Kemba is immediately intriguing for EDH upon first glance. She's efficiently costed and has great synergy as a constantly available creature and fits into the White Equipment archtype. There are very few generals for mono-White that are so synergistic with Equipment (Raksha being the only one that comes to mind). She is also versatile as a general. Not only do you have the equipment/good stuff build, but you can also focus on a fairly strong Cat and/or Cleric Tribal theme.
Why should I play Kemba?
~You want an equipment based deck that isn't Godo or Ashling.
~You want a deck that doesn't have to revolve around silly combos.
~You're looking for a proactive, mid-range style deck with good matchups.
~You like to surprise people with a general they have likely not yet experienced.
~You like playing a deck with a lot of wiggle-room for customization and individuality.
Why would I not want to play Kemba?
~You want a more combo-tastic deck.
~You don't want to play mono-colored EDH.
~You prefer a more control or aggro approach to EDH.
~You don't like to lack alternate wincons beyond smashing face.
~You prefer a more focused/narrow strategy.
Why did you (Beware) choose Kemba?
Upon inspecting the Scars of Mirrodin Spoilers, I found there wasn't very much be excited about. I had been playing Mageta, the Lion as my mono-white general, but decided I wanted to be a little more aggressive. I wanted a foil to my 5 color Cromat deck and already had many great white cards that I needed to use for something. Then Scars gave us True Conviction and Kemba, Kha-Regent.
Equipment was always intriguing to me for an EDH theme, but I did not want to play mono-red, colorless or have a ludicrously expensive general like Raksha Golden Cub. Kemba just screamed to me as the perfect EDH general for my purposes. I had nearly the entire deck assembled by the Scars prerelease, got all the Scars cards I needed and have been tweaking ever since. This deck is wholly original with only one other fully developed list kicking around (a tribal build compared to my "good stuff" build).
What will this Primer cover?
This primer will go over every single piece of equipment available to a mono-white deck, their strengths and weakness, some strong creatures for mono-white EDH and cat tribal and some explanations for lacking cards that most would consider "staples."
This primer will NOT cover how to play the deck nor Matchups as it is a mid-range deck that can play aggro or control based on the opposing Generals. It can be tuned for multiplayer or 1v1 and there is far too much room for customization to even attempt to cover MUs.
I will go over card choices first with deck lists at the end. I will cover every card from the "50 best EDH cards" list in mono-white and colorless and Scheme Decks/Planechase decks at the end (when I get around to creating them). I will also go over why I, personally, decided against playing some cards that would be really good here or that I say should be considered.
Now, without further ado, the card choices!
I'll start with the most pivotal part of a Kemba EDH deck: The Equipment. We have 114 options open to us, so let's get started!
Artifacts - Equipment
Accorder's Shield - Shield is nice because it comes down for free and gives Vigilence. I don't believe it to be worth the slot nor the equip cost since it only boosts toughness and there are far better equipment that could be coming down for 3 mana total.
Adventuring Gear - Playing a mono-colored deck means there is very little need for mana fixing such as fetchlands. If you felt compelled to run 10 fetchlands anyways, then this is a pretty solid, cheap equipment. Otherwise, it's just a blank equipment for Kemba.
Argentum Armor - An absolute house. One half of an Eldrazi Concription, reusable, targetted destruction of whatever you want. Very expensive to play and equip, but it's possible to cheat into play/equip.
Banshee's Blade - Giving only a marginal buff, this card just doesn't do enough. Were it a little cheaper, then maybe, but, generally speaking, simple buffs are just not good enough when you could be running much more exciting equipment.
Barbed Battlegear - Again, a card that does nothing but give a small buff for too much mana. Things like Umezawa's Jitte set the bar pretty darn high so things like this just do not measure up.
Basilisk Collar - I don't really think I need to explain the usefulness of Lifelink and Deathtouch on any creature you want for 2 mana. An auto-include if there ever was one. If you aren't running this in an Equipment deck, you're making a HUGE mistake.
Blade of the Bloodchief - Another excellent, cheap equipment. While it only offers "buffs," it does so in a very permanent manner at a very efficient price. In Ashling, the Pilgrim EDH decks it's an auto-include, in anything else you need to evaluate how consistently you can get multiple creatures into the graveyard.
Bladed Pinions - Very few equipment give Flying. Even few do it this efficiently. A deck like Kemba can easily be beaten down by dragon based EDH decks and something like Bladed Pinions can give you a fight chance. I feel there are a lot of better options than a flying equipment, but this is playable if you need to improve the Scion of the Ur-Dragon matchup.
Blazing Torch - Incredibly narrow with an effect that will do absolutely nothing in a format about 40 life and huge beatsticks. Even for the cost it isn't worth wasting a slot.
Blight Sickle - This card just isn't efficient or effective enough to really get the job done. If you find your creatures generally getting outclassed by other decks in your playgroup, this can be a decent equalizer, otherwise, pass.
Blinding Powder - Such an odd equipment. If you want to go a slower, more control route, this card could be decent. A free fog whenever you want can be pretty effective. I wouldn't run it, but I can see its purpose.
Bone Saw - Does absolutely nothing. A waste of a slot and a waste of [mana]1[/mana[.
Bonesplitter - Another cheap equipment that does nothing but offer a marginal buff. We still have tons of options, no reason to pad our decks with these sorts of things.
Cloak and Dagger - This card is almost Whispersilk Cloak #2. Good enough without rogues, great with them. I still say there are more exciting cards with which we could play though.
Cranial Plating - This card would be an absolutely house! Too bad it has black in the text box. Ah well, moving on...
Darksteel Axe - A better Bonesplitter. Still not worth it for such a marginal power boost though.
Dead-Iron Sledge - KAMIKAZEEEEEEEEEE! If you really need an answer to some shrouded beater...
Deathrender - Helps you stabilize after a sweeper better than most, makes it so an opponent just cannot block profitably, will generally equip for free. Seems like a win-win-win situation to me. Auto-include.
Diviner's Wand - Another card that helps the flying situation and can give you some much needed card draw. It's all a little pricey, but playable.
Echo Circlet - Cheap, but blocking one additional creature per turn won't generally have any bearing on the match. Either you want to be blocking one in particular or a huge army.
Empyrial Plate - This is a card I tried pretty heavily. If you have some consistent source of card draw, then this is an amazing card. Without it, it just kind of fizzles most of the time. Consider it.
[cardExplorer's Scope[/card] - Cheap and can really help you hit your land drops consistently. Definitely worth considering and one of the best accelerants/draw smoothers we have.
Fireshrieker - Reusable Double Strike for 2 seems like a good deal to me. Better than every other buff available and not much more expensive.
General's Kabuto - Great for when you are on the uber offensive or defensive. In between, it can be a little unfulfilling though. Worth considering.
Golem-Skin Gauntlets - It is cheap, but we don't want to have all our eggs in the same basket. IF you want to focus more on equipment Kemba for all she's worth and throwing her out there, then this is worth considering. Otherwise it's too marginal a buff (and remember, we dont like marginal buffs).
Gorgon Flail - Not as efficient as Basilisk Collar, but still pretty excellent. Definitely consider.
Grafted Excoskeleton - I'm not going to delve into why it's a bad idea to attack your opponents life from two angles (effectively making their life total 50), so I'll just say infect is really bad in a deck that isn't rooted in Infect.
Grafted Wargear - This could be fun. IF you need a way to consistently trigger Blade of the BLoodchief or some kind of graveyard based combos, this would be excellent. Otherwise, it's a little too narrow for just a buff.
Grappling Hook - I believe Fireshrieker to be strictly better than Grappling Hook, but that's not to say Hook is terrible. Run it if you can't get a Fireshrieker, consider it otherwise.
Grifter's Blade - Marginal buff, the flash ability will mostly be pointless.
Hammer of Ruin - When you REALLY want to destroy that opposing Umezawa's Jitte... Strictly a Sideboard card.
Hankyu - If the equip cost wasn't so high, this could be nifty. As is, it's just too painfully slow.
Healer's Headdress - Only a marginal damage reduction, but can be boss lategame if you run a token subtheme. Situational, but worth considering.
Heartseeker - I love this card to pieces, but I think it might be just way too slow. If the equipment cost were 1 cheaper, then maybe, but as is it just wont get there.
Heavy Arbalest - Expensive and slow. If you have some kind of combo to infinitely untap the creature then maybe, even then, still too slow and unreliable.
Hedron Matrix - This cards value fluxuates with how you build the deck. If you have a lot of high CMC cards on which you wish to focus, then sure. I feel Kemba should have a fairly low curve though. In that case this is WAY too expensive for a marginal buff.
Helm of Kaldra - The Kaldra Equipment is all just too good to not include in an equipment based EDH deck. With proper Tutors you can even end up playing Kaldra!
Horned Helm - Pretty excellent considering the cost, too bad there's green in that text box...
Infiltration Lens - One half of a Whispersilk Cloak. That's pretty good for 1 mana. Not an auto-include, but still pretty powerful (though not Skullclamp 2.0 as many people like to think).
Kitesail - Another of the few flying equipment. Pretty mediocre all around, but gives a creature flying to help against evasive generals.
Konda's Banner - Excellent if you want a more tribal style deck. Otherwise it just isn't reliable enough to have any real presence.
Kusari-Gama - This is really just another psuedo-unblockable. It's not the worst equipment in the world, but you might be better off with some real protection for the CMC. Test it.
Leering Eblem - This is a deck that does most of its stuff during the main phases. As such, the value of this card is drastically reduced. Maybe in a more reactive build it could be useful, but Kemba is not the best general if you want a more reactive build.
Leonin Bola - A slow, equipment version of that white card they've printed a million times. I suppose it isn't terrible, but I wouldn't bother unless you have some VERY general dependent decks in your meta.
Leonin Scimitar - Cheap for a marginal buff. You know the drill.
Lightning Greaves - Like the best equipment, period. Auto-include in almost every EDH list, you'd have to be mentally infirm to not want this in your Kemba deck. Worst case scenario, it eats the Oblivion Ring that would have been used on Argentum Armor.
Livewire Lash - Not a bad card, not too terribly costed. A little narrow considering EDH is a format loaded with sweepers much more so than spot removal though.
Loxodon Warhammer - Another AMAZING equipment. Auto-include, I don't think I need to explain why +3/+0, trample, lifelink is awesome for 3.
Magebane Armor - A pretty great card if you have a lot of burn or an Ashling, the Pilgrim in your meta. Otherwise, it's just a basic buff.
Manaforce Mace - We are mono-white. Good luck with that Domain.
Mask of Memory - Not only is it a cheap, early equipment, but it's card draw/advantage. Really, really great.
Neko-Te - It super-taps something and gives you an extra 1 point of damage. Deathtouch and Lifelink seem WAY better to me.
Nemesis Mask - Turn everything into a Prized Unicorn! Narrow, expensive, unexciting, but could be useful in a token sub-themed deck.
Neurok Hoversail - Same as the other Flying equipment. Cheap, unexciting, gets the job done in a pinch.
Neurok Stealthsuit - Excellent card... Blue in the text box. Why are these all so good except the white one?!
Nightmare LAsh - We definitely have a lot of Swamps in this deck.
Nim Deathmantle - I like this card, but it is only when a creature goes to YOUR graveyard and most of the time, you will be tapping out during your main phase. In a more reactive build it would be nuts.
Obsidian Battle-Axe - Would be great if we had a bunch of Warriors! Otherwise it's WAY too expensive for a marginal buff and haste, especially when Lightning Greaves gives haste for 0.
Ogre's Cleaver - Too expensive for nothing but a basic buff.
Paradise Mantle - What? Your mono-white deck DOESN'T need more Birds of Paradise?
Pariah's Shield - Great with cards like Stuffy Doll, Cho Manno or anything with General's Kabuto.
Pennon Blade - Expensive, but decent with a token sub-theme.
Peregrine Mask - How do we expect to win if we give everything Defender?
Quietus Spike - More Deathtouch is always good and this card would honestly not be playable without it. It's pretty great on paper, but doesn't quite work out as well as I would prefer. Still worth considering.
Runed Stalactite - Not terrible for tribal if you have some kind of very strong synergy and a handful of non-tribal cards (Raksha Golen Cub, for instance). It's a cheap equipment if nothing else.
Scythe of the Wretched - I like this card a lot. More psuedo-unblockable with the pay off for being blocked being significantly better than the other psuedo-unblockable equipment.
Shield of Kaldra - Another piece of Kaldra. Excellent. If you aren't running all three, this could be cut (but why would you not run all three???).
Shuriken - I don't know about you, but I don't like giving my equipment away.
Sigil of Distinction - Being able to choose how significant the buff is, how early it comes down and being able to equip for free is pretty significant. It is still just a buff equipment, even if it is one of the best. Don't dismiss it, but don't try to squeeze it into your list.
Skullclamp - A card that will forever live in infamy. It's cheap, it comes down early and it can generate massive card advantage with a token subtheme. Even without the token subtheme, it's worth consideration.
Specter's Shroud - Turn your everything into Hyppie. Better for more reactive/controlling builds.
Spellbinder - This card is awesome, but I wouldn't run it in anything without at least 10 instants that I would like to cast every turn. Perhaps for more reactive builds.
Spidersilk Net - Another card to fix the Flying issue. Probably the most efficient of them at it as well. Card definitely won't help us win faster though.
Strata Scythe - A late-game bomb. You make an investment in this equipment and it just keeps paying you back the longer the game continues. Gets significantly more valuable if you are running accerlants like Weathered Wayfarer, Tithe, or Land Tax.
Surestrike Trident - Too expensive, but could be useful in a deck that revolves around larger creatures.
Sword of Body and Mind - You might get caught setting up a Reanimation deck by accident with this, but all three Swords are auto-includes in every equipment list, point blank. Cheap, relevant protection, decent buff, excellent triggered abilities.
Sword of Vengeance - Give you creatures almost every relevant keyword with a single equipment? Seems pretty awesome to me.
