(Djeru, With Eyes OpenDjeru, With Eyes Open | Art by Kieran Yanner)

Welcome, SuperFriends!

Hello, and welcome back to Archetune-Up, an article series devoted to tweaking a deck with the help of the EDHREC Theme Pages!

Around the start of the new year, I decided I needed a change. I had about 20+ EDH decks, but very few of them sparked joy. As such, I did what Marie Kondo suggested, and cleaned house! I picked the ones that sparked the most joy and nixed the rest. When the dust settled, only four remained: Gonti, Lord of LuxuryGonti, Lord of Luxury, Lord WindgraceLord Windgrace, Yeva, Nature's HeraldYeva, Nature's Herald, and Obzedat, Ghost CouncilObzedat, Ghost Council.

Over time, I began to build my repertoire of decks back up, since I now had the creative (and physical) space to do so. One by one, more lists began to populate my backpack: OmnathOmnath Landfall, ExtusExtus Aristocrats, and KaradorKarador Enchantress. However, while I adored all of these decks, something was missing - or maybe more accurately, I was missing something.

One of the decks I took apart during "The Great Kondo-ing of 2021" was a Djeru, With Eyes OpenDjeru, With Eyes Open Superfriends deck that I hadn't updated since War of the Spark. The deck was always fun, but once I stopped updating it, I wanted to play it less, and the less I wanted to play it, the less I updated it, and so on and so forth.

It was about midway through this year that I craved the playstyle Djeru provided, and decided I would update him with all the goodies from the past few sets. Everyone bemoans card advantage in mono-white, but with this deck, I get to play a slow, controlling game while never struggling with that issue in the slightest. Planeswalkers are card advantage machines, and a legendary creature in the command zone that can tutor them up is a great way to keep up with the rest of the board. This is the deck that really taught me how card advantage isn't just about the number of cards in your hand.

Thus I'd like to look at the average Djeru deck on EDHREC and give it a good ol' archetune-up!

As we can see from the average DjeruDjeru deck, players lean into the turtling-up strategy really hard, protecting themselves and their cadre of interplanar allies to accrue advantage over time. There are a number of things that jump out at me as potential changes, though. A lot of the cuts I'm going to make will seem odd at first, but all of these come from experience. Not only have I played this deck before, I've played it recently, so please, at least entertain my changes here before you write them off.

For example, I cut eight creatures from the deck, including Baird, Steward of ArgiveBaird, Steward of Argive, Loyal WarhoundLoyal Warhound, and Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel.

These sound like very strange cuts, especially since most other white decks have been clamoring for a card like Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel for years. The thing is, this deck often wants to keep the board clear of all creatures. BairdBaird looks cool to protect our stuff, but only if we don't FumigateFumigate him away... which we will. I'd prefer a board wipe to protect our stuff instead. And as for Loyal WarhoundLoyal Warhound, I'd rather just have a mana rock in this deck, since they're less prone to removal and quite often come with fantastic secondary advantages. And Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel? It's great in decks that can consistently augment its power, but otherwise it's just a frail 1/1 that can sometimes draw us a card. There are better ways to accrue advantage in this deck.

On top of these cuts, Ghostly PrisonGhostly Prison is out, since it doesn't protect planeswalkers and will funnel attacks away from us directly to them, which is a no-go. We'd rather stymie attacks altogether, especially with instant-speed interaction. Ignite the BeaconIgnite the Beacon and Call the GatewatchCall the Gatewatch were also cuts, because we don't need three copies of DjeruDjeru in our deck.

I made plenty of cuts to the list - 18 to be exact - and if you'd like to dig deeper into them, you can find them here. With all the swaps I need to go over, I don't want to waste any more time, so let's see what the Mono-White Planeswalker Page has to offer!

Man(a), Oh Man(a)

As always, the first thing I did was access the mana package of the average deck, and boy, it wasn't looking too hot. There were only 34 lands and eight ways to ramp (ten if you count Loyal WarhoundLoyal Warhound and Knight of the White OrchidKnight of the White Orchid, which are only good when you are behind). To fix these issues, I added three utility lands and three mana rocks to round everything out.

The average deck was already running 26 PlainsPlains, so I wanted to see which utility lands I could throw in. I decided upon Scavenger GroundsScavenger Grounds, since grave hate is always welcome, Hall of Heliod's GenerosityHall of Heliod's Generosity, since we have plenty of enchantments we would love to get back from the 'yard if they get blown up, and Sanctum of EternitySanctum of Eternity, since it's a lovely way to bounce DjeruDjeru back to our hands to replay him if we want.

In terms of mana rocks, I added the ever-wonderful Marble DiamondMarble Diamond as a cheap way to ramp, Honor-Worn ShakuHonor-Worn Shaku, since it is an absolute all-star that allows our planeswalkers to tap for mana, and Everflowing ChaliceEverflowing Chalice, since it scales well and we can Proliferate its charge counters. If you're feeling venturous, you could even add Astral CornucopiaAstral Cornucopia for the same reasons, though I personally like the two-mana rocks more.

Friendly Faces

After my initial round of cuts, 13 'walkers remained. While that's a fine number, I thought I'd add a few more to help bolster our circle of friends, cuz a handful of powerful pals weren't present yet.

Karn, the Great CreatorKarn, the Great Creator is a mean card, but hey, we're mono-white. Shutting off opposing mana rocks with his passive slows opponents down and makes them much more manageable to deal with.

