Why Heliod, God of the Sun over Brimaz, King of Oreskos ? Also why no Detention Sphere ?

The first week I ran Brimz he got slammed out the gate each time, not getting a single attack off. The move is more of just a time for people in my meta to calm down about him. the D-sphere's will be making the sideboard, but the mainboard is already heavy on 3 drops.

Detention Sphere is really great removal if you're playing white and blue. Also, 2x Path of Bravery and 2x Spear of Heliod is a better number. 3/1 is inconsistent. Also, the biggest reason to run Ephara, God of the Polis is Brimaz, King of Oreskos He can net you a creature on your turn and on their turn meaning 2 draws instead of one. I would run 2-3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos minimum.

@Saljen

I have a set of D-spheres but they are currently in the possession of a friend and until I have them back I won't be adding them to the list. I'm really big on not listing "in a perfect world" lists and instead listing as it's being played. I played for months with 2x spears, and the second one always just seemed to find it's way into my hand. I think with the handfeed offered by the new build it won't be such an issue, but I really love path and I'm going to test it this way till I start missing the spear again.

I think people are missing how open Brimaz is to removal. Is he a beastly 3 drop? Oh yeah. Crazy good. Making him a huge target. The first night I used him he didn't stay on the field more than 1 turn, at which point having another in hand would be great, but I'm a big fan of resilient 3drops that change the state of the board.

Brimaz is definitely a target for removal, but if they're removing him they you're keeping your other creatures on the field. If they have removal, they will use it, that is not a reason to not run the most powerful white creature for white weenies decks, the Gods are the only creatures you have that are resistant to removal. That is another reason you see people running 3-4 Brimaz instead of 2, even though he's a legendary. He is worth the slot.

That being said, at game day this weekend I saw a deck very similar to mine except running 4 Brimaz, I watched as he sat with 2 in hand and one on the field unable to do anything against the G/W Aggro sitting across from him. Didn't inspire confidence in that strategy.

This build to me is screaming archangel of thune

Lol I completely missed it. Wow that was bad.

@ZooGambler Haha no worries man, she is a babe though, love her as a show stopper!

if you're going to splash blue then take advantage of the b/w cards. Detention Sphere and Supreme Verdict and Daxos of Meletis are all fantastic options for main board and possibly a Lavinia of the Tenth or two in the SB. Also I can't imagine my deck without some Banisher Priest in there or Arrest or Pacifism . I know I'm pointing you a little bit more down the control path but I thought I would through out some suggestions. I read about how your friend has your dspheres but against any deck with a pack rat (and many other creatures as well) it cant shut down their primary or secondary win conditions. Hope I helped some! Check out my current deck i'm playing and let me know what you think ! W/B Suck my D-spheres+1

@808shadow Though I appreciate the input, the goal is to get this deck to run as a more efficient version of the old MWD build I was running. Moving towards control for me you mean making this a very, very different build (Which I could do), but would rather stay with it's current tempo.

FNM Results for 3/7/14; G@C Super Store, Eagle Rock, CA

3 Rounds, overall; 6-1

• Round 1 (2-0); Dimir Defender mill with Dimir God and main Win Con. First game I had synched, easy win with me over 30hp. Second game he got me to about 15 cards in library and under 10 hp. I rebounded with an Ajani flying double strike onto Heliod for 14 and the win.
• Round 2 (2-1); Simic Monsters. Wiped the floor with me game one, some removal sided in on my part and I powered through the next two games with overwhelming handfeed.
• Round 3 (2-0); MUD. Well shit, second game was rough. He sideboarded a lot. Like. 12 cards. So I assumed he was shifting more towards control to manage my board presence. Plus I kept a 6 land hand. Why? I just felt if he planned on slowing this down it was better to not miss land drop. I didn't either, and once W/U god hit field for me I had enough hand feed to just slam him.

So how do I feel? Great. I do need the D-spheres for my sideboard, and I think I'll be adding a bit more of an anti-Espir/counter control side. There is a guy mainboarding Blood Barons and I'm 90% sure it's so he has an edge on me first game if we meet lol

Though Lifegain is an amazing component in the build, it isn't the only win condition. This deck is brimming with threats, so I don't feel I need accord to sometimes give a creature, but it is a fun card, and I've made budget builds using it that work amazing.

Hey Monoxidechild,

I'm digging this deck too. Your re-inspired my plans for white aggro [ Darsul set downs the matches] (8p). I agree with you move full heartily on Brimaz, King of Oreskos . After a few week of playing with him I traded all 3 of mine way. Is he bad... NO, he can win games on his own but, that the problem now isn't. @ Turn 2 drop (so with ramp) He's the best card in standard, @ Turn 3 drop he's a power house, T 4 drop he's a thing and 5+ board presence in short he devalues quickly as the game goes on. He need to be in the "right" deck and this I feel is not his home.

