Title: Introducing the Duel Deck Singleton Format (Part Five)

 

By Dante Boey

 

19th October 2016

 

Hail Duellers!

 

In the final instalment of our series of introductions to the new Duel Deck (DD) Singleton format, we'll examine the cards of White and those spells that are devoid of colour, in a bid to make the most out of their strengths.  

 

White

 

White is the colour of community, protection, law and order. As such, White relies on Soldiers and Knights to patrol the realms to protect the common citizenry and uphold the law. White loathes to kill, pariahs in the eyes of white are dealt the harshest punishment - exile from the shared community. That is why many White removal exiles instead of destroys. White stresses equality, but equality manifested in Magic battlefields are boardwipes that destroy all creatures, for death is the ultimate leveller.

 

Removal

 

White has a wide selection of removal spells that can answer various permanents. While many Black creature removal in DD Singleton have a sacrifice effect, White removal as mentioned above commonly utilise exile effects, which have the benefit of preventing the removed creature from being reanimated. In fact, White has two of the most efficient creature removal spells in the format, one mana instants that will exile any creature! Swords to Plowshares exiles a target creature and gifts its controller life equal to its power, while Path to Exile lets the targeted creature's controller search his/her library for a basic land and put it into play tapped. If you don't want to offer any concession when you remove a creature, you can cast Unmake, a 3 mana instant White shares with Black. Also, Journey to Nowhere is an aura enchantment that exiles a target creature as long as it remains in play.

 

 

Besides creatures, White has ways to deal with enchantments and artifacts. Revoke Existence is a 2 mana sorcery that exiles an artifact or enchantment if resolved. Abolish is an instant for 1WW that destroys target artifact or enchantment and can be cast for free if you discard a Plains from your hand.

 

 

White has silver bullets that can answer almost any threat in the shape of a nonland permanent. Oblivion Ring is an aura enchantment that exiles target nonland permanent as long as it remains in the battlefield. Faith's Fetters, also an aura, prevents an enchanted permanent from attacking or blocking. The enchanted permanent's activated abilities can't be activated unless they're mana abilities, shutting down planeswalkers and many artifacts. Finally, it gains you 4 life. Another more costly silver bullet comes in the form of Saltblast, a 3WW sorcery that destroys any nonwhite permanent (note that lands do not have any colour).

 

 

Boardwipes

 

Like Black, White has the power to clear the entire battlefield of creatures. Winds of Rath, a sorcery at 3WW, destroys all creatures that are not enchanted and they cannot be regenerated. If you wish to get rid of your opponent's side of the board of creatures, you can play Sunblast Angel. At 4WW, she destroys all tapped creatures as she enters play. Cast her during your first main phase after your opponent has committed all his/her creatures in attacking the previous turn, before you enter the combat phase and declare attackers. Sunblast Angel is also a decent finisher, with a 4/5 body and flying. Finally, we have Elspeth, Sun's Champion. This 4WW iteration of Elspeth destroys all creatures of power 4 or greater as her second activated ability, setting up a window of opportunity for you to clog up the board with Soldier tokens. You see, her first activated ability puts 3 1/1 Soldiers onto the battlefield!

 

 

Recursion and Reanimation

 

With the help of the Auramancer, White can recur enchantments as part of her "enters the battlefield" (ETB) trigger. White also has spells to bring back creatures from your graveyard into play. Miraculous Recovery is a 4W instant that does just that, putting a +1/+1 counter on the reanimated creature as a bonus. If you have nine mana to spare, you can cast Reya Dawnbringer. This legendary angel returns a target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield at the beginning of your upkeep, and is in fact currently the most expensive White card to cast in the format.

 

 

Utility

 

White specialises in blinking creatures, exiling them and bringing them back into play under their original controller. This triggers any ETB effects the blinked creature might have. Momentary Blink and Otherworldly Journey are White instants that have blink effects. The former can even be Flashbacked provided you have blue mana. Galepowder Mage is a 3/3 kithkin wizard with flying for 3W. Whenever he attacks, exile another target creature. Return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step. The mage is a flexible creature that allows you to escape combat with a big blocker or earn value through blinking your own creatures with ETB triggers.

 

 

Surprisingly, White has options to ramp as well. When the Knight of the White Orchid enters the battlefield, if an opponent controls more lands than you, you may search your library for a Plains card and put it onto the battlefield untapped. Similarly, when the Kor Cartographer enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a Plains card but put it onto the battlefield tapped.

 

 

Finishers

 

Lay down the law with stalwart defenders like Knight Exemplar and Captain of the Watch! These maidens in platemail serve as lords that buff your other creatures. The former gives +1/+1 and Indestructible to all your other Knights while the latter grants +1/+1 and Vigilance to all your Soldiers in addition to providing 3 1/1 Soldiers (before the buff) for free when summoned.

