I had long thought about building a Basandra, Battle Seraph deck and I finally came around to it. It is meant to be strong and able to keep up with other ‘good’ decks, but is by no means meant for very cutthroat meta’s with a multitude of combo decks. This is the result.
I had long thought about building a Basandra deck and I finally came around to it.
It looks to use Basandra's ability via:
- Direct damage because of attacking – Powerstone Minefield, Lightmine Field, Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile
- Hindering untapping of creatures (after luring them) – Crackdown & Smoke
- Effects which discourage attacking me – Ghostly Prison, Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs, Norn’s Annex, Maze of Ith, Kor haven
- Cards which benefit from not being attacked – Luminarch Ascension
- Cards which destroy tapped creatures – Gideon Jura and Sunblast Angel
- Creatures which are very strong in combat (and cards which make them better in combat – Baneslayer Angel, Exalted Angel, Battlegrace Angel, Elesh Norn, Kazuul, Spitemare, Sunblast Angel, Batterskull / Marshal’s Anthem, True Conviction, Glory of Warfare
I also tried to thematically emulate Basandra with a large number of other angels, cards pertaining to the battlefield and war, and as many red/white cards as fit the deck.
There is a minor enchantment theme since a lot of the most synergistic cards are enchantments. Serra’s Sanctum helps you generate a lot of mana, Replenish and Open the Vaults can return all your enchantments to your deck. Argivian find, also tutorable with Sunforger, and Auramancer can return one enchantment to your hand. Academy rector, Enlightened Tutor and Idyllic Tutor can tutor up these enchantments.
Since RW is a color combination which lags behind in card advantage options compared to other combinations, synergy and hate cards have to make up the difference. Aether Flash, War’s Toll (which supplements Basandra well) and Blood Moon are good against a large number of decks.
The obligatory Sunforger package is in as well with 8 instants and Mistveil Plains. Path to Exile, Return to Dust, Swords to Plowshares and Orim’s Thunder for spot removal, enlightened tutor if you need to find an artifact/enchantment, Tithe for Mistveil plains, Argivian find for recursion and Master Warcraft for shenanigans. Pursuit of Knowledge, Mind’s Eye, Sensei’s Divining Top, Scroll Rack and Tithe generate card advantage and smooth out your draws.
The aforementioned enchantment recursion options are assisted by Karmic Guide, Marshal’s Anthem and Sun Titan (who has a wealth of targets in the deck including Strip Mine, Aura of Silence Expedition Map and Sunforger as common targets). Emeria, the Sky Ruin is a large part of the endgame of the deck and the manabase is geared towards enabling it. With 13 plains, 6 fetches, land tax and tithe it has not been a problem to reach 7 plains yet. It gives you a large measure of inevitability as well.
The various creatures and Insurrection form the win conditions of the deck. Balefire Liege, Glory of Warfare, Waves of Aggression, True Conviction, Elesh Norn and Nobilis of War speed up the process a lot. Theoretically you can also deck everyone with Pursuit of Knowledge, although this hasn’t occurred yet.
The manabase is pretty straightforward – a large number of basics for land tax/blood moon/tithe/thawing glaciers, a number of fetches and all good RW duals. Finally common utility lands. The ramp package gives you some extra ramp, although I kept the number low so that you don’t have too many dead draws in the late game. Only the most powerful – signet, Coalition Relic, Mana Crypt and Sol Ring made the cut.
Some dissynergies remain such as Mother of Runes/Weathered Wayfarer and Aether Flash. I found that both of these cards are so strong that it is worth the risk. Same goes for Kazuul and Crackdown, although to a lesser extent.
I decided not to include the following cards which were all valid options; many of them are very strong and could find their way back into the deck at some point. Most of these were taking out though because of the dissynergy with all-stars Crackdown/Aether Flash or because other comparable cards were better. Most notable exclusion is caltrops, which I found weak. 1 damage isn’t a lot and was only good in combination with the other two effects/Elesh Norn. In addition it’s not an enchantment and as an artifact is quite easily destroyed. I could be wrong about excluding it though.
