As you can probably imagine, the recent B&R announcement (2019-08-26) throws this entire primer into complete chaos. Please be patient while we figure out a better way to play the deck together! The primer will be updated with new ideas and strategies regularly (hopefully).
Overview of the Deck
Mono W Equipments is a versatile archetype capable of being build both as grindy control deck and as a blisteringly fast aggro deck. The deck is based around the card Puresteel Paladin and cheap equipments to gain card advantage and build massive creatures. This primer will be primarily focused on the aggressive version of the deck, but discussion of all versions is encouraged!
For starters, I'll explain the goal and "feel" of the aggressive version of the deck (I will hereafter refer to the aggro version as PBJ). This deck is based around hitting hard and hitting fast. You generally don't care about what your opponent is doing, because you can outrace most decks in modern, including Burn or Infect if you're lucky. Your main engines are Kor Duelist and the armada of cheap equipments; more on that later. As long as your opponent is dead before your hand is empty, the deck has done it's job.
"But PorousBoat, that sounds exactly like Affinity or Burn! Why would I play this pile of jank over either of those?"
Well, young padawan, we have an ace up our sleeve. Puresteel Paladin + Stone Haven Outfitter! These bad boys keep the engine going, assuring you that your hand is never empty. This lets us compete with the slower decks in the format as well. This doesn't seem too shabby after all, eh?
I'll provide you with a sample (and my current) decklist below. This will be updated as the deck evolves.
Please keep in mind that this is not a finalized and often pretty experimental version of the deck. I am constantly tuning and changing my 75 to best fit my needs within my playgroup, so your mileage may vary.
Card Choices
We are in mono W, which means our choices are slightly restricted. That doesn't mean we don't have enough to choose from though. I'll go through some of the more popular choices here.
Puresteel Paladin
This guy is damn bonkers! He draws cards like there's no tomorrow and lets you equip your stuff for free. All the while providing a decent body! Nice!
Kor Duelist
Pretty much every single nut draw this deck has includes this guy. He hits so hard and so fast. Turn 1 Duelist -> Turn 2 Bonsplitter hits like a truck.
Stone Haven Outfitter
This card almost single-handedly made this deck viable. The resilience and card advantage he gives is insane, and he also acts like a lord. Sweet!
Auriok Steelshaper
Acts as some redundancy to get those free equips early. Most of our creatures are soldiers or knights too, which is nice.
Vault Skirge
Another 1-drop that gets around chump blockers. This guy is a huge help in the Merfolk and Affinity matchup.
Sacred Cat
Probably the best card we've gotten from recent blocks. Absolutely wrecks havoc against burn decks and is a true eyesore for decks that aim to 1-for-1 us such as GBx. Truly great card.
Doomed Traveler
This guy is about neck-to-neck with the cat. However, where he loses is in the fact that his flying isn't as relevant as the cat's inherent lifelink considering we already have Vault Skirge.
Adorned Pouncer
Unfortunately this feline friend is basically just a really bad Kor Duelist. Slower, more expensive and not a soldier. Bleh.
Kitesail Apprentice
Decent 1-drop if you're after Vault Skirge 5-8. Otherwise Vault Skirge does the same thing but better. However, this guys plays a large role in the Armament Master version of the deck.
Ornithopter
Haven't tried this card out, but I can imagine it doing solid work because of the flying. Clashes with Vault Skirge though.
Armament Master
Can do some work under the right circumstances. Unfortunately the deck becomes very reliant on keeping him alive, which reduces the resiliency.
Mirran Crusader
Hits hard if you can make him stick. Very slow though, which is a bad thing for this deck.
Leonin Shikari
Decent card. She doesn't do a lot though, and the combat tricks are irrelevant when you hit so hard either way.
Toolcraft Exemplar
Not a bad card by any means, but unfortunately he's overshadowed by our other 1-drops which are amazing. No way this guy can compete with either Vault Skirge or Kor Duelist.
Etched Champion
Deceptively bad in this deck. He's too slow, and the protection doesn't really matter, unfortunately.
Squadron Hawk
I'm not a fan of this card at all, but it's been working for some people. It's expensive and the extra creatures don't matter at all unless you're in a very bad position to start with.
Bone Saw
This card doesn't seem like it does a lot, but man is it amazing. Wins so many games in the subtlest of way. If you don't run this card, I have no idea why you're even playing this deck. This card should not be replaced or confused with Shuko. They do different things and Bone Saw is vastly superior because of the Auriok Steelshaper/Puresteel Paladin interaction.
Bonesplitter
This is also a clear pillar of this deck. Some nut draws allow you to win turn 3 because of these. No getting around running a playset of these.
Mortarpod
A weird one, this is. It looks horrible on paper but interacts so well with Stone Haven Outfitter that you can't not run it. It catches more things than one might think at first glance; a few examples are Snapcaster Mage, Glistener Elf, Viscera Seer, Vault Skirge, Cursecatcher and many more. I wouldn't run too many, unless you have slots to spare.
Flayer Husk
Neat 1-drop that doubles as both a creature and an equipment. Versatility is king, and this guy gets it!
Golem-Skin Gauntlets
This card has the potential to be our equivalent of Cranial Plating. It may appear as a worse playing, but the fact that it only costs 1 mana to play as opposed to 2 makes a huge difference. In this deck low cast cost > low equip cost.
