Death and Taxes Central
"There are only two things certain in life. Death and taxes. Oh, and also white heatbears...."
About the Strategy
Death and Taxes is an aggro-control prison deck. The deck plays efficient, disruptive white creatures, most notably Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, to tax the opponent while beating down and protecting your "hatebears" with other ones.
What formats support Death and Taxes?
Despite being the most popular in Modern and Legacy, the overall strategy ports well to other formats including Commander, Vintage, and, to a lesser extent, Standard. Typically modern and Vintage rely on Eldrazi and "sol lands" like Ancient Tomb, thus making their decks Eldrazi and Taxes, which does deviate the deck away from traditional Death and Taxes, but still plays roughly the same nonetheless.
Why play Death and Taxes?
From personal experience, the appeal of the deck comes from the ability to play as both an aggressive and control deck. While there are games won by beating down with two and three power creatures, others involve utilizing the deck's taxing effects to prevent the opponent from enacting their gameplan. Having the deck's lock pieces deny the opponent from casting their vital spells also adds satisfaction to the deck that's hard to find in other archetypes. And Death and Taxes has a pretty good matchup against the boggeyman Tron!
Newest Pages:
Death and Choices #2
The second installment of the Death and Choices series. This time, the choice is situated on a complex board state against the new Vannifar Pod deck.
Infect (B/W E&T)
Matchup guide against an aggressive Blue-Green deck centered around pump spells and infect creatures in Modern. Includes specific strategies, tips, and sideboarding tricks for Black-White Eldrazi and Taxes against Infect.
Eldrazi and Taxes Comparison
An article breaking down Mono-White and B/W Eldrazi and Taxes. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each of the lists, analyzing the surprisingly distinct decklists.
Infect (Mono-W E&T)
Matchup guide against an aggressive Blue-Green deck centered around pump spells and infect creatures in Modern. Includes specific strategies, tips, and sideboarding tricks for Mono-White Eldrazi and Taxes against Infect.