Kemba, Kha Regent

[knight_seb]

Hello fellow players !

As for my Dakkon Blackblade thread, I will present all my current decks using the primer's presentation skeleton, one deck at a time.
So, here we go for Kemba, my mono white deck.

Table of contents

Part 1 : About me
Part 2 : Deck philosphy
Part 3 : Decklist
Part 4 : Cards Explanation

Part 1 : About me

My name is Sebastien, nearly 38 years old French player. I started Magic in 1994 but stopped in 1996 because of the lack of players in my area. I started again in 2002 and never stopped since. I discovered Commander at its beginnings when it was still called EDH and before Wizards started to make commander decks. I am a long time follower of Sheldon Menery (and the RC) way of defining Commander.
I play also Pauper and Peasant (no rares, only 5 uncos allowed, using the French banlist) for more than 15 years now ...

Part 2 : Deck philosophy

Long time ago, someone in my first playgroup suggested to build monocolored deck and then to play in a pentacle variant using these decks. So, I built Kemba, Kha Regent who was one of my only mono white legendary creature available at this moment. The other decks were Omnath, locus of mana, Memnarch, Norin the Wary, Korlash. As you might see, it wasn't the best commander of the pack. Even so, I persisted to play it, made a lot of changes but the core themes stayed the same. It is mostly a token deck, fueled by a lot of equipement put on Kemba which can transformed into a monster capable of killing with commander damage. However, the weakness are alos inherent to the theme of the deck. Equipping a creature cost a lot and without Kemba in play, the deck doesn't do much. White is also known for its lack of drawing cards. Artifacts are fragile stuff ... However, kept unchecked, it's like a snowball growing until being unstoppable.

Part 3 : Decklist

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander

1 Kemba, Kha Regent

Wraths

1 Hour of reckoning

1 Single Combat

1 Divine Reckoning

1 Mass Calcify

Removal

1 Heliod's Intervention

Draw

1 Puresteel Paladin

1 Mentor of the Meek

1 Sram, Senior Edificer

1 Endless Atlas

1 Mind's Eye

Tutor

1 Armored Skyhunter

1 Enlightened Tutor

1 Stoneforge Mystic

1 Stonehewer Giant

1 Steelshaper's Gift

Mana/Ramp

1 Smothering Tithe

1 Sol Ring

1 Inspiring Statuary

Recursion

1 Trading Post

1 Sun Titan

1 Emeria Shepherd

Equipment

1 Sword of Light and Shadow

1 Sword of Vengeance

1 Sword of War and Peace

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Sword of Fire and Ice

1 Sword of the Animist

1 Darksteel Plate

1 Loxodon Warhammer

1 Lightning Greaves

1 Dowsing Dagger

1 Basilisk Collar

1 Trailblazer's Boots

1 Swiftfoot Boots

1 Argentum Armor

1 Masterwork of Ingenuity

1 Skullclamp

1 Blackblade reforged

1 MAce of the valiant

1 Maul of the skyclaves

1 fireshrieker

Equipment related cards

1 Sigarda's Aid

1 Danitha Capashen, Paragon

1 Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist

1 Nahiri, the Lithomancer

1 Heavenly Blademaster

Token related pump

1 Auriok Champion

1 True Conviction

1 Eldrazi Monument

1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

1 King of the pride

1 Regal Caracal

1 Raksha, Golden Cub

1 Cathars' Crusade

1 Odric, Lunarch Marshal

1 Concerted effort

1 Anointed procession

1 Intangible virtue

Token Makers

1 White Sun's Zenith

(+ Regal Caracal)

Lands

1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin

1 Temple of the False God

1 Thespian's Stage

1 Mistveil Plains

1 Rogue's Passage

23 Plains

1 Buried Ruin

1 Myriad Landscape

1 Zoetic Cavern

1 Bonder's Enclave

1 Secluded steppe

1 New Benalia

1 Desert of the True

1 Drifting meadow

1 Isolated Watchtower

Approximate Total Cost:

Part 4 : Card choice explanation

Wraths :
Final Judgment : Exiling creatures doesn't hurt me because mostly of my creatures are tokens
Hallowed Burial : Same here
Rout : Instant-speed wrath incoming !
Fated Retribution : Instant-speed wrath incoming !
Mass Calcify : I keep my board, my opponents not

Removal :
Return to Dust : There is always a enchantment/artifact to exile.

