Balan, One-Punch Woman

Commander / EDH Monomanamaniac

SCORE: 105 | 46 COMMENTS | 16015 VIEWS | IN 44 FOLDERS


Big changes —July 20, 2021

I'm planning to make Galea, kindlier of hope the commander going forward

DespairFaction says... #1

All in all, everything looks pretty tight and it seems like you have bases covered pretty well. Heres a few things I might explore. First up I am BIG fan of Sword of Sinew and Steel I think only feast and famine is better when getting only a single sword trigger. Next, Ardenn is an insane card that you definitely want to be running, if you cant find a cut I would switch it for Sigarda's Aid which ive always been luke warm on. Keeper of the Accord of the is much better than Verge Rangers, more lands and tokens give you sacrifice protection and blockers. Akroma's Will and Faith's Shield have both been ridiculously good in my decks. Akromas is protection and a finisher, and Faiths Shield is protection for ANY PERMANENT and/or unblockable as needed so I would definintely clear room for these. And if you are able to cut a basic you can run Sejiri Shelter  Flip as a 3rd one of these. I very much like to have 2 fog effects whenever I can swing it. Teferi's proteciton is one, Comeuppance is another that I really like, but you can also use Settle the Wreckage or Dawn Charm as additional ways to not get run over by stuff. Finally, if you are facing stronger and/or more value based decks I always recommend a few key hatebears to stop your opponents from going wild Hushbringer is hilarious in how many different strategies it inteferes with Archon of Emeria or Rule of Law can slow down a player who is very far ahead, if you don't want to use Winter Orb which is a powerful, skill intense, but also salt inducing card. Landwise I would get yourself a Bonders' Enclave and a War Room but ive always used Mikokoro, Center of the Sea and Geier Reach Sanitarium to good effect in mono white...id probably just run all of them and tutor for Feast and Famine asap.

January 16, 2021 2:45 p.m.

Monomanamaniac says... #2

DespairFaction i can definitely see some of the merits to your suggestions. A lot of these are cards that are on my to get list. So funny enough Verge Rangers isn't in my deck anymore because it's just not impactful enough to spend 3 on. I think i replaced it with Explorer's Scope for now. Sigarda's Aid lets you hold back on casting all your equipment until the end of your opponent's turn so they won't have as long to react, it also works very well with the other creatures in the deck who can't equip like Balan can, lastly it's a synergy with Bloodforged Battle-Axe that saves a lot of Mana. Sosas looks very much worth running, I'd definitely pick it up. Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist is essentially a free activation of Balan every turn, letting me save the Mana or spend it on gas (and is now in the deck lol). Keeper of the Accord has been on my wish list since it was first spoiled (also picked it up lol). Akroma's Will is definitely up my alley as a finisher (and thus i picked up a copy), but as for the other suggestions for protection cards i would have to say that i get enough protection from all my swords, my rune girls, Commander's Plate and Sanctuary Blade . I am definitely going to pick up a Hushbringer as i don't think it effects any of my cards. Comeuppance , Settle the Wreckage , board wipes, and even Dawn Charm to a lesser extent aren't really effects i want too much of, if i don't tap out every turn I'm going to lose to combo decks. Rule of Law , Archon of Emeria , Winter Orb aren't really my cup of tea either, they're "not fun" cards that slow the game down, and slow it down for me too, i want to cast 2+ spells every turn so i can tear through opponents. There's a reason my average cmc is 2.25 and i bet my current version of the deck is closer to 2.0. I already use Mikokoro, Center of the Sea and Arch of Orazca so it's not too much of a stretch to use the others (i actually picked all of them up as well lol). Card draw is the single biggest weakness of momo-white, that and ramp lol.

Thank you for the comment, sorry on the delayed response, i thought i posted it already lol

February 3, 2021 4:35 a.m.

SirChris39 says... #3

Monomanamaniac i can wait to hear how the deck is doing with the upgrades

February 3, 2021 12:57 p.m.

