Heliod's Sun Gun

Commander / EDH Counters Infinite Combo Lifegain Mono-White Weenie

Oldcrow80

Ramp (18)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Archaeomancer's Map
• 1x Keeper of the Accord
• 1x Knight of the White Orchid
• 1x Legion's Landing  ^Flip
• 1x Loyal Warhound
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mox DiamondGC
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Pearl Medallion
• 1x Smothering TitheGC
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Stoic Farmer
• 1x Sword of Hearth and Home
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Terrain Generator
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Tutors (7)

• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Ranger of Eos
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer

Recurssion (4)

• 1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Sevinne's Reclamation
• 1x Sun Titan

Misc (3)

• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Teleportation Circle

Removal & Wraths (12)

• 1x Cavalier of Dawn
• 1x Fumigate
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Hour of Revelation
• 1x Minimus Containment
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Skyclave Apparition
• 1x Solitude
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Vanquish the Horde
• 1x Wrath of God

Card Draw (7)

• 1x Cosmos Elixir
• 1x Endless Atlas
• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x War Room
• 1x Welcoming Vampire

Soul Sisters (6)

• 1x Auriok Champion
• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
• 1x Soul Warden
• 1x Soul's Attendant
• 1x Suture Priest

Tokens (4)

• 1x Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
• 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• 1x Hero of Bladehold
• 1x Luminarch Ascension

Commander (1)

Protection & Disruption (9)

• 1x Angel's Grace
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Giver of Runes
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Paladin Class
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Land (25)

• 1x Blighted Steppe
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 21x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower

Wincon (4)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Angel of Destiny
• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Walking Ballista

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Maybeboard

Other (21)

• 1x Academy Manufactor
• 1x Basri Ket
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Crackdown
• 1x Doomskar
• 1x Drannith MagistrateGC
• 1x Eldrazi Displacer
• 1x Endless Horizons
• 1x Farewell
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Gideon Blackblade
• 1x Halo Fountain
• 1x Heliod's Intervention
• 1x Mindless Automaton
• 1x Monologue Tax
• 1x Opalescence
• 1x Out of Time
• 1x Rumor Gatherer
• 1x Smuggler's Share
• 1x Starfield of Nyx
• 1x True Conviction

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Welcome, to Heliod's Hall of Generosity!

"What generosity?" You ask? Well his gift of being the best Mono-White Commander! However I am sure you already knew that much. In the following I have a primer explaining in inclusion of cards and the the game plan.

Primer

First things first. This is a combo deck centered on the Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Walking Ballista combo. Barring that we use incremental lifegain to attempt to keep ourselves alive as well as pumping our board of weenies to combat damage kill someone if we can't assemble a combo.

Soul Sisters

This is any effect that would cause me to gain life on a creature ETB. These little innocuous cards are invaluable to us. Gaining us incremental life but also letting us either cast Walking Ballista for {2} or to just dump several counters onto just a single beater. These pair especially solid with Archangel of Thune, turning all the smallest tokens into fatties.

• Auriok Champion
• Authority of the Consuls
• Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
• Soul's Attendant
• Soul Warden
• Suture Priest

Win Conditions

So as mentioned above, this is indeed a combo deck. but we also have some other means of winning despite the obvious Heliod combo or combat damage.

• Aethurflux Reservoir: THE life gain wincon. Gains us life on top of our Soul Sisters and lifelink. This deck even gains so much life we can potentially use it multiple times in one turn to and still be well over 30 life.
• Angel of Destiny: This very strange angel gives us an invaluable ability. Killing opponent's who have extremely high amounts of life or pillowfort effects making attacking them with multiple creatures, or Ballista-ing them impossible. Even if they are under the effect of Teferi's Protection we can simply swing the angel and at the end of turn they die. Protection be damned.
• Archangel of Thune: Sometimes we need to go wide and Thune here makes every lifelink, Soul Sister, and extort trigger pump up our creatures. This makes our board gigantic for a similar mana investment as a Craterhoof Behhemoth.
• Walking Ballista: 1:Cast Ballista. 2: Give lifelink. 3 Burn the table with infinitely looping damage. If we have a life gain trigger like a Soul Sister when we cast him then we need only to pay {2} and then pay to give him life link.

Card Draw

We've all seen the meme "White can't draw cards!" but with the right cards that isn't true at all! Yes our card draw cards aren't anywhere near something like a wheel or most of blue's draw spells we do have some pretty solid choices.

