Tribal Modern Clerics deck.
I've been tinkering around the edges of this deck forever it seems. Every set seems to have a new cleric with a strong ability to be considered.
I appreciate that as a tribe, it doesn't carry the raw power of Humans or even Spirits; and it isn't anywhere as explosive as Elves, Goblins or Merfolk. But I've always been one for the underdog and I think the role of the cleric is (generally in lore etc.) undervalued and often maligned. Plus, it still gets all the upside of being able to use Cavern of Souls and Unclaimed Territory.
What has made this a more viable deck (if not exactly competitive) is the printing of Righteous Valkyrie. This is pretty much what ties the deck together, giving incremental lifegain and a decent buff to the other creatures. It synergises with every other creature in the deck with the exception of Lurrus of the Dream-Den. But the upside on Lurrus more than makes up for that.
The main engine is one of lifegain and indeed, two of the more pre-eminent clerics in the deck are those ported over directly from the Soul Sisters deck; namely, Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant. They trigger off every creature etb (including your opponent's) so life gain can happen quickly.
In addition to simply 'staying alive', there are then a number of payoffs for gaining that life. Righteous Valkyrie as already discussed buffs everything if we're at a life total that is at least +7 our starting total. That same requirement unlocks Speaker of the Heavens which will generate an almost-'Serra Angel' every turn for as long as we meet that requirement. Those will then give us a life buff on etb and will get the +2 from the valkyrie - so potential to snowball quickly.
The win-con is creature beat-down.
The other creatures in the deck have other jobs. Bygone Bishop is for card draw; giving us a clue whenever any of our creatures etb while he's out.
High Priest of Penance is just one of my favourite cards from casual play so he's earned his spot in the deck because of the good memories we have. And to be honest, I think he's good. He's basically unblockable if our opponent has a high-value target on the board and can stall combat steps for similar reasons.
Selfless Spirit was originally Giver of Runes. Both are clerics, but I've gone with Selfless Spirit because it can make an overloaded Damn one sided, and can be endlessly rebought with Lurrus.
I don't think I need to spend a lot of time explaining what Lurrus does? Just keeps things ticking if we need a key piece out of the graveyard. And comes with Lifelink nailed on.
There's a miser's Abiding Grace and a playset of Damn because it's great, versatile removal for this deck.
And Aether Vial for cheating in our cheap creatures and being mana efficient. Meaning we can spend mana on cracking clues, or building the creature base.
SIDEBOARD
There are other notorius clerics in the sideboard. Geist of Saint Traft probably needs no introduction.
Auriok Champion is a bit of a format staple right now.
Sanctifier en-Vec is new tech and is good against the RB decks in the current meta.
Grand Abolisher an old favourite from EDH that is good in control-based match-ups.
And Remorseful Cleric is our graveyard hate. Very useful when paired with Lurrus.
Rounding off we have the non-cleric elements:
Leyline of Sanctity as a salve against discard, mill and burn.
Vindicate for when we need additional unconditional removal - wheether that's for creatures, artifacts, enchantments or lands - or those things that straddle various categories... I'm looking at you Urza's Saga.
As I say, I know there are better things I could be doing if I wanted to play tribal synergies in modern. But I'm the guy who is still waiting for Kithkin to be good. So for now, I'll scratch the itch with clerics.
Suggestions and up-votes encouraged. :)
(P.S. I know that Martyr of Sands is a cleric and would fit in this deck - but I already have a specific martyr list and wanted something that played a little differently).