Sword of the Meek - I suppose there maybe a combo with this in a token subtheme, but its just worthless without Thopter Foundry. Don't Bother.
Sword of the Paruns - This card would be awesome if the abilities were reversed. As is, it's just solid and worth a consideration instead of an auto-include. Another card that's better with a token subtheme.
Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang - Expensive and slow, but gives a significant buff and can dodge removal. If you tap out all the time during your main phase, don't bother with this one, reactive builds should take note, however.
Thornbite Staff - Plays nice with Basilisk Collar, but it's far too slow to really consider.
Trailblazer's Boots - Not terrible, actually. Most EDH decks are LOADED with nonbasic lands. Definitely great for decks that try to focus on pushing Kemba through for 21 points of general damage.
Trusty Machete - Strictly worse than Darksteel Axe and that card isn't playable either.
Umbral Mantle - This card is best suited for infinite mana combos, it's only a marginal buff otherwise.
Umezawa's Jitte - Excellent card. Not quite the unbelievable auto-include a lot of people believe it to be, but still awesome and I would run it in a heartbeat.
Veteran's Armaments - Another card that is mediocre in a normal build, but almost an auto-include in lists with a token subtheme.
Viridian Longbow - Plays nice with Basilisk Collar, but is too slow to actually make a dent in an opposing army.
Vorrac Battlehorns - Really excellent for decks that will focus on General damage. Worth considering for any other list too.
Whispersilk Cloak - One of the best. Auto-include in most non-equipment EDH decks! Run it.
Worldslayer - This is a card behind which I just cannot get. In more Kemba 21 damage focused decks, I could see the purpose. Otherwise you're just shooting yourself in the foot every turn. Eldrazi Monument and Elspeth can remedy that, but this is 100 card singleton.
Now, on to the cards that will actually win the game for us! Creatures! I'll start with basic EDH staples, then go into detail about more Kemba specific choices, then into detail about the tribal build.
Kemba, Kha Regent - Pretty essential for a Kemba, Kha Regent EDH deck.
Academy Rector - With a proper set of Enchantments to grab, she is absolutely nuts. If you have any kind of sacrifice outlet too she becomes an absolute auto-include.
Akroma, Angel of Wrath - She's big, scary, trampley and protected. What's not to like? Personally, I choose not to run her in favor of more synergistic cards, but there is no better gigantic beatstick for white.
Archon of Justice - Well costed flyer that can exile whatever it wants. Very solid, especially for a more control based build. Another choice I've decided against in favor of more synergy, but Archon (and most of these twop 20 or so) is excellent in just about any white deck. Auto-include in the control based list.
Aven Mindcensor - An absolute house against certain decks or just in certain situations. Auto-include in the control variants.
Baneslayer Angel - Nothing but a beat stick. A really great, aggressively costed beatstick, but a beatstick nonetheless.
Deathless Angel - Could be a little slow, but great in multiplayer. Also significantly more valuable in a list that's more "all-in Kemba."
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails - I don't even care about synergy or lack thereof, this is an auto-include in every mono-white list and probably every list that involves white whatsoever. Just amazing.
Eternal Dragon - Plainscycling can be REALLY important and it's an efficient beatstick to boot! Another card to which I gave the axe for more synergy, but it's excellent in a lot of builds (especially ones running Iona).
Felidar Sovereign - I find this card to be too slow, inefficient and unreliable. If you have some very consistent methods of gaing large volumes of life (such as Soul Warden with a token subtheme), then maybe. Even then, I would steer clear.
Hokori, Dust Drinker - Absolutely amazing card. In a token themed deck or a control build, it's an absolutely house. Completely shuts down all opposing game plans, opening the field up to your victory. Auto-include in token and control builds, probably not so much in mid-range.
Iona, Shield of Emeria - If you can reliably hit 9 mana, run this card. Big flying beatstick that shuts down anything you need it to shut down.
Karmic Guide - Solid recursion with protection from black. For 5 mana you can get anything you need back from the 'Yard. Very important for the non-token builds.
Kor Sanctifiers - The versatility of this card is staggering. Worst case scenario, it's a 2/3 for 2W. Great for builds that are more aggressive or lack artifact/enchantment hate.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - Shuts down most decent EDH generals and infinitely more utility creatures in decks. Efficiently costed, decent body, amazing ability. Auto-include in EVERY white EDH deck.
Magus of the Disk - Everyone loves Nevinyrral's Disk, right? Kemba doesn't. You want sweepers in this deck to have choosable modes. Disk and Magus are just too thorough. Maybe in control builds.
Mirror Entity - One piece of the Reveillark, Karmic Guide combo of which we are all aware and just all around awesome. Any build that isn't all-in on Kemba should run one. Absolutely obscene with equipment based decks.
Reveillark - Depending on the build, a lot of your utility creatures will have base power of 2 or less. Having the option to recur any 2 creatures you need is just too enticing. Not to mention the Mirror Entity/Karmic Guide shenanigans. Auto-include if Mirror Entity and Karmic Guide are in the deck.
Rune-tail, Kitsune Ascendant - Amazing early game. Cast it in the first 8 turns or so and you have a pretty much unstoppable army. If you have some decent tutors to ensure you get it early enough, make sure you grab one of these.
Stonecloaker - Solid, but situational. Another great card for the control-ish builds.
Stoneforge Mystic - It's an Equipment deck. Enough said. Auto-include.
Twilight Shepherd - Great sweeper insurance. If you have a consistent way to recur/persist this card, auto include it. Otherwise, it's still great and at least worth consideration.
Weathered Wayfarer - Great mana fixing. Slightly situational, but the fact that it can grab any land more than makes up for that.
World Queller - Auto-include for the control builds. Just good elsewhere.
Yosei, the Morning Star - The BEST card to recur with Reveillark + Karmic Guide. Effectively creates an infinite turn loop. Definitely include if you've got the rest of the pieces, worth considering either way. Avoid if your group really hates silly combos like that.
Arcbound Reclaimer - Great if your meta packs a lot of artifact hate. Even better if you have some buffs or some fashion of getting more +1/+1 counters on it (here's lookin' at you, Johnny G).
Darksteel Colossus - A really big beat stick. With no way to reliably cheat him into play, he doesn't quite fit this deck. With some extra acceleration or method of reliably cheating it into play, auto-include.
Duplicant Exiles whatever you want it to exile and then becomes it. Generally awesome. Definitely include in control builds.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn - One of the best EDH cards, period. That said, it's not worth it without some method of cheating it into play. Heavy ramp could compensate, but not effectively enough, IMO.
It That Betrays - Again, amazing, but too high on the curve for a deck like this.
Jhoira's Toolbox - Not worth the slot unless you have a VERY heavy artifact creature base.
Junk Diver - Not quite Academy Rector, but still amazing. Also, great Skullclamp fodder.
Karn, Silver Golem - Great card, but I don't want to be running my equipment into an opponent's line of defense.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth - Still too high on the curve, but he's huge, has annihilator and is great card advantage. If you can reliably hit 10 mana, then yes.
Platinum Angel - Never a bad decision. If you have a good amount of artifact acceleration she's definite worth considering. I scrapped her for more synergistic creatures though.
Scarecrone - Amazing Scarecrow synergy. It's a shame this isn't a Scarecrow deck.
Solemn Simulacrum - If you really need the acceleration then he's one of the best, otherwise he's only marginal card advantage and I prefer something a little more exciting.
Spawnsire of Ulamog - If you have some method of netting infinite mana, this could be hilarious. Otherwise, its just a silly, expensive beatstick.
Stuffy Doll - Pariah, Pariah's Shield, Guilty Conscience, there are all sorts of ways to do stupid things with Stuffy Doll. Definitely consider it if you are looking for silly combos.
Sundering Titan - Perfect in a more control build. One of the many staples that just lack interesting enough synergy for my taste, but amazing in any build.
Voltaic Construct - I suppose if you had a lot of really great Artifact creatures? Otherwise, just pass.
Etched Champion - An absolute house. If you drop some early equipment then he hits the table T3 you will either beat a lot of face or force a (Very) early sweeper. He's a little fragile, so NEVER drop him without 2 pieces of equipment.
Ethersworn Canonist - This deck is about 1/3 artifacts. Amazing in a control or midrange build, but worth considering for any version. Shuts down storm, suspend, Dream Halls, all sorts of frustrating things.
Mother of Runes - I'm surprised she wasn't in the top White Creatures list. Absolute auto-include for any white, creature-based strategy.
Indomitable Archangel - Pretty great for protecting your equipment. She comes down right at a time when you're wanting to play more HUGE equipment and makes sure they stick around, at least for a short while. Not a terrible body if you don't have Metalcraft either.
Taj-Nar Swordsmith - This is an equipment deck, afterall. Tutors for whatever you need, auto-include.
Leonin Shikari - Because bouncing Lightning Greaves around at instant speed is the greatest thing ever.
Leonin Abunas - Less situational, non-flying Indomitable Archangel. More reliable if you don't wish to run both in here.
Spirit of the Hearth - A big flying Cat wearing an Ivory Mask seems pretty good to me. It gets especially stupid if you are running a tribal build or really any build with Raksha Golden Cub.
Raksha Golden Cub - Stupid in the Tribal build, but pretty good all around if you are including the Spirit of the Heart, Mirror Entity and the Leonins. She becomes a 5/6 Double Strike on her own which is pretty great for 7.
Konda, Lor of Eiganjo - I find him to be way too expensive, personally. He's a house if you are running a build that can support Worldslayer.
Auriok Steelshaper - Really amazing in any build, but gets really stupid with tribal mechanics.
Auriok Windwalker - Amazing if you have a high density of expensive Equipments like Argentum Armor, Heartseeker, etc. Playable in any build.
Kor Outfitter - In the same boat as Windwalker. Its value increases exponentially if you have a reliable way of bouncing/recurring it.
Loxodon Punisher - Better for a more all-in kind of deck or control variants. Value is lost when you are running more creatures, but still pretty excellent.
Leonin Den-Guard - Not a terribly exciting card, but definitely useful in a tribal build.
Leonin Elder - Almost better than Soul Warden in this deck. Also, a Cat which is important for the tribal builds. Not a terribly exciting card otherwise.
Leonin Squire - Amazing if you have a significant amount of cheap equipment or artifact acceleration. Great for Tribal.
Sun Titan - Just an all around excellent card. If you can reliably hit 6 mana and have a significant amount of 3 CMC or less cards in your deck, definitely include him.
Kor Skyfisher - Efficient and a great way to bounce something important such as Kor Outfitter or Stoneforge Mystic or Tangle Wire.
Glint Hawk - More aggressive than Kor Skyfisher, but slightly more limited in its bounce targets. AMAZING with Tangle Wire and should be considered for more aggressive builds.
Celestial Crusader - More reactive than anything else. A global buff at instant speed with a workable body attached to it.
Kor Firewalker - One of the best Red hosers. Worth considering if you're really worried about a red deck in your meta.
We'll do Planeswalkers next since it's a pretty short list.
Ajani Goldmane - Amazing for a token themed deck. The lower your volume of creatures is, the lower his value becomes.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant - Gives you a constant source of Soldiers to equip/chump, can jump something in a pinch and has the possibility of just out and out winning the game for you. Seems pretty great in any build.
Gideon Jura - In EDH, Gideon will realistically only buy you a single turn without getting the chance to swing or Assassinate at all. Better in control builds with less creatures.
Elspeth Tirel - Auto-include in the token builds. Otherwise, just not that good.
What would an EDH deck be without a few sweepers? Let's see what our options are.
Akroma's Vengeance - The ability to cycle can be invaluable and it is one of the most thorough sweepers available. A little TOO thorough for an artifact heavy deck, IMO.
Armageddon - Destroying all lands when you have a huge presence can be pretty amazing. Really juicy in token subthemed games.
Austere Command - The choosable modes here make this one of the best sweepers for this deck, no matter what direction you take your build. You can always optimize it to harm you as little as possible and do maximum damage to your opponents plans.
Cataclysm - Excellent for the control builds. Doesn't quite get there for mid-range and token builds though.
Catastrophe - CATastrophe! GET IT?! Again, choosable modes really make this card a house. I would include it in almost any list.
Hallowed Burial - Loses value in more creature heavy builds, but still solid. Better than Wrath of God if you have a reanimation list in your meta.
Humility - While not strictly a sweeper, those opposing 1/1s are going to look mighty tiny when you start equiping.
Martial Coup - Auto-include for control builds. Not the worst for token builds either as it resets everybodies board then puts you right back where you started.
Rout - Instant speed sweepers are the best! Auto-include for control/reactive builds.
Wrath of God - Ye olde stand-by. Never a bad choice for a cheap sweeper.
Day of Judgment - Almost as good as Wrath of God since Regeneration isn't that popular. Strictly worse than Wrath though.
Mass Calcify - The most one-sided sweeper available to us. Definitely consider it.
All Is Dust - One of the best sweepers, period. Amazing in a very artifact heavy deck. Auto-include in just about any EDH deck in the first place.
Nevinyrral's Disk - Same issues as Magus of the Disk. It's cheap and instant speed which is excellent, but a little too thorough in its sweeping.
Oblivion Stone - Slow, but excellent all the same. You want this in the same builds you want Konda, Worldslayer, Rout, etc.
Final Judgment - Pretty huge. The problem with this card is there's no way to make it one sided. Definitely best in control variants.
Swords to Plowshares - The BEST spot removal, point blank. If you run white, you include Swords to Plowshares.
Path to Exile - Not the greatest in this format, but excellent all the same. Not an auto-include, but absolutely worth considering.
Condemn - Shuffling away an opposing general is usually better than Exiling it.
Oblivion Ring - Auto-include. Exiling any non-land for 3 is invaluable.
Journey to Nowhere - Significantly worse than Oblivion Ring, but still worth considering. If you need more creature removal that isn't a sweeper, this is definitely playable.
Evangelize - Not quite removal, but still amazing. Definitely include this in the control builds.
