I am looking to rebuild my Angel deck but need some help. I currently have 1 Reya Dawnbringer , 2 Angel of Serenity , 1 Restoration Angel as my rare angels as well as the usual suspects for uncommon angels. I have a budget of about $100 to play with, I have been toying with an angel deck on MTGO which has Deathless Angel , Baneslayer Angel and Akroma, Angel of Wrath which i kinda like, just need some help defining a direction for the deck. Any help would be appreciated!
I am looking to rebuild my Angel deck but need some help. I currently have 1 Reya Dawnbringer , 2 Angel of Serenity , 1 Restoration Angel as my
Mtgo is down at the moment, as soon as it comes up i can post it for ya. I do know the deck also has Emeria, the Sky Ruin s, Akroma's Memorial s and Whispersilk Cloak
A Reya Dawnbringer, multiple Akroma's Memorials and 2 Angels of Serenity spells a deck that's probably got too much top end fat, unless it also has some solid control until it reaches enough mana, or some decent ramp, or a method of cheating out said fat.
In any case, angels is usually a difficult tribe because there aren't too many cheap angels you can include, so your early drops aren't necessarily going to be angel themed - they'd going to be there to get you to the later drops.
As far as angels go, Baneslayer Angel and Admonition Angel are pretty decent. Restoration Angel is only really good if you have a non-angel creature with a decent ETB (or that you'd really like to keep alive) in order to make use of her blink. Sublime Archangel on her own can swing as a 5/4 for 4, but if you have even one or two other creatures out she becomes brutally powerful.
A Reya Dawnbringer, multiple Akroma's Memorials and 2 Angels of Serenity spells a deck that's probably got too much top end fat, unless it also has some solid control until it reaches enough mana, or some decent ramp, or a method of cheating out said
I've become a pretty big fan of Angel of Jubilation in my quest for a viable angel tribal deck.
Mana ramp seems to be the biggest issue in putting together something that can come out fast enough to be a threat. I haven't really come up with a better solution than Pearl Medallion and a few mana artifacts, but it takes up so much precious room in the deck. I went the Quicksilver Amulet route, buty just tend to get blown up quick. I guess ppl look at the Medallion as less of a threat.
My current attempt is using Angelic Page as something to throw out early, then going to Angel of Jubilation , Sublime Archangel , Emeria Angel , and some 5 CMCs, like Baneslayer Angel and Radiant, Archangel . Playing Radiant with the Emeria made me wish that Radiant wasn't a legend, so I tried running Mirror Gallery . This didn't work out so bad, but it really sucks when the Mirror gets blown up. I've tried running Rebuff the Wicked to try and protect the Mirror, but I am giving up so much deck space at this point that I've started coming up short on removal.
Good, speedy Angels is tough. Been trying for years to make it a viable tribal style deck. Slower MP games is easy. Play defensive till you can drop something like Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Wrath of God , but in the speedier environment of 1-on-1, they ain't easy to make work well, not without significantly stepping outside the Angel tribe.
I've become a pretty big fan of Angel of Jubilation in my quest for a viable angel tribal deck.Mana ramp seems to be the biggest issue in putting together something that can come out fast enough to be a threat. I h
Good, speedy Angels is tough. Been trying for years to make it a viable tribal style deck. Slower MP games is easy. Play defensive till you can drop something like Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Wrath of God , but in the speedier environment of 1-on-1, they ain't easy to make work well, not without significantly stepping outside the Angel tribe.
More or less agree - the biggest issue with 'angel tribal' is, again, there aren't too many good cheap angels. Something like Angelic Page , while not the worst card in the world, isn't all that good either.
So basically, you've got a tribe that comes out slowly. With that in mind, I feel like making your early game about control is what will make it a viable deck. It's not breaking from the tribe so much; it's making the tribe work. Think of it this way - turn 1, 2 and 3 they play their creatures, but you've devoted your cheap slots to control, so you deal with them on your turn 1, 2 and 3. On turn 4, they play whatever, and you play something sexy like an Angel of Jubilation or Sublime Archangel . You're still playing angel tribal, but those cheaper control spells helped you get there.
I almost feel like drawing up a monowhite mid/late game angel deck myself, just to show what kind of vision I'd have for the tribe. :-)
More or less agree - the biggest issue with 'angel tribal' is, again, there aren't too many good cheap angels. Something like Angelic Page , while not the worst card in the world, isn't all that good either.So basic
This is my most recent attempt. It didn't do so bad in MP and I won more games than I lost in generic 1-on-1 (not by much though), but failed miserably in the tribal format I play in. Just not fast enough to keep up with goblins, elves, or vamps.
