Deck Overview
In 1789, the legendary Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter, and within it, he claimed, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” However, to Magic the Gathering players, this statement is false. If a Magic player were to pen a letter to a friend today, they would claim that nothing can be said to be certain in this world except death, taxes, and White Weenie.
White Weenie has been around since the days that Savannah Lions was a powerhouse. And, since Savannah Lions was printed in Alpha, White Weenie has been around for as long as Magic has been around. It is no surprise that White Weenie still sees play in Standard, Modern, Legacy, and Vintage. The “taxing” effects of powerful white mana creatures combined with impactful “enter the battlefield” effects combine into a deadly combo.
Decks that rely on cheap instants and sorceries are stopped in their tracks by Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and punished heavily by Esper Sentinel. Decks with greedy mana bases get mana-screwed by Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin or get turned off entirely by Leonin Arbiter. Decks that rely on cheap artifacts are quickly left bare by March of Otherworldly Light and Skyclave Apparition. Decks that rely on counter-magic to control the game are left with a handful of spells by Aether Vial. Decks that rely on large creatures to close out the game are cut down to size with Solitude and Path to Exile. Batterskull and Burrenton Forge-Tender quickly extinguish decks that are aiming burn spells at your face. Decks that rely on their graveyard are purged by Lion Sash and Rest in Peace.
Whatever deck you're playing against, there is something within Death & Taxes that stops it. This is why Death & Taxes has been a behind-the-scenes powerhouse in many formats for so long. The more powerful the decks within a format become, the more powerful Death & Taxes becomes.
I have been playing Death & Taxes in Modern since 2016, and I’ve been playing it in Legacy since 2017. Since then, many cards have come in and out of the deck, but the essence of the deck has stayed the same. Right now, it is an absolute powerhouse in Legacy and Vintage, and I believe it is often overlooked in Modern. Death & Taxes can easily be a tier-one deck within the right hands.
To see the full decklist, click here.
Creatures
4x Archon of Emeria
I would argue that Archon of Emeria is the most sneakily powerful card in the entire deck. I play this card against many opponents who, after reading the card, almost immediately forget about it. They only realize how powerful it is when their fetch lands enter tapped, and then their shocks also enter tapped, and now they can only cast one spell a turn. This card turns off cascade, so your Rhino opponents and Living End opponents will have a terrible time. Archon is usually just played out, but it can sometimes get your opponent by vialing it in with their cascade trigger on the stack or after they fetch so that they either get a tapped or basic land. Since the deck uses Aether Vial, you can quickly get the upper hand by casting one spell and vialing in another, outpacing your opponent.
4x Esper Sentinel
Esper Sentinel is a flex slot since not all Death & Taxes players play this card. I am relatively high on this card because, in my area, there are lots of Murktide players, and this card is exactly what you want against that deck. A one-drop that taxes all of your opponent's counter and burn spells but will also happily trade with a Ragavan goes a long way. There are games where your opponent is overwhelmed if you can get two of these out or if you can equip one with a Sword of Fire and Ice. Murktide is a tier-one deck that is easy for someone to put together, and this one card increases your win percentage against that deck monumentally. I will add that there are some matchups that this deck is horrible against, which is why this is probably my most sideboarded card out of the whole deck.
4x Giver of Runes
Psuedo Mother of Runes in Modern? Say less. While this card can’t protect itself with its ability, it is still a crazy powerful card for this deck to wield. Giver can defend your powerful taxing creatures or soak up a bolt that would rather have hit something else. With Urza’s Saga seeing so much play, Giver’s ability to protect against colorless is a considerable upside, and sometimes your opponent will forget this, giving you the upper hand. While I would love to see Mother of Runes in Modern, this is a fair trade and a card that I am always happy to see in my opening hand.
4x Leonin Arbiter
Hot take; Leonin Arbiter is better than blood moon. Easily one of my favorite cards in the deck, even if it's not the most impactful. The ability to fetch for whatever lands you need is one of the things that makes Modern so powerful, and Arbiter helps to stop this from happening. Almost nothing feels as good as vialing in a Leonin Arbiter in response to your opponent fetching so that they wiff on getting a land they needed. With this in play, Arbiter is also sneakily powerful in niche situations, such as vialing in response to a Chord of Calling or casting Path to Exile. For some reason, this card is quite hard to understand for some players, and I can’t tell you how many times I have cast Leonin Arbiter, and my opponent allowed it to resolve without cracking their fetch lands and land screwing themselves.
