Balan - Voltron Hard Hitter (EDH / Commander)

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How do you become enemy #1 in just a few turns? Two pieces of equipment is all it takes ya'll. Slap some swords on dem thighs and swing away! 😼

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>Why Balan?

• Why not? You were probably expecting an elaborate reason to use her, however, I'm here to tell you she's one hell of a strong independent cat woman that can swing some big ass swords... effectively, I may add. What more do you want in a Voltronfu? Throw me over your shoulder and carry me to victory Baelan.
• Some backstory: Balan was introduced in Commander 2017 and has been a very strong Voltron pick since. Now, she's gotten a sick ass reprint in Jumpstart 2022, however, this reprint has included the infamous 10x waifu "tax" (justifiably)... which is highly ironic since she is a mono white card. She's a badass cat knight that can swiftly take an opponent out of the game in just a few turns when kept unchecked!
• Extremely strong Voltron Commander
• She can bypass shroud effects when attaching equipment via her activated ability - there are no targeting effects per the oracle text of the card. Therefore, she can easily protect herself with multiple instances of shroud making it harder to remove all of the permanents attached to her ultimately making Balan a mainstay on the battlefield where she belongs!
  • If your opponents are focusing three or more permanents that protect her (for example), they’re not focusing Balan, leaving at least one opponent open for an attack due a lack of mana
• With first strike, Balan can bypass blocking creatures with Deathtouch as long as she can kill them with her current attacking power in one hit before they can touch her
• You can activate Balan's ability at instant speed!
  • This works especially well with the First Strike | Bloodforged Battle-Axe tech, or just protection in general
  • For example, if Balan has the Bloodforged Battle-Axe attached to her, and since First Strike essentially has an additional combat damage step before the main combat damage is assigned, she'll assign first strike combat damage, the damage is placed on the stack creating another axe, then you may attach that axe giving Balan Double Strike doing an additional 7 damage (3+2+2) and creating another two axes for a total of four when you had only one to begin with. Not to mention, that is already 12 commander damage assigned to an opponent in one swing!
• Also, with that said, double Strike triggers equipment abilities twice since there are two separate instances of player damage...
  • For example, one Bloodforged Battle-Axe equipped to Balan will create two Bloodforged Battle-Axes after establishing combat damage to a player
  • Then equip those axes to Balan for just a white and colorless mana that turn or following turn, attack again and then create six more axes for a total of nine axes and so on
  • This will also trigger Puresteel Paladin for each axe that enters the battlefield allowing for ridiculous card advantage
  • Lastly, card draw! Throw the Mask of Memory onto Balan to draw four cards, then discard two... this is a big deal; card advantage wins games! Hell, Masterwork of Ingenuity the Mask of Memory for even more card draw!
• Balan has so much potential power with her (non-tappable) activated ability backed up by her equipment and damn near endless utility! ♥

>What to tutor for…

• Why the fetch lands in a mono-white deck? Well, if you have Mystic Forge in play, you may look at the top card of your library at any time. If you don't like it, you can always reset that top card via searching for a plains with one of those fetch lands. You never know, if you have Mystic Forge in play, that next card may win you the game!
• Enlightened Tutor ➜ Sigarda’s Aid for flash casting and to bypass equipping costs, or Sol Ring for early mana ramp
• Recruiter of the Guard ➜ Puresteel Paladin
• Open the Armory, Steelshaper’s Gift, Stoneforge Mystic, and Stonehewer Giant ➜ Colossus Hammer | Grafted Exoskeleton + Whispersilk Cloak | Lightning Greaves | Swiftfoot Boots
  • If there’s a risk of Grafted Exoskeleton being destroyed in response to equipping, it’s safer to tutor for the Colossus Hammer (26 commander damage is more than enough to end an opponent's game)
• Urza's Saga ➜ Skullclamp (card draw); Shadowspear (trample); Mana Crypt, Mox Amber, Mox Opal, Sol Ring (mana ramp); Commander's Plate (protection); Bloodforged Battle-Axe, Colossus Hammer (potential win-cons)
• Ephemerate can be used as psuedo protection or tutoring
  • For example, if Balan is being targeted with removal, you can blink her and the removal spell fizzles, however, the equipment will become detached
  • You can also blink creatures with ETB effects (twice with the Rebound effect) - Solemn Simulacrum for mana ramp, Recruiter of the Guard for a creature tutor, and Stoneforge Mystic for equipment tutoring
• Cavern of Souls ➜ Name "Knights" for Balan, Puresteel Paladin, Danitha, or name "Cats" for Balan and Leonin Abunas

>Win Cons…

• Do you really need one? There's so much protection for Balan, Wandering Knight in this deck that she should stay on the battlefield for a very long time, however, there are a few ways to close the game out that I'll list below. Lastly, feel free to suggest some more below!
  • This isn't necessarily a win-con, but you can draw your win-con with this... with the tokens you create from Halo Fountain and Monastery Mentor, Skullcamp dem asses for a lot of card advantage
  • Grafted Exoskeleton + Whispersilk Cloak | Rogue's Passage = KO via infect counters onto one opponent
  • Colossus Hammer + Whispersilk Cloak | Rogue's Passage = KO via commander damage onto one opponent
  • You can always Masterwork of Ingenuity another win con if there's a risk of removal
  • You see the rolling theme here... you (usually) can only take one opponent out at a time since mono white doesn't have any extra turns or extra combat phase cards (as far as I'm aware), therefore, ensure you have protection for Balan after taking one opponent out of the game because you surely will become enemy #1.