Develop the Standard with Mono White Vehildrazi

Jeremy Dezani

Last weekend, I played Season Master’s – Hour of Devastation in Hareruya, a big event in Japan. The format of the tournament was 6 rounds of Standard and 3 of HOU Draft. Around 400000\ (4000$) was distributed amongst the top 8.

Me, Shuhei Nakamura, Yuuki Ichikawa, Ken Yukuhiro, Yuuya Watanabe, Kenta Harane… many professional players joined it and the 3 first of the list made top 8.

How I went Mono White Vehildrazi?

I felt very confident in the draft format and I decide to essentially focus on the constructed part during my testing. Everything started with a discussion with my friends and new Hareruya Hopes, Anthony Lee from Australia. He was practicing a lot of Standard on Magic Online and told me how Mono-White Eldrazi was good.

Matter ReshaperEldrazi DisplacerThought-Knot Seer

“You basically beat every creature deck with it, but you are losing hard against Ramp and Control decks. Also, 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》 is not an easy match,” he said. I tried the deck and found the same conclusion.

Ulamog, the Ceaseless HungerThe Scarab GodGod-Pharaoh's Gift

I tried many sideboard options to have a chance in these match ups, like 《Aven Mindcensor》, but I realized that what we were missing was just pressure. Mono-White Eldrazi is not an aggressive deck: it is just a kind of control deck; this is the reason you have no chance in slow match ups, and your late game plan is never better than these decks. I tried to put aggressive cards in the sideboard like 《Heart of Kiran》, then I realized that I could just change the entire deck.

Here is the list:


Jeremy Dezani – Mono White Vehildrazi
Season Master’s – Hour of Devastation

7 《Plains》
4 《Concealed Courtyard》
4 《Shefet Dunes》
4 《Aether Hub》
3 《Scavenger Grounds》
2 《Sea Gate Wreckage》

-Land (24)-

4 《Toolcraft Exemplar》
4 《Thraben Inspector》
4 《Walking Ballista》
3 《Scrapheap Scrounger》
2 《Matter Reshaper》
1 《Eldrazi Displacer》
3 《Thought-Knot Seer》
1 《Archangel Avacyn》

-Creature (22)-
3 《Spatial Contortion》
1 《Blessed Alliance》
3 《Stasis Snare》
3 《Heart of Kiran》
2 《Aethersphere Harvester》
2 《Gideon, Ally of Zendikar》

-Spell (14)-
3 《Warping Wail》
3 《Solemnity》
2 《Authority of the Consuls》
2 《Declaration in Stone》
2 《Blessed Alliance》
1 《Scrapheap Scrounger》
1 《Thought-Knot Seer》
1 《Gideon, Ally of Zendikar》

-Sideboard (15)-
hareruya

The thing is, although the deck has become more aggressive, the match up against creature is not that different – even better against some. But slow decks are in big trouble against this deck.

The package of 《Toolcraft Exemplar》, 《Heart of Kiran》 and 《Scrapheap Scrounger》 was working for Mardu Vehicles and it is the same here.

Toolcraft ExemplarHeart of KiranScrapheap Scrounger

But, everybody knows how Mardu can be frustratingly bad with the mana base. 12 fast lands that become tap lands on turn 4; 《Spire of Industry》 with no artifacts; 《Aether Hub》 with not enough energy… The mana is just much better here and you have utility lands that help a lot during games.

Shefet DunesScavenger GroundsSea Gate Wreckage

I played 3 leagues on Magic Online with the deck and went 5-0, 4-1, and 4-1 for a 13-2 total result. I won against every kind of deck: Ramp x 3, 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》, UB Control x2, UW 《Approach》, Temur x 3, Mono-White Eldrazi, and Ramunap Red x2.

My 2 losses were only against 2 Ramunap Red, each time 1-2, and that was when I had a bad sideboard plan. After I understood how the match up went, I won against the two last Ramunap Red I played against online and also 2 during the Season Master event (4 x 2-0 and further details about it in the sideboard part).

Card Choice

Let’s talk about the cards of the deck:

The Lands:

With 19 white sources (31.66% of the deck) available on the first turn, the probability to get one in your opening hand is better than a classic Mardu list which only plays 15 (25%). This increases the probability to play 《Toolcraft Exemplar》 or 《Thraben Inspector》 on turn 1 and to get the double white for 《Gideon, Ally of Zendikar》, 《Stasis Snare》 and 《Archangel Avacyn》.

