Smothering TitheSmothering Tithe | art by Aurore Folny

In cEDH, mono-white is a color defined by support effects. Preventing your opponents from interacting and gaining gradual advantage: these are the strategies that carve out white's role in the format.

You won't find game-ending spells here; instead, you'll see the cards that help secure your window. So, what are white's five best cards? Let's take a look.

#5 - Grand AbolisherGrand Abolisher

Kicking things off is white's most effective defensive card, and that's Grand Abolisher. For , this 2/2 Human Cleric brings with it an incredibly oppressive barrier to interaction:

"During your turn, your opponents can't cast spells or activate abilities of artifacts, creatures, or enchantments."

In a format defined by the likes of Rhystic StudyRhystic Study and Borne Upon a WindBorne Upon a Wind, where card advantage piles up whenever interaction hits the stack and when no one moment is truly safe, Grand Abolisher stands alone as the most forceful window-creator in cEDH. The only reason it sits so low on our list, however, is that casting cost.

Outside of low color decks - decks which, aside from Kinnan, Bonder ProdigyKinnan, Bonder Prodigy, are often among cEDH's worse - making two mana of a singular color is surprisingly difficult, especially when that mana isn't something you'd otherwise be stockpiling in order to cast a game ending spell.

Why put a plains into play when you could stockpile just about any other color of mana - colors with spells that easily win games?

Contemporary Magic's answer to this has been Voice of VictoryVoice of Victory: a Grand Abolisher look-a-like which forgoes the restriction on activated abilities in exchange for a much easier mana cost of just (among other small changes, like statline adjustments and Mobilize 2).

cEDH has certainly embraced this newer iteration, but usually as a second copy of Grand Abolisher, rather than a replacement.

#4 - Smothering TitheSmothering Tithe

Next up on our list is an incredibly backbreaking engine, dwarfed only in mana-production capacity by green's very own Seedborn MuseSeedborn Muse, and that card is Smothering Tithe.

For , Smothering Tithe answers just about all of your mana concerns for the rest of the game.

This enchantment has one potent triggered ability, which reads "Whenever an opponent draws a card, that player may pay . If the player doesn't, you create a Treasure token."

As was demonstrated by Grand Abolisher's taxing mana cost, color fixing is a crucial consideration in cEDH's high-color piles, and Smothering Tithe's own minimally restrictive cost is one which has garnered plenty of support in the format.

There's nothing quite like suddenly having access to the critical third black mana necessary to cast a NecropotenceNecropotence, for example, an a turn with Smothering Tithe will guarantee you get there.

#3 - SilenceSilence

Coming in at third place is a classic of white's interaction suite - Silence, the inspiration for Grand Abolisher (and another card later on this list).

For just , this instant prevents your opponents from casting spells until end of turn. As simple as it is effective, Silence benefits from both its accessible mana cost as well as its instant-speed nature to serve as a maximally flexible piece of interaction.

Unlike Grand Abolisher - which is purely supportive of your own schemes - Silence can put a stop to your opponents' plans, whenever they should chose to strike. Did an opposing Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach hit the stack?

Follow it up with a Silence before it resolves, preventing the Breach player from following up and forcing them to watch as their Underworld Breach gets sacrificed at the end of their otherwise uneventful turn.

Trying to go for your own win but wary of interaction? Bate out the turn by starting things off with a main phase Silence.

#2 - Ranger-Captain of EosRanger-Captain of Eos

Rounding out our interaction package is second place's Ranger-Captain of Eos, a surprisingly flexible tutor that also brings with it the interactive flexibility of Silence's instant-speed nature.

For , Ranger-Captain of Eos is a 3/3 Human Soldier which allows you to tutor for a creature with mana value one or less when it enters, then put that card into your hand.

Additionally, you can sacrifice Ranger-Captain of Eos in order to prevent your opponents from casting noncreature spells until end of turn.

Three mana, two of which being white, is definitely a lot to ask for in cEDH. However, between the tutor ability - one which can hit some of the format's strongest creatures, as we'll see in the moment - and the flexibility to effectively resolve a nearly-uncounterable Silence at a moment's notice, Ranger-Captain of Eos certainly puts all that mana to work.

#1 - Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel

Alrighty folks, here we are, the strongest card in white. Drumroll, please, as we evaluate Ranger-Captain of Eos' very best friend, a white creature that costs just a single mana, Esper Sentinel.

For , Esper Sentinel is cEDH's most initially-unassuming card advantage engine...until you play against it a handful of times. A 1/1 Human Soldier artifact creature, Esper Sentinel's only text reads, "Whenever an opponent casts their first noncreature spell each turn, draw a card unless that player pays , where X is Esper Sentinel's power."

I can't remember the last time I saw an Esper Sentinel with a power greater than one, but as anyone who has ever played against Rhystic Study will tell you, a tax of just is often substantial enough for players to steamroll full-speed ahead, ignoring their dues and letting the Rhystic player (or, in this case, the Esper Sentinel player) draw a ridiculous amount of cards.

Valuable at just about every point in the game, difficult to counter thanks to being a creature, and readily affordable from turn one onwards, Esper Sentinel continues to be a dominating force across any deck that can run it.

Wrap Up

White might not Mystic RemoraMystic Remora, or Seedborn MuseSeedborn Muse, or Force of WillForce of Will, but that doesn't mean it's without card draw, ramp, and interaction. In fact, many of the format's strongest decks rely on white to push them through the slog of the midgame and into a comfortable, protected, resource-fueled end state.

You might not die to a white spell the likes of Ad NauseamAd Nauseam, but the reason that Ad Nauseam resolved might very well be white.