Daxos, Blessed by the Sun - Monowhite lifegain

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MeowZeDung
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Post by MeowZeDung » 4 years ago

Daxos, Blessed by the Sun - Monowhite lifegain



"The gods gave us no wings to fly, but they gave us an even greater gift: imagination." —Daxos of Meletis




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Introduction
Monowhite has several natural disadvantages, and is likely the only color configuration which the Commander community at large considers to be as weak, or weaker than, Boros.

First and foremost is the card advantage problem: outside of very specific strategies - such as Sram, Senior Edificer and Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle decks - which provide some card advantage but dictate how most of the deck should be constructed, monowhite has to get creative in order to get and stay ahead on cards.

Second, monowhite's share of the color pie relies a lot on creatures, but unlike green, which gets the like of Craterhoof Behemoth, Pathbreaker Ibex, and Nyxbloom Ancient, white creatures tend to be small, efficiently costed, toolbox critters that can have significant cumulative effects, but aren't particularly threatening individually. There's a reason that monowhite's claim to fame in other formats is a strategy known as "white weenie", and that doesn't bode particularly well for monowhite in Commander.


Third, while monowhite has ways to keep the land drops coming via Land Tax, Tithe, Weathered Wayfarer, etc., it doesn't feature many powerful ways to ramp and, as with card advantage, will have to be built creatively in order to play spells ahead of curve.

Fourth, monowhite lends itself to a staxy, hatebear, speedbump sort of build which can certainly be effective at slowing the game down, but is also miserably slow at winning. Again, monowhite doesn't have Hoof, and dealing 120 damage across 3 opponents with Tithe Taker, Aven Mindcensor, and Eidolon of Rhetoric isn't many players' idea of fun.

Honestly, the list could go on, but this already seems like an off-putting enough introduction to a monowhite deck. Geez, that was all very depressing. Sooooooo...


Why bother with monowhite?
The answers to that question will vary from player to player, but for me it comes down to:
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  • The challenge, both in deckbuilding and gameplay, that monowhite's restrictions impose.
  • Surprised reactions from opponents who were expecting a pubstomp but got a rude awakening.
  • Some of the sweet combos and interactions which are inherent strengths of monowhite.
  • Monocolored decks *can be* more budget friendly, especially with the manabase.
  • Pet cards.



Hopefully I've convinced you. If any of the above at least intrigues you, I invite you to take a look further!

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Commander Analysis
Daxos, Blessed by the Sun probably strikes you as a weak choice for a commander. Let's go ahead and address the elephant in the room: he is. . . in a manner of speaking. Daxos is not threatening, like at all. Devotion only increases his toughness, and (surprise!) Doran, the Siege Tower, Assault Formation, and High Alert aren't in the deck. He has no activated ability, and only 2 power.

"So, wait a second Meow. . . not only are you trying to sell me on monowhite, you're ALSO trying to sell me on a garbage monowhite general?!?"

Not so fast there, turbo. Let's look at Daxos, Blessed by the Sun's upside:
Mana Cost
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:

Welcome to the discount section of the Theros dollar store. Daxos is cheap, cheap, cheap, and the double colored cost is not an issue given that it's the only color the deck produces anyway. Furthermore, this low cost scales with the game and it's no big deal to find an opportune time to recast Daxos 2-3 more times throughout the course of the game if necessary, although it often won't be.

The real advantage of putting such a cheap legendary in the command zone, however, is the consistency it affords the deck. Guess what happens on turn 2 in 99% of games with this deck? Ok, that was the easy one. How about this: guess what happens on turns 3-5 in 99% of games with this deck? If you answered that it has something to do with Daxos, Blessed by the Sun's triggered ability, you are absolutely correct.
Triggered Ability
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Whenever another creature you control enters the battlefield or dies, you gain 1 life:

Now that it's been established that Daxos is cheap and consistent, it makes sense for the list to take advantage of this low cost, perfectly punctual, early play. In Daxos' case, the opportunity for an advantage is perfectly clear via this triggered ability's line of text; namely to have creatures enter the battlefield, die, and to gain life as a result of one or both of these events.

For any readers that aren't familiar with the Modern format, Daxos' triggered ability bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the signature creatures in a deck known as Soul Sisters: Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant (Daxos costs a mana more than the sisters, so he's more like a Suture Priest). In the Modern deck, the strategy is to gain a ton of life by 1) playing cheap creatures with a soul sister out, 2) filling the hand with white cards courtesy of Squadron Hawk/Ranger of Eos only to reveal them with Martyr of Sands or, preferably, 3) Both. One doesn't win a game of magic by simply gaining life, however, so the deck then reaps the reward of all that lifegain by beating down with Ajani's Pridemates and Serra Ascendants.

Given that Commander is a singleton format, this strategy can't be replicated exactly as it is in Modern. One Squadron Hawk doesn't do any good, using a Ranger of Eos or Ranger-Captain of Eos to fetch Serra Ascendant and/or Martyr of Sands is fragile not only because there's a single copy of each card, but also because the format is full of Wrath of Gods. Even Proclamation of Rebirth value won't make such an approach feasible, and even if it did, Serra Ascendant and Ajani's Pridemate just aren't going to throw enough weight around by themselves in multiplayer.

All of this Modern talk is to say that a monowhite lifegain list in Commander is going to need some beefier lifegain payoffs than its Modern counterpart does, and without access to 7-8 soul sisters across 60 cards (11-12% of the deck) and tutors to go with them, a Commander version of this strategy will require another means of consistently triggering lifegain. Enter the Soul Mister. No, not that one! This one! Right when he's needed. Turn 2. Every game.

Absolutely worth noting is that Daxos has a bit more to his trigger than the sisters, allowing the deck to profit from creatures dying as well as entering the battlefield. This informs several of the deckbuilding decisions in this list and puts sacrifice outlets and recursion engines at a premium.
Types and Subtype
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Legendary Enchantment Creature - Demigod:

This list is not focusing on Daxos's type or subtype at all, although an enchantress or constellation deck is surely feasible. Unless I am mistaken, the "demigod" creature type has literally one payoff in monowhite, and that is Altar of the Pantheon, which this list does include.
Static Ability
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Daxos's toughness is equal to your devotion to white:

As hinted at above, this deck will not go out of its way to leverage Daxos's toughness. However, if one were so inclined to build a Daxos deck which does, there are cards that could support it.




Alternate Commanders

While this deck is built loosely around the same premise behind the Soul Sisters deck in modern (ie, gain life → profit from lifegain → smash face), it goes without saying that it is not the only direction to take a monowhite commander deck. If you like the idea of monowhite and/or lifegain but think Daxos just isn't the legendary for you, no worries. You've got options.
Monowhite
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  • Sram, Senior Edificer - The most popular monowhite general due to his inherent card drawing capablities. Squeezes you into an aura/equipment/vehicle build, but is plenty of fun despite having pretty rigid boundaries of functionality. The coolest Sram lists I've seen find ways to storm off with stuff like Flickering Ward
  • Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle - The monowhite combo queen. If setting up a robust recursion/etb engine is what you're into, then bird's the word.
  • God-Eternal Oketra - A general that really leans into monowhite's penchant for being creature heavy, and does it well. GE Oketra can build out a big, scary board fast, but the challenge is protecting it and keeping the cards flowing. Check out @OCPunisher's list here.
  • Heliod, Sun-Crowned - If monowhite has a prayer in cEDH, it's probably with this guy (though I don't know much about cEDH and might be dead wrong). Triskelion and Walking Ballista combos are the name of the game here.

    I won't go any further in depth into alternate monowhite choices here simply because better resources exist. I recommend everyone give @ISBPathfinder's Mono White Compendium a look here
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Lifegain
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  • Oloro, Ageless Ascetic - A legend among legendary creatures. He's good. Real good. Esper colors give some seriously strong options for card draw and leveraging the life gained.
  • Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim - A strong aristocrats style general with built in removal.
  • Kambal, Consul of Allocation - The tax man. I think he's underplayed personally. Lends himself to staxier builds, but doesn't have to be all about hatebears.
  • K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth - We just can't ask for a better outlet for lifegain than free mana.




