Deck Rating: 5 out of 10
Deck Strategy: Voltron, Lifegain
The moment I pulled Evra, Halcyon Witness from my first Dominaria booster, I knew I had to build an EDH deck around her. This swordswoman's ability is as unique as it is fearsome, as devastating as it is risky. The core challenge of playing Evra arises before the game even starts. The ability to swing out and kill a player so easily by Commander Damage attracts unwanted attention; you will find yourself the subject of (preventative) removal and aggression more often than not. In case your opponents don't recognize the threat that Evra poses, a single killing stroke of her sword tends to wise them up quick.
The trick in constructing an Evra deck is not in making sure it is sufficiently powerful - she's got that covered all by herself. It's building a low-to-the-ground support structure that can ward off early aggression until other decks pop off and take the focus. Now the deck transitions to a savior role; for instance, using your Disenchant and Abolish to remove board-wide oppression cards will allow you to curry goodwill with the other 2 players. Hang in the background, and let opponents chip away at one another. When they have worn each other down, bring out Evra, kit her out with equipment, and start murdering.
This deck went through a number of iterations. Initially it was all about the Voltron, getting her out ASAP for quick kills. Yet this resulted in immediate Archenemy status - the whole table saves their spot removal to make sure Evra stays in the Command Zone more often than not. Mono-White's limited ability to ramp forces you to be cautious, lest that all-important commander gets taxed out of your reach. I found more success in 'hiding' the Voltron theme in an artifact-based Value/Lifegain sub-theme. Building a wide board with Equipment and high-efficiency creatures attracts little attention if your opponents are doing flashier things - exactly as planned.
As you move towards the late game, you can prepare the killing stroke. There are a number of ways to set this off; Rout at instant speed during the final end step before your turn is a favorite of mine. Not many creatures are key to this deck; they are disposable bodies, and if boardwiped will leave gear like Swiftfoot Boots behind for Evra to don once she steps into the empty field. From that point, getting a hit in is cursory, and one swap with Evra is enough to set her up as a game-ending threat.
Using Evra's ability can be finicky, and it is one of the weak points of the deck if exploited. After all, swapping your double-digit life total with Evra's paltry 4 power puts you in danger of prompt death by means of a burn spell. Of course, Evra's power becomes massive in turn, so if she hits you'll heal it all right back. Ideally, you want to minimize the time you spend hanging by a thread.
How to do that? Here are some things to keep in mind.
- Raise Evra's power. Using Equipment to raise Evra's power before you execute the swap will give you a more forgiving buffer against damage spells. For example, slapping O-Naginata and Hero's Blade on Evra beforehand will leave you at 10 life; a lot less prone to a humiliating death by Pulse of the Forge or similar nonsense.
- Swap at the last moment. Attacking a player with Evra should always put them on high alert. Provided they can block, they likely will, and they may get spooked into dropping instants or other interactions. You have until the last second before combat damage is dealt to decide whether to swap or not. Use that time, and make your opponents sweat.
- Keeping Evra alive. Considering Evra's reasonably high cost and White's poor toolkit for dealing with an escalating commander tax, throwing her life away casually is unwise. Hitting once with a life-swapped Evra is a return on investment, yes; the real profit comes when you can swing with her roided-out form multiple times. Lifelinking for double digits is a good time any way you shake it, and there are plenty of cards in the deck that take advantage of it. As such, try to engineer situations through Protection/Hexproof/Unblockable Equipment stacking that allow you to keep your commander alive.
So now we know how we can use Evra. But how does the deck keep itself on the field?
Here are the 5 pillars:
- Card Draw. Hard to come by in White, but not impossible. Skullclamp does a ton of work, as always. The -costed sacrificial artifacts (Implement of Improvement, Soul-Guide Lantern, Sunbeam Spellbomb) all provide card draw, and can be recurred in a variety of ways, most efficiently and consistently using Auriok Salvagers. Dawn of Hope and Well of Lost Dreams allow you to turn lifegain into card advantage, while Court of Grace is a wonderful combo platter of drawing and disposable bodies.
- Lifegain. You will find this deck getting poked a lot; those in the know will attempt to KO the Evra player early, and others may copy their threat assessment. Block accordingly: the only must-stop attackers are Commanders - the rest can simply be healed back. As such, the deck contains a multitude of lifegain effects, both incremental (Leonin Elder - don't forget the triggers on other players' artifacts!) and massive (a late-game Archangel's Light does work). Resist the temptation to swing with your lifelinkers unless you're positive you can knock a player out - keep them up as blockers, and sustain yourself quietly. Fly under the radar, or risk the pile-on.