• Disenchant
• Chaos Warp
• Ghostway
• Path to Exile
• Rally the Peasants
• Wild Ricochet
• Concerted Effort
• Faith’s Fetters
• Greater Auramancy
• Oblivion Ring
• Mark of Asylum/ Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
• Repercussion/ Pyrohemia
• Scourge of the Nobilis
• Sigil of the Empty Throne
• Humility
• Stranglehold
• Worship
• Wrath of God/Austere Command/Blasphemous Act/ Razia's Purification (and other sweepers)
• Caltrops
• Crucible of Worlds
• Angelic Arbiter
• Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile
• Duergar Hedge-Mage
• Figure of Destiny
• Fledgling Dragon
• Godo, Bandit Warlord
• Grand Abolisher & Mother of Runes
• Knight of the White Orchid
• Magus of the Moon
• Mesa Enchantress
• Mirran Crusader
• Mother of Runes
• Ranger of Eos
• Razia, Boros Archangel
• Serra Ascendant
• Stonehewer Giant
• Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• Urabrask the Hidden
• Sword of Feast and Famine/Light and Shadow/Fire and Ice
Any comments and suggestions are welcome. If you propose cards for the decklist, please explain and make a recommendation as to which card should come out. Thanks in advance!
I strongly recommend looking at Stonehewer Giant to supplement your Stoneforge Mystic. He is absolutely incredible at getting that Batterskull/Sunforger. Granted you aren't running any equips besides those, so I'd understand if you decide to leave him out.
Another couple of "attack deterrents" that I run in my own Basandra deck is Crawlspace and the twovows. It keeps the attacks going, but at other people. You'd still get the benefit of tapping them down with your Crackdown or hitting them with your Brigid.
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"I have seen the true path. I will not warm myself by the fire—I will become the flame."
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
I really like stonehewer giant, but the deck is so pressed for slots that it's difficult to find more room for it plus two more equipment. I really like crawlspace, very flavorful card as well and à good deterrent. That will definitely go in once I find out what to cut. The vows only work on one creature which makes me think they are on the weak side. Michiko konda could be good, but I have to test it and if it does enough that eventual problems with aether flash are worth it. I wish she were à 2/3, then she would be an instant include.
Thanks for your comment on my deck! When I look at your deck I see a few cards that I did not include in my own list. I mean the cards like Powerstone Minefield and Lightmine Field, but also one of your pet cards: Aether Flash. My philosophy is that it won't stop those big bad creatures that I don't want my opponents to turn my way, but it DOES kill small guys that I want to force my opponents to attack eachother with. I still have to test this idea though, so your plan to kill all smaller guys off might actually work better.
I like how many enchantments you run.Luminarch Ascension might be a good card for my deck as well!
PS. I really like Stonehewer Giant as well, also because of his vigilance, as big blockers are a great deterrent I think.
Just wanted to comment and say I'm a fan of the deck.
I'm putting a version of this together myself and I've got Humility in my 100. I saw you have it in your list of cards that could work in the deck - did you ever playtest it? I see it as the ultimate panic button, although I'm not sure how I'd get rid of it if I needed to. Thoughts?
Nice to hear it. Everything always complains about RW and Basandra but both have their merits and a number of very strong (albeit narrow) cards like crawlspace and smoke which you don't see often.
I have tried humility and sometimes I play it, then I take it out again, etc. Its a great card but you need more win conditions if you play it, which is a problem in RW as most of the wins come via the combat step. In this case, I really like Elspeth, Knight-Errant here as it can be a win condition while ramping up to a very strong ultimate. Adding more pump enchantments would probably be good as well. Something like rally the peasants is a pretty good card in that respect as well. Adding lightning bolt gives you two cards which can ensure you a win off of sunforger.
I really hope we get a powerful RW angel to add to the deck as well as some other good cards from Avacyn Restored. Maybe some enchantments?
