08/07/2021
Diamond!! I worked up from the reset to Gold Tier 2 with this build, and I cannot stress how well it's played. It takes a little time and some patience for a big payoff, and what it can offer is a steady growth of defense, that quickly turns into an overwhelming offense. Also, I think most people think mono white, they think life gain, which adds to the surprise of it.
Here's the Decklist, and below you can find my strategy breakdown for the cards. I'm always open to suggestions and I'm happy to help strategize any substitutions you may have in mind.
Devoted Teams:
4 Reverent Hoplite (THB) 33
4 Banishing Light (THB) 4
2 Daxos, Blessed by the Sun (THB) 9
1 Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis (THB) 14
2 Leonin Warleader (ANB) 13
4 Commanding Presence (THB) 7
2 Inspiring Commander (ANA) 4
4 Lavabrink Venturer (IKO) 19
4 Rally the Ranks (KHM) 20
2 Doomskar (KHM) 9
4 Swift Response (M21) 40
2 Heliod, Sun-Crowned (THB) 18
26 Plains (STX) 367
2 Basri Ket (M21) 7
2 Dramatic Finale (STX) 180
1 Semester's End (STX) 27
2 Felidar Retreat (ZNR) 16
⭆ Reverent Hoplite is the star, It uses devotion at a reasonable
cost to make a big appearance. Synergy can be found with Dramatic Finale, Semesters End, Heliod, Daxos, and especially with Inspiring Commander.
⭆ Banishing Light is one of the best white removals IMO, as it operates as an enchantment deck. I typically use this card for threatening permanents towards me, or that provide resources to my opponent. Banishing Light has a lot of use early on for building and maintaining devotion which is why I'll even use it on a 1/1.
⭆ Lavabrink Venturer is less of a gamble than you may think, and at a mana value of 3, it can be an early direct hit. I find most opponents find it unsuspecting, and realize that they may not be able to target it, or worse, block it. Which is why it has great synergy with Commanding Presence, providing 1/1 tokens through unblocked attacks. Also it's great with Basri!
⭆ Daxos is a good start in most matches, plus you get Basri out on turn 3, you build a nice defense for him. If Daxos makes it long enough, those tokens will be putting it to work at your benefit.
⭆ Doomskar is your friend! At a foretell cost of 2, followed by it's casting cost ready on turn 3, Doomskar becomes a valuable asset. Plus if you Basri on the battlefield, a creature you control can gain indestructible before good ol' Doomskar makes an appearance.
⭆ Dramatic Finale, with blastoff in devotion for white. Mostly unassuming, it really is a great choice to bring in Heliod as a creature right away, and it's an excellent preemptive step for Reverent Hoplite. Once in a while it gives you an Inkling, which helps against flyers. █ █ █ █ █ █ █ flyers.
⭆ Basri is an all star in this deck. With a mana value of 3, I'll typically get him on the battlefield right away if theres no immediate threat. The -6 ability is excellent when it comes to defining a strong Soldier strategy, by creating a 1/1, and then providing +1/+1 counters across your side of the field, it's excellent. I'd say 75% of the time it goes off without a hitch. This is usually due to a strong defense from Lavabrink Venturer, Daxos on occasion, and through sheer token quantity. Excellent for devotion build up, put him out strategically but don't get too attached.
⭆ Elspeth is in the same boat, but a much more rickey boat. You see, I use Elspeth to create Soldiers, up to four, and then I do my best to keep it on the battlefield so it can offer a small boost to my devotion. It's escape ability is alright and if it happens to be available I'll activate it, but sometimes it just never comes up.
⭆ Inspiring Commander is a late play creature that can provide three different types of draw. Here & There. Full Hand. Double Hand. I love it's help getting cards in hand, and gaining life, if played well, getting a fresh start from nothing. Synergy is crazy with Reverent Hoplite; if possible, I have cast Inspiring Commander before I used Reverent Hoplite for tokens, cards, and life. Oh and there's Heliod, an early card just sitting around pumping creatures up thanks to Daxos and this dude.
⭆ Leonin is a fantastic addition to this deck, it offers a strong threat, with opportunities to gain life, and generate more tokens (looking at you Dramatic Finale). As a Cat Soldier, it offers duality with Rally the Ranks, but I'll get there soon. Overall, Leonin is a solid turn 4 play under most circumstances.
⭆ Felidar Retreat is a great card at a mana value of 4, and it helps build defense while you're accumulating devotion. Not to mention the benefit of offering up +1/+1 across the board, Felidar is making Cat tokens and giving them steroids.
⭆ Rally the Ranks, very straightforward advice: Almost always pick Soldier creature type for most of your Rally pulls. If you find Leonin stepping up, and/or a Felidar on the field, by all means, choose Cat. Do not choose God/Demi God.
⭆ Swift Response is my only other removal spell, other than Banishing Light. It does well when an opponent attacks, and it can help protect Basri, Elspeth, or your own life. It works well against flyers, and of course, really large threats.
⭆ Semester's End I threw in recently, to provide solace to Basri, Elspeth, and Leonin. The real show is with Reverent Hoplite, while not a common play, it offers an extra batch of 1/1 tokens.
⭆ Always create Soldier tokens, it's very much the bread of the deck. Those 1/1's will quickly arrive as 2/2, 3/3, and even 4/4 with Rally the Ranks and/or Dramatic Finale.
⭆ Flyers are the worst, I also found the deck losing to Knights pretty often, maybe there's something to that.
☼ 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙤 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙨 + 𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙨 ☼
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