Aura of Silence - Auto-include in the control lists, worth considering elsewhere. Slowing down all your opponents' acceleration, lots of combo pieces and general utility is really amazing. Being able to sacrifice it to destroy a trouble artifact/enchantment on top of that makes this card one of the best.
Oblation - Shuffling away a general for the price of two cards can sometimes not suck and its real purpose is for dodging removal. It doesn't generate any CA for you, but it can save an important creature from being exiled.
Return to Dust - This deck will do most of its stuff during its own main phase anyways. Strongly recommended if you need additional artifact/enchantment hate.
Emerge Unscathed - Great for the all-in and control builds. A well timed one of these will almost guarantee 21 general damage on the rebound.
Brave the Elements - Better than Emerge Unscathed for token based builds. Making your entire army unblockable or nulling an Earthquake are both pretty excellent for W.
Razor Barrier - Targets a permanent instead of a creature and gives you the option of including Artifacts. Really great and worth considering.
Saltblast - SO expensive. Targets just about anything though.
Abolish - Free spells are always excellent. Every EDH deck is going to have at least one artifact or enchantment of which you are really going to want to be rid.
Akroma's Memorial - I could sing the praises of this card for days. If you can reliably get to 7 mana (which is definitely not difficult), auto-include this. A lot of times, it will only need to ETB for it to win you the game.
Eldrazi Monument - Almost as good as Akroma's Memorial and likely better in Token builds. Both Memorial and Monument solve the issue with evasive Generals and other beefy flyers and both increase the effectiveness of your apha strike. While it is obviously better in token builds, it's worth considering for any build due to Kemba, Sword of Body and Mind and Luminarch Ascension.
Darksteel Forge - Memorial/Monument for your Equipment. Consider it if you have a significant amount of Mana Acceleration.
Hanna's Custody - Probably better than Leonin Abunas for non-tribal and control builds. Definitely consider.
Story Circle - One of the best protection spells available.
Mana Acceleration
Sol Ring - Auto-include in just about any EDH deck, equipment decks are no exception.
Extraplanar Lens - Auto-include in any mono- or dual-colored EDH deck.
Gauntlet of Power - Auto-include in any mono-colored deck. Can be hazardous if you know there are other decks in your meta that are heavy white.
Everflowing Chalice - This deck can always use colorless mana and the ability to have this ETB for as much as you need it to is excellent. Definitely consider.
Thran Dynamo - Slightly less amazing without Voltaic Key, this card can equip most of the deck on its own. Definitely consider.
Mana Vault - Another card that is significantly less valuable without Voltaic Key. It nets you nothing in the end if you don't have a reliable method of untapping it.
Mana Crypt - Absolutely insane. Nearly an auto-include for any artifact heavy EDH deck. Faster than Sol Ring, with a drawback for which can be compensated.
Coalition Relic - Pretty great, but less valuable in a mono-colored deck. It will still, generally, net you 2 extra mana per turn though.
Gilded Lotus - Great in just about any EDH deck. Slightly less valuable in a mono-colored list, but only marginally.
Expedition Map - Another great card that is less valuable in mono-colored decks. If you have some nuts non-basic land you really love to see, definitely consider it.
Crucible of Worlds - While not strictly mana acceleration, it definitely has its uses for recovering after an Armageddon or messing up a players early turns with Strip Mine.
Lotus Petal - Lower value in mono-colored decks. Great early game, almost dead late game.
Lotus Bloom - Slow, but explosive. Lower value in mono-colored decks, but still worth considering. Another dead draw late game.
Land Tax - One of the best. Epic card advantage, guaranteed to go off almost every turn in multiplayer, thins your deck like crazy. Auto-include in any white list.
Weathered Wayfarer - Already covered in the Creatures section, but figured I'd include it here as an auto-include for smoothing your mana and fetching non-basic lands.
Tithe - Really great in multiplayer. A little slower than a lot of people think, but still great.
While I did say marginal buffs are not worth the cost in regards to Equipment, global buffs are a little better. If you have access to Double Strike, even a simple Honor of the Pure becomes 4 extra damage every turn, at worst. Personally, I still don't like them, but they are beastly in Tribal and Token builds. There are also other enchantments that give more than a little Power and Toughness that are brilliant.
Honor of the Pure - One of the best, cheap buff enchantments. 99.9% of your creatures are white, it's one sided and it's cheaper than Glorious Anthem.
Glorious Anthem - Second only to Honor of the Pure. The best buffs are one-sided and this will hit your non-white creatures.
Crusade - Cheap, but global. I would not run this if I knew there were other heavy white decks in my meta. Otherwise, it's Honor of the Pure #2.
Coat of Arms - Again, a global buff. This is a VERY dangerous card in EDH as tribal decks are plentiful. NEVER take this card to an unknown meta unless you are extremely confident you can deal with a 20/20 unblockable, shroud, indestructible, regenerating Sliver or 6 (or something to that degree). Useful in Tribal and Token builds, pass otherwise.
Door of Destinies - Now this is a buff I can get behind. Do not hesitate to include this card if you are running a Tribal build. Otherwise, it's just too expensive.
Leonin Sun Standard - Cheap to cast, boosts your creatures as much as you need at instant speed. Requires a mana commitment for activations though.
Celestial Crusader - Covered in the creature section, but worth mentioning here as well. Flash and Split Second on a full buff is pretty nice. Definitely for the reactive builds.
Marshal's Anthem - The best global buff, IMO. The ability to kick it and return anything you want from your graveyard is a very important part of what makes this card so good.
Shared Triumph - Greaet for the Tribal builds, not so much for the others.
Concerted Effort - Not strictly a buff, this card turns most of your equipment stupid. Definitely consider.
True Conviction - Off the back of an Academy Rector, True Conviction can win you the game pretty handidly. If it resolves, you will gain a pretty significant lead even if it only lasts a turn.
Leyline of the Meek - In a heavy token deck, then maybe. I don't think buffs for strictly token creatures get there, personally.
Light from Within - Too situational, IMO. If you have a high concentration of color intensive creatures, then sure, but a Kemba deck won't generally have that.
Any good deck built around a theme needs some good tutors! Let's see what we've got!
Stoneforge Mystic - Already covered in the creature section. Auto-Include.
Stonehewer Giant - Already covered in the Creature Section. Auto-include.
Enlightened Tutor - Auto-include in most EDH decks. I don't need to explain why an instant speed tutor for W is good.
Idyllic Tutor - If you have some very strong Enchantments such as True Conviction, Luminarch Ascension, Land Tax, etc, this card is strongly recommended.
Prototype Portal - With a proper Acceleration suite, this card is so beastly. A little slow, but being able to tutor for whatever you want, whenever you want is pretty darn powerful.
There are some cards that are really just great, but don't fit into basic categories. These are your utility/miscellaneous card choices.
Tangle Wire - In a deck with a high amount of equipment, this card is crippling in the early game. While all your opponents are tapping four of their very few lands and creatures, you just tap a couple equipment and the Tangle Wire itself. Definitely consider.
Smokestack - Absolutely necessary for token variants, no ifs ands or buts about it. Also, worth considering for control builds if you have a reliable method of paying the cost.
Ghostly Prison - Great for slower builds and really just generally excellent. Forcing people to pay to attack you is an excellent way to buy some time.
Sculpting Steel - I don't know about you, but having an additional Sword in my EDH deck sounds pretty great. It can also copy things like Smokestack and Tangle Wire for some real control shenanigans.
Aura of Silence - Mentioned in the Spot Removal section, the really great part about this card is how much it will slow down most opponents.
Miraculous Recovery - Instant Speed reanimation is always nice. More for All-in and Control variants.
Temple Bell - Little bit of white card draw. I find it better than Howling Mine, Font of Mythos and Anvil of Bogardan, but they are all in the same basic bracket. I won't discuss the others since they all do the same and fit the same purpose.
Mind's Eye - More card draw. Definitely great if you need some help not running out of steam.
Helm of Possession - Sacrifice a Kitten, steal whatever you please. Consider it.
Predator, Flagship - Helps deal with the flying sitation as well as functions as spot removal. With some good artifact acceleration, I see this as a very strong choice.
Semblance Anvil - Can make all of your equipment significanty cheaper (or free). It is card disadvantage though and encourages you to overextend.
Open the Vaults - Great for control builds. Keep in mind who you are playing as you could end up digging your hole even deeper. Against the right generals, this will be a complete bomb though.
SCroll Rack - If you have it, run it. It doesn't matter what deck you're running, what style of deck it is, if you own it, you put it in every EDH deck. It is just that good. If you run fetchlands, it just gets stupid.
Vedalken Orrery - Without Leonin Shikari, you still can't equip at instant speed, so this card is pretty useless.
Ivory Mask - Giving yourself shroud for 2WW is pretty solid.
Mana Tithe, Illumination, and Lapse of Certainty - What's not to love about counters that are white? Mana Tithe is a little too situational for my liking. Lapse of Certainty can do a lot of good against Suspend or things being cheated into play and Illumination like like a White Desertion! For control builds.
Pariah and [/card]Pariah's Shield[/card] - Combo well with Stuffy Doll, General's Kabuto, Cho Manno, Revolutionary, among others.
Sensei's Divining Top - THE draw filter. Auto-include in almost every deck, I don't run it in favor of more real synergy.
Voltaic Key - For interactions with artifact mana acceleration, mostly.
I've mentioned the token variants quite a bit, but have yet to touch on what cards make it tick. Let's find out right now!
Luminarch Ascension - Any white deck would be insane to not include this card. In most multiplayer matches, it will be active the turn after you play it. 4/4 flyers for 1W is something that is untouched by any other available card.
Conqueror's Pledge - Great on it's own, insane when Kicked. Auto-include for white token decks, IMO.
Spectral Procession - While not as volumous as Conqueror's Pledge, the efficiency of this card is amazing. 3 flyers for 3 mana is really excellent in an equipment based deck.
Spirit Mirror - Not only does this ensure you always have a creature to equip, it tells any Changeling heavy deck to take a hike.
Storm Herd - The sheer volume of creatures you will get from this card is unprecedented. Easily attained with artifact acceleration, you will frequently end up with 30+ 1/1 Flying Pegasi!
Decree of Justice - Excellent when you have a huge amount of mana, excellent when you only have a mediocre amount of mana (and it cantrips).
Nomad's Assembly - A little too situational, especially in a format loaded with sweepers. Still worth considering since free stuff is always awesome.
Martial Coup - Mentioned this in Sweepers, but playing it when X=4 is sometimes not a terrible play.
Captain of the Watch - Great for Tribal, brings friends to the party, gives those friends some awesome support.
That brings us to our final section: Lands.
Plains - We will have a hard time casting spells without these.
Snow-Covered Plains - For rigging our own Extraplanar Lens. Personally, there is an awful lot of Snow-Covered lands in EDH. I choose to run regular Plains since that has become more tech than Snow-Covered.
Windbrisk Heights - Maybe not so great in All-in and Control builds, but is an auto-include otherwise.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin - Amazing for any and all mono-white decks. If you run enough Plains to support it, definitely get one in here.
Flagstones of Trokair - Helps recover from an Armageddon faster. Taps for W, doesn't ETBT, is an auto-include.
Kor Haven - Amazing card. Auto-include in any white list.
Dustbowl - Unbelievable land control. If you play any land destruction in your mana base, you NEED one of these.
Tectonic Edge - Not quite Wasteland, not quite Strip Mine, not quite Dustbowl. This land is still excellent in a format as slow and non-basic heavy as EDH.
Strip Mine - The most ridiculous land destruction, period.
Eye of Ugin - If you decided you want the Eldrazi involved. Goes well with Darksteel Colossus and Eldrazi Temple as well.
Ghost Quarter - Really great against multi-colored generals and can be used on yourself in a real pinch.
Maze of Ith - Stops anything in its tracks. Auto-include for control builds, always consider for EVERY EDH deck.
Mystifying Maze - The bad Maze of Ith. Still worth considering.
Miren, the Moaning Well - Another great sacrifice outlet. Really is valuable if you have some silly infinite toughness combo though.
Mishra's Factory - A 2/2 manland just doesn't get there in a deck like this. You'd be better off with something silly like Urza's FActory.
Mishra's Workshop - Auto-include. If you have one or can get one, do it. It's unbelievable.
Mistveil Plains - Gets any card back into your deck for you to tutor. It's never terrible and has the basic land type, but it ETBT and that always made me unhappy to draw it.
Mouth of Ronom - Could be good if you ran all Snow-Covered Plains and Crucible of Worlds.
Mutavault - Again, a 2/2 manland jus doesn't get there. This one at least has the bonus of being Tribal though.
Reliquary Tower - There just isn't enough card draw in white to justify running this. IF you really wanted to though, it couldn't really hurt.
Scrying Sheets - Auto-include if you run all Snow-Covered lands.
Serra's Sanctum - If you have a high quantity of Enchantments, then definitely include this. Even if you only get to consistently tap it for WW, it's still excellent.
Thawing Glaciers - SOOOOOOOOOO SLOW! In a multi-colored deck, sure, but as is it's just too painfully slow.
Urza's Factory - A 2/2 for 7 is pretty terrible, but at instant speed in the control builds it can be pretty nuts. It's also really great if you're struggling to stabilize after a board wipe.
Urza's Mine - The Tron lands are all useful. The issue is actually getting them all into play. Weathered Wayfarer helps, but I never found it to be reliable enough. Can't hurt too badly though.
Vesuva - An absolute house that should be in every EDH deck, point blank.
That covers just about every card choice of which I can think. If anyone feels I've misjudged a card or left out a very important card, let me know and I will update the thread. Keep in mind, these evaluations of cards are based on the notion of putting them in a Kemba EDH deck, not evaluations of the cards overall power levels.
The first matter is what type of deck you wish to build. A mid-range deck can support nearly equivalent numbers of creatures and equipment with a low number of instants and reactive spells. An aggro deck will want a heavier focus on creatures. A control deck can play very "All-in" with a low number of creatures and a high volume of utility/reactive spells. Tribal will be closer to mid-range with a slightly higher concentration of creatures.