Sword of War and Peace
This card is amazing. If you punch through with a duelist with only the sword equipped and your opponent has 3 cards in hand, you'll deal 12 damage. 12. Damage. That's insane! You'll also gain a life or two. In addition to that, it protects your guy from the most prevalent removal in the format: Bolt and Path. It also catches Terminate, Lightning Helix and such. Goooood stuff!
Sword of Feast and Famine
The other good option. It protects your guys from a lot of removal, and when it doesn't, the others wouldn't have either. Double strike with Kor Duelist means that you get double triggers as well! Think about that for a moment...
Infiltration Lens
This card is probably our best bet when it comes to battling chumpers. No deck likes letting the opponent draw two cards, and if we've got Paladin in play, the lens replaces itself. Very solid card.
O-Naginata
A respectable way to get around chumpers. I personally don't run it but I can see it's use; especially out of the board.
Cranial Plating
This card is deceptive. One might think it's a no-brainer to include in this deck. However, from my testing, it's not needed. It's too expensive and provides too little in comparison to what a Bonesplitter does. It's also less reliable. I encourage you all to test it, and if it turns out to be amazing, please report back with your thoughts.
Rest of the "Sword of ___ and ___" cycle
The rest of the cycle is pretty bad compared to the B/G and W/R ones to be frank. A lot of people get on my case about the U/R one being amazing. There's a problem with that though. If you're up against a U/R deck, you won't be feeling to keen on investing what is most likely a whole turn into a card that's just going to get remanded or countered somehow. Apart from that, yes, the U/R sword is better.
Batterskull
Way too slow. Sure, it sticks, but if they have an answer you're boned. Not a good card for this deck.
Accorder's Shield
Competes for the same spot as Bone Saw and Bonesplitter. This card doesn't kill your opponent however, which makes it worse. Some people like this card, I don't.
Lightning Greaves
Same story as with Accorder's Shield. There's no space in the deck if you want to keep it consistent.
Shuko
This card is leagues below Bone Saw despite looking so similar. It's for the simple reason that you can negate the equip cost of the Bone Saw, but you can't negate the casting cost of the Shuko.
Basilisk Collar
Absolutely horrible card to be honest. Expensive and doesn't do a lot unless you rely completely on the Mortarpod interaction. I was excited about this card at first, but it's just too clunky in practice.
Captain's Claws /
Really bad unless you're running the Armament Master version of the deck, which makes it decent.
Livewire Lash
I mean, it's not terrible, but I'd rather run anything else pretty much. Very "ok" card at best.
Godsend
Believe me. I tried to make it work for so long.
Path to Exile
Often joked about as "the best white card in modern". I'm inclined to agree sometimes. God damn this card does work!
Dispatch
PtE 5-8. Metalcraft isn't a problem most of the time. Great stuff.
Strength of Arms
Oh man, this card made me so happy when I saw the spoiler. Need some extra damage? Check. Need an extra guy? Check. Need to defend your guy? Check. Want all 3? Check. How can you not love this card?
Mana Tithe
A bit of a weird card. While it does help you protect your creatures or push damage through, while arguably doing a better job of it than Brave the Elements and Strength of Arms, it only does so for the first few turns. There's a reason even cards like Spell Pierce are considered to not be good enough sometimes. In addition to that, it interacts absolutely horribly with Path to Exile. I see no reason to run this over Strength of Arms in the mainboard.
Steelshaper's Gift
Very decent card if you run a lot of 1-ofs (which I don't recommend). Otherwise it just provides redundancy that the deck already has.
Quest for the Holy Relic
Sooooooo Sloooooooow...
Ghost Quarter
The best almost-wasteland we've got in modern. This deck is too fast to play Tectonic Edge.
Darksteel Citadel
Free artifact! There's no reason to not play this when we're in mono W.
/
Inkmoth Nexus/Blinkmoth Nexus
Manlands interact very poorly with equipments unfortunately.
Flagstones of Trokair
It's a plains that isn't a plains. However, there's no hard hate against plain in modern, but you can still use it for additional fixing with Ghost Quarter.
Guide to Playing the Deck
This deck plays like most other aggro decks. Beat their face in before they kill you. There's one crux to this however. Because of the card-drawing potential this deck has, you might sometimes want to go on the defense and be conservative about your cards. This is a good idea in matchups like Junk, Jund and other grindy decks. Also, overextending is an issue with this deck. Be smart with the cards you play so you don't get snuffed by a single sweeper or well-timed removal.
Interactions worth knowing:
You will NOT draw a card if you equip only a Bone Saw to a germ token while you have Stone Haven Outfitter in play. This is because of the lord clause on the Outfitter.
Be sure to include Mortarpod in your math when calculating for lethal.
The optimal turn 1 play is Kor Duelist.
Don't play your Bone Saws until you need to. They're more valuable in your hand than on the field until you have a good use for them.
As for mulligans, it's not very complicated. The deck functions on two white mana, so as long as you've got that the deck is redundant enough that it should work. Use common sense when mulliganing and you should be fine!
Your gameplan depends on the matchup, but in general, try to stick a Duelist and make him huge. Remember to watch out for removal, but don't be afraid to get very aggressive. If the game drags on, you might want to become more conservative with your cards (provided you have any left). This also varies by matchup though. The sideboard guide linked below goes more in-depth for each matchup.
