Bant Knights

So I mentioned in a previous post that I'd de-sleeved the Bant deck, as I'm now rather disinterested in Standard, and will be, for the time being, devoting my time to Drafting instead. No longer in need of a competative Standard deck, I put my hard-earned Lotus Cobras to work elsewhere, but that left Rafiq and Co. similarly unemployed.

After standing in line at the unemployment office for the better part of the morning, Rafiq decided he was to awesome to subsist on handouts from the government and stormed out. He went and recruited his previous companions, Knight of the Reliquary and Noble Heirarch and together they all came to me and humbly requested that I reassign them all to a new deck, rather than relegating them to the "unemployment binder". And by "humbly requested" I mean that Rafiq threatened to Double Strike me into next week if I didn't comply. Seeing as how they all have served me well in the past, and I've never been disappointed in their performances in the past, I decided not to lay them off after all.

In a fitting coincidence, I had also decided to downsize another deck. My mono-W Knight deck was getting a bit stale to me, mostly because it wasn't suitable for multiplayer and that's about all I play lately. I always intended to do something more with that deck, and with the release of Elspeth vs Tezzeret my attention focused toward Soldiers as my mono-W tribal deck of choice. I didn't think I really needed to mono-W, tribaly-themed White Weenie decks at the same time.

As much as I love Knight Exemplar, and the rest of her team, I decided to close the Knight branch and keep Soldiers operational.

Around the time Rafiq was fuming about the long lines at the unemployment office, Knight Exemplar was beseeching me to keep her Knights employed. I told her I'd see what I could do, but I was just placating her at that point. I really did want to help her, but I just couldn't support two decks that were essentially the same. Besides which I couldn't keep the two branches from fighting over my limited quantity of Path to Exiles.

So Exemplar shut up and left me alone for a while, but then Rafiq and his Many came calling begging for their jobs back. I was getting fed up at this point, and was preparing to give them all a good "Fuck off!" when I suddenly noticed something on Rafiq's Type line. He is a Legendary Creature - Human Knight. Knight of the Reliquary... also a Knight. Noble Heirarch... not a Knight, but she's still pretty damn awesome.

Suddenly I had visions of 4/4 Indestructible Rafiqs, Indestructible Knight of the Reliquarys, Indestructible... well you get the picture. Court Hussar popped up in my head and reminded me that he was a Knight in the appropriate colors for Bant, and the oft-overlooked Knotvine Paladin dropped by to offer his services as well. Soon I had a bevy of W/B/G Knights clamoring for jobs.

I couldn't hire everyone, unfortunately, but here's the team I put together after interviewing for several days:

4 Noble Heirarch
4 Knotvine Paladin
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
3 Court Hussar
4 Knight Exemplar
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Rafiq of the Many

I supplied them with the bare minimum of tools, but most Knights are perfectly happy to work with their hands and they seem to get the job done without a lot of gadgetry. Nevertheless I generously budgeted the following expenses:

3 Path to Exile
3 Finest Hour
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

And here is where they work:

1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Sunpetal Grove
2 Wooded Bastion
2 Celestial Colonnade
1 Stirring Wildwood
2 Sejiri Steppe
5 Forest
3Plains
2 Island

So yeah, I just did a quick renovation job on the old Mythic Conscription Co. building, so it's a little wonky. Still, it's a place to work, and Knights are generally too proud to complain. I promised them I would continue to improve the workplace as long as they continued to kick ass in an efficient manner, and without racking up too much overtime.

A few of the applicants were sidelined and Sigiled Paladin in particular was shocked he didn't make the cut. He's from Bant, has Exalted and is a Knight, what more could I want? I'd love to try to find a spot for him with our organization though, perhaps I can rearrange some of the personnel and find a place for him. 

Knight of New Alara has some pretty impressive credentials as well. Pumping Rafiq to 6/6 before any Exalted triggers is pretty potent stuff, but he insisted on a salary of 4 mana, and wouldn't take less. It might be worth it, but I have far too many mono-colored creatures for him to be worth 4 mana.

Steward of Valeron tried out, but despite being a mana-producing Knight, he just didn't do the Noble Heirarch job nearly as efficiently as she does it, and she comes in to work a full turn earlier. Sorry Steward, but your work ethic is just a bit sloppy.

Student of Warfare turned in a short but commendable resume. Not a lot of OTJ experience, but he is obviously a fast learner. He is a still just a Student after all, so I didn't think he'd work out with all the more experienced Knights. I assured him I might be able to offer him a paid internship with another deck in the near future though, so he's waiting in the wings.

So, that's the story, and the Knight business is up and running. We're in the business of Kicking Ass and honey, business is booming!