I'm guessing you don't like ORI gideon then...

@wtfmidun

It's too early to say for sure, but Burnished Hart might be a future cut. Mainly because Sword of the Animist now exists.

@Asher18

Kytheon, Hero of Akros  ^Flip is tricky to flip in this deck. I don't often have enough creatures I'm willing to attack with just to flip him and his Gideon, Battle-Forged  ^Flip side is pretty much a smaller version of Gideon Jura, which I didn't really enjoy using.

All of Gideon's cards have the same issues: lackluster + abilities and no proper ultimate to build up to. Hopefully this trend doesn't continue with his next card.

hmmm. Exalted Angel then?

@Asher18

Exalted Angel isn't that great of a card, mainly because it has aged poorly. More recent cards have outclassed it, such as Baneslayer Angel.

Regardless, I want to keep the number of vanilla creatures to an absolute minimum. I'm content with just Serra Ascendant and Transcendent Master as the generic beaters of the deck.

is your problem with Academy Rector getting rid of her? I will say though this mitigates board wipes and also gives someone a reason to attack someone besides you. I also recommend/agree with the Burnished Hart cut. I'd consider Gauntlet of Power I know it's symmetrical but in this deck, chances are the mana benefits you more than your opponents. Plus. it will usually be 2-1 or 3-1 advantage at worst.

Have you ever considered Chariot of Victory? It's a little expensive, but it's well worth the price.Another goody is Prowler's Helm.

@drobertson5539

This deck has no practical use for Academy Rector. I only have 4 enchantments in the deck and I don't want to use up a slot for a narrow tutor.

No interest in Gauntlet of Power. I'd rather use Extraplanar Lens again. Only costs and the symmetry can be broken with Snow-Covered Plains. But with Sword of the Animist now in the deck, I don't believe I'll need another mana doubler.

@HyperViper191

Almost. I have a foil Chariot of Victory sitting in a binder because Sword of Vengeance wins the stop in the deck over it.

No interest in Prowler's Helm. It doesn't do enough and it's not even that great of a card.

I know your not a fan of Grafted Exoskeleton because of the poison counters, and honestly I feel the same way, but have you considered Blight Sickle? Less boost, less costly, and wither rather than infect so no poison kills but still a way to remove indestructible creatures.

@kingshunter

Blight Sickle isn't that great of a card. A lackluster P/T boost and a keyword that doesn't aid in dealing Commander Damage is not what I want to be using. Godsend already does what Blight Sickle would do.

Hey I love the deck, but I am wondering why no Karn Liberated? If I'm not mistaken, he's pretty good in most commander decks right?

@TCGonline

The main reason to use Karn Liberated is for his -3 ability. He helps out colours that lack in removal.

White isn't lacking in removal. It has the most efficient spot removal spells, has a sweeper for every occasion, and is able to be rid of any permanent. My deck has no need for Karn Liberated.

has the swiss army knife of boardwipes :) Austere Command

Is the idea of Sword of Light and Shadow to equip it to another creature to give them the pro-white, then use Eight-and-a-Half-Tails to protect it? Because if you put it on your commander, it'll prevent you from using his ability on himself.

@dedbundy

Why would I need to give 8.5 protection from White when he already has it?

Hi there! I like this deck! Great job! I can see this has been really refined so it's hard to suggest anything. Here is my 2 cents if you will.

I just thought maybe you could switch Windborn Muse for Archangel of Tithes same cost with similar abilities? the Angel gives you more devotion for Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and forces your opponents not to tap out in order to block you.

Also I see you have Extraplanar Lens in your maybe list. I personally would swap Caged Sun for it. I find caged sun takes too long to get out there. However I see how the +1/+1 would be ideal especially for voltron. The potential couple turns you could have extraplanar lens out though might be stronger than the +1/+1? It also acts as a way to get less lands than your opponent for Land Tax or Weathered Wayfarer. Also Sun Titan could bring it back.

I don't like Unexpectedly Absent. Haha I'd rather have Oblivion Ring or Darksteel Mutation or Aura of Silence or Comeuppance or Aven Mindcensor. I find that card on the chopping block.

Some other utility land to think about although I'm not sure what you would cut for is Arcane Lighthouse and/or Deserted Temple. The temple with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is just oh so good or even Maze of Ith. With the amount of land tutor it would be nice to include into the toolkit.

