@NensouHiebara - Considering that Mono-white is lacking on ramp, it's on theme with it being an equipment and that the defender tokens are more likely to be irrelevant than not, I definitely plan on playtesting it.

Also, if you make Balan, Wandering Knight the commander, will you be considering shroud? Whispersilk Cloak has since made it into my deck since Balan's ability gets around shroud. I haven't looked back since.

Hi, big fan here.

I really like Balan and am excited for what you will do with her.

With the carddraw of Sram gone, i guess the deck needs something aside of Fire and Ice. So Sram in the 99 in exchange for the Silverblade Paladin.

And maybe there is room for the Alms Collector (basically the white Con. Sphinx) and Rogue's Gloves or Avarice Amulet.

@gzusvictory

I don't feel like I need another Maze effect. Maze of Ith and Kor Haven were in the deck together for years and haven't felt the need for the second effect again after dropping Maze back in December. Haven is also one of my go-to targets for a land tutor, so I often have it out.

Thaumatic Compass seems a little awkward to use for its land side since there's only Enlightened Tutor to find it, and burning a potential Equipment tutor for a Maze effect feels like a waste.

@CrimsonWings3689

Whispersilk Cloak doesn't seem unreasonable with Balan at the helm, but it will still be as clunky as always when relying on my other creatures. I'm going to stick with leaving shroud out of my deck. I don't want to have more awkward scenarios than what I already get with Godsend and Sword of Light and Shadow.

@PyreCracker

Sram - Cutting Silverblade Paladin for him isn't a bad change. Ixalan doesn't offer any new creatures for this deck, so Paladin is an open slot.

Alms Collector - Draw spells are too infrequent in my meta for Collector to function properly. I mostly see card draw engines that draw one at a time.

Other Card Draw Equipment - I don't have a lot of interest in using them, mainly because they're all terrible compared to Sword of Fire and Ice and space in the deck is very tight.

Hi, I have still some questions if i may:

Why do you play Transcendent Master over Loxodon Punisher?

And

Do you think without Sram you'll get the full value out of Flickering Ward and Smuggler's Copter?

@PyreCracker

Transcendent Master is a threat that doesn't need Equipment. If I'm in a situation where Equipment is scarce, it's something I can fall back on. Loxodon Punisher would be stuck as a 2/2. Punisher's a potent threat with Equipment, but I wouldn't use it over the Master.

Looter Scooter is still a good loot engine. Booting Sram from the Command Zone only makes it not draw off of casting it consistently. Not a huge loss.

Flickering Ward is still good without Sram, but it is something I'm willing to cut.

Make the change to Balan, Wandering Knight! I hit 76 commander damage last game with Inquisitor's Flail, Argentum Armor, Batterskull, and Umezawa's Jitte. The guy hits like a house, like I hit another person for 24 commander damage in one hit on turn 7. It just does work. How has it worked for you so far? Any issues?

@gzusvictory

Commander in my area has become exceedingly sparse and stagnant lately. I've only had one game with Balan so far, and that was almost a month ago when Commander 2017 released.

In that single game, I one-shot two Dragon precon players and shrugged off back-to-back Swords to Plowshares and Merciless Eviction topdecks from the Vampire precon player. Not a notable game to be honest. Dropkicking precons isn't something to gain worthwhile information.

So as mentioned before, Ive been using your guide as my primer for my own deck. Recently Ive been having issues with keeping my hand full, the lack of a sword of ice and fire dose not help with the situation but its just out of my price range at the moment.

Any advice? Any other draw cards you would use?

@Spyrechild

Though I wouldn't actually use them, Avarice Amulet and Rogue's Gloves are decent budget card draw Equipment.

Conqueror's Galleon is a non-Equipment option I currently have my eyes on. Its land side offers great utility for Mono-White. Crew 4 is somewhat high, but it's not unreasonable since Galleon only ever needs to be crewed once.

I have a ruling question:If you attack with multiple creatures and you have Leonin Shikari out is it possible to requip your your equipments after the equipped creature hit, but before the new eqipped creature does its damage?

PS: Is removing Angel of Sanctions still a thing? You said he will be most likely the first one to go ;)

@TCG-Player

Combat damage is dealt simultaneously. So you can't do this normally.

You could do this with two creatures if the first one with the Equipment has first strike and you move the Equipment onto the second creature without first strike in-between combat damage steps.

But I'm not a Judge or anything, so you should ask someone well versed in the Comprehensive Rules.

I didn't expect to be changing Commanders again so soon, and Balan needs to have a few cards be replaced. Angel of Sanctions is an open slot, but the cards that are no longer ideal are at a higher priority.

@TCG-Player

What NensouHiebara says is right.
More precisely, damage's assignation is a turn-based action that happens at the beginning of the Combat Damage Step of the Combat Phase. "Turn-based actions" don't use the stack and can't be responded. Players get priority afterwards.

So, you have the opportunity to either change your Equipment places (thanks to Leonin Shikari) before assigning/dealing damage, or after. Not in-between.

But there's an exception, it's if you control a creature with first or double strike. When such a creature dealt its damage, and before the others will assign their damage, you have a moment where players will get priority. See rule 510.4 for that exception. (translation: you get a second Combat Damage Step).