I think the odds are decent that we'll get a RW angel out of Avacyn Restored; based on the released art alone it appears the set will be angel heavy, and in a large set I think it's possible to see a couple gold angels. A red/white mythic angel that is a boss in combat and buffs other angels would be awesome.
Have you given any thought to Pearl Medallion in place of Weathered Wayfarer? I love the Wayfarer, but the average CMC of this deck is a little high, and it feels to me like having the Medallion would be more useful than being able to tutor up Serra's Sanctum or Maze of Ith. Also, it removes a little of bit of the dis-synergy that you mentioned in your OP.
Also, a minor housekeeping note, Norn's Annex is an artifact, not an enchantment. I didn't realize it at first, either.
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I had long thought about building a Basandra deck and I finally came around to it.
It looks to use Basandra's ability via:
- Direct damage because of attacking – Powerstone Minefield, Lightmine Field, Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile
- Hindering untapping of creatures (after luring them) – Crackdown & Smoke
- Effects which discourage attacking me – Ghostly Prison, Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs, Norn’s Annex, Maze of Ith, Kor haven
- Cards which benefit from not being attacked – Luminarch Ascension
- Cards which destroy tapped creatures – Gideon Jura and Sunblast Angel
- Creatures which are very strong in combat (and cards which make them better in combat – Baneslayer Angel, Exalted Angel, Battlegrace Angel, Elesh Norn, Kazuul, Spitemare, Sunblast Angel, Batterskull / Marshal’s Anthem, True Conviction, Glory of Warfare
I also tried to thematically emulate Basandra with a large number of other angels, cards pertaining to the battlefield and war, and as many red/white cards as fit the deck.
There is a minor enchantment theme since a lot of the most synergistic cards are enchantments. Serra’s Sanctum helps you generate a lot of mana, Replenish and Open the Vaults can return all your enchantments to your deck. Argivian find, also tutorable with Sunforger, and Auramancer can return one enchantment to your hand. Academy rector, Enlightened Tutor and Idyllic Tutor can tutor up these enchantments.
Since RW is a color combination which lags behind in card advantage options compared to other combinations, synergy and hate cards have to make up the difference. Aether Flash, War’s Toll (which supplements Basandra well) and Blood Moon are good against a large number of decks.
The obligatory Sunforger package is in as well with 8 instants and Mistveil Plains. Path to Exile, Return to Dust, Swords to Plowshares and Orim’s Thunder for spot removal, enlightened tutor if you need to find an artifact/enchantment, Tithe for Mistveil plains, Argivian find for recursion and Master Warcraft for shenanigans. Pursuit of Knowledge, Mind’s Eye, Sensei’s Divining Top, Scroll Rack and Tithe generate card advantage and smooth out your draws.
The aforementioned enchantment recursion options are assisted by Karmic Guide, Marshal’s Anthem and Sun Titan (who has a wealth of targets in the deck including Strip Mine, Aura of Silence Expedition Map and Sunforger as common targets). Emeria, the Sky Ruin is a large part of the endgame of the deck and the manabase is geared towards enabling it. With 13 plains, 6 fetches, land tax and tithe it has not been a problem to reach 7 plains yet. It gives you a large measure of inevitability as well.
The various creatures and Insurrection form the win conditions of the deck. Balefire Liege, Glory of Warfare, Waves of Aggression, True Conviction, Elesh Norn and Nobilis of War speed up the process a lot. Theoretically you can also deck everyone with Pursuit of Knowledge, although this hasn’t occurred yet.
The manabase is pretty straightforward – a large number of basics for land tax/blood moon/tithe/thawing glaciers, a number of fetches and all good RW duals. Finally common utility lands. The ramp package gives you some extra ramp, although I kept the number low so that you don’t have too many dead draws in the late game. Only the most powerful – signet, Coalition Relic, Mana Crypt and Sol Ring made the cut.
Some dissynergies remain such as Mother of Runes/Weathered Wayfarer and Aether Flash. I found that both of these cards are so strong that it is worth the risk. Same goes for Kazuul and Crackdown, although to a lesser extent.
