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Modern
Wild Research
Budget Decks
White Weenie
Aggro
competitive
Patrick Wild
About Patrick Wild
Patrick Wild is a Swiss Magic player. He began his Magic playing career with Legacy events in 1998 and then moved on to play other formats, such as Standard and Modern. Patrick also plays countless Vintage tournaments, and he won the Swiss Vintage National Championship. As an experienced tournament player, he has played in several PTQs and Grand Prix, it is his goal to qualify for the Pro Tour, and he pursues that goal with utmost dedication.
Modern White Weenie
In my „Stomping Modern“ article, I wrote the following: „The viability of aggro decks is greatly defined by the quality and quantity of 1-drops, since they allow you to seize tempo early and dictate the pace of play.“
In my quest to find another viable budget deck for Modern, I thought about other colors than Green. How about White? Doesn’t White have plenty of good one-drops? Wizards has been pushing White Weenie in recent sets, plus, it is widely known that White has some of the most powerful sideboard options to hate out linear strategies, which define Modern. So I scoured the database for playable cards.
One card immediately jumped to the forefront: Champion of the Parish. As I mentioned in my „Stomping Modern“ article, it is of utmost importance that your early pressure doesn’t get blanked by a small creature like Snapcaster Mage or Kird Ape. You want to keep the pressure up by forcing chump blocks or getting damage in. Champion of the Parish accomplishes this by easily growing to epic proportions in a Human-based shell. Thus, the direction I want to take was found – Humans it is! Another nudge in that direction was the recent printing of Thalia's Lieutenant, which basically is a more powerful version of Champion of the Parish, albeit at the two mana spot. If you played Standard recently, you know how quickly things can get out of control when Thalia's Lieutenant resolves. One big advantage of Lieutenant is its dual role as a pump effect and beater, saving you precious card slots. Not needing mana to grow (like Figure of Destiny) allows you to increase pressure and board presence at the same time, essential for a swarm strategy that Champion and Lieutenant nudges us towards. Having eight „Grow“ creatures also gives you some nice insurance against damage based sweepers like Pyroclasm or Anger of the Gods, traditionally the banes of Weenie decks.
The Ally Trap
When I searched for other Human creatures for W, my cursor stopped at Hada Freeblade. This looked eerily similar to Champion of the Parish. If there are enough other Allies, Hada Freeblade should be an equally menacing one-drop. Also, a lot of Allies are Humans anyway to pump Champion of the Parish, so this seemed like a perfect match. The database gave me three other Human Allies in White: Expedition Envoy, Kazandu Blademaster and Kabira Evangel. I quickly incorporated them into the following shell:
Modern Ally WW
Deck by Patrick Wild on Mon, 08/22/2016 - 03:07
Main Deck
(60 cards)
4
Champion of the Parish
4
Hada Freeblade
4
Expedition Envoy
4
Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4
Kazandu Blademaster
4
Thalia's Lieutenant
3
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4
Kabira Evangel
4
Honor of the Pure
4
Brave the Elements
18
Plains
1
Eiganjo Castle
2
Windbrisk Heights
Colors
Land
21
White
39
Converted Mana Cost
1
20
2
15
3
4
Type
Basic Land
18
Creature
31
Enchantment
4
Instant
4
Land
3
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Versions:
Shadows Over Innistrad (Foil)
With 16 Allies, growing Freeblade and Blademaster into respectable bodies should be doable, I thought. However, when testing this build against tougher competition, it became apparent that something was not right. Following up Hada Freeblade with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben would normally be an excellent start, but it didn’t put enough pressure on the table. That was a sign that my deck construction was off, one-drop into two-drop should be more threatening.
I realized that to fully harness the power of the Allies, you had to build around them. In other words, ALL the creatures had to be Allies. For that to work, splashing other colors was inevitable, most likely Red for Akoum Battlesinger and direct damage. At that point, building on a budget was no longer possible, since multicolor Allies requires Fetchlands and Shocklands, although Ally Encampment helps in that regard.
Focusing on Allies created another problem – I had too few one-drops. Hada Freeblade and Expedition Envoy alone were not enough, particularly since the Envoy dies so easily in the current Modern metagame. Battle for Zendikar and Oath of the Gatewatch showed us another path though – Orzhov. Forgoing the big growing creatures means that you have to find an alternate path to win. In this case, Wizards gave us the drain-life mechanic, exemplified on Kalastria Healer and Zulaport Cutthroat. The strategy here would be to combine the lifegain triggers with Cliffhaven Vampire and March from the Tomb.
