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Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Arena | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Historic Brawl | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Modern Beyond Horizons | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Pauper Duel Commander | Legal |
| Pauper EDH | Legal |
| Planar Constructed | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Angelic Page
Creature — Angel Spirit
Flying
: Target attacking or blocking creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
1 year ago
Ah, I guess spoilers don't work in comment boxes, that's annoying.
1. Guardian of Ghirapur IN Angelic Curator OUT
After nearly a year of playtesting, I'm not the biggest fan of the low CMC angels, especially Angelic Curator. While it's a 1/1 flying angel body for 2, the protection for artifacts is more of a hindrance than a help. It helped defend against a Blightsteel Colossus once but being unable to equip it hurts more. By turn 3 when we want to drop Angelic Curator we would rather want to drop a 3-4 CMC angel or an impactful Artifact, Equipment or Enchantment.
Guardian of Ghirapur is a far superior body to Angelic Curator at 3/3 for 3. Initially there weren't that many blink targets for this deck but I've tweaked it to have more relevant targets and provide some outs to accelerate our gameplan. Typical targets would be Stoneforge Mystic, Recruiter of the Guard, Inspiring Overseer, Karmic Guide, Sanctuary Warden, Bruna, the Fading Light Meld.
2. Karmic Guide IN Angelic Page OUT
Following the same logic as Angelic Curator, Angelic Page simply doesn't do enough when it hits the board. Karmic Guide was initially pulled due to lack of use as 5CMC is a lot for simple recursion and the deck was more focused on mana efficiency. However, with the re-introduction of tutors and blink mechanics it may have a place again.
3. Recruiter of the Guard IN Mangara, the Diplomat OUT
Mangara has proven its worth in a few games if opponents continue with their strategy and play through it. However, like Smuggler's Share, if opponents decide to play around it, it's kind of a dead card on board. The first ability generally doesn't do much since opponents aren't swinging into our board and depending on the deck they can cast one big spell on their turn and save their instants for opponents. Recruiter of the Guard was in my initial build but pulled in favor of more angels. Typical line would be Recruiter of the Guard into Stoneforge Mystic to grab either Lightning Greaves for protection or Sword of Hearth and Home for protection, ramp and blink shenanigans. While it seems like adding 1 card for a maybe synergy seems inefficient I was able to pull it off in 1/3 games so it's not as inconsistent as it seems.
4. Firemane Commando IN Angelic Sleuth OUT
While the clues generated with Sleuth have saved me before, I would much rather have more consistent draw to keep my hand topped off rather than wastinga turn after a wipe to refill my hand. Firemane serves double duty as not only being a solid 4/3 angel body but also provides "free" draw through attacking which we want to do. It also helps direct combat decks towards opponents if they want the draw.
5. Invasion of Dominaria Flip IN Thorough Investigation OUT
In the same theme as Sleuth, Thorough Investigation provides draw for later with the added benefit of going through the dungeon. I've completed dungeons twice before with this card but the benefits haven't been as strong as I hoped. Invasion of Dominaria Flip provides lifegain and draw immediately and as long as we have 2 angels (Giada and 1 other) then we can defeat this battle the turn we drop it providing a 6/6 Serra Angel. When you staple all 3 together then that's incredibly efficient. Late game when we're trying to close out the game we may choose to not swing at the battle but instead go for lethal but the option remains.
6. Invasion of Gobakhan Flip IN The Ozolith OUT
In the dozens of games I've played with Ozolith I've only had it successfully work once. Late game it may seem like a dead card as it sort of hinges on either an opponent playing a board wipe and us refilling the board to swing again or using Pyre of Heroes on a stacked angel to grab something relevant. I much prefer Gobakhan as it slows down an opponents gameplay, easy to flip and provides benefits right away by buffing our board the same turn it comes out and also has "free" protection for later.
7. Conjurer's Mantle IN Mask of Memory OUT
Mask has been pretty great overall but sometimes slows down the game too much by making us filter. While there's a recursion package, it's not always guaranteed, so pitching relevant angel bodies early can be detrimental for late game, especially against graveyard exiles like Bojuka Bog. Yet, we'll still want to draw our cards so the discarding is necessary. Mantle is great not only because it costs the same, has a buff and vigilance and grabs relevant bodies off the top 6 without having to discard.
8. Clever Concealment IN Cosmic Intervention OUT
Cosmic seems good on paper but exile effects like Farewell or Merciless Eviction can make it useless. It also doesn't protect the angel tokens which can sometimes be the main body of threat. Concealment allows us to not just protect the tokens but lets the vigilant angels tap for a surprise protection. Oftentimes opponents will check untapped mana before blowing everything on a boardwipe so the convoke mechanic is super relevant for a well timed protection spell. Depending on the success of this swap I may consider Wand of the Worldsoul as well for some sneaky convoke shenanigans.
