Loxodon Warhammer - 2 Mana, -2/+1 stats, + an ability that can completely screw over other Voltron decks ( Uril, the Miststalker ), Narset, Enlightened Master , or decks that run Greaves or Boots .
Yeah, I am definitely sold.Even if it does not end up replacing the Warhammer , I think it earns a slot.

How is Dawn of Hope working for you?
I've been trying that in my white and Boros decks and it is beeing kind of mediocre, is there a secret tech that does not involve making a lifegain deck? lol

I think Mask of Avacyn outclasses Champion's Helm in this deck, and here's why. Basically the main argument is that it costs one less mana to play overall (even though it costs more to equip). Obviously with Balan equip costs don't matter, and thus it is a good substitution. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "but then it costs more to equip to my other creatures." Well, my argument is that is irrelevant because Champion's Helm doesn't even give hexproof to most of your creatures (with the exception of two of them). All it is doing is giving them a power and toughness boost, and I would quickly trade out +1 power for hexproof any day. Hexproof in my eyes is worth the two extra mana it takes to equip, especially when you are more often going to be equipping it for less with Balan.

Basically what Im trying to say is that the helm is useless for anything but Balan, and the mask costs less to play while also having a use for other creatures.

@lil_cheez

Dawn of Hope has been good. This deck's lifelinkers and lifegain Equipment get it going with few issues. The Soldier token works wonders with Equipment as well.

Sufficient incidental lifegain is all that's needed.

@CavemanlyMan

I'm aware that Champion's Helm is lacking for non-Legends. Not sure if I want to use Mask of Avacyn over it. 3 mana is still a hefty equip cost for hexproof.

Perhaps Helm's slot can go to Shadowspear instead?

Shatter the Sky

A Day of Judgment that 'cantrips'. Interesting.

Heliod's Intervention

Is this is better than Return to Dust? Doesn't exile, but its always instant-speed and can tag more than 2 targets.

Depends on how often you have 4+ mana just chilling out. I've long since cut Return to Dust in favor of Crush Contraband because the odds of me not having 2 viable targets for the 4cmc is super rare. The downgrade to sorcery speed for RtD for the full effect has proven brutal. Sometimes you need to get rid of something on a turn other than yours, and paying 4 mana for a single target is one of the worst feelings in the game, because of the time restriction.

I don't envision the 2nd mode for Heliod's Intervention to be played often, but it should serve as a better option than RtD if you're not running against a ton of artifact recursion. It's also flexible as a removal spell for 3cmc or more than than 2 targets with 3cmc+. Solid option all around. Should be noted as well that it's hilariously better than what green gets in Consign to Dust

Thoughts on cutting one Plains for Shadowspear?

@Savaaage

I have no desire to go below 36 lands.

I think that dropping the Loxodon Warhammer for the Shadowspear might be worth it. They give you the same keyword abilities, the casting cost and equip cost are cheaper, and the spear has a a very relevant ability the warhammer doesn't! Just a thought.

@Captain_Watain

I'd rather have both.

Warhammer's larger power boost benefits Balan's Commander Damage clock. And keeping Warhammer increases the number of lifegain sources in the deck for Dawn of Hope.

why not run memory mask? should help in the draw department right?

How do you keep yourself from getting bored of this deck? I’ve been playing it for awhile now and it’s starting to feel stale. What do you do to keep it fresh?

@sinister1234

I have Sword of Fire and Ice and a handful of other draw engines. This deck doesn't need Mask of Memory.

@fellgamer

I don't get bored of this deck. Ever.

In the 8 years I've had it, it has never felt stale for me. I don't need to keep it "fresh" to retain my interest.

Flawless maneuver just seems like a much weaker Teferi's Protection. Furthermore, Sanctuary Blade has too many hoops to jump through to be efficient in the deck, especially since half the time the color you choose is just a toss-up, and it can only be changed at sorcery speed.

Verge Rangers

Cartographer's Hawk

Both of these cards are bad.

Well, someone made a point in a discord that I'm in about Verge Rangers. It's less about mana ramp, and more about playing lands off the top so that you are more likely to have a card on top that you want. Kinda sorta card advantage I guess. Now whether I would include it over Knight of the White Orchid, or even Noble Templar, I'm not sure. I honestly might try it over the knight in my deck, as it's repeatable, it's top-deck control, and it doesn't care if the card is a plains or not.

I also don't have Noble Templar in my deck, so I can't say much about switching it for that.

But yes, Cartographer's Hawk is bad.

@CavemanlyMan

Sensei's Divining Top already does top-deck control way better than Verge Rangers.

I'm a proponent for Verge Rangers. It has a relevant combat ability and respectable body, and costs only 3 mana.

Definitely better than Noble Templar. I'd rather pay 3 for playing lands from my top than a one-time 2 for drawing 1 plains.

In addition, Verge Rangers works nicely in tango with Sensei's Divining Top.

@Stefouch

My issue with Verge Rangers is the "an opponent controls more lands than you" restriction. Unlike the cards in this deck with that restriction, Verge Rangers isn't ramp or a land tutor. Knight of the White Orchid and Weathered Wayfarer actively get me out of land screw. Rangers barely makes an effort.

There's no way I'm dropping Noble Templar for Rangers. Templar actually guarantees a land drop.

Technically Noble Templar isn't ramp either, as it puts the land to hand. They accomplish the same goal, which is to have a land drop on your turn, but Verge Rangers will do it more than once (at about a 1/3 ratio), it's top deck control, it is, as mentioned, a good play into sensei's divining top, and has a body/ability/cmc that can't really be disregarded in comparison to templar. What's more is that you can have both the body and the abilities whereas you can't with Templar.

You are trading all that for one guaranteed land drop on the next turn. If that's your point, then I guess that's just how you want to play your deck. There's nothing wrong with a focused deck that you know exactly how you want to play it.

Thoughts on Assault Suit for more fun and haste?

So would you say you have had more success with Balan as your commander as opposed to Sram?

@gzusvictory

I don't like the idea of giving opponents control of Balan. It undermines the effort of evading targeted removal with Swiftfoot Boots or the protectors.

And Assault Suit is a really expensive source of haste.

@XinZhao

Yes. Yes I have.

Balan is a much more capable win condition than Sram is.