(RULE 0) Serra the Benevolent - Song of All (v1.4) (Commander: Rule 0 MTG Deck)

(RULE 0) Serra the Benevolent - Song of All (v1.4)

Commander: Rule 0 Angels Flying Lifelink Mono-White

KBK7101

Lifegain (26)

Ramp (10)

Buffs (8)

Flying Synergy (3)

Board Wipe (2)

Lands (36)

Life Synergy (14)

Removal (10)

Protection (6)

Recovery (2)

Commander (1)

Angels (14)

Tokens (12)

Card Draw (8)

Win Cons (3)

Maybeboard

Angels (7)

Protection (4)

VOW (4)

Board Wipe (2)

Buffs (2)

Only have one and it's in another deck (1)

1x Smuggler's Share

Lore (7)

Removal (4)

Card Draw (3)

Next on the list for upgrades (3)

Lands (2)

Lifegain (6)

Ramp (5)

MID (3)

Recovery (3)

Updated - 5/23/22

“Rise, and I will show you how to run without flagging, fight without raging, and fly without wings.”

Hello and welcome to my newly created Serra the Benevolent Rule 0 commander deck! The idea of this deck was brought about by me wanting to complete a cycle of Dominaria legends that I started with Multani, Maro-Sorcerer and Feldon of the Third Path. Urza, Lord High Artificer and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician were easy picks for and (Yawgmoth being the only member of this cycle who's deck isn't public... yet) because they're Urza and Yawgmoth. Literally no contest there. The deck in this cycle had me a bit confused, though. What mono-white commander could fit the bill and stand next to Urza, Yawgmoth, Feldon and Multani as iconic legends of Dominaria. Gerrard Capashen? I enjoy making decks with lesser used commanders but that idea did not excite me at all. Darien, King of Kjeldor? That could be a great deck but he doesn't have the same star power to his name as the others in this cycle. While I was spending a few days trying to come up with something, the whole Rule 0 as a format discussion really heated up on the forums here and culminated with Rule 0 Commander being a separate format from regular EDH. I finally had the commander for this deck that could match the iconic names in the rest of this cycle... SERRA.

Planeswalkers as commanders can be a divisive topic due to the power that planeswalkers bring to the game but I feel that Serra the Benevolent is actually kind of weak and could make a great commander without doing anything stupid or overpowered. There are currently a total of 22 planeswalker commanders, and if we don't count the ones that are creatures, that leaves us with 13. Compared to those 13 planeswalkers, Lord Windgrace, Estrid, the Masked, Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury etc, Serra definitely seems a bit weak. If anyone thinks that her -6 ability (A Worship emblem) is too powerful, then I'll just agree to bounce between her first two abilities. Easy. I just want to run her as a commander. This deck definitely won't be anything cEDH, that's for sure.

This main themes of this deck are going to be lifegain and angels, which probably isn't a surprise. It also has a secondary flying theme to synergize with Serra's +2 ability. Power level of this deck will hopefully be in the 6-7 range, but being mono-white means that this deck is mostly "fair" when compared to other decks at most tables.

Before we get into the deck itself, a little bit about me (feel free to skip this part if you want, I really don't mind!). I've been playing Magic since early 2019 and have been playing mostly Commander/EDH since around the release of Throne of Eldraine. My usual playgroup consists of my two brothers with the rare fourth player being my brother-in-law. When I first started playing Magic, the idea of going to a FNM/some sort of LGS event seemed crazy to me and I was content to just play at home. Once I started playing EDH, though, the urge to play and meet new people started to grow. I was about to dive into my LGS scene right around the time the covid-19 pandemic started. Because of that, I still haven't played with anyone outside of my own house, so please keep that in mind when commenting. I'm an avid deck-builder and I build decks around themes, lore and/or characters rather than broken/infinite combos. I have a LOT of decks but I've only posted a few of them on here publicly but am in the middle of restructuring my deck folders and making more of them public. Most of the decks I build are based around commanders that aren't as common or popular as, say Kess, Dissident Mage or Atraxa, Praetors' Voice. While the term "budget" has a wide meaning, my decks do have one, so please do not recommend insanely overpriced cards such as Serra's Sanctum or Mana Crypt. They're much too expensive for me to justify putting in this deck, no matter how good they'd be. With all that said, let's get into the deck!!