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Deck History
Some notes about how this deck came together and how I evolved as a player to become the sort of dude who would build a deck around a Monowhite 2-drop.
Becoming a White Weenie
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The first Commander game I ever played was with a monowhite deck at my first pre-release. I was already overwhelmed with rules and cards and strangers and smells, when a dude I didn't know gave me an incredibly brief description of what Commander was after our pre-release match. shoved a Kemba, Kha Regent deck in my hands, told me I'd love it, and put me at ease when I protested that I didn't know any of the cards by informing me that there was "like, 4 infinite combos" in the deck. I lost. Bad. I almost swore off magic and hobby shops that day.

I first gave one of my own monowhite decks a go in Commander with Heliod, God of the Sun, which was "upgraded" in my mind when I got lucky and opened a Brimaz, King of Oreskos from a door prize fat-pack I won at the next pre-release. I was still fairly new to the format and magic in general so it was an awful deck, but I didn't know that and was perfectly happy with my kitty cat swarm deck. It was inevitably pulled apart, and I traded the Brimaz away, retaining no real interest in monowhite Commander for some time.

The desire was rekindled when I built a Saffi Eriksdotter list that I found online. The most combotastic parts of that deck, apart from Saffi herself, were the monowhite goodies. It was in playing that deck that I fell in love with and learned the power of Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Emeria Shepherd, Reveillark, Karmic Guide, Sun Titan, Fiend Hunter, and more.

Around that time I became fascinated with tokens in Commander, and Saffi got repurposed and became Ghave, Guru of Spores, but I distinctly remember the "awww, bummer" feeling of putting away Emeria, the Sky Ruin and promising myself I'd go heavy on plains again someday.

Fast forward to the Dominaria pre-release, when I had a few years of this wonderful game under my belt, faring quite a bit better both in gameplay and social interactions and opening a Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle as one of my promo cards. I was too busy building a bunch of the other Dominaria legends to be bothered with her at first, but I did eventually get around to building an artifact heavy Teshar deck that was also a bit heavier on the jank than recommended. At that point I was only playing commander with anyone about 4-5 times a year, so the deck saw play once or twice.

Presently, however I am in a position to play multiplayer far more often, and rather than rebuild Teshar to scratch my monowhite itch, I wanted to do something more unique. Enter Daxos, a low powered 2 mana commander that will almost assuredly fly under the radar. Challenge accepted.




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Deck Philosophy
I have to admit that I have a strange relationship with Commander. On the one hand, I am a total Spike and I want to always make the optimal deckbuilding decision, the correct play, and win, win, win. On the other hand, I very much feel that is against the spirit of the format and the fun factor for all players involved unless they have previously agreed to join and foster a strictly competitive environment.

But more than struggling with the balance of power and fun, I struggle with what I call the "strictly better" problem, and Daxos, Blessed by the Sun does a good job of exemplifying this issue. I am acutely aware that there are "better" lifegain commanders, and "better" monowhite commanders. I am quite cognizant of the fact that Shadowspear is "better" than Forebear's Blade. Yes, Weathered Wayfarer is "better" than Kor Cartographer in a vacuum. Add on top of this the fact that I am a father of 4 and nowhere near independently wealthy, and I must factor budget into all my decks. All this said, I would classify my philosophy as "focused" rather than "optimized" or "competitive". I want to build a well tuned, powerful deck, but I am going to make concessions out of necessity and in the name of fun.

Do not take this the wrong way; I am absolutely open to suggestions for improvement and strict upgrades to the deck, and I intend to make several that I am already aware of as time passes and budget allows, but it is only fair of me to make it clear up front that this list is restricted on several fronts.

The deck wants to win with good old fashioned creature combat augmented by the lifegain theme Daxos enables, but it includes some ways to combo off. I realize some players frown on combo, full stop, but I include combos in moderation because 1) comboing off is fun and powerful, 2) sometimes you just can't win via combat, and/or 3) unspeakably long games need to be ended ASAP for the sake of all players' sanity. Generally speaking, however, I don't include a huge number of tutors and setup for the combos I include in decks, and this list is no exception.

The final underlying philosophy of this deck is that if one must win with creatures that aren't necessarily winning any strength or size competitions, it's best to attempt to do so with highly efficient ones that do a lot. While it is certainly not always the case that Legendary Creatures pack the biggest punch, it is true often enough that a Monowhite build can get an edge by including a pile of legends in the 99 and running legendary payoff cards. As a result, the majority of the creatures in the deck are legendary.





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Daxos, Blessed by the Sun - Monowhite lifegain

Commander (1)

Enchantments (2)

Planeswalkers (1)

Approximate Total Cost:




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Card Choice Discussion
Card choice explanations are categorized by type below for ease of reference, but I have also included tags for the most relevant card functions which reach across multiple card types and have consolidated the tagged cards into lists at the end of this section.

Card function tags and some notes:

Lifegain Enabler - Daxos is the most obvious source of lifegain for the deck, but redundancy is important and, even more critically, this deck is built in such a way that multiple, small lifegain triggers provide greater rewards than singular, massive lifegain triggers.

Lifegain Payoff - The issue with lifegain in Commander is that it's not uncommon to lose via infinite damage combos, mill, or an alternate win condition, so merely padding your life total isn't enough. You want there to be a point to all the lifegain, and these cards are what make gaining gobs of life worthwhile. For this deck nearly all of the payoffs will involve drawing cards or making a big ol' creature, preferably with evasion.

Speedbump - Monowhite has to make up for its natural disadvantages by squeaking out any slight edges it can. Given how much slower white decks are at card draw and explosiveness in general, one of the ways you can mitigate this is by slowing everyone else at the table down. This isn't a stax deck by any means, but these cards will often cause just enough of a slowdown to allow you to pull ahead.

Historic - This could technically be split into a few subsections, such as "legendary", "cares about legendary", "artifact", "cares about artifacts", etc., but there is so much crossover between them and it turns out that all of the historic payoffs are historic themselves, so I've lumped them all together. You just need to know that this tag includes both payoffs and enablers.

ETB trigger - Monowhite has some powerful ways to recur creatures and in some cases to loop that recursion again and again. There are lots of creatures in the deck that aren't combo pieces, strictly speaking, but the fact that they come with an ETB trigger is noteworthy.

Combo Piece - This is a creature deck that wants to attack eventually, but combat doesn't always work out. There isn't a great density of combo play in this deck, but it's there and you need to be aware of it and play with it in mind if the circumstances warrant it.
Creatures
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Creatures
  • Hope of Ghirapur - This little guy checks a number of boxes: legendary, evasive, and cheap. Against certain types of decks it can be backbreaking to sacrifice and recur multiple times via Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle/Reveillark/Karmic Guide. It's a great target for equipment, counters, and auras since in addition to it being evasive, there is a relevant threat of activation that can make an individual opponent think twice about pointing removal in its direction. Speedbump Historic

  • Ajani's Pridemate - A carryover from the Modern Soul Sisters deck, this fellow can get huge in no time and is a prime target for cards that grant evasion. Unfortunately, in Commander a vanilla 100/100 doesn't do a whole lot of good without said evasion, but at you can't beat the price. Lifegain Payoff

  • Eight-and-a-Half-Tails - This guy is a wonderful mana sink that protects your board, lets you block for days, and grants evasion to your huge beaters. Cheap and legendary to boot. Speedbump Historic



  • Thalia, Heretic Cathar - Against most 3+ color decks, the nonbasic land clause is incredibly effective, and against hasty beatdown decks like Gishath, Sun's Avatar or Xenagos, God of Revels, the creature clause can literally win the game. Along with Thalia's high impact comes a large target on her back, but it will generally be fine by you since Thalia is cheap and triggers Historic payoffs in addition to drawing out opposing removal. First Strike is not the evasion you really want to get online, but it's not nothing. Speedbump Historic

