(Brigone, Soldier of Meletis | Art by Daisuke Tatsuma)

Heroic Card Draw

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Burst of Energy is the only white spell that can untap a permanent?)

White isn't what you'd call drowning in card draw, so whenever I see a new white card that can do it, I'm all over it.

Most reviews I've seen have dismissed Brigone outright, with statements like "Bad Feather". And those statements are correct. I

f you're looking to do the Heroic thing and cast a whole bunch of spells over and over again, there are better commanders with access to more colors doing that. Brigone does have one thing going for her over all of those options, however: She draws the cards herself. The only issue? She can only do it once per turn.

Or can she?

Top 10 White Untap Spells

With a spell that can target Brigone and untap her, you can tap her to draw a card in response, and then untap her again. Doing this once at the end of turn doesn't seem like much, as it's essentially a rummage spell. String a few of those together, however, and what you've got is a Spellslinger deck.

The only problem? We're going to need all of the available untap spells, and there aren't that many. In point of fact, in mono-white, there are only 18 spells that untap a creature they target, and I think for this deck to work, we're going to have to play all of them.

Still, that doesn't mean we aren't going to groan a little when Inspirit is the option we flip off the top, so let's take a look and see what the best options are, shall we?

Criteria: Instants, Sorceries, or Auras that can untap a creature they target that aren't mechanically identical to another card (more on this later). As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Act of Heroism

(1,326 Inclusions, 0% of 2,231,843 Decks)

Act of Heroism is missing the main criteria that will make or break every untap spell on this list, as it costs two mana instead of one. With that said, +2/+2 is relevant, as could be the additional block if our Brigone gets big enough.

In other words, this would probably be just on the outside of the 99 if we were being a bit more choosy, but as it is, it's probably one of the best two-mana options out there.

9. Silverflame Squire

(1,422 Inclusions, 0% of 2,231,843 Decks)

On Alert is Act of Heroism but worse, but there is a consolation prize in Silverflame Squire itself. A two-mana 2/1 isn't anything to write home about, but given that some of the best spellslinger payoffs in white make your creatures bigger, it's not something we couldn't use, either.

 

8. Blessed Alliance

(2,020 Inclusions, 0% of 2,231,843 Decks)

At first glance, Blessed Alliance isn't really what we're looking for. At two mana, it's expensive before you even escalate it, and it's other options are pretty limited. Given that we already know that we're going to play all of the untap spells, however, why not look for some silver linings?

This is not my first foray into mono-white Storm stuff, so I already knew that when it comes to pay-offs for casting a lot of spells, a lot of them have to do with gaining life.

Most of those spells are patently terrible: Sigarda's Splendor gains you a measly life and draws you a measly card, Student of Ojutai costs four and gains you two for noncreature spells, Seeker of the Way is a cheap Prowess creature but only gives itself lifelink repeatedly, and Doomskar Oracle gains you two only on your second spell each turn. None of them give you anything to do with the life, except one: Aetherflux Reservoir.

Affectionately dubbed the Low-Earth Orbit Ion Cannon, Aetherflux Reservoir is the staple finisher of spellslinger decks, to the point that my hipster tendencies tend to avoid it. Its biggest flaw, however, is that it doesn't actually do much until you get to 51 life, which can be a bit of a hill to climb if the table has been doing its job and targeting the spellslinger deck.

With that in mind, then, we've stretched our way to a possible bright spot for our mandatory Blessed Alliance slot. Gaining four life can go a long way towards the goal of 51, especially when it will also draw us a card.

And while "target opponent sacrifices an attacking creature" isn't anything that I'd want to bet my life on, that doesn't mean that the effect might not save it one day.

7. Moment of Valor

(2,299 Inclusions, 0% of 2,231,843 Decks)

Valorous Stance is one of my favorite white cards in the game, and I consider it severely underrated. Moment of Valor, however, costs an extra mana, which is a lot when it comes to card evaluation.

Don't get me wrong, we'll be playing it, and we'll probably be glad for the removal option. I wouldn't say we'll be happy to see this if we aren't looking to remove a (specifically) huge threat at the moment, however.

 

6. Djeru's Resolve

(3,202 Inclusions, 0% of 2,231,843 Decks)

When it comes to Spellslinger commanders, there's one thing that unites them: They're must-kill targets for the table. That goes double for Brigone, who will also be Voltroning people to death with her constant vigilant attacks and +1/+1 counters.

With that in mind, then, protection spells will also be a huge part of our arsenal that will grow those +1/+1 counters, when we're not busy drawing through our whole deck with all our untap spells. Well, why not both? Don't get me wrong, Djeru's Resolve is not a great protection spell. Preventing all damage to a creature stops burn spells and combat, and that's it.

With our commander constantly entering the former, however, and with the fact that this is a one-mana untap spell that may well draw us into an actual protection spell, we'd be silly to look this gift horse in the mouth.

5. Triclopean Sight

(3,379 Inclusions, 0% of 2,231,843 Decks)

It feels a bit wasteful to have an aura that grants vigilance that's probably going to get attached to our commander that already has vigilance, but what's worse about Triclopean Sight is that it won't trigger any of our various "whenever you cast an instant or sorcery" effects. We need the untaps, so that's not a deal breaker, but with this also costing two mana, if we were looking for a first cut in that area, this might well be it.