***Note : All card choices came from research using Lyra Dawnbringer and Sephara, Sky's Blade as commander, along with any other angel tribal cards/lists. TappedOut, Scryfall and EDHREC were my main references.

CUSTOM CATEGORIES FEATURE CARDS IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS. THEY ARE NOT DUPLICATES. DECK CONTAINS 100 CARDS.

COMMANDER

As I said earlier, Serra the Benevolent isn't the most powerful planeswalker. Her +2 grants us a temporary Glorious Anthem, but only for creatures with flying. Her -2 ability makes a Serra Angel token, which, by today's standards, is pretty tame. Her -6 ability is very interesting, though. It grants us a Worship emblem. As you probably know, planeswalker emblems are impossible to get rid of, so if meet it's requirements, we could potentially be unable to lose the game. Worship as an enchantment is easily dealt with by Disenchant, Return to Nature or literally any other removal effect, so it's not that big of a deal. Having this effect on an unremovable planeswalker emblem may cause some tension at the table. My main focus of using Serra in this deck isn't to abuse this ability, but to have an iconic character lead the deck, so if someone isn't too comfortable with that ability, I just won't use it. Rule 0 isn't just about how powerful your decks are, but also about making sure everyone has fun.

PLANESWALKERS

Ajani, Strength of the Pride is a triple threat. His +1 is a lifegain ability, his -2 makes an Ajani's Pridemate token and his 0 ability is a one-sided board wipe if we have 55 life or higher (which we probably will). Great card all around.

CREATURES

This deck isn't strictly angel tribal, but they do make up a sizeable portion of our creature-base. Resplendent Angel, Valkyrie Harbinger and Emeria Angel all make tokens with flying. Sephara, Sky's Blade and Avacyn, Angel of Hope provide us some much needed protection. angelic field marshall, Righteous Valkyrie and Lyra Dawnbringer provide our creatures with some sort of buff, whether that be a keyword or a power/toughness buff. Angel of Destiny is one of the deck's win cons and an extremely powerful card. Baneslayer Angel has multiple keywords and is also a great all around card. Archangel of Thune and Angel of Vitality have some direct synergies with lifegain. Youthful Valkyrie is really only here because she's cheap, though she does synergize really well with the new Giada, Font of Hope from New Capenna. Giada is a great new card for the deck as she helps with ramp and pumps up our ETBing angels for each angel we already have (which will usually be a lot!).

We also run both of the "Soul Sisters", Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant alongside their three recently printed "brothers", Impassioned Orator, Daxos, Blessed by the Sun and the new Lunarch Veteran from Midnight Hunt. With lifegain being a major theme of this deck, they're a core part of our gameplan. Bishop of Wings is the last of our ETB lifegain creatures. It only triggers with our angels but gives us FOUR life per ETB. This can become a must-kill card if you have something like Resplendent Angel or Angelic Accord on the field.

Cartographer's Hawk and Giada, Font of Hope are both some form of ramp. The hawk is a typical "catch-up" style of ramp that white has become known for the past few years and Giada is helpful for casting angels (though her main focus will be her +1/+1 counter ability).

Steel-Plume Marshal is an underrated card from Jumpstart that works nicely here. It gives our flying creatures a buff whenever they attack alongside it. Pairs nicely with Serra's +2 and/or Rally of Wings.

Speaker of the Heavens is a great lifegain card that just left Standard. If we have 47 or more life (which we probably will), he can be tapped to make an angel token. For just one mana. He also has lifelink and vigilance to help us bump up our life total and potentially make a token after he connects. Great card. Felidar Sovereign is a well known lifegain win-con. If he stays on the field, we win. That simple.