  • Mentor of the Meek - He doesn't have as much synergy in the deck as you might like, but Monowhite needs card draw from wherever it can get it. He is a fantastic mana sink at a rate of one card per , and if you can manage to get him into play alongside a token producer like Darien, King of Kjeldor or Regna, the Redeemer, he can refill your hand in no time. He also plays very nice with some of the Teshar/Lark/Guide/Titan/Hunter ETB loops. ETB trigger

  • Danitha Capashen, Paragon - The cost reduction is lovely, but generally won't have a game altering impact with this decklist. What really makes Danitha shine here is her Legendary status and the combination of keywords in vigilance, first strike, and lifelink. They make Danitha a wonderful target for the auras and equipment she is discounting, and also make her a powerhouse both offensively and defensively if you can pump up her stats a bit. Even as a chump blocker, the lifegain trigger plus the block will often be worth it with the payoffs this deck runs. Lifegain Enabler Historic

  • Kemba, Kha Regent - This deck isn't overflowing with equipment, but suiting up Kemba with just one of them gives you an extra creature, and thus an extra lifegain trigger, per turn cycle. If you have her all decked out, you can begin flooding the board and get out of hand. Kemba's penchant for pointy things make her a good choice for growing huge and granting evasion. Legendary status and affordability make her a solid inclusion. Historic

  • Fiend Hunter - Here we have a removal spell on legs which triggers Daxos and can be abused due to some loose templating on Wizards of the Coast's part. Since the ETB/LTB triggers are separate in the rules text, you can sac or otherwise remove Fiend Hunter while his ETB trigger is still on the stack, thus causing the exile effect to be a permanent one since Fiend Hunter is no longer around to LTB and return whatever he exiled. You will also want to use this fella without all the stack manipulation when targeting one of your own creatures for ETB combo purposes, as detailed in the deck strategy section here. ETB trigger Combo Piece

  • Linden, the Steadfast Queen - Many of the lifegain payoffs care more about sheer quantity of lifegain triggers rather that how much life any single instance of lifegain nets you. Linden, more than any other individual card in the deck perhaps, can contribute a huge number of individual instances of lifegain, especially in conjunction with a token producer. This makes her Dawn of Hope's and Well of Lost Dreams' best friend. Lifegain Enabler Historic

  • Solemn Simulacrum - Sad Robot is a generically good Commander card, but he is particularly effective in a monowhite deck where ramp and card draw can be hard to come by. The fact that he is historic and can be abused with the sacrifice/recursion engines in the deck makes him a highly synergistic card advantage stud-muffin. Historic ETB trigger

  • Traxos, Scourge of Kroog - The deck needs beaters and evasion, and Traxos brings the evasive beats while also being historic. His downside is almost entirely a non-issue in this deck given the density of historic spells. Traxos is one of the better targets for something like Sunbond, Cradle of Vitality, or Blackblade Reforged. Historic

  • Heliod, God of the Sun - Daxos' benefactor is a seriously versatile inclusion in this deck. The devotion requirement is fairly trivial to meet, granting you an indestructible perma-blocker or a difficult to remove beater that you can further augment. The vigilance anthem allows you to keep putting pressure on your opponents while not sacrificing defensive capabilities. The activated ability is overcosted, but in monowhite where you can sometimes end up in topdeck mode despite your best efforts having a mana sink that does something relevant on board (and triggers Daxos!) is a huge deal. Historic

  • Kor Cartographer - While not quite the all-star that Solemn Simulacrum is, Cartographer delivers a Daxos trigger and much needed ramp in monowhite. It gives you some devotion and triggers things like Linden, the Steadfast Queen where Solemn does not, and can be similarly abused with ETB/Recursion loops to ramp you big time and go off with Emeria Shepherd and/or Emeria, the Sky Ruin. ETB trigger

  • Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle - An evasive legendary with upside does the trick at 4 mana for this deck if you're on a budget, although this is one slot that could use an upgrade if you have the money to spend. Still, you will be casting historic spells, and Teshar's triggered ability has 9 targets in the deck as it exists currently. She isn't nearly as effective here as she is in a deck built around her to combo, but she can still do a great job of locking down a spellslinger deck by recurring Hope of Ghirapur or controlling the board with Fiend Hunter, a sac outlet, and a steady stream of historic spells. Historic

  • Baird, Steward of Argive - Baird's floor is a historic trigger, Daxos trigger, and 2 devotion on a 2/4 vigilant body. His ceiling is all of that plus a redirect on opposing attacks where they won't have to pay a tax. In the event they are going to attack you no matter what, Baird can be a lightning rod for their removal, or can make the oncoming attack a creature or two lighter than it might have been. All around solid upside without being threatening. Speedbump Historic

  • Commander Eesha - Eesha is almost unfair. Protection from creatures + flying gives you a perma-blocker that shuts down some powerful strategies, like Brago, King Eternal, Gishath, Sun's Avatar, Rankle, Master of Pranks, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Skullbriar, the Walking Grave, Thada Adel, Acquisitor, and so on. Combined with something like Eight-and-a-Half-Tails she becomes an absolute nuisance for the rest of the table. Offensively she's unblockable and must be tapped or otherwise dealt with, which makes her an excellent target to pump or attach a sword to. Triggering Daxos, historic, and contributing to devotion are all cherries on top of this delicious sundae. Speedbump Historic

  • Odric, Master Tactician - With relevant stats and first strike, Odric is a decent defensive card, but he really shines by warping combat in your favor on huge alpha strikes. Getting three other creatures on the board should rarely be an issue in a creature heavy deck like this one, and with some of the token production available this is even moreso the case. His attack trigger can effectively be a board wipe if you have a potent enough board state, and/or he gives your biggest sword or aura wielding beater the best evasion possible, and that's worth a lot. The Daxos and historic triggers and added devotion are welcome too. Historic

  • Reveillark - MonowhiteCombo.dek embodied. Reveillark is a centerpiece of sac/recursion loops in the deck that will allow you to do anything from putting all the plains from your library onto the battlefield tapped, to gaining infinite life, to wiping your opponents' boards, to returning most or all of the creatures in your graveyard to play, to winning on the spot. I detail the various combos here in the deck strategy section. Combo Piece

  • Karmic Guide - Another critical piece for the deck's combos, detailed in the deck strategy section here. Not bad as a simple value play either since you can just opt out of paying the echo cost, let guide go to the graveyard and start another loop with it in the yard. In some rare situations the flying + protection from black may make it worth paying the echo cost and keeping it around to block a Razaketh, the Foulblooded or massive Necropolis Regent. ETB trigger Combo Piece

  • Triskelion - The deck's win button, although it can be fine as a Daxos and historic trigger in a pinch and/or an overcosted removal spell for something small, or something larger post combat. That's not what it's here for though, it's here to win games that are otherwise unwinnable or that have gone on long enough and just need to be over. The game winning Trike combo is detailed in the deck strategy section here. Historic ETB trigger Combo Piece

  • Regna, the Redeemer - Krav won't be making any appearances in this deck, but Regna is more than good enough without her partner. With evasion and good stats, Regna can be a beater well suited to carrying a Sunbond since she will be triggering it quite often. She pairs exquisitely with Daxos since one lifegain trigger per turn will net you an additional two lifegain triggers once Regna spits out her tokens. She can give you a wide board presence and lots of life to work with very quickly, and is probably only second to (or perhaps tied with) Linden, the Steadfast Queen when it comes to creating as many lifegain triggers as possible. If Dawn of Hope or Well of Lost Dreams is in play Regna suddenly becomes a card advantage engine too. Historic Lifegain Enabler Lifegain Payoff

  • Sun Titan - He's a big boy with vigilance so he plays quite well on offense and defense simultaneously. If you can give him some evasion with Loxodon Warhammer, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, or Rogue's Passage he's definitely worth piling some counters or equipment on since you have a strong incentive to attack with him. Apart from all that, however, he can take you to combo town as detailed in the deck strategy section here. ETB trigger Combo Piece

