain life, but you really play him because of his repeatable draw not because he may do combat damage to gain life.


You have a lot of budget filler creatures here who you don't need to play because they aren't helping gameplay enough to take up a deck spot. As a lesson in Commander deck building try to limit to only quality creatures here. This is not about adding/upgrading creatures, except a few that are in the precon, but instead about choosing only the quality creatures you're currently playing.

What we are looking for in creatures is how they interact or support with the deck strategy. If they're good enough support keep them, but if not then cut them. Even budget filler creatures such as Infantry Veteran can be quality, Veteran is not quality.

This list I've made below is not a knock on your deck building, you're using cards you have available to you, that's great and everyone has this same start. This advice is to how to improve the cards that you play to fill in the rest of the deck spots to have a full deck. Filler cards can also be quality, but you first have to know which cards are not as good as others so that you can improve them within budget.

I have reduced the creature base down to 11 of the quality creatures your currently playing. We are looking for good impact from creatures to make when they are played the first turn which means they have some kind of helpful abilities. Less high end creatures because both Liesa are your best high end creatures who are five drops.

If you're still interested I can continue with advice in another comment. Shall I continue?

ThinMargin on Liesa, Liesa, they so flying...

2 years ago

multimedia great feedback! All of those cards were on the maybe list for me for sure. The deck was feeling a little creature heavy.

There are a few mechanics I would like to keep though. I am using Gideon's Avenger and the Vampire Scrivener to counter up and give them life link with one of the 3 enchants I have for that. Makes them good blockers or attackers and a tempting removal burn to keep Liesa out longer. They fit in line with the punishment theme of Liesa. If I had something that did both, that would be better. If Liesa is out, each combo costs me 4 life. It is a side road I need to consider if I can get my Loyal Unicorn out and haven't found my Victory's Herald .

Also, it pains me to let go of my infi-chump blocker. Blinking Spirit is one of my favorite cards for watching peoples heads explode, it probably should have been blue, really. But I can see the sense in getting rid of a recasting creature in a Liesa deck. Good call.

What do you think of this:

I appreciate the help! Cheers!

berryjon on White Politics

4 years ago

You have several duplicate cards in an EDH format deck, including Custodi Squire, Farsight Adept, Infantry Veteran, Lieutenants of the Guard, Guildless Commons, Secluded Steppe, Flicker of Fate and Spectral Searchlight.

For mono-white decks, I always suggest New Benalia, Dawn of Hope, Legion's Landing  Flip, and Smothering Tithe as basic utility cards. Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are good for making deals in the "I remove this threat, do me a favour" sense as well.

SpiritKing on How to turn modern?

6 years ago

not about to tell you to get another deck or a "modern deck", since you already stated this is more a list of what you have to work with rather than a finished deck. I dont know how much modern matches you could observe until now, but modern is a very fast format that evolves mostly around the first 4-6 turns of a game. With that premise, you should start by cutting most of your mana expensive cards from the finished build, they just wont help you win in time or to stay alive. Things like Soul's Majesty, Hunt the Weak, Quietus Spike or Staff of Nin are far to slow to have an impact on your matches. The same goes for your "big" cats like Raksha, Jedit Ojanen and Taj-Nar Swordsmith. Little critters like Infantry Veteran are cheaply costed, but outclassed very easily and dont have enough of a usefull ability. If i were you i probably would drop the equipment/arifact based cards in the deck completely and go more in the direction of +1/+1 counters.

Try to ask around if someone has some Travel Preparations and/or some more Fleecemane Lion's for trade, or buy some of them at your LGS (they are pretty cheap) and up the number of Ainok Bond-Kin. Try to avoid Dragon Bell Monk and Student of Ojutai and try to get some Seeker of the Way instead. They have a better body for a lower cost, get the Prowess bonus from casting your +1/+1 counter spells and combat tricks as well as getting you some more life. Consider Prey Upon to go with them.

