White is oftentimes considered one of the weakest colors in Magic The Gathering by its players. However, as time has progressed, White has gotten access to more cards to make it into a formidable color.
In Commander, Mono-White decks have gotten a lot of new cards to play with to make them equally threatening as their other Mono-colored counterparts. Mono-White decks generally excel at Lifegain and Equipment and Aura strategies. They are also good for Stax, if you'd prefer a defensive stun strategy rather than a more offensive one. For tribes, Angels, Soldiers, and Humans are often among the Mono-White ones.
10 Serra Ascendant
Serra Ascendant is a card that makes an early game threat and only costs one White mana to cast. It's a 1/1 creature with Lifelink as a base. However, if you have 30 or more life, it also gets +5/+5 as well as flying.
In Commander, you start with 40 life, giving you a one mana 6/6 with flying and Lifelink as early as turn one. This allows you to easily start gaining life early while setting up a fantastic blocker to discourage anyone from attacking into you early game.
9 Generous Gift
Generous Gift is a part of a small cycle of cards that cost three mana to get rid of a target permanent while giving the controller of that something in return. In Generous Gift's case, it is a 3/3 Elephant token that replaces the destroyed permanent.
While White has plenty of artifact and enchantment removal, Generous Gift hits those as well as land, creatures, and Planeswalkers. Versatility is important in a game of Commander, especially for Mono-White since they have less access to some of the better specific answers to target permanents.
8 Swords To Plowshares/Path To Exile
Swords To Plowshares and Path To Exile are near-identical cards, both costing one White mana to exile a creature on the field. Swords To Plowshares will give the opponent life equal to the exiled creature's power, while Path To Exile will let the controller put a basic land card from their library onto the battlefield tapped.
Easy to cast creature removal is rather sparse in White, as they usually require the opponent to do something, or have a high casting cost. This is why Swords To Plowshares and Path To Exile are so good in Mono-White decks, as they have easy access to targeted removal of problem creatures.
7 Vanquish The Horde
Generally, every Commander deck wants to run at least one (if not more) board wipes. As for Mono-White, Vanquish The Horde is the best option to include in the deck. While it normally costs six generic mana and two white, the generic mana is discounted by every creature on the field.
This means Vanquish The Horde is often cast for only two white mana. Blasphemous Act is one of the most commonly run board wipes in decks running Red, and in some ways Vanquish The Horde is a better version of it.
6 Drannith Magistrate
Drannith Magistrate is one of the most popular pieces in Stax decks since it shuts down casting cards from anywhere except the hand. This includes casting a Commander. Drannith Magistrate is one-sided as well, as it only affects your opponent, not the entire group.
With how often cards tend to be cast from the graveyard, library, and in exile, Drannith Magistrate can shut down entire decks just by being on the board. Drannith Magistrate is a key card in Mono-White decks that are looking to play a slow control game as opposed to the more aggressive flavors of Mono-White.
5 Cathars' Crusade
In creature decks, Cathars' Crusade is a very powerful card. Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
Mono-White decks can easily be built with a token generating strategy, allowing you to put multiple creatures onto the field in a turn, and boosting up all your creatures to start getting aggressive. There are a lot of fantastic, low-cost creatures to play in Mono-White as well, making it that much easier to start building up a powerful board of creatures.
4 Teferi's Protection
Teferi's Protection is one of the best defensive White cards in Commander, so it only makes sense for it to be perfect for a Mono-White deck. It's an instant that causes all your permanents to phase out, prevents your life from changing, and gives you protection from everything.
It's easy to cast, only needing two generic mana along with one White. It's great to protect your creatures from a board wipe or to prevent yourself from dying to a potentially infinite combo. It helps you bide your time in a pinch, or make sure your cards are safe while you destroy everyone else's.
3 Smothering Tithe
Ramp is one of the things that Mono-White struggles the most with. Luckily, Smothering Tithe helps to counteract this general weakness. It's relatively easy to cast, only needing three generic mana and one White. Whenever the opponent draws a card, you create a treasure token unless they pay two mana.
This can quickly stack up, especially against decks that are drawing a lot. Not every player in the group will have the excess mana to pay for Smothering Tithe, allowing you to quickly build up in treasure to give you a special ramp that Mono-White has available.
2 Land Tax
Land Tax is one of the best enchantments for a Mono-White deck to be running. It only costs one White mana to cast, and so long as an opponent controls more land than you do, you can add three basic land cards from your library to your hand.
This doesn't even require you to not play a land, as if there is someone in Green odds are they'll be putting multiple lands on the field in a turn to easily get six lands out from your deck. Land Tax helps get around one of the biggest weaknesses in Mono-White, ensuring you'll always have mana to cast your spells.
1 Esper Sentinel
Esper Sentinel is one of the best one-drop creatures in a Mono-White deck. It quickly helps you start drawing cards, which is one of, if not the biggest weakness of Mono-White. Whenever an opponent casts their first noncreature spell, you draw a card unless they pay mana equal to Esper Sentinel's power.
Mono-White can easily and naturally increase a creature's power, so it's not uncommon for Esper Sentinel to have too high a power to be paid for. This allows you to consistent draw cards to keep up with your opponent's, and in many cases pass them in card advantage.
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