Matchups
I'm enough of a nerd to have a spreadsheet where I track my winrate. This has given me a pretty clear-cut understanding on the good and bad matchups for this deck. To put it frankly, we have some horrible matchups. However, we also have some almost free ones. I'll let you check the spreadsheet for yourself to get an understanding for good and bad ones. I also highly encourage you to track your own winrate and report back with the results.
More information on matchups and such will come when the deck evolves further.
In the matchups where this card is good, it's amazing. It straight up destroys Infect and can do quite a number on Bolt-focused decks.
Kor Firewalker
Also amazing in the matchups where it matters. It wins against Burn a lot of the time, and it's great against U/R decks as he dodges all removal. However, now that we have Sacred Cat he's kind of lost his cause. I ended up taking mine out, but your mileage may vary
Fragmentize
Amazing addition from KLD. It answers everything under the sun when it comes to cards that hate on us, while still being a very strong card for us to bring in against decks like Bogles or Affinity. Very, very solid card.
Relic of Progenitus
Rest in Peace used to be better, but now that we have so many cards that care about the graveyard existing, this card is a better fit for the deck going forward.
Rest in Peace
This card is so good against so many decks in modern. It shuts off Snapcaster Mage, Kitchen Finks, All delve cards, etc. However, our deck also cares about the graveyard. Sacred Cat and Stone Haven Outfitter both don't function properly without it.
Solemnity
This card is almost good enough to be widely played. I'm not entirely sold on it being much better than Spellskite. Maybe against Tron?
Patrician's Scorn
This card was under my radar for so long. It's an amazing answer to cards like Stony Silence and Worship. As a bonus, it completely solves the Bogles matchup. Not a bad deal!
Aura of Silence
Pretty good tech against artifacts and enchantments. It's almost certainly one of the best options white has to offer that doesn't screw ourselves over (Stony Silence works both ways).
Hallowed Moonlight
Very good against decks that like to cheat out creatures (CoCo decks, Nahiri, etc.) Can be cycled if needed too.
Timely Reinforcements
Solid choice against aggressive decks. Can swing a game quite easily.
Torpor Orb
The best at what it does. Not as relevant with Twin gone though.
Pithing Needle
Good if you really need it. Stays in the board a lot of the time though.
Pithing Needle
I played with this guy quite a lot and only brought him in once or twice. Good card, but not in the current metagame.
Here is a general sideboarding guide. Please feel free to criticize this guide if you feel like you need to. I haven't played all matchups enough to know them in-and-out. This guide will also be optimized for my current deck. If anyone else feels like making a guide for a different version of the deck, please post it in the thread and I'll add it if it seems decent.
Everything in this primer is subject to change as the deck evolves. Please feel free to discuss other approaches to the deck, as well as strategies. Almost all of the sections will be expanded upon once I research and test them enough. I don't want to claim anything I can't prove in this primer.
A link to my (edit: old) winrate spreadsheet. I've been running a single Runed Halo over a Spellskite. Given that Spellskite is the most expensive card across the board in this deck, Runed Halo seems to be a decent budget-friendly replacement for a similar role. Runed Halo isn't nearly as good as Spellskite in the Infect matchup but helps in some of our other bad matchups, such as Scapeshift
I see the deck-thinning as being negligible and not worth the 2 life for the tiniest bit better of a percentage of not hitting lands. From the math I've seen, the effect isn't noticeable at all unless it is a very long (12+ turns) game.
As far as O-Naginata, I feel like its 3+ power requirement negates consistency. Finding a way to get through decks that spread wide with chumpers would be very beneficial, though.
the 3+ does really suck. But running 4 saws, 4 splitters, and a bunch of anthem based creatures makes it a very high possibility. Usually sword of vengeance helped in my older version solely by adding trample. And it would only be like a 2 of card. Idk
Don't think so unfortunately. I've been running my current list without any changes. I haven't been able to play much Magic recently due to RL stuff going on, but that doesn't mean the deck is dead!
What's the point of the playset of Flagstones of Trokair? There's no Boil for plains in modern, so they serve literally no purpose apart from being able to be tec-edge'd-
I can also see that you're running the Armament Master version of the deck. Fair choice, but in my experience it performs a lot worse in practice than on paper (unfortunately). Also, you should got the O-naginata. It's not really necessary when you could just sideboard more copies of Kitesail Apprentice. I'd probably even recommend cutting all copies of Auriok Steelshaper in favor of more kors (Apprentice, for instance).
You should definitely try cutting 2 GQ for 2 Darksteel Citadel the extra artifact really helps, and it helps fix your mana in a pinch too.
All this is things you should think about, but the most pressing issue is definitely the sideboard, or rather, lack thereof. Try checking my guide and see what you can do. An SB helps a lot!
What's the point of the playset of Flagstones of Trokair? There's no Boil for plains in modern, so they serve literally no purpose apart from being able to be tec-edge'd-
I can also see that you're running the Armament Master version of the deck. Fair choice, but in my experience it performs a lot worse in practice than on paper (unfortunately). Also, you should got the O-naginata. It's not really necessary when you could just sideboard more copies of Kitesail Apprentice. I'd probably even recommend cutting all copies of Auriok Steelshaper in favor of more kors (Apprentice, for instance).
