Minwu and the Church of Gainz

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Minwu, White Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Minwu, White Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.josuhernaiz.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Josu Hernaiz</a></em></p>
<p>One of the things I love about Universes Beyond is that, even though none of the universes <em>Magic</em> has gone to have spoken to me yet, there are a lot of cool legends that show creativity in design and add to the card pool in intriguing ways. As a result, I choose to see them as unique game pieces rather than delving into the lore of a series of games I’ll never play. One of my favorite games to play during spoiler season is to try to find legends that either add layers to existing cards, or commons and uncommons that provide a critical mass of effects to enable existing strategies. One of the commanders that caught my eye in <em>Final Fantasy </em>is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Minwu, White Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Minwu, White Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Minwu, White Mage"></div></div>
<p>Minwu provides support for a classic typal strategy, Clerics. Clerics have been around since the beginning of <em>Magic</em>, seeing particular success in <em>Onslaught</em>, where they were primarily in white with some black. They have historically had a connotation with life gain, although some of their common abilities, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Soul Warden</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>’s, have occasionally been shared with Wizards, Citizens, and non-occupation creature types. As a result, our <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Minwu, White Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Minwu, White Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck will have Clerics and cards that have abilities that work with them.</p>
<h2>What Does Minwu, White Mage Do?</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ajani&#039;s Pridemate"></div></div>
<p>The first thing that likely sticks out about Minwu is the prohibitively expensive five-mana casting cost. For a spell to be worth spending that kind of mana in today’s spell economy, it needs to be a curve-topping threat, and Minwu fits that role well. Unfortunately, Minwu does not seem to dominate combat at first glance, despite having both lifelink and vigilance, as the power and toughness are both three. It's worth noting, however, that the last ability, which puts a +1/+1 counter on all Clerics includes itself, so it can act as a much bigger <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani&#039;s Pridemate" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani&#039;s Pridemate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that boosts the whole team.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Orah, Skyclave Hierophant"></div></div>
<p>While there are other options for Cleric commanders, most of them happen to be Clerics, but don’t provide a payoff for what Clerics do. For example, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Taborax, Hope&#039;s Demise" href="#" target="_blank">Taborax, Hope&#039;s Demise</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a mono-black Cleric commander, but it only cares about Clerics dying, which doesn’t really capture what Clerics do. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orah, Skyclave Hierophant" href="#" target="_blank">Orah, Skyclave Hierophant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an Orzhov Cleric commander, which has the benefit of adding to the color identity so there are more playable cards. It also cares about death triggers of Clerics, although it adds an element of white by reanimating them as well. Both Taborax and Orah are interesting engines, but neither provides a payoff, meaning that their decks take a lot of game actions without contributing meaningfully to winning the game in a timely manner.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Soul Warden"></div></div>
<p>What Minwu does that is unique to other Cleric commanders is that it supports an archetype that Clerics feature prominently in: Soul Sisters. In fact, Minwu gives Soul Sisters something it desperately needs: a clock. Soul Sisters consist of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Soul Warden</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul&#039;s Attendant" href="#" target="_blank">Soul&#039;s Attendant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and similar creatures that gain life each time a creature enters the battlefield. In fact, most of those effects trigger for each player, which can get out of hand quickly in a game of Commander. Unfortunately, these creatures are usually small, so the life buffer is similar to a high Hit Points stat in <em>Pokemon</em>; it helps to soak up damage but not to prevent it, so the deck struggles to turn the corner after getting punched in the mouth due to a lack of dealing meaningful or consistent damage.</p>
<p>The layers of counters turns our small creatures into threats and can even make crazy combinations, especially with the new <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/ranking-the-job-select-equipment-cards-from-final-fantasy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">job select Equipments</a> that can turn creatures like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hangarback Walker" href="#" target="_blank">Hangarback Walker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> into powerful exhaust if we decide to go in a more combo-heavy route.</p>
<h2>Key Cards for Minwu, White Mage</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Soul&#039;s Attendant"></div></div>
<p>One set of cards that’s key for a Soul Sisters deck is…the Soul Sisters. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Soul Warden</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul&#039;s Attendant" href="#" target="_blank">Soul&#039;s Attendant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are the namesake cards of the archetype, but there are actually close to 20 cards that provide a similar effect. Some are Clerics, some aren’t (like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lifecreed Duo" href="#" target="_blank">Lifecreed Duo</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>), and some aren’t even creatures (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ajani&#039;s Welcome" href="#" target="_blank">Ajani&#039;s Welcome</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>). We need as many copies of this ability as we can find, as it’s the bread-and-butter of the deck. This means accepting some off-curve and somewhat disappointing options, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Angelic Chorus" href="#" target="_blank">Angelic Chorus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, in order to make sure we see multiple copies every game.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archangel of Thune"></div></div>
