The Cult of Innistrad
This is a casual Theme Deck based on Humans of Innistrad. All creatures are found on the plane of Innistrad, though this deck also features spells from sets featuring Theros and Ravnica. This creates a good balance of function and flavor, giving the deck enough power to hold its own while keeping the Power Level (and card cost) at a casual level.
It's totally not a protest about WOTC's random PR-stunt. Changing a game because of a temporary movement could never backfire in any way. Totally a good move for a large company.
Free For All
This deck is designed for Free For All kitchen table games. The goal is to maintain enough board presence to keep multiple opponents at bay while you build your army. The strategy resembles a typical White Weenie strategy, though it does have some control elements to help in longer games.
Politics are often an important part of Free For All matches, and this deck greatly benefits from not being the only target on the board. The games also last longer than normal 1v1 matches, allowing you to build up your board before swinging for the kill. The early-game creatures are not very threatening offensively, but they offer solid protection from combat damage.
However, this deck has very few ways to counter direct damage from spells, which puts it into a huge disadvantage against Burn decks. However, the multiplayer aspect creates a significant challenge to the Burn archetype, so encountering is quite uncommon.
Creatures
Thraben Valiant, Elite Inquisitor, Champion of the Parish and Hanweir Militia Captain
are your early-game creatures. They are not very intimidating immediately, but the can become very powerful later. Hanweir Militia Captain
turns into Westvale Cult Leader, creating Human Cleric Tokens and growing stronger at the same time. Champion of the Parish benefits greatly from this, since each human that enters the battlefield under your control makes it stronger. Elite Inquisitor's and Thraben Valiant's Vigilance is also a very important keyword since it allows you to be far more aggressive than normally. Inquisitor also has First Strike, and Valiant can also gain it from Ethereal Armor.
Your mid-game creatures are Silverblade Paladin and Odric, Lunarch Marshal. Silverblade Paladin can give Double Strike to a creature of you choice, boosting their damage potential. Finally, arguably the most impactful creature you can cast: Odric, Lunarch Marshal. He has the ability to share keywords to your entire board. Vigilance from Valiant or Inquisitor, First Strike from Inquisitor or E-Armor and Double Strike from Paladin are given to all of your creatures. The sheer amount of offensive pressure this can create will often be enough to end games if your opponents cannot wipe the board. This will make you the largest threat on the board, so keep that in mind when you play this card.
The true finisher, however, is Ormendahl, Profane Prince. Transforming Westvale Abbey
comes at a very steep cost of 5 creatures and , but it's well worth the price. This Demon is an enormous 9/7 Flying creature, and with the addition of Haste, it can sometimes kill a player immediately. He also has Lifelink and Indestructible, making him very difficult to get rid of and gaining you enough life to withstand almost anything.
If you're aiming for a true overkill, Odric, Lunarch Marshall + Ormendahl, Profane Prince Combo is the way to go. Giving your whole board (which is probably quite small if you just summoned Ormendahl) Haste, Flying, Lifelink and Indestructible will allow you to establish a nearly unbreakable board presence. Add Vigilance and Double Strike from the smaller creatures and your army can truly demolish your opponents.
Spells
Crusade can give a solid boost to your while board. It also affects your opponents' white creatures, but most of the time the benefit you gain from it far surpasses this drawback. Ethereal Armor can be used to turn one of your creatures into a very strong fighter. The best early-game target for it is Thraben Valiant, since Vigilance allows it to attack far more aggressively while still being to function as an excellent blocker. In the mid- to late-game, Westvale Cult Leader and Odric, Lunarch Marshal are more suitable targets for it.
Collective Effort can be used both offensively and defensively. It can give a permanent boost to all your creatures, destroy enchantments and take down large creatures, making it a very versatile card for almost any situation. Bonds of Faith is also a very potent spell in this deck. It can either function as Pacifism or as +2/+2 enchantment on your own creatures while simultaneously boosting Ethereal Armor's effectiveness.
Auras are often considered high-risk spells, but the sheer power of Ethereal Armor more than makes up for the risk of removal. Bonds of Faith is more risky when used to boost your creatures, but the fact that it can also function as "removal" allows it to stay relevant regardless.
Finally, Silence can be used to shut down an opponent for a turn, slowing them down significantly in mid-to late-game. It can also be used to protect you from disruption on your turn, though that is rarely necessary. Banishing Light is a very powerful form of removal that can hit almost anything, though it is quite expensive to cast. It should be saved for truly game-ending creatures or combo pieces. Early-game creatures might deal some damage in the first few turns, but they become insignificant once you are able to set up your board. The notable exception to this is Flyers, since you don't have any flying creatures except Ormendahl.
The End
And that about sums up this deck. I decided to mainly use cards from Planes of Innistrad, Theros and Ravnica, and I'm quite happy with how this deck turned out. The subtle theme of a religious group turning into a cult gives this deck a nice amount of spice when compared to the more common themes in white color. Overall, this is one of my favorite decks so far. Also, it can be adjusted to make it Modern-legal by replacing the 4 Crusade cards with Glorious Anthems. Or wait until they get unbanned. That is also an option.
(And yes, Thraben Valiant is not optimal card here. Loyal Cathar
also fits the theme, and is better in almost every way. No Zombies for me though, Valiant stays.)