2 《Sea Gate Wreckage》

Sea Gate Wreckage

So strong in an aggressive deck. A nightmare for 《Torrential Gearhulk》 decks. Also make the difference in aggressive match after a lot of “one for one” and many lands in play.

4 《Shefet Dunes》

Shefet Dunes

It gives white and colorless, a dual land with an additional boost effect.

4 《Aether Hub》

Aether Hub

It gives white and colorless, a dual land which can feed 《Aethersphere Harvester》 or produce black for 《Scrapheap Scrounger》.

4 《Concealed Courtyard》

Concealed Courtyard

A 《Plains》 which can bring back 《Scrapheap Scrounger》.

3 《Scavenger Grounds》

Scavenger Grounds

A free way to fight 《Torrential Gearhulk》, 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》, Zombies and Delirium.

3 《Scrapheap Scrounger》

Scrapheap Scrounger

Drawing too many in the wrong match up could be bad so I prefer to play only 3 with the 4th in the sideboard.

1 《Eldrazi Displacer》

Eldrazi Displacer

The first one is very good and can be great in the late game, but you don’t want to accumulate them, having two makes the second one almost useless and it is a creature easy to kill.

2 《Matter Reshaper》

Matter Reshaper

A great card, but it is not an artifact and you can’t have too many 3 mana spells. The card has a great power level in this deck. You can get cards like 《Stasis Snare》 or 《Aethersphere Harvester》 with the trigger, which is amazing.

1 《Archangel Avacyn》

Archangel Avacyn

With no more 《Selfless Spirit》 and 4 《Walking Ballista》, 《Archangel Avacyn》 can still do things. But 24 lands are not enough to play a second one and having both of them in hand could be really bad.

2 《Aethersphere Harvester》

Aethersphere Harvester

Having multiple Vehicles is a way to lose, so I prefer to have only 2. But the card is great – surviving many different removal spells, and attacking with flying and lifelink which is great in races. It can block 《Glorybringer》 and 《Whirler Virtuoso》‘s tokens.

3 《Thought-Knot Seer》 / 2 《Gideon, Ally of Zendikar》

Thought-Knot SeerGideon, Ally of Zendikar

These 2 cards are most of the time for different match ups, and playing first or second is also a reason to choose one over another. I like the mix main deck and adjust it after sideboard.

1 《Blessed Alliance》

Blessed Alliance

I like one maindeck as it helped against Ramunap Red, particularly 《Hazoret the Fervent》. It can also surprise 《Bristling Hydra》 or an 8/8 《Verdurous Gearhulk》.

3 《Spatial Contortion》

Spatial Contortion

The card can kill many creatures in the format and even if your opponent is not playing targets, like Ramp or UB Control, you can use it as a 《Giant Growth》 on 《Heart of Kiran》 or a 《Thought-Knot Seer》 during game 1.

3 《Stasis Snare》

Stasis Snare

Instant removal against 4+ toughness creature like 《Glorybringer》, 《Torrential Gearhulk》 or 《Archangel Avacyn》. Exile is also great against many cards like 《Hazoret the Fervent》, 《Earthshaker Khenra》, 《Relentless Dead》, 《The Scarab God》, 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》 or 《World Breaker》.

How to use the sideboard, IN / OUT

Ramunap Red:

This match up is the most difficult to understand, yet when you know everything it is a very good match up. The key is: it is an aggressive mirror match, but players get more control cards after sideboard. You don’t know who will be the control or the aggressive player during games.

At the beginning of my testing I sided out every 《Scrapheap Scrounger》 and lost each time against 《Chandra, Torch of Defiance》 with many removal spells in my hand. 《Gideon, Ally of Zendikar》 is also a way to fight 《Chandra》 and you have enough removal to protect him.

Scrapheap ScroungerChandra, Torch of DefianceGideon, Ally of Zendikar

《Blessed Alliance》 is doing everything – obviously killing a guy and gain life is great, but untap creatures like 《Aethersphere Harvester》 is amazing. Also, it deals most of the time with 《Hazoret the Fervent》, just because blockers and removals force your opponent to attack with it alone.

《Warping Wail》 can exile 《Bomat Courier》, 《Falkenrath Gorger》, 《Soul-Scar Mage》, and 《Kari Zev, Skyship Raider》, but is especially good on 《Earthshaker Khenra》. It can also counter 《Incendiary Flow》, 《Collective Defiance》 or 《Cut // Ribbons》 and even “Crew” your 《Aethersphere Harvester》 when your opponent does not expect it.