  • Evra, Halcyon Witness - Evra is pretty much the definition of high risk, high reward. If you can grant evasion, this can just straight up eliminate a player and gain a ton of life by swapping power and life total before damage. Even without evasion, this is a way to gain huge chunks of life and really reap the benefits of doing so with Phyrexian Processor, Well of Lost Dreams, or Sunbond. Don't try it unless you have an additional available to reverse it in case something goes wrong. If you don't have eight mana to spend, a 4/4 legendary lifelinker is still respectable and will get you a Daxos trigger, historic trigger, and lifegain triggers. Historic Lifegain Enabler Lifegain Payoff

  • Darien, King of Kjeldor - As long as Darien and Daxos are both in play, your life total will never go down unless you willingly pay life or unless damage is dealt via a lethal blow, in which case you're dead before either Darien or Daxos trigger. How this plays out is that your opponents should recognize this and attack elsewhere though, which is also fine. Unfortunately, Darien's trigger doesn't work with Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper or Phyrexian Processor since paying life is not the same as taking damage. Darien can also be leveraged "politically" by convincing a player to hit you for some advantage of their own and netting you some tokens. Lifegain Enabler Speedbump Historic

  • Yosei, the Morning Star - Another big evasive beater that can carry +1/+1 counters or a sword well, but also a legendary creature that can really slow your opponents down either as a blocker or as part of a sac/recursion loop. If you are able to trigger Yosei multiple times in a turn, the effect stacks. In other words, you can lock a player or players out of their untap step for several turns, which will usually mean you win. Speedbump Historic

  • Emeria Shepherd - A big flyer worthy of augmenting or equipping, but also a monowhite all-star. If the Shepherd is in play and you get a Solemn Simulacrum or Kor Cartographer loop in place, the possibilities for nonsense are pretty extensive. Those loops and more are detailed in the deck strategy section here. ETB trigger Combo Piece
Instants
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Instants
  • Brought Back - This little gem can mitigate the effect of opposing board wipes or removal, create some serious short term value if you don't yet have a sac/recursion loop in place, or just get your Blackblade Reforged or Sunbond back. The low cost makes it a high value way to do something like sacrifice Yosei, the Morning Star twice in a single turn. Good with ETB creatures for obvious reasons. ETB trigger

  • Crush Contraband - Monowhite will take card advantage wherever it can, so the 2-for-1 potential here gets the nod over the cheaper options like Disenchant. Not exciting by any means, but artifact/enchantment removal is a necessary evil in Commander, and being able to have multiple targets at instant speed is great.

  • Heliod's Intervention - Sometimes this is just a weaker Crush Contraband since it says "destroy" rather than "exile", but the massive X-for-1 potential at instant speed again makes this worthwhile, and sometimes this will just wreck the affinity or enchantress deck at the table. The second mode is definitely not exciting, but this is certainly the deck that can use the lifegain to great effect, or even just to recoup from a big Phyrexian Processor. Lifegain Enabler
Sorceries
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Sorceries
  • Open the Armory - One you have a robust lifegain engine going, or a good evasive legendary creature in play, you'll know exactly what you need from this whether it's Sunbond or Blackblade Reforged or something similar. A 2 mana sorcery speed tutor that doesn't get any of the deck's combo pieces, but still gets some powerful synergistic effects into your hand seems abundantly fair to me. If you aren't into tutors though, the deck can definitely survive without this one. Or, if you're REALLY into tutors, this can definitely be upgraded.

  • Remember the Fallen - Another way to scrape and claw for card advantage in monowhite, and another way to buy back an equipment or something like Solemn Simulacrum along with a non-artifact creature. It's not exciting or fun, but the reality of monowhite is that sometimes the card draw available is recursion.

  • Divine Reckoning - Would usually play out more like "Destroy all non-Commander creatures" except for the fact that you'll probably be fine with letting Daxos bite the dust while keeping something bigger and more expensive around. The fact that your opponents keep their best creature is too bad, but the price is right, and getting to threaten the flashback is enough to make opponent's think twice about building up a threatening board. Plus, board wipes are inherently sources of card advantage, and two board wipes on one card is even more card advantage-y. Speedbump

  • Urza's Ruinous Blast - This is one of the deck's huge legendary payoffs, and another "Destroy all non-Commander creatures" card if not for the fact that you're looking to have multiple legendary creatures in play. Careful though! It's all "nonland permanents" rather than all "creatures" that aren't legendary, so you could lose some artifacts or enchantments if you haven't played with it in mind for several turns prior to casting it. Speedbump Historic

  • Cleansing Nova - Only slightly less straightforward than Wrath of God, but the added flexibility is worth the additional mana cost since you can take an artifact or enchantress deck back to prehistoric times. Speedbump

  • Tragic Arrogance - A great card because you get to make all the choices. Sometimes you have to leave your opponents with good stuff, but more often than not you can leave them with their 1/1 and treasure token while making them sac their huge stat-factory-with-three-keywords bomb and absurd value engine artifact. Speedbump

  • Phyrexian Rebirth - A board wipe that leaves you with some value and your opponents with none. If you're behind this can be just the ticket since you will gain life on all the death triggers on Daxos from your creatures and then have a head start on rebuilding your board. Speedbump
Artifacts
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Artifacts
  • Sol Ring - There's no need to ramp into your general here, and Sol Ring wouldn't help with Daxos anyhow, but it's still good to pack some acceleration into any Commander deck. There are lots of options in white for getting more lands into your hand, but not a ton that outright ramp you, so in goes old reliable. Historic

  • Soul-Guide Lantern - A new format all-star, the lantern can give one time single card graveyard hate before either replacing itself or nuking all opponents' graveyards. For that kind of a silver bullet at this low of a cost, you can't go wrong. The floor for this in the deck is to essentially cycle, get any historic benefits, and exile a card from a graveyard. Speedbump Historic ETB trigger

  • Tome of Legends - It's not that difficult to raise Daxos's toughness, to a point where he can safely attack somewhere. Additionally, Daxos is a commander that doesn't suffer too much from the first couple instances of commander tax. All of that on top of the fact that Monowhite will take card draw anywhere it can be found makes Tome a worthy inclusion. Historic

  • Blackblade Reforged - A vastly underplayed card in Commander generally, but especially good in this deck since you will have a number of ways to flood the board with lands (ie: looping Kor Cartographer or Solemn Simulacrum ETB triggers) and you will have a number of legendary creatures to choose from that will be delighted to carry it. It goes best with the evasive legendary critters such as Traxos, Scourge of Kroog or Commander Eesha. Historic

  • Spawning Pit - This is a gem of a card that is probably worth including in more decks than you currently do! Free sac outlets enable some of the combos as outlined in the deck strategy section here, but even when you aren't using this to combo off, it is a way to get value out of your creatures in response to a board wipe, spot removal, or when chump blocking. In multiplayer, you're going to have creatures killed, so the instant speed sacrifice "cost" for 0 mana is not really a cost when those situations arise. That means that this card gives you a Gray Ogre for your first , and an Isamaru, Hound of Konda for each after that. Nothing game breaking, but still efficiently costed for the stats. Add on to that the fact that you will get lifegain triggers for sacrificing a creature and creating a token if you have Daxos in play, and you've got a lot of action on one card. Historic Combo Piece

  • Strata Scythe - A less consistent Blackblade Reforged, but nevertheless a hefty beat stick in a mono colored deck that wants to leverage the combat phase. Note that it reads "each land on the battlefield with the same name", so opponents' plains will give the equipped creature a boost as well. Historic

  • Ashnod's Altar - If you've never played with this card, let me tell you it feels unfair sometimes. It is probably the best of the free to activate sac outlets in the deck and is primarily here to win with one of the combos detailed in the deck strategy section here. However, in a pinch it can accelerate your mana production when combined with any of the deck's several token creators, or just in response to one or more of your creatures getting ready to be killed if you have some instant speed outlet for the colorless mana. Historic Combo Piece

  • Altar of the Pantheon - Mana ramp, lifegain, and a pinch of devotion all packed onto a historic card. This is a solid early game play to develop your mana and start hitting multiple lifegain triggers per turn. Really solid with Well of Lost Dreams since it essentially becomes ": draw a card". Historic Lifegain Enabler

