<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Adelbert Steiner" href="#" target="_blank">Adelbert Steiner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/lorenzomastroianni" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lorenzo Mastroianni</a></em></p>
<p>It's very much my job here as the writer of <em>The Monolith</em>, aside from talking about monocolored decks of course, to tempt you in to building decks that aren't your standard fare. Decks that forgo obviousness and power for interesting ideas and fun restrictions. What better time then, as we continue to pick apart the legendary creatures revealed in the upcoming <em>Universes Beyond</em> set <em>Final Fantasy</em>, to talk about Pauper EDH!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Adelbert Steiner"></div></div>
<p>Now I'm not the first person to delve into the <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/does-shantotto-work-as-a-pauper-commander" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wonderful world of Pauper Commander</a> here on EDHREC.com. But when a set comes out with this many legends, some of them are bound to be non-rares. We had the same thing happen in <em>Lord of The Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth</em>. And when you've got access to uncommon legends with interesting effects, why not whack together a PEDH deck to fit around them!</p>
<h2>What Is Pauper Commander (PEDH)?</h2>
<p>Much like the absolutely wonderful 60-card format it's based on, Pauper EDH carries all the same rules that Commander does, but with one exception. You can only put a card in your deck if it was printed at common at some point in its history.</p>
<p>That includes cards that have been up-shifted in rarity in later sets, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dark Ritual" href="#" target="_blank">Dark Ritual</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. As long as it was common at some point in <em>Magic</em>'s history, it's legal in PEDH. Otherwise, you can't put it in your 99. As for the commander itself though, you're allowed to push up to the uncommon rarity.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guttersnipe"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Soulherder"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Third Path Iconoclast"></div></div>
<p>The fun thing is, your uncommon commander doesn't even have to be legendary. You can play with regular old uncommons as your leader. That'll give you access to super powerful creatures you wouldn't normally be able to put in your command zone, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Guttersnipe" href="#" target="_blank">Guttersnipe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soulherder" href="#" target="_blank">Soulherder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></p>
<h2>Adelbert's Finer</h2>
<p>To helm our Pauper EDH list we're looking at the brand new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Adelbert Steiner" href="#" target="_blank">Adelbert Steiner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> 2/1 Human Knight with an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All That Glitters" href="#" target="_blank">All That Glitters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> style effect on him. For each Equipment you control, Adelbert will get +1/+1. That's not Equipment attached to Adelbert either, that's just any Equipment you have on the battlefield.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Adelbert Steiner"></div></div>
<p>Combined with lifelink, we've got ourselves the potential for a really juicy, Equipment focused, Voltron Commander build. For those not in the know, <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/voltron" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Voltron decks</a> attempt to whack as many buffs onto a single creature they control as possible - usually your commander, so you can kill opponents even easier. Once they're big enough, swing in for the win!</p>
<h2>Free Real Estate</h2>
<p>As Adelbert gets a buff just from the Equipment hitting the field, we'll sort of get to have our cake and eat it too. Whereas most Voltrons would either need to pay for the equip cost of their Equipment, or have an ability to get around that, Adelbert can receive a small benefit right away.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="All That Glitters"></div></div>
<p>Then later, when we actually get the Equipment attached to him, we'll be double dipping with the buffs it provides. And that's if we even want to equip to him. By having another big threat with all the Equipment attached to them we can also split our attacks as we see fit.</p>
<h2>The Living Weapon</h2>
<p>Seeing as Adelbert doesn't mind where your Equipment cards are when he's checking for his buffs, we can use a certain type of Equipment to give us a bit of an edge in battle.</p>
<p>Equipment cards are great in comparison to Auras, because they won't send themselves to the graveyard when their attached creature leaves the battlefield. We can even use the equip ability to swap our swords and shields round to whichever creature needs them on the fly.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Flayer Husk"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sickleslicer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Skinwing"></div></div>
<p>The tradeoff though, is that Auras attach themselves as soon as you cast them. Equipment gets cast, and then needs additional buy-in to attach it to your creature. Enter: living weapon cards. These Equipment cards will enter the battlefield and immediately attach themselves to a token they make when they enter.</p>