• Cosmos Elixir: This deck is trying it's best to gain massive amounts of life. Meaning this will usually trigger every one of our end-steps
• Endless Atlas: Paying {2} to draw a card is a good use of any extra mana we might have. Often times if I have to hold up mana to potentially respond I will use the atlas just before my turn if I end up not using the mana.
• Esper Sentinel: Rhystic Buddy! While arguably not as strong has Rhystic Study, he does draw several cards typically. Coming out on turn one lets him do a lot of work before our opponent's have the mana to remove him. Additionally Heliod can always pump him up, making it less and less appealing to pay the tax.
• Mangara, the Diplomat: The first big card that gave me hope for white card draw. Mangara dissuades opponent's from attacking us or our walkers and in the mid-game players will usually cast at least two spells a turn.
• Scroll Rack: While Rack is mostly just card selection we can us it in tandem with Land Tax to tutor for thee plains, put them and any other extra cards we don't need on top with Rack and draw three+ cards and a land. The next turn we let Tax trigger to shuffle away the cards we put on top and repeat!
• War Room: Three mana and one life for a card is a decent rate, like Atlas above it is handy if we are out of cards or have extra mana.
• Welcoming Vampire: Because of how low our average cost is, this new girl gains us a lot of incremental value.

Ramp

White has also gotten some solid ramp spells in the last year. Sure it is more "Catch-up Ramp," but if we are constantly caught up to a green player who is pulling ahead that still means we are ahead of the curve!

• Arcane Signet: The best rate for ramp is to generate at least one mana per mana spent to cast the ramp spell. This is right in line with that and also makes white mana. Also never forget the crazy opener of land, Sol Ring, signet, maybe a one drop, pass.
• Archaeomancer's Map: The floor for this spell is basically Divination. However the Ceiling is a Burgeoning the triggers off any landfall as long as we are behind. If you have tons of lands in-hand and are behind then this lets you get back into the game.
• Keeper of the Accord: If someone is ahead we get to tutor up a land and if someone has more creatures than us we get soldiers that trigger our soul sisters and gives us blockers.
• Knight of the White Orchid, Loyal Warhound, Solemn Simulacrum, & Stoic Farmer: The four of these fill the same role, ETB get a basic. Solemn is a classic, Knight gets an untapped land, and farmer can be cast for four over the course of two turns and if we aren't behind the land goes to hand. All of these are also abusable with Sword of Hearth and Home and Teleportation Circle.
• Legion's Landing  : Most, if not all, the Ixilan Block flip-lands can be considered ramp and decent ramp at that. Paying {W} for a 1/1 with lifelink isn't horrible. If we swing with at least three creatures it then flips into Adanto, the First Fort which is not only just a land but a mana-sink that makes lifelink-ers too.
• Mind Stone: This is slightly different to Signet. While it only makes colorless mana we can also crack it to draw a card if we are desperate, or want to get what we might have Enlightned Tutor-ed for.
• Mox Diamond: Due to being on the Reserve List, I would suggest taking this out if you can't afford it. While its super good and can let you trigger Land Tax if you are on the play, the price makes it so if you don't already own one then don't sweat it and just sub it out.
• Myriad Landscape: Ramp stapled to a colorless land. Net gains us one land for two mana.
• Pearl Medallion: Turns out the reducing all our white spells costs by {1} is really good!
• Smothering Tithe: Taxation of card draw to make treasure. Such a simple idea that sprints to the finish line when you realize players aren't going to play the {2} for every card drawn off their wheel effects.
• Sol Ring: What do you want me to say? It's sol ring! You play {1} and you make {2}.
• Sword of Hearth and Home & Sword of the Animist: Equipment that gets lands to play, one is cheaper to cast, the other lets us abuse ETB triggers and give Pro-Green and Pro-White. If either of these are in your opening hands with some lands and a low cost creature you are set!
• Terrain Generator: Best case scenario is we have extra mana up and draw a plains on an opponent's turn. Worst case we paid {2} for an extra land that ETBs tapped.
• Wayfarer's Bauble: Do you like Rampant Growth? Because that is practically what this is for only one more mana!

Tokens

While Heliod might be the primary way we want to win, we still need a plan b. Tokens gives us blockers, life off Soul Sisters and a means of ending the game if they get pumped enoguh.

• Adeline, Resplendent Cathar: Adeline generates tokens per-opponent whenever we attack. Meaning we don't need to attack with her to get the tokens if you don't think she will live.
• Elspeth, Sun's Champion: One of the better token makers in white, Elspeth's +1 makes three 1/1 tokens and if we get her emblem off then our whole army gets +2/+2 and flying, permanently.
• Hero of Bladehold: Not only does she pump our whole army she also brings two friends to the party!
• Luminarch Ascension: Honestly the target this card paints on you is far outweighed by the ability to dump mana into making a 4/4 angel with flying. If we have the mana we want to use it for this if it is online.

Protection & Disruption

People are going to want to destroy our permanents. That is just a fact of the game. Other times we will need to slow an opponent down or make it so they have to waste their time or resources on something.

