Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
But, that doesn't mean the colors can't be fun to play nor does it mean that a deck can't be built to compete. White is known for having all the answers while having a tough time drawing into them. Red complements this by giving some card draw to make the colors a little more consistent. Red also offers removal in the form of damage based spells which Gisela interacts very nicely with.
Both colors give is efficient creatures and good utility creatures and the creature suite can be tweaked depending on one's meta. Gisela in particular offers us an end game with the rest of our cards. She obviously isn't going to be fast (though we can make her faster) since she is 7 mana, but there are quite a few things she can do once she lands in order to close out games.
This deck does border on the "casual" side of things by virtue of the color pair, and because Gisela is definitely not the most efficient general. But, the card selection shows that she is built with competitiveness in mind. There are also a few combos that can be employed to end games a bit easier.
This deck started off as a "Valentine's Day" theme deck for a store I used to frequent. They would have leagues where you could get points based on a number of different factors and, for a few weeks, playing with a Red & White deck would net a couple extra points.
At the time, I narrowed my choices down to Aurelia, the Warleader and Gisela. I went with Gisela based mostly on the fact that my cousin, who was playing in the same league, already had an Aurelia deck.
The deck started off by going pretty deep in the damage spell. Lightning Bolt, Incinerate, and other direct damage spells were in abundance to start with. And then I played a few games and realized that even with Gisela, these were not good enough. And without Gisela on the board, a one-shot for 3 damage is too little.
So, I scaled back the direct damage spells and started trying to make the deck more efficient. I included small, but powerful creatures, as much ramp as I felt I could fit, a few removal spells and other answers, and, finally, an equipment sub-package to close out games more quickly. There are also a few top end creatures to go big with towards the end of the game. This approach was like night and day compared to my initial idea of "just make burn spells better".
Since then, the overall theme of the deck hasn't changed by a lot even if the card selections have changed. In certain cases, the top end creatures have changed as Wizards has printed better and better cards, and the answers have moved into trying to be a bit more general than just going after specific card types.
I have built over 100 decks in my time playing EDH (not as much as some, I know) and I often take apart decks that just aren't fun or aren't doing well. The fact that Gisela has lasted 3 years is a testament to her staying power.
Why You Should Play this Deck
- You enjoy aggressive decks
- You want to prove RW decks can be successful without MLD
- You want games to end quickly
- You don't like focusing on a single player
- You want to play your commander as early as possible
- You want games to grind out for a while
The deck's core strength is its speed. That is, it has the ability to get a powerful board presence in the early games which allows for some very quick starts. In certain cases, this could mean a player is eliminated before they ever really get to do anything.
Another strength is that, with the white cards, there are a lot of answers to a lot of situations. White has traditionally been known as the color with all the answers and that shows here. Everyone's meta is different so the card choices can be tweaked to function better in one's own meta.
The deck is able to close out games even if they do go long. While we want our games to end quickly, before players can really establish their board or clear ours, we have the ability to stay relevant in the long game. Gisela and a couple swords can one-shot players on an otherwise empty board. With the red cards we have, as well as a few artifacts, we can also work to keep our hand full for the inevitable long game.
And, finally, Gisela offers us the ability to go aggressive against players even if they have an established board state while not having to fear as much from being attacked back. Since she inherently offers a "half-fog" effect we can effectively go shields down while still not necessarily dying to someone else's board.
Board wipes, that hit creatures and artifacts, can be devastating. White has a number of cards that can included if this is a common occurrence but they still generally only work "right that instant" which means that if we have committed a lot to the board and it goes away, we can be in trouble. We do have a number of answers for stopping our board from being destroyed, but it will still happen.
On that note, one of the biggest weaknesses in RW decks in general is the lack of card draw. We have a fair amount of card advantage with sweepers and tutors and the like, but lacking significant card draw means that if we have committed to the board and it all goes away, we won't often have the cards necessary to rebuild. Luckily, we have some red cards to get us out of these situations but there is a non-zero chance that once our board goes away, we will be out of the game for a while.