  • Oketra's Monument - Arguably one of the better ways to ramp in the deck since cost reduction can "produce" more than a single mana for you per turn while a rock or additional land on the battlefield are capped at one mana per turn. You'll be casting creatures reliably in this deck, so the stream of tokens from this will play a role; mostly via lifegain triggers off Daxos, but also as blockers that occasionally sneak through a vigilant attack, and fodder for sac outlets. Historic

  • Forebear's Blade - This isn't the greatest beat stick in the world, but you'll want as many sources of evasion for your Ajani's Pridemate, Evra, Halcyon Witness, and Phyrexian Processor tokens as you can find, and the vigilance is a nice bit of gravy. This is a creature deck, so the cost to re-equip after whatever was carrying it dies is likely to stay at in most games. Historic

  • Loxodon Warhammer - A commander classic. Evasion and lifelink for your big dumb beaters. The lifelink goes especially well with a vigilant creature like Baird, Steward of Argive or Sun Titan. Lifegain Enabler Historic

  • Trading Post - Given the density of artifacts, creatures, and lifegain enablers/payoffs in the deck, this is a very reliable swiss army knife card that enables recursion, card draw, token production, and lifegain. Not as easy to abuse as the "free" sac outlets, but the Post will get you something useful in almost all situations. Historic Lifegain Enabler

  • Hedron Archive - More ramp that doubles as card draw in a pinch, which is the only reason it is included in the deck over something like Worn Powerstone. When you are in Monowhite and hit topdeck mode, it does NOT feel good, so having an escape hatch like Hedron Archive is great. Historic

  • Phyrexian Processor - A high risk, high reward lifegain payoff that can bring the game to a swift end once you're spitting out a 50/50 every turn. I wouldn't recommend ever paying so much life that you bring yourself below the 10-15 range, but having some lifelink or an abundance of other lifegain triggers available alongside Daxos may change that. It is worth noting that you have to pay the life when the processor comes into play, but you can and should wait until your last opponent's end step (or when you absolutely need the blocker) to make the token. This is just to reduce your risk of losing your shiny new giganto-token to a Wrath of God. It is also worth noting that without some sort of evasion available your big dumb creatures will just eat tokens and chump blockers, so this is a card you will want to plan ahead with. Historic Lifegain Payoff

  • Weatherlight - A decent sized evasive beater that digs 5 deep and is capable of drawing you an extra card per turn in a legendary/artifact heavy deck is great. It's mostly here for the card selection and draw, which Monowhite badly needs. In the end that outweighs the downsides, which are 1) that it can't be crewed by Daxos alone, but requires something larger or Daxos plus another creature, and 2) since vehicles go back to being non-creature artifacts at the end of the turn they are crewed, the evasion can't be fully utilized since equipment will continuously fall off and need to be re-equipped and auras on Weatherlight are an awful non-bo. Historic

  • Demonmail Hauberk - The budget Grafted Wargear (though wargear is budget in its own right!) which gives a wee bit more of a boost to the creature's power. Beefing up a lifelinker or evasive beater is the secondary role for the Hauberk though, which is principally here to grant redundancy for the "free" sac outlet slot of the combos detailed in the deck strategy section here. Do note, however, that since the sacrifice is part of an equip cost and thus it can not be done at instant speed like some of the other sac outlets. Historic Combo Piece

  • Well of Lost Dreams - This card is Daxos's best buddy and dispels the myth that monowhite can't draw cards efficiently. . . ok, so this is still nowhere near as efficient as 75% of blue draw spells since you're paying for your first card, which is just replacing the Well, but if this survives a couple turns around the table, then it has more than likely earned it's keep. With some good fortune you will cast it right before turning a beefy lifelinker sideways then draw yourself a fat grip. Historic Lifegain Payoff

  • Heroes' Podium - A legendary payoff which buffs your legends and digs through your deck for more legends, all while being historic. It's not seeing competitive play anytime soon, but for a budget list it packs enough synergy in. Remember, you're playing monowhite, so take card draw wherever you can get it! Historic

  • Mind's Eye - What's that I just said? Oh yes! "Remember, you're playing monowhite, so take card draw wherever you can get it!" This is the poor Commander's bad impression of Consecrated Sphinx, and it suffers the same unfortunate downfall that Well of Lost Dreams does; namely, that it costs you a hefty price up front for your first card (!!!), which is just a replacement! That said, your opponents will surely be drawing cards beyond their draw steps, and this lets you keep up with them. This is a great way to really pull ahead in a game after you've looped a Solemn Simulacrum or Kor Cartographer into play a bunch and are ahead on mana and just need the spells to spend it on. Historic

Enchantments
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Enchantments
  • Legion's Landing - Cheap. Historic. Makes a creature. Enables lifegain. Ramps fairly consistently. Makes more lifelink creatures in a pinch if you can use the mana sink or are running low on cards. Packs one heck of a punch for a . Historic Lifegain Enabler

  • Authority of the Consuls - I've seen this card, if unanswered, completely shut down aggressive strategies that rely on fast beats (such as Gishath, Sun's Avatar, Samut, Voice of Dissent, Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer, etc.) by giving the table just enough time to answer them. Oh, and did I mention it keeps your lifegain triggers coming? Great use of a ! Speedbump Lifegain Enabler

  • Dawn of Hope - A card draw option that doesn't ask so much of your mana up front like Well of Lost Dreams or Mind's Eye, but does require more incrementally. The added flexibility of a token producing mana sink that further enables lifegain make it an auto-include though. Lifegain Enabler Lifegain Payoff

  • Cradle of Vitality - This is one of the few cards in the deck that really wants one or two BIG lifegain triggers rather than lots of little ones, but with enough mana to sink into it, several small triggers per turn cycle will get you value out of this enchantment. Put a smile on your face if you're able to crack in with a huge lifelinker then activate it. Put an even bigger smile on your face if that lifelinker is a beefed up Danitha Capashen, Paragon since the first strike combined with the lifelink will allow you to pay for the Cradle trigger and beef up another creature between first strike and regular damage. Lifegain Payoff

  • Sunbond - This is a very high risk, high reward card, as is the case with most auras. If you can stick this on a creature while Eight-and-a-Half-Tails is around, you have a great chance of preventing the dreaded blowout after declaring blockers. Like Cradle of Vitality, Sunbond makes Danitha Capashen, Paragon shine, but unlike Cradle it can benefit a lot more from numerous, small lifegain triggers. Lifegain Payoff

Planeswalkers
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Planeswalkers
  • The Wanderer - This is a flexible, budget slot that you could fill with a number of other cards. I like The Wanderer because she's a legendary with built in big-bad-creature-threat removal that also hedges against some combo wins that are damage based. Historic
Lands
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Lands
  • Radiant Fountain - Monowhite can afford more colorless utility lands than most decks that are color hungry, even one that's fairly low powered like this one. The extra lifegain trigger can make a big difference though. Lifegain Enabler

  • Rogue's Passage - One of the most underrated, underplayed lands in the entire format. This thing wins games. You'll thank me when you connect with Evra, Halcyon Witness for the first time.

  • Strip Mine - Not strictly necessary, but it's a powerful tool for monowhite, which can both afford the utility land and often needs the speedbump for opposing decks. My meta features a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, and Cabal Coffers, so Strip Mine goes in every deck that it possibly can. Speedbump

  • Thespian's Stage - It turns out Emeria, the Sky Ruin is not legendary! Think on that one for a while. Sometimes copying a live Emeria is overkill though. Tomb of the Spirit Dragon, Myriad Landscape, Emergence Zone, and Buried Ruin can all be decent targets also. If you are truly blessed by the sun, you'll get to copy an opponent's Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun, or Gaea's Cradle!

  • Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper - This is a budget Ancient Tomb for the deck that will cash in on some of the lifegain and nearly always have a legendary spell to spend its mana on. That being said, make sure you tap correctly and use Untaidake as your first mana source for any legendary spells so you don't find yourself with this untapped and no legendary goodies in hand. Lifegain Payoff

  • Sejiri Steppe - This is close to being a single use Rogue's Passage. One of the bottlenecks of the deck can be having a big dumb fatty like Ajani's Pridemate held back by some 1/1 goblins or something. Steppe is a way around that issue without using up a non-land spell slot.