9. Chivalric Alliance IN Tome of Legends OUT
In the same line of thinking as Firemane Commando, "free" draw is better than costed draw. They both cost the same but having to pay for Tome of Legends can slow us down as well as if Giada is removed too much in the beginning. At most we'll ever get 1 draw per turn anyway so this swap was pretty simple.
10. Land Tax IN Smothering Tithe OUT
I've loved Tithe for awhile thinking it's a great ramp card. While it is good, it hinges on the decks it's played against. I've been most successful against my friends Jhoira's deck which colored my view when bringing it into pub matches. After reflecting on it for a year, it simply isn't worth it in mid to high powered casual decks that don't use draw as part of their strategy. In 90% of games I'll get 3-6 treasures before it gets removed or the game ends. Figuratively, you would drop it on turn 4 and if no one pays the tax then by turn 6 you'll have at most 6 treasures which is only net +2 mana. If the game lasts till turn 7 then you could have +5 mana but at that point opponents would either have game ending spells or plenty of open mana to pay the tax. Land Tax on the other hand can come down T1 before Giada even hits the field, thins out the deck while filling the hand with relevant plays and synergizes well with Emeria Shepherd or Emeria, The Sky Ruin. It was in the initial build of this deck before but was taken out along with the other artifact ramp to add more angels in.
11. Plains IN Bonders' Enclave OUT
As one of the few available card draws in mono-white, Enclave was a land for hail-mary draws. I've only ever used these abilities in 1 game when I was desperate for any card draw and it felt terrible. Paying 4 to draw a single card is terrible use of mana. Also, there were too many colorless sources from lands so I was struggling early game to play 2 relevant white cards in one turn.
12. Mistveil Plains IN War Room OUT
Same line of thinking as Enclave. Mistveil's ability is more of an experiment as tap lands are generally too slow. Typically recursion would just put the creatures back on the battlefield but Mistveil can possibly help with the Blink/Tutor package we've introduced.
Considering Wand of the Worldsoul and Excise the Imperfect
Opponents: Sigarda, Host of Herons & Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn
Starting hand: Windswept Heath, Fabled Passage, Path of Ancestry, Bruna, the Fading Light Meld, Folk Hero, Righteous Valkyrie, Invasion of Dominaria Flip
Game lasted only 20 minutes as this hand curved out nearly perfectly.
T1 - Path of Ancestry tapped, drew Lightning Greaves
T2 - Plains (drew) into Lightning Greaves
T3 - Myriad Landscape tapped into Giada, Font of Hope, equipped Lightning Greaves swung with Giada
T4 - Windswept Heath into Plains into Folk Hero, swung with Giada, cast Righteous Valkyrie, drew a card
T5 - Mutavault (drew) into Invasion of Dominaria Flip and swung both Giada and Valkyrie into the battle flipping it to Serra Faithkeeper Flip to gain 8 life this turn and triggering Valkyrie's +2/+2 anthem
T6 - Cast Herald of War and equipped it with Lightning Greaves.
T7 - Cast Lyra Dawnbringer and Invasion of Gobakhan Flip. Equipped Lyra with Lightning Greaves. Swung in for lethal ending the game.
Lightning Greaves did work this game as it not only protected Giada from early single target removal but also accelerated combat damage each turn. While I did draw into both battles this game I didn't have a chance to test out Invasion of Gobakhan Flip except making a Krosan Grip more expensive which likely helped my Folk Hero or Lightning Greaves survive till the end.
Opponents: Sigarda, Host of Herons, Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn & Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver
Starting hand: Cavern of Souls, Scavenger Grounds, Mutavault, Guardian of Ghirapur, Folk Hero, Winds of Abandon, Battle Angels of Tyr
Initially I believed this hand was amazing as I had draw, removal and aggro all in one but failed to realize I had 0 colored mana except for angels. It ended up working out as the 2 Selesnya players ramped hard in the beginning allowing Tyr to do some work.
T1 - Cavern of Souls
T2 - Mutavault into Giada, Font of Hope
T3 - Scavenger Grounds into Battle Angels of Tyr, Giada sworded by Lathiel
T4 - Ancient Tomb into recasting Giada, swung with Tyr drawing a card and generating a Treasure token
T5 - Plains into Folk Hero and Herald's Horn and swung again with Tyr and Giada drawing a card and generating a Treasure token. Using the 3 open mana I cast Recruiter of the Guard fetching Stoneforge Mystic.
T6+ Cast Stoneforge Mystic to fetch Lightning Greaves but Stoneforge was promptly exiled. I had originally planned to use Guardian of Ghirapur to chain blink Stoneforge into Sword of Hearth and Home but instead used her on Recruiter of the Guard to fetch Thraben Watcher. I finished the game by casting Avacyn, Angel of Hope and equipping it with Lightning Greaves to give my board protection and started swinging away with indestructible vigilance angels.
