If there's been one solid consistency in my time as a competitive Magic player, it's how much I love a good White Weenies deck. Ever since I delved deep into the competitive side of the game in the early 2010s, it was just something I gravitated to. Tempered Steel may have worked so well because it utilized artifacts, but it was a White deck at its core and utilized its colors to great effect. Mono-White Heroic in Theros Standard, Mono-White Aggro in Eldritch Moon Standard, Mono-White in Guilds of Ravnica Standard, and even Mono-White in the post-Midnight Hunt Standard. I've played so much White Aggro - or White Weenies - it's been nothing short of a staple in my play style.

While I've certainly played it time after time in a myriad of ways over the years, I've rarely gone as deep with it as I did when MTG Arena came about. I would just grind game after game after game with these decks, and it showed. I was borderline obsessive with the amount I played Mono-White Aggro during the Guilds of Ravnica Standard before Esper Control started to dominate. Similarly, recently did I fall in love hard with the one post Midnight Hunt - especially on the back of its primary legendary top end: Adeline, Resplendent Cathar.

Every time I'd play Adeline it felt like I was just doing it right. I was rewarded for playing creature after creature, and she even made more herself. Not only that, but in doing so it made her stronger and stronger. The more I played with her, the more it just seemed like a no-brainer to eventually make a Commander deck around her. Her ability is even tailor made for the format, as attacking just one player will make you tokens counting each opponent instead. That means you get even more value and get even more weenies! In short, I simply couldn't resist.

Let's check out a list and start building the horde!

Adeline Weenies | Commander | Paige Smith

• Commander (1)
• 1 Adeline, Resplendent Cathar

• Creatures (40)
• 1 Abzan Falconer
• 1 Angel of Glory's Rise
• 1 Angel of Jubilation
• 1 Archivist of Oghma
• 1 Bastion Protector
• 1 Benalish Marshal
• 1 Captain of the Watch
• 1 Cathar Commando
• 1 Champion of the Parish
• 1 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
• 1 Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
• 1 Devout Chaplain
• 1 Esper Sentinel
• 1 Fiend Hunter
• 1 Frontline Medic
• 1 Giver of Runes
• 1 Goldnight Commander
• 1 Guardian of Faith
• 1 Hanweir Militia Captain // Westvale Cult Leader
• 1 Hero of Bladehold
• 1 Hopeful Initiate
• 1 Intrepid Adversary
• 1 Kabira Vindicator
• 1 Knight of the White Orchid
• 1 Lion Sash
• 1 Luminarch Aspirant
• 1 Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch
• 1 Mother of Runes
• 1 Odric, Master Tactician
• 1 Palace Jailer
• 1 Rumor Gatherer
• 1 Selfless Spirit
• 1 Skyclave Apparition
• 1 Student of Warfare
• 1 Sun Titan
• 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
• 1 Thalia's Lieutenant
• 1 Weathered Wayfarer

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Ajani Goldmane
• 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

• Instants (5)
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Return to Dust
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Unbreakable Formation

• Sorceries (2)
• 1 Winds of Abandon
• 1 Wrath of God

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Honor of the Pure
• 1 Legion's Landing // Adanto, the First Fort
• 1 Sanctuary Lockdown
• 1 Spear of Heliod

• Artifacts (8)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Heraldic Banner
• 1 Marble Diamond
• 1 Maul of the Skyclaves
• 1 Slayer's Plate
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sword of the Animist

• Lands (37)
• 20 Snow-Covered Plains
• 1 Arch of Orazca
• 1 Castle Ardenvale
• 1 Cave of the Frost Dragon
• 1 Drifting Meadow
• 1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1 Faceless Haven
• 1 Flagstones of Trokair
• 1 Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1 Karn's Bastion
• 1 Mistveil Plains
• 1 Mutavault
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Secluded Steppe
• 1 War Room
• 1 Windbrisk Heights

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When building this list, the big thing I wanted was for this to be as much of a White Weenies deck as possible. When it comes to a Mono-White list like this, it's very easy to end up devolving into other strategies. When I say White Weenies, I think more about playing actual cards and using them to attack, but for some it might mean a token deck. You could also frame this very easily as skewing much more heavily toward being an equipment deck, which I also didn't want to do.

That's not to say there aren't elements of both here. There's a lot of great weenie creatures, artifacts, or lands that also happen to make some tokens. Castle Ardenvale works well because it's a land that just happens to make tokens. Legion's Landing is first and foremost one aggressive creature that easily turns into a land to make more tokens. Hanweir Militia Captain is here to be a big creature that also makes a few tokens too. Similarly with equipment, adding cards like Sword of the Animist, Darksteel Plate, and Maul of the Skyclaves helps Adeline get in for damage.

As with any good weenie deck, though, you've got to be filling it with no shortage of anthems, and boy do we ever have anthems! Yes, there are some simple ones here. Honor of the Pure, Spear of Heliod, and Benalish Marshal are all simple, no frills, and easy to understand. But then you get ones with extra buffs or extra effects. Mikaeus, the Lunarch and Ajani Goldmane both spit out a ton of tokens. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Hero of Bladehold dish out the pumps while also making a bunch of tokens in the process. Things especially get out of hand if you can put down a Goldnight Commander because that buff just grows tremendously. You can even shut down opponents' small creatures with the aid of Crovax, Ascendant Hero.

When it comes to drawing cards, I had to think about exactly how deep I wanted to go here. I obviously stuffed in a couple noteworthy inclusions like Archivist of Oghma and Rumor Gatherer, but there were others as well. Mentor of the Meek and Welcoming Vampire both seem like great choices at face value, but with how many anthems are in this list, they end up drawing far less cards as a result. Similarly, I considered a critical mass of cards like Thraben Inspector, Priest of Ancient Lore, and Inspiring Overseer but I felt like for the effects that just replace a single card, you'll likely get more mileage with other effects instead. Those effects en masse are great for 60 card Constructed, but are far less effective in Commander.

There are still some solid ways to get card advantage, though. Arch of Orazca and War Room can provide your card draw in a pinch. So too can Esper Sentinel. There's also the likes of Sword of the Animist and Weathered Wayfarer to go get lands out of your deck. Being a mono-colored deck, there's no shortage of basics to pull from. It may be a boring kind of card advantage, but it gets the lands out of your deck and makes your draws a lot meatier as a result. You can even get the monarch going on with Palace Jailer and draw cards that way!

At the end of the day, though, your goal is to beat your opponents' faces in. The cards here do it well enough on their own with potent beaters, strong anthems, and decent card advantage. Even if you overextend and someone tries to get you got, there's plenty of ways to survive as well. Unbreakable Formation, Guardian of Faith, Selfless Spirit, and Frontline Medic are all great ways to make sure you'll survive as many board wipes as it takes. At the end of the day, though, you'll be taking your opponents' life totals down to nothing in no time at all.

That's why I love Adeline. She just ramps up hard and fast and catches your opponent with their pants down. The beatings are fast and the curve is low (only four cards have a mana value greater than four). It's a great deck for anyone to pick up and play regardless of your skill level. All that means is it should make for one heck of a good time at your next Commander night. A lot of these cards are readily and easily available with any expensive ones easily swappable with the myriad of great weenie cards out there. Give it a try, and you'll see what makes Adeline so damn awesome!

Paige Smith

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