  • New Benalia - Monowhite has enough hurdles to overcome without flood/screw. Scry away what you don't need, keep what you do.

  • Windbrisk Heights - Attacking with 3 or more creatures isn't asking too much in this deck, and while you won't cheat in anything ridiculous, Emeria Shepherd or Sun Titan for feels good.

  • Ghost Quarter - It's a worse Strip Mine, but still good. It can also provide some extra utility by giving you an additional plains landfall for Emeria Shepherd, or get you up to seven plains for Emeria, the Sky Ruin faster if there's no scary lands from your opponents to blow up. Speedbump

  • Tomb of the Spirit Dragon - This won't ever gain you an enormous amount of life, but there are enough colorless creatures in the deck that this will reliably get you at least 1 point of lifegain for a trigger. Lifegain Enabler


  • Myriad Landscape - Ramp that doesn't cost a nonland slot and can get you to the Emeria, the Sky Ruin threshold quicker. Sweet synergy with Emeria Shepherd as well.


  • Buried Ruin - Recursion will help you keep up with everyone at the table playing actual card draw spells, unlike you. Often this will buy you back a critical equipment, but can also get back a Hero of Ghirapur or Solemn Simulacrum for value.


  • Emergence Zone - Flash is awfully helpful with all the goodstuff that your opponents can see coming from a mile away, like Phyrexian Processor or Evra, Halcyon Witness. The zone gives you some more dynamic plays than "untap, upkeep, play a big dumb fatty, pass and hope it doesn't die."

  • Scavenger Grounds - Hosing multiple graveyards without using a spell slot is just great. It doesn't even enter tapped! Speedbump


  • Zhalfirin Void - A scryland that doesn't enter tapped is swell.


  • Secluded Steppe - A land when you need it, a cycle when you don't.


  • Desert of the True - Ditto. This one also gives you a second Scavenger Grounds activation.

  • Emeria, the Sky Ruin - Oh yeah. That's the stuff. This wonderful land really makes your ETB/LTB triggers and sac outlets come alive. You can use it to essentially lock a player out of the game with Yosei, the Morning Star, or just keep getting value out of your Solemn Simulacrum or Fiend Hunter. There will be games where you see this, but fall short of 7 plains. The opportunity cost is only one ETB tapped land though, so it's well worth the "risk".

  • 20 x Plains - Yup. While you want plenty of utility lands in your monowhite list, you don't want TOO many or you'll struggle to meet your spells' color requirements or have too much enter tapped. On top of that, you want a solid density of basics so that looping Solemn Simulacrum or Kor Cartographer is rewarded, and also so you have a decent chance of hitting paydirt with Emeria Shepherd.
Cards listed by function:






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Deck Strategy
This is a deck that's focused primarily on creatures and combat, with some combos for variety and contingency. As such, it is pretty linear, but not in the sense that you will be tutoring for the same cards every game. In fact, each game I've played with Daxos has been pretty unique in terms of card interactions while pretty standard in terms of strategy. To boil it down in the simplest of terms, you hope the game proceeds in a fashion such as this:

1. Play Daxos to set up your initial lifegain engine.
2. Develop your board with some utility creatures and ideally a card draw engine.
3. Get a threatening attacker on board and buff or suit it up. You should also have a way to leverage all that lifegain by this point.
4. Beat your opponents to a pulp with your huge evasive beater(s). Look for outs to win with a combo if combat is going to be too slow.

This is a major oversimplification, and each game is different, but you will find more often than not that this general pattern is pretty spot on.

As the monowhite player, you don't really have the capacity to be as explosive as some other decks out there, so you want to occupy the space between the archenemy at the table and the player in dead last. You will need to make sure you don't over commit to the board and fall too far behind on cards when a board wipe hits, but you also need to strap a sword or counters on something and chip away at life totals or be a rattlesnake and keep opponents' things attacking in a direction that isn't your face.

Don't expect to outright kill all 2-4 of your opponents, but instead play with the goal of weakening the largest threat and surviving while the 1-2 players furthest behind are eliminated. Once it's down to you and 1-2 others you want to throw your haymakers with evasion on stuff like Evra, Halcyon Witness or massive Phyrexian Processor tokens, or set yourself up to combo out with Triskelion. As a monowhite deck, you will rarely if ever dominate the table. You can't play too proactively. Bide your time. This isn't Flash Hulk or Prossh Food Chain.

Early Game Strategy
If there's one thing you should know with almost absolute certainty, it's that you want to play Daxos on turn 2. Don't keep an opening hand with less than one white source in it, and be certain that one of your 2+ white sources enters untapped. No, it's not the end of the world if you don't hit T2 Daxos, but if you are willing to give up that reliability inherent in a 2cmc commander, you'd be better of just running a different legendary. You have a free mulligan in this format. Use it, and don't be scared to go down to 6 if it means you will curve into Daxos and a follow up play on time.

Some good follow up plays to Daxos include your mana acceleration, card draw engines, and speedbumps: Altar of the Pantheon, Oketra's Monument, Solemn Simulacrum, Dawn of Hope, Mentor of the Meek, Mind's Eye, Baird, Steward of Argive, and Thalia, Heretic Cathar are good examples of the types of spells I want to resolve on turns 3-5 to set up for the mid to late game.

Don't be tempted to run out an early beater unless you don't have a better option. Curving into Traxos, Scourge of Kroog or Commander Eesha may score you some early damage dealt, but it can also paint a target on you unnecessarily. Better to set up for value now and pursue damage a bit later.


Mid-Game Strategy
Ideally by turn 5-6 you've ramped once or twice, gained some life, put out a few critters to block, and have a way to draw cards fairly regularly. If not, now's the time to shore those gaps up.

Once you have those bases mostly covered, the mid-game is going to require some interaction. Someone will have played some must kill threat or set up some ridiculous value engine, and now is the time for your Crush Contrabands and Phyrexian Rebirths. Most of the small amount of interaction included in the deck have also been chosen because they are X for 1 spells that will keep you from falling behind on cards. Judicious use of your board wipes in the mid game can actually put you ahead on cards (and life thanks to Daxos' trigger), and hitting the right targets with Heliod's Intervention or Fiend Hunter + a sac outlet can keep the front-runner from pulling too far ahead.

Hopefully you will not have to expend too many of your own resources to keep others in check though, and now is also a good time to set up some middling threats of your own. Regna, the Redeemer spitting out tokens, or Yosei, the Morning Star and a sac outlet with some recursion, for example. Prioritize opportunities to establish both an effective offense and defense. Heliod, God of the Sun and your vigilance creatures, or swinging in with a beater wielding a Loxodon Warhammer allows you to start working on opposing life totals while not opening yourself up to a beating.

At this point you also want to keep cards flowing with Dawn of Hope, Mind's Eye, Well of Lost Dreams, Tome of Legends, Weatherlight, and so on. You want to use the additional card draw and filtering to get your hands on a sac outlet, a way to bring things back from the graveyard, and something juicy to etb/sac/recur so you can set up for a combo. Along the way you also want to nab a big beater like Phyrexian Processor, Traxos, Scourge of Kroog, or Sun Titan, and a way to further augment them. Most games you won't find all of these pieces, but you should know that these are the types of cards your looking for. You're developing towards a win, and that's only going to happen by turning big stuff sideways, or setting up a combo.



Late Game Strategy
This section is really only about two things; namely the inevitable outcomes that will lead to victory with this deck, which are combos and combat.
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First the combos, not all of which are late game plays per se, but even the ones that can be pulled off earlier and don't instantly win the game will effectively pull you into the end game much quicker!

Put all your plains into play.
SPOILER
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Emeria Shepherd + a free sac outlet + Solemn Simulacrum/Kor Cartographer

With Emeria Shepherd and a free sac outlet in play, cast either Solemn Simulacrum or Kor Cartographer. Search up the plains and put it onto the battlefield tapped, triggering landfall. With the landfall trigger still on the stack, sac the Solemn/Cartographer. Now resolve the landfall trigger, bringing the Solemn/Cartographer back into play. Rinse and repeat until all of your plains have been searched up. Solemn gives you the added benefit of drawing you a bunch of cards as well.
Soft lock an opponent out of the game.
SPOILER
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Emeria, the Sky Ruin + Yosei, the Morning Star + a free sac outlet.

