Honor Pledge

4 Soul's Attendant
4 Elite Vanguard
4 Accorder Paladin
4 Leonin Skyhunter
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Guardians' Pledge
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Brave the Elements
2 Tumble Magnet
22 Plains






This week I want to talk about a Standard "white weenie" build inspired by similar pauper deck I put together recently.Guardian's Pledge was the starting point for the pauper deck, and here I add Honor of the Pure to form the core of the Standard version.

Classic Pauper features many excellent ways to generate white token creatures, but in the current Standard environment we aren't so lucky. I felt Conqueror's Pledge, Nomad's Assembly, and White Sun's Zenith cost too much mana (for an aggro deck), and Hero of Bladehold cost too much money (for me). Timely Reinforcements looked interesting for a second until I realized I plan on running out hordes of creatures starting on turn one.

So instead of tokens I focused on small, aggressive creatures and this proved much more fruitful. Squadron Hawk is the best creature in the deck. It provides huge value when combined with Honor or Pledge. Accorder Paladin may claim the second rank featuring an excellent power to mana ratio, but also providing power boosts to all attacking creatures through its Battle Cry ability. One Squadon Hawk (and by one I mean four) combines with Honor, Pledge, or the Paladin to form a very strong early threat.The vanguards, legionnaries  and skyhunters form the rest of the aggro army and Soul Attendant provides some lifegain but also isn't afraid to hit somebody when properly boosted.

Oblivion Ring and Tumble Magnet provide a bit of aggressive removal and Brave the Elements qualifies as an All-Star countering removal, countering Pyroclasms, and allowing your creatures to get through unblocked. With every card in the deck under four mana we can easily run only 22 plains.

The gameplan with this deck is to start swinging from turn two, doing as much early damage as possible, then finish the game with Honor or Pledge before your opponent's biggest threats hit the battlefield.

I played ten games in the casual room online. Note the first version of the deck had 21 plains and zero Brave the Elements (I just forgot about it). I think I also had a random Alabaster Mage.

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Game 1: He mulligans down to four. He plays an elf and a Joraga Treespeaker. I play a T1 attendant, T2 honor, T3 legionnare. T4 I o-ring the leveled treespeaker and he concedes.

Game 2: I win a close one vs tokens/Fresh Meat/Warstorm Surge. Two attendants must have gained me 50 life, and the fliers are the only way I could get damage through due to his army of Kozilek's Predators. I wanted a pledge the whole game, but one Honor of the Pure enabled me to win without it.

Game 3: Vs mono red, he burns my T2 and T3 paladin then plays two Maniac Vandals (one caught my Tumble Magnet). I'm doing fine with Squadron Hawks then top deck Honor. This is when I start to realize Squadron Hawk plus Honor is really good: two cards for eight flying power.

Game 4: I honestly must have had 15 of my creatures burned this game. He blasted me with two Whipflares, and seriously, like eight other burn spells. I drew a lot of land, then drew into three honors (all my creatures are in the graveyard). Note this was before the Brave the Elements which still didn't cross my mind.

Game 5: Lost vs Golems. I was stuck on two lands the entire game, and I might have won anyway if wasn't for his "gain 10 life" War Report.

Game 6: He mulligans to five and quits. Cool.

Game 7: My notes are sparse on this one: "Beat an Arachnus Spinner deck. Squadron Hawk is so strong in this deck". I think this game involved a Tumble Magnet locking down the Super Giant Spider to make way for the boosted hawks.

After playing seven games I, for some reason, remember I need Brave the Elements, but I can only find room for two. I fear hands full of Honor, Pledge, Elements, and no creatures. I can't bring myself to reduce the number of Honors or Pledges.

Game 8: A very close one vs Goblins. I'm at 12 and busts out a double Goblin Grenade! I thought for sure he had a bolt to finish me, but he just passes the turn. I have one honor on the table and swing with Soul Attendant, a paladin, and a legionnaire. He's at 13, has one Goblin Guide left, and doesn't block. I pledge for the win.

Game 9: A guy quits on me around turn two. So i'll make it 11 games.

Game 10: Lose to Birthing Pod. Multiple Inquisition of Kozileks terrorized me. I still managed to get him down to 2, but too little too late against the insane Birthing Pod chain of Skinrender into Acidic Slime into Massacre Wurm (it was a massacre) into Sheoldred, Whispering One.

Game 11: Beat some kind of ramp deck. A key Oblivion Ring exiled a Chandra, the Firebrand. He didn't get too much besides that. Squadron Hawks and Skyhunter team up with Honor and Pledge.

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By no means is this a completely optimized list. I'm wondering if maybe Conqueror's Pledge may work as a two-of at the high end of curve. Also, depending on options for white weenie post-rotation, I may reevaluate whether to fork over the cash for a few Heroes.

I happy with the performance of the deck. I know its just the casual room, but this deck has four rares (and they're cheap). Try it out online, at FNM, or at the kitchen table. I love to hear how it went.