September 2, 2019 -- Summer's End 2019 Update

Core Set 2020 Additions:
Heavenly Blademaster -> Cavalier of Dawn
Stonecloaker -> Apostle of Purifying Light
Basilisk Collar -> Colossus Hammer

Modern Horizons Additions:
Key to the City -> Giver of Runes
Single Combat -> Winds of Abandon
Unexpectedly Absent -> Generous Gift

Commander 2019 Additions:
Remember the Fallen -> Sevinne's Reclamation

Other Additions:
None

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---Change Log---


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Symbol Key:

* Regular Foil
* Prerelease/Datestamped | Launch Promo
* Foil Promostamped
* Buy-a-Box Promo
* Grand Prix/Pro Tour Promo
* Judge Gift
* Masterpiece Series
* Misc. Foil/Promo (Specialty product foils, other promos, etc.)
^ Reserved List Card

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Commander: Balan, Wandering Knight


-Creatures- 22

Apostle of Purifying Light* - Grave-hate.
Argivian Archaeologist^ - Artifact recursion.
Danitha Capashen, Paragon* - Keywords and cheaper Equipment.
Devoted Caretaker* - Protects anything from spells.
Eternal Dragon* - Early game Plains, late game self-recurring Sword wielder.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk* - Tutorable and recurrable sweeper.
Cavalier of Dawn* - Removal, recursion, and a strong base body.
Giver of Runes* - Creature protector.
Grand Abolisher* - Keeps my turns free from enemy shenanigans.
Knight of the White Orchid* - Land ramp.
Leonin Abunas* - Artifacts have hexproof.
Mother of Runes* - Creature protector.
Noble Templar* - Early game Plains, late game Sword wielder.
Puresteel Paladin* - Card draw engine and free equipping.
Recruiter of the Guard* - Utility creature tutor.
Restoration Specialist* - Artifact/Enchantment recursion.
Serra Ascendant* - Most efficient Turn 1 creature!
Sram, Senior Edificer* - Card draw engine.
Stoneforge Mystic* - Equipment tutor.
Stonehewer Giant* - Repeatable Equipment tutor. Huge enabler.
Sun Titan* - Recursion engine.
Weathered Wayfarer* - Land tutor.


-Equipment- 16

Argentum Armor* - Titanic P/T boost and a Vindicate attack trigger.
Batterskull* - Large P/T boost with living weapon, vigilance, and lifelink.
Blackblade Reforged* - A P/T boost that will grow as the game goes on.
Champion's Helm* - Small P/T boost and hexproof for Balan!
Colossus Hammer* - +10/+10!
Conqueror's Flail - Keeps my turns free from enemy spells.
Hammer of Nazahn - Indestructible, power boost, and free equipping!
Inquisitor's Flail* - Double the damage, double the fun!
Loxodon Warhammer* - Medium power boost, trample, and lifelink.
Swiftfoot Boots* - Haste and hexproof.
Sword of Feast and Famine* - Small P/T boost, pro Black and Green, discard, and land untapping.
Sword of Fire and Ice* - Small P/T boost, pro Red and Blue, Shock and draw.
Sword of Light and Shadow* - Small P/T boost, pro. Black and White, recursion and life gain.
Sword of the Animist* - Tutorable land ramp engine.
Sword of Vengeance* - Good Power boost and a handful of great keywords.
Umezawa's Jitte* - Pump, creature removal, and life.


-Other Artifacts- 5

Expedition Map* - Land tutor.
Mana Crypt* - 2 mana for 0!
Mind Stone* - A simple mana rock that can be popped for a card.
Sensei's Divining Top* - Library manipulation.
Sol Ring* - 2 mana for 1!


-Enchantments- 4

Dawn of Hope* - Card draw and bodies.
Grasp of Fate - X-for-1 catch-all removal.
Sigarda's Aid* - Instant Equipment and free equipping.
Smothering Tithe* - Treasure tokens!


-Sorceries- 8

Austere Command* - Versatile sweeper.
Cleansing Nova* - Creature sweeper or artifact/enchantment sweeper.
Hour of Revelation* - Complete board sweep for just 3 mana!
Open the Armory* - Equipment tutor.
Sevinne's Reclamation - 3-for-1 recursion spell.
Steelshaper's Gift* - Equipment tutor.
Winds of Abandon* - Path to Exile or Plague Wind!
Wrath of God* - Basic creature sweeper.


