The Exalted One

20,000 hits! That’s amazing! Thanks to everyone who follows my blog and I hope that you continue to check it out in the future. It’s mindblowing to know that only a month ago I was at 10,000 hits, and in a little more than a month I have doubled that number. Thank you so much!

To celebrate, I thought I’d post an idea I’ve been working on for a Green/White Exalted deck. I haven’t seen that many exalted decks yet, but after seeing a guy attack with a Sublime Angel soulbound to Silverblade Paladin on turn 5 for 28 damage (that includes the exalted creatures on the board plus a miracled Revenge of the Hunted – 14 dmg, times 2 for the double strike), I was sold. I think the time of exalted decks is just around the corner! Take a look and tell me what you think.

(EDIT: My friends left Japan and gave me A LOT of the commons and uncommons they didn’t want and I finally had enough cards to redo this deck with! I’ll make sure I’ll put the changes in BOLD.)

WG Exalted One

Land (23)

• 9 Forest
• 2 Gavony Township
• 1 Razorverge Thicket
• 2 Sunpetal Grove
• 8 Plains
• 1 Phyrexian Core

I don’t think there is any shock here . I have quite a lot of mana creatures so I’m not totally sure I need 23, but at the moment that’s what I’m running. Another Gavony Township or two might be nice to turn all my mana creatures into beasts, and 2 more Sunpetal Groves would be great , but other than that I don’t think land is ever a problem. I could see myself putting in a Cathedral of War or two as well. I put a Phyrexian Core in the deck to accelerate the card drawing from Ichor Wellspring. The deck lacked life gain as well so this seemed like a good idea and doesn’t disrupt the mana flow too much. 

Creatures (25)

Sublime Angel

• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 3 Avacyn’s Pilgrim
• 4 Knight of Glory
• 2 Sublime Angel
• 1 Vorapede
• 1 Predator Ooze
• 2 Birds of Paradise
• 2 Silverblade Paladin
• 2 Mirran Crusader
• 1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1 Hero of Bladehold
• 1 Wolfir Avenger
• 2 Strangleroot Geists

Do you guys think there are too many mana dorks or is 8 9 fine? I’d like another Avacyn’s Pilgrim or two, and come October I’ll definitely be putting them in there instead of the Birds of Paradise (I hope Ravnica Brings them back!). The mana creatures are also helpful in building up the exatled army when Sublime Angel hits the battlefield. Use them to get things out quickly, then afterwards use them on the offense with Gavony Township.

My two drops are Knight of Glory and Strangleroot Geist (I added a 4th Knight of Glory because there wasn’t enough Exalted). With Exalted, Wandering Wolf from Avacyn would also be a good idea since I could be attacking with a 3/2 the following turn that can’t be blocked by creatures with power less than it, and if a Sublime Angel gets into play on turn 4 (Bird, Bird, land, land), the Wolf would then be a 6/5 that can only be blocked by Titans. While there aren’t too many black decks out there aside from UB zombies, I think the Knight of Glory will find itself useful down the road since it will save itself from black removal. It’s nowhere near as good as Mirran Crusader, but it will crush black decks still. Mono Black and Vampire decks have seen an increase in the metagame as of late, so you might get some wins off of him alone.

It sounds like Hero of Bladehold will get the exalted bonus because the tokens come into play after exalted triggers, so it’s an awesome addition to this deck. However, if a Sublime Angel is in play will the Hero of Bladehold get an extra +2/+2 from the Soldier tokens you put onto the battlefield when attacking? Hmmm, sounds like it could get tricky. Predator Ooze is going to break some people after it gets out of Dismember range. Put a Rancor on it and just let it keep rolling forward. Sigarda, Host of Herons can singlehandedly win the game for you unless you opponent has Day of Judgment to wipe her from the board. With all of the mana creatures in play it’s a very real possibility to play her on turn 3 after laying down your 3rd land. Some of my friends don’t like Vorapede that much, but I think Vigilance/Trample in an exalted deck is incredibly useful. Exalted NEEDS trample to maximize its effectiveness so the other player doesn’t just throw out chump blocker after chump blocker.