The second thing to determine is the equipment base. If you're running Kemba, I think the minimum should be a baker's dozen equipment cards. These should curve out fairly nicely and offer a fair degree of protection for your creatures. Mid-range/Tribal decks should have 15-18, aggro decks should stay closer to the minimum and all-in control can have 16-20.
Next are your tutors. I feel that any deck should have Stoneforge Mystic, Stonehewer Giant, Enlightened Tutor and Steelshaper's gift in them. Anything beyond that would be for the sake of consistency or tailored to preference.
Utility cards come next. These are entirely tailored to your deck choice and meta, so I won't go into any details. Just keep your basic focus and ratios in mind.
The creatures are the most important part. These are what will win you the game and what give you equipment targets. I believe mid-range lists want around 20 creatures, control and aggro will want less and more, respectively.
Finally, you want your mana base. Generally, you want around 40 mana producers in your deck. The amount of basic Plains will have to be slightly higher than usual if you wish to use Emeria, the Sky Ruin in your deck. Being a mono-colored deck with a heavy artifact backbone allows us to run a lot of cards like Wasteland and Strip Mine without affecting our tempo too much.
Weaknesses
No matter what build you decide to run, Kemba gets rocked by mass artifact destruction. Cards like Nevinyrral's Disk and Akroma's Vengeance are very difficult with which to deal. Darksteel Forge, Open the Vaults and Roar of Redemption help, but it's still an uphill battle. Creature and land destruction are things around which can be played, artifact destruction is just all around painful. Just be careful to not overextend your equipment and to play intelligently.
It also has a very hard time with an opposing Iona, but what mono-colored deck doesn't?
In Closing
I want to thank everybody who has taken the time to read through this. I would also like to encourage any thoughts or opinions on misguided evaluations or missing cards. This is my first primer and I did a lot of digging to try and gather as many cards for evaluations as I could. I'm sure to have missed a bunch. There are also some very basic cards on which I didn't touch because they are either too narrow or too vanilla. I hope the read was as enjoyable as the deck is to play! Have fun!
Addendum by DalkonCledwin to include MBS cards. Added thoughts by myself in bold.
Quote from DalkonCledwin »
Bonehoard — First, it needs to be said… the Living Weapon Mechanic is simply AMAZING. That said, Bonehoard is probably the BEST of the Living Weapons. This is especially true in multi-player games. If you can fit it into your deck, then do so. If not, then its no big deal. But this card will basically turn any creature it is equipped to into a Mortivore for all intents and purposes (sans the regen ability). [b]I'm not that excited about the Living Weapon mechanic, but giving Stoneforge Mystic the ability to search for a Huge/Huge creature and cheat it into play is pretty exciting. The fact that it doubles as an Equipment is just gravy. Of course, there are far more exciting tutor-able options though (such as Feast and Famine).
Copper Carapace — not a very good equipment, I wouldn’t run it over any of the other options available to the deck. [b]Another cheap equipment. Not cheap enough though.[/b]
Darksteel Plate — minus one to the CMC, minus two to the equip cost, remove the legendary status… that’s basically what this card has done to Shield of Kaldra. Overall a pretty decent equipment. If you can’t get a hold of the Kaldra pieces for some reason, at least consider getting Darksteel Plate.
Flayer Husk — see Copper Carapace. [b]Being cheaper makes it more interesting for Voltron builds and decks that just want Kemba spawning as many kittens as possible. Still not at all exciting nor worth the investment.[/b]
Mortorpod — this card has an interesting mechanic set up. While it is not generally a good equipment, in the right build it could be decent. I would consider it as a potential possibility for the more tokens heavy decks. [b]Were this card not so expensive, it would be great. As is, I don't believe it to be worth the investment nor slot in any version.[/b]
Piston Sledge — the equip cost for this card is counter productive to the main strategy of this deck. As such I wouldn’t recommend It for this deck. On the other hand, if you are a token based deck that is running Thopter Assembly this card could be potentially useful.[b] I actually see this card having more of a use in Voltron style builds. The auto-equip is really useful. I still wouldn't run it as I think cheap buffs are rarely needed for a deck with so many other options, but equipping for free is always nice.[/b]
Silverskin Armor — This card is a very very interesting way to take advantage of Hanna’s Custody, Leonin Abunas or Indomitable Angel. Using this card to give your General Shroud, you can add an additional equipment to your list of shroud giving equipment. I however wouldn’t rely on such strategies as they are unreliable. However an interesting way of working this is to use this equipment to give Leonin Abunas or Indomitable Angel Shroud using their own abilities…[b] I like this card. I've not had a chance to test it, but I enjoy the interactions it has with the shroud engines. It's cheap enough and offers enough utility to be useful in Voltron builds.[/b]
Skinwing — the benefits this card grants are no where near worth the mana that it costs to play and equip to a creature. Do not use this unless you have some means by which to bypass the equip cost of 6 mana [b]and even then, why aren't you using Argentum Armor?[/b].
Strandwalker — this card is almost as bad as Skinwing costing 5 mana to play and 4 mana to equip (9 total) where as Skinwing cost 4 mana to play and 6 to equip (10 total). Between them they are probably the two most expensive answers to the flying creatures problem that is available to this deck. The only advantage they both offer is that they both have the Living Weapon Mechanic so they automatically come into play equipped to a 0/0 germ token. [b]The main problem with Living Weapon is it's only truly useful in swarmy, token-style builds. Even then, most of them are too expensive and not interesting enough to warrant inclusion.[/b]
Viridian Claw — cheap, small boost, but grants the ability of first strike. Which is significant. I would still rather be playing some other card than this though.
Accorder Paladin — While Battlecry is a nice ability, this card is a little sub par compared to the other two-drops available in white. [b]In token builds, Battlecry is the stones. Definitely great there, unplayable everywhere else.[/b]
Ardent Recruit — There are better one drops. [b]I'm going to say this here. Every one of the creatures that beg to be equipped (such as this and Sunspear Shikari) are going to hurt your overall strategy. They force you to water your deck down no matter what your build is meant to do. Stick with the Metalcraft monsters.[/b]
Gore Vassal — this card is interesting, because it serves as pseudo removal. I would still prefer Path to Exile, Condemn, and Swords to Plowshares over this card, but if you run up against large amounts of weenie decks, or even decks utilizing Bridge from Below this card could be potentially useful. [b]I hate this card. I do not see its application in any version of the deck. There is nothing interesting that it actually stops and is just a waste of slot that could be used for real removal.[/b]
Hero of Bladehold — this is a perfect card for the Tokens decks. Unfortunately as it is a 4 cmc card, it also vies for the same position in the deck as Emeria Angel. What this card offers that Emeria Angel does not is Battle Cry, which helps the token strategy immensely. I would highly recommend running this card in token builds. [b]I see absolutely nothing wrong with this card and think it to be an auto-include in almost any build. 4 CMC is EASY for a Commander deck and there are relatively few 4CMC cards that are anywhere near as exciting as Hero. I would prefer it over Emeria Angel most of the time, in fact.[/b]
Kemba’s Legion — Over costed, under effective. This card is not nearly useful enough to warrant it’s inclusion. The fact that it wants to be equipped as much as Kemba does doesn’t help either. [b]Awful.[/b]
Leonin Relic-Warder — If your meta is heavily infested with Artifacts, then definitely consider this card. Bonus points for being a cat! This card would probably be most at home in the Tribal Builds. [b]I would prefer real removal most of the time, but this card is still great. It being a cat is most definitely beneficial.[/b]
Mirran Crusader — one of the best 3 drop creatures to have ever been printed in white. I still wouldn’t run it though. [b]I disagree. Run it. It begs to be equipped, which is bad as I stated earlier , but no other creature is as aggressively costed and gives you the game as fast as Crusader. Its protection isn't always relevant, but its double strike is.[/b]
Priests of Norn — attacking an opponent’s life from two opposing directions is not a good strategy. This card is thus not a contender for this deck.
Victory’s Herald — the card Windbrisk Raptor grants almost the same benefits, but doesn’t need to attack itself, and it does all this for just 1 mana more than the herald.
Phyrexian Revoker — If you already run Pithing Needle you should be running Phyrexian Revoker as well. This card doubles the number of Pithing Needles you have at your disposal. This card would probably be most at home in the control or midrange builds.
Shimmer Myr — a second and cheaper Vedalken Orrery. Vulnerable to all the same removal as Phyrexian Revoker though. But if your running one you should run the other.
Phyrexian Rebirth — this card is similar to Martial Coup in that it destroys all creatures and gives you compensation for that act in the form of tokens. However unlike Martial Coup which gives you several small tokens, this card only gives you one LARGE token. That in my mind makes this card strictly worse than Martial Coup. If one were going to run this card, it would probably be in the control builds.
Choking Fumes — while this will not always count as mass removal, in the right situation it can act as a form of mass removal. Those conditions being if you are facing a bunch of small 1/1’s that are attacking you. Unfortunately this is probably the most conditional pseudo mass removal spell ever created and as such probably cannot be used to any decent effect in EDH.
Banishment Decree — If this card didn’t put the banished artifact, creature or enchantment on top of the opponents library but instead on the bottom, or even 2 to 3 cards down from the top, then maybe I could recommend it seeing some play. As it stands this card is terrible, and I cannot recommend its use at all.
Spine of Ish Sah — the only more expensive vindicate effect in the game is Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and he is also infinitely more playable than this card. Don’t waste your time with this one.
Frantic Salvage — the One Sided Open the Vaults. While this card has the weakness of making it so you draw nothing but artifacts for the next (insert undetermined variable here) rounds, on the plus side you don’t have to worry about your opponents getting their artifacts back. This card may enable Kemba decks to run those sweeper effects that they normally wouldn’t be able to run for fear of wiping their own boards out. The only factor now is timing.
Decimator Web — Loss of Life (good), Poison Counter (Bad), Mill (Bad), 1 out of 3 good win conditions does not make for a good addition to this deck.
Ichor Wellspring — colorless card draw, not a bad thing, unfortunately the conditions by which it gives you a card are difficult to say the least (usually you will only be getting one card from it unless your opponents are very very kind to you). This is potentially useful for the control decks[b], but I doubt it.[/b]
Knowledge Pool — this card is very awkward. It both mills, tutors, and provides alternate casting conditions for spells. I personally don’t like this card because it makes it infinitely more difficult to cast generals. Potentially useful for the control decks[b], still doubt it. This card is only useful in decks that are so aggressively costed that they steal everything everyone else tries to play or a deck with Teferi. Useless otherwise.[/b]
Mirrorworks — in the same vein as Sculpting Steel only reusable. If your currently using Sculpting Steel I would upgrade to this card instead.
Magnetic Mine — this card will hurt us more than most enemies.
Shriekhorn — unless you plan on making this into a mill deck somehow I see no point in running this card.
Contested War Zone — in 1v1 this could be useful. In anything with more than 2 players, this can be hazardous to your health. [b]Also, really excellent in token builds as all Battlecriers are.[/b]
Inkmoth Nexus — please please if you even think of playing this, consider Blinkmoth Nexus instead… while they are the same exact card save for the fact that Inkmoth’s tokens have infect… the infect addition means that the tokens are totally not conducive to the main strategy of this deck.
Thopter Assembly — This creature is able to pump out 5 Thopters every single one of your upkeeps so long as there are no other thopters aside from itself. That is at least worthy of consideration.
White Sun’s Zenith — it’s instant speed, it creates cat’s, it’s re-usable… what’s not to love about this card???? Probably the best token generator ever printed since Decree of Justice itself!
Personally, I think you've undervalued some of the cheap, simple equipment like Darksteel Axe - my Kemba deck tries to get as much equipment as possible so I can have as many kitties as possible (shame I don't have enough actual cat tokens to represent them all...)
I'll be honest, that was a massive read, and I only made it up to planswalkers. How ever, what do you think about the White stampeding wilderbeast? In addition, what about kor cartographer?
One question about Kemba, how exactly does your gameplan work? His ability makes you want to put a lot of equipment on him, Voltron style, but the 2/2s that he produces don't really support that since it doesn't add to general damage.
you need to be running cataclysm. in all of the decks. Resetting the board to you having a land and an equipped khemba almost always means you win as your kemba swarms over while your opponents regroup.
I don't really know if this is the place to put my decklist but here it is. I am still lacking alot of the better older cards (This is my first EDH deck and I only started magic around M10) but I am trying to get ahold of them. Things like sword of light and shadow,sword of fire and ice, and the Kaldra stuff is obvious, but if you guys see anything that really sticks out to you please let me know. I decided to try the token road with this one. I am trying to get some more sweepers like mass calcify and maybe a militia's pride to add to the token generation and I'll put those in when I get them. Alot of these are just placeholders and I will replace them as I go. Like I said, this is my first EDH so I am open to any tips.
Wow, thanks for all the work, you have inspired me to build a Kemba deck this weekend! I have been looking for a good token deck lately and this seems like it could be awesome if built the right way, I'll post my build when it's done.
Thank you, Beware, for a most excellent thread and for the detailed reviews of the various cars that could go in this deck. I very much liked the listing of the strengths and weaknesses of the various cards in the environment. By having so many cards, you make it possible to create a Kemba deck without "net-decking".
One question, on your 4 builds you list a "Kemba MWC". What does the MWC stand for?
I am wanting to build a fast, aggro style deck to compete in 1v1 with my friends Jenara deck. I think this Kemba build will be good, especially if I concentrate on a lot of creatures, with a lot of the smaller, low-cost ones.
I'd be very interest in seeing what decks you come up with for the Kemba Tokens and Kemba MWC, which I'm assuming/hoping is a more aggro style.
Would it be ok if I added my deck list here to get some feedback and critiques to help me tune it to my desired role?
Finally, do you have any similar threads for other deck types/colors? I have a BG Glissa The Traitor deck, a BR Wort Boggart Auntie deck, a black Vampires deck with Anowon, and a green elves deck, using Omnath as the general.
