Legion Angel

Creature — Angel Warrior

Flying

When Legion Angel enters the battlefield, you may reveal a card you own named Legion Angel from outside the game and put it into your hand.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (14)

janederscore on Orzhov Valkyries

2 years ago

darkmus, yeah I've been going back and forth in my head about Resplendent Angel , but I do agree that its probably worth the price of admission to have a card that efficient in play.

I do think I'll probably swap in Legion Angel , I guess I'm just a bit anxious about how efficient removal is in modern compared to standard haha. It does make more sense to run generally than 4 Serra Avenger .

Ideally I think I'm going to keep this in B/W if for no other reason than to keep the identity of the deck in-tact (and so when I'm playing super casually I can slip in some of my favorite black valkyries just for fun). I think hitting about $200 usd is the spot I'd like this deck to sit in, that's about the max I'd be willing to shell out for this sort of thing and right now this is hovering right around that point.

I'm thinking about adding a couple Seraph of the Scales for the additional token payout, and I am definitely going to add 2 Great Hall of Starnheim ; both because its a cheap land, and because in my experience having the token conversion is actually extremely useful (and, with Resplendent Angel and one other lifegain source in play, its a 2-for-1 deal).

I definitely think I'll have a lot of fun with this when I get it put together, and thank you again for the help!

darkmus on Orzhov Valkyries

2 years ago

janederscore if you put in the deck Bishop of Wings , Righteous Valkyrie , Seraph Sanctuary , Cleric Class and Angel of Vitality I recommend you (unlesh money issues) to put at least a couple of resplendents in there. Thay are a great finisher and with so many life gain you will be activating it passively just by playing angels and doing your stuff. She's amazing. You have 12 different life gain triggers, I can't speak without trying it but I believe Cleric Class will end up neting you more +1/+1 than the other one, plus you can put them all in one creature and both the first and last modes of the class feel to me more useful to this deck. Legion Angel is a total overachiever, a must, she's been the MVP in my deck (which is my main that I use against tier1 decks and win with it) many matches. Yeah, first being bolt range sounds shitty but, well, it's not. It generates more value for your opponent than for you? Well... No, it doesn't, mor e like the total opposite. Are they going to have 3 bolts to stop the 3 straight turns of putting and angel and triggering all our stuff, even if it dies? No they are not going to, it overwhelmes opponents, they need to put a toon of resources to kill all of them while your angel replaces itself and nets you some triggers along the way. And she will be your most aggressive creature, the 4 power with evasion will matter and is a nice fast clock for the oponnent. Serra Avenger also dies to bolt, and you are rarely going to have 2 of them at the same time to play them together to make sure one survives. It's a dead card the whole early game, I wouldn't put more than 2 avengers in, you don't want to draw it until you can play it. I'll strongly suggest 2x Avengers and 2x Legion. But even if you want 4 avengers that's OK, is not a bad card, but at least give legion a try, you will be pleasently surprised (as I was, because I thought the same as you until I tried it). Yeah emeria's call doesn't ad much. No need for it. I told you just so you bear it in mind (I have to say anyway that I am from Europe and everything here is somewhere between 1/3rd and 2/3rds the price, so it's just like 2 bucks here) I've tried them, as sad as it is, I can assure you there is no black valkirye worth playing in modern. I do think that firgas retribution is slightly better than starnheim unleashed, but I don't think it's 60 bucks better if you know what I mean, specially if money is an issue. I'll rather spend that money in resplendent angels, they will win you more matches in the long run and is an easier card to sell if the moment arrives than mediocre lands. Plus it's price is growing lately, so maybe it's even a small investment.

The deck looks much better now than yesterday anyway, good luck fellow angel player, I am sure you will have a lot of fun with it!

janederscore on Orzhov Valkyries

2 years ago

Hi darkmus! Thank you for the suggestions, I really appreciate it.

I was looking at your Serra's Descendants, competitive Angel Tribal deck last night actually, and I agree on the Bishop of Wings call for sure, I actually completely forgot about that card when I was building this. Speaker of the Heavens I originally wasn't considering because of the aggressive stance I was taking with the low mana cost creatures, but as nice as Resplendent Angel is its definitely less justifiable without more lifegain payoff (and is the most expensive card here by far), so I think that's a switch I'm comfortable with making.