Draw :
Staff of Nin : White isn't knowed for its drawing capacities, so I rely on artifacts. It's expensive but the draw is free.
Puresteel Paladin : Triggers on my equipments. The reducing cost of equipping is really useful when I got several equipments in play.
Sram, Senior Edificer : Same here
Mentor of the Meek : It triggers when my tokens come in.
Endless Atlas : Monocolored decks love this card
Mind's Eye : With a few mana available, it is the best drawing card I could find. I didn't check commander Legend yet.

Tutor :
Academy Rector : I have a few but powerful enchantment to fetch.
Enlightened Tutor : Tutoring is mandatory in this deck to keep it working
Stoneforge Mystic : Same
Stonehewer Giant : Same
Steelshaper's Gift : Same

Mana/Ramp :
Weathered Wayfarer : I have a few utility lands I want to get fastly in early game
Land Tax : Do I need to comment its utility here ?
Endless Horizons : Do I need to comment its utility here ?
Burnished Hart : Might be expensive but getting 2 plains in one time is useful.
Caged Sun : Doubling mana from my lands. My tokens like the anthem too.
Gauntlet of Power : Doubling mana from my lands. My tokens like the anthem too.
Extraplanar Lens : Doubling mana from my lands. I don't play snow covered plains in my meta, it never helped more my opponents than me.
Mind Stone : In early game, it's ramp. Later it's draw.
Sol Ring : Do I need to comment its utility here ?
Thran Dynamo : Big brother of Sol ring
Smothering Tithe : Part taxing, part ramp
Inspiring Statuary : My equipment now have a secondary utility as mana rocks

Recursion :
Elixir of Immortality : Saving my graveyard (and gaining 5 life points)
Trading Post : Toolbox card. I use it mostly to fetch back my equipments
Sun Titan : Most of my deck cost 3 or less
Emeria Shepherd : As I am mono white, it send back to play my permanents from my graveyard

Equipment :
Sword of Light and Shadow : Recursion engine with useful colored protection
Sword of Vengeance : Good combinaison of capacities
Sword of War and Peace : Lifegain, useful colored protection. If someone keep a lot of cards in his hand, it could hurt a lot
Sword of Feast and Famine : Discard, useful colored protection (especially as green is a widely played color). Untapping lands is also quite useful.
Sword of Fire and Ice : Mostly here to draw
Sword of the Animist : Ramping. I don't mind sending a token to death to get a land.
Darksteel Plate : Usually, it's the first equipment I fetch to protect Kemba
Loxodon Warhammer : Lifegain, trample
Lightning Greaves : Shroud, haste
Dowsing Dagger : Ramp
Nim Deathmantle : Recursion engine
Basilisk Collar : Deathtouch, ligefain
Trailblazer's Boots : It make the equipped creature unblockable
Swiftfoot Boots : Hexproof, haste
Argentum Armor : the boost is monstruous but it's the destroying trigger which hurts most my opponent
Ring of Thune : I was looking to a way to give vigilance to Kemba

Equipment related cards :
Sigarda's Aid : I play a lot of equipment, so it makes sense
Auriok Steelshaper : reducing equipping cost is mandatory here to be able to equip more than 2 equipements in a turn
Darksteel Forge : Expensive, but mandatory to protect my equipment
Nahiri, the Lithomancer : Toolbox, mostly used to fetch back my destroyed equipment
Sculpting Steel : It can copy artifacts, not only equipements

Token Makers :
Sacred Mesa : One of my plan B
White Sun's Zenith : Same

Token related pump :
Auriok Champion : Lifegain coupled with useful protection
True Conviction : My tokens become now a threat
Eldrazi Monument : My tokens become now a threat
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite : My tokens become now a threat, can wipe also lot of things on my opponents side
Crovax, Ascendant Hero : Not as impactful as Elesh Norn, it is more difficult to kill
Cathars' Crusade : Do I need to comment its utility here ?

Lands :
Emeria, the Sky Ruin : Recursion engine
Reliquary Tower : If i'm drawing too much cards ...
Temple of the False God : ramp
Thespian's Stage : It could copy my utility lands or my opponents (Gaea's cradle is a nice target by the way)
Mistveil Plains : it's a plains and it could get bajc in my library some cards
Rogue's Passage : To make Kemba unblockable
Kjeldoran Outpost : Token maker
Buried Ruin : Recursion engine
Myriad Landscape : Mana ramp
Zoetic Cavern : Creature or ramp depending on the necessity
Eiganjo Castle : To protect Kemba and my other legendary creatures