Again I'm not sure what to cut for Ranger of Eos I think he warrants at least maybeboard status as he can tutor up Mother of Runes + Weathered Wayfarer or Serra Ascendant. Only creature tutor really for mono white.

I'd love for you to check out my deck and give feedback as well! Avacyn, The Worldslayer

I forgot to mention Extraplanar Lens would double your opponents white mana as well unless you run snow covered plains. However that makes it less hated and less likely to get nuked.

Sorry another update from the peanut gallery. Mikaeus, the Lunarch can be tutored by Ranger of Eos and might warrant a thought. Although again I wouldn't know what to drop for it. I would have to play a few games to see what sits in my hand.

@Boscogn

Windborn Muse is much more desirable in my deck over Archangel of Tithes:

• Windborn Muse is more defensive with it costing for each attacker.
• If I happen to attack with Windborn Muse, its effect isn't 'turned off'.
• Windborn Muse is recurrable with Reveillark.
• Archangel of Tithes' attack trigger isn't needed for a deck with only one other attacker.
• This deck is in no short supply of evasion options.

I don't believe swapping Caged Sun for Extraplanar Lens is a correct choice. Extraplanar Lens needs proper set-up for its imprint ability, whilst Caged Sun can be played whenever and can double the mana produced by nonbasics. I'm also convinced that I don't need any other mana doublers with Sword of the Animist now in the deck.

Unexpectedly Absent is a great tempo spell and acts like proper removal with the abundance of tutor and shuffle effects this game has. It also helps with White's slight lack of direct Planeswalker hate.

Not a huge fan of Oblivion Ring and other enchantment-based removal in Commander. I don't like removal that can be reversed, giving opponents the opportunity their threats back.

Aura of Silence was in my deck before. I don't remember why I cut other than needing space for Remember the Fallen at the time. I don't have the space for it anymore anyway.

No interest in Comeuppance. I don't like White's reactive removal.

No heavy need for Aven Mindcensor, and the similar creatures in my Maybeboard will most likely be dropped. The more I think about using these creatures, the more I feel like I'll dilute the deck with relatively situation hate cards and eat up space for future Equipment support (whenever THAT happens...)

I have absolutely no available space for more utility lands, nor do I have the desire to drop any that I currently use. I don't have a need for Arcane Lighthouse and I don't generate the amounts necessary out of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to warrant Deserted Temple's inclusion. Thespian's Stage is available to me if I want to double up on Maze of Ith.

I've given up on using a Ranger of Eos package. I don't want to add enough 1-drop creatures to make Ranger work and I don't want space in the deck locked-up if a desired creature ever pops up in new sets.

Great points. It's evident you've mastered this deck. It's very hard to even consider dropping a single card. What type of decks would you consider a "hard counter" to this one?

@Boscogn

I've had this deck for nearly 4 years. I've essentially exhausted all available options and mainly focus my attention on the newest releases for fresh additions. Trying to find cuts for new additions that aren't cards that I'm planning on dropping or obvious upgrades are painful.

Aside from crap like countermagic.dec, mindless combos builds that try to go off by Turn 5, or some excessively competitive nonsense (which I'm glad aren't in my meta), whole decks don't really hard counter anything. Properly adjusting you 99 to fight against your local meta is what checks and counters decks.

Any card and/or strategy that prevents me from connecting with 8.5 hurts. This deck is also obviously heavily susceptible to artifact hate. Keeping 8.5 and his Equipment off of the field is the best way to hinder my deck.

I've tried two cards from the new set:

Emeria ShepherdVoid Winnower

Both are balls to the walls amazing.

@Ilnez

Emeria Shepherd - I'm fairly comfortable with the recursion I have in this deck and I'm not interested in any more.

Void Winnower - Too expensive. I have a 8-cmc limit for this deck, as I don't want too many high CMC cards stuck in my hand if I happen to be mana screwed. It also doesn't really aid Voltron strategies and is mainly a rude lock-out card.

@NensouHiebara
Lol I love how you classified a card as rude. I'll be using that in the future.

My face when someone Nevermore's my general.

Have you tried Silent Arbiter?

@rak8886

No interest in Silent Arbiter. I greatly prefer Ghostly Prison-style taxing effects for stalling armies and Arbiter can't stop lone attackers.