Thanks for the comments guys! Really appreciated! :)

@ seibertross and squirrelking98

Thanks for the props! I like contagion engine alot, and I am partially keen on it just because I want to be able to have a slice of the proliferate action because of the decks I end up having to fight against in my meta. Being able to punish them for putting poison counters on themselves so they could be a bigger threat to me is very satisfying. And so is buffing up my own knights with it (and Ajani) each turn. And squirrel, I had a look at your deck - very nice! The spot removal is a good alt. for equipment. The only recommendation I would make is one I have discussed with many other tapped users and knight decks - using Elspeth Tirel . Her ultimate ability wipes everything, including your enchantments. So you would be minus all of your Honor of the Pure , and any opponent creatures you had exiled with Journey to Nowhere will be returned to the field. But still! Its a similar formula to my deck, and I like. Maybe since you have only 20 creatures, focus on their longevity? Maybe consider 2x Sun Titan or card:Marshal's Anthem for bringing them back from the grave.

@ Epochalyptik

Thanks for the analysis man, any criticism is always really helpful to me. I see your point with the Contagion Engine - I agree and think its a little too cocky and inconsistent with the flow of the deck. The most I should consider for proliferate would be something small like Contagion Clasp , but we'll see if it would be worthwhile.

I agree with Brave the Elements . They were originally mainboarded in this deck - I only took them out because I opted for less of an aggro approach and more for a combo, Johnny approach. They are nonetheless invaluable though, as you mentioned, since they essentially guarantee your control of a turn. And they are lethal for defending as well. The only reason I am not as keen with them is because of how soon they will be cycled out, but I would like to still try and use them until then.

I have been looking to get rid of Ajani Goldmane for a while, but I don't know what will fill his void. The vigilance has proved invaluable in the past, and the consistent +1 counters are nice. Any recommendations on what to replace him with? I do like the idea of Basilisk Collar , but its a bloody pricey card, will be cycled out soon, and this deck reflects only cards I own. I guess I could scrounge up $12 somewhere to buy two of them.

As for Armored Ascension , that card was originally mainboarded, but I ended up removing it because as jessetaverne wisely mentioned earlier, any creature I enchant it with will instantly be controlled or destroyed because it's too threatening. The two card loss ruins my mana for the turn and is essentially a 2-1 point win for them. It seems it would be better for equipping it to a creature with black and green prot, like Mirran Crusader , but he is really my only option. Still doesn't mean I don't want to find a way to put it in, though.

For removal, I have been torn on this for a while. If I am going to add it, I feel I will need to forgo all of my artifact, planeswalker, and enchant spots to make it effective; however, I am planning on adding puresteel paladin when New Phyrexia releases, and that only means more equipment cards. Also, in current terms, the Tumble Magnet works well with slowing down the enemy, which gives me enough time to usually draw a Day of Judgment and cast it while all of their creatures are tapped on the field, and my creatures remained safe from infect damage. Plus, it allows any creature wielding a sword to be unblockable. And it lets me stop prot-white creatures like Phyrexian Crusader or nasty fliers I can't touch like Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon or Flesh-Eater Imp .

Do you have any thoughts overall as to what specific slots I should add/remove?

Your mana curve seems to be more in the 3-4 range, and a couple playtests indicated that you're sometimes kind of defenseless for a few turns. I would look into trying out some removal before anything else, but as you said the choices are difficult. There's nothing that reaches out to me as a card you could easily sideboard or remove to put in what you might need.

My recommendation is to try a few games where you set aside anything non-critical, put in some removal/Braves and test the proverbial waters. The only way to know if you like the change is to play a couple games and get a feel for it, but feel it would be in your interest to drop your curve and get some more consistent early-game protection going.

What about Strata Scythe instead or Armored Ascension ? I know you don't get flying with it but you get the huge power/tougness boost and it doesn't give your opponent that 2 for 1 advantage.

I like the creature makeup. I think things would get really good if you replaced Ajani Goldmane with Sun Titan .

