Innistrad is a realm filled with vampires, werewolves, demons, and numerous other nocturnal beings. Humans have managed to survive in this gothic horror setting of Magic: The Gathering, largely due to the valor of Cathars like Sir Odric, a church commander whose blood is as revered as holy water.
Odric, known as Lunarch Marshal, embodies the essence of a remarkable leader. Rather than solely seeking personal glory in battles, he empowers his followers, equipping them with the necessary tools to succeed. Far from being a lone hero, he shines as a general who thrives by leading a varied army.
Sample Decklist
Commander | |||
---|---|---|---|
Odric, Lunarch Marshal |
Creatures (24)
Aerial Responder | Akroma, Angel of Wrath | Akroma, Vision of Ixidor | Angelic Overseer |
---|---|---|---|
Bastion Protector | Battlefield Raptor | Brightblade Stoat | Crystalline Giant |
Danitha Capashen, Paragon | Fencing Ace | Healer’s Hawk | Knight of the White Orchid |
Lone Rider | Loyal Warhound | Odric, Master Tactician | Oketra the True |
Ruin-Lurker Bat | Segovian Angel | Shrike Force | Sire of Seven Deaths |
Speaker of the Heavens | Sun Titan | Wojek Investigator | Zetalpa, Primal Dawn |
Sorceries (7)
Austere Command | Emeria’s Call // Emeria, Shattered Skyclave | Gather the Townsfolk | Mass Calcify |
---|---|---|---|
Ondu Inversion // Ondu Skyruins | Ravnica at War | Wrath of God |
Instants (10)
Dawn’s Truce | Disenchant | Flawless Maneuver | Generous Gift |
---|---|---|---|
Graceful Reprieve | Path to Exile | Raise the Alarm | Reprieve |
Sejiri Shelter // Sejiri Glacier | Swords to Plowshares |
Artifacts (19)
Arcane Signet | Basilisk Collar | Chariot of Victory | Endless Atlas |
---|---|---|---|
Extraplanar Lens | Haunted Cloak | Kaldra Compleat | Lightning Greaves |
Loxodon Warhammer | Marble Diamond | Mind Stone | Mithril Coat |
Oketra’s Monument | Pearl Medallion | Sol Ring | Swiftfoot Boots |
Sword of the Animist | Sword of Vengeance | Throne of Eldraine |
Enchantments (5)
Cathar’s Crusade | Chivalric Alliance | Land Tax | Smothering Tithe |
---|---|---|---|
Twinblade Blessing |
Lands (34)
Castle Ardenvale | Demolition Field | Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire | Emeria, the Sky Ruin |
---|---|---|---|
Idyllic Grange | Minas Tirith | Myriad Landscape | Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx |
Plains (23) | Secluded Steppe | War Room | Windbrisk Heights |
The Commander
Odric, Lunarch Marshal, is the second version of this character, following his original iteration as Odric, Master Tactician. While the first version allowed for greater control over the battlefield, Lunarch Marshal transforms your mismatched ranks into a formidable fighting force.
As a 3/3 legendary Human Soldier costing three generic and one white mana, Odric isn’t particularly strong on his own. However, whenever you control a creature with one of the keywords he recognizes, he imparts that keyword to every other creature under your command. He focuses on several key abilities, including trample, deathtouch, flying, lifelink, and indestructible, among others:
- Deathtouch
- Double Strike
- First Strike
- Flying
- Haste
- Hexproof
- Indestructible
- Lifelink
- Menace
- Reach
- Skulk
- Trample
- Vigilance
His capacity to distribute keyword abilities means he is most effective leading a diverse array of creatures that bring a variety of skills to the table. For example, spellcasting a 1/1 Angel with flying and first strike for one white mana is decent; however, bestowing all of your creatures with those abilities for a single mana is extraordinary, especially as you continue to drop more creatures.
Building the Deck
Odric, Lunarch Marshal highlights the significance of diversity: if all your creatures share only a couple of abilities, Odric will be ineffective, and there will be no synergy. In contrast, when each creature contributes something unique, the entire battlefield can flourish!
Thus, while it may be tempting to concentrate on one or two abilities, you’ll gain the greatest advantage by acquiring an assortment of valuable keyword abilities. These can come from a handful of powerful creatures with multiple keyword skills, like Akroma, Angel of Wrath, or from numerous smaller, cost-effective creatures with a couple of useful keywords, such as Battlefield Raptor.
With this commander in play, your deck functions similarly to a Sliver deck, where each creature boosts the threat level of the others. Unlike Slivers, which can be disliked by many players, a mono-white setup might go unnoticed, granting you a chance to assemble your strategy. Remember that while you can stack many keyword abilities, some are inherently more advantageous. For instance, a creature with both double strike and first strike doesn’t gain additional benefits; thus, double strike is the superior choice. When in doubt, prioritize the more impactful abilities.
Finally, it’s crucial to keep in mind that Odric only distributes abilities at the start of combat. If an opponent casts Wrath of God during their first main phase, your entire army could vanish. Therefore, you’ll need some protective measures for your creatures and methods to handle potential threats.
Ramp
Though white lacks numerous options to accelerate its mana production, it has several ways to stay competitive, even when facing green players who are ramping quickly. Land Tax allows you to fetch three basic lands to add to your hand whenever an opponent has more lands than you, ensuring you won’t miss a land drop while thinning your deck and providing fodder for Chivalric Alliance’s discard effects.
