Today's planeswalker may not guarantee a quick win, but we'll talk a little bit more about how his persistence pays off.
Make sure to apply the same philosophy if you need to catch up on the Planeswalker Deck Project! The first article is linked below.
Although many thought it a bit underpowered, I thought Dovin Baan was a fantastic example of what a Blue/White Control Planeswalker might look like. Remember, up until this point the other Blue/White walkers we'd seen so far were fairly heavily thematic, with Venser the Sojourner heavily incentivizing creatures with enter-the-battlefield triggers and Narset Transcendent making it hard to play with many creatures.
Dovin is a little simpler. He's good with almost any strategy—he's just gonna help keep you alive and eke out some value here and there. So if that's the case, and there isn't nearly as much of a clear direction, how best to employ it and the cards around it?
I settled on inspiration from Dovin's ultimate ability, trying to build around tapping things down and controlling the board until we can slowly squeeze out the opponent.
Let's take a nice, long, slow look at Dovin's list:
Magic: The Gathering TCG Deck - Dovin Baan by Andy Hurst
'Dovin Baan' - constructed deck list and prices for the Magic: The Gathering Trading Card Game from TCGplayer Infinite!
Created By: Andy Hurst
Event:
Rank:
Freeform (Casual)
Market Price: $15.45
Rout
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $0.37
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/236104_200w.jpg
You may cast Rout as though it had flash if you pay {2} more to cast it. (You may cast it any time you could cast an instant.)
Destroy all creatures. They can't be regenerated.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/236104/magic-commander-2021-rout
Arashin Cleric
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $0.07
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/95362_200w.jpg
When Arashin Cleric enters the battlefield, you gain 3 life.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/95362/magic-fate-reforged-arashin-cleric
Samite Archer
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.17
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/7636_200w.jpg
{T}: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to any target this turn.
{T}: Samite Archer deals 1 damage to any target.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/7636/magic-invasion-samite-archer
Jhessian Balmgiver
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.13
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/28554_200w.jpg
{T}: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to any target this turn.
{T}: Target creature can't be blocked this turn.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/28554/magic-conflux-jhessian-balmgiver
Ixalan's Binding
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $0.20
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/144817_200w.jpg
When Ixalan's Binding enters the battlefield, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until Ixalan's Binding leaves the battlefield. Your opponents can't cast spells with the same name as the exiled card.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/144817/magic-ixalan-ixalans-binding
Dovin Baan
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.98
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/122874_200w.jpg
+1: Until your next turn, up to one target creature gets -3/-0 and its activated abilities can't be activated. −1: You gain 2 life and draw a card. −7: You get an emblem with "Your opponents can't untap more than two permanents during their untap steps."
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/122874/magic-kaladesh-dovin-baan
Dissipate
Color Identity:U
Market Price: $0.05
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/247900_200w.jpg
Counter target spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/247900/magic-innistrad-midnight-hunt-dissipate
Altar's Light
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $0.11
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/11325_200w.jpg
Exile target artifact or enchantment.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/11325/magic-mirrodin-altars-light
Renewed Faith
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $0.10
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/161569_200w.jpg
You gain 6 life.
Cycling {1}{W} ({1}{W}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
When you cycle Renewed Faith, you may gain 2 life.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/161569/magic-masters-25-renewed-faith
Supreme Will
Color Identity:U
Market Price: $0.05
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/226292_200w.jpg
Choose one —
• Counter target spell unless its controller pays {3}.
• Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/226292/magic-commander-legends-supreme-will
Wall of Denial
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $1.64
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/128940_200w.jpg
Defender, flying Shroud (This creature can't be the target of spells or abilities.)
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/128940/magic-modern-masters-2017-wall-of-denial
Flood Plain
Market Price: $0.11
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/244007_200w.jpg
Flood Plain enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}, Sacrifice Flood Plain: Search your library for a Plains or Island card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/244007/magic-commander-adventures-in-the-forgotten-realms-flood-plain
Island
Color Identity:U
Market Price: $0.05
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/215718_200w.jpg
({T}: Add {U}.)Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/215718/magic-core-set-2021-island-265
Azorius Guildmage
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.23
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/47433_200w.jpg
{2}{W}: Tap target creature.