Again, a work in progress (I suspect it always will be, until they give us some cheaper angels), and not as successful as I'd hoped. But neither do I think it's as bad as the list looks. More mana ramp and some card draw would be nice, but I've stripped the removal down about as far as I can and still survive early to get into the swing of things. Keep in mind also that this particular list was built to my playgroups' tribal format, which, among other things, dictates that there are a minimum of 22 tribal cards in a deck. Trimming out 5 or 6ish angels would give some more space for mana ramp or more removal.
This is my most recent attempt. It didn't do so bad in MP and I won more games than I lost in generic 1-on-1 (not by much though), but failed miserably in the tribal format I play in. Just not fast enough to keep up with goblins, elves, or vamps.3x
im always weirded out when i see angel decks without scroll of avacyn and seraph sanctuary . they are the only two specifically angeltribe cards in the game, they are good and they do exactly what angel decks need: increase survivability without hampering offense.
im always weirded out when i see angel decks without scroll of avacyn and seraph sanctuary . they are the only two specifically angeltribe cards in the game, they are good and the
I've also been known to use wall of glare , coupled with heart of light and its variants, you have an infinite-blocker. Use that with luminarch ascension to prevent that damage and make tokens quickly.
You could also focus on combos. Flickering ward with sigil of the empty throne is what I use to generate plenty of tokens. If you use a heavy enchantment theme, serra's sanct
My current decklist, please feel free to add suggestions, keeping in mind of a total budget of $100 to buy additional cards if i need to.Lands 3 x Emeria, the Sky Ruin 4 x Seraph Sanctuary
Limit each Angel 5 CMC and up to a single copy. Keep those as limited as possible. I'd say include about 5 legendary Angels with high costs and you should be golden. Fill in the rest with defensive content and low CMC content. That's going to be your primary life jacket.
Limit each Angel 5 CMC and up to a single copy. Keep those as limited as possible. I'd say include about 5 legendary Angels with high costs and you should be golden. Fill in the rest with defensive content and low CMC content. That's going to be your
you have to choose between emeria and sanctuary. my vote goes for sanc...mby keep a 1-of emeria
angel of mercy is terrible -out you need more cards to bounce to play emancipation - at least 4 more, will suggest scroll of avacyn again, altho something with good etb would be preferable, since it has to be cheap not a lot of options though...probably cut this angel and add mind stone lightkeeper of emeria is bad if youre not ramping
avacyn and reya are iffy- your deck isnt quite geared to pay the manacost or prolong the game That long
id say you dont quite have the support for luminarch here. id certainly cut 2
id add at least 2 more sweeps or some more cheap angels
what an extraordinary mix^^you have to choose between emeria and sanctuary. my vote goes for sanc...mby keep a 1-of emeriaangel of mercy is terrible -outyou need more cards to bounce to play emancipation - at least 4 more, will suggest scroll of avac
20 lands isn't going to cut it. First off, with only 13 plains in the whole deck, Emeria, the Sky Ruin is a waste of time. I seem to have the opposite opinion of everyone else, I'd dump the Seraph Sanctuary s and just run Emeria and Plains. It's a personal choice due to personal experience. A little bit of life here and there vs. creatures coming back to battlefield later on? You have other ways to gain life in the deck. I'll take Emeria any day.
Endless Horizons is a game of russian roulette. Too much removal running around the game nowadays for me to be comfortable with that card.
Angelic Blessing is a bad choice, everything already flys. Except the walls, but whatever. I'd cut them for more removal. Or more little guys like the aforementioned Angelic Page or Angelic Curator . The Scroll of Avacyn isn't a bad idea here either. You need more ways to stall.
BTW, thank you Azure, I guess I also missed that Curator was an angel now.
20 lands isn't going to cut it. First off, with only 13 plains in the whole deck, Emeria, the Sky Ruin is a waste of time. I seem to have the opposite opinion of everyone else, I'd dump the Seraph Sanctuary
I'm not saying you would. I wouldn't even pull that many. But still, if it gets blown up, you lose those lands, and how long do you think it's gonna take to get enough mana to run this deck if you lose even 5 or 6 Plains? I'm not saying it's a stupid card to play, but if things go bad, it can lose you the game. I've seen a couple ppl play them in 4s, and pull only 2 or 3 lands at a time with it. Some ppl have the "no fear" attitude to play it, I do not.
Going back to the Emeria, the Sky Ruin . I wouldn't run 4. Run 2, 3 tops. If they come out too early, they are nothing but CIPT plains, and get in the way of getting the magic 7 plains in play. I'd do 2/20 or 3/19. There are going to be those who will say that even 22 lands isn't enough, but I think the only thing that's going to answer that is some games under your belt and see how it runs. It is mono white, so 22 could very well be plenty.
