****Before you go any further I want to be clear, I am in the process of a major overhaul to the deck. March Of The Machine dropped a superior commander in my lap with Elesh Norn. She punishes my opponents with loss of life when I get damaged. Close enough in this burn deck. What may be even better though is Phyrexian Vindicator. If he gets hit he throws that damage back. Very solid especially if you can make it indestructable. Or guarantee 4 damage every turn. I'm still experimenting with these changes and trying to make the best new iteration. Once I have the deck where I want it, I'll give you an update. In the meantime, enjoy the original White Burn Deck.
They said it couldn't be done. That's not true. They never even had the idea before, but they would say it couldn't be done after I told them my next deck idea. Lets back up. A few articles ago I took a theme and jammed it into a color that no one expected. Not completely surprising here. It was a green burn deck.(Here's the list if you're unfamiliar https://bonzaientertainmen.wixsite.com/nzaientertainment/post/mono-green-burn). I love that deck and keep tweaking here and there. But deep down I knew I could take the burn idea a step further in the philosophy of Make EDH Weird Again. How do I turn it on its head? Subvert expectations and go Red of course. Not really. Red is burn. Black is right there with some burn and some life loss. Blue used to have pingers and punished opponents for having cards in hand. The only way left to go is White.
White as a color has been pulled in a lot of different directions over the years. Every couple years it seems wizards feels like people don't like what white is doing and pulls it in a new direction or further into weenies and anthems. For years Wizards pushed Black to be the color for reanimation. They conveniently forgot Resurrection was white. Preacher was a better Threaten effect. Armageddon? STAX? Now Red gets land destruction and no one gets slowed down on resources. Its really all about constant acceleration now. But white does have some ability to burn. It's generally tied to redirecting damage or punishing someone for attacking you, but it exists. Players today are familiar with Gideon's Reproach type spells that deal damage to attackers or blockers. That's too low impact for a game of Commander. I needed to look further back for powerful cards. I always had Divine Deflection in my collection. It was always just there through. I knew I wasn't going to be dropping a ton of mana into X, I probably wouldn't even be alpha struck with the way most games were playing out years ago. But that spell is really representative of what this deck wants to do.
A lot of my burn spells require me to be attacked. Eye For An Eye, Harsh Justice, and Shining Shoal all give back what enemies send my way. The first time opponents see one of these spells they have a “That's Weird “ moment. With the second it changes to “Hold on a Minute.” Three plus and its “What's Even Going on Here?” Attacks start to feel like traps. I even have a trap card here, Refraction Trap to stoke the sentiment. These are very white ways to damage players directly. Just put it to your opponents this way: “You did this to yourself. You attacked me and there are immediate consequences to your actions. I pay too, either with life or more mana. But we got here because you started it.” I hope we get more cards like this in the future, like a mono white deflecting palm. Even if it doesn't prevent the damage to me.
If I need to be attacked for some of these spell how do I get someone to attack me? It's not hard in White. Lets start with an old favorite, Luminarch Ascencion. If I don't get attacked I get a counter. With enough I get to start flooding the board with angel tokens. Angels don't burn but they can certainly put an opponent into the red where my burn spells can finish the job with ease. The monarch makes it more likely I'll be attacked, so Court of Grace and Palace Jailer are in. More obnoxious removal like Grasp of Fate encourages being attacked. Harmonious Archon puts everyone on the same footing while Curse of Conformity brings one person down to earth.
Back to the burn. Vengeful Archon is pricey but pushes damage away from me. He's also an archon and plays nice with Harmonious Archon. Suture Priest gains me life for playing creatures and punishes my opponents when they do the same. Again, its life loss and not traditional burn but it gets a pass today. Endbringer is also pricey but untaps every upkeep to allow for multiple damage dealing taps. That pinging brings me to a creature I want to spotlight for a moment. Witch Hunter. Yes it's overpriced, a theme of the deck today. 1 damage is not a lot without some untap effects. The bounce ability is an interesting type of removal to threaten creatures and not really seen in white. I discovered this card by accident, brewing a pinger deck for a friend. I wanted to find a home for it. I put two and two together, Witch Hunter and Divine Deflection and I had my vector.
What I've assembled so far is a good start but I need more. I didn't just want to repeat what I had done in Silvos, Rogue Elemental. Except Aetherflux Resevior. That card is the real deal. It gains life incrementally, its a finisher in its own right, and it just sits there menacingly enough to encourage people to attack me. What I'm not going to do is rehash energy. I still needed to close the gap a little more though. The answer was out there and I had a good feeling it lived in the colorless/artifact world.
