Locations
As previews for Journey into Nyx wrapped up last week, a card was revealed that will make many players want to build white decks for Standard. However, this card isn't anything new. In fact, it's been around for quite a while. The card? Banishing Light.
A new version of Oblivion Ring, Banish Light carries the new template, worded so that you can't bounce or sacrifice the card with its ability on the stack to permanently exile your target. That was always a fringe case, however, and for the most part, Banishing Light will play just like Oblivion Ring. With a new pantheon of indestructible Gods to deal with, the card will be more valuable than ever. Here's the budget deck I built to take advantage of it.
Mono-White ? Standard | Mike Cannon
- Creatures (27)
- 3 Banisher Priest
- 4 Boros Elite
- 4 Daring Skyjek
- 4 Loyal Pegasus
- 4 Precinct Captain
- 4 Sightless Brawler
- 4 Soldier of the Pantheon
- Spells (13)
- 4 Brave the Elements
- 4 Banishing Light
- 3 Spear of Heliod
- 2 Hall of Triumph
- Lands (20)
- 20 Plains
The Creatures
Boros Elite has been a staple of white aggro decks for a while. It doesn't get in much damage right away, attacking for just 1, but as soon as you have three attackers, it will triple in size, smashing in for 3 damage and making even most 2-drops seem small by comparison.
Loyal Pegasus is the new kid on the block, but we saw a similar card last year with War Falcon. Unlike the Falcon, the Pegasus can't attack on the second turn, but it's still a 2-power flyer for just 1 mana. That gives you a consistent source of damage against decks like Monsters that have few creatures with flying.
Precinct Captain has always been fairly good, but with how much Standard has slowed down this year, it's better than ever. There are far fewer situation in which you'll be facing down a 3/3 on the second turn, making the Captain look silly. If you can push a few hits in, Precinct Captain will make some Soldier tokens for you, and those can be pretty relevant in a deck with five ways to pump them up.
Sightless Brawler is new in Journey into Nyx, and it's a card that I haven't seen garnering much attention. The bestow part doesn't look good on paper, but it can be valuable late in the game if you have a big creature you need to tangle with. However, the real power of this card is in its mana cost. As a 3/2 for 2 mana, it's a solid aggressive creature on par with red cards like Gore-House Chainwalker and Mogg Flunkies. The drawback is the same as that on Loyal Pegasus, but remember that you can still attack if you have both of them on the battlefield.
Even with access to Banishing Light, Banisher Priest is still a valuable piece of removal, exiling any creature and putting another threat on the battlefield. Whereas Banishing Light is mostly for getting rid of your opponent's largest and most significant threats, Banisher Priest is great at just clearing out a blocker while giving you another creature to work with.
The Spells
I've already said a lot about Banishing Light, but it really is that good. Those who have been reading my articles for a while know that Oblivion Ring was a regular feature in this column, appearing almost every time I built a deck that could make white mana. I have no doubt Banishing Light will suffer the same fate. Get used to this card being around—you're going to see a lot of it.
Spear of Heliod makes all your creatures a bit bigger, which can help your game plan in multiple ways. First of all, it can immediately present another 3 or 4 damage depending on how many creatures you have on the battlefield. Unlike another creature, you don't have to wait a turn to make something happen with that extra power. It can also destroy any creature that hits you for 3 mana, making racing difficult.
Hall of Triumph is effectively another two copies of Spear of Heliod. Although it can't destroy creatures, the fact that the Spear is legendary means drawing multiples is not good. Hall of Triumph allows you to play five copies of the effect. You can also cast one copy of each to double up on your power-pumping capabilities.
Brave the Elements is a huge reason to play white. With devotion and the Gods forming a major part of the Standard environment, decks that play one color or skew heavily toward one color are common. That means Brave the Elements will often make all your creatures unblockable for 1 mana. Casting larger creatures is a common strategy for beating aggressive decks, but Brave the Elements lets you punch through for damage no matter how large your opponent's creatures are.
It's Your Turn Now
With Journey into Nyx hitting store shelves in just under two weeks, I want to see your ideas with the set. If you have a budget deck you're planning on putting together or something you've been working on for a while, send me a link on Twitter, where you can find me under @MTGCannon. In a future article, I'll be showing off some of my favorite submissions, so get brewing! I'm eager to see what you all can come up with.