PS: I'm a Judge Level 1 experimented with the Comprehensive Rules.

Thank you for the fast response
So it would be a little combo if you have both Leonin Shikari and Puresteel Paladin (or lots of mana) out. But i guess it's too gimmicky and Balan, Wandering Knight or any other double striker can do the same job.

Yes indeed. Leonin Shikari is already a great combo with Lightning Greaves: "all your creatures have shroud."

Thoughts on O-Naginata post-Balan switch? Him getting chump blocked feels bad and trample can really help. Or do you feel the restriction hinders your other creatures too much? With second equipment, Balan reaches 12 damage with trample minimum!

Another downside involves the fact that 12 of your creatures are not legal equip targets alone, but you have balan every game! Thoughts?

Are you aware of the fact that Field of Ruin will also give basics to the other players you did not target?

@gzusvictory

I already have Sword of Vengeance and Loxodon Warhammer to provide trample. O-Naginata feels too much like a weaker version of them.

I'm fully aware Field of Ruin gives a free Basic to every other opponent. It doesn't bother me. I'm not aggressive with my Strip Lands and the one-time free Basic isn't going to matter enough to be a detriment.

Inpressive deck indeed, I have two suggestions for you -

Inspiring Statuary is a one of a kind ramp card for an equipment deck. It may end up being a collateral damage type card if it's removed, but I can tell you from experience playing it, it ramps an astounding amount. If your deck diversifies away from equipment, which Sram is fully capable of doing, it might not be a great fit. As your deck is currently constructed though, it looks like a winner.

Tragic Arrogance is one of my favorite voltron-wipes of all time. To be honest with you, I kind of dislike Cataclysmic Gearhulk. A lot. Letting your opponents pick pretty much sucks, and if there's any other artifacts or creatures you want to keep on board (like your equipment or Sram) the Gearhulk could end up either in the graveyard when it resolves, or makes you sac something you don't want to. While it is easy to recur the Gearhulk, that still doesn't mitigate the fact that Tragic Arrogance does the job far, far better.

Hope I gave you something to chew on, happy hunting :) Don't switch to Balan, he might be a more efficient body to use equipment on, but I view him as a worse commander. Sram's ability to draw is a big deal, Balan will run into problems of loosing fuel as the game gets longer.

@redace10

Inspiring Statuary's inability to make Equipment cheaper is a massive deal-breaker. The one card type that this deck would want to be made cheaper is Equipment. Statuary doesn't provide that.

Cataclysmic Gearhulk can be tutored for as well as being easily recurrable. And I have the option to let it live if I'm falling behind and need the body. Gearhulk is a much more flexible sweeper.

Balan, Wandering Knight is the Voltron Commander I've always wanted: one with strong Equipment synergy and actually designed around combat. The goal of the deck is to win with Commander Damage, and Balan does that better than any previous Commander. Other cards (including Sram) can still provide card draw in the 99.

Fair points, I still think tragic arrogance is an excellent board wipe that's practically tailored for Voltron decks. Gearhulk isn't the card to drop for it, what about angel of sanctions? Seems a little out of place. Give it a shot, Tragic Arrogance is criminally undervalued in EDH, as it gets around Indestructiblity, Hexproof, shroud, even protection from white. Being the chooser for every player let's you dismantle opponents' boards in a way that's almost impossible to stop.

Speaking of removal, Council's Judgment is another gem that may warrant consideration. Can you tell I like control cards? Might be a tad obvious haha. Seriously though, white has access to great removal, and for a Voltron deck with an uber cheap commander, the deck looks fairly creature heavy. I also think you could probably drop to 35 lands if you wished.

As for Balan, you're absolutely right that he is way more lethal than Sram could ever hope to be. Still, I feel that if Balan runs into a good control deck(or a few at once), he might be outmatched. For example, facing a board wipe mid to late game looks like it would really hurt Balan a lot, as opposed to Sram who would be cheaper to recast and keeps refueling your hand. If the deck gets tailored to Balan with plenty of draw cards (does white even have a lot?), then yeah, he can dominate. In a vacuum though, I believe Sram is just better.

@redace10

I don't want to go critical mass with sweepers. I need my Commander and my Equipment on board to win! The three sweepers I have already to clear out everyone else's toys set me back enough. A fourth one feels excessive.

Council's Judgment is way too political for my tastes. I don't like how my opponents have actual control over what gets removed, which leads to Judgment being easily botched by collusion or grudges.

I could debate tragic arrogance further, as it does let you keep your commander and your best equipment(probably a sword). Alas, maybe seeing it used would provide some clarity, it screams voltron-wipe to me.

I think in trying to help you, you ended up helping me with my thoughts on equipment voltron builds. I really appreciate the back and forth conversation. I'm thinking of switching to Nazahn from Ojutai for my next decked out voltron build, this has helped a lot. Thanks so much :)

Nothing wrong with Tragic Arrogance, I'm more of a Divine Reckoning guy myself. Some tradeoff between CMC, destroy vs. sac. flashback... I still end up preferring the true one-sidedness of my divine reckoning though... Then MLD :)

Teferi's Protection?

@gzusvictory

Haven't really given Teferi's Protection much thought. I've been more focused on fixing the deck up for Balan.

I'll toss it in the Maybeboard and give it a shot later on.