Isamaru Joins the Battle!

1v1 Commander Aggro Artifact Mono-White Theme/Gimmick Voltron

hecubus333

Artifact (24)

• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Batterskull
• 1x Blackblade Reforged
• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Fireshrieker
• 1x Forcefield
• 1x Godsend
• 1x Hammer of Nazahn
• 1x Lion's Eye Diamond
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of Body and Mind
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Sword of War and Peace
• 1x Trailblazer's Boots

Instant (8)

• 1x Brave the Elements
• 1x Disenchant
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Gods Willing
• 1x Mana Tithe
• 1x Rebuff the Wicked
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Creature (19)

• 1x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
• 1x Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1x Faerie Guidemother
• 1x Giant Killer
• 1x Giver of Runes
• 1x God-Eternal Oketra
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Mageta the Lion
• 1x Monastery Mentor
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Puresteel Paladin
• 1x Relic Seeker
• 1x Segovian Angel
• 1x Sram, Senior Edificer *f-pre*
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Endless Horizons
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Hyena Umbra
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Nevermore
• 1x Oblivion Ring
• 1x Sigarda's Aid *f-pre*
• 1x Spirit Mantle

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Council's Judgment
• 1x Day of Judgment
• 1x Fragmentize
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Wrath of God

Commander (1)

Land (33)

• 1x Ancient Den
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Blinkmoth Nexus
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dust Bowl
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 1x Lotus Field
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Mishra's Workshop
• 1x Mutavault
• 1x Rishadan Port
• 15x Snow-Covered Plains
• 1x Wasteland
• 1x Windswept Heath

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Maybeboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Devoted Caretaker

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Runed Halo

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I really wanted to build a nice Isamaru Voltron type deck for a Mono-White aggro 1-drop general to just explode out of the gate with a deathsuit of sorts. To my surprise, nobody really cares much for this old pupper anymore. All of the existing decks I could find were outdated, and 1v1 wasn't really much of a format back then, so most builds are also multiplayer focused. I wanted to create an old-fashioned, bashfest type deck. No crazy combos, nothing broken, but tons of synergy, and very low average cmc.

After parsing through a handful of decent looking lists, I took many newer cards into consideration. I won't go too deep here, but found that Danitha is amazing for this deck. Yeah, she's easily removed.. but then again, so are all these cheap creatures that either make it easier to suit up, or suppress the opponent. So she's in. If she sticks, life is good.

There are just WAYYY too many equipment options, so I went with what felt best to my gut. Most folks use Argentum Armor and Teferi's Protection. I own those cards, but chose to not use them. Titan is great, but we have a SUPER cheap general who can come back a good amount of times, even after tax, and a lot of 2-drops to fill in in between. Titan would bring someone back, but we don't really need that, nor the 6/6 body. The suit we are concocting is far more lethal. Instead of Argentum Armor, I went with Godsend. Argentum Armor costs more, and needs to target. This makes it pretty useless against threats like Thrun or Geist. Godsend doesn't target. Sure, it's only adding +3/+3 rather than +6/+6, but it allows you to exile a blocking creature without needing to target, and costs half the mana. Easy choice.

So why leave out the amazing Teferi's Protection? Well, it's a vibe and tempo thing. We're suppressing, but not actively controlling. I don't ever want to need to leave 3 mana up for Teferi's Protection, when I can add a 3 cmc suit element to the dog. We have a handful of 1 cmc spells to counter or give protection from colors or targeted removal on the fly, and overpaying for the Phase Out mechanic to survive a board wipe just to save our dog (which is all we really care about), seems like a waste of precious mana resources. Besides, many of the suit elements protect the hound from a lot of threats anyway, so we can usually save the rescue spells to keep him online. Bottom line, this is not the type of deck to pilot with fear in mind. They should be fearing us! Just keep pushing whatever you can get to stick onto the pup, and smash face. Our wipes are for dire situations where we stall with unlucky early draw. Plus, paying the mana for both a wipe and TP in the same turn are just too late game and situational for me to consider. I like TP much better in Selesnya builds, where having green mana and typical ramp can make that wipe/save more possible and consistent.

Further regarding wipes. Since we are mono colored, and mostly casting equipment, I've included some manlands. This should thwart our opponents from wanting to use board wipes in the first place, as we'd likely be able to swing through for poison damage with Inkmoth, a couple pieces of suit, and Fireshrieker to win right then and there.

We also have a weenie package for utility purposes. Blocking, and sacrificing to Skullclamp for lots of extra draw, which usually sucks in mono-white. In case anyone is wondering why Brimaz or Mentor are in here, that's why. You get blockers if you need them, or can attach Skullclamp, often for free, to get suicidal draw. Similarly, if you are wondering why no Path to Exile, it's because we just don't want to give our opponent that basic land. We don't fear thier creatures at all.

Aura of Silence is an interesting card that almost made it into the build, but hasn't been an include yet. I like the idea of slowing down and taxing our enemies mana rocks and artifact production, but not in place of a Sword or Fireshrieker. We would just never want to have both in my hand. The Aura becomes a dead card at that point. We only have one real goal here, and it's very repeatable, and recovers very quickly should you not be able to answer a few threats. We have the usual tutors, so go grab whichever Sword you need, and get it attached to protect you from your opponents colors asap. Then keep piling on more of the deathsuit. Swing for 21.

Enjoy.

Oh! Feel free to engage in conversation or offer suggestions. I'm open to experimenting. This just seems like a deck that needed to be shared and updated with a more modern approach. This deck can be run with JUST Isamaru, and no other creatures. I chose to include others, and there is a good amount of them.. but if you have a really good suppression or taxation spell you want to include, just remove your least liked creature from this list. They all offer value or protection, but none of them are necessary besides the pup.

***Note: Swap Isamaru for Thalia when playing against control or storm. The tax doesn't hurt us too badly for our equipments, but it really helps slow them down with instant and sorcery spells.

Top Ranked	Achieved #28 position overall 5 years ago
Date added	5 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is 1v1 Commander legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 43 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.18
Tokens	Cat Soldier 1/1 W, Human 2/2 G, Monk 1/1 W, On an Adventure, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Wolf 2/2 G, Zombie Warrior 4/4 B
Folders	EDH 1v1, EDH, White