4. Acrobatic Leap

(3,627 Inclusions, 0% of 1,474,679 Decks)

If you were wondering why we added "mechanically unique" to our criteria, welcome to the glut of Acrobatic Leaps. Strangely, the highest ranked in this stack is actually one of the newest versions of it, with the oldest and in my opinion the cutest, Wings of the Cosmos, being the least popular.

Regardless of which art or flavor we prefer, however, these are all some of the best options in our deck for Brigone. With her being vigilant, she'll be swinging in whenever she can, and having flying will make that possible on just about any table. Drawing a card as well is just gravy.

3. Refuse to Yield

(4,571 Inclusions, 0% of 2,231,843 Decks)

As previously stated, two-mana is not ideal. With that said, +2/+7 is not a small boon, and will make Brigone live through just about any combat. We could even throw in a Gauntlets of Light if we're feeling really feisty, but I think that might just be too slow for what we're trying to do here.

2. Rustler Rampage

(4,645 Inclusions, 0% of 1,071,115 Decks)

Now, we have to be careful here, because if you just do the untap half of Rustler Rampage, it doesn't trigger Brigone's Heroic ability. With that said, in the late game, you're going to be glad to tack on the double strike so that Brigone can just take someone out of the game.

The question is whether the math will work out at that point where you'll be able to draw the card off the untap, or if you'll have to keep the extra counter from the target on there to have enough juice to take someone out.

1. Light the Way

(5,748 Inclusions, 0% of 2,231,843 Decks)

So... why not draw two for the price of one? That's the deal that Light the Way puts forth when combined with Brigone, not to mention the option to return her to your hand if things have gotten a bit too dicey. In short, this is the best card in your entire deck, and I don't believe that it's particularly close.

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Honorable Mentions

There's little left to mention when it comes to untap spells, but I am at least a completionist, so why not see the whole list?

Top 18 White "Untap Target Creature" Spells

1. Light the Way
2. Rustler Rampage
3. Refuse to Yield
4. Acrobatic Leap
5. Triclopean Sight
6. Djeru's Resolve
7. Escape from Orthanc
8. Moment of Valor
9. Blessed Alliance
10. Wings of the Cosmos
11. Silverflame Squire
12. Act of Heroism
13. Burst of Energy
14. Join Forces
15. Veteran's Reflexes
16. Alarum
17. Hope and Glory
18. Inspirit

There is also Enshrouding Mist, but with Brigone not having Renown, it doesn't really work. In the final version of the deck, I did end up actually cutting Inspirit, because it really was just too little effect for too much mana. As for the rest, however, they make the list, as we need every draw we can get to make this thing work.

With only 17 cards filling that slot, however, we are going to want some other things to trigger Heroic, so why not also take a look at the spells that will make Brigone huge?

Top 10 White Targeted Spells That Aren't Removal or Blink

1. Clever Concealment
2. Sejiri Shelter
3. Mantle of the Ancients
4. Timely Ward
5. Loran's Escape
6. Blacksmith's Skill
7. Dawn Charm
8. Galadriel's Dismissal
9. Valorous Stance
10. Gods Willing

There's really no reason that Clever Concealment needed to target, so the fact that it does is just such a stroke of luck for Brigone that we can't help but take advantage. Similarly, Sejiri Shelter is such a low cost to include, what with it being a land on the back side, that it's automatically in the list, as well.

After that, things get a bit slimmer. Mantle of the Ancients isn't what we're doing here, much as it will be great in the Brigone decks that do go the Aura/Enchantress direction, and Timely Ward is just too expensive. Loran's Escape might just be the best protection spell we have, however, with a scry tacked on just for fun. Dawn Charm is tempting, but ultimately too expensive.

Which just leaves the bangers at the end of this list, Galadriel's Dismissal, Valorous Stance, and Gods Willing. All three are slam dunks for inclusion, and more or less wrap up our protection package, unless you start counting the things like Feat of Resistance and Take Up the Shield that provide both protection and extra +1/+1 counters.

Rather than go through all the +1/+1 counter stuff, though, let's just take a look at the final list and see it all in context.

In building this deck, I expected it to be much more Storm, and much less aggro. It turns out, however, that Brigone is an absolute beast, and the best white Spellslinger payoffs are the ones that make your creatures bigger. Combine the two, and you've got a deck that hits the ground running, yet has deep pockets to last the long game.

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Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

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What Do You Think?

Long-time readers will know that I have both a spellslinger addiction and an aggro addiction, so the opportunity to combine the two was obviously just too good to pass up. Still, I would say both have unfortunate reputations when it comes to Commander tables, with Storm taking long, non-determinative turns, and overeager aggro pilots being the first to take out mana screwed players instead of focusing on the clear threat at the table. Despite this, however, I feel like I'm actually not alone in my love for either genre.

And finally, what is your favorite untap spell? Does it work well with Brigone? Are you building Brigone, or merely including her in your Feather build?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table we turned 90 degrees so we could make room for all the foot traffic.