[[Primer]] Life of a Diplomat

Commander / EDH Infinite Combo Lifegain Mono-White Primer Stoneblade Tokens

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Creature (23)

• 1x Alms Collector
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Cavalier of Dawn
• 1x Containment Priest
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Emeria Shepherd
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1x Keeper of the Accord
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Palace Jailer
• 1x Peacekeeper
• 1x Remorseful Cleric
• 1x Restoration Specialist
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Skyclave Apparition
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Verge Rangers
• 1x Walking Ballista

Enchantment (10)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Court of Grace
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Kismet
• 1x Luminarch Ascension
• 1x On Thin Ice
• 1x Promise of Tomorrow
• 1x Rest in Peace
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Land (34)

• 1x Arch of Orazca
• 1x Castle Ardenvale
• 1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1x Field of Ruin
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1x Mistveil Plains
• 1x Mouth of Ronom
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 8x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 10x Snow-Covered Plains
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x War Room
• 1x Windbrisk Heights

Instant (11)

• 1x Brought Back
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Heliod's Intervention
• 1x Mana Tithe
• 1x Oblation
• 1x Otherworldly Journey
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Unexpectedly Absent

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Commander (1)

Artifact (13)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Coldsteel Heart
• 1x Endless Atlas
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Oketra's Monument
• 1x Skyclave Relic
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1x Sword of Sinew and Steel
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Approach of the Second Sun
• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Cleansing Nova
• 1x Council's Judgment
• 1x Dismantling Wave
• 1x Doomskar
• 1x Wrath of God

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Maybeboard

Creature (3)

• 1x Archon of Coronation
• 1x Verge Rangers
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer

Land (1)

• 1x Wasteland

Instant (1)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Court of Grace
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Timely Ward

Artifact (2)

• 1x Batterskull
• 1x Gauntlet of Power

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Welcome to my Mangara Primer!

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Primer

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How the Deck Works

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This deck works by killing a bunch of stuff and drawing cards with Mangara, the Diplomat . Mangara has to be one of, if not the best white card to have come out in 2020. Mangara is also in my opinion the best overall mono white general.

Deck strengths

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Some of the deck strengths are having the opportunity to remove any threat that enters the battlefield.

Deck weaknesses

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The deck's weaknesses are board wipes. Board wipes make it impossible to play the deck. One of the risks of playing a creature deck unfortunately. Another weakness is Card Draw and Mana Ramp, thankfully Mangara is a step in the right direction!

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General strategy

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The general strategy is to control the game using a lot of stax pieces and to abuse Mangara’s ability to try and find one of our win conditions.

Early game

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The early game plan is to ramp out to Mangara ASAP so that we can start the card advantage and control the threats as they arise throughout the game.

Using these one drops, helps get that early advantage on your opponents. Also helps get the lifegain gameplan rolling.

Mid game

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In the mid game you want to try and slow down your opponents using hatebears such as Linvala, Keeper of Silence , Aven Mindcensor , Peacekeeper , Ghostly Prison , Authority of the Consuls , Blind Obedience (Not technically a hatebear but still slows them down) and Kismet .

A side gameplan in the mid game is the Stoneforge Mystic package. This package of equipment will help out value your opponents. The package consists of Swiftfoot Boots , Sword of Light and Shadow , Sword of Sinew and Steel , Sword of the Animist and Umezawa's Jitte . This package allows you to out value your opponent in so many different ways. Sword of Light and Shadow not only allows you to gain life, and have protection from but it also recurs creatures from the graveyard. Sword of Sinew and Steel gives you protection from , it also destroys artifacts and planeswalkers. Umezawa's Jitte has many key components that allow it to have a spot in the 100. It can shoot creatures, pump our creatures and it also gains us life.

Late game

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The late game our goal is to control our opponents and gain massive amounts of card advantage with Mangara and abusing the stax pieces.

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Card Choices :D

With explanations

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Combos

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Comboooos

My favourite combo in the deck is Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Walking Ballista . This 2 card combo kills everyone at the table instantly.

Lands

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Everyone knows that lands are important, for that reason we are playing 36 lands in this deck

• 10x Snow-Covered Plains works very well with Extraplanar Lens and On Thin Ice
• 8x Plains
• Arch of Orazca card draw
• Ghost Quarter land destruction
• Castle Ardenvale some token generation
• Mistveil Plains helps bring things back from the yard
• Mouth of Ronom gives your spells flash in mono white
• Field of Ruin land destruction
• Scavenger Grounds graveyard hate
• War Room card draw
• Emeria, The Sky Ruin gives me more recursion
• Hall of Heliod's Generosity enchantment recursion
• Flagstones of Trokair prevents from being set back from land destruction
• Myriad Landscape mana ramp
• Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx incredibly good in mono coloured decks, nets you tons of mana in the late game
• Reliquary Tower all of the card draw from Mangara, the Diplomat you will need no maximum hand size
• Strip Mine more land destruction
• Windbrisk Heights gets free cards for when I attack with all my tokens

Creatures

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Every deck has creatures. But this deck has some pretty awesome ones. We’ve got 28.

