Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Sigarda, Heron's Grace




Sigarda has been a bit maligned. The fact that she's a 5 mana commander that doesn't protect herself is a bit awkward. Her abilities also seem a bit odd. Ostensibly she's protecting her tokens, but 1/1s generally aren't the target of spells or abilities beyond Goblin Sharpshooter. There's an underlying strength to her though that I think people are looking past. She combines an effective hate ability, hexproofing yourself, with a solid token generation ability. She doesn't ask much for either, and if you go big on mana doesn't have to be in play long to get you an army.

One of the reasons I held off on Sigarda is that I think she only functions if she's backed up by legacy level cards, specifically Gaea's Cradle. However, with the recent release of Eternal Masters, I thought I'd celebrate with a couple of lists that are a bit more expensive. Sigarda was a prime candidate since she scales really well into the amount of money you spend on her. The two lists presented are a more normal ramp and tokens list that leans more heavily on tokens and lands. The second is a hate list that takes advantage of Sigarda's ability to protect human lock pieces and giving you protection. There was a third list that I had originally planned on, which took advantage of the fact that most Enchantresses are humans. However, that list felt weaker than the version built around Sigarda, Host of Herons.

Sigarda Tokens: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/19-05-16-sigarda/

This list has many different axis. With 40 lands, Crucible/LftL/Restore/KotR/etc, the deck can play a solid Land's game of incremental advantage. With Sigarda and the token support, the deck plays a solid Token's game. It combines several different parts to form a deck resistant to disruption that gets ahead on mana and ends the game with huge plays.

Token Support:


Anthems and ways to eat tokens for value.

Lands:

Some of the lands that the deck is built around and other lands based ramp. Knight is a great engine.

Ramp:

The deck is built around lands and eschews artifact ramp. I didn't put Null Rod/Stony Silence in this shell, but its set up in such a way that you could slot it in without a hitch.

Value:


Card advantage engines and value creatures to smooth out some of the deck's rough patches.

Tutors:


A suite of tutors to find what you need. 

Sigarda Hate: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/sigarda-hate/
Hate decks tend to include white since cards like stony silence and rest in peace and quite strong. Pairing with green means that you can still ramp efficiently with creatures. Sigarda has a relevant hate ability, giving you Leyline of Sanctity. It so happens that several hate bears are humans, like Containment Priest and Ethersworn Cannonist. Extending the hexproof to a few high impact creatures. The tokens don't get a lot of support in this list, but they're mostly to suppliment Sigarda's aggression and help close out games. There's some anti-synergy, as there is in most hate decks. For the most part you just play efficient creatures and try to beat people to death.

Humans:


Hate:


Mana:


Tutor:


Misc: