A deck with great defenses built in that quickly makes above curve creatures. Is somewhat budget and very playtested with great results.
Unlike most aura decks this deck has a bit of a "go wide" strategy that keeps your critters at about the same power level. Most games are won with a midgame Ghostly Prison to enhance the early games Oppressive Rays. You then defend until you have a few huge creatures and can destroy their defenses. Sometimes a quick win can be had with Spirit Mantle as well.
An interesting note about Oppressive Rays: It affects mana abilities such as Birds of Paradise or Lanowar Elves. It's inclusion is often surprisingly rewarding, especially in the early game. It also allows defensive plays while drawing cards from Kor Spiritdancer.
Journey to Nowhere is not an aura but has the advantage of completely removing the creature from play and gets around Emrakul's protection from colored spells. It is mostly in here for Eldrazi as I have had problems facing them. Journey also has a stranger use in this deck as well: Applying it to your own Kor Spiritdancer when you suspect your opponent has a destroy all enchantments card. I'm including this in the description because it has come up multiple times since the printing of the absurdly overpowered Back to Nature. A freaking 2 drop instant that destroys every enchantment deck there is? Wtf were they thinking?
Anyway, Auramancer, Helm of the Gods and Heliod, God of the Sun offer a backup plan when facing decks running heavy enchantment removal. The decks main weakness (besides that crazy instant 2 drop you suddenly loose the game card known as Back To Nature), believe it or not, is when you are forced to cast multiple auras on a single creature; so remember to go wide and think about your next turn. It may seem like an aggro deck with a few defensive cards thrown in it, but it is meant to be played very defensively and go for the kill very suddenly.
Example: Your opponent has 3 5/5 creatures in play. You have 2 0/4 Lagonna-Band Trailblazer's, and an Auramancer in play with 4 defensive enchantments you played previously. In your hand are a Spirit Mantle and 2 Ethereal Armor's. The correct move might seem to load all 3 auras on a single creature and attack for at least 14 unblockable damage. However, after Many MANY playtests I've found the right answer is to put 1 Ethereal Armor on each Lagoona and enchant the Auramancer with Spirit Mantle. You are now protected until your next turn. Eventually you will be able to drop auras on your critters and attack with impunity while your unenchanted creatures hang back as chump blockers. Simply, this clears the board and offers less chance of a combat trick/sudden removal spell 3-for-1ing you.
Sideboard breakdown:
Damping Sphere: Eldrazi and Storm. Also R/U Delver.
Defense Grid: Counterspell/flash/control hate. Combos well with Ghostly Prison to stall the game.
Glaring Spotlight: Bogles. Also an anticontrol card as well.
Helm of the Gods: Only really comes in handy against mass enchantment destruction and is a bit iffy in the sideboard right now. Might change to a Grafdigger's Cage. Though it is excellent for equipping an attacker and then, in mainphase 2, equipping a potential blocker. Very versatile.
Leyline of Sanctity: Pretty obvious: discard and burn.
Retether: More graveyard return against that damn Back to Nature. I hate that stupid card.
Another note: It is very important not to over-sideboard any of these artifacts. The Leyline is itself an enchantment and causes fewer problems than it solves so no issue there. Each enchantment you remove for a sideboard card can greatly diminish the decks overall strength.
Thanks for reading! I've become very adept at playing this particular version of mono-white enchantments so any questions you may have are acceptable. Thanks again!