/two cents

Alright Epochalyptik, you got me. I've been meaning to try something like this for a while, and that well-organized suggestion you made just gave me the push I need. SO now that removal is on the table (I always felt it was kind of cheap, but I can brush my humbleness away now with all the retarded New Phyrexia infect), what kind of removal should I try? Should I keep the Tumble Magnet s or remove them? I was thinking maybe:

-3 Sword of Body and Mind , -1 Sword of Feast and Famine , -2 Ajani Goldmane , -2 Day of Judgment , -4 Tumble Magnet , -2 Hero of Bladehold

+4 Journey to Nowhere , +3 Celestial Purge , +3 Condemn , +2 Revoke Existence , +2 Smite

Maybe -4 Honor of the Pure for +4 Brave the Elements as well? Any recommendations for other removal cards?

@mechwarrior3, I really like the Strata Scythe idea, I am really set on equipment for this deck when the next set comes out, and I definitely think I'll include at least 1 of those. I also agree with the Sun Titan suggestion - I think that he is more valuable than ajani.

Maybe think of taking out Dread Statuary s and Mystifying Maze s and adding 3 more Plains and 3 Emeria, The Sky Ruin to help the undying knights idea.

Oust is another good removal card. It sends something away for at least two turns, and only costs one.

From playing my own knight deck, the utility and power of 1-drop removal spells of any kind is something you can't pass up. Once you start getting into cards like Journey to Nowhere , with its 2cmc and sorcery speed, you risk not having answers when you need them. Celestial Purge is another example. It costs two and can only do anything to R/B, limiting its usefulness.

I would try to run the following in your situation:

4 Oust

4 Condemn

2 Revoke Existence (2 more in sideboard)

2 Smite (if you want them)

Keep the Journeys in the sideboard and see if you play better without them, then make a decision on them.

You'll notice that I left 2 slots open in that list. That's because Day of Judgment should stay in. Once you start getting Exemplars out, the power to wipe your opponent's board and lose only 0-1 creatures from your own field is absolutely game-changing. It gets around Phyrexian Crusader 's pro-white, stops K-red in its tracks, and hampers Caw-Blade.

On the land: I don't think you'll need a playset of Mystifying Maze . As squirrel said, Emeria seems to be more fitting for the deck, although you may try keeping a Maze or two as utility cards. The main focus in this deck should be on playing creatures, though, not animating lands.

Thanks so much for the advice, guys. This really does help!

I like the Emeria, The Sky Ruin idea, but since i've never been able to procure any in real life, I don't know how effective it is with running say, only 22 lands in total. Do I have to keep it at 24 in order to have a realistic chance of achieving its effect? In the absence of 24 lands, do you think something like the maze would be more realistic? I have play-tested the deck extensively with it, and its impartiality to any creature type, regardless of prot of ability, has saved me numerous times when I had nothing to spend mana on during a turn cycle.

Also, Epochalyptik, I can see that you're really keen on maximizing slots for removal, and the 10-12 you suggested (aside from the mandatory 2 Day of Judgment , which I wholeheartedly agree with in this kind of deck), means I will either have to bring my creature number below the 20 line, or remove cards I've considered invaluable like Honor of the Pure . Brave the Elements is great as always, even though I kind of figured it more useful for strictly aggro decks, but I guess it is invaluable no matter what. I know exemplar adds the +1's, but HotP has saved my life so many times I almost feel I owe it to the card itself. Also, the reason I have so many Celestial Purge in the SB is because the only decks I've faced that feature so much creature removal ARE R and B. Green has hardly any, and I can take their heavy hitters head on, blue is obviously control-based, and other white decks.. well.. there are hardly any in my meta.

I also have a strat that I ran once before, the somewhat eliminated the need for removal cards. What about running 2 more Day of Judgment for a total of 4 (so I will have one often), and then +4 Hyena Umbra ? That card just has so many positive perks to this deck (which I am sure you will see for yourself, with the first strike that many of my knights lack, the +1/+1 so they can take on something like a Phyrexian Vatmother , as well as the totem armor from killing spells or a friendly DoJ). Speaking of risky phyrexian cards, which seem to be all the rage these days, what are your thoughts about something even more permanent than oust like Pacifism ? Especially since black/red hardly have any enchantment removal anyway.