You should definitely try cutting 2 GQ for 2 Darksteel Citadel the extra artifact really helps, and it helps fix your mana in a pinch too.
All this is things you should think about, but the most pressing issue is definitely the sideboard, or rather, lack thereof. Try checking my guide and see what you can do. An SB helps a lot!
Flagstones more so i could ghost quarter my own land as an option. Felt it made ghost even better if it's not useful against my opponent. Can pretty much thin my own for double white and thin the deck to get the equip/creatures faster hopefully. Trying to prevent mass land draw.
Arament Master looked good so wanted to give him a try since we have a lot of kor. You may be right that he's better on paper.
I also see a lot of flying lately so was valuing the trample of o naginata for cheap.
SB hasn't been started yet. Hoping to just test the core soon.
What are you guys' thoughts on Blessed Alliance? The card made some serious waves in white decks during the modern GPs this weekend. Could it fit here too?
So I made a variant on this deck based on SaffronOlive's take on it, which includes 4x Sigarda's Aid. Is this the right thread to discuss it, since after all it is a white Equipment deck with Puresteel Paladin or is it too different to be valid here? I got some pretty good results with it today at a small Modern tournament (2-2 overall).
What are you guys' thoughts on Blessed Alliance? The card made some serious waves in white decks during the modern GPs this weekend. Could it fit here too?
Based on no testing, it seems like a bad fit to me. Let me go through my reasoning, understanding that I am interested in counter-arguments, because...no testing.
1.) It competes for a very limited number of maindeck slots with two very good cards, Path to Exile and Strength of Arms. The sacrifice and untap modes of Blessed Alliance are essentially worse replications of those two cards, conditionally destroying creatures and altering combat math, respectively. This means that replacing copies of PtE and SoA is mostly bad, unless you deem the life mode exceptionally useful or you expect to see a lot of Bogles.
2.) The Escalate feature is much better for decks that run themselves out of gas and need to trade untapped lands for position. This deck is built around two aggressive draw mechanics, in Puresteel Paladin and Stone Haven Outfitter.
3.) Blessed Alliance competes with other better options in the sideboard, in Dispatch and Kor Firewalker which are better control and anti-burn cards, respectively.
4.) As a corollary to #1, the creature and equipment slots in this deck are probably tight enough that you don't want this in place of either. If the untap mode created a token, that would make a big difference in my mind.
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@PorousBoat: Much love for the work you've done on this deck and thread. I am looking at your matchup spreadsheet, and it looks to me like something is off with the counters at the bottom. The coding looks fine, but the numbers aren't right. Thought you would want to know.
To add to cherub_daemon's post, it's also a reactive card in a proactive deck. Unlike Spellskite or Kor Firewalker, you have to actively hold up mana during their turn instead of just playing it and moving on. We don't have any instant speed cards to use if they play around it, either, so it can end up losing you tempo. It's also almost always open to untapped mana.
I'm a new player to the deck. I just finished 3 leagues on MTGO with the stock list from the main post. (1-4, 2-3, and 4-1). Here are my thoughts.
18 Lands seams a little light, I mulliganed a lot of other wise good one land hands. And I feel operating without any help (like Puresteel Paladin) is the norm. I'm thinking of going up to 19 or 20? But then there is mana flood. Mask of Memory? Or what else?
And I think cutting a Darksteel Citadel for a plains is a good idea. Metalcraft isn't that relevant, and a turn 2 Puresteel Paladin is.
I feel the sideboard is not great, though I'm not sure what to do about that yet. Any suggestions?
My initial feeling is that red is worth investigating. (new RW fastlands from the latest set eh?) If anyone has done some testing I would love to hear from you.
Alright, amazing to see people giving a hoot about this deck. Y'all make me proud!
As for actually giving some response:
I think your thoughts on Blessed Alliance is spot-on. The card isn't a good fit for this type of deck.
@maplesmall:
I guess this would be the right thread to discuss it, but I HIGHLY recommend reading through the discussion about Sigarda's Aid in the old primer (link is at the bottom of this one). I've gone in-depth about why the card is pretty bad all things considered.
@samus_ssp2:
I've been on the fence about the amount of lands for a very long time, but I really do think 18 is enough. I end up flooding about as often as I'm screwed, and having less gas to draw from Paladin/Outfitter doesn't sound appealing. Don't forget that you can GQ your own Citadel for a plains or even PtE your own germ!
The sideboard isn't very tuned, and overall, a sideboard will vary from person to person. The one I run is tuned for my local meta (I don't play on MTGO), so your mileage may vary. I'm very open for discussion on that area however. White is a great color for sideboards.
I've also discussed the notion of splashing red with my friends and after a lot of banter back and forth we reached the conclusion (without testing, mind you) that mono W is still superior.
Think about it this way: If you're going to add red cards, you have to remove white cards. Which ones? The deck is so tight that it's almost about to burst! If anyone has the opportunity to try out an RW variant of the deck I'm very keen on hearing your thoughts.
On another note, what are your thoughts on vehicles? It seems like they could interact well with germs perhaps? There's the issue of them not being equipments though. Maybe WoTC will throw us a bone in some other way? We are on an artifact-based plane after all.
Any testing ever done with Infiltration Lens as a 9th draw outlet? I was thinking about testing it since the deck does have a slight weakness to chump blocks.
