White Weenie decks have long been in existence; they've gone through stages of all-out aggression and they've gone through stages where they play like a weenie-based control deck. Well, White Weenie has stayed around so long not because of its blinding speed — although Savannah Lion has yet to be matched — but because of the quality of creature choice. While White still lacks a creature as eminently qualified for Type 1 play as Morphling is, its creatures are extremely resilient for their often one toughness. The White Weenie isn't invincible, nor is it always the most efficient; but rather, it seems designed to tread the middle ground.

To effectively use the characteristics of White Weenies in Type 1 play, a deck must be built recognizing their limits and their strengths. There have been aggro-control weenie decks before, notably Counter-Sliver and Fish builds — but they suffer from obvious Blue hate, weak creatures, or bad mana. White Weenie offers the versatility of Slivers, but also gives you the strength of one color and all of its advantages in the same way that Fish does.

So White Weenie treads the middle ground of an aggressive front, backed by controlling elements. Unlike Slivers or Fish, this aggro-control deck is mono-colored and has resilient creatures. And though it may shock some, control does not have to rely on counterspells.

The control a White Weenie deck offers is the ability to destroy any permanent. There has been a lot of recent talk, for all formats, about Vindicate. It can destroy a permanent for three mana. While straight White cards may not be as versatile, a combination of White cards can accomplish the same thing, often with more powerful effects, or capable of being packed in greater redundancy. So you empower your tough weenies with the ability to destroy any permanent that might deter them, as well as some card drawing — another notable part of control — and the deck has a chance.

Again, White lacks the raw power of blue. White cannot pay one mana, use a single card, and draw the top three cards of its library. But what White can do is draw three lands, and do it every turn. Sure, Land Tax can be played around, but it is one of the greater, and unrestricted, card drawers in all of Magic. Not only can Land Tax act as an Land-cestral every turn... But short of Mana Severance, it's the best deck thinner as well. Combine the land-drawing powers of Land Tax with Scroll Rack, and lands turn into action cards at an alarming rate. A working Tax/Rack combination can outrun the fanciest Power-Ten-wielding, counterspell-casting, card-drawing machine. After all, they need land, and the White Weenie doesn't.

The most notable White versatility card in all of Magic is Disenchant. Disenchant happens to destroy almost any threat that can be dropped against a White Weenie deck. Disenchant destroys those Powder Kegs before they sweep at two; it destroys Cursed Scrolls that blow up Protected creatures; it kill neutralizing Moats; and it happens to stop a whole slew of other nonsense that can be aggravating or dangerous. Using what has been discussed above, a solid Type 1 White Weenie deck can be constructed. Choosing creatures and removal in a controlling fashion grants the deck versatility. A creature that can save another creature, protect itself, or even act as creature removal in addition to attacking for damage is a far better choice than the simple damage-dealing machine. Savannah Lions, on the other hand, is just too hard to ignore, if only because it is White's best one-drop, as well as a huge damage dealer against slower decks. For an aggro-control White Weenie, the best creature selection is thus:

4 Savannah Lions
4 White Knight
4 Soltari Priest
4 Soltari Monk
4 Warrior en-Kor

You've got ability after ability after resilience. The Protected creatures often lend themselves to the Warriors, or the Shadows sacrifice themselves for a recurring ground blocker. Twenty creatures are enough for the White Weenie. In order to provide sufficient control with the rest of the deck, creature space is tight, and often creatures will be sideboarded out for better control options.

In order to defend against the White Weenie's worst enemy, the artifacts and enchantments, a rather large number of Disenchant-style effects are required. Efficiency (as well as the ability to use tricks) allows for an artifact/enchantment removal build of:

3 Seal of Cleansing
2 Abolish

Five Disenchant effects may sound high... But as stated earlier, the Type 1 environment is chock full of nasty artifacts and enchantments. Though Wrath of God and Balance can be annoying, these five cards deal with the worst enemies. Redundancy allows for speed in saving the White Weenie deck from death.

To take full advantage of the Tax/Rack engine, the cards involved must be in high numbers to put it into place as soon as possible.

A good choice is:

4 Land Tax
3 Scroll Rack

While Scroll Rack can often be used to find Land Tax, the Tax can be cast before most of the actual weenies, and through deck thinning, is even better at finding the accompanying Scroll Rack. Land Tax also fuels the instant-speed Abolish when the opponent least suspects it. To complete the deck, some search and some additional removal spells are necessary:

1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Balance
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Zuran Orb

These cards round out the control abilities of the deck. The Tutor fetches Seals (note the high number of Seals, so you may use one and still Tutor for more), as well as the Tax or the Rack. The Orb is also fetchable and allows for easier matchups against faster decks, as well as allowing the White Weenie player to Tax against a careful opponent. The Balance is the safety feature of the deck, while the Swords stop a regenerating Masticore or any other threatening creature.

The last part of the deck is land:

1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
17 Plains

The Strip and Wastes provide some disruption, as well as dealing with powerful lands like Library of Alexandria and Tolarian Academy, as well as rounding out the overall removal capabilities of the deck. The rest of the lands are Plains for repeated Taxing, as well as to provide the double-white mana requirements of sixteen of the weenies in the deck.

This White Weenie deck is essentially a control deck that rides a quick creature to victory as opposed to the"traditional" control deck that rides a slow creature to victory. While playing against these traditional control decks an aggressive air is assumed — but against any other deck, you are merely denying the opponent threats through removal and gaining your own advantages through the Tax/Rack combination.

White Weenie is a unexpected deck, and can win games on that merit. As well, its controlling nature is often overlooked, and a well-built White Weenie deck can control a game that the opponent thought was simply be a race of creatures. The White Weenie deck is a solid choice for the P9-lacking Type 1 player, and can be a solid alternative even for those who do own the more expensive cards. The White Weenie deck has been around for such a long time because it has proven effective, and this build is no different. An impressive record against even the most expensive or powerful decks warrants White Weenie's inclusion in any Type 1 player's plans.

Just as the myths of Type 1 itself must be discarded, so must the myths of White Weenie. It is a powerful deck — and with more attention, the archetype can only improve.

Eric Spinelli