<p>There's only so many Pauper legal living weapons, but a few other cards do the same thing. For Mirrodin! was a very similar mechanic from <em>All Will Be One</em>, for example.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mirran Bardiche"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ancestral Blade"></div></div>
<h3>Leave Something Back</h3>
<p>One of the trickier aspects of playing a Voltron Commander deck is keeping yourself alive after you've swung. It's all well and good having a giant commander, but once they're tapped, who's defending your life total? Vigilance is great for that but so is just having some chump blockers available - especially when your opponents are going wide.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Glimmerlight"></div></div>
<p>By using these cards that come with an extra body, we can hold the line after Adelbert attacks. And if we end up getting Adelbert killed so many times that his commander tax is untenable? There's backup options to fight with. Speaking of...</p>
<h2>Forking Your Voltron</h2>
<p>As I mentioned earlier, Adelbert can get a decent amount of pump without actually equipping our weapons. With that in mind, we have the option to fork off our damage between two different creatures. That way we'll get slightly less powerful creatures, but having two means we can swing at multiple players.</p>
<p>This is a four-person format, after all. And targeting down one player can leave our other two opponents a little too much space to build up their game plans.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gingerbrute"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guardian of the Guildpact"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Beloved Princess"></div></div>
<p>If we want some solid targets for the wall of weapons we'll be equipping them with, we need to find something that'll get through our opponents' blockers. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Guardian of the Guildpact" href="#" target="_blank">Guardian of the Guildpact</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> have really solid evasion, with protection from monocolored giving it a good chance of slipping through the cracks of our opponents' defenses. Not to mention dodging a lot of removal!</p>
<p>Likewise, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gingerbrute" href="#" target="_blank">Gingerbrute</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can punish players who aren't equipped with hasty creatures by making itself all but unblockable. That'll teach you for not playing mono-red!</p>
<h2>Choosing the Right Gear</h2>
<p>The main consideration for building out Adelbert's arsenal is which Equipment cards we include in our 99. First of all, we're going to need a lot of them! In this deck we're going to favor quantity over quality, so low cost Equipments are best (unless they come with a friend).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bone Saw"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bonesplitter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Leather Armor"></div></div>
<p>We also want to keep an eye out for any gear that'll give Adelbert some evasion tactics to make it over walls of blockers. Cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bladed Pinions" href="#" target="_blank">Bladed Pinions</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will put in some vital keywords for our Voltron commander, like flying and first strike. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haunted Cloak" href="#" target="_blank">Haunted Cloak</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will help as well with trample and vigilance allowing us to hit over and also keep our commander up to block.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bladed Pinions"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haunted Cloak"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Whispersilk Cloak"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Whispersilk Cloak" href="#" target="_blank">Whispersilk Cloak</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will make our glorious leader unblockable and also give him protection from removal, but remember to equip it last as the shroud will also stop <em>us</em> from targeting him when it comes to attach more Equipment.</p>
<h3>Double Your Benefits</h3>
<p>Whilst it might be banned in regular 60-card Pauper, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="All That Glitters" href="#" target="_blank">All That Glitters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (from what I can tell, anyway) is perfectly legal in PEDH. Adding this Aura to Adelbert will double his buff from Equipment cards as well as giving some additional power and toughness for any other artifacts or enchantments you control.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="All That Glitters"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Golem-Skin Gauntlets"></div></div>
<p>And don't sleep on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Golem-Skin Gauntlets" href="#" target="_blank">Golem-Skin Gauntlets</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> either. It might only affect the power of our commander and not benefit his toughness, but cards that say "for each" on them can get out of hand fast. Why do you think we're building this commander?</p>
<h2>Carry Some Protection</h2>