Any testing ever done with Infiltration Lens as a 9th draw outlet? I was thinking about testing it since the deck does have a slight weakness to chump blocks.
That seems like it just might work out of the board! Try it and tell us your thoughts!
Mono W Equipments (PBJ)
Overview of the Deck
Mono W Equipments is a versatile archetype capable of being build both as grindy control deck and as a blisteringly fast aggro deck. The deck is based around the card Puresteel Paladin and cheap equipments to gain card advantage and build massive creatures. This primer will be primarily focused on the aggressive version of the deck, but discussion of all versions is encouraged!
For starters, I'll explain the goal and "feel" of the aggressive version of the deck (I will hereafter refer to the aggro version as PBJ). This deck is based around hitting hard and hitting fast. You generally don't care about what your opponent is doing, because you can outrace most decks in modern, including Burn or Infect if you're lucky. Your main engines are Kor Duelist and the armada of cheap equipments; more on that later. As long as your opponent is dead before your hand is empty, the deck has done it's job.
"But PorousBoat, that sounds exactly like Affinity or Burn! Why would I play this pile of jank over either of those?"
Well, young padawan, we have an ace up our sleeve. Puresteel Paladin + Stone Haven Outfitter! These bad boys keep the engine going, assuring you that your hand is never empty. This lets us compete with the slower decks in the format as well. This doesn't seem too shabby after all, eh?
I'll provide you with a sample (and my current) decklist below. This will be updated as the deck evolves.
Decklist
4 Kor Duelist
2 Vault Skirge
2 Sacred Cat
3 Puresteel Paladin
2 Sram, Senior Edificer
3 Auriok Steelshaper
4 Stone Haven Outfitter
Spells- 4
4 Path to Exile
Artifacts- 18
4 Bone Saw
4 Bonesplitter
4 Golem-Skin Gauntlets
2 Mortarpod
3 Flayer Husk
1 O-Naginata
1 Sejiri Steppe
2 Darksteel Citadel
2 Ghost Quarter
13 Plains
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Dispatch
2 Spellskite
1 Mortarpod
2 Fragmentize
1 Sacred Cat
1 Vault Skirge
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
Please keep in mind that this is not a finalized and often pretty experimental version of the deck. I am constantly tuning and changing my 75 to best fit my needs within my playgroup, so your mileage may vary.
Card Choices
We are in mono W, which means our choices are slightly restricted. That doesn't mean we don't have enough to choose from though. I'll go through some of the more popular choices here.
This guy is damn bonkers! He draws cards like there's no tomorrow and lets you equip your stuff for free. All the while providing a decent body! Nice!
Pretty much every single nut draw this deck has includes this guy. He hits so hard and so fast. Turn 1 Duelist -> Turn 2 Bonsplitter hits like a truck.
This card almost single-handedly made this deck viable. The resilience and card advantage he gives is insane, and he also acts like a lord. Sweet!
Acts as some redundancy to get those free equips early. Most of our creatures are soldiers or knights too, which is nice.
Another 1-drop that gets around chump blockers. This guy is a huge help in the Merfolk and Affinity matchup.
Probably the best card we've gotten from recent blocks. Absolutely wrecks havoc against burn decks and is a true eyesore for decks that aim to 1-for-1 us such as GBx. Truly great card.
This guy is about neck-to-neck with the cat. However, where he loses is in the fact that his flying isn't as relevant as the cat's inherent lifelink considering we already have Vault Skirge.
Unfortunately this feline friend is basically just a really bad Kor Duelist. Slower, more expensive and not a soldier. Bleh.
Decent 1-drop if you're after Vault Skirge 5-8. Otherwise Vault Skirge does the same thing but better. However, this guys plays a large role in the Armament Master version of the deck.
Haven't tried this card out, but I can imagine it doing solid work because of the flying. Clashes with Vault Skirge though.
Can do some work under the right circumstances. Unfortunately the deck becomes very reliant on keeping him alive, which reduces the resiliency.
Hits hard if you can make him stick. Very slow though, which is a bad thing for this deck.
Decent card. She doesn't do a lot though, and the combat tricks are irrelevant when you hit so hard either way.
Not a bad card by any means, but unfortunately he's overshadowed by our other 1-drops which are amazing. No way this guy can compete with either Vault Skirge or Kor Duelist.
Deceptively bad in this deck. He's too slow, and the protection doesn't really matter, unfortunately.
I'm not a fan of this card at all, but it's been working for some people. It's expensive and the extra creatures don't matter at all unless you're in a very bad position to start with.
This card doesn't seem like it does a lot, but man is it amazing. Wins so many games in the subtlest of way. If you don't run this card, I have no idea why you're even playing this deck. This card should not be replaced or confused with Shuko. They do different things and Bone Saw is vastly superior because of the Auriok Steelshaper/Puresteel Paladin interaction.
This is also a clear pillar of this deck. Some nut draws allow you to win turn 3 because of these. No getting around running a playset of these.
A weird one, this is. It looks horrible on paper but interacts so well with Stone Haven Outfitter that you can't not run it. It catches more things than one might think at first glance; a few examples are Snapcaster Mage, Glistener Elf, Viscera Seer, Vault Skirge, Cursecatcher and many more. I wouldn't run too many, unless you have slots to spare.