MWC stands for Mono-White Control. So no, that type of deck is not more aggro oriented. In fact it usually has a smaller number of creatures and a higher number of control elements (some of which are the creatures, most of which are not). It also happens to be the more expensive variant of this type of deck as it utilizes alot of cards that are higher up on the money-curve, such as The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale among others.
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -- Varsuvius, Order of the Stick
Yes, that is not my type of play style (lack of patience + lack of funds).
BTW, I see from your Kemba list that you use Snow-Covered Plains. Are they considered "plains" for purposes of Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Endless Horizons, and other cards that specify the "Basic Land Plains"?
A new spoiler from New Phyrexia seems like an auto include in any Kemba build:
Puresteel Paladin
WW
2/2
Creature - Human Knight
Whenever an equipment enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card.
Metalcraft - If you control three or more artifacts, equip costs of equipment you control is 0.
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EDH Decks:
WUBErtai, the CorruptedWUB WKemba, Kha RegentW GSeshiro, the AnointedG
I've updated with DalkonCledwin's thoughts on MBS as well as some of my own. I've addressed some things such as Equipment hoggers like Sunspear Shikari and am making my way through some other requests. Will have some new deck lists coming in the next few days.
Puresteel Paladin is also an absolute auto-include in every build of this deck, period. Very exciting stuff.
Why should I play Kemba?
~You want an equipment based deck that isn't Godo or Ashling.
~You want a deck that doesn't have to revolve around silly combos.
~You're looking for a proactive, mid-range style deck with good matchups.
~You like to surprise people with a general they have likely not yet experienced.
~You like playing a deck with a lot of wiggle-room for customization and individuality.
Why would I not want to play Kemba?
~You want a more combo-tastic deck.
~You don't want to play mono-colored EDH.
~You prefer a more control or aggro approach to EDH.
~You don't like to lack alternate wincons beyond smashing face.
~You prefer a more focused/narrow strategy.
Why did you (Beware) choose Kemba?
Upon inspecting the Scars of Mirrodin Spoilers, I found there wasn't very much be excited about. I had been playing Mageta, the Lion as my mono-white general, but decided I wanted to be a little more aggressive. I wanted a foil to my 5 color Cromat deck and already had many great white cards that I needed to use for something. Then Scars gave us True Conviction and Kemba, Kha-Regent.
Equipment was always intriguing to me for an EDH theme, but I did not want to play mono-red, colorless or have a ludicrously expensive general like Raksha Golden Cub. Kemba just screamed to me as the perfect EDH general for my purposes. I had nearly the entire deck assembled by the Scars prerelease, got all the Scars cards I needed and have been tweaking ever since. This deck is wholly original with only one other fully developed list kicking around (a tribal build compared to my "good stuff" build).
What will this Primer cover?
This primer will go over every single piece of equipment available to a mono-white deck, their strengths and weakness, some strong creatures for mono-white EDH and cat tribal and some explanations for lacking cards that most would consider "staples."
This primer will NOT cover how to play the deck nor Matchups as it is a mid-range deck that can play aggro or control based on the opposing Generals. It can be tuned for multiplayer or 1v1 and there is far too much room for customization to even attempt to cover MUs.
I will go over card choices first with deck lists at the end. I will cover every card from the "50 best EDH cards" list in mono-white and colorless and Scheme Decks/Planechase decks at the end (when I get around to creating them). I will also go over why I, personally, decided against playing some cards that would be really good here or that I say should be considered.
Now, without further ado, the card choices!
I'll start with the most pivotal part of a Kemba EDH deck: The Equipment. We have 114 options open to us, so let's get started!
Artifacts - Equipment
Accorder's Shield - Shield is nice because it comes down for free and gives Vigilence. I don't believe it to be worth the slot nor the equip cost since it only boosts toughness and there are far better equipment that could be coming down for 3 mana total.
Adventuring Gear - Playing a mono-colored deck means there is very little need for mana fixing such as fetchlands. If you felt compelled to run 10 fetchlands anyways, then this is a pretty solid, cheap equipment. Otherwise, it's just a blank equipment for Kemba.
Argentum Armor - An absolute house. One half of an Eldrazi Concription, reusable, targetted destruction of whatever you want. Very expensive to play and equip, but it's possible to cheat into play/equip.
Banshee's Blade - Giving only a marginal buff, this card just doesn't do enough. Were it a little cheaper, then maybe, but, generally speaking, simple buffs are just not good enough when you could be running much more exciting equipment.
Barbed Battlegear - Again, a card that does nothing but give a small buff for too much mana. Things like Umezawa's Jitte set the bar pretty darn high so things like this just do not measure up.
Basilisk Collar - I don't really think I need to explain the usefulness of Lifelink and Deathtouch on any creature you want for 2 mana. An auto-include if there ever was one. If you aren't running this in an Equipment deck, you're making a HUGE mistake.
Blade of the Bloodchief - Another excellent, cheap equipment. While it only offers "buffs," it does so in a very permanent manner at a very efficient price. In Ashling, the Pilgrim EDH decks it's an auto-include, in anything else you need to evaluate how consistently you can get multiple creatures into the graveyard.
Bladed Pinions - Very few equipment give Flying. Even few do it this efficiently. A deck like Kemba can easily be beaten down by dragon based EDH decks and something like Bladed Pinions can give you a fight chance. I feel there are a lot of better options than a flying equipment, but this is playable if you need to improve the Scion of the Ur-Dragon matchup.
Blazing Torch - Incredibly narrow with an effect that will do absolutely nothing in a format about 40 life and huge beatsticks. Even for the cost it isn't worth wasting a slot.
Blight Sickle - This card just isn't efficient or effective enough to really get the job done. If you find your creatures generally getting outclassed by other decks in your playgroup, this can be a decent equalizer, otherwise, pass.
Blinding Powder - Such an odd equipment. If you want to go a slower, more control route, this card could be decent. A free fog whenever you want can be pretty effective. I wouldn't run it, but I can see its purpose.
Bone Saw - Does absolutely nothing. A waste of a slot and a waste of [mana]1[/mana[.
Bonesplitter - Another cheap equipment that does nothing but offer a marginal buff. We still have tons of options, no reason to pad our decks with these sorts of things.
Cloak and Dagger - This card is almost Whispersilk Cloak #2. Good enough without rogues, great with them. I still say there are more exciting cards with which we could play though.
Cranial Plating - This card would be an absolutely house! Too bad it has black in the text box. Ah well, moving on...
Darksteel Axe - A better Bonesplitter. Still not worth it for such a marginal power boost though.
Dead-Iron Sledge - KAMIKAZEEEEEEEEEE! If you really need an answer to some shrouded beater...
Deathrender - Helps you stabilize after a sweeper better than most, makes it so an opponent just cannot block profitably, will generally equip for free. Seems like a win-win-win situation to me. Auto-include.
Diviner's Wand - Another card that helps the flying situation and can give you some much needed card draw. It's all a little pricey, but playable.
Echo Circlet - Cheap, but blocking one additional creature per turn won't generally have any bearing on the match. Either you want to be blocking one in particular or a huge army.
Empyrial Plate - This is a card I tried pretty heavily. If you have some consistent source of card draw, then this is an amazing card. Without it, it just kind of fizzles most of the time. Consider it.
Ensouled Scimitar - Marginal buff, hilarious but pointless ability.
[cardExplorer's Scope[/card] - Cheap and can really help you hit your land drops consistently. Definitely worth considering and one of the best accelerants/draw smoothers we have.
Fireshrieker - Reusable Double Strike for 2 seems like a good deal to me. Better than every other buff available and not much more expensive.
General's Kabuto - Great for when you are on the uber offensive or defensive. In between, it can be a little unfulfilling though. Worth considering.
Golem-Skin Gauntlets - It is cheap, but we don't want to have all our eggs in the same basket. IF you want to focus more on equipment Kemba for all she's worth and throwing her out there, then this is worth considering. Otherwise it's too marginal a buff (and remember, we dont like marginal buffs).
Gorgon Flail - Not as efficient as Basilisk Collar, but still pretty excellent. Definitely consider.
Grafted Excoskeleton - I'm not going to delve into why it's a bad idea to attack your opponents life from two angles (effectively making their life total 50), so I'll just say infect is really bad in a deck that isn't rooted in Infect.
Grafted Wargear - This could be fun. IF you need a way to consistently trigger Blade of the BLoodchief or some kind of graveyard based combos, this would be excellent. Otherwise, it's a little too narrow for just a buff.
Grappling Hook - I believe Fireshrieker to be strictly better than Grappling Hook, but that's not to say Hook is terrible. Run it if you can't get a Fireshrieker, consider it otherwise.
Grifter's Blade - Marginal buff, the flash ability will mostly be pointless.
Hammer of Ruin - When you REALLY want to destroy that opposing Umezawa's Jitte... Strictly a Sideboard card.
Hankyu - If the equip cost wasn't so high, this could be nifty. As is, it's just too painfully slow.
Healer's Headdress - Only a marginal damage reduction, but can be boss lategame if you run a token subtheme. Situational, but worth considering.
Heartseeker - I love this card to pieces, but I think it might be just way too slow. If the equipment cost were 1 cheaper, then maybe, but as is it just wont get there.
Heavy Arbalest - Expensive and slow. If you have some kind of combo to infinitely untap the creature then maybe, even then, still too slow and unreliable.
Hedron Matrix - This cards value fluxuates with how you build the deck. If you have a lot of high CMC cards on which you wish to focus, then sure. I feel Kemba should have a fairly low curve though. In that case this is WAY too expensive for a marginal buff.
Helm of Kaldra - The Kaldra Equipment is all just too good to not include in an equipment based EDH deck. With proper Tutors you can even end up playing Kaldra!
Horned Helm - Pretty excellent considering the cost, too bad there's green in that text box...
Infiltration Lens - One half of a Whispersilk Cloak. That's pretty good for 1 mana. Not an auto-include, but still pretty powerful (though not Skullclamp 2.0 as many people like to think).
Kitesail - Another of the few flying equipment. Pretty mediocre all around, but gives a creature flying to help against evasive generals.
Konda's Banner - Excellent if you want a more tribal style deck. Otherwise it just isn't reliable enough to have any real presence.
Kusari-Gama - This is really just another psuedo-unblockable. It's not the worst equipment in the world, but you might be better off with some real protection for the CMC. Test it.
Leering Eblem - This is a deck that does most of its stuff during the main phases. As such, the value of this card is drastically reduced. Maybe in a more reactive build it could be useful, but Kemba is not the best general if you want a more reactive build.
Leonin Bola - A slow, equipment version of that white card they've printed a million times. I suppose it isn't terrible, but I wouldn't bother unless you have some VERY general dependent decks in your meta.
Leonin Scimitar - Cheap for a marginal buff. You know the drill.
Lightning Greaves - Like the best equipment, period. Auto-include in almost every EDH list, you'd have to be mentally infirm to not want this in your Kemba deck. Worst case scenario, it eats the Oblivion Ring that would have been used on Argentum Armor.
Livewire Lash - Not a bad card, not too terribly costed. A little narrow considering EDH is a format loaded with sweepers much more so than spot removal though.
Loxodon Warhammer - Another AMAZING equipment. Auto-include, I don't think I need to explain why +3/+0, trample, lifelink is awesome for 3.
Magebane Armor - A pretty great card if you have a lot of burn or an Ashling, the Pilgrim in your meta. Otherwise, it's just a basic buff.
Manaforce Mace - We are mono-white. Good luck with that Domain.
Manriki-Gusari - Slightly better than Hammer of Ruin.
Mask of Memory - Not only is it a cheap, early equipment, but it's card draw/advantage. Really, really great.
Neko-Te - It super-taps something and gives you an extra 1 point of damage. Deathtouch and Lifelink seem WAY better to me.
Nemesis Mask - Turn everything into a Prized Unicorn! Narrow, expensive, unexciting, but could be useful in a token sub-themed deck.
Neurok Hoversail - Same as the other Flying equipment. Cheap, unexciting, gets the job done in a pinch.
Neurok Stealthsuit - Excellent card... Blue in the text box. Why are these all so good except the white one?!
Nightmare LAsh - We definitely have a lot of Swamps in this deck.
Nim Deathmantle - I like this card, but it is only when a creature goes to YOUR graveyard and most of the time, you will be tapping out during your main phase. In a more reactive build it would be nuts.
No-Dachi - Marginal buff.
O-Naginata - Marginal, situational buff.
Oathkeeper, Takeno's Daisho - Would be great if we had a bunch of Samurais!
Obsidian Battle-Axe - Would be great if we had a bunch of Warriors! Otherwise it's WAY too expensive for a marginal buff and haste, especially when Lightning Greaves gives haste for 0.
Ogre's Cleaver - Too expensive for nothing but a basic buff.
Opaline Bracers - Sunburst is almost as useful as Domain.
Paradise Mantle - What? Your mono-white deck DOESN'T need more Birds of Paradise?
Pariah's Shield - Great with cards like Stuffy Doll, Cho Manno or anything with General's Kabuto.
Pennon Blade - Expensive, but decent with a token sub-theme.
Peregrine Mask - How do we expect to win if we give everything Defender?
Quietus Spike - More Deathtouch is always good and this card would honestly not be playable without it. It's pretty great on paper, but doesn't quite work out as well as I would prefer. Still worth considering.
Rakdos Riteknife - Freakin' colored abilities.
Razor Boomerang - I'm not even going to dignify that with a response.
Ronin Warclub - Marginal buff, even when it's free.
Runed Stalactite - Not terrible for tribal if you have some kind of very strong synergy and a handful of non-tribal cards (Raksha Golen Cub, for instance). It's a cheap equipment if nothing else.
Scythe of the Wretched - I like this card a lot. More psuedo-unblockable with the pay off for being blocked being significantly better than the other psuedo-unblockable equipment.
Shield of Kaldra - Another piece of Kaldra. Excellent. If you aren't running all three, this could be cut (but why would you not run all three???).