{2}{U}: Counter target activated ability. (Mana abilities can't be targeted.)Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/47433/magic-commander-azorius-guildmage
Coalition Honor Guard
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $0.09
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/118612_200w.jpg
While an opponent is choosing targets as part of casting a spell they control or activating an ability they control, that player must choose at least one Flagbearer on the battlefield if able.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/118612/magic-eternal-masters-coalition-honor-guard
Farm // Market
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.02
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/196568_200w.jpg
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/196568/magic-commander-2019-farm-market
Cloudblazer
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.10
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/243966_200w.jpg
Flying When Cloudblazer enters the battlefield, you gain 2 life and draw two cards.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/243966/magic-commander-adventures-in-the-forgotten-realms-cloudblazer
Curse of Chains
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.29
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/18601_200w.jpg
Enchant creature At the beginning of each upkeep, tap enchanted creature.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/18601/magic-shadowmoor-curse-of-chains
Scrabbling Claws
Market Price: $0.09
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/183220_200w.jpg
{T}: Target player exiles a card from their graveyard.
{1}, Sacrifice Scrabbling Claws: Exile target card from a graveyard. Draw a card.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/183220/magic-ravnica-allegiance-scrabbling-claws
Plumeveil
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.11
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/180909_200w.jpg
Flash Defender, flying
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/180909/magic-ultimate-masters-plumeveil
Tranquil Cove
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.10
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/231284_200w.jpg
Tranquil Cove enters the battlefield tapped.
When Tranquil Cove enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life.
{T}: Add {W} or {U}.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/231284/magic-commander-kaldheim-tranquil-cove
Yosei, the Morning Star
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $3.35
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/145281_200w.jpg
Flying When Yosei, the Morning Star dies, target player skips their next untap step. Tap up to five target permanents that player controls.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/145281/magic-iconic-masters-yosei-the-morning-star
Meandering River
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.09
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/231248_200w.jpg
Meandering River enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add {W} or {U}.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/231248/magic-commander-kaldheim-meandering-river
Plains
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $0.04
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/242996_200w.jpg
({T}: Add {W}.)Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/242996/magic-adventures-in-the-forgotten-realms-plains-263
Second Thoughts
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $0.03
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/118637_200w.jpg
Exile target attacking creature. Draw a card.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/118637/magic-eternal-masters-second-thoughts
Reflector Mage
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.41
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/110807_200w.jpg
When Reflector Mage enters the battlefield, return target creature an opponent controls to its owner's hand. That creature's owner can't cast spells with the same name as that creature until your next turn.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/110807/magic-oath-of-the-gatewatch-reflector-mage
Think Twice
Color Identity:U
Market Price: $0.05
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/233514_200w.jpg
Draw a card.
Flashback {2}{U} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/233514/magic-time-spiral-remastered-think-twice
Verity Circle
Color Identity:U
Market Price: $0.15
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/254210_200w.jpg
Whenever a creature an opponent controls becomes tapped, if it isn't being declared as an attacker, you may draw a card.
{4}{U}: Tap target creature without flying.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/254210/magic-commander-innistrad-crimson-vow-verity-circle
Opportunity
Color Identity:U
Market Price: $0.07
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/167873_200w.jpg
Target player draws four cards.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/167873/magic-battlebond-opportunity
Sigiled Starfish
Color Identity:U
Market Price: $0.06
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/216410_200w.jpg
{T}: Scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom of your library.)Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/216410/magic-jumpstart-sigiled-starfish
Serra Angel
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $0.09
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/216563_200w.jpg
Flying, vigilance
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/216563/magic-jumpstart-serra-angel
Prahv, Spires of Order
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.23
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/13915_200w.jpg
{T}: Add {C}.
{4}{W}{U}, {T}: Prevent all damage a source of your choice would deal this turn.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/13915/magic-dissension-prahv-spires-of-order
Court Hussar
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.05
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/161804_200w.jpg
Vigilance
When Court Hussar enters the battlefield, look at the top three cards of your library, then put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
When Court Hussar enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless {W} was spent to cast it.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/161804/magic-masters-25-court-hussar
Foresee
Color Identity:U
Market Price: $0.03
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/233788_200w.jpg
Scry 4, then draw two cards.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/233788/magic-time-spiral-remastered-foresee
Wall of Swords
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $0.10
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/69956_200w.jpg
Defender (This creature can't attack.) Flying
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/69956/magic-magic-2014-m14-wall-of-swords
Journey to Nowhere
Color Identity:W
Market Price: $1.00
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/47460_200w.jpg
When Journey to Nowhere enters the battlefield, exile target creature. When Journey to Nowhere leaves the battlefield, return the exiled card to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/47460/magic-commander-journey-to-nowhere
Star Compass
Market Price: $1.03
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/145450_200w.jpg
Star Compass enters the battlefield tapped.