Are the Purify s there because you have an excess of artis and enchants at your table? If not, I'd look at swapping them for something more broad, like Oblivion Ring .
I think it's definately to the point where you need to go out and play it and see what happens. I think most of what we tell you at this point is gonna be stuff out of your budget, or nitpicking.
I'm not saying you would. I wouldn't even pull that many. But still, if it gets blown up, you lose those lands, and how long do you think it's gonna take to get enough mana to run this deck if you lose even 5 or 6 Plains? I'm not saying it's a stupid
im always weirded out when i see angel decks without scroll of avacyn and seraph sanctuary . they are the only two specifically angeltribe cards in the game, they are good and they do exactly what angel decks need: increase survivability without hampering offense.
Scroll of Avacyn maybe - the issue I have with it is that there aren't enough good, cheap angels to give you the life gain early when you actually need it (angels are a mid/late tribe), so its just a 2 mana card draw - at which point I'd rather play Wall of Omens for that needed survivability. I'm not a fan of the Sanctuary in mono-white angels though; I prefer an Emeria engine. Again, its a mid/late deck, so you'll be close to powered up by the time you start playing your true threats.
I did end up making my angel-control deck. Decklist below.
Hear the Trumpet // Lands - 25 4 x Emeria, the Sky Ruin 4 x Mistveil Plains 4 x Thawing Glaciers 13 x Plains Emeria and plains straightforward. I like Mistveil Plains; even though they're slow lands the extra ability allows you to reuse removal which is nice. Glaciers is also slow, but provides great card advantage and pretty much ensures that as long as you have Emeria and Glaciers, as long as the game doesn't end you'll end up activating it.
// Creatures - 20 4 x Mother of Runes 4 x Wall of Omens 4 x Sublime Archangel 4 x Baneslayer Angel 3 x Admonition Angel 1 x Iona, Shield of Emeria Ok, Mother and Wall aren't angels, but they're a very nice defensive suite for turns 1 and 2, and both are still useful late into the game. The other slots for angels are somewhat competitive, but I like Sublime over Angel of Jubilation , as Jub's pay life/sac creature ability is often irrelevant, and it's a lord in a tribe that is generally plenty powerful without lords. Sublime just has the potential to hit that much harder. Baneslayer at 5 because lifelink and first strike can turn the tide of close games, and Admonition at 6 because O-Ring on a stick (plus guaranteed landfall thanks to Glaciers) is sexy. Iona... the deck could probably live without her, it has like 11 win conditions thanks to the other angels. But she's a flavourful overseer, and adds some finality to things.
// Noncreatures - 16 4 x Swords to Plowshares 4 x Oblivion Ring 4 x Wrath of God 2 x Luminarch Ascension 2 x Scroll Rack Swords, O-Ring and Wrath is my typical white control/removal suite. Targetted creature exile, targetted non-land exile, and a sweeper. Luminarch adds an early potential wincon, and I've been loving Scroll Rack alongside Thawing Glaciers, as its not uncommon to find yourself with a few lands in hand thanks to the repeated Glaciers dropping.
Scroll of Avacyn maybe - the issue I have with it is that there aren't enough good, cheap angels to give you the life gain early when you actually need it (angels are a mid/late tribe), so its just a 2 mana card draw -
That's what Emeria is for. I opted for the ability to further avoid exile (if they're playing Wx, naming white with Iona) rather than the ability to one-sided sweep.
That's what Emeria is for. :-P I opted for the ability to further avoid exile (if they're playing Wx, naming white with Iona) rather than the ability to one-sided sweep.
I think it's definately to the point where you need to go out and play it and see what happens. I think most of what we tell you at this point is gonna be stuff out of your budget, or nitpicking.
. I'd do 2/20 or 3/19. There are going to be those who will say that even 22 lands isn't enough, but I think the only thing that's going to answer that is some games under your belt and see how it runs. It is mono white, so 22 could very well be plenty.
That would be me. There are cards on that list with a cc of 6, 7, 8, and 9. Without adding ramping artifacts I'm very weary these cards are ever going to be played with 22 lands.
That would be me. There are cards on that list with a cc of 6, 7, 8, and 9. Without adding ramping artifacts I'm very weary these cards are ever going to be played with 22 lands.
Also, somehow my earlier post pointing out that Angelic Curator is a nice two-drop that totally counts as an Angel Spirit these days seems to be missing. That gets you an early drop angel that can make Scroll of Avacyn get you that life boost you need.