Neat 1-drop that doubles as both a creature and an equipment. Versatility is king, and this guy gets it!
This card has the potential to be our equivalent of Cranial Plating. It may appear as a worse playing, but the fact that it only costs 1 mana to play as opposed to 2 makes a huge difference. In this deck low cast cost > low equip cost.
This card is amazing. If you punch through with a duelist with only the sword equipped and your opponent has 3 cards in hand, you'll deal 12 damage. 12. Damage. That's insane! You'll also gain a life or two. In addition to that, it protects your guy from the most prevalent removal in the format: Bolt and Path. It also catches Terminate, Lightning Helix and such. Goooood stuff!
The other good option. It protects your guys from a lot of removal, and when it doesn't, the others wouldn't have either. Double strike with Kor Duelist means that you get double triggers as well! Think about that for a moment...
This card is probably our best bet when it comes to battling chumpers. No deck likes letting the opponent draw two cards, and if we've got Paladin in play, the lens replaces itself. Very solid card.
A respectable way to get around chumpers. I personally don't run it but I can see it's use; especially out of the board.
This card is deceptive. One might think it's a no-brainer to include in this deck. However, from my testing, it's not needed. It's too expensive and provides too little in comparison to what a Bonesplitter does. It's also less reliable. I encourage you all to test it, and if it turns out to be amazing, please report back with your thoughts.
The rest of the cycle is pretty bad compared to the B/G and W/R ones to be frank. A lot of people get on my case about the U/R one being amazing. There's a problem with that though. If you're up against a U/R deck, you won't be feeling to keen on investing what is most likely a whole turn into a card that's just going to get remanded or countered somehow. Apart from that, yes, the U/R sword is better.
Way too slow. Sure, it sticks, but if they have an answer you're boned. Not a good card for this deck.
Competes for the same spot as Bone Saw and Bonesplitter. This card doesn't kill your opponent however, which makes it worse. Some people like this card, I don't.
Same story as with Accorder's Shield. There's no space in the deck if you want to keep it consistent.
This card is leagues below Bone Saw despite looking so similar. It's for the simple reason that you can negate the equip cost of the Bone Saw, but you can't negate the casting cost of the Shuko.
Absolutely horrible card to be honest. Expensive and doesn't do a lot unless you rely completely on the Mortarpod interaction. I was excited about this card at first, but it's just too clunky in practice.
Really bad unless you're running the Armament Master version of the deck, which makes it decent.
I mean, it's not terrible, but I'd rather run anything else pretty much. Very "ok" card at best.
Believe me. I tried to make it work for so long.
Often joked about as "the best white card in modern". I'm inclined to agree sometimes. God damn this card does work!
PtE 5-8. Metalcraft isn't a problem most of the time. Great stuff.
Oh man, this card made me so happy when I saw the spoiler. Need some extra damage? Check. Need an extra guy? Check. Need to defend your guy? Check. Want all 3? Check. How can you not love this card?
A bit of a weird card. While it does help you protect your creatures or push damage through, while arguably doing a better job of it than Brave the Elements and Strength of Arms, it only does so for the first few turns. There's a reason even cards like Spell Pierce are considered to not be good enough sometimes. In addition to that, it interacts absolutely horribly with Path to Exile. I see no reason to run this over Strength of Arms in the mainboard.
Very decent card if you run a lot of 1-ofs (which I don't recommend). Otherwise it just provides redundancy that the deck already has.
Sooooooo Sloooooooow...
The best almost-wasteland we've got in modern. This deck is too fast to play Tectonic Edge.
Free artifact! There's no reason to not play this when we're in mono W.
Manlands interact very poorly with equipments unfortunately.
It's a plains that isn't a plains. However, there's no hard hate against plain in modern, but you can still use it for additional fixing with Ghost Quarter.
Guide to Playing the Deck
This deck plays like most other aggro decks. Beat their face in before they kill you. There's one crux to this however. Because of the card-drawing potential this deck has, you might sometimes want to go on the defense and be conservative about your cards. This is a good idea in matchups like Junk, Jund and other grindy decks. Also, overextending is an issue with this deck. Be smart with the cards you play so you don't get snuffed by a single sweeper or well-timed removal.
Interactions worth knowing:
As for mulligans, it's not very complicated. The deck functions on two white mana, so as long as you've got that the deck is redundant enough that it should work. Use common sense when mulliganing and you should be fine!
Your gameplan depends on the matchup, but in general, try to stick a Duelist and make him huge. Remember to watch out for removal, but don't be afraid to get very aggressive. If the game drags on, you might want to become more conservative with your cards (provided you have any left). This also varies by matchup though. The sideboard guide linked below goes more in-depth for each matchup.
Matchups
I'm enough of a nerd to have a spreadsheet where I track my winrate. This has given me a pretty clear-cut understanding on the good and bad matchups for this deck. To put it frankly, we have some horrible matchups. However, we also have some almost free ones. I'll let you check the spreadsheet for yourself to get an understanding for good and bad ones. I also highly encourage you to track your own winrate and report back with the results.
More information on matchups and such will come when the deck evolves further.
Sideboarding and Alternate Card Choices
Because we're in white, we have tons of great SB options. I'll go through some of the most prominent ones here.
