The Ultimate Phalanx *PRIMER* (Commander / EDH MTG Deck)

The Ultimate Phalanx PRIMER

Commander / EDH Aggro Casual Midrange Mono-White Multiplayer Primer Soldiers

NV_1980

Creature (31)

Artifact (13)

Enchantment (8)

Instant (7)

Planeswalker (1)

1x Archangel Elspeth

Commander (1)

Land (35)

Sorcery (4)

Welcome to The Ultimate Phalanx !

Hi there! Welcome to the primer of my mono-white ultimate army-synergy deck, commanded by Odric, Lunarch Marshal. It aims to flood the battlefield with an army of creatures that bring a plethora of combat-abilities to bear. During combat, Odric then allocates these abilities to all forces under his command. This creates a cohesive phalanx of very versatile, hard-to-stop creatures. I play this in casual formats, but of course I welcome anyone to try and play this competetively! Feel free to comment on anything you (dis)like throughout this primer; I hope you will enjoy it!

Why Odric?

Combat abilities determine the outcome of creatures battling each other; in many cases more so than the creatures’ power and toughness scores. The more abilities a creature has, the higher its chances are to exploit a weakness in the opponents’ defenses. Odric gives my forces the ultimate edge on this front. During attacks/defenses, he basically grants all my creatures all abilities that each individual creature on my side has. He has a nice, average 3 power and 3 toughness and with a starting CMC of 4 (of which only one is ), he is relatively easy to (re)cast.

Strengths and Weaknesses

I use the following ten parameters to determine the strength of the deck. For each, I allocate a score of 5 (very good), 4 (good), 3 (mediocre), 2 (bad) or 1 (very bad); when totalized this score represents the power rating of the deck (maximum score is 50 points).

Mana: indicates the availability of mana sources within the deck.
Ramp: indicates the speed at which mana sources within the deck can be made available.
Card Advantage: indicates availability of filter- and draw resources represented within the deck.
Overall speed: indicates the deck’s potential for pace, based on resource availability and mana curve.
Combo: indicates the measure of combo-orientation of the deck.
Army: indicates the deck’s creature-army strength.
Commander: indicates how much the deck is commander-oriented/dependent (less dependency is better).
Interaction: indicates how much this deck can mess with opponents’ board states and turn-phases.
Resilience: indicates whether the deck can prevent and take punches.
Spellpower: indicates the availability and strength of high-impact spells.

Mana: 2

I have added a few additional mana sources aside from the deck’s lands. Two artifacts have been added to generate additional mana along with two artifacts that cheapen white spellcasting. I also have two enchantments that can yield mana in the form of tax.

Ramp: 3

Five options that specifically allow me to search for lands in this deck. Unfortunately, only two of these allow me to play an additional land during a turn.

Card Advantage: 3

Aside from three options to tutor for equipment, auras or enchantments, the deck also features nine cards that will allow me to draw or filter.

Overall speed: 3

The deck’s resources in terms of mana, ramp and card advantage are average, which translates into a deck featuring an average speed. Its mana curve and low average CMC help speed things up a bit beyond that.

Combo: 3

This deck does not feature many different combos, but a lot of redundancy has been built in to make sure the conditions needed for the combos I do feature are met regularly.

Army: 5

Special care was taken to choose creatures for this deck that present the best value for resources expended. In terms of combat abilities; versatility was my primary motivator to choose most of the creatures featured. Due to their low average CMC, it’s easy to cast several of them within a single turn and when combined with Odric they become nigh unstoppable. The creatures have been made even more formidable due to the addition of some equipment as well as three cards that provide overall boosting of power- and toughness scores.

Commander: 3

Sure, Odric brings it all together. Every single unit in the army is brought into the collective of power when he commands an attack/defense. Also, most combos within the deck work better when he is around. However, the individual creatures contained within this deck are pretty nasty by themselves and can cause some serious havoc without their commander present.