4x Skyclave Apparition
Zendikar Rising provided this deck with two of the most potent additions Death & Taxes has seen in years; Archon of Emeria and Skyclave Apparition. The fact that this card hits any nonland, nontoken permanent with CMC four or less is impressive. For modern, this is almost any nonland permanent. Even against decks like Tron, if this hits an Expedition Map or even an Oblivion Stone, it can win a game. This card can deal with most of Modern’s strongest cards; Omnath, Wrenn and Six, Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Ragavan, Ledger Shredder, Death’s Shadow, Stoneforge Mystic, Yawgmoth, and many more.
4x Solitude
Not only did we get pseudo Mother of Runes in Modern, but we also got Swords to Plowshares on a stick! Solitude is versatile and powerful, two things that Death & Taxes needs. Its ability to exile your opponent's bombs, such as Archon of Cruelty and even Emrakul, the Eons Torn, is enormous. Played in a deck with Yorion and Flickerwisp allows you to get multiple uses out of your Solitude, or even evoke and flicker it to keep it on the battlefield! Imagine this played against decks such as burn. They swing with a couple of creatures, such as a Goblin Guide and an Eidolon of the Great Revel. You cast Solitude, exile one creature, block the other, and gain three life from lifelink. There are a lot of games where that is enough to put you out of range of your opponent forever.
4x Stoneforge Mystic
Every day, Modern Death & Taxes gets closer and closer to just becoming Legacy Death & Taxes. Stoneforge Mystic was banned in Modern for a long time, but it still saw play in the Legacy Death & Taxes deck. Now that we are allowed to play with it again, and with the printing of Kaldra Compleat, this is a must-have for the deck. Getting a 5/5 Indestructible creature with first strike, trample, and haste on turn three is understandably good. Being able to tutor for it on turn two and put it into play at instant speed is insane. Stoneforge Mystic has also become more of a toolbox card with its ability to get Lion Sash to deal with your opponent's graveyard shenanigans. And, if all else fails, you can always go get your trusty Batterskull or Sword of Fire and Ice.
4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
A card that needs no introduction, this card is what makes this white weenie deck a “taxes” deck. The day that Death & Taxes stops playing Thalia is the day I stop playing Death & Taxes (possibly, don’t quote me). Thalia has always given Magic players a hard time, making all of their noncreature spells cost more. Every cantrip your opponent casts is a little harder to cast. Every spell that generates mana no longer generates as much mana. Every deck that relies on casting tons of spells no longer gets to do so. Against some decks, a turn one Esper Sentinel into a turn two Thalia is a death toll. Thalia is also one of the best attackers and blockers you can get for two mana, stopping aggressive creatures such as Ragavan and Goblin Guide while being able to push through chump blockers to score some real damage. Death & Taxes would simply be known as just “Death” without the Thalia tax.
1x Lion Sash
One of Death & Taxes’ newest additions, Lion Sash allows the deck to carry mainboard graveyard hate. This card is great against decks with graveyard strategies such as Living End and Dredge and sneakily powerful against decks such as Murktide for stopping Delirium and 4C Omnath for hindering Wrenn’s ability to recur lands. Even if your opponent could care less about their graveyard, being able to grow and equip to a flier for maximum damage and survive a boardwipe can be huge for this deck, which relies on having creatures on the board and closing out games.
2x Flickerwisp
Next to Thalia, Flickerwisp has been a critical card in Death & Taxes for generations. Paired with Aether Vial, you get an instant speed creature that can attack and block effectively, get rid of your opponent's creatures temporarily or your opponent's tokens forever, or flicker your own permanents for maximum value. Equip a Sword of Fire and Ice onto this, and you’re off to the races. I will say I have been splitting this slot with other cards recently since this card was hurt by the printing of Fury.
4x Extraction Specialist
Death & Taxes' newest addition, Extraction Specialist, has been filling the hole Flickerwisp has left in the deck. At first, I wasn’t sure how powerful this card would be until a friend told me I had to add it to the deck. I’m happy he did cause Extraction Specialist has been an all-star. Versatility is the name of the game, and this card does it all. Your opponent killed your Giver of Runes? Simply return it to the battlefield and allow it to continue protecting your creatures. They killed your Esper Sentinels and Thalias to free themselves from the taxes? Bring them back and make your opponent waste more removal on them. Your opponent killed your Stoneforge to keep you from flashing in your Batterskull or Kaldra? Return it to the battlefield, and get another equipment in the process. This card generates so much power for only three mana; it is a must-have for the deck.
Artifacts
4x Aether Vial
The card that brings the whole deck together. The number one rule for playing Death & Taxes is; if your opening hand has an Aether Vial and at least one land, you should most likely keep it. That’s how powerful this artifact is for the deck. Aether Vial adds flash to all your creatures, making the deck versatile and hard to deal with. It is hard to understate how much more powerful a Flickerwisp or Skyclave Apparition is at instant speed versus sorcery speed. Putting your Giver of Runes and Stoneforge Mystics into play at the end of your opponent's turn allows you to dodge sorcery speed removal and increases the chances of activating their abilities. This card can dance around cards such as Teferi, Time Raveler and give yourself more freedom. It also allows you to cast multiple creatures in one turn, giving you board advantage, especially if you have an Archon of Emeria in play. I could go on and on about how necessary Aether Vial is for the deck, but I think you get the idea.
1x Batterskull
With the addition of Stoneforge Mystic back into Death & Taxes, Batterskull is a powerhouse for the deck. The game is over if you can get this out against burn on turn three. This card can even be super powerful against controlling decks since you can bounce it back to your hand at instant speed to beat board wipes and cheat it out with Stoneforge Mystic to beat counterspells. Let’s just say this; I’ve never lost a game where I was able to equip this to a Kaldra Compleat and attack.
1x Kaldra Compleat
Hands-down the best new equipment printed in a long time, Kaldra Compleat is powerful and hard to deal with, making it a dangerous asset. Just like Batterskull, there are some games where if you get this out on turn three with Stoneforge Mystic, the game is just over. If your opponent's deck has no way to exile creatures and this gets on the battlefield, the game usually ends quickly.
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
This is arguably the strongest sword that has ever been printed in Magic. The card draw is exactly what the deck needs to get ahead of your opponent, and being able to shock your opponent's small creatures or your opponent's face helps to close out the game faster. I have found that attaching this to an Esper Sentinel is sometimes the most powerful thing this deck can do. Not only does it help Esper Sentinel to draw you more cards, and it can make your creatures unblockable against some decks and get you even more cards.
Lands
2x Castle Ardenvale
With the number of basic plains in the deck, it’s not hard for this to enter the battlefield untapped, and late game, this can help push through extra damage by going wide. Especially helpful against control, getting past your opponent's counterspells and soaking up their removal and board wipes.
1x Eiganjo Castle
This is free to play as a one-of, and once in a while this can protect your Thalia against a Fury or Lava Dart.
2x Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
You can usually get away with playing multiple of these since you can play the first one as a land and hold the second one for its ability. This gets past your opponent's counterspells and even plays around your opponent’s Teferi, Time Ravelers.
4x Field of Ruin
Field of Ruin helps to punish your opponents who are greedy with their mana bases, and if you ever use this and your opponent fails to find a basic, you know that the game is headed in your direction. Pairs well with Leonin Arbiter and can also help you fix your mana if you happened to only draw colorless producing lands.
4x Ghost Quarter
Ghost Quarter and Leonin Arbiter are the OGs of Death & Taxes’ land destruction package. It feels so good when your opponent is tapped out on turn three, and you manage to cast Leonin Arbiter and Ghost Quarter their tapped dual land. Just like with Field of Ruin, if you Ghost Quarter their land and they fail to find a basic, you know that all of your Ghost Quarters have turned into Wastelands.
2x Mishra’s Factory
Mishra’s Factory has been played in Legacy Death & Taxes forever, and Modern Horizons 2 has allowed Modern to get in on the action. There are many times that you play a Factory and your opponent completely forgets about it. They tap out and attack with a Ragavan, and you know you’re in for a good time. This card helps to play around board wipes and gives you something to do with your mana while utilizing your Aether Vial.
1x Silent Clearing
Death & Taxes usually likes to play at least one of the Canopy lands, but the life loss is a real cost on this card. It feels great to draw this late while playing a game of attrition, but it feels pretty bad when you start with this in your hand against burn. My rule is that I play one of these when burn is a hot deck and two of these when burn isn’t as strong.
2x Tectonic Edge
Another part of the land destruction package, this land has become less potent over the years, but it still warrants playing at least a couple. I'm sure this will be replaced as soon as another land gets printed that destroys lands. But it does feel pretty good when you use this to destroy a land, and your opponent goes to search for a basic, and you get to remind them that this is not a Ghost Quarter.
5x Plains / 6x Snow-Covered Plains
A lot of people ask me why I run plains and snow-covered plains, to which I usually reply that it's protection against Predict. This is usually effective because then they sit there for a while, wondering when Predict became legal in Modern. There are some niche cases in which this actually matters, but for the most part, it's just to make opponents wonder why I'm playing both and to use up their brain power.