Shuko - Marginal buff.
Shuriken - I don't know about you, but I don't like giving my equipment away.
Sigil of Distinction - Being able to choose how significant the buff is, how early it comes down and being able to equip for free is pretty significant. It is still just a buff equipment, even if it is one of the best. Don't dismiss it, but don't try to squeeze it into your list.
Skullclamp - A card that will forever live in infamy. It's cheap, it comes down early and it can generate massive card advantage with a token subtheme. Even without the token subtheme, it's worth consideration.
Slagwurm Armor - This card won't help us win any.
Sparring Collar - Curse you Red.
Specter's Shroud - Turn your everything into Hyppie. Better for more reactive/controlling builds.
Spellbinder - This card is awesome, but I wouldn't run it in anything without at least 10 instants that I would like to cast every turn. Perhaps for more reactive builds.
Spidersilk Net - Another card to fix the Flying issue. Probably the most efficient of them at it as well. Card definitely won't help us win faster though.
Strata Scythe - A late-game bomb. You make an investment in this equipment and it just keeps paying you back the longer the game continues. Gets significantly more valuable if you are running accerlants like Weathered Wayfarer, Tithe, or Land Tax.
Strider Harness - A bad Lightning Greaves.
Sunforger - Gah, so close!
Surestrike Trident - Too expensive, but could be useful in a deck that revolves around larger creatures.
Sword of Body and Mind - You might get caught setting up a Reanimation deck by accident with this, but all three Swords are auto-includes in every equipment list, point blank. Cheap, relevant protection, decent buff, excellent triggered abilities.
Sword of Fire and Ice - Auto-include.
Sword of Kaldra - My favorite of the 3. Another auto-include.
Sword of Light and Shadow - Auto-include.
Sword of Vengeance - Give you creatures almost every relevant keyword with a single equipment? Seems pretty awesome to me.
Sword of the Meek - I suppose there maybe a combo with this in a token subtheme, but its just worthless without Thopter Foundry. Don't Bother.
Sword of the Paruns - This card would be awesome if the abilities were reversed. As is, it's just solid and worth a consideration instead of an auto-include. Another card that's better with a token subtheme.
Sylvok Lifestaff - Marginal buff, marginal life gain.
Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang - Expensive and slow, but gives a significant buff and can dodge removal. If you tap out all the time during your main phase, don't bother with this one, reactive builds should take note, however.
Tenza, Godo's Maul - Auto-include if we were playing Godo or Ashling.
Thornbite Staff - Plays nice with Basilisk Collar, but it's far too slow to really consider.
Trailblazer's Boots - Not terrible, actually. Most EDH decks are LOADED with nonbasic lands. Definitely great for decks that try to focus on pushing Kemba through for 21 points of general damage.
Trusty Machete - Strictly worse than Darksteel Axe and that card isn't playable either.
Umbral Mantle - This card is best suited for infinite mana combos, it's only a marginal buff otherwise.
Umezawa's Jitte - Excellent card. Not quite the unbelievable auto-include a lot of people believe it to be, but still awesome and I would run it in a heartbeat.
Veteran's Armaments - Another card that is mediocre in a normal build, but almost an auto-include in lists with a token subtheme.
Viridian Longbow - Plays nice with Basilisk Collar, but is too slow to actually make a dent in an opposing army.
Vorrac Battlehorns - Really excellent for decks that will focus on General damage. Worth considering for any other list too.
Vulshok Battlegear - Marginal buff.
Vulshok Gauntlets - Marginal buff, immensely slow.
Vulshok Morningstar - Marginal buff. 3 for 3 on those Vulshok equipment.
Warlord's Axe - Marginal buff, really slow.
Warmonger's Chariot - All your walls will be beastly!
Whispersilk Cloak - One of the best. Auto-include in most non-equipment EDH decks! Run it.
Worldslayer - This is a card behind which I just cannot get. In more Kemba 21 damage focused decks, I could see the purpose. Otherwise you're just shooting yourself in the foot every turn. Eldrazi Monument and Elspeth can remedy that, but this is 100 card singleton.
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Kemba, Kha Regent - Pretty essential for a Kemba, Kha Regent EDH deck.
Academy Rector - With a proper set of Enchantments to grab, she is absolutely nuts. If you have any kind of sacrifice outlet too she becomes an absolute auto-include.
Akroma, Angel of Wrath - She's big, scary, trampley and protected. What's not to like? Personally, I choose not to run her in favor of more synergistic cards, but there is no better gigantic beatstick for white.
Archon of Justice - Well costed flyer that can exile whatever it wants. Very solid, especially for a more control based build. Another choice I've decided against in favor of more synergy, but Archon (and most of these twop 20 or so) is excellent in just about any white deck. Auto-include in the control based list.
Aven Mindcensor - An absolute house against certain decks or just in certain situations. Auto-include in the control variants.
Baneslayer Angel - Nothing but a beat stick. A really great, aggressively costed beatstick, but a beatstick nonetheless.
Deathless Angel - Could be a little slow, but great in multiplayer. Also significantly more valuable in a list that's more "all-in Kemba."
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails - I don't even care about synergy or lack thereof, this is an auto-include in every mono-white list and probably every list that involves white whatsoever. Just amazing.
Eternal Dragon - Plainscycling can be REALLY important and it's an efficient beatstick to boot! Another card to which I gave the axe for more synergy, but it's excellent in a lot of builds (especially ones running Iona).
Felidar Sovereign - I find this card to be too slow, inefficient and unreliable. If you have some very consistent methods of gaing large volumes of life (such as Soul Warden with a token subtheme), then maybe. Even then, I would steer clear.
Hokori, Dust Drinker - Absolutely amazing card. In a token themed deck or a control build, it's an absolutely house. Completely shuts down all opposing game plans, opening the field up to your victory. Auto-include in token and control builds, probably not so much in mid-range.
Iona, Shield of Emeria - If you can reliably hit 9 mana, run this card. Big flying beatstick that shuts down anything you need it to shut down.
Karmic Guide - Solid recursion with protection from black. For 5 mana you can get anything you need back from the 'Yard. Very important for the non-token builds.
Kor Sanctifiers - The versatility of this card is staggering. Worst case scenario, it's a 2/3 for 2W. Great for builds that are more aggressive or lack artifact/enchantment hate.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - Shuts down most decent EDH generals and infinitely more utility creatures in decks. Efficiently costed, decent body, amazing ability. Auto-include in EVERY white EDH deck.
Magus of the Disk - Everyone loves Nevinyrral's Disk, right? Kemba doesn't. You want sweepers in this deck to have choosable modes. Disk and Magus are just too thorough. Maybe in control builds.
Mirror Entity - One piece of the Reveillark, Karmic Guide combo of which we are all aware and just all around awesome. Any build that isn't all-in on Kemba should run one. Absolutely obscene with equipment based decks.
Reveillark - Depending on the build, a lot of your utility creatures will have base power of 2 or less. Having the option to recur any 2 creatures you need is just too enticing. Not to mention the Mirror Entity/Karmic Guide shenanigans. Auto-include if Mirror Entity and Karmic Guide are in the deck.
Rune-tail, Kitsune Ascendant - Amazing early game. Cast it in the first 8 turns or so and you have a pretty much unstoppable army. If you have some decent tutors to ensure you get it early enough, make sure you grab one of these.
Stonecloaker - Solid, but situational. Another great card for the control-ish builds.
Stoneforge Mystic - It's an Equipment deck. Enough said. Auto-include.
Stonehewer Giant - See Stoneforge Mystic.
Twilight Shepherd - Great sweeper insurance. If you have a consistent way to recur/persist this card, auto include it. Otherwise, it's still great and at least worth consideration.
Weathered Wayfarer - Great mana fixing. Slightly situational, but the fact that it can grab any land more than makes up for that.
World Queller - Auto-include for the control builds. Just good elsewhere.
Yosei, the Morning Star - The BEST card to recur with Reveillark + Karmic Guide. Effectively creates an infinite turn loop. Definitely include if you've got the rest of the pieces, worth considering either way. Avoid if your group really hates silly combos like that.
Arcbound Reclaimer - Great if your meta packs a lot of artifact hate. Even better if you have some buffs or some fashion of getting more +1/+1 counters on it (here's lookin' at you, Johnny G).
Darksteel Colossus - A really big beat stick. With no way to reliably cheat him into play, he doesn't quite fit this deck. With some extra acceleration or method of reliably cheating it into play, auto-include.
Duplicant Exiles whatever you want it to exile and then becomes it. Generally awesome. Definitely include in control builds.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn - One of the best EDH cards, period. That said, it's not worth it without some method of cheating it into play. Heavy ramp could compensate, but not effectively enough, IMO.
It That Betrays - Again, amazing, but too high on the curve for a deck like this.
Jhoira's Toolbox - Not worth the slot unless you have a VERY heavy artifact creature base.
Junk Diver - Not quite Academy Rector, but still amazing. Also, great Skullclamp fodder.
Karn, Silver Golem - Great card, but I don't want to be running my equipment into an opponent's line of defense.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth - Still too high on the curve, but he's huge, has annihilator and is great card advantage. If you can reliably hit 10 mana, then yes.
Memnarch - BLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Platinum Angel - Never a bad decision. If you have a good amount of artifact acceleration she's definite worth considering. I scrapped her for more synergistic creatures though.
Pentavus - Perfect for a token subtheme.
Scarecrone - Amazing Scarecrow synergy. It's a shame this isn't a Scarecrow deck.
Solemn Simulacrum - If you really need the acceleration then he's one of the best, otherwise he's only marginal card advantage and I prefer something a little more exciting.
Spawnsire of Ulamog - If you have some method of netting infinite mana, this could be hilarious. Otherwise, its just a silly, expensive beatstick.
Stuffy Doll - Pariah, Pariah's Shield, Guilty Conscience, there are all sorts of ways to do stupid things with Stuffy Doll. Definitely consider it if you are looking for silly combos.
Sundering Titan - Perfect in a more control build. One of the many staples that just lack interesting enough synergy for my taste, but amazing in any build.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - See Kozilek.
Voltaic Construct - I suppose if you had a lot of really great Artifact creatures? Otherwise, just pass.
Etched Champion - An absolute house. If you drop some early equipment then he hits the table T3 you will either beat a lot of face or force a (Very) early sweeper. He's a little fragile, so NEVER drop him without 2 pieces of equipment.
Ethersworn Canonist - This deck is about 1/3 artifacts. Amazing in a control or midrange build, but worth considering for any version. Shuts down storm, suspend, Dream Halls, all sorts of frustrating things.
Mother of Runes - I'm surprised she wasn't in the top White Creatures list. Absolute auto-include for any white, creature-based strategy.
Indomitable Archangel - Pretty great for protecting your equipment. She comes down right at a time when you're wanting to play more HUGE equipment and makes sure they stick around, at least for a short while. Not a terrible body if you don't have Metalcraft either.
Taj-Nar Swordsmith - This is an equipment deck, afterall. Tutors for whatever you need, auto-include.
Leonin Shikari - Because bouncing Lightning Greaves around at instant speed is the greatest thing ever.
Leonin Abunas - Less situational, non-flying Indomitable Archangel. More reliable if you don't wish to run both in here.
Spirit of the Hearth - A big flying Cat wearing an Ivory Mask seems pretty good to me. It gets especially stupid if you are running a tribal build or really any build with Raksha Golden Cub.
Raksha Golden Cub - Stupid in the Tribal build, but pretty good all around if you are including the Spirit of the Heart, Mirror Entity and the Leonins. She becomes a 5/6 Double Strike on her own which is pretty great for 7.
Konda, Lor of Eiganjo - I find him to be way too expensive, personally. He's a house if you are running a build that can support Worldslayer.
Auriok Steelshaper - Really amazing in any build, but gets really stupid with tribal mechanics.
Auriok Windwalker - Amazing if you have a high density of expensive Equipments like Argentum Armor, Heartseeker, etc. Playable in any build.
Kor Outfitter - In the same boat as Windwalker. Its value increases exponentially if you have a reliable way of bouncing/recurring it.
Loxodon Punisher - Better for a more all-in kind of deck or control variants. Value is lost when you are running more creatures, but still pretty excellent.
Leonin Den-Guard - Not a terribly exciting card, but definitely useful in a tribal build.
Leonin Elder - Almost better than Soul Warden in this deck. Also, a Cat which is important for the tribal builds. Not a terribly exciting card otherwise.
Leonin Squire - Amazing if you have a significant amount of cheap equipment or artifact acceleration. Great for Tribal.
Sun Titan - Just an all around excellent card. If you can reliably hit 6 mana and have a significant amount of 3 CMC or less cards in your deck, definitely include him.
Kor Skyfisher - Efficient and a great way to bounce something important such as Kor Outfitter or Stoneforge Mystic or Tangle Wire.
Glint Hawk - More aggressive than Kor Skyfisher, but slightly more limited in its bounce targets. AMAZING with Tangle Wire and should be considered for more aggressive builds.
Celestial Crusader - More reactive than anything else. A global buff at instant speed with a workable body attached to it.
Kor Firewalker - One of the best Red hosers. Worth considering if you're really worried about a red deck in your meta.
Berrenton Forge-Tender - See Kor Firewalker.
Isamaru, Hound of Konda - Very aggresive and fast, if totally vanilla. Mid-range and Control decks need not apply.
Peacekeeper - Such an excellent control creature. Ghostly Prison on super-crack.
If there are any creatures anyone wishes for me to add, post them and I'll cover them ASAP.
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Ajani Goldmane - Amazing for a token themed deck. The lower your volume of creatures is, the lower his value becomes.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant - Gives you a constant source of Soldiers to equip/chump, can jump something in a pinch and has the possibility of just out and out winning the game for you. Seems pretty great in any build.
Gideon Jura - In EDH, Gideon will realistically only buy you a single turn without getting the chance to swing or Assassinate at all. Better in control builds with less creatures.
Elspeth Tirel - Auto-include in the token builds. Otherwise, just not that good.