(Finally added in those Avacyn’s Pilgrims! I also added a Wolfir Avenger for its regeneration abilities and strength against control decks. Should prove useful)

Spells/Enchantments/Artifacts (12)

Trading Post

• 2 Rancor (all I have)
• 3 Sheltering Words
• 2 Trading Posts
• 1 Druidic Satchel
• 1 Ring of Kalonia (because I don’t have any more Rancors at the moment)
• 2 Ichor Wellsprings
• 1 Oblivion Ring

Rancor

I’ve changed these around a bit but I think this is the best combination at the moment. I would LOVE to have 4 Rancors in this deck, but they are sold out just about everywhere I’ve been, and those that aren’t sold out are selling the older versions for about $5/500 each. No thanks. I’ll wait and pull one from a pack or trade for one later. I’ll just keep slapping it on my attacking creature with exalted, and each time it dies I’ll put it on a new one. The Druidic Satchels should help me to put in lots of extra creatures (since they have the highest chance of being revealed) as well as accelerating my land even faster. This will help me from getting mana flooded, and might also gain me some life from time to time.

I also thought that having some Faith’s Shield Sheltering Words would be useful when attacking with a massive exalted creature. Wouldn’t you feel horrible if you tap and attack for 20 damage, only to have your creature die to a Doomblade or get Vapor Snagged? Yeah . . . I would too (I put in Sheltering Words because this deck was gravely needing life gain, plus is does basically the same thing as Faith’s Shield in saving your creature from a Doomblade or other removal). Previously I had 4 Hunter’s Insight in the deck for card draw, but last night a friend convinced me to put in two Trading Posts and two Ichor Wellsprings. You bring out the Wellspring and draw a card, sacrifice it and draw 2 cards, then bring it back by sacrificing a Goat or Saporling and repeat the process again. The Trading Post can also work as life gain if you need it, or it can boost your exalted count once a Sublime Angel is in play. I played with the Post a little during the pre-release and it seemed to be pretty useful. I think it will do well in this deck (or any other deck where card draw is a problem).

Sideboard (15)

• 1 Terminus
• 3 Revoke Existence
• 2 Celestial Purge
• 1 Karn, Liberated
• 2 Silklash Spider
• 2 Divine Reckoning
• 2 Oblivion Ring
• 1 Faith’s Shield
• 1 Autumn’s Veil

Silklash Spider

The sideboard could probably use some work, but it’s not bad right now. Revoke Existences for Wurmcoils and Metamorphs. Celestial Purge for Zombies and Inferno Titans. Silklash Spider for Delver of Secrets, spirits, Restoration Angel, and maybe even some an occasional Griselbrand. The Silklash Spider would also be an unkillable (by blocking) attacker with exalted. I’m really sold on that ability since you can use it as an instant and because it will wipe out every flyer if you have the right amount of mana. Oblivion Ring is a must for all white decks, but you’re probably wondering about those last two cards.

Lets take a look at Sheltering Words. For 2 mana, you give your creature hexproof and gain life equal it’s toughness. Let’s say you attack with your friend the Spider there, and there are a few exalted creatures in play making him a 5/10. Your opponent wants to ruin your fun so he casts Doomblade on it. On the stack you cast Sheltering Words, Doomblade fizzles, you deal 5 damage, and gain 10 life. Not bad right? Works great with exalted.

Divine Reckoning, on the other hand, can go either way. It would probably be better as a Day of Judgment (which I don’t have any of). I dont’ have any other way to kill an army of Dungrove Elders or flood of tiny creatures. I’d rather have all but one die instead of none at all. With flashback you can at least get a few uses out of for half the space that 4 DoJs would take up. (I added in a Terminus to help get rid of those really tricky creatures that won’t stay dead or would just hit the board the next turn. It’s a good card). 

And that’s it. I put this deck together by taking apart a few other decks and using odds and ends I had laying around. What do you think? How could you improve it (aside from more Rancor!)? I think it has a chance in the current, control-less standard environment. I’ve yet to test it out, so when I do I’ll let you know how it does. I want to thank everybody again for your continued support! See you next time!