<p>A word of warning: whilst it might not have the flashiest removal spells in <em>Magic, </em>Pauper does tend to be quite removal heavy! It's worth padding the deck out with a few options to protect Adelbert from harm when swinging in for big damage.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blacksmith&#039;s Skill"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Benevolent Bodyguard"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ajani&#039;s Presence"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blacksmith&#039;s Skill" href="#" target="_blank">Blacksmith&#039;s Skill</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the best instant-speed protection spells in the game, let alone Pauper. But we can also run a few permanent versions to have in our back pocket for when we need them. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Benevolent Bodyguard" href="#" target="_blank">Benevolent Bodyguard</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> acts as a perfect fit, giving us a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Selfless Savior" href="#" target="_blank">Selfless Savior</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> style protection effect we can activate at instant speed. But also allowing us to make Adelbert unblockable by any monocolored boards.</p>
<h2>Adelbert Steiner PEDH Decklist</h2>
<p>If you're interested in joining the PEDH community and giving Adelbert a build, I've included a rough example decklist below that you can build yourself or just jump off from. If you're new to Pauper in general I highly recommend giving either the Commander variant or 60-card competitive format a go. The latter is my absolute favorite way to play <em>Magic;</em> it's a format that just keeps on giving.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Adelbert Steiner Pauper EDH" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Adelbert Steiner
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Beloved Princess
*1 Benevolent Bodyguard
*1 Coalition Honor Guard
*1 Foundry Inspector
*1 Gingerbrute
*1 Guardian of the Guildpact
*1 Inspiring Overseer
*1 Outlaw Medic
*1 Voyager Quickwelder
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 +2 Mace
*1 Amorphous Axe
*1 Ancestral Blade
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Armory of Iroas
*1 Bladed Pinions
*1 Blight Sickle
*1 Bonder&#039;s Ornament
*1 Bone Saw
*1 Bonesplitter
*1 Candy Trail
*1 Ceremonial Knife
*1 Darksteel Axe
*1 Delver&#039;s Torch
*1 Flayer Husk
*1 Fountain of Ichor
*1 Gilded Pinions
*1 Glimmerlight
*1 Gold Pan
*1 Golden Egg
*1 Goldvein Pick
*1 Goldwarden&#039;s Helm
*1 Golem-Skin Gauntlets
*1 Greataxe
*1 Haunted Cloak
*1 Jalum Tome
*1 Leather Armor
*1 Mandibular Kite
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Mirran Bardiche
*1 Network Terminal
*1 Prying Blade
*1 Relic of Progenitus
*1 Sickleslicer
*1 Skinwing
*1 Utility Knife
*1 Vorrac Battlehorns
*1 Whispersilk Cloak
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 All That Glitters
*1 Benevolent Blessing
*1 Journey to Nowhere
*1 Oblivion Ring
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Afterlife
*1 Ajani&#039;s Presence
*1 Blacksmith&#039;s Skill
*1 Break Ties
*1 Crib Swap
*1 Destroy Evil
*1 Frantic Salvage
*1 Lens Flare
*1 Thraben Charm
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Jolted Awake
*1 Recommission
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Ancient Den
*1 Avishkar Raceway
*1 Darksteel Citadel
*1 Desert of the True
*1 Escape Tunnel
*1 Haunted Fengraf
*1 Idyllic Grange
*29 Plains
*1 Secluded Steppe
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<p></p>
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="Fn8wMpFCKJ"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/does-shantotto-work-as-a-pauper-commander/">Does Shantotto Work as a Pauper Commander?</a></p></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="dBILFsWxhN"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/brewing-a-pauper-commander-deck-with-kheru-goldkeeper/">Brewing a Pauper Commander Deck With Kheru Goldkeeper</a></p></blockquote>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;Brewing a Pauper Commander Deck With Kheru Goldkeeper&#8221; &#8212; EDHREC" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/brewing-a-pauper-commander-deck-with-kheru-goldkeeper/embed/#?secret=VqChDggru9#?secret=dBILFsWxhN" data-secret="dBILFsWxhN" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>

PEDH Voltron With Adelbert Steiner

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spirit Bonds" href="#" target="_blank">Spirit Bonds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/willmurai" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Willian Murai</a></em></p>
<p>As <em>Magic</em> players, we've all been there: the aristocrats player waits for the perfect moment to unleash a long string of sacrifice effects that ends the game. On one hand, it's impressive to watch; it feels like a complex puzzle being assembled before your eyes. On the other hand, it can feel like an unsatisfying way to lose, essentially having your game plan amount to nothing.</p>
<p>Whatever your feelings may be on aristocrats, there's no denying their popularity within <em>Magic</em>, especially in Commander. According to EDHREC data, there are over 100 thousand <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/aristocrats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aristocrat decks in their database</a>. This huge amount of popularity means that there are only six deck "themes" or strategies that are more popular than it on EDHREC.</p>
<p>Most aristocrat decks are heavily associated with the color black, as it provides the most support for both sacrifice outlets and cards that benefit from creatures dying. However, there are plenty of great aristocrat cards outside of black, and this mini-series of articles covers the best options for aristocrat players in every color!</p>
<p>We began this series over on <a href="https://commandersherald.com/the-best-aristocrat-cards-in-commander-green-edition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Commander's Herald with green</a>, and will be continuing our "mini-series" here with white.</p>
<p>This list is in no particular order, but the first card is an absolute heater...</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Martyr&#039;s Cause" href="#" target="_blank">Martyr&#039;s Cause</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Martyr&#039;s Cause"></div></div>