I was concerned about the payoff for Cleric Class being less reliable than Paladin Class , but with an extra couple of lifegain cards like Bishop that's definitely more viable feeling.

Legion Angel is one of my favorite cards in standard right now, but I'm worried about having a 4 mana drop sitting in bolt range. The card advantage is very helpful, but I feel like it generates more value for an opponent than it does for me if it immediately dies to a 1 mana spell. I think I might value the opportunity to drop 2 Serra Avenger on turn 4 a bit more instead.

I have the same issues with Emeria's Call  ^Flip as you noted here and in your conversations about it in your Serra's Descendants deck, its something that just doesn't generate enough value consistently enough that its worth spending the extra 6 bucks to me.

I definitely am considering swapping to a monowhite deck here, especially since unfortunately as much as I love them the black (and most b/w) valkyrie cards just aren't very viable in modern (rest in peace Eradicator Valkyrie and Hailstorm Valkyrie , I wish you two were better ;_;).

I worry about Starnheim Unleashed a bit since getting efficient payouts with it requires having at least 5 mana on the board, and I've found that Firja's Retribution is actually quite nice in a lot of instances; the "free" removal on stage 2 is nice for killing flying blockers without taking a hit on my tokens (since you can activate it after declaring), and the double strike ends up being a wincon in most games where I get it out on the field. That said, the dual lands are pretty pricey, so the switch is definitely still on the table for me.

Anyway, thank you again! I'll be making a few changes here to update things and see how it shapes up.

darkmus on Orzhov Valkyries

2 years ago

janederscore run Bishop of Wings and think about Speaker of the Heavens , I know they are not angels but thay are more "angel tribal" than most angels, they are pretty cheap and they will add more value to the deck than the outcast or the segovian. Specially bishop, she's an MVP. It helps a lot holding the fort, activating Righteous passive and will give you tokens to keep giving them "papercuts" and blocking.

If you don't want to run bishop because it's not an angel I suggest you take out Resplendent Angel because you don't really have any way to trigger it but his own ability in the "probably too late" time and the 2 scrolls, and it's by far the most spensive card of the deck. With bishop and Seraph Sanctuary you can trigger it T3.

Out Bloodline Pretender and Paladin Class in Angel of Vitality and Cleric Class . They do comparable things, but I feel thay they will fit better and add more to the deck (assuming you put Bishop of Wings in, which you totally should). They will help you a lot reaching the 27 life mark for righteous (your biggest wincon for what I see) and for Speaker of the Heavens if you decide to play it.

Out scroll of Avacyn. In 2 Legion Angel and another 2 in the side. Surprisingly good. You don't need 5 life with all the gain you will get with the previous changes, more than enough to trigger resplendent many of your turns passively.

Youre most mana intensive cards are two 4cmc cards (4 with legion angel) , so your are OK with 23 lands. Take out a plains. Probably even take out two plains and add an Emeria's Call  ^Flip (it doesn't add much anyway because you are rarely going to cast it and is a couple of bucks, so you can pass on that one if you want).

If you want to go even cheaper, just go mono white, most of the price is in the lands. Changeling outcast is not good enough, you should change it for one of the previously commented cards. And firgas retribution is not that good either. I've tried it and It's best part is the second hability but even that is not that good, because the creatures it allows you to kill are the ones that you could normally take care of in battle.and you rarely care about taking out blockers for the 3rd ability because most of your stuff flies. Put Starnheim Unleashed in, it's neither better or worse than friga's retribution as a finisher, and it will save you 50-60 dollars in lands.

Trying to think on the cheapest end of the spectrum that's how I'll probably both improve and cheapen the deck. I hope it helps!

K0rt on Serra's Descendants, competitive Angel Tribal

2 years ago

Cool deck! tbh this seems like a surprising playable angels variation and pretty good against the assorted Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Crashing Footfalls decks that are dominating rn.