Finally, when New Phyrexia hits, I'll tell you early that I have wanted to make this deck more equipment heavy, especially in combination with 4x puresteel paladin and 4x Nim Deathmantle , as I am sure you can see why for the "undying" aspect. You have all been so helpful, and I would reallyyyy appreciate it if you could keep the 2 cents coming then as well. My goal has always been creature longevity in decks, and I have always tried to kind of do everything at once, such as by limiting removal to secondary sources (i.e. animating the mazes or statuarys) and focusing on creature strength and protection (through cards like Honor of the Pure , Whispersilk Cloak and the swords). I have often considered splashing blue for Turn Aside and Mana Leak , while adding Venser, the Sojourner to bounce card:Marshal's Anthem.

Not gonna lie, I am really looking forward to your responses!

Mystifying Maze is a good mid-late game card, and Emeria, The Sky Ruin is a good late game card. The question is really what you want from a utility land, and whether or not you can afford CIPT for on-color mana and/or CIPU for colorless.

I run my own knight deck, The White Order, with only 20 lands and am almost never mana screwed. It can make tons of plays on only two mana, and can win games on only three. The major difference is that all of 2-drops are creatures, whereas yours are mixed. You need to find out what the right number is in terms of your lands, and that number WILL be affected by your choice to run nonbasic and CIPT lands.

The goal is to achieve consistent, fast plays, with a land drop every turn for the first 3 and preferably 4 turns and something to play on each of those turns. If you can't do that frequently, then you need to reevaluate your mana curve and base.

Hyena Umbra is something that I hadn't given any thought to before, but it could definitely work the way you want it to.

I am leery about running a playset of Day of Judgment because you don't want to boardwipe too often unless you have 2 Exemplars out and they are safe from exile/tuck/bounce removal in some way (i.e. you have a Brave the Elements in-hand the whole time). I would say 3 max, because while it is useful, you don't want to draw it as often as some other cards in your deck.

There's nothing wrong with running Honor of the Pure , especially since it helps out your field and two put your Exemplars/Crusaders out of Bolt range.

Cards like Pacifism and Arrest are nice in certain scenarios, but my advice would be to stick with lower-cost removal. I have been saved many times over because I could make plays in my knight deck and still have removal/Brave at my disposal with only one open mana. However, it depends on what you typically go up against and how effective different types of removal/defuse spells are.

Mixing color and/or artifacts here is something that you need to be careful about. While it can give you a good advantage, you have to find a balance between everything in order to maintain playability.

If you mix in blue, I would add 4 Glacial Fortress and either Seachrome Coast or Sejiri Refuge . That way you will have both colors available, but every land still produces the core color for your deck.

If you put in equipment, Puresteel Paladin will be an obvious choice as you mentioned. You would also be able to run Dispatch as removal, which I would absolutely advise. Be careful with the Nim Deathmantle though. Whatever you put it on instantly loses its white knight properties and becomes ONLY a black zombie. That means it doesn't get the boost from Exemplar or Honor of the Pure. Instead, I would try going for Mimic Vat . It's cheaper overall, lets you keep the color and subtype of your imprinted creature, and can even snag opponent's bombs (Phyrexian Crusader , which will get Exemplar's buff, or Wurmcoil Engine , etc.)

Thanks for your thoughts - I like the mimic vat idea alot. I always thought about it in the context of my own creatures and forgot you can mimic an opponent's creature. I'll see if I can fit one in. The significance of the deathmantle, though, was that for free (with the puresteel pally) you could equip it, and then unequip it from the desired creature, effectively always being able to save your creatures one at a time from doom. Your unequipped creature is then returned to the battlefield like nothing happened. This could be especially useful with cards like Basilisk Collar .

So if I am going to keep the land count at 22, and keep the 2 DoJ, then I have 12 slots to play with, unless I start taking out creatures. I really want 4 Brave the Elements and at least 1 Sword of Feast and Famine so that puts me at 7 slots. So should I consider 4x Condemn for spot removal, perhaps 2x Revoke Existence , Basilisk Collar OR Revoke Existence , and then 1x Mimic Vat to fill up the rest? That will help keep the curve low, albeit not as low as Oust would offer.

Should I add 1x Luminarch Ascension or 1x Bladed Pinions ? I need something that will grant me a comparative advantage with flying. Thoughts?

Considering Luminarch Ascension will ALWAYS go off with Infect...I'd say so. At least for sideboard absurdity

Spidersilk Net is also an option, seeing as how there's already a fair amount of first strike available from your field already.

I would say be careful with the Luminarch Ascension . In order to get that up to the necessary amount of counters, you need to play defensively for a few turns, which is not necessarily what knight decks are centered around. It isn't impossible, but be aware that you may end up tailoring your play style around that card when you get it out.

[ajani-goldmane] 's -1 ability is a good answer to infect.

I like the Spidersilk Net net option too, a free cast (and soon to be free equip) is always nice; however, I really like flying it not only allows you to block fliers, but use flying as an advantage for yourself. The first strike is a bonus, and although every card but Hero of Bladehold has either flying or first strike, giving that card either ability increases its threat as a wincon. I have found that its 3 power just doesn't cut it often enough, but external assets like Honor of the Pure or the exemplar's indestructibility bonus help. Knight Exemplar will pretty much guaruntee you a win with any knights deck, but I consider the exemplar to be a dream in a fantasy world, because 99% of the time it is the first creature to go.

Honor of the Pure is overkill. I think you'd benefit a lot more from Ajani Goldmane and Culling Dais

Maybe I am wrong about this, but I think -1 Sword of Body and Mind -1 honor the pure wouldn't hurt.. instead, if you throw in either +2 ajani, +2 hero of bladehold, or +2 sun titan, I think you would have better game enders. Plus, how awesome would it be to play the titan late game, get your knight exemplar back, and then make the opponent have to choose between the titan or the exemplar.

Personally, I would +2 sun titan and then put two Ajani's in the sideboard against infect, because those +1+1 counters/vigilance would really help out.

Another fun option, particularly against little flyers, would be Lightmine Field . Could be a useful sideboard at least :) and with the exemplar out, your creatures won't care about the damage.

On a side note, would Brave the Elements protect you from your own Lightmine Field ?

Your not worried about little flyers, you're worried about little flyers carrying big fat equips. But a sideboard options can include card:Apostle's Blessing (drops equipment from the creature. I guess Marrow Shards could help, but you just can't beat Tumble Magnet usually.

Me, I think I'd go for the card:Apostle's Blessing and card:Norn's Annex on your maybeboard as a sideboard answer. Its gonna be hard to Condemn all of those hawks, but de-quiping & forcing to pay for attackers should really screw with their tempo, which is the real power of those decks IMO.

BTW, if your using Emerge Unscathed there is some really sick synergy between that and Livewire Lash . If you attack with a Leonin Skyhunter , they go to Doomblade, you play Emerge, hit for 4, next upkeep it plays again...you just dealt 10 damage with 1 card, pretty sick.

Hey thanks for the comments!

I like your suggestions alot. This deck has cycled through many Sun Titan s in its own right, but the staggering 6cmc cost, especially for 22 land, makes me nervous. Every slot is sacred in making this deck work, and oftentimes with 22 land I find myself having to work with 3-4 lands total. If I had 24 lands in here, I would be much more keen to play the titan. I know his perks are fantastic, but it is just as challenging to get him into play. As for Ajani, I think that the sideboard idea is great, ill see if I can fit him in.

Indeed, Ajani Goldmane and Hero of Bladehold were integral parts of this deck up until a short while ago, especially since I replaced Hero of Bladehold with Leonin Skyhunter ; this is because this deck thrives on its weenie aspect. I always have to spend mana on something as well (be it equipment or levelling up during an empty hand), so keeping the curve as low as possible helps keep up the pressure on the opponent. Not to mention all the different forms of protection floating around, which often makes the knights invulnerable, as well as stat buffs from Knight Exemplar and Honor of the Pure .

As for Lightmine Field , I have considered it. And no, Brave the Elements would not protect you from it, just like it would not protect you from Day of Judgment because the effects do not specifically "target" a unit: they are non-targetting and "worldy" in practice.

Brave the Elements absolutely protects from Lightmine Field

http://mtg.wikia.com/wiki/Protection

Described by the "D.E.B.T" usually, the D is for damage, no damage can be dealt from whatever it has protection from. In this case a white source.

Its the same reason dropping an Ally on a Kabira Evangel makes playing Pyroclasm the same turn a one sided board wipe.

Day of Judgment or Damnation or card:Black Sun's Zenith are all different since they don't actually deal damage.

get rid of the sac-lands, they have no use in this deck.