Counter magic is another big weakness. We don't have any real way to stop things from being countered in the same way we can stop our stuff from being destroyed. If we end up against a dedicated control deck with a plethora of counter spells, we will either need to slow down to try to find the right instance to cast things or just spam spells and hope something resolves. Neither is inherently right or wrong but counter magic can slow us way down.
Finally, the deck really can't "spread the love around". That is, most games often see us attacking one player over and over again. It is common in EDH to not want to kill a player too quickly in games because it "feels bad" but we don't really have the luxury of that. If we try to do that, we will run out of steam fairly quickly. So, we need to pick a player to go after and try to keep going after them until they are out of the game. And then do the same with the next player.
Note that the biggest threats will often change in a game so this can't be followed blindly. Either you need to change course or hold back, but a casual "attack you, you, and you" won't really cut it here. Our creatures often need to all go after the same player each combat.
- Aurelia, the Warleader - Probably one of the more obvious generals. She works exceedingly well with many creatures on the board and can work to close out games quickly due to the extra combat and coming down a turn earlier. She could probably be a straight swap as the general of this deck with very few cards needed to be changed.
- Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero - Perhaps one of the better new Boros generals. Since we are relatively deep on equipment, a general that can save all our equipment and the creatures they were attached to if they all go to the graveyard at the same time can be enticing.
- Tiana, Ship's Caretaker - Tiana plays in the same space but allows for cards to be returned when the card goes to the graveyard without Tiana also having to die. The choice between her and Gerrard likely come down to meta differences and playstyle preferences but both have their merits.
- Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale - This still plays into the equipment package that Gisela has but limits it to Knights. It could be a fun deck and gives access to black as well.
- Feather, the Redeemed - She plays in a far different space than any other options but allows for a far more aggressive build. I think there are a fair number of similarities between the playstyles of her and Gisela but swapping out most of the equipment here for instants and sorceries could be the right call.
Lands
- Ancient Tomb -
- Battlefield Forge -
- Clifftop Retreat -
- Command Tower -
- Emeria, the Sky Ruin -
- Flamekin Village -
- Hall of the Bandit Lord -
- Hanweir Battlements -
- Mistveil Plains -
- Needle Spires -
- Plateau -
- Rugged Prairie -
- Sacred Foundry -
- Slayers' Stronghold -
- Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion -
- Winding Canyons -
Creatures
- Angel of Jubilation -
- Aurelia, the Warleader -
- Burnished Hart -
- Combustible Gearhulk -
- Duergar Hedge-Mage -
- Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite -
- Godo, Bandit Warlord -
- Grand Abolisher -
- Hanweir Garrison -
- Heartless Hidetsugu -
- Hero of Bladehold -
- Imperial Recruiter -
- Inferno Titan -
- Iroas, God of Victory -
- Karmic Guide -
- Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker -
- Knight of the White Orchid -
- Kumano, Master Yamabushi -
- Leonin Warleader -
- Magus of the Wheel -
- Purphoros, God of the Forge -
- Rampaging Ferocidon -
- Recruiter of the Guard -
- Relic Seeker -
- Serra Ascendant -
- Solemn Simulacrum -
- Stoneforge Mystic -
- Stonehewer Giant -
- Sun Titan -
- Urabrask the Hidden -
Enchantments
Instants
Sorceries
Planeswalkers
- Stoneforge Mystic - This deck runs a lot of equipment and runs them for different purposes. Being able to tutor for the right one at the right time can be instrumental in turning a game around. And then, being able to cheat it in next turn for cheaper can also be helpful
- Iroas, God of Victory - We are, by and large, an aggressive deck. We may not be trying to go super fast with small creatures or try to swarm, but we still want to be able to attack as often, and with as much as possible. Iroas does double duty here. First, he gives all of our creatures Menace to make them harder to block and hopefully ensure at least some get through for damage. And second, he prevents all damage that would be done to attacking creatures which just makes sure they all stay alive even if they are blocked.
Our opponents may be able to swing back at us without worrying about us blocking if we swing with everything, but Iroas allows us to go on the offensive turn after turn. - Serra Ascendant - Ascendant is, for the most part, just a super efficient beater. But being able to land him turn 1 and start swining out can easily start to cut down a player's life total and gain us some life. This is generally an "answer now or lose the game" card.
