Minwu, White MageMinwu, White Mage | Art by Artist Josu Hernaiz

Hello Everyone! I'm Levi from The Thought Vessel, and we're back with another deck tech. This time, we're turning to mono-white with Minwu, White MageMinwu, White Mage. Typically, when I build a Commander deck, I like to start from the ground up and find a commander that fits my needs. This usually ends up being at least a two-color deck for the increased card pool. If I'm going to build a commander in just one color, it better be pretty special. Fortunately, Minwu, White MageMinwu, White Mage is exactly that. This is Minwu and the Church of Gainz.

The Commander

Before looking at the deck itself, we first have to understand what Minwu does, as this type of effect is going to drive the theme of the entire deck. Minwu is a 3/3 vigilant and lifelinking Cleric that puts a +1/+1 counter on every Cleric each time life is gained. This effectively turns our entire board into an army of Ajani's PridemateAjani's Pridemates. Since Minwu is a Cleric itself, it also gets buffs on each trigger.

The two commanders Minwu is most comparable to are Orah, Skyclave HierophantOrah, Skyclave Hierophant and Darien, King of KjeldorDarien, King of Kjeldor. Orah is the most popular Cleric kindred commander, but it relies significantly less on lifegain and more on the Cleric creature type. While Orah has a lot more graveyard tricks and an extra color, our gameplan is far more streamlined and consistent in comparison. Darien would make a fine lieutenant in this deck and has some pretty funny interactions with the rest of the 99—which we'll get into later—but Minwu's ability to pump Clerics and utilize kindred synergies pushes us away from Darien as a build-around. That brings us to this deck's gameplan.

The Game Plan

One could argue the archetype of this deck is a mix between a kindred build and a lifegain theme. Usually, lifegain decks want to gain massive amounts of life at a time, even trying to double it to drain opponents or take advantage of a high life total in various ways. Though this build has some of those features, we have a different plan in mind.

As far as our lifegain goes, to quote the Canadian comedy Letterkenny, “They don't ask how, they ask how many.” This is a matter of quantity over quality with lifegain. It's far more valuable to us to gain one life five times in a turn than to gain ten life once. We want to convert these lifegain triggers into +1/+1 counters on our Cleric army and swing in for massive damage. Why pick between going wide and going tall when we can do both at the same time? Let's take a look at the cards that make this deck work.

Hey, Soul Sister

There's an archetype of cards called “Soul Sisters,” based on the duo of Soul's AttendantSoul's Attendant and Soul WardenSoul Warden. These cards gain one life every time a creature enters the battlefield. While it's tough to replicate that exact effect, we can play a lot of cards with similar functions.

Though it isn't a creature, Ajani's WelcomeAjani's Welcome is excellent in this deck. It gains one life each time a creature enters the battlefield, something that happens often, and, since it's not a creature, it survives board wipes. Righteous ValkyrieRighteous Valkyrie only triggers off Clerics, but it can also give an extra +2/+2 to each creature. Guide of SoulsGuide of Souls gains both life and energy when creatures enter under our control, and it can use that energy to put +1/+1 and flying counters on creatures, making them harder to block. A Minwu with ten +1/+1 counters, flying, lifelink, and vigilance is downright terrifying.

Daxos, Blessed by the SunDaxos, Blessed by the Sun is our non-Cleric Soul Sister, but still triggers when creatures enter or die on our side. Chump-blocking with tokens or smaller creatures only makes us stronger in the long run.

We Can't All Be as Cool as Soul Warden

Even though we have eleven Soul Sister-type effects in this deck, we're not only focused on creatures entering play: we've got a ton of other ways to gain life. Pristine TalismanPristine Talisman is a simple mana rock that gains us a life whenever it's tapped. Sunscorch RegentSunscorch Regent is one of our scariest threats because it gives itself +1/+1 counters and gains life every time an opponent casts a spell. That lifegain then buffs our Clergy, making opponents think twice before casting anything. Envoy of the AncestorsEnvoy of the Ancestors gives our entire board lifelink if they're modified. Each one of those creatures dealing damage and gaining life means a +1/+1 counter across the board.

Speaking of attacks, one of my favorite cards of all time, Righteous CauseRighteous Cause, has a home here. It's important to note that Righteous Cause states “Whenever a creature attacks, you gain 1 life,” not “Whenever a creature you control attacks…” Any time an opponent attacks us, another opponent, a planeswalker, or even a battle, we're collecting lifegain triggers per creature. Since we're mono-white, we can even get lifegain from our lands with Radiant FountainRadiant Fountain and Adventurer's InnAdventurer's Inn. Finally, Paradise PlumeParadise Plume lets us choose a color (white), and every time a player casts a white spell, we gain a life. This includes almost every spell we cast, and even some from our opponents. Plus, it's a mana rock. The synergy in this deck is through the roof.

Fine, I'll Do It Myself

We might get one or two games in before people realize Minwu is a problem. That means Minwu's going to get removed... a lot. We're running Mother of RunesMother of Runes and Giver of RunesGiver of Runes to help with protection, but we can't stop everything... at least not at this bracket level.