Blessed AllianceWarping Wail

《Thought-Knot Seer》 is only good on the play since you can get 《Hazoret the Fervent》 or 《Chandra, Torch of Defiance》 before your opponent can play it. On the draw, the card is really bad and you should not play it anymore. 《Authority of the Consuls》 is a classic strong card against Ramunap Red, but it is much better when you are playing aggro like Mono-White Vehicles. It completely annihilates the race. Also, the synergy between 《Authority》 and 《Displacer》 is great.

Authority of the ConsulsEldrazi Displacer

I recommend that you test this match a lot: knowledge will be really relevant to make good little decisions that matter a lot. This is how you should side against Ramunap Red:

Against Ramunap Red on the play


Out

Scavenger Grounds Gideon, Ally of Zendikar Thought-Knot Seer Scrapheap Scrounger
Heart of Kiran Heart of Kiran Heart of Kiran


In

Blessed Alliance Blessed Alliance Authority of the Consuls Authority of the Consuls
Warping Wail Warping Wail Warping Wail

Against Ramunap Red on the draw


Out

Thought-Knot Seer Thought-Knot Seer Thought-Knot Seer Scavenger Grounds
Heart of Kiran Heart of Kiran Heart of Kiran Scrapheap Scrounger


In

Blessed Alliance Blessed Alliance Authority of the Consuls Authority of the Consuls
Warping Wail Warping Wail Warping Wail Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Zombies:

You are playing a lot of removal after sideboard – this makes 《Gideon, Ally of Zendikar》 better than 《Thought-Knot Seer》. If you do not play creatures before turn 4, 《Thought-Knot Seer》 could easily die to 《Fatal Push》 and 《Grasp of Darkness》.

Warping Wail

《Warping Wail》 can exile 《Cryptbreaker》, 《Dread Wanderer》 and 《Metallic Mimic》, and also can counter 《Dark Salvation》. It can also help you to play 《Gideon》 on turn 3. Also, exiling creatures decreases the power of incoming 《Diregraf Colossus》.

Declaration in StoneEldrazi DisplacerStasis Snare

《Declaration in Stone》 is a way to fight Zombie tokens from 《Liliana's Mastery》. 《Eldrazi Displacer》 is another pretty good way to exile these tokens. It is not rare to face multiple creature on the battlefield with the same name, and that also makes the card strong in this setup. Zombies can side in 《Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet》 – with 《Stasis Snare》 or 《Declaration in Stone》, you have answers to it.

Aethersphere Harvester

《Aethersphere Harvester》 doesn’t die to 《Fatal Push》, 《Grasp of Darkness》 and 《Dark Salvation》 and is the most annoying card for Zombies.

Against Zombies


Out

Walking Ballista Walking Ballista Scrapheap Scrounger
Thought-Knot Seer Thought-Knot Seer Blessed Alliance


In

Warping Wail Warping Wail Warping Wail
Declaration in Stone Declaration in Stone Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Temur Energy:

Against Temur you are the aggressor. It is a good match up because both 《Bristling Hydra》 and 《Glorybringer》 are not very strong against Mono-White. Even if your opponent draws the dragon after you cast 《Thought-Knot Seer》, it is still not enough for him to survive. The dynamic of the game is just very bad for Temur: they are playing cards which don’t have enough impact on the game. By the time 《Glorybringer》 arrives into play, your opponent can’t race you, so they should “Exert” which mean it is just a removal for 5 mana, nothing more, and it is too expensive. Most of the time the best play is to play it and keep it as a blocker, which is not great but still better that attacking with it.

Glorybringer

《Hydra》 doesn’t help against 《Heart of Kiran》 and 《Aethersphere Harvester》 and it could be a very bad turn 4. Temur Energy is playing 《Abrade》, 《Harnessed Lightning》 and 《Glorybringer》 as removal spells. None of their cards are good against 《Scrapheap Scrounger》 and 《Matter Reshaper》. With so many enters the battlefield triggers in their deck, 《Eldrazi Displacer》 is not great in this match, and you prefer a less expensive card like the 4th 《Scrapheap Scrounger》 instead.