I was nearly knocked out by the Sigarda player in the second to last turn because she was equipped with Sword of Hearth and Home making her unblockable as well as a Kaldra Compleat and finally a flashed in Sigarda's Vanguard for double strike. Luckily I had left mana open for Oblation and targeted the Sword of Hearth and Home allowing me to block with Ghirapur and Giada preventing lethal damage.
Opponents: Prosper, Tome-Bound, Sliver Overlord & Muldrotha, the Gravetide
Starting hand was pretty slow with only 2 tapped lands but I figured Luminarch would win me the game provided I wasn't attacked early game.
Starting hand: Kabira Takedown Flip, Windbrisk Heights, Luminarch Ascension, Invasion of Gobakhan Flip, Herald's Horn, Bruna, the Fading Light Meld, Generous Gift
Prosper started off the game insanely fast with a T1 Dark Ritual into Bucknard's Everfull Purse where he rolled 4 to cast Prosper on T1. They proceeded to dominate the game with a Reckless Fireweaver and later a Storm-Kiln Artist draining us to the low 10s. They attempted to finish us off with a Delayed Blast Fireball to wipe our board and swing with lethal. However, Slivers flashed in a Spiteful Sliver and Sliver Overlord to deal 30 damage back to Prosper bringing them down to 3. I used Luminarch Ascension to drop 2 angels before Giada died and got a 7/7 & 8/8 body that survived the fireball. While Slivers could have knocked me out with the Spiteful Sliver they had no real way to deal with Prosper after the fireball so I was able to knock out both players on my turn. Muldrotha had no answers so was dead on my next turn.
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
1 year ago
All,
Grabbed all my 3+ pod gameplays and the recent MOM gameplay and swaps and posted it on my own decklist. I'll keep commenting on Guerric page as it gets more traffic. Let me know your thoughts and if my thinking is sound. Thanks!
Help Me Giada, You're My Only Hope
March of Machine Upgrades (x12) - Blink/Tutor Show
Game 1 (3-man Pod vs. Sigarda Voltron & Lathiel Lifegain) Show
Game 2 (4-man Pod vs. Sigarda Voltron, Lathiel Lifegain & Wilhelt Zombies) Show
Game 3 (4-man Pod vs. Prosper Exile, Sliver Tribal & Muldrotha Reanimation) Show
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
1 year ago
Got another couple games in today:
I made some swaps prior to today's match incluuding:
Crashing Drawbridge for Lightning Greaves
Smuggler's Share for Esper Sentinel
Search for Glory for Steelshaper's Gift
I think our decks are still functionally the same but I have a lot of the tech you were heavily considering already swapped in and will be focusing on their performance in multiplayer format.
Starting Hand?: Prismatic Vista, Windswept Heath, Myriad Landscape, Soul's Attendant, Generous Gift, Lightning Greaves, Folk Hero
Forgot to snap a picture of my starting hand but I think it was something like that. Important play of the game was Firkraag playing an early Agitator Ant. By turn 3 I had Giada equipped with a Lightning Greaves and slowly played out my hand, focusing on dropping lands and playing removal. I constantly dumped the +1/+1 counters onto Giada and since she had the greaves equipped she was basically untouchable.
After bringing Arvinox and Ryu down to the low 20's with just Giada I began dumping the counters onto a Bishop of Wings that I drew into so I could start swinging at Firkraag. Ryu also got in 2 Hadokens against Firkraag's board to draw cards. I only got 1 swing into Firkraag before they boardwiped.
I was able to recast Giada and cast an Angelic Page drawing me a card off Folk Hero. I also cast a Pyre of Heroes excited to chain it off for some spicy tech. Unfortunately Ryu was at low life and killed shortly after the boardwipe. As the other 2 players had no board they scooped to end the game so we could start the next, giving me the win.
Starting Hand: Plains, Mutavault, Pearl Medallion, Righteous Valkyrie, Sigarda's Vanguard, Well of Lost Dreams, Steelshaper's Gift
T1 - Plains into Steelshaper's Gift tutoring Lightning Greaves
T2 - Plains (drew) into Pearl Medallion
T3 - Mutavault into Lightning Greaves & Giada (Sworded by Isshin)
This game had some intense interactions. Isshin had a turn 1 Authority of the Consuls. Tevesh nearly played a turn 2 Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools with a Jeweled Lotus but was countered by Muldrotha. Firkraag played a Pursued Whale giving us all Pirate tokens and forcing us to attack. Isshin played into that with a Combat Calligrapher. The entire table started swinging into each other with increasingly multiplying Inkling tokens. After Isshin's Combat Calligrapher was blown up and they took a bunch of damage from their own Inklings they decided to super wipe the board with a Ruinous Ultimatum but luckily their board was pretty sparse.