Both Knight of the White Orchid and Loyal Warhound let you search for a basic Plains when they enter the battlefield, putting it directly onto the field tapped. This will only activate when an opponent controls more lands, so timing is essential. Play these before laying down your own land, or wait for an opponent to pull ahead.
When you equip Sword of the Animist to any creature and attack, it enables you to look for a basic land and bring it into play. Doing so may require you to charge into unsafe territory to collect that Plains.
Cards That Provide Similar Effects
Bitterthorn, Nissa’s Animus has a comparable effect but comes with higher casting and equip costs. The silver lining is that it creates a 0/0 Germ token to attach to. We opted for Sword of the Animist to keep the mana curve tight, but either can be used effectively.
Extraplanar Lens might set you back one land initially, but given the deck’s ramping options, this should not be problematic. You’ll need to exile a Plains upon casting, but in return, all of your Plains will produce double mana. Keep in mind that this effect benefits all players using Plains at your table, making it a decent card if your friends often feature mono-white in their decks.
Additional Tips for Optimizing Your Lands
Extraplanar Lens checks for the name of the exiled card, so you can use Snow-Covered Plains instead of regular ones to prevent opponents from gaining any advantage from it.
Most of these options won’t get you ahead in the mana race, so why not lower your mana curve instead? Almost every spell in the deck is white, making Pearl Medallion highly effective, reducing the cost of all white spells by one colorless mana. It doesn’t tap, making it more efficient than mana rocks like Mind Stone.
Oketra’s Monument likewise lowers your mana curve but is exclusive to white creatures. Still, with nearly a quarter of the deck being white, it shines. Moreover, it generates additional creature tokens, producing a 1/1 Warrior token with vigilance every time you cast a creature spells.
Card Draw Options
Similar to ramp, white often struggles with effective card draw but does provide a few means to stay competitive, along with several rewards for maintaining your land balance. Wojek Investigator makes an ideal addition to Odric, Lunarch Marshal with its dual keyword abilities and drawing potential. During each upkeep, it generates Clue tokens that you can sacrifice later to draw cards.
To maximize your Clue production, keep an eye on your opponents. You can crack Clue tokens before your turn starts as long as you possess one fewer card than your next lowest opponent, which will enable you to gain three additional Clue tokens. However, if you draw too many cards, that will negate your ability to generate fresh Clue tokens.
You can also spend two mana to tap Endless Atlas but only if you control at least three lands of the same name. This strategy works efficiently in a mono-colored deck, where it’s easy to gather matching basic lands. Use your ramp finesses to get several Plains into play, then start drawing cards.
The deck avoids relying on combos or other unconventional win conditions. Instead, it banks on traditional combat damage. Since you’ll want to attack frequently with your vigilant creatures, Chivalric Alliance continually adds cards to your hand, providing discard options for any surplus lands you acquire through Land Tax.
Minas Tirith offers a similar reward but necessitates some investment: It can generate white mana and allows you to draw a card by tapping it, but only after you pay two mana and attack with at least two creatures that turn.
War Room and Throne of Eldraine easily integrate into most mono-colored decks. For three generic mana and at the cost of one life, you can tap War Room to draw a card. Keep in mind that the life cost scales with the number of colors in your commander’s identity; however, for this mono-white Odric, you only need to pay one life.
Throne of Eldraine serves a dual purpose as both a mana rock for casting white spells and a draw engine. For three white mana, you can draw two cards, which is exceptional value for a mono-white deck.
Power Words
Odric, Lunarch Marshal enhances his battlefield every time a creature possesses any of his listed keyword abilities. While many creatures might have one or two, a selection boasts multiple abilities that can magnify your entire battlefield at once. For instance, Akroma, Angel of Wrath was among the early "keyword soup" creatures. With flying, first strike, trample, haste, and vigilance, she possesses a staggering range of keyword abilities that Odric can amplify, featuring protection from red and black.
Akroma, Vision of Ixidor sacrifices haste for an ability that grants +1/+1 for each keyword a creature shares with her. Ten of her keywords overlap with Odric’s, providing a collective boost of +4/+4 to all creatures under your control each turn.
On the other hand, Sire of Seven Deaths has an even broader array of keywords, matching six from Odric’s list, thereby empowering your entire army in a remarkable way. Although it lacks built-in protection, opponents are compelled to sacrifice seven life to target it, offering a considerable deterrent.
Crystalline Giant begins the game without any keywords, but during your combat phases, it accumulates abilities from a list of ten, nine of which are keyword abilities. Given Odric’s ability to amplify those skills, you can play Crystalline Giant ahead of your commander and gain up to two random keywords before bringing Odric into play.
Conclusion: Safe Board Wipes
Since Odric benefits from indestructibility, several cards in the deck can safely provide that ability to any creature, enabling you to play various board wipes without concern!
Ondu Inversion destroys all nonland permanents. While it toasts all of your own artifacts and enchantments, you can ensure your creatures are indestructible with Odric and Mithril Coat by your second main phase, allowing you to rebuild your board afterward.
Mass Calcify targets all nonwhite creatures, potentially wiping both your Sire of Seven Deaths and Crystalline Giant, while leaving your opponent’s white and multicolor creatures untouched.
Conversely, Ravnica at War destroys only multicolored permanents; while less effective than your other board wipes, it guarantees your own creatures remain safe while hitting some commonly-used commanders.