Overall advice: try to lower your mana curve so that you have a reasonable chance to play something every turn from t1 to t5, perhaps even mutiple spells from t3 onward, to get your opponent to 0 life as quickly as possible. If you want to stick with GW as your colors and want to use some of your cats, an aggro strategy (poissibly) with +1/+1 counter interactions would be the first thing you should look at. Also cheap, efficient spot removal in form of Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile and Fatal Push are some of the most played cards in modern. If you can do it, try to add something that protects your creatures, or gives you an advantage if they get removed. Something like Brave the Elements, Emerge Unscathed or Shapers' Sanctuary should be a fine solution.

I hope this is what you were looking for. If you have further questions, feel free to ask away.

lumberjackpatty on CMC: 1.00

7 years ago

You have two Infantry Veterans bud.

greatdevourer on Human Soldier deck

7 years ago

Great soldier themed deck. I see what you are going for and I think you've got a good idea. However there are some cards in this list that aren't that efficient.

Creatures that tap for a temporary +1 bonus for a single target are nice in a draft or limited format, not so much in commander.
-1 Anointer of Champions
-1 Infantry Veteran

The following creatures aren't that great either, but for different reasons.
-1 Benalish Veteran, 3 mana for a 2/2 that only gets a bonus when attacking. Nice but there are better options.
-1 Guardians of Akrasa, the exalted ability works against your battalion ability. Also, can't attack due to defender.
-1 Serene Master, not a soldier, has a kind of cute combat ability, but there are better creatures.
-1 Truefire Paladin, not a soldier, only pumps itself.

I'll start with your maybe board and then some cards you may have over looked.

+1 Catapult Master, really good removal.+1 Daru Warchief, makes most of your other creaturs cheaper.
+1 Field Marshal, like Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon" pumps most of your creatures.

Other creatures to consider:
Doomed Traveler, Loyal Cathar  Flip replaces itself when it dies.
Elite Vanguard, a solid 2/1 for 1 mana.
Fencing Ace, Iroas's Champion, Boros Swiftblade are cheap creatures with double strike.
Gideon's Avenger, just keeps getting bigger.
Knight-Captain of Eos, not a soldier, but turns each of those soldier tokens a Holy Day.
Mentor of the Meek, for the card draw ability. Works well with the Daru Warchief and other cheap creatures in your deck.
Precinct Captain, cheap creature with first strike and keeps making more soldier tokens.
Soldier of the Pantheon can be really good in commander games, lots of multi-colored creatures, including commnders.
Thalia's Lieutenant, has a lot of synergy with everything else.

Enough about the creatures. Lets take a look at the support spells. Consider taking out the following:
Curse of Bloodletting, only affects a single opponent. Weak in multi-player games.
Pacifism, only temporarily removes a single threat
Fortify, Martial Glory, Show of Valor, War Flare, Desperate Stand are all weak temporary bonus cards. Not something you want to draw after a Wrath of God resolves.
Accorder's Shield, there are so many better equipments. Trusty Machete, Silver-Inlaid Dagger, Basilisk Collar, and Loxodon Warhammer immediately come to mind, especially for the aggressive nature of this deck.

Have you looked into any ot these:Blaze Commando, not a human, but, makes instants like Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix and Warleader's Helix more effective.
Door of Destinies, since most of your creatures are soldiers.
Martial Coup, is a great board wipe that can also let you play 'catch up'.
Mobilization, to make an army after a board wipe.

There are some cards in your maybe board that i don't think would be that good for your deck.
Ancient Tomb, really good for fast mana in competitive formats, expensive card to buy if you don't have one.
Ancient Ziggurat, nice in a five color creature deck, not really good in this one.
Mystifying Maze is kinda tricky, you could end up helping your opponent when you don't want to.
Gemstone Caverns has the same problem as Ancient Ziggurat and is less consistent.
Aftr taking those land cards out, every other land card in your maybe board should be in the deck if you have them or are planning on getting them.

Please keep in mind that, most of the time, Commander/EDH is a format about endurance not speed. Don't be afraid to drop big threats.

As always, temper these suggestions with your collection and your budget. Feel free to take a look at my decks and let me know what you think.

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