I lost Pearl Medallion, Well of Lost Dreams, Sword of the Animist, Lightning Greaves and Righteous Valkyrie. This set me back really far but luckily I had been ramping every turn with Sword of the Animist and kept some strong angels in hand.
I recast Giada, and played Archangel of Tithes, Angelic Field Marshal and Lyra Dawnbringer with Mutavault giving me the extra +1/+1 counter. At this point Isshin started going off and nearly killed me with a combination of Tectonic Giant, Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin, Isshin, Two Heavens as One, Aurelia, the Warleader but they tapped out for Dihada, Binder of Wills to give Krenko vigilance, lifelink and indestructible. When they tried to swing at me, they forgot about the tax for Tithes and instead knocked out Tevesh and Muldrotha. Muldrotha took out Aurelia, the Warleader as retribution.
On the final turn I was left with only Oblation and Breathkeeper Seraph in hand. I had the choice to use it on one of Isshin's creatures but they were in such a dominating position that giving them 2 cards was probably a bad idea. Instead I used it on a tapped Emergence Zone and drew into Thraben Watcher and Sigarda's Vanguard. With the combination of all the angels I brought Isshin down to 3 and Firkraag cleaned up but had nothing against my board so scooped.
Starting Hand: Cavern of Souls, Flooded Strand, Windswept Heath, Esper Sentinel, Path to Exile, The Ozolith, Teferi's Protection
I debated even listing this game as it was over so fast. Alela burst out on turn 1 with an Island into Sol Ring into Arcane Signet. Turn 2 they played a Smothering Tithe. Turn 3 they played a Bolas's Citadel. In one of their turns they cast a Vendilion Clique bottoming my Teferi's Protection. Despite whiffing for 2 turns off the top of their library they were so ahead with ramp that they quickly overtook the game. I died by turn 5 to 35+ damage from a faerie army beefed up with Coat of Arms. The other 2 players scooped as they had no interaction with the Coat.
T1 Esper Sentinel did some amazing work here. I drew off every player at least 2-3 times so it netted me like 7-8 cards for just 1 mana.
I also attempted to attack with Battle Angels of Tyr but it was bounced to my hand by next turn.
The Ozolith ended up doing nothing this game but that's more due to having no boardstate. Together Forever wouldn't have done anything in this game either so its impact still hasn't been seen. Other players did comment that it could be a problem with a bigger board.
I did have a misplay here as I should have held up mana for removal spells which I had in my hand. My final hand was Vanquisher's Banner, Archangel of Thune, Angelic Accord, Serra Paragon, Valkyrie Harbinger, Path of Exile and Swords to Plowshares. I just didn't expect Alela to quintuple their damage in one turn.
Starting Hand: Secluded Steppe, Emergence Zone, Plains, Pearl Medallion, Thorough Investigation, Angelic Field Marshal, Angel of Vitality
T1 - Secluded Steppe tapped
T2 - Plains into Pearl Medallion
T3 - Emergence Zone into Thorough Investigation and Giada, Font of Hope
I had several misplays this game as it had been a long day. The first was using my Clues too early instead of playing out my hand and refilling it later with the Clues.
Phenax became a huge threat towards mid-game as they had a Haunt of high tower on board along with their commander Phenax, God of Deception. They forced Ghisath to mill 40+ cards with 4 creatures. I had Kabira Takedown Flip in hand but it wouldn't put a dent in the Haunt. Instead I opted for player removal and swung with everything knocking them out.
My second misplay here was not tapping Giada to cast Angelic Field Marshal which would've given all my creatures vigilance. I was so used to swinging with Giada first and then tapping her that I failed to see her as a mana dork. Since I had Archangel of Tithes out it would've prevented huge swings against me as well.
Since I was wide open Gishath took the advantage and swung at me dropping a good number of dinos on their board. However on their next turn when they tried to use Silverclad Ferocidons with Pyrohemia Jared saved the day by sacrificing Primeval Spawn into a Time Warp.
When I tried to rebuild I realized I had no clues left and no attackers to draw into answers. I also made my third misplay by wasting a Path to Exile on a random dinosaur thinking it would sacrifice Pyrohemia but then stupidly played Bishop of Wings so I could trigger my The Book of Exalted Deeds by replaying Giada.
I died on the next turn to due to lethal Gishath commander damage. If I had saved my Path I could've used it on Gishath and played out more angels for the lifegain.
Lightning Greaves was amazing in the 2 games it was played. It was so great that Isshin focused Giada when it came back out. In fact I like it so much that I'm going to try and find a spot for Swiftfoot Boots so I can keep equipping without removing the protection.
Esper Sentinel was also great the 1 game I got it out. Drawing that many cards for 1 mana is just too good to pass up. If you haven't purchased Smuggler's Share yet I'd say go for Esper first.
