Making Knights Awesome In Standard

Today, we're going to be previewing my preliminary decklist for the standard rotation once Mirrodin Beseiged comes into play. The spoiler season is just about done with, and I can't see much else managing to find a spot in here. The deck in question is Mono-white knights, which I've lovingly taken to calling Judgment. I posted a similar list a few months ago, but since then, I've streamlined it quite a bit, and the next set should bring it up to par with the best of the field out there. Barring another sexy one-or-two drop that somehow beats Student of Warfare or White Knight, this should be a final list. The deck feels pretty jam-packed with power for it's size. Here's the breakdown.

-23 Creatures
4 Student of Warfare
4 Leonin Skyhunter

3 White Knight
4 Knight Exemplar
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Hero of Bladehold

Twenty three creatures might seem a little light for an aggressive deck. I know a few friends recommended twenty five, but most of these creatures have abilities to help them survive – and with all the sources of indestructible in the deck, they should have some solid survival. Elspeth can help out later as well. All of the picks here seem pretty obvious to me. Student for the 1 drop spot makes any hand with itself and a land into a playable hand. The skyhunters are bears that fly, which is absurdly solid and serves to put any deck without an answer to flying on a clock. With the power buffing that gets thrown around in this deck, even one unblocked threat can win on it's own. White knights were a controversial inclusion. Some wanted the Accorder Paladin (3/1 for 2 mana, battle cry) First strike ended pushing the White Knight over the edge. Losing an accorder paladin to a chump block hurts the early aggression. If he was a 1/3, he'd be a no-brainer, but as is, White Knight serves as the weakest creature on the list (and that's saying something).

As we move up the curve, we see Knight Exemplar, which is an obvious inclusion for the lord-effects, as well as just being a White Knight on his own. Mirran Crusader swings for a truckload and dodges black destruction (except Lightning Bolt, but hey, who's perfect...other than Thrun). Finally, the Hero of Bladehold gives you a heap of tokens, avoids Lightning Bolt, buffs the rest of your plays on the attack, and overall just acts as a turn 4 siege breaker.

One of the things I like here is how easily it curves without any acceleration. Student into Skyhunter or White Knight, into Exemplar, into Hero. Drop (pick a 5 mana card, or a 4 mana card and Brave the Elements, or Exemplar + Journey/Honor) and win.

-14 Spells

4 Journey to Nowhere
3 Brave the Elements
3 Honor of the Pure
2 Day of Judgment
2 Eldrazi Monument

Shouldn't be many surprises here at first. Journey is the best removal in the format at the moment, answering Titans and BSA's and Wyrmcoils all day long. Brave the Elements does double duty as creature protection and allowing the unblockable alpha strike against most decks. Honor of the Pure is a no-brainer in a mono-white creature deck, especially at such a low mana cost, and double especially when more than half of the creature base has first or double strike.

Day of Judgment might seem like a strange play, but with 8 sources of global indestructible, it can be a 4-mana one-sided board wipe. Monuments more than proved themselves in Elves recently, and with the Hero of Bladehold and Elspeth to provide tokens for the sacrifice, there's no reason not to run a pair of them. It practically turns the team into Baneslayer angels. An army of indestructible, flying, first strike, 4/4 or 5/5 monstrosities on turn 5 is just dangerous.

-2 Planeswalkers

2 Elspeth Triel

I'm of two minds on planeswalkers, in general, but in this case, it's a no-brainer. I'll have the board presence to defend her, so we can rate her on her own merits. Elspeth either makes a small army of soldiers on her own (which can be buffed by monument and honor), or she gains me a truckload of life and wipes the board.

-21 Lands

18 Plains
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin

21 lands is more than enough. I was running 22 a while back, but ended up with just a hint too much. Three Emeria gives the deck some late-game pressure. Recurring Exemplars onto the board isn't something that most decks can effectively handle without killing the land off. It also makes a late-game Eldrazi Monument into a pure advantage.

Side Board:
2 Day of Judgment
4 Kor Firewalker

3 Leyline of Sanctity

2 Revoke Existance

1 White Knight
1 Brave the Elements

2 Luminarch Ascension

More day for the aggro matchup. Kor Firewalker for anti-red hate. Leyline against U/B control and red aggro. Revoke Existance to stop Wyrmcoil engines and monuments and all the other nasty artifacts that are getting thrown around nowadays. The fourth white knight against black decks – because being protection-from-your-deck is fun. The final brave the elements helps against removal-heavy decks. Luminarch, as always, is a staple of “Oh, you're playing control? Great. Next game?”

Overall:

For those of us who have wanted a good mid-range aggro deck but don't think that Quest > Argentum Armor and Squadron Hawks are the best thing ever, this deck should provide a good alternative. It runs a lot of power and control for what it is, and it can board wipe with the best out there. Give it a shot in Workstation, or Apprentice, or whatever it is that you all use now. I think it's got potential at FNM's at the very least – which is where I plan on testing it out.

So throw some comments in the box below. Love the deck? Think I've forgotten something? Missed a card that just HAS to be on the list? Well, let me know below.