- Ramp, if you can believe it. Yes, minor ramp and fixing is in fact possible in White. Sol Ring is a must-include. tutor artifacts (Expedition Map, Wayfarer's Bauble) are easily recurrable to keep hitting land drops. Extraplanar Lens shines here, effectively doubling your Plains' mana while it remains on the field. Endless Horizons is a very cool card that benefits from game sense. Early on, it can fix consistent land drops, though you should be wary of removal. If it gets removed, you're not getting back those exiled lands! Exercise your own best judgment when deciding how many Plains to exile. If your mana base is already established, don't be shy! Sift out all those Plains, and draw nothing but gas for the rest of the game!
- Removal, both single-target and boardwipes. None of them should be used lightly, and never to create value unless you're certain you can leverage it into a win. Instead, remove only game-changing cards that also affect you, making sure to emphasize to the other players that you're saving their collective asses! Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares will show any creature threat the door (especially combined with Glaring Spotlight to circumvent the hexproof keyword). Disenchant and Abolish take care of enchantments and artifacts, and Generous Gift is the wildcard option for any situation. Use creature wipes like Day of Judgment, Wrath of God and Rout judiciously - only when an opponent's board is overwhelming you, or when you're sure you can set up a swift Evra execution.
- Endgame cards. These big splashies will allow you to come back strong, or close out a game. Just be aware that they steal the spotlight more often than not. Divine Visitation turns all your token generation into an angelic horde - combo with Storm Herd for extra spice. Light of Promise on any lifelinker is an exponential threat at least, while Blade of Selves is just mean on a roided-out Evra (though buyer beware: commander copies don't do commander damage). Lastly, Nykthos Paragon is a joy on any big board that can make huge life gains happen.
Combos and Interactions
Not a combo deck, this. Nevertheless, interactions aplenty:
- Salvaging Station and Auriok Salvagers turn the and artifacts' incremental value into a never-ending feast. If it's cheap, you can get it back. Beyond the card-draw and ramp applications, think about the protection potential in an ever-returning Welding Jar, or consider the game-ending strength of deploying Glaring Spotlight's sac effect every turn.
- Give Rhox Faithmender some Lightning Greaves and keep him safe at home. All your lifegain just got so much better, as did everything that triggers off it.
- Protection as a keyword might not see print so much anymore, but damn is it ever versatile. Make sure to use Mother of Runes, Apostle's Blessing and Razor Barrier to the fullest, as per the DEBT acronym (that is to say, a protected permanent can't be Damaged, Enchanted/Equipped, Blocked or Targeted by a thing it's protected against). Save your stuff from removal! Turn unfavorable combats to your advantage! Sneak Evra past a whole board of blockers!
Pet Cards
To me, Commander is a format where fun is first, and competition second. As such, almost every deck I make will have some cards that are probably not the best choice for inclusion. They're there to stay, though, for no other reason that I like their art/flavor/design.
- Beacon of Immortality - Probably not the most efficient card in this deck, but real fun when enabling stuff like Storm Herd, Nykthos Paragon or Light of Promise.
- Inventors' Fair - Might be better in a fully artifact-focused deck. But the incremental value helps, and the tutor effect has saved my skin more than once.
- Oketra's Monument - With only 13 White creatures in the deck, it's not all that effective. Still, White needs all the help it can get in the mana department, and the free tokens are good chumpers. With Divine Visitation out, this one becomes a bit more palatable.
- Hope of Ghirapur - Such a fun and flavorful little legendary! However, if you can make it evasive - and we've got Manifold Key, Rogue's Passage, Prowler's Helm and Whispersilk Cloak to help with that - you can absolutely hose creature-poor decks. Better yet, you can recur it with Auriok Salvagers before the start of your next turn and keep the pain train going!
Maybeboard Musings
I'll keep adding maybeboard considerations to these decks, as they're a good place to discuss the has-beens, coulda-beens and also-rans that didn't make the cut.
- War Room. Simple availability prevented this one's inclusion. I own only one copy, and that's in my Mono-Red Jeska-Rograkh setup (Jeska Jank) - that deck needs the card-draw more, bless it. When I find another copy, this one's going straight in, likely swapping out with Zhalfirin Void.
- Serra Ascendant. Unequivocally fantastic in EDH...with a price tag to match. Too rich for my tastes, though if the price ever drops through reprints (unlikely), I might see my way clear to grabbing it...
If you liked this deck, please leave an Upvote, or write a comment below! If you want to see more mechanically interesting decks with detailed write-ups, head to my user page. Here you can easily find all of my decks, listed by color combination, commander and mechanics!
Flip