• Angel's Grace: Two words; Split second. A keyword that makes blue players cry. Casting this in-response to an opponent's wincon, such as Thassa's Oracle lets us survive and in the case of oracle, preventing them from winning all together.
• Authority of the Consuls: Forcing our opponents onto the back-foot if they are a heavily creature reliant deck by making their creatures enter tapped.
• Blind Obedience: The same as above but this two mana enchantment also causes artifacts to enter tapped which will slow down a player relying on artifact ramp or combos like with Urza, Lord High Artificer
• Ghostly Prison: A way to dissuade our opponent's from swinging at us by taxing their attacks.
• Giver of Runes: Stepmom is a powerful effect that let's us protect a single creature from something that targets it or allows it to block something far larger. It can effectively give something unblockable as well if the boardstate is right.
• Grand Abolisher: Blue player's worst nightmare, not being allowed to play on my turn. If we untap with this on the field and have the mana to do it we can cast and use Walking Ballista without having to worry about a response of any sort. People also tend to forget to remove it until it is too late and already your turn.
• Lightning Greaves: What else can I say about this card? Haste and shroud are just good.
• Mother of Runes: Mom is notorious for being able to keep other creatures alive by granting protection. unlike the newer Giver of Runes she cannot grant protection from colorless but that is offset by her being able to target herself if need be.
• Paladin Class: The first level of this enchantment taxes opponent's spells on our turn, making it more difficult to interact with out combo when we go off. However if we invest the mana we also get an anthem and a means of pumping up a single creature to be huge. Preferably Heliod for commander damage.
• Teferi's Protection: One of the best white cards printed in the last decade, this instant is a get-out-of-jail-free card. If it resolves then it becomes very difficult to deal with you until your next turn when you phase back in. You can also cast it in-response to your own wrath toto really pull ahead.

Removal & Wraths

Sometimes we just have to destroy or get something specific. Either because we have the resources to combo off or we need to deal with something that is going to set us back real hard.

• Cavalier of Dawn: A decent body with Beast Within as an ETB effect and a Regrowth as a dies trigger.
• Fumigate: A wrath effect that can gain us huge amounts of life.
• Generous Gift: White's own version of Beast Within is very solid. "Destroy target permanent" is one of the best things to read on a removal spell and the 3/3 it makes can trigger our Soul Sisters too.
• Hour of Revelation: When it comes to destroying everything there are few cards that compete with doing it for only three mana.
• Minimus Containment: Not quite Song of the Dryads but still a versatile means of getting past indestructible.
• Path to Exile: For the low cost of {W} you can exile a problematic creature. Usually in response to it being enchanted or equipped with protection of some sort.
• Return to Dust: Exiling one or more artifacts and enchantments at instant speed is very good. While other cards like Heliod's Intervention can fill this role too Return to Dust exiling the target is often much better.
• Skyclave Apparition: An abusable ETB that is super relevant at all stages of the game. We can usually ignore the tokens people get from it flickering or dying too.
• Solitude: Modern Horizons 2 brought a few good spells for white, but none quite match the power of this elemental, in my humble opinion. White's own Force of Will in many ways. But even if we aren't evoking him we still get a lifelink-ing body with decent stats.
• Swords to Plowshares: The other of white's two exile removal spells for only {W}. This is as good as the other one for the same reasons.
• Vanquish the Horde: Do you remember Blasphemous Act? Well the most recent trip to Innistrad finally gave us a version that says "destroy all creatures"
• Wrath of God: The namesake of all "destroy all creatures" effects. Wrath if good at what it does and is only four mana to cast.

Tutors

White has a surprising amount of tutors to use. Mostly to grab small creatures

• Enlightened Tutor: This one drop lets us go and get either a combo piece or something to help ramp or draw cards if the plan to combo isn't really possible.
• Idyllic Tutor: While not as versatile as the big brother above. This spell puts the enchantment it grabs straight into hand.
• Land Tax: The combo with Scroll Rack aside, this card is still fantastic for getting us back in the game or thinning out our deck a tad each turn.
• Ranger of Eos & Ranger-Captain of Eos: They both fetch at least one creature that costs one or less. Be it our Ballista, Esper Sentinel or a Soul Sister they are both solid cards.
• Recruiter of the Guard: While similar to the above, Recruiter can actually tutor a fistful more of our creatures. If we want to be cute we can even get Ranger of Eos with this effect.
• Weathered Wayfarer: For a similar reason as Land Tax being able to fetch lands is pretty good. Being able to fetch any land once a turn is way better at times.

Recursion

Sometimes we need to grab things back from the graveyard. Removal is a very real thing and we have a handful of cards to plan for such things.

• Emeria, The Sky Ruin: An ability that is surprisingly not on a seven mana enchantment. If we have seven plains in play then we can grab back any creature, big or small, straight to play.
• Hall of Heliod's Generosity: Mostly a flavor choice, putting the card on top isn't amazing but being a land ability makes this quite good.
• Sevinne's Reclamation: A one-time-use of Sun Titan's ability. If we get back discarded lands we can even justify calling this a ramp spell!
• Sun Titan: Basically the reason for this category. Able to recur 64% of the deck when it enters AND attacks. Sure the cost is high but the value is higher!

Comments and suggestions are very welcome!!

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position overall 5 years ago
Date added	5 years
Last updated	2 years
Key combos	Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Walking Ballista
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	18 - 0 Mythic Rares 45 - 0 Rares 10 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.80
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Elephant 3/3 G, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Foretell, Golem 3/3 C, Human 1/1 W, Illusion */* U, Soldier 1/1 W, Treasure, Vampire 1/1 W
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