Archangel of Tithes was SO GOOD. It saved me from lethal once and would've again a second time if I didn't misplay again. With vigilance it does double duty.
Well of Lost Dreams felt a little clunky in game 2. I want to like it, it has a high ceiling but it needs some prep work to start drawing. Either I drop it instead of a threat or I play it much later. I also need lifegain and the mana to draw from it. With the amount of work that goes into it to activate it, a board wipe usually turns it off. We have no other lifegain outside of creature based lifegain. So we would only draw with an established board presence and we're using mana to draw into threats rather than play them. It feels either like a win-more card or a hail mary to get something good. I'm actually debating its place in this deck and what may be a better card draw. Court of Grace at least replaces itself on our end step and provides either an Angel or Spirit on our upkeep. It also requires no additional maintenance to get it going.
Others at the table commented that Authority of the Consuls is a better option to the soul sisters. While I do like the tap mechanic of Authority, it doesn't trigger off my creatures. Also having it be an enchantment means that most people won't bother with it all game. Soul sisters typically get wiped with the rest of the board whereas opponents have to target Authority. I find that I don't usually hit the payoffs on opponents turn but on my own turn. However, I only hit the magic 4/5 life when Bishop of Wings or Righteous Valkyrie is out, not off a soul sister. I know that you really like the soul sisters but practically every game I've had a board wipe and the payoffs haven't been worth it.
Kabira Takedown Flip has its uses but in terms of removal is pretty poor for the slot. After a boardwipe it's practically worthless.
Even though I STILL haven't pulled off Pyre of Heroes properly I'm once again debating Recruiter of the Guard and Weathered Wayfarer. Since they're both humans they can chain into our human sub-theme. Weathered Wayfarer can be sacrificed into Bishop of Wings to get our lifegain payoffs going. It also helps grab lands for Emeria Shepherd if we want to recur stuff from the graveyard. Recruiter of the Guard can tutor for Starnheim Aspirant, Esper Sentinel, Inspiring Overseer, Thraben Watcher and can be sacrificed into Mangara, the Diplomat.
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
2 years ago
Buddies cancelled so I played 3 pub games instead:
Starting hand: Emeria, The Sky Ruin, Plains, Plains, Path to Exile, Angelic Page, Archangel of Tithes, Sanctuary Warden
As we played through the game it became clear that Esix was the big threat. The board was wiped twice, once with N'ghathrod's Hex and a second time with Sigarda's Day of Judgment. Archangel of Tithes helped get a few early attacks in against Esix as they usually tapped out to play some bigger spells.
I was able to keep Esix in check a few times by using Path to Exile on their commander when they were about to pop off. I also used Oblation again on Esix when they cast a Pest Infestation destroying my Crucible of Worlds and Vanquisher's Banner but netting 12 pests. Finally, I had a Kabira Takedown Flip but only 2 creatures on the field so it couldn't deal with anything on Esix's board so I used it on Sigarda's Soul Warden.
At the final turn I had Sanctuary Warden equipped to Sword of Feast and Famine, Righteous Valkyrie and Angelic Field Marshal. In my hand I had Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Emeria Shepherd, Sword of Hearth and Home and a Seraph Sanctuary. Giada had been removed 3 times this game so she cost 8. Esix was at 6 but also had a Sublime Epiphany with open mana and a Craterhoof Behemoth in hand with 19 creatures, mostly 1/1 tokens on board.
As I'm writing this I realized I had the answer but didn't realize it at the time. If I had casted Sword of Hearth and Home Esix would have countered it and bounced my Sanctuary Warden forcing it out of their hand. I could then equip the Sword of Feast and Famine to another angel and swung for lethal since they had no flying blockers. I could have also moved to equip Sword of Feast and Famine to another angel which they could've countered once, but I had open mana to do it again. Despite losing this round let's count it as a win due to my misplay.
Starting hand: Windswept Heath, Sol Ring, Pearl Medallion, Angel of Vitality, Mangara, the Diplomat, Soul Warden
Perhaps this was a risky hand to keep but with the Sol Ring and Pearl Medallion I could literally play everything in my hand if not disrupted so I kept it.
Kraum also kept a risky hand but it paid off for them in the short term. They cast a Show and Tell which let me only drop Angel of Vitality but they dropped an Omniscience and proceeded to play out their hand giving themselves an immense board state on turn 3.
Kraum made a serious misplay here as they used a Cyclonic Rift on my Sol Ring and a bounce spell that returned all creatures with power less than 5. This was supposed to wipe the board but Angel of Vitality was a 5/5. They followed this up with a Wheel of Misfortune paying 35 life expecting us to bet high life totals so they wouldn't get the wheel. Unfortunately for them we bid pretty low numbers and Kraum took the full 35. With no flying blockers on board they were dead next turn.