EDIT: And really, your mana goal really just needs to be five. In casual play, resolving a Baneslayer Angel really sets the tone of the game.
Why try to surivie your own Wrath of God for eight mana when you can do it just as well for six mana ? Also, somehow my earlier post pointing
@jaxson: ill admit emeria is a decent option. but as you say angels is mid-late deck: emeria is late-late-late game (average around turn 13 with no/limited draw or ramp), if you dont run heavy ramp (or lots of draw and even then, without ramp, its still late-late game (turn 8/9 minimum) running thawing glacier makes emeria more relevant but even then its a meta concern. My main concern would be other combat decks, I play mostly standard/modern lately, where combat (or combo) is more prevalent (also most control decks in those format tend to focus on exile effects). vs another combat deck the game will usually end t6-8. vs those decks the lifegain from sanctuary can help immensely, even if its only 4-5 points of life pr seraph that's still a lot (!) against agro, and decent vs other midgame combat, and you have to remember that the only downside to sanctuary is that you have to opt out on other colorless special lands (or face serious consistency issues); unlike emeria there is no potential loss to tempo.
however if you find yourself across the table from many control decks, emeria+thawing is awsome tech.
im not sure your stall will be enough thb, vs combat much depends on getting at least 1 wrath...scroll rack helps though.
@azure: shepherd is great (and cheap$$) but the creatures are returned to hand which is kinda different )
@jaxson: ill admit emeria is a decent option. but as you say angels is mid-late deck: emeria is late-late-late game (average around turn 13 with no/limited draw or ramp), if you dont run heavy ramp (or lots of draw and even then, without ramp, its st
@azure: shepherd is great (and cheap$$) but the creatures are returned to hand which is kinda different )
Yeah, but all their creatures are dead and you've got a 4/4 flyer in play and a hand full of trouble to cast with your pile of mana. I'd take it over saving up to cast Avacyn and then Wrathing later around turn nine or ten.
Yeah, but all their creatures are dead and you've got a 4/4 flyer in play and a hand full of trouble to cast with your pile of mana. I'd take it over saving up to cast Avacyn and then Wrathing later around turn nine or ten.
well its true if you have no ramp playing avacyn is bad - the interaction with sweeps is kinda irrelevant if it never sees play. But i wouldnt run shepherd planning to wrath the board, whereas i might plan to do so running avacyn. A fine point with small degree of divergence - lets leave the subject^^
well its true if you have no ramp playing avacyn is bad - the interaction with sweeps is kinda irrelevant if it never sees play. But i wouldnt run shepherd planning to wrath the board, whereas i might plan to do so running avacyn. A fine point with s
My deck as of today, seems to play well, artifact decks eat me alive though. Was thinking about dropping Reya Dawnbringer for either Linvala, Keeper of Silence or Iona, Shiel
I agree with rawsugar on the issue of seraph sanctuary and Emeria. Because angels are mid/late game anyway, what little lifegain that comes from the sanctuary will be better than returning angles from the grave on turn 8-ish. Not only that, you should be sending out a steady stream of angels by that time, so bringing some back to life wont be that big of a deal, especially if you decide to use Reya. All of this is why I mentioned using wrath of god with angelic renewal , so you can play a BETTER ANGEL early on, then WoG. There's also mistveil plains for those hardcore moments when you need that one card in the graveyard (assuming you can search for it, or maybe shuffle up the library) and it counts towards Emeria if you really want to use it.
I agree with rawsugar on the issue of seraph sanctuary and Emeria. Because angels are mid/late game anyway, what little lifegain that comes from the sanctuary will be better than returning angles from the grave on
Hey all, i'm back with my current deck list, looking for opinons and suggestions. Much thanks to everyone who has helped so far!4 x Emeria, the Sky Ruin 4 x Thawing Glaciers 14 x
I think it looks ready to play and see how it goes. There's a couple of nit-picky things I'd probably play different out of personal taste, like dropping the Akroma's Vengeance for a 2nd Akroma's Memorial , and dropping the Deathless Angel for an Adarkar Valkyrie or Akroma, Angel of Wrath , but all-in-all, it looks like it's a pretty solid list, depending on what you'll be playing against. I also still think 4 Emeria, the Sky Ruin s is too many. 2 or 3 is plenty.
Play it, let us know how it goes.
I think it looks ready to play and see how it goes. There's a couple of nit-picky things I'd probably play different out of personal taste, like dropping the Akroma's Vengeance for a 2nd Akroma's Memorial
I opted for the ability to further avoid exile (if they're playing Wx, naming white with Iona) rather than the ability to one-sided sweep.
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? Be pretty easy to play : u:
