This is a U/W heroic deck built for competitive play. I intend to bring it to the next PPTQ. Descriptions and reasoning behind card choices below.
Creatures:
Battlewise Hoplite
: Standard U/W creature. Not much to say here.
Favored Hoplite
: See above.
Hero of Iroas
: See above.
Monastery Mentor: This card is up there with Tasigur as one of the best best cards from Fate Reforged. I believe he has a place in this shell. We can protect him and trigger prowess very easily. His tokens give us a second win condition by being able to go wide. The tokens can easily chump block as well allowing us to race decks such as Abzan Aggro and Mono Red Aggro. He is a great top of the curve card and I think many U/W heroic decks will begin playing him. I might bring him to a four of, all dependent on the continued performance of the next creature below...
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest: On paper, he may look slow or out of place. I decided to test him and he's actually been performing quite well. Did a Sultai deck resolve a whip? You can still win with him on the field. He can let our creatures make favorable trades with double strike and much more. Some argue he's a "win more" card, but I disagree. Drop an
Aqueous Form
on him and he's suddenly swinging for 8 if you can pay the extra two. Being able to do that after he is cured of summoning sickness isn't a win more condition. He also lets us get past any deathtouch with the first strike part of double strike. His humble presence just makes it a lot harder on the opponent when assigning blocks just with the fact you can instant speed double strike one of your creatures. If he performs better than he is now as the meta continues, he may even become a two of. However, if he begins falling off and his performance becomes lack luster, than he'll be replaced by a fourth Monastery Mentor.
Enchantments:
Aqueous Form
: Pretty core part of U/W heroic. Unblockable allows us to race with ease and the scry sets up our draws to help close out the game. Without Heliod's Pilgrim, I have this as a four of for the best chance to draw.
Ordeal of Thassa
: Core part of U/W heroic. Not much to say here other than card draw wins games.
Ordeal of Heliod
: I have this as a four for consistency reasons. Gain 10 life is usually always good and pumping our heroic creatures is important.
Instants:
Gods Willing: Core part of U/W heroic. Scry sets up our draws and it offers a heroic trigger and a protection from any targeted spell. Always run this as a four of.
Defiant Strike
: This is a good mainboard card that I usually side out after g1. This lets us draw a card, trade favorably, and trigger prowess/heroic. Siding this out gives us room to become versatile in our second game without losing any core parts of the deck.
Ajani's Presence: Another protection spell that may not protect as much as God's Willing, but also buffs our creature temporarily and can allow us to make easily favorable trades. The strive is an added bonus for later stages of the game to allow Monastery Mentor tokens to chump twice or trade. I don't run a four of because indestructible is not as versatile as a counter spell, but this allows us to trade and trigger prowess/heroic.
Stubborn Denial: This card is great here. It allows us to protect as well as make tempo plays by countering Whip of Erebos, Sorin, Solemn Visitor, and many others. The only downside is is that it doesn't trigger heroic and it requires one of our creatures at power 4 or greater which isn't that hard to do. This is also the only card in the deck that can stop a Crackling Doom.
Lands:
I was at twenty two lands, but I found I got more land that was necessary. This deck can easily work with three to four lands on the field. Tranquil Cove at a 2 of added consistency of colors while also not diminishing the amount of untapped lands we have too much.
Sideboard:
Mortal's Ardor
: This card I feel is extremely underestimated. This card will win games against any deck that tries racing you such as Abzan Aggro, Gruul, Mono Red, or Jeskai Aggro. I usually take out Defiant Strike for this card.
Monastery Siege
: This card is something I'm testing and so far has performed very well. Its second ability is absolutely amazing against Jeskai Tokens as well as any control deck. The first ability will let you come back from a slow start by finding the cards you need. It's been an underdog all star so far and I'll continue testing to see how it goes. It might be worth to bring in against Abzan, but I'm not sure yet.
Stubborn Denial: This card is our only way to stop Crackling Doom and one of the few ways to stop board wipes. I almost always bring this in against Mardu, decks that run many different types of removal such as Abzan (exile from charm, destroy from cut and downfall, as well as End Hostilities), and any deck that runs a lot of planeswalkers.
Valorous Stance
: I thought this was mainboard worthy, but with four cards in our main at three cmc and only twenty lands, it was hard to leave this up as a protection card. It definitely deserves a spot in the deck as it hits Siege Rhino, Anafenza, Butcher, and Courser. It's a great card against most decks running green and Abzan.
Glare of Heresy
: This card is specifically here for the Abzan matchup. Hits Sorin, Elspeth, Siege Rhino, Fleecemane, Anafenza, and much more. I want this at a four of, but I'm not sure whats worth taking out just yet.
Treasure Cruise: Against any deck that tries to destroy your creatures and enchantments early and then take the game into the later stages, you'll probably want this card in. It lets you make a comeback from a bad board state and is virtually three free cards in the mid game to late game portions. Jeskai is a deck that I almost always bring this in against.
Disdainful Stroke: It's hard to have the land untapped for this but it's pretty explosive when you land one. Being able to stop Stormbreath, Siege Rhino, planeswalkers, and board wipe before they hit the field is huge. I only have the one of due to land constraints.
That's it. If you could please your thoughts and suggestions that would be great.