With Kraum out of the game and a fresh 7 card hand I ended up dominating the board. Some nice synergies were using Sword of Hearth and Home on Sanctuary Warden to 2 cards a turn, one for ETB, one for swinging. Bishop of Wings with Resplendent Angel and Angelic Accord gave me double angels on my end steps. Finally, having Emeria, The Sky Ruin and 7 plains let me fill my boardstate quickly. While the game took longer I never hit another board wipe and closed it out with 64 life.
Starting Hand: Flooded Strand, Path of Ancestry, Soul Warden, Luminarch Ascension, Pyre of Heroes, Folk Hero, Angelic Curator
I was excited about this hand because it had 2 new cards that hadn't come up in the last couple games I played so I wanted to test it out. While it should have curved out pretty nicely, having only Folk Hero as the draw card with a single angel should've been a warning sign. My early board state included Giada, Font of Hope, Soul Warden and Luminarch Ascension. As predicted, Luminarch Ascension was able to get 3 counters on it after a single turn.
However I was hit by a board wipe early on and had to decide whether to use Luminarch's ability or recast Giada. I foolishly recast Giada only to have her removed again with Skysovereign, Consul Flagship. When Sigarda went to blow up Luminarch I produced 3 4/4 angels with 6 mana to give me some blockers. I had also drawn into The Ozolith but it was only able to add 1 counter on it.
For the rest of the game Kykar solely targeted me with their growing vehicle board state. Since Giada now cost 6 and Skysovereign was pinging for 3 every turn I couldn't waste the mana to recast her which turned off Folk Hero. I cast Angelic Curator just for a blocker since it would be hugely advantageous against vehicles but it was promptly removed with Dispatch by Kykar. I was also able to draw into a Mask of Memory but was stalled out since Kykar had Spirit token blockers, Atraxa had their commander and Sigarda also had their commander. I was the first to be knocked out and this was a definite loss. I did cast Pyre of Heroes but didn't draw into any angels until late game so it had no effect.
Luminarch Ascension is a great card but also a lightning rod. In the third game it presented a threat early on and if Giada hadn't been removed twice so early it could've helped end the game. Not getting those +1/+1 counters on the angels hurt my game plan quite a lot.
The Ozolith saw play but had little impact. Again, if Giada hadn't been removed early I could've dumped all those counters onto it and preserved threats.
Pyre of Heroes also saw play but had little impact. The overall flow of the game meant I was essentially stuck. Eye of Vecna would've been more impactful here but since Kykar had such an oppressive board state I would need to play much bigger threats to make a difference.
While Giada may not always be necessary to our gameplan, not having her and being unable to cast her slows us up so much that opponents can just out ramp or out threaten us pretty quickly. Dodging an entire table's board wipes and single target removals is pretty tough and makes me consider Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots again.
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
2 years ago
Was able to squeeze in a 4-pod game after Brother's War Game Day today and had some interesting interactions with the new cards:
Opponents:
Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver Zombies, Koma, Cosmos Serpent Simic Goodstuff, Krenko, Mob Boss Goblins
Starting Hand:
Ancient Tomb, Mutavault, Cavern of Souls, Snow-Covered Plains, Enlightened Tutor, Sephara, Sky's Blade, Bishop of Wings
I didn't have a draw in hand but with the tutor could've gotten one. First card I drew though was Smuggler's Share so it went something like:
T1 - Snow-Covered Plains for Enlightened Tutor for Pearl Medallion
T2 - Ancient Tomb into Smuggler's Share *
*I know I broke the carnal rule of not playing Giada turn 2 but I was fully expecting the Koma player to begin ramping as Simic typically does
T3 - Cavern of Souls into Pearl Medallion & Giada, Font of Hope
T4 - Snow-Covered Plains (drew into) to play Bishop of Wings and then I had to replay Giada for 3 because the Krenko player had PTSD from the angel swarm I played against him last time and blew up my Giada
My first angel to drop after Giada was actually Breathkeeper Seraph who I soulbonded to Giada. My Bishop of Wings was also blown up by Krenko but when they took out Giada, I just got her back on my next upkeep and re-soulbonded her.
I was able to get out Sephara, Sky's Blade hardcasted with an Angelic Page for 1 and had a nasty board state. Since nobody was playing white, they didn't have many exile effects, only destroy effects. Even if they were able to take out Sephara, they'd need to follow up with a board wipe before my upkeep or I'd just get her back. Wilhelt played Drag to the Bottom which only ended up helping me since my angels were so large.