Linden, Steadfast Queen gains us life for each attacking creature we control and Nykthos Paragon is another Archangel of Thune that only works once per turn but has the incredible phrase "That many" on it. Great card to combo with Angelic Chorus. Gained five life because and angel entered the battlefield? All your creatures get five +1/+1 counters!

ENCHANTMENTS

Ajani's Welcome, Authority of the Consuls and Angelic Chorus all operate like the soul sisters. Creatures ETB? You gain life, with some caveats. Welcome only works when your creatures ETB, Authority only triggers with opponents creatures (but they also come in tapped!) and Chorus works like Welcome does but you gain life equal to that creature's toughness rather than just one life.

Celestial Mantle is insane with Felidar Sovereign and Ajani, Strength of the Pride or any other "If your life is X or higher" effect.

Test of Endurance is a really simple alternate win-con.

Cleric Class is Nyx-Fleece Ram, Heliod, Sun-Crowned and a reanimation spell with a lifegain ETB all in one card. Definitely one of the best Class cards from AFR.

Griffin Aerie and Angelic Accord both trigger if we've gained X life per turn. If we have, they make tokens with flying. Perfect cards for this deck.

Court of Grace helps us with the card draw that white notoriously lacks. It also makes us flying tokens. Win-win. Dawn of Hope also helps us with the card draw problem while making tokens with lifelink (but not flying, sadly).

Seal of Removal is for instant-speed removal.

Abiding Grace gains us one life at the beginning of our end step. It can also recur a soul sister if they've bit the dust.

Righteous Cause is a great card that can gain us stupid amounts of life if people decide to get swingy.

Sigarda's Splendor is a new card from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt that not only gains us life, but draws us cards as well! You basically have to have a higher life total than your last turn in order to draw a card and you gain life by casting white cards. Easy include.

INSTANTS AND SORCERIES

Cleansing Nova is a modal board wipe. It also fits our angel theme.

Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile and Winds of Abandon are the deck's creature removal spells. All three are well known for their efficiency. Might also add in the new Fateful Absence from Midnight Hunt.

Crush Contraband, Disenchant and Invoke the Divine are for artifact and enchantment removal. Disenchant and Invoke get bonus points for having lyrics from the Song of All in the flavor text!

Flawless Maneuver and Brave the Elements are two of the best board protection spells white has to offer.

Storm Herd is a well known lifegain card that works great in this deck, despite it's sizeable mana value (still not used to that term).

Oblation is white's lesser known version of Chaos Warp but the owner draws two instead of revealing the top card. It says "Target player", which means that this card is a hybrid protection and draw/removal spell.

Rally of Wings can be a game ending damage boost or a surprise attack when defending. Great card in this deck.

ARTIFACTS

Most of these are here for ramp, which white is well known for being bad at. Not much to say about those other than "use the ones that you prefer". Endless Atlas is a great card draw engine for decks with lots of basics (like this one). Well of Lost Dreams and Alhammarret's Archive are both great lifegain synergy cards with card draw effects to boot. Definite must haves.

LANDS

Basic land art depicts Serra's Realm before its collapse. War Room and Bonders' Enclave are both great card draw engines in this deck and any mono-colored or big creature deck. Kabira Crossroads andSeraph Sanctuary provide us with lifegain. The three Zendikar Rising MDFC lands provide us with lands that can offer tokens, removal and protection if needed. Isolated Watchtower and Myriad Landscape help us to ramp and Windbrisk Heights helps us to gain some small card advantage.

The new Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire from NEO is a land that can also double as removal. Potentially cheap removal, too!