Interaction: 3

Not the deck’s primary focus, but some attention has definitely gone out to provide some; removal being the most prominent example, with eight solid options. Next in line are a set of four cards that allow me to dictate when opponents can cast their spells/use their abilities. Lastly, a few balancing-out cards have been added that ensure boons for me based on certain actions from opponents.

Resilience: 5

This deck’s staying power is pretty impressive. First, with Odric around during combat, all of my creatures have a decent chance of benefiting from seven options that allow for the distribution of either hexproof or indestructibility (or both) amongst them. Should a wipe still occur, I can use one of three options to blink my army as an evasion. Wipes that still hit can be recovered from fairly quickly through the use of up to seven different token generation methods (and two token doublers). Life lost can also be regained fairly quickly by having Odric dispense one of nine lifegain resources amongst his friends.

Spellpower: 3

In terms of high-powered spells, this deck contains a number of strong removal options (some are all-out wipes), some opportunities for card draw, a little boosting capability and a token-finisher (provided enough mana is fed into it).

Total power score: 33

The power-score of this deck can be considered above average. It lacks some resources and therefore isn’t the speediest of decks, but it is very resilient, contains decent interaction options and has one of the strongest, easy-to-build armies one could hope for. Opposing players had better be careful not to grant it too much momentum, or they’ll be overrun quickly.

General strategy

My goal is to create an overwhelming board-state that fills my side of the battlefield with creatures that are almost impossible to defend against, and eventually win through good old combat damage. I do not expect wins through single swings, but through multiple attacks. My attack strategy is determined by the kind of opposing decks I am facing. I tend to go all-out against decks that are particularly strong against me. If my opposition consists of equally strong foes, I will send my strongest attackers to face the most powerful opposing boardstate, while the remainder of my forces harries secondary threats. In order to do this, I need to:

Make available the resources I need to summon creatures; mana and card-draw.
Ensure that some protection for Odric enters the field.
Summon Odric.
Summon and attack with the collective (and Odric).

While I execute this plan, I need to spend some effort in keeping it from being disrupted. I use removal to get rid of permanents that inhibit my attacks, threaten my attack-force, make me pay taxes or force me to sacrifice permanents.

Starting hand

At least three cards in my starting hand ought to be lands (or two lands and a Sol Ring, Land Tax, Weathered Wayfarer or Pearl Medallion). This is a must; I'm not going to start a game without this hand (even if I have to mulligan down to three cards). The ideal hand would also consist of 1-2 cards from the categories ramp, tutor, removal and collective. I prefer to mulligan if aside from the three land cards, the starting hand consists of just collective cards, as this reduces the speed of the deck.

Early game

The most ideal start would be with a rock or some ramp on turn 1. Sol Ring, Land Tax and Weathered Wayfarer are my favorites in this regard. If I drew Enlightened Tutor or Sensei's Divining Top in my first hand, I'll consider casting either of these first instead as control over my next draws can prove invaluable. Should none of these options be available, I might be able to cast a CMC1 member from the collective (which could be either Healer's Hawk or Serra Ascendant). During these first turns, I'll be on the lookout for some form of protection for Odric. This would include cards like Mother of Runes, Champion's Helm and Lightning Greaves. The strongest possible advantage in the early game can be provided through Smothering Tithe or Smuggler's Share; these get the highest casting period should I draw into them. Last but not least, I aim to cast Grand Abolisher/Myrel, Shield of Argive and Mentor of the Meek during this phase. Abolisher/Myrel because I am about to start summoning things worth countering; Mentor because many more creatures are about to enter the battlefield and I could use the extra draw as a result.

