"Detain and Destroy: Azorius Ethereal Armor"

"Detain and Destroy: Azorius Ethereal Armor"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. 

The current Pauper format is a healthy mix of unique decks but one meta concept emerges and this is heralded by Ethereal Armor. Some players could not sing enough praises on how powerful this single card is in Pauper Standard. 

This is a spin on one of the most famous decks that are making the rounds of the pauper scene:

9 X Plains

9 X Islands

4 X Azorius Guildgate

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22 Lands

3 X Azorius Arrester

3 X Wavecrash Triton

3 X Master of Diversion

3 X Nimbus Naiad

4 X Hopeful Eidolon

4 X Observant Alsied

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22 creatures

3 X Chosen by Heliod

4 X Ethereal Armor

4 X Pacifism

4 X Voyage's End

3 X Aqueous Form

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18 Spells

Sideboard:

4 X Celestial Flare

Now to start off I would like to state that this deck is not as powerful as Mono-white or the White/Green builds of this powerhouse concept. The mana curve is also a bit high since there are lot of 3 drops in the mix. So there I said it this deck may relatively suck however let me get to the good part. (and there is a good part...)

What the deck gives up in Mana Curve or in Power it makes up in Control of creatures on the battlefield. Detain and Tap effects are the main weapons here. With all the tapped or detained or bounced creatures this deck is basically a blue/ White Sligh deck. Though the power build up is slow the damage is sure to go through.

7 different enchantments and 3 of them creatures too that have the bestow mechanic. Casting these creatures is slow but since control is not an issue the delays are quite ok. 

Wavecrash Triton and his Heroic ability deals with your opponents creatures by tapping them until the next turn. Master of Diversion taps creatures when attacking as well. A single Ethereal Armor on any of these creatures spells doom. Since the enchantments themselves are the control like Pacifism this all adds up to the +1/+1 of the Ethereal armor. 

There is enough control here to go around and though a lot of players may go for the speedier decks this one particular build is solid all around.