<p>Martyr's Cause is a rare sacrifice outlet in white that covers two critical categories for any aristocrat deck: protection, and free sacrifice outlet. By "free," I mean that it doesn't cost any mana to sacrifice creatures, and the difference between having to use mana vs. not is pretty huge. The "protection" piece comes in the form of protecting our life total; we're playing aristocrats, so there's no denying that we will be attacked. This card allows us to blank potentially lethal attacks, and aristocrat decks often only need to survive one or two combat steps before being able to go off.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fanatical Devotion" href="#" target="_blank">Fanatical Devotion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fanatical Devotion"></div></div>
<p>Fanatical Devotion is another "free" white sacrifice outlet, which is amazing, but it also provides aristocrat decks with a rare opportunity: regeneration. Regenerate is not a mechanic that's seen too often anymore, but that's no reason to underrate it.</p>
<p>If you're unfamiliar with how regeneration works, it's pretty simple. Whenever a creature is destroyed (either from a "destroy" effect or from damage), you may activate the regenerate ability (in this case, sacrificing a creature), tap the creature, and remove it from combat (if it's in combat). When you do this, the damage is removed and the creature is not destroyed. This can save some critical creatures in response to spot removal or a board wipe, and that's what makes this card so good.</p>
<p>Aristocrat decks often have several expendable creatures, so sacrificing something expendable for the good of protecting something more important is a price we're willing to pay.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Knight-Captain of Eos" href="#" target="_blank">Knight-Captain of Eos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Knight-Captain of Eos"></div></div>
<p>Like our first two picks, this is another sacrifice outlet, but a little more specific. It does two things that we want: it generates disposable bodies when it enters, and it gives us a sacrifice outlet that can protect our life total. Sure, we need to sacrifice Soldiers, but this creature makes Soldiers when it enters <em>and</em> Soldiers are one of the most common creature types in white.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Martyred Rusalka" href="#" target="_blank">Martyred Rusalka</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Martyred Rusalka"></div></div>
<p>This card might seem innocuous, but it can prevent an opponent's biggest threat from attacking us. It's the perfect political piece, as we can threaten to activate it if an opponent is aiming to attack us. The mana cost on any sacrifice ability can be tricky, but holding up one white mana can telegraph this <em>and</em> things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swords to Plowshares" href="#" target="_blank">Swords to Plowshares</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Path to Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Path to Exile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Swords to Plowshares"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Path to Exile"></div></div>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Promise of Bunrei" href="#" target="_blank">Promise of Bunrei</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Promise of Bunrei"></div></div>
<p>This card can act as a three-mana spell that creates four disposable bodies for our strategy, and that's amazing. The only tricky part about it is that we can't choose exactly when to trigger it; we <em>have</em> to sacrifice it as soon as one of our creatures die. We should have enough sacrifice outlets where this shouldn't be a problem, but it's important to keep in mind.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Promise of Tomorrow" href="#" target="_blank">Promise of Tomorrow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Promise of Tomorrow"></div></div>
<p>There is no other card that can be riskier to our strategy than this one. Exiling our creatures is not a "may" trigger, so any reanimation effects are effectively turned off while this is in play.</p>
<p>The floor of this card might be low, but the ceiling is incredibly high. If we have a sacrifice outlet onboard, we can sacrifice our creatures to trigger this whenever we need. On the plus side, this card is crazy against board wipes, as it basically renders any effort from our opponents to deal with our board null and void (outside of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Farewell" href="#" target="_blank">Farewell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Farewell"></div></div>
<p>One thing to keep in mind with this: it <em>does not </em>take away any death triggers you may have, as the creatures become exiled <em>after</em> they die - which is so cool!</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spirit Bonds" href="#" target="_blank">Spirit Bonds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Spirit Bonds"></div></div>
<p>This card creates tokens from our nontoken creatures entering the battlefield, for the small price of <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>. While that ability is pretty good, we're going to focus primarily on the second ability: making a non-Spirit indestructible. Similarly to Knight-Captain of Eos, this relies on a specific creature type, but also like Knight-Captain of Eos, this card creates the creature type we need.</p>
<p>It turns out, protecting our important pieces is very good!</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worthy Cause" href="#" target="_blank">Worthy Cause</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Worthy Cause"></div></div>