Mid game

With a base established, Odric, Lunarch Marshal will appear. He gets to use the deck's protection resources, like Mother of Runes and the equipment that provides hexproof/indestructibility. If push comes to shove, I can also blink/phase Odric (and members of the collective that have entered the field by now) with cards like Teferi's Protection, Eerie Interlude and Ghostway to protect him/them from wipes. During this phase, my turns should always consist of an attack (keep up that pressure!) and the summoning of either members of the collective OR a support artifact/enchantment. Creatures sporting vigilance (like Aerial Responder, Brimaz, King of Oreskos or Danitha Capashen, Paragon) should be cast when they're drawn, as this will greatly increase my defensive capabilities during the opponents’ turns, without my attacks having to suffer a reduction in power. In case the collective already consists of a creature with haste (because of equipment like Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots or Haunted Cloak), I'll summon new additions before I attack, as Odric will allow my just summoned creature to gain haste and immediately attack during combat.

End game

By keeping up the pressure, opponents will be taken down piecemeal though usually not in a single, sweeping attack. After turn 10 however, I usually have the mana to do something a bit more dramatic, in order to deliver a stunning hammer-blow or two. Adding Zetalpa, Primal Dawn or Avacyn, Angel of Hope to the collective makes it incredibly powerful. Casting Austere Command can solve any inhibition to my attacks in a single casting. Last but not least, Finale of Glory can cause some serious pain on my enemies; provided I use enough mana to cast it.

Combos and synergies

Odric, Lunarch Marshal + creature with first-/double-strike + creature with deathtouch: during combat, Odric grants these abilities to all my creatures, allowing them to attack and defend with impunity as the opposing side will never get a chance to hit my creatures (unless they happen to have first-/double-strike as well)
Odric, Lunarch Marshal + indestructible creature + Austere Command: one-sided board wipe (cast during main phase after an attack so that creatures on my side benefit from indestructibility granted by Odric).
Odric, Lunarch Marshal + Archangel of Thune + creature that grants first-/double-strike: due to my creatures having first strike, Thune’s +1/+1 counters will be added to my attacking/defending creatures before the opposing side deals damage, which greatly increases the survivability even of creatures that start out in combat as 1/1’s (they will become 4/4’s at least, before the opposing blockers deal their damage).
Darien, King of Kjeldor + Cathars' Crusade: damage done to me will not just generate one 1/1 soldier per damage point, but one X/X soldier per damage point, where X is the amount of damage I receive (not to mention the increase to Darien’s own power and toughness).

Card Choices - mainboard

Lands

My reliable sources of mana, and some utility:

Ancient Tomb: two colorless mana for two life is a good trade-off in a deck featuring this much lifegain.
Arid Mesa/Flooded Strand/Marsh Flats/Windswept Heath: both added for filtering purposes; the lifegain abilities of the deck make the pain I suffer for that negligible.
Bonders' Enclave: a creature with power 4+ is pretty easy to come by in this deck.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin: fantastic utility land in a white, creature-heavy deck such as this, provided my side of the battlefield features enough plains. The fact that it also produces is just gravy.
Homeward Path: added as a precaution to get back Odric in case someone manages to steal him.
Minas Tirith: a great new draw resource for mono-white EDH.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: can generate an astounding amount of mana by the time I reach the mid-game; a land I feel should be in every single-colour EDH deck that mostly features permanents.
Reliquary Tower: this deck does not thrive on discarding and has little recursive ability; added this to prevent involuntary discarding.
Sanctum of Eternity: great as a last resort to protect Odric's casting cost from becoming too high, should he be the unfortunate target of some removal spell/ability.
War Room: such a nice land to have when drawing that one extra card can make all the difference.