With Emeria, the Sky Ruin in play and active (ie, 7 plains in play), sacrifice Yosei, the Morning Star, tap any untapped lands your target opponent has remaining, and pass the turn. On your upkeep, return Yosei to the battlefield. Sacrifice it again. Rinse and repeat to prevent a single opponent from ever untapping.

If you add a second source of recursion into the mix -- Emeria Shepherd or Karmic Guide for instance -- you can slow one opponent down significantly for a turn or two while locking another out entirely.
Infinite creature ETBs, life, and colorless mana.
SPOILER
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These are probably the simplest combos in the deck, although there are a couple of variations. The bare bones versions are:
Sun Titan + Fiend Hunter + any free sac outlet
OR
Karmic Guide + Reveillark + any free sac outlet.

With a sac outlet and Sun Titan in play, cast Fiend Hunter and target Sun Titan with the exile effect. You must let it resolve due to Fiend Hunter's templating. After the trigger has resolved, sacrifice Fiend Hunter, sending it to the yard and returning the Sun Titan to play. Sun Titan's ETB trigger returns Fiend Hunter to play, which then targets Sun Titan with it's ETB trigger and exiles the Titan. Rinse and repeat for functionally infinite creature deaths ETBs. You can start the combo with Sun Titan in hand and Fiend Hunter in the graveyard, or a 3cmc or less sac outlet in the graveyard and Titan/Hunter in hand, and so on.

With a sac outlet and Reveillark and Karmic Guide in play, sacrifice the Karmic Guide. Now sacrifice the Reveillark, and target at least Karmic Guide with the death trigger. Karmic Guide ETBs and returns Reveillark to the battlefield. Rinse and repeat for functionally infinite creature deaths and ETBs. Once again, you can initiate the combo with either creature in the graveyard, HOWEVER, unlike Sun Titan, neither Guide or 'lark can get back your sac outlet, so you must begin with the sac outlet in play.

Infinite creature ETBs and deaths + Daxos, Blessed by the Sun = functionally infinite life.

Infinite creature sacrifices + Ashnod's Altar as the sac outlet being used = functionally infinite colorless mana.

If you have Daxos in play, infinite ETBs/deaths, and infinite colorless mana, you can draw your deck with Dawn of Hope or Well of Lost Dreams.
Using that foundation to exile all your opponents creatures, or deal infinite damage and win the game.
SPOILER
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Karmic Guide + Reveillark + a free instant speed sac outlet + Fiend Hunter

Loop Guide and 'lark as detailed above, but include Fiend Hunter as the second creature in 'lark's death trigger. When Hunter ETBs, target an opposing creature with the trigger. Now, before the trigger resolves, sacrifice Hunter. This makes it so that Hunter is in the graveyard when his exile trigger resolves, thus exiling the creature permanently. Since you must manipulate the stack this way, only an instant speed sac outlet will do. No Demonmail Hauberk for this combo. Rinse and repeat the loop until you've exiled all of your opponents' creatures.

Karmic Guide + Reveillark + a free sac outlet + Triskelion

This is the same as the Guide/'lark loop detailed above, but by simply making Triskelion the second creature recurred by Reveillark you can remove all its counters to deal 3 damage divided among your opponents before sacrificing it and recurring it again. Voila, you win!

If you have access to Guide and 'lark, but not Triskelion, you can get to it a few ways.

You could include Solemn Simulacrum as the second creature 'lark recurs in the loop until you draw your Triskelion.

If Ashnod's Altar is your sac outlet and you have access to Mentor of the Meek, you can keep looping Guide/'lark and paying to draw on each ETB until you draw Triskelion.

As mentioned above, with Daxos in play and infinite colorless mana you can also draw until you find Triskelion with the ETB loop + Dawn of Hope or Well of Lost Dreams.
That combo package is pretty well varied and resilient since you aren't totally reliant on a single combo piece. The downside is that the deck isn't running a bunch of tutors to make any of the various configurations overly reliable. Remember, the combos aren't the main objective of the deck, but they are sure nice when you get there.

As for the deck's prime objective, we turn to combat:

For the late phase of the game you are looking for three primary things to mash together -- a powerful attacker, evasion, and a buff. There is some pretty natural overlap between these within the deck. For example, Ajani's Pridemate is a powerful attacker with its own buff, and Loxodon Warhammer is both a source of evasion and a buff.

An exhaustive list of the permutations would be. . . exhausting, so here's a sampling of some of the most potent combinations that can wrap the game up via combat:

Commander Eesha + Blackblade Reforged
Traxos, Scourge of Kroog + Strata Scythe
Phyrexian Processor token(s) + Odric, Master Tactician
Evra, Halcyon Witness + Rogue's Passage
Hope of Ghirapur + Sunbond
Danitha Capashen, Paragon + Cradle of Vitality

Many of these buffs can make a creature quite large, so you will often find that you only need one attacking creature and can hold the rest back defensively until the game is a 1 v 1 and you have a lethal alpha strike on board.





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Credit and Thanks
@ISBPathfinder for his fantastic monowhite compendium and various monowhite deck threads.
@OCPunisher for his God-Eternal Oketra thread.
@pokken @WizardMN and @shermanido37 for all the discussions of white cards we've had in our various Ephara, God of the Polis and Kykar, Wind's Fury threads.




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Last edited by MeowZeDung 3 years ago, edited 8 times in total.
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shermanido37
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Post by shermanido37 » 4 years ago

A lifegain build was actually my first thought when I looked at Daxos, and I'm glad you made the idea into reality.
However, I don't think the execution is nearly as good as it can be. The legendary creatures and historic mechanic really doesn't seem to be benefiting you at all and should be replaced in my opinion, save for maybe a few good cards.
You're also not utilizing the various cards wizards printed over the years to help monocolored decks keep up.
suggested cuts
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Hope of Ghirapur
Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
Odric, Master Tactician
Yosei, the Morning Star
Brought Back
Remember the Fallen
Triskelion
Kemba, Kha Regent
Danitha Capashen, Paragon
Forebear's Blade
The Wanderer

Heroes' podium = if it were "legendary cards" I would be totally on board, but legendary creatures is too specific
suggested additions
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Endless Atlas - no words are needed
Skullclamp - because you're running enough sac outlets anyway, and because you like tokens. And because you can tutor for it. Must have!
Crested Sunmare
Unexpectedly Absent
Wall of Omens
Surveyor's Scope
Sword of the Animist
High Market
Isolated Watchtower
Sanctum of Eternity
Springjack Pasture
Evangel of Heliod + Reverent Hoplite = you like white devotion, you like creatures ETB. These are pretty much an army in a can, even if they are expensive, and they will grant you massive lifegain with Daxos.
Hallowed Spiritkeeper - another army in a can.
Mirror Entity = reward for army in a can
Heliod, Sun-Crowned = Did you say lifegain payoff?
Storm Herd = Did you say lifegain payoff?
AEtherflux Reservoir and Felidar Sovereign = because lifegain does win games!
Grasp of Fate = Did you say white card advantage?
Sevinne's Reclamation = Did you say white card advantage?
Staff of Nin = Did you say white card advantage?
Dusk // Dawn = Did you say white card advantage?
Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis = did you say white card advantage?

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MeowZeDung
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Post by MeowZeDung » 4 years ago

Agreed that the historic theme is not nearly as deep as it could be currently, but do keep in mind this is a budget build of the "stuff I have laying around or that costs .10" variety. I will upgrade it over time with some better legendaries.

That said, I like some of your card recs and I'll take a closer look at some of the budget ones to start. The deck is still in its infancy, so it's likely to change a lot as I get more feedback and keep testing.

Thanks for the input!
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Post by Jace » 4 years ago

Just dropping in to say I love your choice of Commander. Daxos is so neat and I love his new card and art. I do recommend Heliod, Sun-Crowned for theme purposes, and because it is genuinely an amazing card that facilitates your goal. It's a Sun Titan target as well.

