Eight-and-a-Half Swords

Commander / EDH Equip Fox Mono-White Voltron

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Artifact (24)

• 1x Angelic Armaments
• 1x Blackblade Reforged
• 1x Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip
• 1x Endless Atlas
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Fireshrieker
• 1x General's Kabuto
• 1x Helm of Kaldra
• 1x Loxodon Warhammer
• 1x Manriki-Gusari
• 1x Masterwork of Ingenuity
• 1x Mind's Eye
• 1x Scourglass
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Shield of Kaldra
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1x Sword of Kaldra
• 1x Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1x Sword of Sinew and Steel
• 1x Sword of Vengeance
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte

Instant (6)

• 1x Crush Contraband
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Holy Day
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Creature (24)

• 1x Archon of Absolution
• 1x Brass Squire
• 1x Farfinder
• 1x Hushbringer
• 1x Indomitable Archangel
• 1x Kitsune Healer
• 1x Knight of the White Orchid
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Mentor of the Meek
• 1x Mirran Crusader
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo
• 1x Painter's Servant
• 1x Patron of the Kitsune
• 1x Peacekeeper
• 1x Pentarch Paladin
• 1x Pious Kitsune
• 1x Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant  ^Flip
• 1x Silverblade Paladin
• 1x Silverchase Fox
• 1x Soul Warden
• 1x Steelshaper Apprentice
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Sun Titan

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Circle of Protection: White
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Quest for the Holy Relic
• 1x Rune of Protection: White
• 1x Sigarda's Aid

Commander (1)

Land (35)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Drifting Meadow
• 1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Karoo
• 1x Kor Haven
• 23x Plains
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x War Room

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Glare of Heresy
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Terminus
• 1x Wrath of God

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Nahiri, the Lithomancer

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Maybeboard

Artifact (4)

• 1x Darksteel Forge
• 1x Distorting Lens
• 1x Quietus Spike
• 1x Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang

Instant (2)

• 1x Dispatch
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Reconnaissance

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Open the Armory

Creature (1)

• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

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Like many before me, I have embarked upon the quest to build all 32 color combinations (over 2/3 complete). Also like many before me, I have had some issues getting mono-White to click. I figured leaning into artifacts in some way made sense, so I started with the Nahiri, the Lithomancer precon, but found it slow and clunky. So a couple months ago I made a single card change, subbing in Eight-and-a-Half-Tails for Nahiri, and it played much smoother. Made some real upgrades, and it's now one one my favorite decks. It's pretty straightforward, and 8.5 Tails does A LOT of work for a 2/2 creature, but I'll say a few things about the deck here.

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8.5 Tails Protects He can protect himself from being targeted, damage, and removal, of course. With a Circle of Protection: White , he also protects you. And of course he protects all your other permanents as well. I know that this is obvious, but because he's small, people don't take him as seriously as they should, and tend to forget exactly what his ability does, at least at first. So yes, people will try to do things like Swords him ("oh, he also hits spells?") or Maze him ("wait, ANY permanent?").

8.5 Tails Voltrons Perhaps the most important part of 'Protection from X' is the unblockable clause. 8.5 Tails is so tiny that you might think he can't get the job done, even if he can't be blocked. This is fine, and it's what we want our opponents to think. Drop a few Swords on him, (e.g., Blackblade Reforged and Fireshrieker and he can easily generate turn 6 one-shot kills, which (I think) is the right time for casual EDH decks to be popping off. There are other ways to kill, and more importantly, there are lots and lots of tutors for them, like Stoneforge Mystic and Steelshaper's Gift . Also, people will eventually realize that they are in trouble and will go nuts trying to kill 8.5 Tails, and be very excited when they pull it off. Stay calm, just re-cast him for 4 mana. He's tiny and cheap, and can just pick up that equipment again, especially with his Brass Squire .

8.5 Tails is an Artist He just wants to paint the world white. To that end, he has a Painter's Servant (who can also be tutored in multiple ways, recurred in multiple ways, protected by 8.5 tails, and is an all-around a nice sub-commander). Thanks to Lunchbox1211 for pointing out that Servant is no longer banned! Once you've given the world a shiny new base coat, those XYZs of Protection and Glare of Heresy are looking even better, and 8.5 tails can focus on what he's best at: protecting your team, and laying down some Commander damage.

8.5 Tails is a Stone-Cold Fox So I put some other foxes in for flavor. Most offer some sort of protective ability, and some are actually pretty strong, like Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant  . And some are decent utility foxes like Silverchase Fox . They also enable Patron of the Kitsune , which is pretty funny to flash in off of, say, Farfinder .

8.5 Tails Wants it All The rest of the deck is mostly focused on small creatures that can hold equipment. And then trying to plug some of the holes where mono-White typically suffers, especially keeping up with card draw. I've gone with Sword of Fire and Ice , Mind's Eye , War Room , Mangara, the Diplomat , Endless Atlas , and Mentor of the Meek . Also, 8.5 Tails doesn't really need a ton of mana, but it's great to have more, so I try to address ramp with cards like Dowsing Dagger  , Sword of the Animist , Land Tax , Knight of the White Orchid , etc.

Top Ranked	Achieved #39 position overall 2 years ago Achieved #29 position in Commander / EDH 2 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Equip 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Mono-White 3 years ago
Date added	3 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.74
Tokens	4/4 C Token Legendary Creature Avatar, Elephant 3-3 G, Kor Soldier 1/1 W, Plant 0/2 G, Stoneforged Blade