Alright everyone, we’re getting right back to it after a short week off (I had to take a brief R&R after some surgery). As mentioned last week, we are going to be talking about the worst color in Magic this week and what cards from this slice of the color pie has to offer Frontier. What color am I throwing so much shade towards? White. Sorry everyone. I hate white Magic cards, with an exception for Path to Exile. I’m more of a black/blue mage. But, I will still give you a completely unbiased, and practical evaluation of these 5 cards in white that are the best cards for the format. Let’s get down to business.
Number 5 follows the usual format for white removal as it isn’t as mean as black removal. White removal always tends to give your opponent a little something to soften the blow after you’ve completely removed their creature from the game. Swords to Plowshares gives them life, Path to Exile gives them a basic land, and Declaration in Stone gives them…..a card. For one and a white, at sorcery speed, you can exile target creature and all creatures that share the name and they get a clue token for each nontoken removed from the game this way. This doesn’t seem too bad and pretty good at opening a path for you to march in a big push. Being sorcery speed and more expensive than white removal of formats past doesn’t mean that Declaration in Stone is bad. It is premium removal in white for the format. If you’re in white and trying to get aggressive, don’t let a single Kalitas halt your assault. This card allows you to cheaply remove a road block (no matter how big or annoying) and keep the pressure on, and that definitely warrants a slot in the top 5 cards for a format.
Number 4 is a card that we’ve all probably been punished by. It’s great on the curve and absolutely disgusting when you can flash it in. Our number 4 card for white in Frontier is Selfless Spirit. This card has been a total pain for your opponent in any deck you play it in. For one and a white, you have the ability to have a spot counter to the majority of the removal in the format. When people are trying to Lightning Strike, Fatal Push, and Murderous Cut your threats, this is a 2/1 flying nope. Due to its flexible mana cost this card slots well into any deck running white and it doesn’t mess up your curve at all by doing so. This is an early game threat with some evasion, that only gets better as you develop your board. While this card gets better in a spirit deck when you can flash it in, this card is great in everything from Abzan Aggro to four color vehicles.
My number three pick for this list is one that seems like a joke at first, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Thraben Inspector. While a 1/2 for one white seems like another human card for one deck. Well, it does go great there as we’ve seen countless times; this card goes well in a plethora of decks for various reasons. It’s a cheap creature that you can use to start crewing vehicles early in the game, it makes artifacts that can be used for card advantage, or if you’re the Johnny type, combos. The beauty of this card is in its flexibility and ability to help you get a body on the ground, generate some card advantage that could potentially get you the redraw to find your wincon, or more artifacts to tap for improvise/cheap creature to tap for convoke (Chord of Calling is still really good).
Frontier is a format where the majority of people are playing multicolor decks and developing boards with big threats. As someone playing white, how are you going to get through that board and keep the pressure on? Well, your removal options are few and far between if you’re in mono white, and if you’re in other colors, you still need to draw into your removal. Or. You could play Thalia, Heretic Cathar. Two and a white for a 3/2 first striker. But that’s just another white style threat? Nope. Thalia’s ability is devastating to decks that want to play nonbasic lands and creatures (every deck). All your opponent’s nonbasic lands and creatures enter the battlefield tapped. This is exactly how you keep up with Jeskai Black, Abzan, Esper Control, and Mardu Dragons. They can’t generate explosive value with beefy creatures and complex manabases if they’re constantly a turn behind. While she dies to a fair bit of removal, it only takes a turn or two to creature a wide enough window to apply enough pressure to your opponent. If you’re following up Thalia with sizable threats like a Rhino of your own or some Gearhulks.
So what’s better than sorcery speed spot removal, soft counters to removal, value for 1 mana and slowing your opponent down enough to make them winning a distant memory? Winning. Winning with a threat that is so difficult to remove, that resolving it immediately swings the tempo of the game in your favor. I know we’re all tired of hearing about how great this card is, but he’s been great since he was printed, and will be as long as evasive 5/5 indestructible creatures are good. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is the best white card for Frontier. Being able to make a 2/2 once per turn, turn into a 5/5 indestructible when it’s the most challenging for your opponent to response, and immediately dropping an emblem that makes all of your creatures big enough to get the job done. The was the breakout card from Battle from Zendikar and has continued to be the weapon of choice for everything from Abzan of all sorts, to Esper control. Gideon is splashable, deadly, and versatile in his uses. If you’re in white and need something bigger than your standard 1/1 or 2/1 to get in, or need something to close the game out after you’ve countered everything your opponent could possibly win with. Gideon is by far, the best white card you could be playing in Frontier.
That’s all for this week, friends. I hope you enjoyed the list. If you have any thoughts to share, drop a comment below or email me at captainseon@live.com. Stay tuned, because next week we are breaking down the top 5 cards for Frontier from Black. And remember, buy local play global.