In the matchups where this card is good, it's amazing. It straight up destroys Infect and can do quite a number on Bolt-focused decks.
Also amazing in the matchups where it matters. It wins against Burn a lot of the time, and it's great against U/R decks as he dodges all removal. However, now that we have Sacred Cat he's kind of lost his cause. I ended up taking mine out, but your mileage may vary
Amazing addition from KLD. It answers everything under the sun when it comes to cards that hate on us, while still being a very strong card for us to bring in against decks like Bogles or Affinity. Very, very solid card.
Rest in Peace used to be better, but now that we have so many cards that care about the graveyard existing, this card is a better fit for the deck going forward.
This card is so good against so many decks in modern. It shuts off Snapcaster Mage, Kitchen Finks, All delve cards, etc. However, our deck also cares about the graveyard. Sacred Cat and Stone Haven Outfitter both don't function properly without it.
This card is almost good enough to be widely played. I'm not entirely sold on it being much better than Spellskite. Maybe against Tron?
This card was under my radar for so long. It's an amazing answer to cards like Stony Silence and Worship. As a bonus, it completely solves the Bogles matchup. Not a bad deal!
Pretty good tech against artifacts and enchantments. It's almost certainly one of the best options white has to offer that doesn't screw ourselves over (Stony Silence works both ways).
Very good against decks that like to cheat out creatures (CoCo decks, Nahiri, etc.) Can be cycled if needed too.
Solid choice against aggressive decks. Can swing a game quite easily.
The best at what it does. Not as relevant with Twin gone though.
Good if you really need it. Stays in the board a lot of the time though.
I played with this guy quite a lot and only brought him in once or twice. Good card, but not in the current metagame.
Here is a general sideboarding guide. Please feel free to criticize this guide if you feel like you need to. I haven't played all matchups enough to know them in-and-out. This guide will also be optimized for my current deck. If anyone else feels like making a guide for a different version of the deck, please post it in the thread and I'll add it if it seems decent.
Everything in this primer is subject to change as the deck evolves. Please feel free to discuss other approaches to the deck, as well as strategies. Almost all of the sections will be expanded upon once I research and test them enough. I don't want to claim anything I can't prove in this primer.
Good luck!
OLD PRIMER: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/220851-puresteel-equipment?page=1
6/8-2016:
U Merfolk U
W Mono W PBJ W
UBRGDredgeGRBU
EDH:
U Arcum Dagsson U
~I think Randy Buehler's mug is buehlertiful~
WRGBurnGRW
RBGJund Shadowvine[/mana]gbr[/mana]
RGTooth & NailGR
Standard:
BGBG Energy ConstrictorGB
I have some changes I'd make to your list (all budget-friendly):
Happy playing!
U Merfolk U
W Mono W PBJ W
UBRGDredgeGRBU
EDH:
U Arcum Dagsson U
~I think Randy Buehler's mug is buehlertiful~
Grafted Wargear
Sigiled Paladin
Loyal Cathar
This deck could hopefully be the next competitive White Weenie
Using fetch lands to thin out deck
or
o-naginata as a viable card? What kicks my butt most of the time is the lack of trample
As far as O-Naginata, I feel like its 3+ power requirement negates consistency. Finding a way to get through decks that spread wide with chumpers would be very beneficial, though.
WRGBurnGRW
RBGJund Shadowvine[/mana]gbr[/mana]
RGTooth & NailGR
Standard:
BGBG Energy ConstrictorGB
I'm also very impartial to playing 1 and 2 of's
U Merfolk U
W Mono W PBJ W
UBRGDredgeGRBU
EDH:
U Arcum Dagsson U
~I think Randy Buehler's mug is buehlertiful~
and could potentially be good against merfolkNevermind, I can't read.What's your side-boarding guide now, with the new SB?
If there is any matchup you feel is missing/want to change, leave a comment either here or on the document. I'll fix it asap!
U Merfolk U
W Mono W PBJ W
UBRGDredgeGRBU
EDH:
U Arcum Dagsson U
~I think Randy Buehler's mug is buehlertiful~
1 Kitesail Apprentice
4 Kor Duelist
4 Armament Master
2 Auriok Steelshaper
4 Puresteel Paladin
4 Stone Haven Outfitter
4 Bone Saw
4 Bonesplitter
4 Flayer Husk
2 O-Naginata
4 Path to Exile
2 Captain's Claws
1 Mortarpod
1 Godsend
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Ghost Quarter
10 Plains
I can also see that you're running the Armament Master version of the deck. Fair choice, but in my experience it performs a lot worse in practice than on paper (unfortunately). Also, you should got the O-naginata. It's not really necessary when you could just sideboard more copies of Kitesail Apprentice. I'd probably even recommend cutting all copies of Auriok Steelshaper in favor of more kors (Apprentice, for instance).
You should definitely try cutting 2 GQ for 2 Darksteel Citadel the extra artifact really helps, and it helps fix your mana in a pinch too.
All this is things you should think about, but the most pressing issue is definitely the sideboard, or rather, lack thereof. Try checking my guide and see what you can do. An SB helps a lot!
U Merfolk U
W Mono W PBJ W
UBRGDredgeGRBU
EDH:
U Arcum Dagsson U
~I think Randy Buehler's mug is buehlertiful~
Flagstones more so i could ghost quarter my own land as an option. Felt it made ghost even better if it's not useful against my opponent. Can pretty much thin my own for double white and thin the deck to get the equip/creatures faster hopefully. Trying to prevent mass land draw.