• Alms Collector stax piece plus card draw
• Cavalier of Dawn removal and recursion
• Linvala, Keeper of Silence slow down the opponents
• Palace Jailer removal and some card draw
• Aven Mindcensor slow down the opponent and make it so they can’t tutor for answers
• Burnished Hart mana ramp on an elk
• Containment Priest make it harder for graveyard decks to go off
• Peacekeeper stax piece so I can’t be attacked
• card:Verge Ranger card advantage plus helps hit land drops
• Remorseful Cleric graveyard hate
• Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite do I need a reason?
• Emeria Shepherd phenomenal recursion in the later game
• Restoration Specialist recursion
• Grand Abolisher make it so my turns are my turns
• Heliod, Sun-Crowned combo piece
• Keeper of the Accord mana ramp and token production
• Mangara, the Diplomat the best card draw engine
• Mother of Runes because mom is the best. (Needed for protection)
• Serra Ascendant best beater in mono white
• Skyclave Apparition spot removal for permanents with cmc smaller than 4)
• Solemn Simulacrum mana ramp and sad card draw
• Stoneforge Mystic searches up key equipment in time of need
• Sun Titan great card mid to late game recurring key pieces
• Walking Ballista win condition :)

Artifacts

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Some key components to every commander deck. We have 17 artifacts in this list.

• Burnished Hart mana ramp on an elk
• Skyclave Relic mana ramp and indestructible
• Endless Atlas card draw!
• Arcane Signet some mana ramp
• Mind Stone mana ramp and card draw when the ramp isn’t needed
• Oketra's Monument cost reduction plus token production
• Coldsteel Heart rampppp
• Sol Ring mana ramp
• Solemn Simulacrum mana ramp and sad card draw
• Swiftfoot Boots haste enabler but mainly for protection
• Sword of Light and Shadow protection, little boost, recursion and life gain
• Sword of Sinew and Steel protection, little boost and targeted removal
• Sword of the Animist mana ramppp
• Thought Vessel mana ramp and no maximum hand size
• Umezawa's Jitte does a little bit of everything
• Walking Ballista win condition
• card: some awesome card draw for a life gain deck

Enchantments

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Here are some pretty great enchantments for mono white.

• Aura of Silence stax piece and artifact and enchantment removal
• Luminarch Ascension insane amounts of token production
• Blind Obedience slow down the opponents and life gain
• Ghostly Prison makes it harder for the opponents to kill you
• Heliod, Sun-Crowned win condition and has amazing synergies with life gain
• On Thin Ice spot removal for 1
• Smothering Tithe amazing card for so many reasons
• Rest in Peace graveyard hate
• Kismet slowing down the opponents
• card:Court of Gracel token production and monarch to draw cards

Instants

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Here are some instants that are awesome in this deck

• Brought Back brings back 2 cards that were removed that turn
• Generous Gift spot removal for a permanent
• Path to Exile spot removal for a troublesome creature
• Return to Dust removes artifacts and enchantments
• Swords to Plowshares
removal for a threat
• Teferi's Protection protects everything
• Mana Tithe white counterspell that no one expects
• Unexpectedly Absent targeted removal
• Heliod's Intervention targeted removal for artifacts and enchantments
• Oblation targeted removal
• Otherworldly Journey protection

Sorceries

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Here are some sorceries that are awesome in this deck

• Austere Command mass removal
• Approach of the Second Sun best win con for white.
• Council's Judgment removal
• Dismantling Wave destroys artifacts and enchantments
• Finale of Glory makes tokens and tons of them
• Cleansing Nova mass removal for creatures or artifacts and enchantments
• Doomskar mass removal
• Wrath of God mass removal

Planeswalkers

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In this slot I currently only have Elspeth, Sun's Champion . Currently I only have Elspeth in the deck, this is because it makes tokens, destroys creatures that are too big and if it ultimates her emblem pumps the entire team. All of these aspects are key components that are wanted for the deck

The Decks Ramp

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Being in mono white mana ramp is key. Almost as important as the general strategy. This being said you want to have mana ramp early and some bigger bombs late game that can win you the game. In the early games you want to take advantage of cards like Burnished Hart , Coldsteel Heart , Arcane Signet , Keeper of the Accord , Mind Stone , Myriad Landscape , Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx , Oketra's Monument , Sol Ring , Solemn Simulacrum , Sword of the Animist and Thought Vessel . Then in the late game dropping a bomb such as Smothering Tithe could just be enough to close out the game.

Card Draw

Card draw?! In white?! I’ve gotta see this!!!

Yes you heard it correct! Card Draw…….in white!