-Instants- 7

Enlightened Tutor* - Artifact and enchantment tutor.
Generous Gift* - Catch-all removal. Enjoy the Elephant!
Oblation* - Catch-all removal. Can be a draw spell in a pinch.
Path to Exile* - Creature removal.
Return to Dust* - Artifact and enchantment removal.
Swords to Plowshares* - Creature removal.
Teferi's Protection* - A spell that keeps me and my board safe for anything detrimental.


-Nahiri- 1

Nahiri, the Lithomancer - Equipment Planeswalker!


-Land- 36 (16+20 Basics)

Ancient Tomb* - 2 mana for 2 life.
Buried Ruin* - Artifact recursion.
Command Beacon* - Commander Tax exemption!
Desert of the True* - Cycling!
Dust Bowl* - Utility land hate.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin* - Creature recursion.
Field of Ruin* - Utility land hate
Inventors' Fair* - Artifact tutor.
Kor Haven* - Attack deterrent.
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea - Card draw.
Mistveil Plains* - Tucks cards back into my library.
Myriad Landscape - Land ramp on a land.
Rogue's Passage* - Unblockable Balan!
Secluded Steppe* - Cycling!
Scavenger Grounds* - Grave-hate.
Thespian's Stage* - Land clone.

Plains* (x20) - Fullart Battle for Zenkidar Plains!

I like Taj-Nar Swordsmith better than Steelshaper Apprentice. The swordsmith looks bad, but since it puts the equipment in play, it's an efficient way to find cheap gear like Greaves and Jitte.

I'd try to fit in Skullclamp. Even if you can't draw immediately off the cat tokens, drawing two cards off an opponent's removal is great. Everything looks solid though, so I don't know what I'd cut.

Completely forgot about Taj-Nar Swordsmith. I don't like it, it's needs too much mana. For it to tutor a Sword and equip, I would need 9 mana total. Afterwards, Swordsmith is lame 2/3 not doing anything. I like Steelshaper Apprentice better and it's the only other Equipment tutor that's repeatable.

Skullclamp falls in the category of 'Anything that functions best in a token strategy' of "Cards I Will Not Use". I don't have the resources to make full use of Skullclamp nor do I want to add them in.

I see it differently. Compare Swordsmith's mana costs to your other tutors using Jitte as an example:

Steelshaper's Gift is 1 to cast + 2 to cast Jitte + 2 to equip = 5 total.
Stoneforge Mystic is 2 to cast + 2 for its ability + 2 to equip = 6 total.
Stonehewer Giant is 5 to cast + 2 for its ability = 7 total.
Taj-nar Swordsmith is 4 to cast + 2 for its ability + 2 to equip = 8 total.
Steelshaper's Apprentice is 4 to cast + 1 for its ability + 2 to cast Jitte + 2 to equip = 9 total.

Taj-Nar Swordsmith's not quite as mana efficient as Stoneforge Mystic (then again, not many cards are), but it's about on par with the other two creatures. Unlike Steelshaper's Apprentice, your equipment is hidden from counterspells, and unlike Stonehewer Giant, you still get to tutor even if you don't have haste and your opponent has removal.

On top of that, it fits your Reveillark + Karmic Guide loop, so it does actually recur. (Speaking of which, I like having High Market for 'tron style decks; sac in response to tuck is pretty swell.)

Obviously 'smith isn't anywhere near the top equipment tutor, but I think it's better than you give it credit for.

I still prefer Steelshaper Apprentice. It's only in the deck as a placeholder for a new Equipment tutor, if ever printed.

Aww, no Raksha Golden Cub? When I had my Kemba deck I was shocked how many games he won.

He was in the deck when I first built it. Was taken out for Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite because Kemba was the only Cat token producer and I never found room for White Sun's Zenith. Elesh was eventually dropped for Angel of Serenity, as I stopped focusing on tokens altogether and devoted the entire deck to Voltron.

My girl has a great Kemba deck, and here are some thoughts based on her deck.