In the end I closed out the game with a couple swings and a well timed Sigarda's Vanguard not that it mattered much since they couldn't touch my board. One play I enjoyed was using Oblation on Koma before their turn as they never ended up ramping and could never get their commander back out. I had misgivings about this card but it ended up being useful and I don't always have a Path or Swords in hand to deal with threats. Smuggler's Share was yet another whiff this game as I only got a single treasure out of it and it lasted the whole game. I think the lesson here is that I should always use Enlightened Tutor on a draw spell, rather than a ramp spell. On the other hand, if no player is ramping or drawing then we're essentially just keeping pace with them.
Guerric on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
2 years ago
That being said, some helpful pushback and discussion here are leading me to qualify my thoughts that there are some changelings which can be good in this deck and be correct play options, so I wanted to talk about which ones and why.
The first of these and the clear strongest option is Metallic Mimic. The reason for this is because it is a 2 drop "angel" that anthems every other angel you cast by increasing the number of counters that are put on it. This is amazing because unlike a Thraben Watcher whose anthem leaves the battlefield when it is removed, the extra counters will remain unless a board wipe happens. Regardless of whether I end up playing this card or not I think it is probably "correct" to play it in an optimal list.
The second of these cards is Irregular Cohort. Phule451 made a good point that this card is a two-for-one that we can cast turn three consistently. If we cast it then from turn four on we are putting at least three counters on everything, which is pretty great. Two-for-ones are great for goldfishing and provide efficiency, so this does that. There are still some downsides to this card since the angels don't fly and as four cmc is the slot where we need to get more choosy since there is more competition for slots, but I think it is a valid and very playable choice in this deck.
The third card is the weakest but is still playable and that is Universal Automaton. The "sole" reason for this is that it costs solely to cast it, and there is only one other angel we get for that rate. Again, low cmc angels don't have to do as much to justify their slot in this deck- cmc is almost good enough on it's own!
Any of the above cards can be "correct" to play in this deck, so if you want to play them, by all means do! All of that being said, I don't think that I personally will be playing any of these cards for two main reasons. The first of these is pretty much what I said before about the flying piece, but perhaps I should elaborate more. I have a lot of experience playing flyer decks across multiple formats in magic and it's something I have a strong feel for. When I've had non-flyers in decks that are built around flying, they've always felt bad, and I've wished they weren't in my deck every time. This already happened to me with Mirror Entity in this deck, and I don't want to really have much of a desire to experiment with them more. The only card I could maybe see myself playing is Metallic Mimic, but if I did play that card it would take the place of a support piece and not an angel, and I would justify it by considering it a support piece and not take a slot from an angel proper. The other reason I don't see myself playing these is more about flavor. This is an angels deck, and I want to play big flying angels with cool art, not creepy shapeshifters masquerading as the real thing. Changelings may be considered angels mechanically, but they also are not truly angels, and it feels wrong for the angel tribe in particular. I love some of the changelings I play in my Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow deck because it seems like ninjas and changelings go together perfectly, but not so much here. Of course, this latter reason is entirely subjective, and in general I try to build my decks as optimally as possible, but where it doesn't hurt the deck's strategy I like to keep my decks as flavorful as possible as that makes it more fun in my book! That being said, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade who likes these cards and prefers them to other angels, as I think they are all playable here. I hope this helps some of you as you plan and play the deck!
Guerric on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
2 years ago
1) Cosmos Elixir OUT Vanquisher's Banner IN
Elixir works in this deck but is my worst draw piece in that it only gives life if I don't draw, I have to have over 40 life to draw, it costs 4 colorless mana to cast, and it at most can net me one card per turn. The all star draw pieces so far are those that allow burst draw such as Well of Lost Dreams and Thorough Investigation. Banner allows for this burst draw as every angel replaces itself with a new card, and tokens net us free cards. Its one mana higher but the upside makes it a far superior card. The anthem is just gravy really.
2) Disenchant OUT Tome of Legends IN
I think there is sufficient removal in this deck, so I can afford to cut my worst piece. This deck needs more draw and better draw, so adding a card that can consistently net me an extra card most turns is great.
3) Welcoming Vampire OUT Eye of Vecna IN
Even though many of my angels are weenies they don't ETB that way. As such, vampire is subpar card draw here, whereas normally it is premium for white. Eye may only get me one extra card per turn but it is cheap, fairly unconditional, and I'll have plenty of life to power it. The only downside is that Angel of Jubilation shuts it down, but I think that in most cases I'll be glad to have the option to draw.
