Mtgolibrary

Prince of the Paupers-Say your Prayers

For as long as I've had a MTGO account, my favorite format has been Pauper. Pauper is Magic in its purest form, not just rewarding ingenuity, outright demanding it. No relying on expensive duals or overpowered planeswalkers, just you, a fistful of commons, and every drop you can squeeze out of them.

One such deck I ended up liking so much I rebuilt it in paper Magic. It's not for everyone, but if you enjoy playing with a tight defense, wars of attrition, or just straight-up greifing, mono-white Clerics might just be worth a shot. The premise of the deck is simple; abuse defensive cleric tribal abilities to build an airtight defense (and royally piss off your opponent) then slowly grind the other guy to death with one point potshots and a few clobbers from the Daunting Defenders. The creatures seem weak and innocuous alone until the game slams shut like a portcullis. It's a very slow, unforgiving deck, but you've got all the time in the world when you're sitting pretty behind a walking wall of "Hell no, we won't go."

Battlefield Medic Daru Spiritualist Whipgrass Entangler Daunting Defender

These are the core clerics, the backbone of your defensive line, the guys who will make your opponent reeeally hate their life. The Medics can absorb a surprising amount of damage on their own just by blocking and tapping (targeting themselves), but paired up with Defenders and/or Spiritualists they become nigh-impenetrable. The Spiritualists are there primarily to absorb burn spells, but in a fit of desperation you can Whipgrass your own creature and pump its toughness sky-high. The other eight clerics are largely player's choice. I recommend Soul Wardens/Attendants. Order of Leitbur is a great offensive option, and Starlight Invoker functions as a defensive wall until she can actually mitigate quite a bit of damage in the upper mana ranges. Finally, round it out with 12-16 other spells. Since you're not exactly going to be dominating the red zone, favor efficient removal and protection instants.

The version I use looks something like this:

x23 Plains

x4 Battlefield Medic

x4 Daru Spiritualist

x4 Whipgrass Entangler

x4 Daunting Defender

x4 Soul Warden

x 2 Starlight Invoker

x2 Soul's Attendant

x4 Oblivion Ring

x3 Blinding Beam

x2 Razor Barrier

x2 Unmake

x2 Journey to Nowhere