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Post by MeowZeDung » 4 years ago

Jace wrote:
4 years ago
Just dropping in to say I love your choice of Commander. Daxos is so neat and I love his new card and art. I do recommend Heliod, Sun-Crowned for theme purposes, and because it is genuinely an amazing card that facilitates your goal. It's a Sun Titan target as well.
Yeah, Daxos is cool, and unfortunately won't get the love I think he deserves.

I agree about Heliod, Sun-Crowned. A non-budget version of this deck would be silly to not run him alongside Walking Ballista. Historic synergies, lifegain synergy, and a combo that is redundant with other pieces like Triskelion. Alas, this is a budget deck.






I won a long and fun game with Daxos tonight. Highlights included the Darien, King of Kjeldor/Daxos "Ha ha, you can't hurt me" board state, a Phyrexian Processor for 10 that made it's fifth token right before the winning turn, Thalia, Heretic Cathar slowing two of the aggressive decks at the table waaay down, and some value 'lark and Titan, but no combo. I sealed it up with good old fashioned combat. The only downside was that I did hit topdeck mode for the last 3-4 turns of the game. Fortunately, I had enough on board to keep generating value without cards in hand. Annoyingly, I drew Heroes' Podium right before winning, which would have been nice a few turns previously.
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Post by Dragonlover » 4 years ago

I feel like Crested Sunmare is a definite shoe-in for this, also potentially Filigree Familiar?

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Post by MeowZeDung » 4 years ago

Dragonlover wrote:
4 years ago
I feel like Crested Sunmare is a definite shoe-in for this, also potentially Filigree Familiar?

Dragonlover
Sunmare isn't in the deck because I don't own one and this is my budget list. It's an upgrade I'll probably invest in eventually. Honestly, I'm amazed that thing still demands the price it does. You're right that it's basically an auto-include.

I'll have to think a bit about Filigree Familiar. Kor Cartographer is acceptable as a worse Solemn Simulacrum specifically because it both ramps AND combos with Emeria Shepherd, Emeria, the Sky Ruin, and the 'lark/guide loop. Obviously familiar draws the deck with the 'lark/guide loop, and it can draw a good amount of cards with shepherd/sky ruin out, but it's not nearly as explosive as cartographer or simulacrum. The ETB lifegain is obviously on theme, and historic is never bad. Maybe what pushes it over the edge is that it plays nice with Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle?

I'll give it some more thought when I put together the IKO/C20 update for this deck in the next day or two. I could see Filigree Familiar taking over Kemba, Kha Regent's spot. Thanks for the suggestion @Dragonlover!
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Post by Dragonlover » 4 years ago

After years of working in a shop that sells singles, my definition of budget is massively skewed, to the point where a card needs to break a tenner before I start thinking of it as non-budget friendly, so I'll bear that mind when making suggestions to you. As for why it's a fiver still, I'd guess at it being popular with casual players and only having had a single printing, in the second set of the block to boot.

You're only running seven equipment, you should absolutely cut Kemba, and it may as well be for the Familiar. For similar reasons, I need to take Nahiri out of my mono-white deck.

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Post by MeowZeDung » 4 years ago

Dragonlover wrote:
4 years ago
You're only running seven equipment, you should absolutely cut Kemba, and it may as well be for the Familiar. For similar reasons, I need to take Nahiri out of my mono-white deck.
If it weren't for the new cards, this would absolutely be the swap, but the Kemba slot may go to something else like Drannith Magistrate, Verge Rangers, Cubwarden, or Vitality Hunter. I'll decide sometime over the weekend.
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Post by MeowZeDung » 4 years ago

Here's what I'm looking to add to the deck when IKO/C20 release and I can get my hands on them. Some may take longer than others based on scarcity and price spikes, of course.

Speaking of prices. . . The Ozolith holds some appeal since it is cheap, historic, and plays very nice with Ajani's Pridemante, Cradle of Vitality, and Sunbond, but I'm going to wait until that price settles a fair bit.






  • Bonder's Enclave, Arch of Orazca - Enclave will probably be a format staple, but it's not necessarily an auto-include for all monowhite decks. This deck will meet the power requirement more often than not though, and card draw from the mana-base is great. Speaking of which, while I wasn't looking WotC was sneaky and printed Arch of Orazca in mystery boosters and took drug its price down a bit (not that it was that pricey to begin with), so I'll pick one up. These two will bump out Zhalfirin Void and Radiant Fountain.

  • Dismantling Wave - I prefer exile to destroy and instant to sorcery, but this is almost guaranteed card advantage. If it comes up in the late game it can be a big blowout. I'll take it over Remember the Fallen since we have better recursion options anyway.

  • Drannith Magistrate - This guy seems good enough to invest a couple of bucks into. I don't think he'll be as oppressive and hated as some seem to believe, but he's definitely powerful and will bait out removal for sure. I'll take out Kemba, Kha Regent to make room.

  • Flawless Maneuver - Spicy. Given that Daxos is cheap and has a big butt, he is on the battlefield more often than not, so this will almost always be free to cast. I'll put it in over Divine Reckoning

  • Manascape Refractor - It's like another Thespian's Stage, only better because I can use my white mana to activate nonsense such as Academy Ruins or Volrath's Stronghold. Plus it's ramp just like any other mana rock. I'll try it out in Hedron Archive's slot.

I considered some others, such as Verge Rangers, Luminous Broodmoth, and Vitality Hunter, but they either pull me away from my various deck synergies toward generic goodstuff, or stick with my deck's synergies in a less powerful way than what I've already got. I'm open to trying them out if a good enough argument is presented though. Filigree Familiar, as discussed in previous posts, is actually quite enticing, but I can't think of what I'd pull for it aside from Hope of Ghirapur, which I may still do. . .

Anywho, I'll update the OP and decklist when I actually have the cards.
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Post by MeowZeDung » 3 years ago

I'm giving the deck a decent sized overhaul, most of it pretty common sense upgrades with stuff I just plain old missed. The deck is fun but I haven't played it in a while. Hopefully the upgrades will motivate me to play that lifegain boi!


I'm also putting together a preliminary wishlist for the deck, and thus far what is on it is pretty straight-forward and obvious:

Wishlist
Approximate Total Cost:

Weathered Wayfarer going down in price means that will probably happen soon, and hopefully double masters will drive down Land Tax a fair bit since I have multiple decks that would love to have it. In the meantime, I've slotted in Gift of Estates, and somewhere @pokken is going about his day, minding his business, and suddenly has an unexpected smile light up his face, but he won't know why until he sees this later on in his day.
Last edited by MeowZeDung 3 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by pokken » 3 years ago

lol :) White's ability to hit land drops is so underrated, let me know how it works for you. I out *land* ramped a green player (on Nissa, Vastwood Seer // Nissa, Sage Animist ) with my Athreos deck a couple weeks ago :)

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Post by MeowZeDung » 3 years ago

Evra, Halcyon Witness put in some real good work for me last night. It's such a fun and underplayed creature. I only activated once when I was around 25 life. I gave it a Blackblade Reforged which made it sweet without even activating but just threatening to.

I had Odric, Master Tactician in hand but no great window to cast him given that he would draw removal since I had evra and enough other attackers to trigger his ability and kill someone with a massive evra. Makes me want to slot in Swiftfoot Boots.

Similarly, Sword of Feast and Famine under Windbrisk Heights was awkward since I couldn't get value as soon as I played it. Nothing to be done about that though.

Unfortunately I didn't win. Kalamax, the Stormsire had dumped their hand, then had an insane topdeck of Return of the Wildspeaker with God-Eternal Kefnet and a large stegosaurus in play. They drew a Narset's Reversal with the copy and used it to fork and return the original to hand. TL;DR they drew a billion, played Wilderness Reclamation, drew a billion more, held up mass countermagic and Deflecting Swat, then comboed the table out with Ral, Storm Conduit on their next turn. My kind of nonsense, but no bueno for Daxos.
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