Grandeur: one of those fun Future Sight abilities that hasn't gone anywhere...at least, not yet. To date, only one card in each color uses it. But that doesn't mean we can't try building around it!
Long-time Magic players know the Samite, famous clerics and healers, perhaps best remembered for Orim, member of Gerrald's Weatherlight crew. One of her descendants is white's Grandeur champion: Oriss, Samite Guardian. And she's very Samite in her abilities:
"{T}: Prevent all damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn."
Whoa. There are many white creatures, Samite and otherwise, that prevent small amounts of damage, but preventing ALL of it is huge.
And then there's her "ultimate", the Grandeur ability:
"Grandeur — Discard another card named Oriss, Samite Guardian: Target player can't cast spells this turn, and creatures that player controls can't attack this turn."
So, basically shut the opponent down for a full turn. Land drop, aaaaaaaand... uh... pass.
I'd love to see someone REALLY break that by splashing in black or green and getting copies of Oriss back from the graveyard, but I'm trying really hard to keep these Grandeur decks mono-colored, so the best we can do is Remember the Fallen.
But that's okay, because we have lots of ways to shut the opponent down. All three modes of Dawn Charm mess around with the opponent's plans, but you'll probably find yourself using the combat damage prevention one the most. Grand Abolisher prevents them from playing anything during your turn, and Silence keeps them from playing anything at all. Path to Exile zaps creatures they do manage to get out, and Brave the Elements protects your own.
Then you swing in with an Angel army of Serra Avengers, Angel of Jubilation, and Entreated angels and human followers while the opponent fumes with a hand full of cards they can't use.
Since Oriss is a Cleric, the sideboard features a bunch of other Clerics that work well defending (Order of the Stars), attacking (Frontline Medic, who's sacrifice can also shut down key X-costed spells), shutting down non-creature decks (Thalia, Guardian of Thraben), and Battletide Alchemist to tie them all together. Nevermore takes away their most prized spells entirely, and Rootborn Defenses keeps them from wiping out your creatures when they fall behind (and can populate Heliod tokens as a bonus!).
What do you think? Any cards you can think of to beef up the control even more, or make Oriss even more repeatable? Any constructive comments will net you +1 rep points. Thanks in advance!
If you like this idea, check out my other Grandeur decks:
Green: http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/delusions-of-grandeur-baru
Black: http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/delusions-of-grandeur-korlash
Blue: http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/delusions-of-grandeur-linessa
Red: http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/delusions-of-grandeur-tarox