Liliana the FaultlessLiliana the Faultless | Art by Marta Nael

Friendly greetings and welcome to the simulation! I'm either John Sherwood, or I'm another John Sherwood. Reality Fracture is just around the corner, and I'm getting ready for a highly anticipated, original Magic set by brewing one of the previewed legends: Liliana the FaultlessLiliana the Faultless.

"All mistakes can be fixed. Even you."

That's just mean, and a little ironic.

Liliana the FaultlessLiliana the Faultless is the alternate-reality Liliana Vess from Jace's ill-conceived, remade multiverse. As a soul sister with a little upside, she's a great fit in the 99 of any deck that already wants Soul WardenSoul Warden. So what about that little upside? Granting hexproof is fine, but nothing on this card screams command zone. She's functionally a vanilla 1/1 by herself. That's a feature, not a bug. I love commanders that make players work for it.

I built a Bracket 2 deck around the cost of Liliana's activated ability, which includes the instruction: "discard a card." Discarding cards is a fundamental enabler for graveyard decks, especially in a color without mill or EntombEntomb. The alternate-universe version of Magic's most recognizable necromancer might be mono-white, but she's still keyed to fit in a Reanimator shell.

Discarding is Good

Unfortunately, using Liliana as a discard outlet requires another creature or planeswalker to target. The requirement to control another creature is a minor inconvenience in the early game, when a Reanimator deck wants to devote as many actions as possible to filling the graveyard. Fortunately, I found a way to overcome that inconvenience while building in some discard redundancy.

Although Liliana's creature types are Human and Cleric, her activated ability shares a template with a long-neglected creature type: Spellshaper.

Two mana and a card is a steep price to pay for three life. On the other hand, three life is a favorable side effect when discarding the card is the real objective. Since Tonic PeddlerTonic Peddler can target any player, it will never lack a target the way Liliana might.

Another Spellshaper, Devout Witness provides repeatable artifact and enchantment removal. Thanks to discarding as part of the activation cost, this DisenchantDisenchant on a stick can put gas in our own graveyard while disrupting an opponent's board.

Remember, discarding cards is good. Discard outlets move reanimation targets from hand to the graveyard, setting up to cheat mana costs later.

Leverage the Cleanup Step

Don't forget, every deck has access to a discard outlet baked into the rules: maximum hand size. Good decks don't waste slots on Reliquary TowerReliquary Tower, because every card above seven is going to be accessible in the graveyard anyway.

Sadly, mono-white struggles to achieve grips of eight or more. White draw tends to be grossly expensive like Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel or lame like Secret RendezvousSecret Rendezvous. So how does mono-white leverage the cleanup step without overspending or group hugging?

Catch-up land tutors like Gift of EstatesGift of Estates and Oreskos ExplorerOreskos Explorer can easily push cards in hand above maximum. In which case another rule works in our favor: the limitation to play one land per turn. Filling a hand with extra lands yields a twofold benefit. First, it makes sure the deck hits its land drops; second, it creates an opportunity to discard a creature for later resurrection.

So what creatures are we reanimating, and how?

Reanimation Targets

This deck's mana curve is top-heavy by design, but mana value is trivial when the whole point of the deck is to cheat the costs.

I wanted this deck to include some of the game's simpler pleasures, like ruthlessly attacking. Akroma, Angel of WrathAkroma, Angel of Wrath lives up to her title, with enough keywords and power to punish any unprepared defending player. There's no subtlety or nuance here, just pure, righteous fury aimed at an opponent's face.

An alternate win condition as easy as Felidar SovereignFelidar Sovereign might induce some groans around the table. However, it's a natural fit with a commander passively gaining life. Opponents can roll their eyes as much as they want. Pitching a Felidar Sovereign into the graveyard to bring back later is a slow, telegraphed win. This is Bracket 2 prime.

Scavenged BrawlerScavenged Brawler is one of my favorite cards I've never played with. I'm excited to find a home for it here. It's flexible: threatening other players by itself, or pumping another threat.

Although flash is a little harder to use out of the graveyard, everything else on this Angel is exactly what the Cleric ordered. Herald of Eternal DawnHerald of Eternal Dawn hits hard and stops other players from taking the game. There's inevitability in those sunlit wings, daring your opponents to find an answer or lose.

In a similar vein, Archon of CoronationArchon of Coronation can stave off the most common cause of player death long enough to wear down opponents through attrition. Putting the monarch in play is the cherry on top. Every game I've ever played with monarch was better for it, even if I couldn't hold onto it.

White Necromancy

White trails significantly behind black for the most efficient graveyard recursion with one notable exception: Emeria, the Sky RuinEmeria, the Sky Ruin. There's absolutely no downside to including it in any mono-white deck for incidental value. In a dedicated graveyard deck, it's essential.

Simply by counting Plains we would have played anyway, Emeria resurrects one creature on our upkeep. This deck is already on the back foot for lack of black, so I feel no shame for including Expedition MapExpedition Map, World MapWorld Map, and Urza's CaveUrza's Cave to find it. I didn't stop there either. Thespian's StageThespian's Stage, VesuvaVesuva, and Echoing DeepsEchoing Deeps are in the deck to duplicate Emeria.

Sorceries make up a good chunk of the deck's recursive effects.

ResurrectionResurrection is the original white reanimate, first printed in Alpha. Breath of LifeBreath of Life does the same thing, and it's easier to cast. Late to DinnerLate to Dinner goes one step further, adding upside in the form of a Food token.

Next, one of my favorite spells in the deck is Death or GloryDeath or Glory.

This card can play politics, allowing opportunities for collaboration against common enemies. Alternatively, it imposes a dilemma for an opponent to choose the threats that will soon be pointed at them. Whether as a promise or threat, it's pure fun.

Reanimate the Reanimators

Some of white's best reanimation effects are creatures themselves, meaning they are both reanimators and targets for reanimation. They work together, resurrecting their friends via triggered or activated abilities. Karmic GuideKarmic Guide has an enters effect. Guardian ScalelordGuardian Scalelord does it on attack. Sun TitanSun Titan does both.

My personal favorites are three Angels: Adarkar ValkyrieAdarkar Valkyrie, Emeria ShepherdEmeria Shepherd, and Reya DawnbringerReya Dawnbringer.

Admittedly, Adarkar Valkyrie is restrictive compared to the others. Its activated ability is reactive to a creature dying. Still, the effect is good enough that it became the template for a whole family of black instants, starting with Supernatural StaminaSupernatural Stamina. Anything that can bring creatures back without paying more mana is going to add up over the course of a game.

Both of these creatures can bring any other creature back from the dead. Emeria Shepherd can even bring back other permanent types if needed. Since it's a landfall trigger, it's possible for this engine to run out of gas. Conveniently, the multiple land tutors mentioned previously can help mitigate that issue.

Finally, Reya returns a creature to life on your upkeep. The wording is identical to Emeria, the Sky Ruin, minus the requirement to control seven Plains. She is a solid reanimator commander in her own right. Just not for this deck. In this deck, Reya completes what Liliana started.

The Deck List: Liliana the Faultless Reanimator

Make No Mistake

At this point, Reality Fracture is about a month away. I'm hoping to see some previews with more white discard outlets. Maybe Liliana the FaultlessLiliana the Faultless is a one-of with her Spellshaper-coded ability. Either way, brewing this deck was a lot of fun, and I hope it helps you find inspiration for your next build.

What are you excited for with Reality Fracture around the corner? What would you do differently with this deck? Is there a totally different direction you would take with Liliana in the command zone? Let me know in the comments.