Ramp

The cards I use to accelerate mana-availability to this deck:

Arcane Signet: cheap-CMC source of white mana.
Gift of Estates: basically a one-off version of Land Tax. I use it as a ramp option and as a way to filter lands out of my deck.
Keeper of the Accord: keeps things nice and balanced, in case opponents get too much of an advantage over us.
Knight of the White Orchid: a land tutor that’s also a 2/2 first striker for a lowly CMC2, which makes this creature useful as a ramp option AND as part of the collective.
Land Tax: one of the best land tutoring/deck filtering cards in MTG history; its only drawback being that I cannot search for non-basic lands, but this deck isn’t running many of those anyway.
Nyx Lotus: becomes extremely lucrative to use with potentially many white permanents on the battlefield.
Oketra's Monument: cheapens everything white in this deck by 1 and can generate more members for my collective to boot!
Pearl Medallion: cheapens everything white in this deck by 1, with the exception of artifacts which is great value for its low casting cost.
Sol Ring: a CMC1 artifact that comes into play untapped and grants 2 colorless when tapped; almost the best turn 1 start-up card one could wish for.
Smothering Tithe: not a single player I’ve ever known pays the tax forced by this enchantment, which means I can end up with one hell of a mana-advantage.
Weathered Wayfarer: allows me to repeatedly tutor for any land (I usually choose utility lands like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx), provided an opponent controls more lands than us.

Scry/Draw/Tutors

My avenues to obtain a little card-advantage or to just look for something my game plan requires:

Archivist of Oghma: superb value as most players tend to search their libraries regularly during games.
Endless Atlas: great draw resource for mono-coloured EDH decks .
Enlightened Tutor: allows me to search for ramp-, draw-, removal-, equipment- and support cards; whatever the game-state requires.
Esper Sentinel: an excellent draw enabler, as no one likes taxes.
Halo Fountain: great draw resource that can bring on a win out of nowhere!
Mangara, the Diplomat: gives lifelink to the collective and is a great draw engine.
Mentor of the Meek: combines very well with half of this deck’s creatures (not to mention tokens generated with cards like Brimaz, King of Oreskos or Myrel, Shield of Argive).
Scroll Rack: excellent filter that basically extends the size of my hand; I try to include this card in all of my decks (with the exception of decks built around drawing lots of cards).
Sensei's Divining Top: I pay 1, I get to look at and rearrange the top three cards of my library. For a tap, I can then even draw a card (provided that I put Top on top my library). Useful in any game-phase and therefore great value.
Smuggler's Share: let’s break open them boxes and take what’s mine; more cards and more treasure!

Equipment

A little support to make my creatures even stronger:

Basilisk Collar: one of the few ways to add deathtouch to the collective’s possible ability portfolio. That it also provides lifelink is great, but not necessary considering all the other sources I already have for that.
Haunted Cloak: mostly in here because few white creatures sport trample and haste.
Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots: meant to keep Odric (and the at times the collective) from being targeted by (unfriendly) spells.

The Collective

The meat of this deck; I win mostly through the use of these cards during combat:

Tokens and Boosters

The means to make my battle-lines wider and my troops bigger:

Adeline, Resplendent Cathar: in my meta, I'm usually facing at least three opponents, so Adeline is great value in an attack.
Akroma, Vision of Ixidor: it is almost as if this card was made for this deck. Odric distributes abilities while Akroma distributes the related +1/+1 bonuses. And the best part; it works each combat! Just like Odric's ability.
card:Annointed Procession/Mondrak, Glory Dominus: doubles the tokens I can generate.
Archangel Elspeth: she generates army, she can boost AND her ultimate is the most bad-ass recursion ability ever!
Archangel of Thune: by itself this card is already a great booster; every creature on my side gets a +1/+1 counter when she deals damage. But with Odric distributing her lifelink, boosting will quickly start to go through the roof.
Brimaz, King of Oreskos: generates tokens with each attack/defense, letting the collective grow. He’s also a 3/4 creature himself sporting vigilance; all that for just CMC3 … wow!
Cathars' Crusade: in a predominantly creature-based deck, this enchantment will unbalance the battlefield quickly.
Darien, King of Kjeldor: think of him as an insurance policy against certain types of damage. Especially fun when I make him indestructible/hexproof or when I combine him with Cathars' Crusade.
Finale of Glory: powerful enough to create a game-winning army in one go, if enough mana is pumped into it.
Myrel, Shield of Argive: stronger version of Grand Abolisher, with a fantastic propensity to generate tokens.
Speaker of the Heavens: in a deck that's this good at lifegain, a cheap Angel-generator that depends on lifegain will work miracles.