Okay i may be overhyping this, but its a big deal. Okay? With that being said here is all the card draw in this deck!

• Alms Collector card draw plus stax
• Dismantling Wave this is technically card draw if you cycle it
• Endless Atlas
• Mangara, the Diplomat by far the best card draw in white
• Mind Stone
• Palace Jailer
• Verge Rangers
• Solemn Simulacrum
• Court of Grace
• Arch of Orazca
• War Room

Okay I know it isn’t much. But it's mono white, it's good enough!

Removal

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Here is in my opinion the greatest removal for mono white.

Mass Removal

• Wrath of God
• Austere Command
• Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• Doomskar
• Cleansing Nova
• Dismantling Wave

Spot Removal (Creatures)

• Mana Tithe kinda?
• Path to Exile
• Swords to Plowshares
• On Thin Ice
• Generous Gift
• Umezawa's Jitte
• Walking Ballista
• Council's Judgment
• Oblation
• Unexpectedly Absent
• Cavalier of Dawn
• Skyclave Apparition
• Palace Jailer
• Mouth of Ronom

Spot Removal (Artifacts/Enchantments)

• Mana Tithe kinda?
• Council's Judgment
• Aura of Silence
• Sword of Sinew and Steel
• Dismantling Wave
• Return to Dust
• Heliod's Intervention
• Unexpectedly Absent
• Cavalier of Dawn
• Skyclave Apparition

Other Information

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Building this deck

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This is a deck that I wanted to build as soon as Mangara, the Diplomat was spoiled. He is by far the best overall mono white commander.

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Change Log

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2020

December 2020

Removed a Snow-Covered Plains for a Mistveil Plains , Mistveil is an obvious inclusion that I completely overlooked.

Removed a 3x Snow-Covered Plains for Aura of Silence , Hall of Heliod's Generosity and Emeria, The Sky Ruin . Aura Shards is a card that I overlooked and am putting it in as a stax piece and as a piece of removal. I’m adding both Hall of Heliod's Generosity and Emeria, The Sky Ruin for more recursion to allow more consistency to the deck overall

Removed Unbreakable Formation and added Teferi's Protection . Teferi's Protection is just a strictly better version of Unbreakable Formation . Protects all permanents from every type of removal and it also protects you from random game ending X spells.

2021

January 2021

This was a huge change, I put this list onto MTGO and didn’t enjoy the way it played so after a lot of tweaking and altering. I made a huge change and took out nearly a quarter of the deck. Here is the list of cards removed followed by a list of added cards.

Cards Taken Out

3x Snow-Covered Plains

Ajani's Pridemate

Anointed Procession

Archon of Emeria

Auriok Champion

Blast Zone

Bond of Discipline

Caged Sun

Crackdown

Crested Sunmare

Darien, King of Kjeldor

Daxos, Blessed by the Sun

Disenchant

Emergence Zone

Extraplanar Lens

Felidar Sovereign

Finale of Glory

Fumigate

Jazal Goldmane

Linden, the Steadfast Queen

Mentor of the Meek

Ravnica at War

Scrabbling Claws

Soul Warden

Soul's Attendant

Speaker of the Heavens

Suture Priest

Test of Endurance

Well of Lost Dreams

Added In

Heliod's Intervention

Unexpectedly Absent

Approach of the Second Sun

Cleansing Nova

Cavalier of Dawn

Kismet

Court of Grace

Day of Judgment

Linvala, Keeper of Silence

Palace Jailer

Ghostly Prison

Oblation

Peacekeeper

Promise of Tomorrow

Verge Rangers

Council's Judgment

Skyclave Relic

Luminarch Ascension

Otherworldly Journey

Remorseful Cleric

Rest in Peace

Restoration Specialist

Arcane Signet

Coldsteel Heart

Authority of the Consuls

Mana Tithe

Arch of Orazca

Ghost Quarter

Mouth of Ronom

Scavenger Grounds

War Room

March 2021

Bit of some fine tuning and adding in new cards

Cards Taken Out

11x Snow-Covered Plains changed 8 of which to regular plains

Day of Judgment

Authority of the Consuls

Added In

Flagstones of Trokair

Mistveil Plains

Alms Collector

Skyclave Apparition

Doomskar

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Conclusion

Thank you all for taking the time to look at my list and read my description. If you have any suggestions please feel free to leave a comment below.

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Top Ranked	Achieved #37 position overall 3 years ago Achieved #30 position in Commander / EDH 3 years ago Achieved #2 position in Commander / EDH Primer 3 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 50 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 3 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.02
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Elephant 3-3 G, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Foretell, Golem 3/3 C, Human 1/1 W, Illusion */* U, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W, Monarch Emblem, Treasure, Warrior 1/1 W w/ Vigilance
Folders	Favourites
Based on	Mangara, the Diplomat $200 Budget Postt EDH