I know this is rehashing an old discussion but I really think that Anguished Unmaking isn't really playable over Vindicate. It's much beetter against Urza's Saga decks (particularly the food w/ Asmo) decks and Green Tron both of which seem to be pretty hard matchups for this deck at first glance. You should also probably put a Emeria's Call  ^Flip or two into the mana base somewhere for the late game. I also feel as though Archangel of Thune might be too slow for modern, especially since it dies to an Unholy Heat even after a trigger. Maybe some Angel of Invention instead since it gives immediate value even it just dies? Could also go with Serra the Benevolent as a repeated pumping source as well as a random "got'em" Worship.

You almost certainly no more about good vs. bad matchups than me with this deck, but maybe think about some Settle the Wreckage, Stony Silence and Selfless Spirit for the sideboard. Settle is good in the creature mirrors like Elves, which are probably faster than you on the ground. Stony is for the artefact decks like AsmoFood, although now that I think about it running Kataki, War's Wage is probably better to not shut of Aether Vial for you. Spirit could be good against Damn out of Esper Control and other sweepers which you probably have a problem against with this configuration with no way to gain card advantage outside of Legion Angel,

darkmus on Serra's Descendants, competitive Angel Tribal

2 years ago

t34mki11 Totally agree. When I saw the Legion Angel spoilers I was like: damn, so close yet so far to being good...if only it had vigilance or at least could survive to bolt... After like 2 test matches I was like: I wasn't expecting this, and I still wish It had vigilante or 4 toughness, but this thing is nuts. And MTG overachiever if I've ever seen one, xD.

Always happy to meet fellow Angel fans, I hope you give the deck a try and enjoy it!

darkmus on Serra's Descendants, competitive Angel Tribal

2 years ago

zapyourtumor I find Prismatic Ending to be pretty bad if you re only running 2 colors, that wouldn't remove even 1 of the things I care about (like ensnaring bridge or basically any planneswalker other than Wrenn).

Ive tried Vindicate but I don't find it better than Anguished Unmaking . Anguished doesn't hit lands but since I don't need it I'll rather have it be instant speed and exile the thing. The instant part is huge. Loosing 3 life is irrelevant in this deck. Non of the removals you suggested could remove Heliod for example.

How is Anguished not a great removal spell in practice? Its literally the best non conditional removal of the game next to vindicate. (which you recommended and is almost the same thing). 3cmc exile almost whatever you want, no questions asked.

I've tried Archangel of Tithes and its doesn't add much. 3 white mana some times can be a bit hard to have if you needed to declare cleric on Cavern to play bishop T2 or got a couple Seraph Sanctuaries early. Creatures in the deck tend to be big and gain me a ton of life so I don't mind being attacked, I can block or just let some damage trough. Also almost all my creatures fly so they can rarely be blocked. For that cost i'll rather play Angel of Jubilation . It shut's down fetches and some decks. But surprisingly Legion Angel turned out to be a MVP for 4cmc. Good evasive attacker that gives me card advantage (I am in white so I need whatever I can get, xD) and above all, ensures me 3 straight turns of triggering all my stuff, gaining a ton of life, putting angel tokens etc.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Sorin_Markov_1947 on

3 years ago

I've seen 1x Legion Angel used in a lot of these decks, especially in bo1 where there's no downside to using sideboard slots. I've also seen some cool combos with Yorion (maindeck, not companion) to bounce your enchantments and angels to boost Youthful Valkyrie and gain life with Righteous Valkyrie.

Imo, Firja's Retribution and Rampage of the Valkyries should be 4x. Firja's Retribution is everything you could ask for. 4/4 with upside for 4 mana, then removal of problematic creatures, then a win condition. Rampage of the Valkyries gives you another 4/4 and then makes your opponent pay for that removal they've been using all game.

You don't really need cost reduction in this deck with removal and 2-3 cost angels, but if you're running into a ton of aggro, you could put in some sweepers.

Here's a decklist that's not so much about lifegain, but works really well as just an Orzhov Angels build: https://aetherhub.com/Deck/public/472297