I'll try to not include token-centric recommendations (even if Cathars' Crusade is insane):

Indomitable Archangel - Solid performer, and a decent sized flyer
Mentor of the Meek - Alright, I lied. But even if the tokens are just incidental, card draw is card draw
Absolute Grace / Absolute Law - Shut off a lot of blockers and removal
Mass Calcify - asymmetrical sweepers are the best kind
Unquestioned Authority - unblockable voltron and replaces itself
Conjurer's Closet - you have more than enough ETB creatures for this

Indomitable Archangel - Was in my deck before, but was dropped when I discovered Fountain Watch. Watch isn't hampered by a metalcraft requirement and can be recurred with Reveillark.

Mentor of the Meek - Was in my deck before and was dropped along with the other token-based cards. I recently added Staff of Nin for more card draw.

Absolute Grace & Absolute Law - Black and Red aren't heavily played in my meta and I'm not interested in adding cards that may become dead against a handful of decks. I also want to keep my enchantment count low.

Mass Calcify - Over half of my meta is White.

Unquestioned Authority - Auras and Swords don't mix. If Kemba is equipped with Sword of Light and Shadow or Sword of War and Peace, Authority can't enchant Kemba. Also, I don't have space to run nor support the use of both Equipment and Auras.

Conjurer's Closet - I have 7 creatures with ETB effects. Out of that, only 3 of them can give me value every trigger, the rest require specific situations. Not worth it.

'Cards I'm Considering' List updated. List can be found in the OP.

Dragon's Maze Update:



'Cards I'm Considering' List:



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My creature base has been given an aggressive boost. When Kemba becomes unavailable, I need something more efficient in combat than low-power utility dorks. Wurmcoil Engine is an amazing beater. 'Survives' sweepers and is extremely synergistic with Trading Post. Transcendent Master becomes an absolute beast if not removed right away. Loxodon Gatekeeper has been cut because it wasn't helpful. It was either play it early or become a bad draw late game. Steelshaper Apprentice has also been cut as I needed the space. I was saving Apprentice's slot for a future Equipment tutor, but another tutor might not be created for a while and there is no point in waiting.

Sword of Vengeance has been re-added. It was in the deck before and I've been looking for a way to add it back in. Sword of War and Peace was dropped because protection from White gives me problems. If Kemba has pro-White form one of the Swords, my Planeswalkers and Mother of Runes can't target her and moving Equipment around is costly and can leave her open to spot removal. Also, War an Peace isn't as great as the other three Swords I'm running.

Aura of Silence is an awesome hate card. When played early it completely screws up opponents, especially their mana rocks. It also combos very well with Sun Titan. Blind Obedience was dropped for the same reason as Loxodon Gatekeeper.

Ghostly Prison has been added to keep attackers off me. Some players in my meta tend to single me out. Lightning Greaves has been dropped because I hate shroud and having to work around it. I also needed the space.

Forbidding Watchtower has been added to provide me with another emergency attacker. Windbrisk Heights has been dropped as my deck doesn't generate three attackers consistently anymore nor do I attempt to attack with an army anyway.

No cards in Dragon's Maze made the cut, but that's to be expected in a heavy multicoloured set with no Equipment. The only worthwhile card is Renounce the Guilds, but aside from sniping Commanders my meta doesn't have decks filled with multicoloured permanents. Renounce would end up a dead card most of the time and is also completely dead against monocoloured decks.

Wow... I sure neglected this thread....

Well, this deck's Commander is now Eight-and-a-Half-Tails. This change happened last July. Since I never properly used Kemba, Kha Regent's tokens, I figured a new Commander was necessary. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails' abilities protecting my Equipment and allowing him to bypass blockers makes him a great fit for a Voltron deck.


Cards I'm Considering:

...and I neglect this thread for another TWO years...

List updated.

Kaladesh/Commander 2016:

Kaladesh Additions:
Caged Sun -> Cataclysmic Gearhulk
Maze of Ith -> Inventors' Fair

Commander 2016 Additions:
Windborn Muse -> Armory Automaton
Strata Scythe -> Conqueror's Flail

Other Additions:
Ghostly Prison -> Grasp of Fate

Kudos for updating. Why did you cut Caged Sun?