After realizing there were multiple Squadron Hawk effects I had an overwhelming need build. Somehow I ended up with a mono-white mid-range deck that attempts to build a small army of beaters backed by efficient removal and support.
It quickly became apparent that with most of the other versions of Squadron Hawk being at 3 mana it was very impractical to build a wide board state quickly and without evasion they also weren't useful as replaceable equipment holders like in the old caw-blade builds. So the plan became to utilize the inherent card advantage of putting 3 cards into your hand.
Specific cards
Squadron Hawk, Battalion Foot Soldier, and Vampire Conquistador: as stated I wanted to utilize the Squadron Hawk effect. However I didn't need every version of it in the deck. Hawk being the cheapest felt the easiest to include. Gathering Throng was the other option to include but I felt that the 3/1 body felt too fragile for the mana cost. Battalion and Conquistador also share the creature type of Soldier which was later capitalized on. Battalion and Throng are both humans which was considered but I didn't see it panning out quite as well. I would be open to suggestions on this path though.
Ballyrush Bannerette: Dropping 1 Battalion a turn is a fairly slow and not very threatening. But being able to drop 2 in a turn or play a battalion backed by a Valiant Veteran is much better tempo. it is surprisingly limited in it's scope only really hitting 3 cards in the deck besides itself. but the effect it has on those cards is exceedingly helpful.
Valiant Veteran: a 2 mana anthem that hits most creatures in my deck plus it was a body of it's own and a late game option for after the opponent has inevitably removes it.
Esper Sentinel: It's just a really good white 1 drop. The deck thrives on card advantage, and with all of the anthems in the deck this card is still useful at generating value even as a late game top deck.
Solitude, Force of Virtue, and March of Otherworldly Light are all excellent cards in their own right, but in this deck their costs are all but eliminated via the avalanche of cards are your disposal. Their specific effects are all fairly self explanatory. Just remember you can actually hard cast solitude and it's still great value.
Honor of the Pure may seem a bit over kill with Force of Virtue and Valiant Veteran but most of our creatures have very small bodies and no relevant abilities once on the battlefield. A high density of anthem effects helps make sure every card we land is a threat. combined with the fact that battalion and co fetch their own reinforcements, anthems in this deck provide a sense of inevitability. your opponent can likely deal with a 5/5, but how many turns of you dropping a new 5/5 can they last.
Lands:
Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire: plains+, legendary so only 1.
Flagstones of Trokair: Plains+
Mistveil Plains: you could use this to recycle battalions so that you have a never ending supply. only really viable in the absolute latest of late games but seemed too funny not to include.
Shefet Dunes: We try to go wide, this provides a 1 shot anthem if you need just a bit of a push in the end.
Cavern of Souls: resolving the first Squadron Hawk effect is so valuable it is sometimes worth it to name bird off of this card instead of soldier. do so at your own risk though because this being a colorless producer only can come back to bite you.
Ghost Quarter: as a mono-colored deck we have room to spare for some colorless sources. hurts tron and urza's saga decks. and if you're not against those it's actually not too terrible of an idea to hit your own
Flagstones of Trokair as you will have the same amount of lands with an extra white source and 2 less lands in deck.
Strategy and Tips:
We are essentially trying to play the white version of fair magic. play creatures on curve where you can and use removal to keep your opponent playing vaguely fair as well. Turn 2 has the potential plays but from my experience Ballyrush Bannerette is the best if you have a battalion in hand as well, otherwise Squadron Hawk should be the play of choice.
March of Otherworldly Light is great at removing plenty of weak creatures, but if you need to exile a large threat it's often more effective to spend a turn using all of your mana on casting light than it is to burn 2 or 3 battalion cards to stay on curve.
Each battalion effect is only as powerful as the number of copies left in the deck. The longer one of them sits in your hand, the more likely you are to draw into a second one naturally. So it's often best to play them as soon as possible.
You are not required to grab every copy of the battalion card when searching. this is important if you are close to hitting the hand limit or if you want to fake 1 of the cards in your hand as being the remaining copy.