Control and Protection

To keep a firm grip on things:

Austere Command/ Banishing Light/Oblivion Ring: I save all of these to deal with troublesome artifacts and enchantments if I can; although the wipes on Austere can in some cases pave the way for an attack.
Eerie Interlude/Ghostway/Teferi's Protection: evasion; keeps my collective from being wiped out.
Grand Abolisher: great deterrent of counterspells and other disruptive stuff opponents try to do during my turn.
Grasp of Fate: I usually play in a setting of four, so this card allows us to exile three non-land permanents for the same CMC as Oblivion Ring. I also tend to reserve this to deal with opposing artifacts/enchantments.
Heliod's Intervention: in here for its mass-targeted enchantment and/or artifact removal, which bumps it up to being one of my most favorite control cards for white ever.
Mother of Runes: mainly in here to protect Odric from hostile spells/abilities.
Path to Exile/Swords to Plowshares: this deck’s creatures are able to deal with most enemy combatants without the aid of spells. I usually reserve these spells to deal with really powerful (indestructible) ones like some of the Eldrazi.
Revoke Existence: more powerful version of Disenchant; again to deal with the artifacts/enchantments that can slow down/stop my collective.

Card Choices – sideboard

My meta allows for a sideboard in the EDH format (maximum 10). These are the cards that are in there so far; mostly to grant us more control in situations that require this; more ideas are of course appreciated:

Aegis of the Gods/Leyline of Sanctity: grants me hexproof which is ideal against decks relying on damage spells/spell-slinging. Aegis is also able to fight with the collective.
Eidolon of Rhetoric: stops almost any spell-casting combo dead in its tracks.
Disenchant: some more targeted removal against artifacts or enchantments.
Jazal Goldmane: functions almost like a repeatable, slightly less powerful Craterhoof Behemoth for less mana; a nice way to boost my troops.
Magus of the Disk: occasionally one needs a repeatable reset button.
Return to Dust: more expensive, yet also more effective version of Revoke Existence; also meant to deal with troublesome enchantments and artifacts.
Rest in Peace: locks down recursion and graveyard casting, which is a mechanic almost any black deck relies on. It also shuts down spell-abilities like Delve, Escape and Flashback.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite: the -2/-2 against opposing creatures works especially well against decks that use cheap creatures to enable combos. The boost to my creatures is also pretty nice.
Angel of Jubilation: this shuts down a whole host of famous creatures, spells and enchantments to work properly; especially on the green- and black side of things.
Well of Lost Dreams: will occasionally be main-boarded in exchange for a control option in case my opposition gives us the feeling I can afford to do so.

Notable exclusions

This deck has evolved over the past seven years or so and will continue to do so. The following cards were considered but not added (yet):

Akroma, Angel of Wrath: if Odric would enable the sharing of ‘protection’ I would have included her; despite her rather high summoning costs.
Sun Titan: this deck has many built-in redundancies, so recursion is not really needed; I dropped this in favor of something that added to the general game-plan.

Thank you for reading!

I appreciate the time you took to read my primer. Hopefully it was entertaining and useful to you. If so, feel free to leave a +1 and/or feedback of any kind in the comments below. Thanks again!

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Date added	5 years
Last updated	4 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 0 Mythic Rares 42 - 0 Rares 14 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.03
Tokens	Adorned Pouncer 4/4 B, Angel 4/4 W, Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, Cat Soldier 1/1 W, Citizen 1/1 GW, Human 1/1 W, Soldier, Soldier 1/1 W, Soldier 2/2 W, Treasure, Warrior 1/1 W w/ Vigilance, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink
Folders	EDH Decks
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