Mono White Aggro, or White Weenie, is one of the most classic decks in Magic history and has transformed itself in each Standard season to appear in some way — sometimes focused on a specific interaction between creatures of the same type, other times based on creating tokens and increasing their power, and now, with a version aiming to use some of the best cheap creatures available in the format along with Abandoned Air Temple to put pressure on the board.
The Decklist
This version is based on the list used by the player claudioh to reach the Top 8 of the Standard Challenge on December 6th.
It follows the classic core of a White Weenie deck: cheap one-drops with high power accompanied by cards that increase their power and offer cheap interaction. Our goal is to destabilize opponents and win the race before they can recover, with the advantage of having a more consistent mana base and access to a full set of Abandoned Air Temple for longer games.
Maindeck
The one-drops. All have some inherent quality for their cost.
Veteran Survivor interacts with Waterbending and Lumen-Class Frigate to be tapped the same turn it enters, enabling its trigger to exile cards from the graveyard. If it stays on the board for too long, we gain a hard-to-kill 4/4.
Novice Inspector guarantees an extra draw in addition to interacting with Warden of the Inner Sky, whose ability offers a "go big" plan for a naturally "go wide" deck while helping to filter the top and grow each turn.
Lightstall Inquisitor has an important disruptive effect against decks with more greedy costs, but the fact that it offers the opponent the option of what to exile sometimes makes it fail to hit the right play.
Voice of Victory is one of the most important cards in the list. Besides its decent cost and locking in the possibility of instant interaction, the card puts two tokens into play when it attacks, which, combined with the mass buff effects we have, makes it one of the cheapest ways to exert pressure on the board.
Water Tribe Rallier leverages the wide variety of creatures and artifacts we use to ensure more breathing room in the late game, where the Waterbending ability allows us to search for more creatures from the top.
Arachne, Psionic Weaver reuses the ETB of some of our creatures while punishing opponents who use specific card types by increasing their cost.
Lumen-Class Frigate allows us to tap creatures to increase their power. Since its activation cost is cheap, we don't need much to transform it into a Glorious Anthem for two mana. As a bonus, it interacts with Veteran Survivor, Warden of the Inner Sky, and also enables Arachne, Psionic Weaver without relying on combat.
Suki, Courageous Rescuer is another reason why this archetype works. Besides increasing the power of all creatures, she punishes opponent's trades and removals if they don't deal with her first, since any creature that leaves play during your turn becomes a 1/1 token to maintain pressure.
Seam Rip is a cheap answer against most early-game permanents in the format today, and it also has the bonus of dealing with cards like Artist's Talent or Stormchaser's Talent for cheap.
Get Lost is our answer against bigger threats and Planeswalkers. Map tokens can make a difference if the opponent has many blockers, but we need a way to deal with an Ouroboroid and the like before they dominate the game.
Abandoned Air Temple is the perfect mana sink for this deck. It guarantees a permanent pump every turn, punishing the opponent for not dealing with our board, as well as resolving more "locked" game states.
Soulstone Sanctuary provides more threats to the list, especially in longer games. Alongside an activated Lumen-Class Frigate, a 4/4 with Vigilance makes a good impression in pressuring the opponent while holding the game.
Sideboard
Doorkeeper Thrull has become more common in sideboards as an answer against Reanimator and other archetypes with excessive ETB effects, such as Azorius Tempo, Bant Airbending, and even Dimir Midrange. It's a valid target for many matchups — just remember that you also use some ETB effects in both the main deck and the sideboard.
Clarion Conqueror locks the ability of mana dorks and planeswalkers, and also holds the common interactions of Jeskai Artifacts with Repurposing Bay and The Fire Crystal.
Enduring Innocence is our tool for dealing with longer games where we need more card draw. Lifelink also makes it an option against Mono Red Aggro, but I don't consider it good enough against Gruul Prowess/Mono Red Prowess.
Aven Interrupter mainly comes into play in games where we need to hold off specific spells, such as sweepers against Control or non-creature-based combos.
Since we can use Warden of the Inner-Sky and Lumen-Class Frigate to tap our creatures, Split Up offers potential one-sided sweeper against Ouroboroid decks and other go-wide strategies like Mono Red Aggro, Bant Airbending, and even in the mirror match.
Rest in Peace is our tool against Reanimator and other archetypes that are partially or completely reliant on the graveyard, such as Izzet Lessons and Gruul Delirium.
Elspeth, Storm Slayer comes into play in longer games, usually in combination with Enduring Curiosity to generate card advantage while increasing board pressure with a threat that is difficult to remove with the targeted cards used in Games 2 and 3 against Mono White Aggro.
Sideboard Guide
Izzet Lessons
IN
OUT
Dimir Midrange
IN
OUT
Izzet Looting
IN
OUT
Simic Aggro
IN
OUT
Mono Red Aggro
IN
OUT
Jeskai Control
IN
OUT
Reanimator
IN
OUT
Wrapping Up
That's all for today!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
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