While starting to write down a preliminary decklist, it dawned upon me that BW Allies is a fine deck for casual play or formats like Block Constructed, but not good enough for competitive Modern. First, it suffers from the problem that similar lifegain-decks like Soul Sisters have – you are weak to combo decks like Ad Nauseam and linear strategies like Infect. Second, when trying to shore up these weaknesses by including discard, removal and whatnot, you dilute your main strategy too much. For every Thoughtseize or Path to Exile you include, you have to cut a slot that could go to an Ally card. And finally, the average mana costs of the Allies is too high, which leads to clunky draws. Despite all these problems, I think Allies is a strategy to keep in mind, since the archetype only needs one or two viable one-drops to compete.
The Hidden Tribe
For now, I think it is better to focus on other tribes that pump each other, like Merfolk or Slivers, if you want to capture a similar playstyle to Allies. Or, in my case, pay attention to the other tribe that Champion of the Parish belongs to: Soldier.
You might ask yourself: why focus on Soldiers? What’s the payoff?
The answer is: there are Soldier-specific cards that handsomely reward you for the deckbuilding restriction. More specifically, these two cards stand out: Field Marshal and Precinct Captain.
Versions:
10th Edition (Foil)
Coldsnap (Foil)
Field Marshal is the obvious one, as it’s a curve topper that synergizes with the swarm strategy. The first strike is important against other creature decks, since your opponent is far less likely to find good blocks. Having a pump effect that can attack itself is a double-edged sword: on one hand, it increases your clock, but on the other hand, it is more vulnerable than enchantments like Honor of the Pure. Still, I think the benefits outweigh the risks, particularly in a swarm strategy where every creature counts. Importantly, Field Marshal is very good in multiples, a quality I’m always looking for when building aggressive decks. I also looked at similar creatures like Veteran Swordsmith and Veteran Armorsmith. At first glance, they look fine, but the harsh reality is that these creatures are simply too weak and costly, even accounting for their synergies. There simply isn’t enough space, all other creatures are either cheaper or stronger. Now if Veteran Swordsmith cost WW, that would be a different story.
Versions:
Duel Decks: Elspeth Vs. Kiora
Return to Ravnica (Foil)
Precinct Captain is an innocuous card that I learned to fear playing Highlander and Cube draft. At first, I underestimated the token-making ability, deeming it as too low impact. However, I forgot to look at the bigger picture – White Weenie tends to pack pump effects (like Honor of the Pure) or equipment that turns a lowly 1/1 into a formidable force quickly. In grindy games where you trade resources, a single 1/1 can very well be the difference between victory and defeat. In that sense, Precinct Captain acts as a form of card advantage. While not directly drawing cards, creating a creature is comparable to putting a card directly on the battlefield. Players like drawing cards, but what they often overlook is that they have to invest mana to play the freshly drawn cards before they have any impact. Precinct Captain’s token ability is like drawing a 1/1 Soldier and putting it directly into play.
Versions:
7th Edition (Foil)
8th Edition (Foil)
9th Edition (Foil)
Starter 1999
Starter 2000
Normally, Eager Cadet is not worth the card and the mana. However, getting an Eager Cadet every attack step, without paying mana and sacrificing a card slot, is a different story. Producing tokens without investing mana and cards is the reason why Monastery Mentor and Young Pyromancer are two of the best creatures in Vintage and Legacy. By simply playing spells, which you want to be doing anyway, you get an enormous board advantage, without even using „real“ cards and mana. That’s why I would keep out an eye for anything that produces tokens without needing mana, like Bitterblossom for instance. Even in cases where you pay mana, the advantage you get can be enough – just think of Pack Rat or Limited bombs like Imperious Perfect. Granted, Precinct Captain has the restriction of producing only one token per turn, but Modern isn’t Vintage or Legacy. A couple of free Eager Cadets is sometimes all it takes to win. In the deck I’m about to unveil, there are multiple ways an Eager Cadet contributes to the gameplan:
WW Soldiers
Deck by Patrick Wild on Mon, 08/22/2016 - 03:32
Main Deck
(60 cards)
Sideboard
(15 cards)
4
Champion of the Parish
2
Rest in Peace
4
Boros Elite
1
Grafdigger's Cage
3
Kytheon, Hero of Akros
1
Ghost Quarter
4
Soldier of the Pantheon
2
Kor Firewalker
4
Precinct Captain
1
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2
Disenchant
4
Thalia's Lieutenant
4
Path to Exile
4
Field Marshal
2
Stony Silence
4
Honor of the Pure
4
Brave the Elements
18
Plains
1
Eiganjo Castle
3
Ghost Quarter
Colors
Land
22
White
38
Converted Mana Cost
1
19
2
15
3
4
Type
Basic Land
18
Creature
30
Enchantment
4
Instant
4
Land
4
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After singing praises about Champion of the Parish, Thalia's Lieutenant, Field Marshal and Precinct Captain, let’s get to the rest of the band.