 

 

Of all the colours only White has access to their representative titan, the Sun Titan. The titans were originally printed in the Magic 2011 Core Set as a cycle of five, with one for each colour. Every titan was renowned for his power and they made a real impact in the Standard metas of the past. Every titan has a triggered ability when he enters the battlefield and when he attacks. The triggered ability for Sun Titan is that you may return a target permanent card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. He costs 4WW, has a 6/6 body and has Vigilance!

 

 

The final finisher I want to showcase has enough special abilities to cover half of her text box. Akroma, Angel of Wrath costs 5WWW but her cost is justified because she is a 6/6 legendary angel with (takes a deep breath) Flying, First Strike, Vigilance, Trample, Haste, and Protection from Black and from Red!

 

 

Colourless

 

In the past the only colourless spells one could cast in Magic were artifacts. Then, with the release of the Rise of the Eldrazi expansion set, we were introduced to the titular race, a group of enigmatic monsters with no discernible colour identity, sowing destruction from the spaces between planes. This development is reflected in the Duel Deck Singleton format.

 

Ramp

 

There are trinkets in this format that facilitate the laying of lands quickly and consistently. Wayfarer's Bauble is a one mana artifact that can be sacrificed to search your library for a basic land that is put onto the battlefield tapped. Armillary Sphere is a 2 mana artifact that can be sacrificed to search your library for up to two basic lands to put into your hand.

 

 

You can also attach the Explorer's Scope to flyers you control and attack with them to immediately put lands from the top your library into play.

 

 

Mana rocks are artifacts that be tapped for mana. Mana rocks help to accelerate your mana output so that you can cast expensive threats earlier in the game. In our format there are a few efficient mana rocks. Worn powerstone costs 3 mana and comes into play tapped, but it taps for 2 mana. The Coalition Relic also costs 3 mana, but can potentially net you 2 mana of any colour during your first main phase.

 

 

DD: Zendikar vs Eldrazi introduced us to the Oblivion Sower, a 5/8 Eldrazi for 6 mana. When it enters the battlefield, your opponent exiles the top four cards of his or her library, then you may put any number of land cards that player owns from exile into play under your control. In practice, the top four cards can net you one or two untapped lands.

 

 

Draw

 

Artifacts in the format can help you draw cards as well. In addition to being a mana rock, the humble Mind Stone can be sacrificed to draw you a card. Every turn you have 2 mana to spare, you can draw a card if you manage to lay a land with Seer's Sundial. If you have a means of producing token creatures every turn, you can consider using Phyrexian Vault to convert your surplus of creatures into card advantage. Finally, if your strategy is aggressive and creature-centric; if you want to lay down as many creatures on the board as quickly as possible to attack your opponent, you can use Slate of Ancestry to suddenly fill up your hand.

 

 

 

Utility

 

Creatures can be equipped with powerful artifacts to boost their abilities. Lightning Greaves grants the attached creature Haste and Shroud and be attached for free. Whispersilk Cloak also makes the equipped creature untargetable by spells and effects, even unblockable.

 

 

You can control what your opponent can do during his/her turn with artifacts that tap his/her permanents. Puppet Strings can tap your opponent's creatures and untap yours, while Icy Manipulator can tap his/her artifact, creature or land.

 

 

With Serrated Arrows, you can remove weaker creatures on the battlefield thrice.

 

 

Finishers

 

One colourless artifact creature that can serve as a finisher is the Razormane Masticore. It is efficiently costed: 5 mana for a 5/5 body. At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Razormane Masticore unless you discard a card. However, you may have Razormane Masticore deal 3 damage to target creature at the beginning of your draw step. This means that you can remove blockers from your opponent's side while you attack with the Masticore for the win.

 

 

But the title of "Annihilators" rightfully belong to the strongest colourless creatures available in the format -- the Eldrazi. Many of them have the Annihilator mechanic: whenever you attack with a creature with this ability, your opponent sacrifices permanents equal to the the number stated after the Annihilator keyword. These monstrosities are found exclusively so far in the Duel Decks: Zendikar vs Eldrazi set. Ulamog's Crusher is a simple 8/8 beatstick for 8 mana with Annihilator 2. It has to attack each turn if able. For one more mana you can cast the Artisan of Kozilek, this time a 10/9 threat also with Annihilator 2. It reanimates a creature in your graveyard if you cast it from your hand. Finally, for 12 mana you can cast It That Betrays, an 11/11 Eldrazi, still with Annihilator 2. Whenever an opponent sacrifices a nontoken permanent, put that card onto the battlefield under your control. The Eldrazi represent value and inevitability in ending the game for their controller, provided you can cast them or cheat them out.

 

 

Thus ends the final instalment of my introduction to the exciting new format of Duel Deck Singleton. I hope I have stirred the creative juices in your brain. Go ahead, invite a friend to a game. Brew decks together. If you enjoy this format, spread the word and share the joy. The cost of entry isn't high compared to other eternal or even casual formats and there will be plenty of interaction. Visit your local game stores today to get some advice on which Duel Decks product to purchase to help get you started. Until the next time we meet, live well, prosper and duel!