What would an EDH deck be without a few sweepers? Let's see what our options are.
Akroma's Vengeance - The ability to cycle can be invaluable and it is one of the most thorough sweepers available. A little TOO thorough for an artifact heavy deck, IMO.
Armageddon - Destroying all lands when you have a huge presence can be pretty amazing. Really juicy in token subthemed games.
Ravages of War - Armageddon #2.
Austere Command - The choosable modes here make this one of the best sweepers for this deck, no matter what direction you take your build. You can always optimize it to harm you as little as possible and do maximum damage to your opponents plans.
Cataclysm - Excellent for the control builds. Doesn't quite get there for mid-range and token builds though.
Catastrophe - CATastrophe! GET IT?! Again, choosable modes really make this card a house. I would include it in almost any list.
Hallowed Burial - Loses value in more creature heavy builds, but still solid. Better than Wrath of God if you have a reanimation list in your meta.
Humility - While not strictly a sweeper, those opposing 1/1s are going to look mighty tiny when you start equiping.
Martial Coup - Auto-include for control builds. Not the worst for token builds either as it resets everybodies board then puts you right back where you started.
Rout - Instant speed sweepers are the best! Auto-include for control/reactive builds.
Wrath of God - Ye olde stand-by. Never a bad choice for a cheap sweeper.
Day of Judgment - Almost as good as Wrath of God since Regeneration isn't that popular. Strictly worse than Wrath though.
Mass Calcify - The most one-sided sweeper available to us. Definitely consider it.
All Is Dust - One of the best sweepers, period. Amazing in a very artifact heavy deck. Auto-include in just about any EDH deck in the first place.
Nevinyrral's Disk - Same issues as Magus of the Disk. It's cheap and instant speed which is excellent, but a little too thorough in its sweeping.
Oblivion Stone - Slow, but excellent all the same. You want this in the same builds you want Konda, Worldslayer, Rout, etc.
Final Judgment - Pretty huge. The problem with this card is there's no way to make it one sided. Definitely best in control variants.
Hour of Reckoning - Auto-include in any white token deck.
Protection and Spot Removal
Swords to Plowshares - The BEST spot removal, point blank. If you run white, you include Swords to Plowshares.
Path to Exile - Not the greatest in this format, but excellent all the same. Not an auto-include, but absolutely worth considering.
Condemn - Shuffling away an opposing general is usually better than Exiling it.
Oblivion Ring - Auto-include. Exiling any non-land for 3 is invaluable.
Journey to Nowhere - Significantly worse than Oblivion Ring, but still worth considering. If you need more creature removal that isn't a sweeper, this is definitely playable.
Evangelize - Not quite removal, but still amazing. Definitely include this in the control builds.
Aura of Silence - Auto-include in the control lists, worth considering elsewhere. Slowing down all your opponents' acceleration, lots of combo pieces and general utility is really amazing. Being able to sacrifice it to destroy a trouble artifact/enchantment on top of that makes this card one of the best.
Oblation - Shuffling away a general for the price of two cards can sometimes not suck and its real purpose is for dodging removal. It doesn't generate any CA for you, but it can save an important creature from being exiled.
Return to Dust - This deck will do most of its stuff during its own main phase anyways. Strongly recommended if you need additional artifact/enchantment hate.
Emerge Unscathed - Great for the all-in and control builds. A well timed one of these will almost guarantee 21 general damage on the rebound.
Brave the Elements - Better than Emerge Unscathed for token based builds. Making your entire army unblockable or nulling an Earthquake are both pretty excellent for W.
Razor Barrier - Targets a permanent instead of a creature and gives you the option of including Artifacts. Really great and worth considering.
Saltblast - SO expensive. Targets just about anything though.
Abolish - Free spells are always excellent. Every EDH deck is going to have at least one artifact or enchantment of which you are really going to want to be rid.
Akroma's Memorial - I could sing the praises of this card for days. If you can reliably get to 7 mana (which is definitely not difficult), auto-include this. A lot of times, it will only need to ETB for it to win you the game.
Eldrazi Monument - Almost as good as Akroma's Memorial and likely better in Token builds. Both Memorial and Monument solve the issue with evasive Generals and other beefy flyers and both increase the effectiveness of your apha strike. While it is obviously better in token builds, it's worth considering for any build due to Kemba, Sword of Body and Mind and Luminarch Ascension.
Darksteel Forge - Memorial/Monument for your Equipment. Consider it if you have a significant amount of Mana Acceleration.
Hanna's Custody - Probably better than Leonin Abunas for non-tribal and control builds. Definitely consider.
Cho-Manno's Blessing - Instant speed protection is pretty great.
Story Circle - One of the best protection spells available.
Mana Acceleration
Sol Ring - Auto-include in just about any EDH deck, equipment decks are no exception.
Extraplanar Lens - Auto-include in any mono- or dual-colored EDH deck.
Gauntlet of Power - Auto-include in any mono-colored deck. Can be hazardous if you know there are other decks in your meta that are heavy white.
Everflowing Chalice - This deck can always use colorless mana and the ability to have this ETB for as much as you need it to is excellent. Definitely consider.
Thran Dynamo - Slightly less amazing without Voltaic Key, this card can equip most of the deck on its own. Definitely consider.
Mana Vault - Another card that is significantly less valuable without Voltaic Key. It nets you nothing in the end if you don't have a reliable method of untapping it.
Mana Crypt - Absolutely insane. Nearly an auto-include for any artifact heavy EDH deck. Faster than Sol Ring, with a drawback for which can be compensated.
Coalition Relic - Pretty great, but less valuable in a mono-colored deck. It will still, generally, net you 2 extra mana per turn though.
Gilded Lotus - Great in just about any EDH deck. Slightly less valuable in a mono-colored list, but only marginally.
Expedition Map - Another great card that is less valuable in mono-colored decks. If you have some nuts non-basic land you really love to see, definitely consider it.
Crucible of Worlds - While not strictly mana acceleration, it definitely has its uses for recovering after an Armageddon or messing up a players early turns with Strip Mine.
Lotus Petal - Lower value in mono-colored decks. Great early game, almost dead late game.
Lotus Bloom - Slow, but explosive. Lower value in mono-colored decks, but still worth considering. Another dead draw late game.
Worn Powerstone - Certainly not Sol Ring, but still useful.
Sisay's Ring - See Worn Powerstone.
Land Tax - One of the best. Epic card advantage, guaranteed to go off almost every turn in multiplayer, thins your deck like crazy. Auto-include in any white list.
Weathered Wayfarer - Already covered in the Creatures section, but figured I'd include it here as an auto-include for smoothing your mana and fetching non-basic lands.
Tithe - Really great in multiplayer. A little slower than a lot of people think, but still great.
While I did say marginal buffs are not worth the cost in regards to Equipment, global buffs are a little better. If you have access to Double Strike, even a simple Honor of the Pure becomes 4 extra damage every turn, at worst. Personally, I still don't like them, but they are beastly in Tribal and Token builds. There are also other enchantments that give more than a little Power and Toughness that are brilliant.
Honor of the Pure - One of the best, cheap buff enchantments. 99.9% of your creatures are white, it's one sided and it's cheaper than Glorious Anthem.
Glorious Anthem - Second only to Honor of the Pure. The best buffs are one-sided and this will hit your non-white creatures.
Crusade - Cheap, but global. I would not run this if I knew there were other heavy white decks in my meta. Otherwise, it's Honor of the Pure #2.
Coat of Arms - Again, a global buff. This is a VERY dangerous card in EDH as tribal decks are plentiful. NEVER take this card to an unknown meta unless you are extremely confident you can deal with a 20/20 unblockable, shroud, indestructible, regenerating Sliver or 6 (or something to that degree). Useful in Tribal and Token builds, pass otherwise.
Door of Destinies - Now this is a buff I can get behind. Do not hesitate to include this card if you are running a Tribal build. Otherwise, it's just too expensive.
Leonin Sun Standard - Cheap to cast, boosts your creatures as much as you need at instant speed. Requires a mana commitment for activations though.
Celestial Crusader - Covered in the creature section, but worth mentioning here as well. Flash and Split Second on a full buff is pretty nice. Definitely for the reactive builds.
Marshal's Anthem - The best global buff, IMO. The ability to kick it and return anything you want from your graveyard is a very important part of what makes this card so good.
Shared Triumph - Greaet for the Tribal builds, not so much for the others.
Concerted Effort - Not strictly a buff, this card turns most of your equipment stupid. Definitely consider.
True Conviction - Off the back of an Academy Rector, True Conviction can win you the game pretty handidly. If it resolves, you will gain a pretty significant lead even if it only lasts a turn.
Leyline of the Meek - In a heavy token deck, then maybe. I don't think buffs for strictly token creatures get there, personally.
Light from Within - Too situational, IMO. If you have a high concentration of color intensive creatures, then sure, but a Kemba deck won't generally have that.
Any good deck built around a theme needs some good tutors! Let's see what we've got!
Stoneforge Mystic - Already covered in the creature section. Auto-Include.
Stonehewer Giant - Already covered in the Creature Section. Auto-include.
Enlightened Tutor - Auto-include in most EDH decks. I don't need to explain why an instant speed tutor for W is good.
Idyllic Tutor - If you have some very strong Enchantments such as True Conviction, Luminarch Ascension, Land Tax, etc, this card is strongly recommended.
Steelshaper's Gift - This is an Equipment deck after all.
Prototype Portal - With a proper Acceleration suite, this card is so beastly. A little slow, but being able to tutor for whatever you want, whenever you want is pretty darn powerful.
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Tangle Wire - In a deck with a high amount of equipment, this card is crippling in the early game. While all your opponents are tapping four of their very few lands and creatures, you just tap a couple equipment and the Tangle Wire itself. Definitely consider.
Smokestack - Absolutely necessary for token variants, no ifs ands or buts about it. Also, worth considering for control builds if you have a reliable method of paying the cost.
Ghostly Prison - Great for slower builds and really just generally excellent. Forcing people to pay to attack you is an excellent way to buy some time.
Sculpting Steel - I don't know about you, but having an additional Sword in my EDH deck sounds pretty great. It can also copy things like Smokestack and Tangle Wire for some real control shenanigans.
Aura of Silence - Mentioned in the Spot Removal section, the really great part about this card is how much it will slow down most opponents.
Miraculous Recovery - Instant Speed reanimation is always nice. More for All-in and Control variants.
Temple Bell - Little bit of white card draw. I find it better than Howling Mine, Font of Mythos and Anvil of Bogardan, but they are all in the same basic bracket. I won't discuss the others since they all do the same and fit the same purpose.
Mind's Eye - More card draw. Definitely great if you need some help not running out of steam.
Helm of Possession - Sacrifice a Kitten, steal whatever you please. Consider it.
Carnage Altar - Amazing in token builds. Also consider Phyrexian Altar.
Predator, Flagship - Helps deal with the flying sitation as well as functions as spot removal. With some good artifact acceleration, I see this as a very strong choice.
Semblance Anvil - Can make all of your equipment significanty cheaper (or free). It is card disadvantage though and encourages you to overextend.
Open the Vaults - Great for control builds. Keep in mind who you are playing as you could end up digging your hole even deeper. Against the right generals, this will be a complete bomb though.
Roar of Reclamation - Open the Vaults without Enchantments.
Replenish - Open the Vaults without Artifacts. Significantly worse than Open the Vaults and Roar of Reclamation for this deck.
Reverse the Sands - Just all-around hilarious.
Memory Jar - Pretty great if you have a lot of expendable mana. Be careful if you're playing a deck with lots of instants/counters.
Mindslaver - You control target player.
Pithing Needle - Shuts down any general you want or any utility card of which you're aware for 1. Pretty great in just about any EDH deck.
Relic of Progenitus - Excellent if you're concerned with Reanimator decks. Tormod's Crypt is also excellent for this purpose.
SCroll Rack - If you have it, run it. It doesn't matter what deck you're running, what style of deck it is, if you own it, you put it in every EDH deck. It is just that good. If you run fetchlands, it just gets stupid.
Vedalken Orrery - Without Leonin Shikari, you still can't equip at instant speed, so this card is pretty useless.
Ivory Mask - Giving yourself shroud for 2WW is pretty solid.
Leyline of Sanctity - A strictly better Ivory Mask.
Imperial Mask - Ivory Mask for Two-Headed Giant!
Mana Tithe, Illumination, and Lapse of Certainty - What's not to love about counters that are white? Mana Tithe is a little too situational for my liking. Lapse of Certainty can do a lot of good against Suspend or things being cheated into play and Illumination like like a White Desertion! For control builds.
Urza's Incubator - Excellent for any Tribal EDH deck.
Guilty Conscience - For Stuffy Doll.
Pariah and [/card]Pariah's Shield[/card] - Combo well with Stuffy Doll, General's Kabuto, Cho Manno, Revolutionary, among others.
Sensei's Divining Top - THE draw filter. Auto-include in almost every deck, I don't run it in favor of more real synergy.
Voltaic Key - For interactions with artifact mana acceleration, mostly.
I've mentioned the token variants quite a bit, but have yet to touch on what cards make it tick. Let's find out right now!
Luminarch Ascension - Any white deck would be insane to not include this card. In most multiplayer matches, it will be active the turn after you play it. 4/4 flyers for 1W is something that is untouched by any other available card.
Conqueror's Pledge - Great on it's own, insane when Kicked. Auto-include for white token decks, IMO.
Spectral Procession - While not as volumous as Conqueror's Pledge, the efficiency of this card is amazing. 3 flyers for 3 mana is really excellent in an equipment based deck.
Spirit Mirror - Not only does this ensure you always have a creature to equip, it tells any Changeling heavy deck to take a hike.
Storm Herd - The sheer volume of creatures you will get from this card is unprecedented. Easily attained with artifact acceleration, you will frequently end up with 30+ 1/1 Flying Pegasi!
Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII - Consistent source of tokens.
Decree of Justice - Excellent when you have a huge amount of mana, excellent when you only have a mediocre amount of mana (and it cantrips).
