White Weenie in Standard

As I mentioned in my last post, I've recently got into MODO. Because I didn't have much money to start, I decided the most competitive budget deck I could have was a mono-colored one. I didn't want Red, since I want some interaction, so I went with White Weenie (sans Baneslayers).


Here's the list I've been using:


Lands (24)


3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
21 Plains

Creatures (20)


4 Elite Vanguard
4 Emeria Angel
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Veteran Armorsmith
4 Veteran Swordsmith


Spells (16)


4 Brave the Elements
4 Conqueror's Pledge
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Path to Exile


Sideboard (15)


4 Celestial Purge
3 Devout Lightcaster
2 Luminarch Ascension
4 Oblivion Ring
2 White Knight


The deck has turned out to be quite good, and so I decided to make a brief primer for this budget deck (the entire deck can be built for less than 50 tickets: quite good compared to Jund or Boros, which are much more expensive).


Vs Jund:


Sideboarding:


+4 Celestial Purge
+3 Devout Lightcaster
+2 White Knight

-4 Elite Vanguard
-4 Veteran Swordsmith
-1 Conqueror's Pledge


Pre-board, your best friend is Honor of the Pure. I mentioned a few months back that Pulsing Honor of the Pure was your best bet as Jund, yet people rarely do this. It allows for your Blademasters, Emeria Angels, and Armorsmiths to all be 3/3 resistant, and the latter two to be X/4's, and unable to be Bolted. Conqueror's Pledge is generally weak against them as they have Pulse, but if you play it, and they don't have it, they lose.


Post-board, they almost certainly have Jund Charm. To combat this, you have 5 Pro-black cards, and one less Pledge. You've also taken out some easily killed cards. Now your objective is to win with hard-to-kill cards and protect the ones you do with Brave the Elements. Often I can Lightcaster a Thrinax, drop Emeria Angel, and hold a Brave the Elements in hand with a winning position.


Vs Boros


+2 White Knight


-2 Veteran Swordsmith


Here, you are the defender. In both games, your aim is to play 2/3's and first strikers. Save your removal for his Skyfishers, which you can't block. You aim to make a nearly unassailable position with 2-3 creatures. Sandbag some, as Boros runs Earthquake now.


Vs Vampires


+4 Celestial Purge
+3 Devout Lightcaster
+2 White Knight


-4 Elite Vanguard
-4 Brave the Elements
-1 Veteran Swordsmith


This match is nearly an auto-win for you unless they draw multiple Bloodwitches. Game 1, save your removal for Nocturnus, try to get Honor of the Pure (they can't kill it) and play 3/3 first strikers and 3/4's to gum up the ground.


Games 2 and 3, you aim to kill all their relevant threats and win with pro-black guys. It's quite easy to win if you have 5 cards they can't stop in any way. Make sure you race their Bloodwitches.



That's all the major testing I've done so far.


Various tips:


Emeria Angel is a 5-drop. Drop her and then drop a land afterwards. She's also amazing with Honor of the Pure. a 4/4 and a 2/2 is hard to kill with one card.


Conqueror's Pledge is a last-ditch resort unless you have Honor, in which case it can swing the game if you KNOW the opponent doesn't have Wraths.


Armorsmiths are your best friend against red decks.


If you have a good board presence, always keep a mana open for Brave, even if you don't have it, unless you NEED all that mana.




That's all I've got for today! I'll do some more testing soon, and perhaps compete in a Standard event, and we'll see how I go!


(Also, draft is going great! I started with 3 packs. 3 drafts later, I still have 3 packs.)


See ya!