Archangel of ThuneArchangel of Thune acts as an extra copy of our commander but arguably better, since it gives +1/+1 counters to the entire team. Heliod, Sun-CrownedHeliod, Sun-Crowned gives only one creature a +1/+1 counter at a time, but he also grants lifelink and is an indestructible 5/6. Ajani, Strength of the PrideAjani, Strength of the Pride creates tokens that can grow themselves, while Aerith GainsboroughAerith Gainsborough and Voice of the BlessedVoice of the Blessed inherently thrive off our lifegain plan.

Slow Down There, Partner!

We're in mono-white. We're not explosive, we're inevitable. But "someday" never comes if our opponents jump ahead and win before our engine gets rolling, so we're running a few cards to slow things down. This isn't a full stax package like some mono-white decks, though if you want to lean into that, it's a viable path. We're just trying to make attacking or recovering more difficult for others.

Trouble in PairsTrouble in Pairs and Mangara, the DiplomatMangara, the Diplomat rewards us with card draw when opponents get greedy. Authority of the ConsulsAuthority of the Consuls is a Soul Sister-adjacent card that forces all opposing creatures and artifacts (including treasure and mana rocks) to enter tapped. This slows down their development and makes blocking tougher once we start attacking. Then there's CrackdownCrackdown, which locks down all nonwhite creatures with power three or greater. It doesn't affect us at all and can absolutely cripple a deck like mono-green stompy.

The Cute Synergies

There are some synergies here that may not be the strongest, but they're fun. Darien, King of KjeldorDarien, King of Kjeldor is a household name in Soul Sister decks. Every point of damage we take creates a 1/1 creature. With a Soul Sister in play, we'll gain that life back and then some. With Minwu out, each of those tokens also adds +1/+1 counters to the team. One or two combats like that can make our board explode if players are foolish enough to swing in.

If we want to avoid damage entirely, Battletide AlchemistBattletide Alchemist can reduce incoming damage by the number of Clerics we control, which is often a high number. Since we're so Cleric-focused, Hanweir Militia CaptainHanweir Militia Captain (once flipped) makes 1/1 Cleric tokens that both trigger lifegain and benefit from the tribe. Heliod, God of the SunHeliod, God of the Sun also lets us sink extra mana into 2/1 Cleric tokens while giving our whole board vigilance.

So How Are We Going to “Win With Min?”

To win with this deck, we can either climb to the top of the ladder or fight in the trenches... depending on the game.

To win over the top, we have Test of EnduranceTest of Endurance and Aetherflux ReservoirAetherflux Reservoir. Test of Endurance wins on our upkeep if we have fifty or more life. Most of the time, we'll cast it and hope we can hold the fort until our turn rolls back around. Occasionally, we can sneak it in with Emergence ZoneEmergence Zone on an end step to win out of nowhere.

This isn't the best Aetherflux Reservoir deck—we don't have infinite combos—but we do gain life with every spell cast, which Minwu can then convert into power. The Wind CrystalThe Wind Crystal is also in the 99, and, when activated, it gives our whole team flying and lifelink. If our army already looks like it's been bench-pressing protein powder, evasion might be all we need to end it.

And if that fails? Akroma's WillAkroma's Will gives our board double strike and protection from all colors, among other things. That'll usually get the job done.

Let's Talk Game Changers

This deck isn't running any Game Changers in the 99 as I wanted cards on that level to be optional includes. If I were to start adding some, the first would be Smothering TitheSmothering Tithe. It supports our slowdown package and helps us ramp into the late game. Second would be The One RingThe One Ring. Mono-white doesn't have many great card draw tools on that level, and we're gaining so much life that the damage is negligible. Third is Teferi's ProtectionTeferi's Protection. Whether fogging a board or dodging a wipe, it can win games outright. Sometimes, opponents throw everything at us to end it, and this card just says “nope.” If we didn't have one of those three, I'd first look to Ancient TombAncient Tomb for ramp, or Enlightened TutorEnlightened Tutor to grab one of those Teferis as needed.

Next Steps

If we want to push this deck into the next bracket level, there's a Construct-sized elephant in the room. Heliod, Sun-CrownedHeliod, Sun-Crowned is already in the 99, so adding Walking BallistaWalking Ballista gives us an easy infinite combo. We could go further and add TriskelionTriskelion, which also combos with Archangel of ThuneArchangel of Thune. These combos would be consistent in this build.

We could also start punishing nonbasic lands with Winter MoonWinter Moon. This deck currently runs 19 PlainsPlains, and we could bump that number up easily. There are stax Clerics, like Leonin ArbiterLeonin Arbiter and Ethersworn CanonistEthersworn Canonist, that would fit right in and turn Minwu from a kindred beatdown deck into a mono-white stax machine with a combo top-end, which honestly sounds like a blast... just not the theme of this particular list.

Minwu, White Mage Commander Deck List

As far as deck construction goes, this was an archetype overflowing with great options. We could build this deck twice over without repeating a single card. It's been a blast to put together, and I really think it'll only get better as more Clerics are released. Until next time, happy brewing.