I was right. I did like I always do and fell into the older part of my collection. I stumbled onto Rackling and Viseling. The wording was a little cumbersome but essentially these cards say if an opponent has too many or too few cards in hand at upkeep he takes some damage. These cards are derivative of The Rack and Black Vise. I was on the right track. There are plenty more like this too. Skull Cage, Copper Tablet, Iron Maiden. I had to settle on one direction though, too many or too few. The ceiling was much higher with the players who draw tons of cards and rock Thought Vessel or Reliquary Tower to prevent discarding. Plus with cards like Ethersworn Canonist and Deafening Silence people wind up with more cards in hand than expected at first. I don't play more than 2 of those effects onto the board at a time. There is no benefit for too much redundancy. If one gets scrapped the second covers down. But a Cleansing Nova or something similar can wipe out all those effects at once. Keep some in reserve.
Ramp, removal, and draw have some good options. Marble Diamond and Mindstone are self explanatory. Gold Myr plays extra nice with Myr Battlesphere for another point of damage. Oblation is an old piece of tech. The 2 extra cards play well with Viseling and associated effects. Don't be afraid to tuck something of your own in a pinch to draw into more answers either. Don't hold onto something on the field that isn't pushing you toward a win. I'm playing Smothering Tithe to up the power level a little. I have to ask, should you always play Treasure Map//Treasure Cove with Smothering Tithe? Ramp or draw. All those treasures are good fodder for Oblation too. Forsake the Worldly also presents a question in games, either use it as removal or cycle it away. At least Crush Contraband and Disenchant are more straight forward.
The last thing to talk about here is the commander. There is a known quantity out there that is a good leader for the deck. Darien, King of Kjeldor turns damage into soldier tokens. It seems a little underwhelming at first but there are ways to abuse it. One of the problems with the King is he skews the deck to several staples to fill out the burn plan. Play Karma and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and everyone eats a ton of damage to start a turn. Play Weathered Wayfarer to guarantee getting Urborg and why not throw in Kormus Bell to really tweak the social contract. Or better yet Stern Judge has a sweet name and ability to burn people for having swamps. Me included.
That's certainly all weird but is it weird enough since its well known? Those certainly feel like staples or auto includes in such a deck and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is pretty pricey. I didn't see another legend out there that could push the player damage aspect. Brigid, Hero of Kinsblade damages creatures reliably and with some of my curse effects making creatures into 1/1s I have the potential for a blow out. Just barely. I'm sticking with Darien. Hail to the King baby. Some of my burn spells hit me anyway. Darien rewards me for hitting myself regardless of if there is a damage dealing payoff with two or more cards helping him out.
Here's what the deck turned out to be.
Darien, King Of Kjeldor
Acolyte's Reward Iron Maiden Court of Grace
Witch Hunter Viseling Grasp of Fate
Divine Deflection Black Vise Palace Jailer
Eye For An Eye Angel's Trumpet Eidolon of Rhetoric
Fire and Brimstone Copper Tablet Blind Obedience
Harsh Justice Skull Cage Curse of Conformity
Royal Decree Stern Judge Overwhelming Splendor
Refraction Trap Personal Sanctuary Harmonious Archon
Mirror Strike Kormus Bell Archon of Emeria
Shinning Shoal Weathered Wayfarer Rule of Law
Vengeful Archon Karma Grand Abolisher
Endbringer Gold Myr Curse of Exhasution
Myr Battlesphere Kor Cartographer Aethersworn Cannonist
Suture Priest Marble Diamond Deafening Silence
Aetherflux Reservior Solemn Simulacrum Hallowed Burial
Children of Korlos Mind Stone Tenuous Truce
Battlegrace Angel Liquimetal Torque Crush Contraband
Riot Control Disenchant Treasure Map/Treasure Island
Dawn of Hope Smothering Tithe Forsake The Worldly
Heliod's Intervention Luminarch Ascencion Oblation
Collective Effort Inquisitor Exarch Giant Killer
Plains x26 Buried Ruin Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Blast Zone Daru Encampment Desert
Eiganjo, Seat of The Empire Fountain of Cho War Room
Tyrite Sanctum War Room
The deck is fun. It takes a little while to get going but the surprise of the burn is very satisfying. The deck isn't going toe to toe with anything at a high power table. I would still like it a little more competitive. Its probably as simple as adjusting the draw and ramp options. There are plenty of new options out there that I need to give a shot. Darien needs a bit more protection and I need to swap in another flexible board wipe. I'm going to continue tweaking and I'll get back to you with an update.
Bình luận