<p>Soul Sisters decks are notorious for being slow, trigger-heavy, and a bit frustrating to play against. This is where Minwu comes in, as the White Mage provides a payoff for the lifegain. But our commander isn’t alone. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archangel of Thune" href="#" target="_blank">Archangel of Thune</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is arguably the most powerful card in the deck, removing the limit on Clerics that our commander has, while also being a flying attacker. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nykthos Paragon" href="#" target="_blank">Nykthos Paragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> adds to the counters flying around, and, like the other cards that provide layers of counters, triggers for each <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Soul Warden</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> activation.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mentor of the Meek"></div></div>
<p>While the majority of the deck is designed around gaining life and payoffs of life gain, we do have a couple of other important roles to fill. Since we need a critical mass of triggers and payoffs, as well as ways to keep our triggers flowing, we need card draw. The majority of that draw is tied to creatures entering the battlefield, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mentor of the Meek" href="#" target="_blank">Mentor of the Meek</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, enabling us to maximize the ETB triggers that we're already building around with the Soul Sisters. The other major role we need is board protection, as we need permanents to stick around in order to stack abilities and develop a board presence.</p>
<p>Dawn seems to be an ideal time of day for Clerics, as both <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dawn Charm" href="#" target="_blank">Dawn Charm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dawn&#039;s Truce" href="#" target="_blank">Dawn&#039;s Truce</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can protect our board, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dawn of Hope" href="#" target="_blank">Dawn of Hope</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a card draw effect that capitalizes off of our life gain.</p>
<h2>How Does This Minwu, White Mage Commander Deck Win?</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nykthos Paragon"></div></div>
<p>Our Minwu deck uses the commander to take a notoriously nebulous archetype and give it a pretty clear win condition: building a board and pushing combat damage with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nykthos Paragon" href="#" target="_blank">Nykthos Paragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effects. Gain life, turn that life into power, and use that power to bash opponents’ faces is a much cleaner win condition than trying to draw into and protect <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Felidar Sovereign" href="#" target="_blank">Felidar Sovereign</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or hope the table lets our life total stay high enough to fire the Death Star of an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aetherflux Reservoir" href="#" target="_blank">Aetherflux Reservoir</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> shot to the face. (Still waiting on a Star Wars Universes Beyond, by the way, but, with Marvel coming up, there’s hope.)</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hangarback Walker"></div></div>
<p>If you're looking for a more combo-based build, or one at a higher power level, you could add <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hangarback Walker" href="#" target="_blank">Hangarback Walker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to combine with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heliod, Sun-Crowned" href="#" target="_blank">Heliod, Sun-Crowned</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to mow down opponents. Two-card combinations and ways to find them would increase the power level, however, and this one is low enough to play at casual or semi-competitive tables, such as those running similarly strong and supported creature types, like Dragons, Elves, or even Slivers. This build should be able to hold its own at any of those tables.</p>
<h2>Minwu, White Mage Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Minwu, White Mage Commander Deck Tech" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="&nbsp;
[Commander]
*1 Minwu, White Mage
[/Commander]
&nbsp;
[Enchantments]
*1 Ajani&#039;s Welcome
*1 Angelic Chorus
*1 Answered Prayers
*1 Authority of the Consuls
*1 Case of the Uneaten Feast
*1 Cleric Class
*1 Cradle of Vitality
*1 Dawn of Hope
*1 Light of Promise
*1 Sunbond
*1 Tocasia&#039;s Welcome
[/Enchantments]
&nbsp;
[Creatures]
*1 Aerith Gainsborough
*1 Ajani&#039;s Pridemate
*1 Archangel of Thune
*1 Auriok Champion
*1 Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
*1 Dazzling Angel
*1 Distinguished Conjurer
*1 Elenda&#039;s Hierophant
*1 Enduring Innocence
*1 Essence Channeler
*1 Exemplar of Light
*1 Gideon&#039;s Company
*1 Guide of Souls
*1 Healer of the Pride
*1 Heliod, Sun-Crowned
*1 Hinterland Sanctifier
*1 Impassioned Orator
*1 Kor Celebrant
*1 Lifecreed Duo
*1 Lunarch Veteran // Luminous Phantom
*1 Mentor of the Meek
*1 Nykthos Paragon
*1 Qala, Ajani&#039;s Pridemate
*1 Redemption Choir
*1 Righteous Valkyrie
*1 Rumor Gatherer
*1 Soul Warden
*1 Soul&#039;s Attendant
*1 Suture Priest
*1 Twinblade Paladin
*1 Vanguard Seraph
*1 Voice of the Blessed
*1 Welcoming Vampire
[/Creatures]
&nbsp;
[Artifacts]
*1 Field-Tested Frying Pan
*1 Well of Lost Dreams
*1 White Mage&#039;s Staff
[/Artifacts]
&nbsp;
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Ajani, Strength of the Pride
[/Planeswalkers]
&nbsp;
[Instants]
*1 Akroma&#039;s Will
*1 Brave the Elements
*1 Clever Concealment
*1 Dawn Charm
*1 Dawn&#039;s Truce
*1 Divine Resilience
*1 Flare of Fortitude
*1 Grand Crescendo
*1 Make a Stand
*1 Unbreakable Formation
*1 Your Temple Is Under Attack
[/Instants]
&nbsp;
[Lands]
*40 Plains
[/Lands]
&nbsp;"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>This is a fairly fast and aggressive typal deck, with its speed and board protection serving as positive traits while it’s hindered a bit by a relative lack of removal or recovery. We want to be pushing the pace from the beginning, putting out Soul Wardens instead of building up mana. As a result, our curve is relatively low, with our commander as a curve-topping threat. Minwu sits back until there are enough counters for it to bully other creatures in combat, slowly building up counters until we have an overwhelming board presence.</p>
<p>This deck is for those who enjoy triggers and counters, as well as those who like taking a picture of beautifully spread out board states. It does take some focus to follow all of the interactions and triggers while maintaining board state, so I’d recommend taking it out when you have the energy and space to do so. When you do, it’s a lot of fun, and it shows just how powerful monocolored strategies can be!</p>


life gain commander

Minwu and the Church of Gainz

Building a Cleric Typal Deck with Minwu, White Mage