Balan, the Steamroller

Commander / EDH Aggro Artifact Casual Competitive Mono-White Voltron

Tybolt

Artifact (23)

• 1x Argentum Armor
• 1x Batterskull
• 1x Blackblade Reforged
• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Colossus Hammer
• 1x Conqueror's Flail
• 1x Grafted Exoskeleton
• 1x Hammer of Nazahn
• 1x Loxodon Warhammer
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mystic Forge
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1x Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1x Sword of Sinew and Steel
• 1x Sword of Vengeance
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Instant (7)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Forsake the Worldly
• 1x Heliod's Intervention
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Scout's Warning
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Creature (18)

• 1x Argivian Archaeologist
• 1x Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1x Devoted Caretaker
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Leonin Abunas
• 1x Luminous Broodmoth
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Noble Templar
• 1x Puresteel Paladin
• 1x Relic Seeker
• 1x Restoration Specialist
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Taj-Nar Swordsmith
• 1x Thalia's Lancers

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Armageddon
• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Open the Vaults
• 1x Sevinne's Reclamation
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Terminus
• 1x Winds of Abandon
• 1x Wrath of God

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Sigarda's Aid *f-pre*
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Commander (1)

Land (36)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Desert of the True
• 1x Dust Bowl
• 1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Kor Haven
• 1x Mistveil Plains
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Petrified Field
• 20x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 1x Zhalfirin Void

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1x Nahiri, the Lithomancer

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Hi everyone. This is a Balan deck I've been working on for some time now. I feel the recent addition of Smothering Tithe could potentially make mono-white a little more competitive by allowing me to speed up, so I finally decided to show it to the world. The pool is pretty similar the other Balan decks out there, but there's also only so many options when playing voltron.

I feel this deck is somewhat competitive with but it really depends on what you're matched against. Have fun!

Cards I'd like to consider:

Helm of the Host - This was swapped out for Mystic Forge as of M20. While Helm has a few hilarious interactions with ETB creatures, homing in on big hits and kills with Balan might be wiser. Going to see if Forge can help with that.

Topple the Statue - Very relevant against a lot of competitive decks right now, I feel. Plus it's a cantrip!

Winds of Abandon - It's as close to a white version of Cyclonic Rift as we're gonna get.

Magus of the Balance - Played with Teferi's Protection for maximum effect. This (sometimes) slower revision of Balance can be crippling but it's slow, a combo, and doesn't guarantee a closeout. Probably can get me kicked out of a play group too.

Jester's Cap - This is mostly for the one guy at the game store who plays a combo deck that sets up with a Cyclonic Rift. This is straight-out hate until it eventually, hopefully gets banned.

Aven Mindcensor - This is also for a way to hate out the Cyclonic Rift guy. It can delay a combo/infinite that requires searching but it doesn't do anything to help me win. Seems too slow.

Dispatch - I always feel like some additional spot removal could help, but this feels too conditional also, even moreso in a deck that's taking advantage of white's ability to be the board arbiter.

Akroma's Vengeance - I had considered listing Cleansing Nova over this, due to its ability to nuke creatures without wiping out my precious artifacts, but the additional cycling could help, and the spell itself might also be useful in a board state where resetting everything is absolutely necessary.

Play of the Game - The ultimate board reset and recursion ender. Since white can't draw cards, I can't really see this having any benefit besides trying to grief virtually everyone else at the table, though.

Howling Mine - White can't draw, but I haven't quite yet decided if this would just make everyone else combo off faster or not. It's honestly almost worth it just for the chance of me getting Balantron assembled quicker.

Dawn Charm - A COUNTER IN WHITE, BABY. Well, being able to regenerate or avoid getting killed by infinity damage creatures for one turn might also be useful too.

Treasure Map   - This feels like a given with Smothering Tithe but it doesn't feel great that I also need to actually draw both of them to get what is essentially an extra draw each turn. Feels like just another combo that I have to hope for. If I land the tithe, it almost feels more beneficial to just use it to ramp into bigger threats and try seizing the game immediately.

Remorseful Cleric - Pure graveyard hate. Could be a store meta decision.

Scout's Warning - I've had a few times where I've wished I could have flashed in Balan when she couldn't get hasted. Plus it's a cantrip. I just don't know what I'd replace for it.

Hyena Umbra - A chance to protect Balan seems good, but there's still the issue of fitting it into the deck.

Inquisitor's Flail - There's many situations where an unblockable Balan could immediately take someone out of the game. This doesn't feel like something I can overlook.

Mind Stone - It's a mana rock with a draw ability, but it doesn't feel too worth it, even with white's inability to draw.

Peacekeeper - This is a humorous stall tactic in aggro matchups but it just gets all the targeted hate pointed my way.

Transcendent Master - I could see this working with a bunch of Smothering Tithe tokens. Could potentially be the only non-Balan creature capable of closing a game in this deck.

Karmic Justice - I love the idea of this card, but it does little in helping me bounce back aside from hopefully slowing down my opponents, who most likely will be able to recover faster if they're not mono-white.

Thran Dynamo - Rotated this around with the Mana Crypt but I'm not sure if trying to fit in both may be acceptable or not.

Alms Collector - Feels like a good potential draw engine, especially useful as a way to stop someone that may combo off into drawing their entire deck for a wincon.

Mirage Mirror - Mystic Remora in white, anybody? It's super costly but it could help with those precious card draws.

Armory Automaton - Mecha Balan, but weaker. Could be really entertaining against another artifact deck.

Mother of Runes - I feel like Devoted Caretaker is just better for this style of deck. Balan can be recast, my artifacts and enchantments... Not so much.

Containment Priest - This feels like another "stop someone from comboing off" card, which isn't what this deck should be focusing on.

Silent Arbiter - This seems worth consideration because my damage is strictly output by one creature under most circumstances.

Arch of Orazca - Card draw in white? Sure. The cost to do it? Well...

Sphinx's Decree - This can sometimes be as devastating as an Armageddon in a pinch where you're about to close the game, but it's a bit too situational.

Oblation - Card draw with maybe ADDITIONAL card draw if Sram, Senior Edificer is out? Sure thing.

Karn, the Great Creator - A way to retrieve equipment from exile, you say? Has a lot of utility.

Gideon Blackblade - Has some potential use as an way to exile, not to mention an additional body to put some equipment on. Not sure if I'm hyping him because War of the Spark just came out though.

Ignite the Beacon - One way to tutor the exactly two Planeswalkers in this deck. Seems useful?

Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle - More ways to get back destroyed equipment.

Ravnica at War - Potentially a miss when you need it most.

Bloodforged Battle-Axe - A consideration as of late, feels like it could become unmanageable for opponents very quickly.

Canadian Highlander "sideboard":

I'd began to consider having some alternate cards in the event I'd like to use this deck for use in Canadian Highlander, as there are several more potential potent options that are normally unavailable!

Karakas - The king of threat mitigation!

Limited Resources - This feels too devious to pass up.

Balance - There's a reason why this is banned in Commander.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	4 years
Exclude colors	UBRG
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 43 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 5 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.92
Tokens	Emblem Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Kor Soldier 1/1 W, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Soldier 1/1 W, Stoneforged Blade, Treasure
Folders	Tybolt's Decks