- Swords - These are where a lot of our power comes from. From drawing cards, to gaining life, to ramping and untapping lands, the Swords will see an appearance every game and will work to progress the game in our favor.
- Repercussion - This card seems good on the surface but it just either tended to kill me if I didn't have Gisela on the board which is a somewhat common board state.
- Smothering Tithe - This card tends to come up quite often in terms of decks like this but I find that the deck performs better if we just focus on slamming threats as often as we can so taking a turn off isn't necessarily where we want to be even if it makes subsequent turns more explosive.
- Helm of the Host - This combos pretty well with a couple cards in the deck but it is 9 mana total and really isn't a playstyle I enjoy. It can make for some easier wins though.
- Fireshrieker - There are so many equipment that could make it in a deck like this but I want to call out the exclusion of this one specifically just because it makes Gisela swing for 20 on its own. While this won't kill someone with Commander Damage (though it is really close) it is still half their starting life total. I feel that the other equipment I have work better for the way I want the deck to play but you could do much worse if you want to include this one. And it can be a good budget option.
- Mana Crypt - There isn't a great alternative for this beyond Sol Ring which is already in the deck. Perhaps Worn Powerstone or Arcane Signet are decent options. We still need the ramp since our general is 7 mana and we want to be doing as much as we can, as fast as we can.
- Plateau - Any land that produces both our colors is fine here as long as it doesn't enter the battlefield tapped (if your budget allows for it). If not, any tap land is fine too but just realize that we can't afford to be slowed down too much and the deck already runs a few "ETB tapped" lands as it is.
- Wheel of Fortune - We want our red to allow for our card draw and, while this also allows our opponents to draw, sometimes it is necessary. Not everyone feels that way so cutting this for a one-sided draw effect could be reasonable or just put one of the higher CMC wheels in its place.
- Stoneforge Mystic - Stoneforge is one of our more important cards due to being able to get us our equipment when we need it. Steelshaper's Gift is a reasonable budget option even if we do lose the ability to cheat in an equipment. It won't be as good, but can still be decent.
- Imperial Recruiter - There really isn't a good substitute for this beyond Recruiter of the Guard and that is already in the deck. If this is outside the budget, I would just suggest not trying to replace the effect and find a cheap, efficient beater to slot in instead to help with the overall game plan.
- Enlightened Tutor - Another card without a good replacement. You can try for Gamble but that really isn't where we want to be. Adding more card draw, if you can, might be the way to go here.
- Swords - As mentioned, the Swords are some of our most important cards due to the effects they give us. You can go with some of the cheaper swords or try to find other equipment to replace them with, but you likely won't have the same degree of success without the Swords helping out.
- Ancient Tomb - Nothing really comes close to this in land form, so just add in a normal basic (or whatever land you want) to replace this if it is outside of budget. It helps a lot but isn't so important that you need to find something to replicate the effect.
Note that I don't like playing infinite combos in my decks so these are not necessarily in the list above (with one exception). However, different people have different takes on combo and everyone's meta is different so here are a few combos that can be utilized to bring a game to an abrupt end.
- Zealous Conscripts & Kiki-Jiki, Mirror-Breaker - This is an old standby. You tap Kiki to copy Conscripts and then Conscripts enters targeting Kiki. This untaps Kiki so you can do it again. As many times as you would like. When you feel you have enough tokens, you swing out at everyone.
Resoration Angel can be slotted in instead of (or, in addition to) Conscripts, but if you just want one of them, I think I like Conscripts better here for the use outside the combo. We don't have a lot of ETB effects but depending on your feelings on the ones we do have, Angel might be fine. It also fits the curve better. - Helm of the Host - We have two cards in the deck that combo with Helm: Aurelia, the Warleader and Godo, Bandit Warlord. In both cases, we get infinite combat phases and we don't even need to swing with the original which means there isn't a risk of our combo piece just dying in combat.
- Heartless Hidetsugu - This is the one combo piece that is actually in the deck and is here mostly because it just works really well with Gisela. Since it just wins the game on the spot (if everyone is at an even life total) it definitely goes against my normal decision not to include "instant win" cards like this. But, I think this is a deck where it really shines so it makes the cut.