Knights has always been a pet deck of mine. I was building it and testing out lists since before it was even a glint in Standard's eye. The addition of Mirran Crusader in Mirrodin Besieged helped my cause. More notably, the strong presence of white in the Metagame, thanks to Stoneforge Mystic and Squadron Hawks, allowed me to play with the spine of the deck while keeping a core that had seen positive results consistently throughout this era of play.
Ultimately, the deck began as mono-white, and is splashing blue to take advantage of Celestial Colonnade, as well as the optional costs for Phyrexian Mana options. This strengthens the deck, and adds tons of sideboard potential in the form of counterspells being brought in against board wipes and Gideon, among other things.
U/W Knights
32 Creatures
5 Spells
23 Lands
11 Plains
Those of you who play standard probably see a ton of similarities to the original Caw-Blade, notably in the now ubiquitous Mystic Package. Any deck that runs white at this point is running 4 of the Mystic, and the usual 3 targets – two swords and a skull. Reinforcing this is the knights backbone – with a strong drop on 1, 3, and 4, Knights provides a solid midrange swing that can become extremely dangerous if left alone while still giving the player tons of flexibility on other fronts.
Student of Warfare is a solid card, and it doesn't take much to see why. Barring a great 2 drop, he levels twice and becomes a 3/3 first strike that puts an end to any aggro strategy, or begins swinging for effect. Otherwise, he's a 1 drop 1/1 knight that options for 'extreme threat' status if left alive. When fully leveled, Students are the second best equip target in the deck, since double strike is so potent with their effects, and a 32 point life swing with a Batterskull will end almost any game by itself.
Leonin Skyhunter might seem a strange choice to include, but when taken in the current metagame, it becomes obvious. Aside from being an on-cost creature (2/2 flying for 2), and a knight, the hidden benefit is that it's bigger than a hawk. When they're both equipped, Hawks die left and right to the aptly-named knight, and in the games I've played, that extra 1 toughness has been worth it's weight in gold.
Mirran Crusader is awesome for all the reasons that Student is, but at a slightly higher cost, and with some added protection from fairly relevant colors. A Crusader with a Sword of War and Peace has protection from everything except Into the Roil and Jace, effectively. It also has a good chance to just outright kill someone if it connects.
Hero of Bladehold is just good. She's better if she can swing with impuny, and both Exemplar and Ajani let her do that with some regularity. She's one of the best things to draw on a dead board to break a line, but her higher mana cost means I don't want to run the full suite of four.
Knight Exemplar is obviously the one that ties it all together. Knight lord is a huge boon for the rest of the deck, aside from being a solid creature itself.
Stoneforge Mystic is the best creature in standard, bar none. It shouldn't be a surprise that it's in here.
Spellskite and Phyrexian Metamorph are the two key pieces of tech in the deck. Spellskite does wonders to protect your knights – especially the ones that you've got equipped. Phyrexian Metamorph takes your existing board position and vastly improves it, no matter what's going on in the game. It's the single card in the deck that I've never wanted to not-draw. He's more of a house than anyone else realizes in the current standard, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him skyrocket in price soon.
Leonin Relic Warder are there because Stoneforge Mystic is the best creature in standard. It's nice to have a drop that improves your board position and takes away their biggest threat, while also being a competitively costed creature. A friend of mine suggested Kor Sanctifiers, but I think 4 mana is a little much to ask for artifact destruction.
The equipment in the deck is the normal Stoneforge package, so that shouldn't surprise anyone. The pair of Ajani Goldmane is there because he's (in this deck) an even better siege breaker than Gideon is, and at a 1 mana cheaper, you'd be hard pressed to find a better planeswalker outside of old Elspeth.
The general playstyle of Knights is that of a mid-range aggro deck, but it also feels like it has an aspect of combo to it. Each knight you play seems like it adds to the overall puzzle – not only adding itself to the board, but making everything else that much stronger. Exemplar, Hero, and to a lesser degree Crusader and Student all synergize extremely powerfully with the rest of the deck. The biggest risk with the deck is outlasting their board wipes – protecting your exemplar by doubling them up is a great way to do so, but otherwise, just outpacing their black sun with Ajani is a powerful tool.
There are a couple other cards I'd consider for the deck. If you don't like the Skyhunters, then Accorder Paladin is a solid replacement option. It's a little higher on the aggro end, and doesn't provide any defense against hawks in the deck at all. In the end, I preferred the slightly more defensive style given that this deck is also going to double-up for some multiplayer work.
As for a sideboard, I haven't built one, but I expect it'll include some creature options (white knight for pro-black, firewalker for anti-red), some anti-creature measures (either marrow shards or DoJ, haven't decided which), some dismember for dealing with threats like Splinter Twin, and possibly some tech for anti-control. I've heard that mental misstep is playable in standard, but that begs testing before it gets serious consideration. I'll probably also add the last sword or Sword of Vengeance for mirrors, to give me the edge against similar stoneforge decks. If there's extra room, given this meta, more artifact hate probably wouldn't be amiss. As for a specific list, we'll see.
As for now, I'll be signing off. Dunno what's coming up tomorrow. Possibly a look at the 4.2 patch notes for WoW, possibly a review of a book series I've read recently. Who knows!
~AR
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