Meto's favorite White cards in BFZ (So far)

Meto5000 · April 2016

These are the 4 new spells that I'm playing in my OG Gideon deck. Now that Nissa's mana ramp has been toned down, one of the main problems I'm having is with Chandra decks. Even if I win, she usually does a ton of damage to me, so I figured playing a Gideon lifelink deck might make sense. With the addition of the new cards below, my deck can deal with any opponent, be fairly quick about it, and maintain a healthy life total.

Smite the Monstrous
8 cost common to kill almost any creature? If this sounds like one of the best White cards to date that's because it is. Don't worry about it being only able to target creatures with power 4 or greater since you likely don't care about anything smaller than that anyways.

Serene Steward
4 power for 6 mana is already a great card and the effect makes it become a pseudo Relic Seeker if you have a single lifelinker out there and even better if you have 2 lifelinkers. It's also an Ally which could be relevant if Rally decks ever become a thing.

Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper
4 power for 15 mana isn't great and at first glance I wasn't really impressed by this card, but in playtesting I discovered the card's ability is huge. I play 3 spells in my White deck, Smite the Monstrous, Enshrouding Mist, and Scour from Existence. If I have Noyan in play, every time I kill a creature I get +3/+3, everytime I give spend 5 mana to cast Enshrouding Mist I get +3/+3. It's a free reinforce every time I kill an opponent's creature or buff one of my own. This card is awesome.

Scour from Existence
This card is a bit expensive for 12 mana but removal spells are almost always good. One of the easiest ways to lose in this game is after your opponent has a lucky cascade and casts an enormous creature that you can't deal with. Having multiple removal spells in your deck means you have a chance for a comeback no matter what your opponent does. Plus, unlike Smite the Monstrous, this card can remove ANY non-hexproof creature. While not technically a White card, since it is colorless you can play it any deck including White.

My Decklist
Creatures: (7)
Relic Seeker
Consul's Lieutenant
Kytheon's Irregulars
War Oracle
Enlightened Ascetic
Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper
Serene Steward
Spells: (3)
Enshrouding Mist
Smite the Monstrous
Scour from Existence

BassMuffinFIve · April 2016

Love this write up! Especially agree with the 6 mana 4/4. Feels like white's version of Herald of the Pantheon, if not better. If you did one of these for each color, it would kinda make my day, not gonna lie

madwren · April 2016

The core of yours is similar to the deck I'm running, and also the only one I've had consistent success with in Story Mode. I haven't been fortunate enough to get a Scour from Existence yet, and 2 spells isn't enough to support Noyan Dar. I'm actually finding that Relic Seeker is somewhat redundant with Serene Steward in tow, and I dislike when I get creature-congested and try to limit myself to 5.

Creatures: (5)
Relic Seeker (will be Noyan Dar)
Consul's Lieutenant
War Oracle
Enlightened Ascetic
Serene Steward

Spells: (2)
Enshrouding Mist
Smite the Monstrous

Support: (3)
Murder Investigation
Knightly Valor
Suppression Bonds (will be Scour from Existence)

Meto5000 · April 2016

madwren wrote:

The core of yours is similar to the deck I'm running, and also the only one I've had consistent success with in Story Mode. I haven't been fortunate enough to get a Scour from Existence yet, and 2 spells isn't enough to support Noyan Dar. I'm actually finding that Relic Seeker is somewhat redundant with Serene Steward in tow, and I dislike when I get creature-congested and try to limit myself to 5.

I strongly disagree with Relic Seeker being redundant. Having Relic Seeker and Mini-Seeker in your deck just makes your draws a lot more consistent. It's not like having multiple ways to give your creatures +1/+1 every turn is bad and unlike Serene Steward it doesn't require any setup. Having your hand clogged with a bunch of top tier creatures is not a bad problem to have. You could perhaps consider a cheap spell like Ondu Rising or Lithomancer's Focus. Actually, Ondu Rising is a tempting card to take advantage of both Noyan Dar and Serene Steward's abilities.

I've also tried both Murder Investigation and Knightly Valor in my decks and I found them to be cards I discarded frequently. I would much rather cast creatures than easily destroyed supports. Even if the effects were permanent, Murder Investigation is an extremely situational card and Knightly Valor is less useful when you're not as reliant on Vigilance to kill creatures.

One card that I didn't mention that is beyond phenomenal is Felidar Sovereign. Unfortunately the card is mythic so it's unlikely I'll see it anytime soon. Felidar Sovereign will probably replace Kytheon's Irregulars in my deck. With 3 lifelinkers, it's unlikely that Serene Steward's ability will go to waste. Plus the card is an absolute beast. A 4/6 viglance lifelinker for 8 mana is a just a terrific value card.

BassMuffinFIve · April 2016

Meto5000 wrote:

madwren wrote:

The core of yours is similar to the deck I'm running, and also the only one I've had consistent success with in Story Mode. I haven't been fortunate enough to get a Scour from Existence yet, and 2 spells isn't enough to support Noyan Dar. I'm actually finding that Relic Seeker is somewhat redundant with Serene Steward in tow, and I dislike when I get creature-congested and try to limit myself to 5.

I strongly disagree with Relic Seeker being redundant. Having Relic Seeker and Mini-Seeker in your deck just makes your draws a lot more consistent. It's not like having multiple ways to give your creatures +1/+1 every turn is bad and unlike Serene Steward it doesn't require any setup.

I've also tried both Murder Investigation and Knightly Valor in my decks and I found them to be cards I discarded frequently. I would much rather cast creatures than easily destroyed supports. Even if the effects were permanent, Murder Investigation is a card that's great sometimes, but frequently a dead card in your hand. Knightly Valor is a card that is good most times, but I'd much rather be casting a creature with a similar effect.

One card that I didn't mention that is beyond phenomenal is Felidar Sovereign. Unfortunately the card is mythic so it's unlikely I'll see it anytime soon. Felidar Sovereign will probably replace Kytheon's Irregulars in my deck. With 3 lifelinkers, it's unlikely that Serene Steward's ability will go to waste. Plus the card is a an absolute beast. A 4/6 viglance lifelinker for 8 mana is a just a terrific value card.

Beast? Pun taken. I like Felidar Sovereign as a replacement for Kytheon's Irregulars. It fits the deck because of the lifelink, and almost more importantly, fills the defender/vigilance role. I think you need at least one slot in your deck for that function for when you don't quite have your pw mana up for Gideon's first ability. The cards that fill that role are Knight of the White Orchid, Knightly Valor, Kytheon's Irregulars, and now Felidar Sovereign. If going for the lifegain theme already, he is the easy choice.

I feel like Lantern Scout could maybe find its way into this deck as well. It is an ally, so it is triggered by other copies of itself, and Serene Steward, and Noyan Dar. What to take out for the Lantern Scout is the tough part though. Or maybe the ally deck is better used with the new PW

Meto5000 · April 2016

BassMuffinFIve wrote:

I feel like Lantern Scout could maybe find its way into this deck as well. It is an ally, so it is triggered by other copies of itself, and Serene Steward, and Noyan Dar. What to take out for the Lantern Scout is the tough part though. Or maybe the ally deck is better used with the new PW

I forgot about Lantern Scout, great point! I think Enlightened Ascetic is an easy target to get replaced. They have around the same casting cost and Lantern Scout at 3/2 is much more of an offensive threat that also provide about the same amount of healing or more considering you have 2 other Allies in the deck already.

madwren · April 2016

Meto5000 wrote:

madwren wrote:

The core of yours is similar to the deck I'm running, and also the only one I've had consistent success with in Story Mode. I haven't been fortunate enough to get a Scour from Existence yet, and 2 spells isn't enough to support Noyan Dar. I'm actually finding that Relic Seeker is somewhat redundant with Serene Steward in tow, and I dislike when I get creature-congested and try to limit myself to 5.

I strongly disagree with Relic Seeker being redundant. Having Relic Seeker and Mini-Seeker in your deck just makes your draws a lot more consistent. It's not like having multiple ways to give your creatures +1/+1 every turn is bad and unlike Serene Steward it doesn't require any setup. Having your hand clogged with a bunch of top tier creatures is not a bad problem to have. You could perhaps consider a cheap spell like Ondu Rising or Lithomancer's Focus. Actually, Ondu Rising is a tempting card to take advantage of both Noyan Dar and Serene Steward's abilities.

I've also tried both Murder Investigation and Knightly Valor in my decks and I found them to be cards I discarded frequently. I would much rather cast creatures than easily destroyed supports. Even if the effects were permanent, Murder Investigation is an extremely situational card and Knightly Valor is less useful when you're not as reliant on Vigilance to kill creatures.

One card that I didn't mention that is beyond phenomenal is Felidar Sovereign. Unfortunately the card is mythic so it's unlikely I'll see it anytime soon. Felidar Sovereign will probably replace Kytheon's Irregulars in my deck. With 3 lifelinkers, it's unlikely that Serene Steward's ability will go to waste. Plus the card is an absolute beast. A 4/6 viglance lifelinker for 8 mana is a just a terrific value card.

I'd love to get an Ondu Rising, you're right. That one looks great.

I've found Murder Investigation and Valor extremely useful vs the later rounds of Story Mode; in some instances, it's the only reason I was able to pull out a victory. They're suboptimal in QB, which I should have specified.

In QB, though, I think that things have sped up significantly, and vs. red and green Relic Seeker simply takes too long to get going. Since 2/4 of my critters are lifegainers, I find that a setup of Steward/Consul's/either Oracle or Ascetic works more quickly and efficiently.

Coconut99 · April 2016

Meto5000 wrote:

My Decklist
Creatures: (7)
Relic Seeker
Consul's Lieutenant
Kytheon's Irregulars
War Oracle
Enlightened Ascetic
Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper
Serene Steward
Spells: (3)
Enshrouding Mist
Smite the Monstrous
Scour from Existence

So I read through this and at first, I was like, "Awesome, this is a great post! Builds a good White deck, explains the purpose for the cards/tactics for why they're there...this is great! Maybe this will be the kick in the pants I need to finally buy Gideon1!"

Then I checked my inventory.

Relic Seeker--Nope.
Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper--Nope.
Serene Steward--Nope. (Thought I actually had this one...guess not!)

Sigh. Unfortunately, that really kills the buffing aspect of this deck for me. I could still play up the lifelink/gain aspect (adding Ondu Rising, for example), but without Serene Steward, that doesn't seem nearly as efficient (good for keeping me alive, sure, but no creature buffing). I'm not really sure what to sub in to make up the loss of all three of those creatures...

So, looking at what I have (which means the below could be improved, I just might not have the cards to improve it with--this is my possible deck, not a penultimate build), any thoughts/opinions on the below? Not quite a Rally deck (just don't have enough/the right Rally cards...stupid Lantern Scout/Veteran Warleader being rare and Hero of Goma Fada being Mythic...), but still trying to take advantage of the "cards coming into play" idea.

Creatures (3):
Angel of Renewal
Grovetender Druids
Makindi Patrol
Spells (3):
Inspired Charge
Ondu Rising
Scour from Existence
Supports (4):
Valor in Akros
Yavimaya Coast
Knightly Valor/Murder Investigation (couldn't decide which)
Starfield of Nyx/Sigil of the Empty Throne (also couldn't really decide)

Since the deck lacked from ways to generate mana quickly (+mana cards or rumbling the board), I tried to lean on cheaper cards...except for some of the supports. Instead of having Relic Seeker/Serene Steward, which I don't, this instead tries to use Valor in Akros to boost creatures, albeit temporarily. It still has some issues though, seeing as it does have 2 of the 4 most expensive White cards (and I was even considering Gideon's Phalanx, which would have really increased the cost!). I thought about Kytheon's Irregulars, but went instead with Makindi Patrol, figuring all the creatures being Ally would cover defense a decent percentage of the time, to make up for not having an actual Defender (and there's always Gideon's PW abilities to change that). And Angel of Renewal kind of makes up some of the life gain (plus Ondu Rising).

Thoughts? How bad is it, really? Heh. I know there's likely a few areas it could be improved, and I may even have the cards to do it...feel like the biggest issue is actually going to be the 3-creature limit, with Grovetender spawning 1/1s, Knightly Valor popping out a 2/2 (though just once, and it can be overwritten later just to cause another creature to enter the battlefield) or Murder Investigation popping out 1/1s, and Sigil (if used) spawning 4/4s.

I also wasn't sure if Starfield returning a support would trigger Sigil? If so, I might try to add both. I really wish I had Gideon's Reproach (bloody common, where are you?), as I feel like that, with Starfield and Sigil, would make for a really, really beefed-up Angel. I don't see too many other White/Colorless supports that destroy themselves like that, or I'd consider trying to put together a deck around that idea.

I was also thinking of trying to put together a Disable deck, take advantage of Roil's Retribution, Swift Reckoning, and Hixus, Prison Warden...especially since most of the new Story missions seem to be very creature-heavy, most with high toughness.

Nothguorb · April 2016

I also like Noyan Dar in my blue deck. I have a number of cheap spells that can make him huge fast and enough card draw to sustain the growth too. Artificer's epiphany for 2, rush of ice for 1, and talent of the telepath for 5 (and potentially chain together) gets insane quickly. Plus the starfish can draw a ton and if you run out of ammo, you have Jace's 2nd ability. Running sphinx/sanctum as artifacts provides enough control that it's tough for the opponent to respond quickly. The downside is that you can't protect him like you can in white if your opponent has smite the monstrous.

Meto's favorite White cards in BFZ (So far)

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