<p>This is a single-use sacrifice spell that gains us life equal to the sacrificed creature's toughness. Instead of seeing this as a one-mana spell, I advise you to see it as a three-mana spell, as we'll want to use the buyback ability. Always having a three-mana, instant-speed way to keep us alive is huge. Remember when I said we'll probably be getting attacked a lot?</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage" href="#" target="_blank">Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage"></div></div>
<p>This card just came out in <em>Tarkir: Dragonstorm</em>, but it's incredible for aristocrat decks. Endures 2 means that we can put two +1/+1 counter on Anafenza or we can create a 2/2 Spirit. Getting Anafenza big doesn't really do anything, as she doesn't have evasion, but the ability to create more expendable creatures is why I'm talking about this card. Our creatures <em>will</em> die, and if we can benefit by creating more creatures in the process, we're in a winning position.</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Loyal Retainers" href="#" target="_blank">Loyal Retainers</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Loyal Retainers"></div></div>
<p>I tried to stay away from creatures with single-use sacrifice abilities, but this one is just too strong. Not only can it generate infinite combos (this is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero" href="#" target="_blank">Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s best friend), but it can also bring back our commander in a pinch. Depending on the commander, this may not matter, but it's likely that our commander will be a magnet for removal, and rather than casting it for 10 or more mana, we can just return it with this ability!</p>
<div id="238-2533-5147" style="width: 100%; position: relative; overflow: visible; display: flex; justify-content: center;"><img decoding="async" id="csbLoad" src="https://commanderspellbook.com/images/gear.svg" alt="csb logo" width="300" /><br />
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<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="." width="0" height="0"></iframe><br />
Outside of "protecting" our commander or going infinite, the game is flooded with great legendary creatures these days, and that makes this card the perfect reanimation option for any white deck (especially if it lacks black!).</p>
<p>That concludes my list for the color white. I hope all you aristocrat players out there learned something new today. Stay tuned for my exploration into the remaining colors, all while saving the best (black) for last!</p>


The Best White Aristocrat Cards in Commander

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant" href="#" target="_blank">Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | art by Yumeko)</h6>
<p>Hello, and welcome back to <em>The Monolith</em>, the series in which I, your intrepid host, try to get the world of Commander players to build more mono-colored decks.</p>
<p>With the dust of <em>Tarkir: Dragonstorm </em>beginning to settle, we can start to look ahead at upcoming sets and theory craft around all the previews we've been shown way, way, way too early. Of all the commanders revealed so far from <em><a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/fin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Final Fantasy</a></em>, there are only two cards that are actual, factual mono. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zell Dincht" href="#" target="_blank">Zell Dincht</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> seems like an interesting <em>Landfall</em>-based, mono-red commander, which we might tackle in a later article. Seems like there's some combo potential there for sure.</p>
<p>But for this edition of <em>The Monolith </em>we're going to build around something a bit more... mean. It's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant" href="#" target="_blank">Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant"></div></div>
<h2>Gifts Unwanted</h2>
<p>For the stunningly cheap cost of a single <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, we get a 1/2 Moogle with lifelink, and it's Stiltzkin's activated ability that we'll be building around in this deck. For <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-2" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-tap" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> we can have one of our opponents assume control of another target permanent we control. Once they get it, we get to draw a card. Kind of like us receiving payment; we are a merchant, after all.</p>
<p>But for this little market stall we'll be running, we're not exactly aiming to come off as a reputable seller. In fact, we'll be sending our opponents some defective wares on purpose.</p>
<h2>Damaged Goods</h2>
<p>That's right! Today we're building a <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/donate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donate deck</a> all about giving our opponents cards that you wouldn't want under your control. This is traditionally a deck you'd see with some <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> in it to get access to all the nasty "deal with the devil" type effects of that color that we could force into the hands of other players.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Harmless Offering"></div></div>
<p>There's definitely other color combos that can make it work, and Jeskai(<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) commander <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zedruu the Greathearted" href="#" target="_blank">Zedruu the Greathearted</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the more popular in this archetype, but in mono-white, we're going to need to rifle through the basement of <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> to find some decent targets for our ability, and that, of course, is half the fun of these articles!</p>