GAMES PLAYED

vs. Vilis, Broker of Blood vs. Halana/Alena

My brother piloted this deck for it's first game. Authority of the Consuls kept me (Halana/Alena) in check while he kept gaining life with Ajani, Strength of the Pride. Vilis threatened something scary with Rune-Scarred Demon so I tutored for End-Raze Forerunners and had to take him out. His gameplan was to draw a ton of cards with Promise of Power, discard all the creatures for being over max hand size and then resurrect them all with Command the Dreadhorde. While this was happening, Serra got a hold of a Lyra Dawnbringer and an Angel of Destiny. I had a massive board of creatures, two of which had flying, but the lifegain he accrued put together with Angel of Destiny's triggered ability won him the game! Deck ran pretty well overall. Might need some more early game stuff, but other than that it ran nicely (even though I was on the opposite end!).

SUPPLIES

All decks in my Legends of Dominaria cycle have two versions of their commander, one normal/modern version and one old-school border version. The modern border ones have alter sleeves. One of the two may be a proxy depending on the deck.

Proxies - Just one. An old-school border version of Serra the Benevolent.

Alter Sleeves - https://www.altersleeves.com/product/ep8fg08eghjqgps?printing_id=39053

Sleeves - Dragon Shield Dual Matte (Snow)

Deck Box - Ultimate Guard Boulder 100 (Frosted) + Ultra Pro 100 - Black Lotus (for tokens)

Playmat - Ultra Pro : Unstable - Plains

OTHER DECKS IN THIS CYCLE

Urza, Lord High Artificer - Critical Mass (v1.3)

Commander / EDH KBK7101

SCORE: 10 | 4 COMMENTS | 928 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician - Gate to Phyrexia v1.2

Commander / EDH KBK7101

SCORE: 14 | 1 COMMENT | 583 VIEWS | IN 5 FOLDERS

Feldon of the Third Path - Loran's Smile (v1.3)

Commander / EDH KBK7101

SCORE: 21 | 12 COMMENTS | 675 VIEWS | IN 4 FOLDERS

Multani, Maro-Sorcerer - Growth Spiral (v1.6)

Commander / EDH KBK7101

SCORE: 27 | 8 COMMENTS | 1102 VIEWS | IN 10 FOLDERS

That's everything for now. The Maybeboard is a bunch of stuff I have that could potentially make it's way in at some point or was previously in the deck and was removed for whatever reason. Would love feedback on the ratio of ramp, removal and card draw spells. Any and all recommendations are welcome but please remember that I have yet to play with anyone outside of my own house.

Thanks!!

Suggestions

Updates Add

v1.4 - New Capenna! — May 23, 2022

Edit

OUT - Marble Diamond, Starnheim Aspirant

IN - Arcane Signet, Giada Font of Hope

Giada, Font of Hope is a fantastic card that works really well in this deck. Both of her abilities will almost always be relevant.

v1.3 - NEO! — March 4, 2022

Edit

25 upvotes?! New update coming soon, too. — Feb. 24, 2022

Edit

v1.2 — Oct. 12, 2021

Edit

v1.1 — Oct. 7, 2021

Edit

First game recap! — Oct. 4, 2021

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93% Casual

Competitive

Revision 8 See all

(2 years ago)

+1	Arcane Signet	main
+1	Giada, Font of Hope	main
-1	Marble Diamond	main
+1	Smuggler's Share	maybe
-1	Starnheim Aspirant	main

Top Ranked	Achieved #4 position overall 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander: Rule 0 3 years ago
Date added	3 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander: Rule 0 legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.27
Tokens	Ajani's Pridemate, Angel 4/4 W, Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, Angel Warrior 4/4 W, Bird 1/1 W, Emblem Serra the Benevolent, 2/2 W Token Creature Griffin, Pegasus 1/1 W, Soldier 1/1 W w/ Lifelink, Spirit 1/1 W, Monarch Emblem
Folders	All Decks, Legends of Dominaria, Deck Ideas, Need to Build, interessant, Inspirations, Fun Stuff, Inspiration, deck, Mono W
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