{T}: Add one mana of any color that a basic land you control could produce.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/145450/magic-iconic-masters-star-compass
Fall of the Gavel
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.06
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/66562_200w.jpg
Counter target spell. You gain 5 life.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/66562/magic-return-to-ravnica-fall-of-the-gavel
Azorius Charm
Color Identity:U,W
Market Price: $0.29
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/145459_200w.jpg
Choose one — • Creatures you control gain lifelink until end of turn. • Draw a card. • Put target attacking or blocking creature on top of its owner's library.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/145459/magic-iconic-masters-azorius-charm
Frozen Aether
Color Identity:U
Market Price: $1.43
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/14727_200w.jpg
Artifacts, creatures, and lands your opponents control enter the battlefield tapped.
Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/14727/magic-planar-chaos-frozen-aether
Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor
Color Identity:U
Market Price: $0.98
ImageURL: https://tcgplayer-cdn.tcgplayer.com/product/9333_200w.jpg
Tap an untapped Cephalid you control: Tap target permanent.
{U}{U}{U}: Tap all creatures without flying.Buy This Card! https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/9333/magic-odyssey-aboshan-cephalid-emperor
In the words of Robert Downey Jr, survive! One thing you'll notice about this deck is that it is difficult to get in damage! Clearly Mr. Baan was at the top of his class in the School of Blocking. Sigiled Starfish, Arashin Cleric, Plumeveil, Wall of Denial, Court Hussar, and Wall of Swords are all fantastic impediments to opposing aggression. (Honestly, I utterly despise Wall of Denial. Playing a game against it is a miserable experience, but it does fit what a UW control deck with creatures wants to do, so it got a slot.) I'm sure lots of players are familiar with how annoying Reflector Mage is, and here it's fantastic at buying time. Coalition Honor Guard is a Hall of Fame Annoying Card, and I love it so much. There are several juicy targets for it to protect.
Once the game is firmly locked down, some of the later drops can help seal the deal. Serra Angel might not be as good as she was in 1994, but she can still put all kinds of games away. The Rares can help a lot too in this regard, and some of our other random creatures can nickel and dime the opponent effectively once their board is locked down.
The removal is a bit clunky, but it's still pretty good for what White and Blue get to utilize. Journey to Nowhere is probably our best bet here, with Curse of Chains, Ixalan's Binding, and Second Thoughts also able to contribute.
Not only does Yosei have the best art of any of the OG Kamigawa dragons, but it was a force in Standard in its day as well. Although it was a bit more potent in the days when the Legend Rule was a little different, it's irrelevant for us since there's only 1 in the whole card pool anyway. Let's not overthink it here. It's a 5/5 flying that can win the game in short order, and it's got some synergy with our Planeswalker's Ultimate ability and some of our other cards if it happens to die.
Many years ago, when I was just starting to play at FNMs, one of the formats that got played every month was Block Constructed, which was excellent for a young lad like myself who happened to be spending his allowance money on packs of the latest sets; it meant I had a bunch of the cards already! One of the cards I really liked was Aboshan, who could shut down entire boards by itself, and more importantly, helped contain that jerk Nantuko Shade. Turns out, he wasn't a good card in that format and I didn't win many Block Constructed games with it, but I continued to enjoy it as I played more multiplayer games. Here, we're looking to use it to clear the way for our dinky attackers or prevent the opposing best threats from getting into the mix. Keep in mind the old trick of attacking with your creatures and activating Aboshan before blockers, which might let more of your creatures get through.
I have never seen this card played before. Not saying nobody's done it! Just that I haven't seen it. But in this deck, it's extremely potent. All of a sudden, Aboshan is a card advantage machine. Yosei dies and turns into Opportunity 2.0. That goofy Curse of Chains is actually Howling Mine combined with Pacifism. Azorius Guildmage lets us get a discount on the activated ability—if we're already gonna tap some guys anyway, might as well get something out of it. Circle is sneakily excellent in this list and will keep the cards flowing.
Speaking of those casual multiplayer games I love playing, Rout is a spicy one in formats like that. We're so used to Wrath effects as sorcery-speed that we forget the potency of an instant speed Wrath, and even though it's substantially more expensive Rout delivers. Rout rocks. Once you surprise your opponent with an obliterated board state, I'm sure you'll agree.
I guess it's just a sign that I'm an ancient fossil, but I'm still a little sad these days when I look through new set spoilers and see that once again, White didn't get a healer. It used to be one of the mainstays of White commons in sets, but WotC decided years ago that such effects were too complicated and unfun. Obviously I don't share that view, but I understand. Similarly, blue's pingers went over to the Red side decades ago. So even though back in Invasion, Samite Archer probably seemed like a natural fusion of Blue and White, these days it must seem like a very strange card. But it's very powerful! The ability to mess with combat math by preventing or dealing damage can make things quickly untenable for your opponents, and at only 3 mana it can start being meddlesome at an early phase of the game. Though maybe not the best card in the deck, and maybe not exactly the most annoying (coughcoughWallofDenialcoughcough), Samite Archer can be very impactful.