<h3>The Archetypal Gift</h3>
<p>There's already quite a few cards that exist in <em>Magic's </em>long history that play by "gifting" things to your opponent's control. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Akroan Horse" href="#" target="_blank">Akroan Horse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, for example, is a classic card from the original <em>Theros</em> block that might seem terrible to the untrained eye.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Akroan Horse"></div></div>
<p>"A creature I have to give to my opponent? What's the point of that?" The point of course is that the card is a trap that slowly fills your own board with 1/1 tokens as your enemy only gets a measly 0/4 defender.</p>
<p>But there's plenty more where that came from. There's some really fun cursed object style cards that we can very much put into today's deck that fit the theme perfectly.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jinxed Idol"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jinxed Choker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jinxed Ring"></div></div>
<p>The jinxed cards will be thrown around the table like a hot potato whenever one of our opponents wants to avoid the effect. Normally we'd be a very valid target to take the things back. But with our commander we can just have them leave our control before the trigger goes off, making us a waste of an activation for our competitors.</p>
<p>A handful of artifacts like this in the deck will allow us to sit back and watch the chaos unfold as our opponents argue among themselves over who should take control of the nasty thing next.</p>
<h2>Like a Hole in the Head</h2>
<p>But the true horrors of cards we can force onto our opponents' boards come in the form of things they can't just give away whenever they like. These things will be a constant headache for them. And hopefully, they'll be enough of a drawback that we can potentially win the game whilst our opponents suffer.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archfiend of the Dross"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Evil Eye of Urborg"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ebon Drake"></div></div>
<p>The reason we normally want to be running black in a deck like this is we get access to cards that are intended to give you a statistical advantage in the short term with under-costed stats and abilities, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archfiend of the Dross" href="#" target="_blank">Archfiend of the Dross</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. But after a while, they become more of a problem than a boon.</p>
<p>We don't have a huge amount of obvious cards to draw from that fill this archetype in mono-white. And even in general, you need to look at some cards that literally no one plays to find a good selection of cards that fill this niche. Because the cost they come with usually makes them pretty unplayable in standard decks.</p>
<h3>A Great Example of a Bad Card</h3>
<p>An absolute must-include in this deck will be something we can steal from the aforementioned Zedruu lists. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nine Lives" href="#" target="_blank">Nine Lives</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an enchantment that can prevent up to nine instances of damage for its controller. When the ninth source of damage is stopped, and Nine Lives receives its ninth counter, you exile it.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nine Lives"></div></div>
<p>When Nine Lives leaves the battlefield, its controller loses the game. This honestly isn't a great card on its own, maybe made a little better by a deck that can easily remove counters from its permanents. But now we can gain almost its full benefit and then just as we're about to take a ninth chunk of damage, send it over to an opponent of our choice to lose the game instead!</p>
<p>Not to mention that the card itself has hexproof, so removing it will be very difficult for our opponents, and if they attempt to board wipe all enchantments, you can hoist it onto someone else in response and have them suffer the consequences. If you're feeling petty, probably the board wiper.</p>
<h2>What the Hell Am I Supposed to Do With This?</h2>
<p>Don't worry, the cards we can gift will get far weirder and far more niche. Most white cards don't give you downsides apart from on themselves, so we'll need to be creative.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Enduring Renewal"></div></div>
<p>For example, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Enduring Renewal" href="#" target="_blank">Enduring Renewal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is what I would call "a pretty bad way to recur your creatures." For <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-2" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> we get the stunning ability of putting any creatures we control that die back into our hand, which ain't bad at all.</p>
<p>The cost, however, is that we not only have to play with our entire hand revealed, we also get a very wacky draw effect. Now, whenever we would draw a card, we instead have to reveal the top card of our library. If it's a creature card, we have to put it into the bin instead.</p>
<p>Wow, that's bad. Unless someone has built a very specific deck to utilize this strange effect, this is going to be a huge pain for our opponents. Although it would go pretty hard in our <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage" href="#" target="_blank">Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck we built in a <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/mono-white-aristocrats-with-anafenza-unyielding-lineage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previous article</a>.</p>