Versions:
Gatecrash (Foil)
Boros Elite exemplifies the classic White Weenie swarm strategy we’re pursuing. Weak on its own, but strong in multiples. 15 one-drop creatures ensures that we have a very high chance of starting with one. Boros Elite has the right creature types and fills the most important slot on the mana curve. The battalion trigger combines nicely with the pump effects: if you attack with a 2/2 Boros Elite, your opponent is forced to use Lightning Bolt before the trigger resolves and before he can declare blockers, giving you a nice window to use Brave the Elements – or simply letting your other creatures survive.
Versions:
Magic Origins (Foil)
Although it isn’t written on the card, Kytheon also has Bataillon. Besides providing early pressure, Kytheon is an insurance policy against sweepers once he flips. The indestructible ability is deceptive: often it is correct to let Kytheon die. Three mana is a hefty cost, forcing you to skip your entire turn. There are situations where it is correct to do so, particularly if you’re flooded. Most of the time, you’d rather advance your board state. Despite dying quite often, I chose to run only three copies, since getting stuck with a second copy is something you want to avoid. Kytheon and Boros Elite profit enormously from the tokens of Precinct Captain.
Versions:
Theros (Foil)
Basically, this is a Savannah Lions with the right creature types. As a bonus, it can attack through Kitchen Finks, Fulminator Mage and Prized Amalgam, while surviving Lightning Helix, Terminate and Abrupt Decay. It is really important to have enough one-drops for Kytheon and Boros Elite, so much that I considered adding another one-drop. The problem is that the next best one-drop is probably Thraben Inspector or Elite Vanguard, which are a little too weak.
Versions:
Dark Ascension (Foil)
The original Thalia is better suited than the Heretic Cathar, because she costs less (fitting into a better place in the mana curve) and her taxing ability is important to race combo decks. The fourth copy is in the sideboard like Kytheon, since you can’t afford to draw multiple copies in game 1. Against spell-based decks, you want to run the full four copies postboard.
Versions:
Commander 2014
Magic 2014 Core Set (Foil)
Zendikar (Foil)
I can imagine you are thinking: Why no Path to Exile main deck? What’s the deal with Brave the Elements? Well, Path to Exile is obviously an excellent tool for removing creatures. However, it is virtually useless against Jeskai, Tron, Scapeshift, Ad Nauseam, Bogles, Burn and Living End. Granted, most of these are fringe decks, but the sheer number of them increases the probability of useless Path to Exile in game 1, so I think they are better stashed in the sideboard. Unlike Path, Brave the Elements is almost always useful, acting as a Falter, counterspell or removal - all rolled into a single white mana, which is an incredible deal! I think of this as the white Cryptic Command, giving you a lot of options. Brave the Elements is one of those unassuming cards that performs very well in actual gameplay.
Versions:
Return to Ravnica (Foil)
The Sideboard
White has probably the most powerful sideboard cards in Modern. Linears strategies abound, and White has the tools to combat them.
Stony Silence and Disenchant are against Affinity, Tron and Lantern. In terms of raw power, Disenchant is weaker, but more than makes up for it with its versatility. Modern is such a diverse format where versatility pays off – like Disenchanting a Worship.
Kor Firewalker against Burn and Zoo. Timely Reinforcements was also considered, but the lower mana-cost of Firewalker gives it the edge. Additionally, Firewalker is far better against Skullcrack and Atarka's Command.
Rest in Peace and Grafdigger's Cage against Dredge, Melira and Living End. I chose to split them up because drawing one of each is far stronger than two copies of one kind. Cage shuts off Chord of Calling, while I found Rest in Peace to be rather strong against Jund (Tarmogoyf, Kolaghan's Command) and Grixis (Snapcaster Mage, Kolaghan's Command).
Ghost Quarter against Tron, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and manlands like Inkmoth and Blinkmoth Nexus.
Path to Exile against must-kill creatures like you encounter in Infect or Kiki Pod.
Conclusion
The Soldier variant of WW is quite strong in the current Modern metagame. It is fast, can go big and wide simultaneously, has slight disruption, and is surprisingly resilient. Plus, it has a versatile and powerful sideboard against the linear strategies in Modern. Money-wise, it is slightly more expensive than the Stompy variants I previously wrote about, but for a Modern deck, it is still very much on the cheap side. Give it a try!
Patrick
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