Let’s talk about mono-white in Commander, shall we? It’s a rather forgotten color, and can often get the short end of the stick when it comes to new cards, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.
In fact, you can build some incredibly entertaining, and very powerful, decks if you know how to do so. So, let’s take a look a the mighty Steadfast Queen.
Meet your commander
Linden, the Steadfast Queen
Linden, the Steadfast Queen
Vigilance (Attacking doesn't cause this creature to tap.)
Whenever a white creature you control attacks, you gain 1 life.
is a three-mana white 3/3 with vigilance that allows you to gain one life whenever a white creature you control attacks. So, our plan here is incredibly simple: play white creatures, attack with them, profit.
Of course, alongside sticking to mono-white, which is kind of required because Linden’s your commander, we’re also going to be looking at being slightly aggressive, but also making the most of gaining life. Despite life gain being at its strongest in Abzan colors, you can still do a lot of good with just white on the menu.
So, let’s take a look at the kind of cards you’ll want if you want to make Linden a potent commander.
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The best creatures for Linden
Voice of the Blessed
Voice of the Blessed
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
As long as this creature has four or more +1/+1 counters on it, it has flying and vigilance.
As long as this creature has ten or more +1/+1 counters on it, it has indestructible.
is a two-mana 2/2 that gains +1/+1 counters whenever you gain life, but also eventually becomes a creature with flying, vigilance, and indestructble. You can then also plop in
Celestial Unicorn
Celestial Unicorn
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
and Ajani Pridemate to have creatures who also get big as you gain life. Also, get
Archangel of Thune
Archangel of Thune
Flying
Lifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.)
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
, which puts counters on all of your creatures whenever you gain life.
Rhox Faithmender
Rhox Faithmender
Lifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.)
If you would gain life, you gain twice that much life instead.
is a four-mana creature that doubles your the amount of life you gain, which is very silly indeed.
Angel of Vitality
Angel of Vitality
Flying
If you would gain life, you gain that much life plus 1 instead.
This creature gets +2/+2 as long as you have 25 or more life.
is a three-mana 2/2 flyer that allows you to gain one extra life every time you gain life, but it also gets bigger if you’ve got more than 25 life. You’ve got cards like
Soul Warden
Soul Warden
Whenever another creature enters, you gain 1 life.
too, which allow you to gain life whenever another creature enters the battlefield.
Then we have
Angel of Destiny
Angel of Destiny
Flying, double strike
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you and that player each gain that much life.
At the beginning of your end step, if you have at least 15 life more than your starting life total, each player this creature attacked this turn loses the game.
, a five-mana angel that kill opponents outright by just attacking as long as you have enough life. Plus, there’s
Felidar Sovereign
Felidar Sovereign
Vigilance (Attacking doesn't cause this creature to tap.)
Lifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 40 or more life, you win the game.
, who just flat out wins you the game if you have more than 40 life in your upkeep. See, powerful stuff.
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The best support cards for Linden
In terms of support cards,
Test of Endurance
Test of Endurance
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 50 or more life, you win the game.
is a four-mana enchantment that allows you to win the game if you have more than 50 life, which shouldn’t be hard here. You’ve also got Aetherflux Reservour, a four-mana artifact that reads, “Whenever you cast a spell, you gain 1 life for each spell you’ve cast this turn. Pay 50 life: Aetherflux Reservoir deals 50 damage to any target.” Being able to kill people with your life total is absurdly powerful in this deck.
Sigarda’s Splendor
Sigarda’s Splendor
As this enchantment enters, note your life total.
At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card if your life total is greater than or equal to the last noted life total for this enchantment. Then note your life total.
Whenever you cast a white spell, you gain 1 life.
is a four-mana enchantment that allows you to gain life whenever you cast a white spell, but also lets you draw cards, which is nice. It’s got a lot of text, but that’s the short version of things.
Well of Lost Dreams
Well of Lost Dreams
Whenever you gain life, you may pay {X}, where X is less than or equal to the amount of life you gained. If you do, draw X cards.
will also let you draw cards, though you do have to pay to do so. It’s good though, trust us.
Finally, we’ve got
Path of Bravery
Path of Bravery
As long as your life total is greater than or equal to your starting life total, creatures you control get +1/+1.
Whenever one or more creatures you control attack, you gain life equal to the number of attacking creatures.
, which is a three-mana enchantment that reads, “As long as your life total is greater than or equal to your starting life total, creatures you control get +1/+1. Whenever one or more creatures you control attack, you gain life equal to the number of attacking creatures.” Having bigger creatures is good, and gaining more life is also good. So, there you have out, go out and gain life.
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