Karn, LiberatedKarn, Liberated is just a beast of a card, either exiling problematic permanents or quickly ticking up to an astronomically high loyalty. Most of the time, this Karn is used as a decoy to veil other 'walkers like Elspeth, Sun's ChampionElspeth, Sun's Champion or Ugin, the IneffableUgin, the Ineffable, since most opponents will be quite uncomfortable with this silver Golem hanging around. We never really want to restart the game, but our opponents will feel the need to act upon it very quickly.

Finally, Grand Master of FlowersGrand Master of Flowers is an innocuous 'walker that I was initially skeptical of, but after playing with him, I was quite impressed. His ability to tutor a Monk of the Open HandMonk of the Open Hand is negligible, since I didn't include it in the list, so instead his role is to lock down problem creatures while also turning into a 7/7 Dragon God that can start knocking heads. No matter his form, he'll survive all of our board wipes and repeatedly hinder creatures, making him a fantastic late-game threat.

Speaking of 'walkers, I just want to touch on a pattern of play in this deck. When casting DjeruDjeru for the first time in a game, 9 times out of 10 we'll want to search up Ugin, the IneffableUgin, the Ineffable or Karn, Scion of UrzaKarn, Scion of Urza, as they are (relatively) low-threat 'walkers that can start accruing card advantage. These help us keep up with our opponents in the early phases of the game.

If other players are getting too out of control, then Karn, the Great CreatorKarn, the Great Creator is another great target, to keep their mana rocks under control. Elspeth, Sun's ChampionElspeth, Sun's Champion is high on our list too, creating a board from nowhere and wiping big threats away. When gearing up to a planeswalker ultimate, Gideon JuraGideon Jura is our guy to redirect problem creatures away from us or other 'walkers. This deck is a toolbox, so it's incredibly important to know what options we have access to, and when they're needed most.

Superfriends Need Super Tools

We're only halfway through the changes I made to the average deck, so I'm going to speed through the last nine cards with a lightning round! ⚡️LET'S GO!⚡️

• Promise of LoyaltyPromise of Loyalty is a great board wipe that eliminates any creatures plaguing us and forces the biggest of them to look at our other opponents. Fantastic!
• Settle the WreckageSettle the Wreckage has the highest blowout potential I've ever seen. Desperate opponents trying to attack you or multiple 'walkers will fall right into your trap.
• Ondu InversionOndu Inversion is our "Oh, Heck" button that comes stapled to a land. Great card with great versatility.
• Contagion EngineContagion Engine is nasty. It can wipe a player's board while also sneakily increasing our 'walkers' loyalty by two each time we activate it. This can really mess up math for your opponents, and it's incredibly strong.
• Teleportation CircleTeleportation Circle is a great way to blink DjeruDjeru or the aforementioned Contagion EngineContagion Engine, giving us more 'walkers or hampering the board as necessary.

• EphemerateEphemerate fulfills a similar role, saving DjeruDjeru from removal, but also tutoring two 'walkers for only one mana!
• Search for GlorySearch for Glory is an upgrade to Call the GatewatchCall the Gatewatch, letting us nab any 'walker, a Snow-Covered PlainsSnow-Covered Plains, or Elspeth Conquers DeathElspeth Conquers Death from our deck, the latter of which doubles as removal and recursion!
• Dawn CharmDawn Charm is a FogFog that can also CounterspellCounterspell removal that targets your 'walkers. A+ card.
• Approach of the Second SunApproach of the Second Sun is a secondary win condition if we cannot overwhelm the board with our planewalkers. This puts opponents in a tough bind, since trying to deal with you will let your 'walkers get out of control, and if they deal with your 'walkers, that buys you time to recast Approach.

Our Job Here is Done

There we have it! A fun and fierce mono-white deck that turns the color's natural disadvantage on its head!

I merely scratched the surface of playables here. Spells like RoutRout, Rings of BrighthearthRings of Brighthearth, Lithoform EngineLithoform Engine, Divine VisitationDivine Visitation, Helm of the HostHelm of the Host and Gideon's SacrificeGideon's Sacrifice can all change how the deck plays, which means you can tailor this deck to suit your preferred playstyle. Heck, with more blink effects and more creatures, you could have a really interesting mix between a Planeswalker deck and a Flicker deck!

Djeru, With Eyes OpenDjeru, With Eyes Open is one of my favorite decks. It's a niche build of a popular archetype that goes against the grain of contemporary legends in its color, and it's also just fun! If you've ever considered building a Superfriends deck but don't necessarily want to go with Atraxa, Praetor's VoiceAtraxa, Praetor's Voice, I'd suggest giving DjeruDjeru a try. He may surprise you. I know he surprised me.

As always, you can reach me on Twitter (@thejesguy), where you can always hit me up for Magic- or Jeskai-related shenanigans 24/7. Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Please don’t hesitate to leave them below or get in touch! Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear your mask, and keep fighting the good fight. I support you. No justice, no peace.

Angelo Guerrera

Angelo is a New England resident who started playing Magic during Return to Ravnica, and has made it his mission to play Jeskai in every format possible. Along with Commander, he loves Limited, Cube, and Modern, and will always put his trust in counterspells over creatures. He is still hurt by Sphinx's Revelation's rotation out of Standard.