Hope's Crusaders (Casual)

Nothing—not even an apocalypse—can keep a noble fighter down, and the “Hope’s Crusaders” deck is proof of that. Lead your troops onto the battlefield and give them the one command they want to hear: “Charge!” This deck gives your opponent no good blocking options: Either your creatures will get through, or your opponent’s blockers will be overmatched in combat.
As soon as the game begins, your plan is to play creatures and start attacking! Many of the creatures in the “Hope’s Crusaders” deck have flanking. Whenever a creature with flanking is blocked by a creature without flanking, the blocker will become smaller. This can swing combat in your favor, but the ability is useful only when attacking, so don’t let it go to waste. Press your advantage and take the battle to your opponent.

As the game develops, your opponent is sure to play a blocker that’s too large for your Knights to handle. In that case, Gustcloak Cavalier can nudge it out of the way every turn, or Gaze of Justice can nudge it out of the game entirely. Pentarch Paladin can devastate your opponent if you’ve chosen the right color. If you’ve also got a Cloudchaser Kestrel, the right color is white—those two cards together will let you destroy your opponent’s best permanent every single turn. Meanwhile, keep attacking for every point of damage you can squeeze in.

Your ragtag army of Knights will get a boost from both Zhalfirin Commander and Cavalry Master. The Commander helps your Knights, and the Cavalry Master helps your creatures with flanking—and in this deck, those two groups are exactly the same. Other support creatures, like D’Avenant Healer and Icatian Javelineers, reinforce the deck’s theme. If your opponent ever tries to block your onrushing forces, the blockers will be picked off while the attackers will live to fight another day. Even better, a well-timed Ivory Giant may make it impossible for your opponent to block at all.

After you’ve gotten the hang of the deck, try changing it around. You can speed the deck up by adding more one-mana and two-mana creatures, and it’s all the better if they’re Knights. The Time Spiral card Serra Avenger is a worthy addition to any offensive deck. And the Ninth Edition card Glorious Anthem will pump up your entire army.[3]