Mono-White Humans v2.0 (With Primer !) (Pioneer)

Perhaps one of the greediest, most degenerate decks I've ever built.

[INTRO]

Mono-White Humans v2.0 is my own spin on the meta lists going on around as of late. Critical mass of creatures might seem very high, but take into account that many creatures (Giant Killer // Chop Down, Brutal Cathar // Moonrage Brute, Kytheon, Hero of Akros // Gideon, Battle-Forged, Thraben Inspector and Militia Bugler) all serve higher purpose than just being a body on the field which your opponent can take out with removal, bounce or with their own creatures. It's the reason why cards like Dauntless Bodyguard, Benalish Marshal and Soldier of the Pantheon are not included in the deck.

[GAMEPLAN]

The goal of the deck is perhaps the most straightforward in all of magic : drop creatures, swing, smash face. But there is a lot of nuance here, so let's go over it.

You have two big synergistic lines you can follow. The first one follows Kytheon, the other follows Hopeful Initiate. Thraben Inspector and Giant Killer are amazing in their own rights, but serve more as utility than actual threats (do not underestimate them, however, they can get very big with the other creatures in the deck !)

Following Kytheon, the goal is to assemble him, Glory-Bound Initiate and another creature to apply insane levels of pressure on the enemy once Kytheon flips into Gideon. His +1 pairs incredibly with Glory-Bound Initiate, allowing us to exert it every turn and protect it with indestructible during our opponent's turn. While this is absolutely insane, if you lose your Glory-Bound Initiate, it's not the end of the world. Having your opponent burn their removal on the Glory-Bound Initiate is perfect, as it allows us to rack up a solid advantage on Gideon and start swinging with him for huge pressure right after.

Following Hopeful Initiate, the goal is to assemble a boardstate with a metric fuck-ton of counters. Curving into cards like Luminarch Aspirant and Thalia's Lieutenant is strong, and following up with an Adeline is even better. Getting those counters will allow us to use the ability on Hopeful Initiate, allowing us to blow up any artifact of enchantment our opponents have the audacity of playing against us by removing two +1/+1 counters from any creature we control. Pumping up the Hopeful Initiate(s) over time is also a great strategy, as we can focus our +1/+1 counters from Luminarch Aspirant on other creatures and simply swing in to essentially double our counter potential for the turn.

However, the big piece is Adeline, Resplendent Cathar. If I wasn't so greedy, I would run this card x4 : it's that fucking good. This card can win you games. With Vigilance, you don't have to worry about losing a blocker for attacking, her huge ass allows us to block almost everything that will fight us on the ground, attacking allows us to pump out a dude on the board, her power is directly proportional to how much you are able to flood the board... She's amazing, and I can't overstate how powerful this card is. Don't knock it until you try it.

So, what about the rest of the deck ?

Giant Killer is a pretty decent creature on it's own, allowing us to maybe sneak in some damage if our opponents are careless. It's real power lies in it's Instant - Adventure, Chop Down, which will allow us to kill most of the shit Mono-Green Devotion can put in front of us... And then, get a new body on the board, because it's a cool card.

Thraben Inspector is delayed card-draw, a decent body and a human. This card might seem underwhelming, but it's crazy how far a Clue or two will get you.

Thalia's Lieutenant is there to buff the shit out of your army, while also buffing itself by simply playing the deck. I don't think I have to explain how good stats = good creatures (newsflash, bigger number = better creature :^))

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is there because we play close to no noncreature spells, and our opponents probably will. It's pure upside for us, and pure downside for them : what's not to love ?

Brutal Cathar exiles creatures that are really problematic for us, or just really annoying to deal with. Being able to yoink our opponent's creatures can feel really bad for them, and they have to dedicate a whole removal spell to get it back... But wait, there's more ! Once we curve out and empty our godsent hand on the field, and we have nothing to play, this card flips, giving us access to a Ward ability and First Strike, deterring our opponents from removing it. Nasty.

Militia Bugler might seem like the black sheep of the deck, and in a way, it is. It doesn't deal with the board, it doesn't pump our creatures, it doesn't give us any interaction with our opponent. In truth, Militia Bugler might be the backbone of this entire deck along with Thalia's Lieutenant. While it does not give us directly any of these things, it allows us to get to powerful bodies, to creature pump or to interaction with our opponent. Digging four cards, when 2/3rd's of your deck is comprised of creatures, is no joke. Don't knock it until you try it.

Brave the Elements is the only non-creature spell we play, because it's pretty much broken in our deck. All of our creatures are white, and protection is an albeit rare but powerful keyword to give to our creatures, if only momentarily.

[SIDEBOARD]

This might change in the future, but here goes:

Deafening Silence fucks with decks that love their instants and sorceries, while not impeding on our gameplan. Try to play Consider four times in a row now, you fucking idiot. :^)

Portable Hole is a mono-white Fatal Push without Revolt. Against some decks, it will absolutely crush them... I'm looking at you, Eidoron of the Great Revel.

Declaration in Stone is premium removal, and I chose to include it over Fateful Absence as keeping mana up pretty much gives away our intentions immediately. Also, it can hit multiple creatures, so that's sick if your opponent gets lucky.

Elite Spellbinder is there to buy us time against some decks, like Greasefang-Parhelion and Control. Pretty self-explanatory.

Guardian of Faithneeds to be tested, but even if it is not a human, the effect seems so powerful that I felt like I had to include it. If you're not playing against a swarm deck, or boardwipes, it's a dead card in hard, hence the spot in the sideboard.

Thalia, Heretic Cathar is out here to mess with people that have spent 300 dollars on their manabase. Sick Hallowed Fountain man, how does it feel playing an Azorius Guildgate ? Has the potential to completely wreck people with expensive manabases, and I might include more depending on the meta.

[END NOTE]

This deck isn't perfect, but by god is it fun. If you're looking to turn your brain off, swing and win, this is pretty much the deck for you. Red Decks require Harvard-levels of scholar knowledge compared to this. Only things you have to keep in mind is layering your triggers properly, remembering that Kytheon can turn indestructible, and that you can always close out a game with Cave of the Frost Dragon.

Also, you can probably upgrade this deck into Selesnya by cutting the Buglers, Splashing Green for the manabase and adding four Collected Company, but honestly ? I don't think it's necessary. It's expensive, and you might get a 10% increase in deck performance. Also, CoCo and Bugler together go fucking HARRRRD, so maybe cut something else, idk.

Enjoy your free wins !