Monomanamaniac says... #4

SirChris39 i haven't gotten to try it out with my play group yet but play testing with the fam at home has yielded some interesting results. It's faster now, so it wins more often against combo decks. The new rocks have all Proven to be a huge upgrades, especially the 2 games i pulled Mana Crypt . The only cards I'm looking to add right now are Enlightened Tutor , Ancient Tomb , Halvar, God of Battle  Flip, Conqueror's Flail , Champion's Helm , Sword of Sinew and Steel , Serra Ascendant , Sword of Light and Shadow , and Sword of Truth and Justice . Not a long list but we're still talking 200$ or so lol.

Also i just got an Embercleave now so I'm looking forward to posting my alternative Voltron deck helmed by Wyleth, Soul of Steel , should be spicy.

February 3, 2021 3:20 p.m.

SirChris39 says... #5

Monomanamaniac thank you for the update on the deck

February 3, 2021 3:55 p.m.

Sword of Vengeance sure looks like a powerful card, but I don't love it for a few reasons: it costs a lot to play and equip, and it doesn't do much besides add more words to Balan. I'd consider replacing it with Infiltration Lens --discourages blocks, and rewards you if they do.

Blackblade Reforged would be best if you added more land-based ramp ( Cartographer's Hawk , Stoic Farmer , etc.), thus I'd suggest either cutting (maybe for a land? 33's a bit low) it or switching your ramp package to more of that sort.

If you want some expensive suggestions, Ancient Tomb is unparalleled in mana production for a land.

But overall, this deck looks great!

March 9, 2021 12:44 p.m.

Monomanamaniac says... #7

Omniscience_is_life thank you for the suggestions. Sword of Vengeance isn't the best weapon in Balan's arsenal, but those key words aren't the least relevant. Vigilance for blocking, trample for getting through blockers, and haste so she can go to town the turn she lands. Add to that a +2 power boost and it's not too shabby. I do like Infiltration Lens , but tbh it doesn't offer a power boost and I'm trying everything in my power to get Balan through unblocked lol. I do actually have Cartographer's Hawk , Verge Rangers , Burnished Hart , Endless Horizons and a few other rampy dudes in my list of considerations. Tbh though, blackblade puts in some real work, it only ever needs to get to +8/+8 but even at +5/+5 I'm only 2 away from lethal. I know my land is much lower than it needs to be, but that's why I pay close attention to the average cmc of the deck, it's currently sitting at a comfortable 2.18, which is probably going to get lower once i cut Batterskull (something of a pet card lol). I'm definitely investing in an Ancient Tomb asap, as well as a Conqueror's Flail , Champion's Helm , Sword of Sinew and Steel , as well as a few other things to help get the deck to it's highest potential. I'm even looking at some of the mdfc lands to help spice it up

March 9, 2021 3:04 p.m.

Sounds like you're pretty on-top of everything, my only comment is that cards such as the likes of Land Tax aren't actually ramp--just value.

March 9, 2021 5:22 p.m.

Monomanamaniac says... #9

Omniscience_is_life i like to think of land tax as useful in 2 ways. 1, it's kinda white ramp, the kinda ramp that doesn't actually ramp but lets you stay at parity and hit your drops every turn, it's also deck thinning, it lets me draw all of my lands in 6 turns as long as at least 1 player is ramping. In short it's not ramp, it's land fixing/thinning and card draw. Honestly, it's only in that category because it's the simplest way to describe its place in the deck (i was trying to keep the categories fairly straight forward and easy to understand). It's no Burgeoning or Exploration , but it does the job alright. White has always had issues with ramping in the traditional sense, it's definitely the second weakest color at doing it without mana rocks (that's why i have 150$ worth of mana rocks lol), but when you're a mono-colored deck you have to wager what you can. I'm not really interested in paying 4 for 1 land, or 6 for 2, I'm just trying to put 6 Mana on the board and slam Balan down with a couple of equipment so she can start hammering on my enemies. Still, you have a very good point, Land Tax and most of my "ramp" aren't truly ramp, but imo white is best at staying at parity on available resources, so that's what I've leaned into (plus i paid 34$ for it lol)

I try to stay on top of it, buying all the latest cards while i slowly fill in the blanks on the staple cards i missed while i was away from the game. I can definitely agree that it still needs work on ramp and on the lands themselves. I'm glad you took the time to take a look at it and i hope you enjoyed the traditional Voltron aspects that make me love this deck so much

March 9, 2021 7:55 p.m.