I decided not to include the following cards which were all valid options; many of them are very strong and could find their way back into the deck at some point. Most of these were taking out though because of the dissynergy with all-stars Crackdown/Aether Flash or because other comparable cards were better. Most notable exclusion is caltrops, which I found weak. 1 damage isn’t a lot and was only good in combination with the other two effects/Elesh Norn. In addition it’s not an enchantment and as an artifact is quite easily destroyed. I could be wrong about excluding it though.
• Disenchant
• Chaos Warp
• Ghostway
• Path to Exile
• Rally the Peasants
• Wild Ricochet
• Concerted Effort
• Faith’s Fetters
• Greater Auramancy
• Oblivion Ring
• Mark of Asylum/ Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
• Repercussion/ Pyrohemia
• Scourge of the Nobilis
• Sigil of the Empty Throne
• Humility
• Stranglehold
• Worship
• Wrath of God/Austere Command/Blasphemous Act/ Razia's Purification (and other sweepers)
• Caltrops
• Crucible of Worlds
• Angelic Arbiter
• Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile
• Duergar Hedge-Mage
• Figure of Destiny
• Fledgling Dragon
• Godo, Bandit Warlord
• Grand Abolisher & Mother of Runes
• Knight of the White Orchid
• Magus of the Moon
• Mesa Enchantress
• Mirran Crusader
• Mother of Runes
• Ranger of Eos
• Razia, Boros Archangel
• Serra Ascendant
• Stonehewer Giant
• Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• Urabrask the Hidden
• Sword of Feast and Famine/Light and Shadow/Fire and Ice
Any comments and suggestions are welcome. If you propose cards for the decklist, please explain and make a recommendation as to which card should come out. Thanks in advance!
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
Another couple of "attack deterrents" that I run in my own Basandra deck is Crawlspace and the two vows. It keeps the attacks going, but at other people. You'd still get the benefit of tapping them down with your Crackdown or hitting them with your Brigid.
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
—Lim-Dul, the Necromancer
EDH/Commander
WWMichiko Konda, Truth Seeker Mono-White Control
RWBasandra, Battle Seraph Sunforger Shenanigans
GRWZacama Loam & Lands
Cube
Draft my "Classic Border Cube"
WUBRGCheck out some of my older lists and my Type4 Cube!GRBUW
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
I like how many enchantments you run.Luminarch Ascension might be a good card for my deck as well!
PS. I really like Stonehewer Giant as well, also because of his vigilance, as big blockers are a great deterrent I think.
BRGWTana and TymnaBRGW
RTeneb, the EternalR
UBRNekusar, Mind RazerUBR
Rakdos, Lord of Riots
BGWGhave, Guru of SporesBGW
Aurelia, the Warleader
BDrana, Kalastria BloodchiefB
WBROros, the AvengerWBR
I'm putting a version of this together myself and I've got Humility in my 100. I saw you have it in your list of cards that could work in the deck - did you ever playtest it? I see it as the ultimate panic button, although I'm not sure how I'd get rid of it if I needed to. Thoughts?
I have tried humility and sometimes I play it, then I take it out again, etc. Its a great card but you need more win conditions if you play it, which is a problem in RW as most of the wins come via the combat step. In this case, I really like Elspeth, Knight-Errant here as it can be a win condition while ramping up to a very strong ultimate. Adding more pump enchantments would probably be good as well. Something like rally the peasants is a pretty good card in that respect as well. Adding lightning bolt gives you two cards which can ensure you a win off of sunforger.
I really hope we get a powerful RW angel to add to the deck as well as some other good cards from Avacyn Restored. Maybe some enchantments?
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
Have you given any thought to Pearl Medallion in place of Weathered Wayfarer? I love the Wayfarer, but the average CMC of this deck is a little high, and it feels to me like having the Medallion would be more useful than being able to tutor up Serra's Sanctum or Maze of Ith. Also, it removes a little of bit of the dis-synergy that you mentioned in your OP.
Also, a minor housekeeping note, Norn's Annex is an artifact, not an enchantment. I didn't realize it at first, either.