《Solemnity》 is the spicy card for the match up, this is the list of cards which are affected by it:

Solemnity

28 / 38 cards are not working so well anymore just because this enchantment. It is just a nightmare for them to play against. Just don’t forget to side out your 4 《Walking Ballista》.

Against Temur Energy


Out

Walking Ballista Walking Ballista Walking Ballista Walking Ballista
Eldrazi Displacer


In

Solemnity Solemnity Solemnity
Thought-Knot Seer Scrapheap Scrounger

Green Black:

You have to know after game one if your opponent is playing GB Energy or Delirium. 《Solemnity》 is helping anyway but much more so against Energy version.

Solemnity

《Walking Ballista》 (Energy / Delirium)

《Glint-Sleeve Siphoner》 (Energy)

《Longtusk Cub》 (Energy)

《Winding Constrictor》 (Energy / Delirium)

《Rishkar, Peema Renegade》 (Delirium)

《Bristling Hydra》 (Energy)

《Verdurous Gearhulk》 (Energy / Delirium)

《Nissa, Voice of Zendikar》 (Energy / Delirium)

《Attune with Aether》 (Energy)

《Aether Hub》 (Energy)

The match up against Delirium with 《Catacomb Sifter》 and 《Grim Flayer》 is more difficult than the Energy one, but I think the way to sideboard is the same.

Against Green Black


Out

Walking Ballista Walking Ballista Walking Ballista Walking Ballista
Blessed Alliance Eldrazi Displacer


In

Solemnity Solemnity Solemnity
Declaration in Stone Thought-Knot Seer Scrapheap Scrounger

Jeskai 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》:

The match-up is great. You have a lot of pressure and in the same time you can exile creature with 《Stasis Snare》, exile an important card with 《Thought-Knot Seer》 or exile the graveyard with 《Scavenger Grounds》. 《Warping Wail》 is an additional way to exile creatures but also counter 《Cathartic Reunion》 or 《Refurbish》. 《Declaration in Stone》 is great against them. 《Eldrazi Displacer》 can exile the tokens of 《God-Pharaoh's Gift》.

Against Jeskai God-Pharaoh’s Gift


Out

Spatial Contortion Spatial Contortion Spatial Contortion Walking Ballista
Matter Reshaper Matter Reshaper Blessed Alliance


In

Warping Wail Warping Wail Warping Wail Scrapheap Scrounger
Declaration in Stone Declaration in Stone Thought-Knot Seer

Against Mono White Eldrazi


Out

Archangel Avacyn Walking Ballista
Spatial Contortion Blessed Alliance


In

Declaration in Stone Declaration in Stone
Thought-Knot Seer Scrapheap Scrounger

Against Ramp


Out

Spatial Contortion Spatial Contortion Spatial Contortion
Stasis Snare Blessed Alliance Walking Ballista


In

Warping Wail Warping Wail Warping Wail
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar Thought-Knot Seer Scrapheap Scrounger

Against UB Control


Out

Spatial Contortion Spatial Contortion Spatial Contortion
Blessed Alliance Walking Ballista


In

Gideon, Ally of Zendikar Thought-Knot Seer Scrapheap Scrounger
Warping Wail Warping Wail

UW 《Approach》:

Having Vehicles, Planeswalkers, hand disruptions and counterspells after sideboard make this match up very good. A deck which wants to play 7 mana sorcery is just terrible when you play 《Warping Wail》.

Against UW Approach


Out

Stasis Snare Stasis Snare Stasis Snare
Spatial Contortion Spatial Contortion Blessed Alliance


In

Warping Wail Warping Wail Warping Wail
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar Thought-Knot Seer Scrapheap Scrounger

Season Master Standard results:

Round Deck Result
Round 1Ramunap Red
WIN
Round 2GB Delirium
WIN
Round 3Grixis Control
with 《Goblin Dark-Dwellers》
and 《Liliana, the Last Hope》
LOSE
Draft Rounds My Deck Result
Round 4-6UR Aggro
3-0
Round Deck Result
Round 7Ramunap Red
WIN
Round 8GR Ramp
WIN
Round 9Temur EnergyWIN
Round Deck Result
QFJeskai Gift
WIN
SFTemur Energy
WIN
FinalsGB DeliriumLOSE

Conclusion

I can see 《Fragmentize》 in sideboard if Mardu Vehicles is popular but this is probably the only thing I would change.

I hope you can practice and use this deck for your Nationals, as I think this is an amazing deck for it.

Thank you for reading,

Jeremy DEZANI

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