4) Mirror Entity OUT Sanctuary Warden IN
I can't believe I missed Warden on the first round. It is unlimited draw in this deck stapled to an angel which has quite a bit of built in protection due to the shield counters (which we won't have to use to power it thanks to Giada). I'll confess I've never liked Entity, though in this deck it has some additional upsides and additional downsides. As for upsides, the counters help it a lot. One reason I feel like Entity is weak normally is that it often dies to ping effects if you don't reserve mana to pump it. I've seen this over and over again over the years, but the counters Giada gives it here mean we can rest easy. Another advantage is that it is an angel here, so the deck supports it well. A disadvantage, however, is that it is less useful and necessary. It is most powerful when it turns 1/1 tokens into 4/4 threats and provides a massive swing. It does little in this deck unless we pump at least 5 mana into it, and even then the improvement is marginal. A second disadvantage is it doesn't fly. Even an Angelic Page is a huge threat in this deck that can go over a defensive line, whereas Entity can be chump blocked easily. Thirdly, it can't enabled combos in this deck because of Giada. We are playing Karmic Guide, so a thought might be to add Reveillark and enable the combo so we can gain infinite life and do other recurison shenanigans. The problem is that this approach relies on paying zero into Entity to kill the board, but the board won't die to counters, so Giada shuts the combo off. Overall I think this isn't worth it, I sentiment I feel about pretty much all of the non-flying changeling cards that we might think would be good to put in.
5) Plains OUT Together Forever IN
I think with enhanced card draw of the update and Giada's ramp ability I can afford to go down to 35 lands, something I have done successfully in other low-to-the-ground aggro decks. Together Forever is premium protection here that also allows Giada to give herself some protection. What I especially like about this card is that it can serve as protection from both targeted removal and board wipes. The deck has done well so far, but well-played protection is key, and this is one of the most flexible pieces there is.
6) Archaeomancer's Map OUT Mask of Memory IN
This is likely to be my most controversial change as Map is a good card that fetches some lands and can ramp over the course of the game, provided we have the lands in hand. It may be bad! That being said, ramp is less of a problem here because of Giada and because of our curve. Map is bad turn three play where we sometimes want to ramp, because it leaves us often having to discard on our end step. I think with our curve and Giada what is important is simply to draw into our land drops, and extra ramp is gravy. That means more draw is better than more ramp, and between Map and the swords/dagger I think the latter are better land fetching/ramp pieces in a deck with evasive creatures. Mask is great because we can see two cards every turn and discard whatever is least relevant in our hand. It can also go down on turn three and be immediately attached to Giada and used right away to get things going.
7) Angel of Finality OUT Angelic Curator IN
Finality isn't great here, as the body doesn't matter too much and cmc is less conducive to a go-wide and high theme than a 2-drop. I think more turn 2 angels has some advantage here, and this is the best of the bunch (other options would be changelings that don't fly). 2-drop angels allow us to play an angel and a support piece like Tome of Legends on turn three, or even play two angels. Four drops can also be good turn three if they are high impact, which Finality is not. It was only in to be an anti-graveyard piece, but is just bad when there are no serious graveyard threats. As such, I'll address that by putting Scavenger Grounds into the mana base and drop the curve to a better place.
8) Mana Base Changes- I'm going to cut two of three cycling lands as this deck really doesn't want lands coming into play tapped, especially early in the game, and the cycling option just isn't worth it. I'll keep Secluded Steppe for now on account if its efficiency, but the others are gone. They'll be replaced with War Room and Bonders' Enclave, which tap for colorless but come into play untapped and give us additional card draw options that we need. Since we are only in one color we can afford more colorless lands than other decks, but we want as many to come untapped as possible due to the fact that we always have stuff to do early. I'll also add Seraph Sanctuary for more life gain and Scavenger Grounds to deal with problematic graveyards.
Those are the proposed changes. Let me know what you think!
Guerric on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
2 years ago
Having articulated my thinking on cards I may soon add, I'll add some of my candidates for cuts for everyone's input.
1) Welcoming Vampire Though I love her, barring Emeria Angel being out she probably won't be a reliable draw engine.
2) Cosmos Elixir Though this card is great, synergizes well, and I have a gorgeous foil copy if it, it costs 4 mana and is pretty conditional in how it draws cards. Its kind of between this and Sigarda's Splendor, and splendor is far better and also more on theme.
3) Plains- It might be risky to cut another land, but with enhanced draw and my curve I think I might be able to get away with it. I do in my Mardu Humans deck and I think this will perform similarly.
4) Disenchant My removal is pretty robust in this deck, so I think I can get away with cutting the worst one.
5) Mirror Entity This might just be that I have never like this card, so this might be a bad idea. Let me know what you think!
6) Angelic Page This card isn't great, but it curves out well and has helped me drop multiple angels early. It might also be an easy turn three play with any of my other 2 cmc support pieces. It's never been good on its own, but I'm leaning towards keeping it.
7) Emeria Angel 4 drop angels are especially good in this deck (since we can always play them turn 3). I just wonder if we need a bird generator or not.
8) Cycling lands- I've decided in my brief testing that I don't like these much, but it might keep Secluded Steppe due to its efficiency. Coming in tapped is pretty bad in this deck, so we need a good justification for that.
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