Some of you might remember me from a previous brew I got a 5-0 with on my second try with Mono Red Control a ways back. That deck ended up being pretty bad despite the 5-0, but I’m feeling a lot better about this one.
First off, I didn’t start with a 1-4 this time. I also did a lot more testing in queues before hopping into a league (didn’t record results, but I’d have to guess an 80-90% win rate in the free queues). Although I haven’t been playing it more in leagues yet as I wanted to wait for the new season, I feel a lot better about it.
So, the list: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/pauper-w-252714#paper
White Meanie
| Creatures (24) 2 Ardenvale Tactician 1 Benevolent Bodyguard 2 Guardian of the Guildpact 1 Icatian Crier 4 Icatian Javelineers 4 Kor Skyfisher 2 Palace Sentinels 4 Suture Priest 4 Thraben Inspector Spells (7) 3 Battle Screech 1 Mana Tithe 2 Prismatic Strands 1 Unmake Artifacts (1) 1 Vulshok Morningstar Enchanments (5) 4 Journey to Nowhere 1 Sentinel’s Eyes | Lands (23) 4 Idyllic Grange 15 Plains 4 Secluded Steppe Sideboard (15) 1 Mana Tithe 2 Devout Witness 1 Holy Light 2 Kor Sanctifiers 3 Lapse of Certainty 2 Lone Missionary 2 Lumithread Field 2 Sunlance |
(note: I really love the name from r/Pauper that calls it White Meanie)
It’s obviously another variant of the Wx Monarch/Bully decks. The real payoff for not splashing another color for removal is Idyllic Grange. Recently, we were seeing a Mono White Aggro list featuring the new Daybreak Chimera and Sentinel’s Eyes. I started off playing with it and did okay, but it wasn’t what I wanted to be playing.
Sentinel’s Eyes felt awful and I cut it after the first league. The size buff is fine, vigilance is nice, and coming back made it an okay card, but it never felt that good. It rarely felt worth a full card, and the second copy was generally terrible since the deck doesn’t fill the graveyard easily and needs a creature in play.
Idyllic Grange skips out on vigilance for not taking up a “real” card slot. The slight size bump is huge in Pauper, especially when you’re putting creatures out of Bolt range, or having to fight through identical fliers (opposing Battle Screeches and Kor Skyfishers).
The other notable part of the deck would have to be the excessive number of 1x cards. Personally, I love all of them and wouldn’t mind a second of any of them, except for Vulshok Morningstar. The deck has plenty to do with its mana most of the time, and it was just awkward or irrelevant every time I’ve played it.
As far as a replacement for Morningstar, I’d add an extra of any of the 1 ofs, any of the three drops, a Custodi Squire, an Aven Riftwatcher, a 4th Battle Screech, or a Noble Templar (pet card that also tutors for Idyllic Grange).
To defend the 1x cards:
Mana Tithe – The first copy almost always finds value, and the opponent starts to play around the card. The second one is generally mediocre at best. I like to side in the second copy most of the time.
Sentinel’s Eyes – The card is still solid, but as mentioned earlier, drawing multiples is really really bad. The size bump is nice, and it’s hard to get rid of.
Benevolent Bodyguard – The card is great. It’s so good when you have exactly one copy, and something to protect. The second copy was almost always bad because the 1/1 body is almost never relevant beyond the first two turn.
Icatian Crier – The second copy is redundant for obvious reasons. The card is one heck of a lightning rod, and fragile. I’ve won games because of it. Discarding Prismatic Strands to flash it back with the tokens feels really good.
Unmake – Instant speed unconditional removal is honestly pretty dang good. This is more a 5th copy of Journey to Nowhere.
Vulshok Morningstar – it’s bad. I was testing it. It replaced a Whitemane Lion which was also bad for being too conditional.
A few other notables: Ardenvale Tactician, Suture Priest, Lapse of Certainty (sideboard)
Ardenvale Tactician is fine. Dizzying Swoop is pretty good and lets you slow down Elves by tapping dorks, get in a few points by tapping blockers, protect monarch by tapping attackers… it’s a nice bonus to the card. For the most part it’s a 2/3 with flying for 1WW, which is perfectly solid. It’s extra relevant with Idyllic Grange, since you want a good body for the +1/+1 counter in the skies. The card is filler, but it’s good filler. I could see playing the third copy easily enough.
Suture Priest has been quietly amazing. You will never notice how much weight it pulls in a game, but believe me it’s worthwhile. It makes life incredibly awkward for Elves, helps in board stalls (try casting Battle Screech against this). The initial reason I put it in was for punishing Tron decks that no longer run any removal. Try using Ghostly Flicker a bunch against a Suture Priest in play. Saving it with a Bodyguard can feel incredible in the right circumstances because it can easily become a must-kill.
Sadly, I haven’t gotten to play vs Tron in my dozens of matches so I don’t know how good it actually is there. It’s good enough everywhere else that I’m not planning on cutting it, but I thought it was pretty bad for my first pile of matches and only kept it in because I wanted to try it vs Tron. It’s quietly good. Please don’t cut Suture Priest.
Lapse of Certainty is one of the two white counterspells we have. Everyone remembers Mana Tithe, no one remembers Lapse of Certainty. Lapse is great vs Control and can break the fog loops out of Tron. It’s weird to see, but I think it’s worth the slots.
Everything else is fairly straightforward. I could see cutting the 2nd Guardian of the Guildpact for another Battle Screech. There is a lot of potential for tuning. If you want to watch my match data sheet, you can view it here.
I’m Arsteel and thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
