{"ops":[{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"In the wake of high-power white decks such as Giada, Light-Paws, and Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, many players are longing for the good old days when white wasn't the format-shaping juggernaut it is now. Well what if I told you that it doesn't have to be? What if I told you that with a little hard work, you could play a commander from a simpler time, when commanders didn't have to be both the engine and the payoff? Now that I have your attention, allow me to explain the basic function of everyone's second favourite mono-white legendary creature from the Odyssey set, behind only the mighty Pianna, Nomad Captain. This is a primer for my favourite deck, Lieutenant Kirtar. If you’re looking for an unusual choice (I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Lieutenant Kirtar played in another deck, let alone as the commander), then look no further! Broadly speaking, Kirtar is a defensively-minded deck that takes advantage of white's legitimately impressive reanimation abilities to discourage combat, recur your creatures, and accrue value."},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":" You might like this deck if you enjoy:"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"Resilient decks that can get back up after a board wipe and keep on going."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"Decks with multiple pathways to victory."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"Grindy games in which you incrementally accrue value."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"Birds with arms."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"Commanders that are not only old enough to vote, but old enough to be crushed by student debt and which have already lost hope of ever owning their own house."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":" You probably won’t enjoy this deck if you enjoy:"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"Straightforward games without many decision points."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"Aggressive decks in which you push the pace of the game, rather than take a more reactive posture."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Commanders that are both engine and pay-off (this is neither)."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"Exclusively armless birds."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"COMMANDER: Lieutenant Kirtar is a cheap, evasive commander who can attack while acting as a powerful combat-deterrent. Exile is no joke, and when you can repeatedly recur your commander while permanently exiling their creatures, it makes you a difficult target for any deck that relies heavily on combat damage. You don't have to remove only creatures attacking you either, and if opponents attack one another, you can wait until combat damage is dealt and THEN remove an attacker."},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"CARD DRAW: Skullcamp, obviously, is one of the best cards in the deck, as it is in almost every deck. Tome of Legends is a fantastic engine too. your commander is always either attacking or entering the battlefield, and this can quickly accrue significant value. Mentor of the Meek is similarly great, along with his friends Welcoming Vampire and Tocasia's Welcome. The deck also includes a heavy component of small, cantrip creatures like Helpful Hunter and Wall of Omens which can chump block early and be recurred later for additional value."},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"RAMP: Mono-white has a number of options for catch-up ramp, but this deck uses only a few - Deep-Gnome Terramancer and Knight of the White Orchid are excellent, and Weathered Wayfarer allows you to find Emeria, which is an excellent recursion piece. The ramp package aims to take advantage of an evasive commander with Dowsing Dagger and Sword of the Animist."},{"insert":"\n\nREMOVAL: As much as possible, you want your removal to be recur-able, so Loran of the Third Path, Skyclace Apparition, and Cathar Commando are excellent options. Swords and Path provide extremely efficient removal, and you have a few board wipes in Dusk//Dawn (which is also recursion for most of the deck), Mass Calcify, and Kirtar's Wrath (mainly for theme reasons, but those spirits can hold a Strata Scythe too).\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"RECURSION: This is the crux of what we're doing. Cards like Karmic Guide, Sun Titan, Order of Whiteclay, Emeria Shepherd, and Emeria, The Sky Ruin make your threats difficult to remove permanently. You can recur your commander, your value pieces like the ramp options and draw options, or your key artifacts if they get removed. Once-off recursion spells like Brought Back and Helping Hand help as backup plans. It's not uncommon to have turns where a Karmic Guide will reanimate a Sun Titan, who in turn reanimates a Burnished Hart. Teshar is also one of the best cards in the deck."},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"WIN CONDITIONS: The deck has three main paths to victory. The first is to win through combat damage, often through the commander himself. Cards such as Blackblade Reforged and Strata Scythe. Luminarch Ascension can be a backup plan. Equipment can also be easily reattached if you have to sacrifice Kirtar to remove something, unlike auras. "},{"insert":"\n\nThe second path is with an infinite loop of Altar of Dementia, Karmic Guide, and Reveillark. I don't tend to run infinite combos in my decks unless all the pieces are good individually, and fortunately, all of these are excellent. The advantage of a graveyard-based combo like this is it's very resilient, and can often be reassembled even if some of the pieces get removed.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"The third path is Approach the Second Sun, which forces your opponents into action, and can help close out the game if you've already got a pretty good lock. This can be a good closer if you already have a Yosei lock in place - by equipping Yosei, The Morning Star with Blade of Selves, you can create two copies (in a 4-player game) which will then be sacrificed, tapping down lands and preventing two players from untapping . If you can sacrifice and recur your original Yosei in the same turn, you can effectively lock everyone out of the game."},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#000000"},"insert":"I hope you've enjoyed this primer! It’s not the most competitive deck, but it's unexpected, fun, resilient, and you're always doing something. Your opponents will likely never have even seen the card, let alone as a commander, so if you like style points it's a sure-fire hit. Let me know if you have any suggestions, but otherwise, hope you enjoy it!"},{"insert":"\n\n"}]}