Welcome to another week of Precon Recon. I’m your host, John Shultis! I would like to apologize for missing last weeks installment. But now, on with the show! This week I will be looking at the event deck, War of Attrition. The deck is mono-white, and supported heavily by artifacts. While the event decks are usually built better than the average deck, I feel they still have things that do not make sense, and with some minor adjustments, they run much more effectively.

2 Dread Statuary 21 Plains 4 Elite Vanguard 1 Kemba, Kha Regent 2 Kor Duelist 4 Leonin Relic-Warder 4 Leonin Skyhunter 1 Mirran Crusader 4 Porcelain Legionnaire 1 Puresteel Paladin 2 Stoneforge Mystic 1 Apostle's Blessing 1 Bonehoard 1 Darksteel Axe 4 Flayer Husk 4 Journey to Nowhere 1 Sickleslicer 1 Skinwing 1 Sword of Vengeance Sideboard 1 Apostle's Blessing 2 Arrest 3 Celestial Purge 1 Kor Duelist 4 Kor Firewalker 4 Revoke Existence

     The War of Attrition deck is heavily tuned towards using equipments to bolster some very tough, and cheap, creatures. But it falls short of being a complete outta this world home run deck. So let us look at it, and tweak a few things, and make this deck a contender!

    The one thing that confused me when I looked at this deck is how heavy it is in living weapon. While they are decent equipments due to the fact they bring a creature, I would much rather find some better equipments that ensure the things I have out do some major damage. That being said, I feel all the living weapon equipment should be removed. If you like some of them, feel free to edit as you see fit. The next thing that is not as effective as what we will replace it with is Apostle’s Blessing. Only granting one creature protection at the risk of giving up some life doesn’t fit for me as well as it should. Also, since the deck will be artifact heavy, I vote removing the Journey to Nowhere. With the heavy artifact feel, we will have a better option. I should also not the I will not be editing the sideboard associated with this deck. I feel that sideboards are specifically designed by the player’s play style, and would allow player’s to sideboard things they feel may help them out, or that they may wish to try in place of something else. The creatures seem pretty sound, but I do feel that four copies of Leonin Relic Warder are unnecessary, remove two.

     So that is 14 cards out, so what do we put in? Obviously if you have pulled, or traded for, or bought any of the Swords from the block, they will fit perfectly in this deck. And if you managed to get your hands on Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, she would do quite nicely in here as well. But those are mythic, and we may not always be able to get our hands on mythic’s. I will suggest some rare cards that you should be able to get relatively easy that make this deck much better. The first is Darksteel Plate. Such an amazing card in that it cannot be destroyed, and once equipped, neither can the equipped creature. Another great card for  this particular deck is Argentum Armor. The ability to pump a creature that much, and when it attacks, destroy target permanent could destroy planeswalkers, potential blockers, or something that is just pesky. So let’s get to some swaps. The Journey to Nowhere’s would just simply be replaced by Dispatch. Once Metalcraft is achieved, you have a spell better than either the Journey or Path to Exile, in that for one mana, target creature is exiled. And if you don’t have Metalcraft, it still locks down a creature. The two Leonin Relic Warder’s should be replaced by Brass Squires. They will allow you to throw equipments on creatures at instant speed, without paying an equip cost. This is especially helpful to pump an attacker, equip Kemba during an opponent’s end step, or defend something when it may die from a spell. The Apostle’s Blessing should simply be replaced by Brave the Elements. Brave the Elements grants all white creatures you control protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. The rest comes down to some equipment that will replace the Living Weapon’s. More Darksteel Axes, some Bladed Pinions, Piston Sledge, Strata Scythe, Livewire Lash, and even Grafted Exoskeleton or Nim Deathmantle would all make excellent equipment in the deck. I would likely stick with one Darksteel Axe, two Pinions, a Piston Sledge, and two Strata Scythe.

     So there you have it! This deck becomes much more vicious once edited, and has some potential to be a major pain. The important thing is turning your small creatures into big ones that are a problem handling. The Porcelain Legionnaire can become a major problem once equipped with a Darksteel Plate, Darksteel Axe, and Strata Scythe. Then give it flying, the game could be over fast.

     Next week I will take on Commander due to it’s release TODAY! Make sure you swing by your local card shop for it’s release events this weekend, and pick up some nice oversized foil promo cards! And as always if there is a deck you would like to see get reconstructed, be sure to send along an e-mail, and I will be sure to bring it to Precon Recon!

     So until next time, keep safe and keep gaming!