Sorceries
3x Emeria’s Call // Emeria, Shattered Skyclave
90% of the time, this is just another nonbasic land that fits into Death & Taxes. However, 10% of the time, this is an incredibly powerful card that has the potential to end a game. I will admit that I have cast this card way more times than I thought I would, and every time I have, it has felt amazing. The fact that the land side of this isn’t Legendary is also essential, though confusing.
Instants
2x March of Otherworldly Light
Sadly, main deck Path to Exile isn’t powerful enough for Modern anymore. March has taken its place and is a powerful addition to the deck. Like Skyclave Apparition, March helps Death & Taxes deal with the cards it used to suffer against. Super powerful against Murktide, Hammertime, Burn, Indomitable Creativity, and many others, this helps eliminate creatures, artifacts, and enchantments permanently. There are many times that you are perfectly willing to pitch extra Thalias or Esper Sentinels to this to deal with a larger problem.
Sideboard
1x Yorion, Sky Nomad
Companions continue to be one of the most powerful additions to the game of Magic. Starting the game with eight cards instead of seven will always be great, and the fact that this plays well with the other cards in the deck is a bonus. If you can play this and flicker a Stoneforge Mystic, Flickerwisp, Solitude, or Skyclave Apparition, you instantly get ahead of your opponent. While the drawback of playing 80 cards doesn’t hurt the deck too much, I will say that finding your Aether Vials less is a significant drawback. The deck has been played with 80 cards for so long that if Yorion ever gets banned, I’m not sure what the 60-card deck would look like.
4x Drannith Magistrate
Many players are confused why the sideboard usually runs a full playset of these, but they don’t understand how powerful this card is against several tier-one decks. The game ends if you can successfully get this on the battlefield against Rhinos or any of the other cascade decks. There are several Rhino players at my LGS, and I honestly don’t think I’ve lost a single game that I’ve resolved this card against them. It makes half of their deck useless, and the three toughness dodges all their Fire/Ices and Bonecrusher Giants.
2x Burrenton Forge-Tender
Very useful against any deck that runs red, specifically burn and prowess decks. It is pretty simple to use, block their red creatures efficiently and protect your other essential creatures or your own face.
2x Kataki, War’s Wage
This card has come in and out of the Death & Taxes sideboard probably more than any other card, and the rise of Hammertime, Affinity, and Asmo Food has brought it back. I put this card back in my sideboard to help fight against Asmo Food since the matchup is very tough for Death & Taxes. Playing one-of-cards in 80-card decks is a rough time, but I guess the best we can do for now is hope that it starts in our opening hand and pray that Wizard’s prints Recruiter of the Guard into Modern.
2x March of Otherworldy Light
I usually don’t run the whole playset in the mainboard, but I happily bring in the extras in game two against specific decks like Hammertime and Murktide.
2x Path to Exile
Path might not be powerful enough to mainboard in Modern, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong in the sideboard. Path is still outstanding against decks that rely on big creatures to close out the game, and having a couple of extra removal spells is sometimes what you need to beat certain decks.
2x Rest in Peace
Death & Taxes now has main-deck fetchable graveyard hate with Lion Sash, but sometimes that’s just not enough. Sometimes you need something that just flat out gets rid of the graveyard completely, and doesn’t die to kill spells. Very good against Living End, Asmo Food, Yawgmoth, Grinding Station, and Reanimator Decks.
1x Sanctifier en-Vec
This slot fights with Burrenton Forge-Tender, but there are some situations where this is strictly better. Against aggro decks, Forge-Tender may be better, but Sanctifier deals with niche situations such as decks that rely on the graveyard or decks that rely on powerful black creatures, such as Death’s Shadow and Gurmag Anglers.
Conclusion
Players that pilot Death & Taxes are usually ride or die, and it becomes part of their Magic identity. I have played the deck for years in both Modern and Legacy, and I’m excited to see the deck come together in Pioneer. The deck preys on decks that are doing powerful things, which is pretty much all of the tier-one decks right now. Death & Taxes is a straightforward deck, but that does not mean it is easy to play. The deck is filled with tough decisions, but if you play it long enough, you start seeing all of the lines, and you can make snap decisions that throw off your opponent and gain you the advantage. The deck isn’t too expensive when compared to other current Modern decks and is an excellent deck for new players to learn. I know I’m a biased party, but in my opinion, this deck will always be a tier 1.5 deck.
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