Now on 808shadow suggestion of Daxos of Meletis caught my eye. He could be just a disruptive as a Nightveil Specter and still gain life for Archangel of Thune triggers. all the while dodging Desecration Demon and Polukranos, World Eater .

Deputy of Acquittals is some one to consider as well. Helping to dodge removal and get Ephara, God of the Polis triggers.

The Daxos of Meletis does work, lifegain is a bonus but the fact that you get to exile some of their cards and even play them makes him sooooo strong. Since you want to keep up tempo You could trash all my other suggestions but give Daxos a try, I think he would fit in perfectly for you. I'll keep digging and see what else I could suggest but honestly Daxos is probably the only thing I would add now that you have d-spheres in the sb. Since you are winning at FNM that means at least to some degree that its pretty solid!

there is no arguable reason for not running 4 Banisher Priest instead of Fiendslayer Paladin , the paladin is good, however, the banisher priest puts down a 2/2 regardless and it opens the gateway for other attackers to get through, even if its only for a turn.

the paladin is good sideboard tech though, so long as your metagame sees B/R played

Arguable reason number one; Life gain.

Arguable reason number two; first strike

Arguable reason number three; resistant to removal.

Arguable reason number four; Archangel of Thune

About Daxos of Meletis ; I'm actually looking at where I could fit him in for a play test. I'm loving the idea of him as a 3-4 power creature swinging unblocked by creatures that could kill him. Not to mention the life gain and deck disruption. I'll keep you guys updated on him.

thats all fine and well, but you have 1 source of removal besides the spears which mens you have to leave 3 mana open and take damage, also the 1 other source (elspeth) lands far too late for your paladin's to have survived a polukranos hit or an overload on Mizzium Mortars so the evasion isn't all that important in the end, you have more damn lifelink than you need and land an archangel and they're pretty fucked regardless (so long as you have path of bravery out)

So other than that butchering the English language none of that really makes sense, you're forgetting the addition of Azorius Charm to the deck as a source of removal as well as the defensive use of first strike blockers coupled with Brave the Elements . This is the kind of deck that it really pays to play, and know the ins and outs of. There will always be a counter to a counter to a counter so listing reasons one card is better because it offers one type of resistance versus another is a null point.

@ rsloan1996

Over all your missing the point of this deck design. Monoxidechild wrote ~"This is the kind of deck that it really pays to play"~, a.K.a the deck is makes your opponent react to your plays not you to theirs[plays]. Their are a few cards in standard that you need to answer or you just loose like Archangel of Thune or Pack Rat (these are not the only 2) so, yes you need so way of answering these cards. That being said lets take a look at Banisher Priest as a removal answer. When does it hit, what does it, where does it hit and how does it hit? Well Banisher Priest is a creature so it move at sorcery speed remove mean its only good on your main phases, It can only hit non pro-white and non hexproof, the threat is only removed as long as Banisher Priest sticks around (which I have won game by this an opponent Gideon, Champion of Justice ult my threat back into play), your opponent need just kill a 2/2 to get a non token creature back. So what is Banisher Priest good at removing blockers for your team to get in. Does this deck need that, no. Am I saying Banisher Priest is bad, hell no. Banisher Priest is an all star in rush decks. For this deck to add Banisher Priest to hit creatures like Polukranos, World Eater you take out your later drops like Archangel of Thune but, that just shut down this deck. Like Brimaz, King of Oreskos this is not the home for Banisher Priest. How ever if you feel I'm wrong and this is a way better deck with Banisher Priest then, feel free to build your own deck with Banisher Priest in it try it out. Don't go raging over how you feel some one is wrong and your right on a deck tec page that even isn't yours... Please.

@ Monoxidechild

Here is my take on adding blue to White Devotion Azorius midrange.

Monoxidechild, I'm in the middle of playtesting my deck Voices of the Silent and while looking for decks to test against, I've come across yours for my first rounds of testing. Now, my question is, how would you work your sideboard to combat my deck. I've played your deck now, about 10 times and was only able to win with your deck once (pre board tech). If I'm to know how to combat a deck like this, I'd like to know how the creator of this deck would play it in a match against me. If it's not too much to ask, I'd also like for you to playtest this against my deck to see if the results are any different, maybe I was playing your deck all wrong.

I've had these discussions with other people in the past and I think what people seem to forget while play testing is you're natural bias while playing; no matter how hard you try you will always make small choices and perfect plays for your deck as you stare at the opponents hand.

Honestly the only thing I really need to do to shut your deck down is Pithing Needle your Pack Rat game two, get a Fiendslayer Paladin on the field for defense and life gain, while blocking and killing your attackers. You should get me low, but without Erebos I'm open to the lifegain train.

Mono-Black is my weakest match up by far, but I've beaten it before.