<h3>How About Some Fetching Headwear?</h3>
<p>Our opponents' heads are looking a little cold; perhaps we could help them out with a lovely new hat. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mindstorm Crown" href="#" target="_blank">Mindstorm Crown</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will do some annoying chip damage over the course of the game - best placed on a player that's taken a lot of damage early on. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crown of Doom" href="#" target="_blank">Crown of Doom</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> however will act like an <em>Innistrad </em>style curse that our opponents will be throwing around like our aforementioned jinxed collection.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grafted Skullcap"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mindstorm Crown"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crown of Doom"></div></div>
<p>The absolute worst of the bunch has to be <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grafted Skullcap" href="#" target="_blank">Grafted Skullcap</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, though. You can hear the finger of the monkey's paw curling as a player said, "I need some more card draw." Here you go, now you draw two every turn! And you also discard your entire hand on your end step...</p>
<h3>Who Needs Creatures Anyway?</h3>
<p>It was bad enough that we made one of our opponents never draw creature cards again. At least they get to replay the ones they lose. This next target is going to be even more screwed over, though.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Steel Golem"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grid Monitor"></div></div>
<p>Courtesy of some very ugly artifact creatures, these lovely items will stop your players from being able to cast creature spells indefinitely! What the hell! I'm sure there's plenty of decks out there that wouldn't be too bothered by this, but you'd be hard pressed to find a deck that doesn't want to play a single creature in a turn - including their commander, by the way.</p>
<h3>Artifacts Are Overrated</h3>
<p>Is someone playing a lot of artifact cards? What if they had to sacrifice one every single turn? <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rust Elemental" href="#" target="_blank">Rust Elemental</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will see to that.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rust Elemental"></div></div>
<p>Even better though is when we pop one of these guys onto the board of a player who isn't playing any artifacts. Enjoy losing a tenth of your life every turn, and now you don't even get to attack with the creature we gave you...</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lich&#039;s Tomb"></div></div>
<p>If your opponent is upset about having to take that much damage, you could always offer them an alternative with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lich&#039;s Tomb" href="#" target="_blank">Lich&#039;s Tomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. What a wonderful gift! Now you won't lose the game if you have zero or less life - except you'll be sacrificing a permanent for every single point of damage you would take from now on. And that's permanent by the way, not <em>nonland</em> permanent.</p>
<p>Be sure to gift this just as an opponent is about to eat a big chunk of damage. We don't want them to sacrifice the Tomb right away after a measly one or two damage.</p>
<h3>A Secret Burn Deck?</h3>
<p>White isn't exactly know for being able to play direct damage against players. I'm sure there's strange old cards out there that I'm not aware of that'll do it, but this special gift allows us to do something similar.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bronze Bombshell"></div></div>
<p>Who designed this card? This is so bizarre. They're making these in <em>Ravnica</em>? Man, old <em>Magic</em> is weird.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mishra&#039;s War Machine"></div></div>
<p>Speaking of old <em>Magic, </em>if we want our opponents to take some damage, why not gift them this terrible old contraption?</p>
<h2>Does This Business Have Legs?</h2>
<p>This was truly one of the strangest decks I've theory-crafted here on <em>The Monolith. </em>Usually when you build these odd contraptions, out of color identity and pushing the boundaries, you at least find a few cards that seem like slam dunks. And whilst there's certainly a couple of options for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant" href="#" target="_blank">Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, he does seem like he's going to stay a pretty niche commander.</p>
<p>If you were building this cursed collection of curiosities, what strange old cards would you be running? I'd love to know down in the comments below! But whilst you're working on those, I'll see you on the next edition of <em>The Monolith</em>, your home for strange and wonderful mono-colored decks!</p>
<p></p>
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="JP0YYgCeJp"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/mono-white-aristocrats-with-anafenza-unyielding-lineage/">Mono-White Aristocrats with Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage</a></p></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="q9sUF64CSk"><p><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/mechanical-memories-a-history-of-gifting/">Mechanical Memories - A History of Gifting</a></p></blockquote>
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