Arament Master looked good so wanted to give him a try since we have a lot of kor. You may be right that he's better on paper.
I also see a lot of flying lately so was valuing the trample of o naginata for cheap.
SB hasn't been started yet. Hoping to just test the core soon.
Red is probably the best color to splash. You gain access to Goblin Gaveleer, Boros Charm, Lightning Bolt, Wear//Tear and a bunch of other cards. However, you lose a lot of consistency. Puresteel Paladin costs WW, which is pretty rough on the manabase. Unless you plan on just running 4 Sacred Foundry and 4 Arid Mesa as well as no basic mountains and possibly cutting a few Ghost Quarter or Darksteel citadel you're going to have a rough time.
U Merfolk U
W Mono W PBJ W
UBRGDredgeGRBU
EDH:
U Arcum Dagsson U
~I think Randy Buehler's mug is buehlertiful~
U Merfolk U
W Mono W PBJ W
UBRGDredgeGRBU
EDH:
U Arcum Dagsson U
~I think Randy Buehler's mug is buehlertiful~
Based on no testing, it seems like a bad fit to me. Let me go through my reasoning, understanding that I am interested in counter-arguments, because...no testing.
1.) It competes for a very limited number of maindeck slots with two very good cards, Path to Exile and Strength of Arms. The sacrifice and untap modes of Blessed Alliance are essentially worse replications of those two cards, conditionally destroying creatures and altering combat math, respectively. This means that replacing copies of PtE and SoA is mostly bad, unless you deem the life mode exceptionally useful or you expect to see a lot of Bogles.
2.) The Escalate feature is much better for decks that run themselves out of gas and need to trade untapped lands for position. This deck is built around two aggressive draw mechanics, in Puresteel Paladin and Stone Haven Outfitter.
3.) Blessed Alliance competes with other better options in the sideboard, in Dispatch and Kor Firewalker which are better control and anti-burn cards, respectively.
4.) As a corollary to #1, the creature and equipment slots in this deck are probably tight enough that you don't want this in place of either. If the untap mode created a token, that would make a big difference in my mind.
--------------------
@PorousBoat: Much love for the work you've done on this deck and thread. I am looking at your matchup spreadsheet, and it looks to me like something is off with the counters at the bottom. The coding looks fine, but the numbers aren't right. Thought you would want to know.
I'm a new player to the deck. I just finished 3 leagues on MTGO with the stock list from the main post. (1-4, 2-3, and 4-1). Here are my thoughts.
18 Lands seams a little light, I mulliganed a lot of other wise good one land hands. And I feel operating without any help (like Puresteel Paladin) is the norm. I'm thinking of going up to 19 or 20? But then there is mana flood. Mask of Memory? Or what else?
And I think cutting a Darksteel Citadel for a plains is a good idea. Metalcraft isn't that relevant, and a turn 2 Puresteel Paladin is.
I feel the sideboard is not great, though I'm not sure what to do about that yet. Any suggestions?
My initial feeling is that red is worth investigating. (new RW fastlands from the latest set eh?) If anyone has done some testing I would love to hear from you.
As for actually giving some response:
I think your thoughts on Blessed Alliance is spot-on. The card isn't a good fit for this type of deck.
@maplesmall:
I guess this would be the right thread to discuss it, but I HIGHLY recommend reading through the discussion about Sigarda's Aid in the old primer (link is at the bottom of this one). I've gone in-depth about why the card is pretty bad all things considered.
@samus_ssp2:
I've been on the fence about the amount of lands for a very long time, but I really do think 18 is enough. I end up flooding about as often as I'm screwed, and having less gas to draw from Paladin/Outfitter doesn't sound appealing. Don't forget that you can GQ your own Citadel for a plains or even PtE your own germ!
The sideboard isn't very tuned, and overall, a sideboard will vary from person to person. The one I run is tuned for my local meta (I don't play on MTGO), so your mileage may vary. I'm very open for discussion on that area however. White is a great color for sideboards.
I've also discussed the notion of splashing red with my friends and after a lot of banter back and forth we reached the conclusion (without testing, mind you) that mono W is still superior.
Think about it this way: If you're going to add red cards, you have to remove white cards. Which ones? The deck is so tight that it's almost about to burst! If anyone has the opportunity to try out an RW variant of the deck I'm very keen on hearing your thoughts.
On another note, what are your thoughts on vehicles? It seems like they could interact well with germs perhaps? There's the issue of them not being equipments though. Maybe WoTC will throw us a bone in some other way? We are on an artifact-based plane after all.
U Merfolk U
W Mono W PBJ W
UBRGDredgeGRBU
EDH:
U Arcum Dagsson U
~I think Randy Buehler's mug is buehlertiful~
WRGBurnGRW
RBGJund Shadowvine[/mana]gbr[/mana]
RGTooth & NailGR
Standard:
BGBG Energy ConstrictorGB
That seems like it just might work out of the board! Try it and tell us your thoughts!
U Merfolk U
W Mono W PBJ W
UBRGDredgeGRBU
EDH:
U Arcum Dagsson U
~I think Randy Buehler's mug is buehlertiful~