Nomad's Assembly - A little too situational, especially in a format loaded with sweepers. Still worth considering since free stuff is always awesome.
Martial Coup - Mentioned this in Sweepers, but playing it when X=4 is sometimes not a terrible play.
Captain of the Watch - Great for Tribal, brings friends to the party, gives those friends some awesome support.
That brings us to our final section: Lands.
Plains - We will have a hard time casting spells without these.
Snow-Covered Plains - For rigging our own Extraplanar Lens. Personally, there is an awful lot of Snow-Covered lands in EDH. I choose to run regular Plains since that has become more tech than Snow-Covered.
Windbrisk Heights - Maybe not so great in All-in and Control builds, but is an auto-include otherwise.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin - Amazing for any and all mono-white decks. If you run enough Plains to support it, definitely get one in here.
Eiganjo Castle - Very useful and taps for W.
Flagstones of Trokair - Helps recover from an Armageddon faster. Taps for W, doesn't ETBT, is an auto-include.
Kor Haven - Amazing card. Auto-include in any white list.
Dustbowl - Unbelievable land control. If you play any land destruction in your mana base, you NEED one of these.
Tectonic Edge - Not quite Wasteland, not quite Strip Mine, not quite Dustbowl. This land is still excellent in a format as slow and non-basic heavy as EDH.
Strip Mine - The most ridiculous land destruction, period.
Wasteland - #2 only to Strip Mine.
High Market - Great sacrifice outlet for things like Reveillark and Academy Rector.
Temple of the False Gods - Great acceleration. Better than Ancient Tomb in some ways.
Ancient Den - Tutorable, taps for W, doesn't ETBT. Really great, but targetable by artifact destruction.
Ancient Tomb - Pretty much THE colorless land. Use sparingly though, I've seen many people overuse it and it cost them the match.
Deserted Temple - Can be excellent.
Eye of Ugin - If you decided you want the Eldrazi involved. Goes well with Darksteel Colossus and Eldrazi Temple as well.
Ghost Quarter - Really great against multi-colored generals and can be used on yourself in a real pinch.
Maze of Ith - Stops anything in its tracks. Auto-include for control builds, always consider for EVERY EDH deck.
Mystifying Maze - The bad Maze of Ith. Still worth considering.
Miren, the Moaning Well - Another great sacrifice outlet. Really is valuable if you have some silly infinite toughness combo though.
Mishra's Factory - A 2/2 manland just doesn't get there in a deck like this. You'd be better off with something silly like Urza's FActory.
Mishra's Workshop - Auto-include. If you have one or can get one, do it. It's unbelievable.
Mistveil Plains - Gets any card back into your deck for you to tutor. It's never terrible and has the basic land type, but it ETBT and that always made me unhappy to draw it.
Mouth of Ronom - Could be good if you ran all Snow-Covered Plains and Crucible of Worlds.
Mutavault - Again, a 2/2 manland jus doesn't get there. This one at least has the bonus of being Tribal though.
Reliquary Tower - There just isn't enough card draw in white to justify running this. IF you really wanted to though, it couldn't really hurt.
Scrying Sheets - Auto-include if you run all Snow-Covered lands.
Serra's Sanctum - If you have a high quantity of Enchantments, then definitely include this. Even if you only get to consistently tap it for WW, it's still excellent.
Thawing Glaciers - SOOOOOOOOOO SLOW! In a multi-colored deck, sure, but as is it's just too painfully slow.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - If you had some silly land control with Kormus Bell, this could be useful.
Urza's Factory - A 2/2 for 7 is pretty terrible, but at instant speed in the control builds it can be pretty nuts. It's also really great if you're struggling to stabilize after a board wipe.
Urza's Mine - The Tron lands are all useful. The issue is actually getting them all into play. Weathered Wayfarer helps, but I never found it to be reliable enough. Can't hurt too badly though.
Vesuva - An absolute house that should be in every EDH deck, point blank.
That covers just about every card choice of which I can think. If anyone feels I've misjudged a card or left out a very important card, let me know and I will update the thread. Keep in mind, these evaluations of cards are based on the notion of putting them in a Kemba EDH deck, not evaluations of the cards overall power levels.
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The first matter is what type of deck you wish to build. A mid-range deck can support nearly equivalent numbers of creatures and equipment with a low number of instants and reactive spells. An aggro deck will want a heavier focus on creatures. A control deck can play very "All-in" with a low number of creatures and a high volume of utility/reactive spells. Tribal will be closer to mid-range with a slightly higher concentration of creatures.
The second thing to determine is the equipment base. If you're running Kemba, I think the minimum should be a baker's dozen equipment cards. These should curve out fairly nicely and offer a fair degree of protection for your creatures. Mid-range/Tribal decks should have 15-18, aggro decks should stay closer to the minimum and all-in control can have 16-20.
Next are your tutors. I feel that any deck should have Stoneforge Mystic, Stonehewer Giant, Enlightened Tutor and Steelshaper's gift in them. Anything beyond that would be for the sake of consistency or tailored to preference.
Utility cards come next. These are entirely tailored to your deck choice and meta, so I won't go into any details. Just keep your basic focus and ratios in mind.
The creatures are the most important part. These are what will win you the game and what give you equipment targets. I believe mid-range lists want around 20 creatures, control and aggro will want less and more, respectively.
Finally, you want your mana base. Generally, you want around 40 mana producers in your deck. The amount of basic Plains will have to be slightly higher than usual if you wish to use Emeria, the Sky Ruin in your deck. Being a mono-colored deck with a heavy artifact backbone allows us to run a lot of cards like Wasteland and Strip Mine without affecting our tempo too much.
The decklists!
Mid-Range by Beware
1 Kemba, Kha Regent
// Creatures (19)
1 Raksha Golden Cub
1 Spirit of the Hearth
1 Stonehewer Giant
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Indomitable Archangel
1 Leonin Abunas
1 Taj-Nar Swordsmith
1 Rune-Tail's Essence
1 Mirror Entity
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Leonin Shikari
1 Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
1 Mother of Runes
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Reveillark
1 Etched Champion
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Academy Rector
1 Karmic Guide
// Enchantments (7)
1 True Conviction
1 Land Tax
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Aura of Silence
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
// Sorceries (5)
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Austere Command
1 Catastrophe
1 All Is Dust
// Instants (5)
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Condemn
1 Path to Exile
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Tithe
// Artifacts (6)
1 Sol Ring
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Extraplannar Lens
1 Tangle Wire
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Eldrazi Monument
// Artifacts - Equipment (18)
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Deathrender
1 General's Kabuto
1 Quietus Spike
1 Mask of Memory
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Helm of Kaldra
1 Shield of Kaldra
1 Sword of Kaldra
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Vengeance
1 Skullclamp
1 Argentum Armor
1 Fireshrieker
1 Scythe of the Wretched
28 Plains
1 Windbrisk Heights
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Kor Haven
1 Dust Bowl
1 Strip Mine
1 Tectonic Edge
1 High Market
1 Temple of the False Gods
Tribal Kemba by Gaka
1 Khemba, Kha Regent
Lands - 38
1 Ancient Den
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
32 Snow-Covered Plains
Creatures - 17
1 Auriok Steelshaper
1 Auriok Windwalker
1 Kor Outfitter
1 Loxodon Punisher
1 Steelshaper Apprentice
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Stonehewer Giant
1 Leonin Abunas
1 Leonin Den-Guard
1 Leonin Elder
1 Leonin Shikari
1 Leonin Squire
1 Raksha Golden Cub
1 Taj-Nar Swordsmith
1 Sun Titan
Enchantments - 6
1 Honor of the Pure
1 Marshall's Anthem
1 Hanna's Custody
1 Concerted Effort
1 Shared Triumph
1 Crusade
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Fireshreiker
1 Golem-Skin Gauntlets
1 Strata Scythe
1 Helm of Kaldra
1 Sword of Kaldra
1 Shield of Kaldra
1 Konda's Banner
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Pennon Blade
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of the Paruns
Artifact Accel - 5
1 Sol Ring
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Thran Dynamo
Removal/protection - 9
1 Mass Calcify
1 Armageddon
1 Austere Command
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Wrath of God
1 Brave the Elements
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Door of Destinies
1 Path to Exile
1 Rout
1 Ajani Goldmane
Tutors/Pump/utility - 9
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Junkyo Bell
1 Leonin Sun Standard
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Prototype Portal
1 Coat of Arms
1 Sculpting steel
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 True Conviction
Kemba Tokens by Beware
Still in the works!
Kemba MWC by Beware
Still in the works!
Weaknesses
No matter what build you decide to run, Kemba gets rocked by mass artifact destruction. Cards like Nevinyrral's Disk and Akroma's Vengeance are very difficult with which to deal. Darksteel Forge, Open the Vaults and Roar of Redemption help, but it's still an uphill battle. Creature and land destruction are things around which can be played, artifact destruction is just all around painful. Just be careful to not overextend your equipment and to play intelligently.
It also has a very hard time with an opposing Iona, but what mono-colored deck doesn't?
In Closing
I want to thank everybody who has taken the time to read through this. I would also like to encourage any thoughts or opinions on misguided evaluations or missing cards. This is my first primer and I did a lot of digging to try and gather as many cards for evaluations as I could. I'm sure to have missed a bunch. There are also some very basic cards on which I didn't touch because they are either too narrow or too vanilla. I hope the read was as enjoyable as the deck is to play! Have fun!
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Personally, I think you've undervalued some of the cheap, simple equipment like Darksteel Axe - my Kemba deck tries to get as much equipment as possible so I can have as many kitties as possible (shame I don't have enough actual cat tokens to represent them all...)
Great read though.
Commander/EDH:
WU Hanna, Ship's Navigator WU
GW Saffi Eriksdotter GW
BW Selenia, Dark Angel BW
W Heliod, God of Sun W
Retired:
Jenara, Asura of War Thada Adel, Acquisitor Jaya Ballard, Task Mage Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero Lyzolda, the Blood Witch Akroma, Angel of Wrath Nath of the Gilt-Leaf Tajic, Blade of the Legion Selvala, Explorer Returned Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Tiny Leaders:
W Mangara of Corondor W
1x Kemba, Kah Regent
Creatures:20
1x Kor Duelist
1x Student of Warfare
1x Stoneforge Mystic
1x Leonin Arbiter
1x Sunspear Shikari
1x Wall of Omens
1x Kor Firewalker
1x Auriok Edgewright
1x Kazandu Blademaster
1x Armament Master
1x Kor Outfitter
1x White Knight
1x Etched Champion
1x Kor Santifiers
1x Emeria Angel
1x Indominable Archangel
1x Celestial Crusader
1x Razor Hippogriff
1x Sun Titan
1x Steel Hellkite
Equips:20
1x Infiltration Lens
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Trusty Machete
1x Sylvok Lifestaff
1x Leonin Scimitar
1x Darksteel Axe
1x Trailblazer's Boots
1x Veteran's Armaments
1x Hammer of Ruin
1x Nim Deathmantle
1x Thornbite Staff
1x Stratta Scythe
1x Diviner's Wand
1x Sword of Vengeance
1x Barbed Battlegear
1x Pennon Blade
1x Wispersilk Cloak
1x Sword of Body and Mind
1x Grappling Hook
1x Argentum Armor
1x Swords to plowshares
1x Brave the Elements
1x Condemn
1x Path to Exile
1x Crusade
1x Luminarch Ascension
1x Graceful Reprieve
1x Honor of the Pure
1x Journey to Nowhere
1x Pitfall Trap
1x Dispense Justice
1x Day of Judgement
1x Armored Ascension
1x Marshal's Anthem
1x Conqueror's Pledge
1x Eldrazi Monument
1x True Conviction
1x Nomad's Assembly
1x Ajani Goldmane
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Land: 39
1x Kabira Crossroads
1x Sejiri Steppe
1x Rustic Clachan
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Mystifying Maze
1x Dread Statuary
1x Daru Encampment
32x Plains
Credit to Rivenor for the AWESOME sig.
RKrenko, Mob BossR
RWBAlesha, Who Smiles at DeathBWR
BRRakdos, Lord of RiotsRB
BGRProssh, Skyraider of KherDeckRGB
Modern:WBTokensBW
Standard: BUGSultai DeliriumGUB
RGW Mayael The Anima (EDH)
UB Tezzeret Artifact Control (Standard)
Trade thread
One question, on your 4 builds you list a "Kemba MWC". What does the MWC stand for?
I am wanting to build a fast, aggro style deck to compete in 1v1 with my friends Jenara deck. I think this Kemba build will be good, especially if I concentrate on a lot of creatures, with a lot of the smaller, low-cost ones.
I'd be very interest in seeing what decks you come up with for the Kemba Tokens and Kemba MWC, which I'm assuming/hoping is a more aggro style.
Would it be ok if I added my deck list here to get some feedback and critiques to help me tune it to my desired role?
Finally, do you have any similar threads for other deck types/colors? I have a BG Glissa The Traitor deck, a BR Wort Boggart Auntie deck, a black Vampires deck with Anowon, and a green elves deck, using Omnath as the general.
Thanks again!!
Yes, that is not my type of play style (lack of patience + lack of funds).
BTW, I see from your Kemba list that you use Snow-Covered Plains. Are they considered "plains" for purposes of Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Endless Horizons, and other cards that specify the "Basic Land Plains"?
Thanks again!
Darksteel Plate, Bonehoard, White Sun's Zenith... Especially because it's a Zenith and it makes CATS!!!
My Blog About It
Puresteel Paladin
WW
2/2
Creature - Human Knight
Whenever an equipment enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card.
Metalcraft - If you control three or more artifacts, equip costs of equipment you control is 0.
WUBErtai, the CorruptedWUB
WKemba, Kha RegentW
GSeshiro, the AnointedG
Puresteel Paladin is also an absolute auto-include in every build of this deck, period. Very exciting stuff.
My Blog About It
BWGhost Council of OrzhovaWB
WDarien, King of KjeldorW