Angels, Spears and Swords or ASS (Swords Tribal)

Commander / EDH Angels Equip Flying RW (Boros)

MrHighscore

Angels and sword dudes (23)

• 1x Angel of Jubilation
• 1x Angel of Vitality
• 1x Angel of the Dire Hour
• 1x Anya, Merciless Angel
• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Archangel of Tithes
• 1x Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
• 1x Aurelia, the Warleader
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Baneslayer Angel
• 1x Celestine, the Living Saint
• 1x Figure of Destiny
• 1x Firemane Avenger
• 1x Giada, Font of Hope
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Lyra Dawnbringer
• 1x Resplendent Angel
• 1x Righteous Valkyrie
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Serra Paragon
• 1x Sublime Archangel
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Youthful Valkyrie

Card advantage (9)

• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Infiltration Lens
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Puresteel Paladin
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Smuggler's Share
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x The Immortal Sun
• 1x Wheel of Fortune

Land (36)

• 1x Ancient TombGC
• 1x Axgard Armory
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Boros Garrison
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1x Homeward Path
• 5x Mountain
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 11x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Slayers' Stronghold
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon
• 1x Sundown Pass
• 1x Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x War Room

Ramp (8)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Locket
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Pearl Medallion
• 1x Smothering TitheGC
• 1x Sol Ring

Utility (3)

• 1x Assemble the Legion
• 1x Faith's Reward
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic

Commander (1)

Control (10)

• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Legion's Initiative
• 1x Martial Coup
• 1x Oblivion Ring
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Vandalblast
• 1x Wear / Tear
• 1x Wrath of God

Equipment (10)

• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1x Sword of Forge and Frontier
• 1x Sword of Hearth and Home
• 1x Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1x Sword of Sinew and Steel
• 1x Sword of War and Peace
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte

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Maybeboard

Angels and sword dudes (19)

• 1x Akroma, Angel of Fury
• 1x Angel of Finality
• 1x Angel of Serenity
• 1x Archangel Avacyn  ^Flip
• 1x Battlegrace Angel
• 1x Bruna, the Fading Light  ^{Flip  Meld}
• 1x Deathless Angel
• 1x Feather, the Redeemed
• 1x Firemane Commando
• 1x Gisela, the Broken Blade  ^Meld
• 1x Heavenly Blademaster
• 1x Herald of War
• 1x Iroas, God of Victory *list*
• 1x Metropolis Reformer
• 1x Resolute Archangel
• 1x Restoration Angel
• 1x Sephara, Sky's Blade
• 1x Seraph of the Sword
• 1x Twilight Shepherd

Control (7)

• 1x Aurelia's Fury
• 1x Cataclysm
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Lightning Helix
• 1x Second Sunrise
• 1x Single Combat
• 1x Valorous Stance

Anthem (1)

• 1x Akroma's Memorial

Land (12)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Mistveil Plains
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Seraph Sanctuary
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Equipment (9)

• 1x Batterskull
• 1x Blade of Selves
• 1x Conqueror's Flail
• 1x Deathrender
• 1x Godsend
• 1x Sigarda's Aid
• 1x Sword of Kaldra
• 1x Sword of Vengeance
• 1x Worldslayer

Ramp (4)

• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Hedron Archive
• 1x Mana VaultGC
• 1x Talisman of Conviction

Card advantage (12)

• 1x Dawn of Hope
• 1x Endless Atlas
• 1x Marshal's Anthem
• 1x Mask of Memory
• 1x Mind's Eye
• 1x Nahiri, Heir of the Ancients
• 1x Outpost Siege
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Showdown of the Skalds
• 1x Valakut Exploration
• 1x Wedding Ring
• 1x Wheel of Fate

Utility (8)

• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Forge Anew
• 1x Forging the Tyrite Sword
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Quest for the Holy Relic
• 1x Scout's Warning
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Teferi's ProtectionGC

Random planeswalkers (4)

• 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1x Nahiri, Storm of Stone
• 1x Nahiri, the Harbinger
• 1x Nahiri, the Lithomancer

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Too many swords?

There is no such things as too many swords!

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Motivation

I wanted to make a swords tribal deck! That means that swords should appear in the image or be part of the name for the majority of the cards.

Finding specific card version with swords in the image is not trivial work; You have to know what card you're looking for, and search through all cards manually, so I may have missed one or more. IF you know a good sword'ish card that I should include, speak up!

There are a lot of angels that carry swords, so I figured it would make sense to make an agel sub-theme. The issue with that is that most of the good angels (say Avacyn, Angel of Hope) does not carry a sword, but a spear. Given that I want to actually play the game and stand a chance to win, I have relaxed the sword constraint to include spears.

Swords. Angels. Spears. SAS... or Angels, Swords and Spears for the ASS acronym. Because good decks have good names, and ASS is a good name AND it opens up for so many primitive jokes.

Deck design

Given that nice red angels are also an option, and there exist a few cool Boros decks for EDH with spears and swords, I'm going for a Boros theme, even though White will be contributing the most! But for theme Assemble the Legion and Legion's Initiative are right down my alley (Legion's Initiative is a thematic replacement for Teferi's Protection, until they print a version with swords and spears).

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight is a very nice finisher to have available in the command zone, but the deck should be able to hold it own without her help.

Card advantage

Since we're in Boros, card advantage is an issue, but I think there are enough solutions around these days to be satisfied:

• Esper Sentinel is pretty consistent card draw, and helps with the curve. And it has a sword!
• Infiltration Lens can provide some card draw, and is nice on the curve. And it has a sword! (Need to evaluate if this is actually any good)
• Land Tax helps keeping my hand full of lands and prunes the deck
• Puresteel Paladin plays nice with my suite of 12 equipment, allowing me to draw on each play. Slightly supported by tutors like Stonehewer Giant and Stoneforge Mystic
• Skullclamp need no introduction. And that little thingy coming out of the neck looks like a tiny sword.
• Smuggler's Share because I should also have a cut when my opponets are getting cards!
• Stonehewer Giant justs awesome eqipment onto the battlefield. He's so good (and needed) that I'll ignore the fact that his weapons are axes. Sorry, but let's be pragmatic here.
• The Immortal Sun A little bit of everything, but in this list: It gives us an extra card per turn.
• Wheel of Fortune not exactly advantage, but will fill up my hand, and hopefully get rid of some cards my opponents were 'saving for later'. There is actually a sword on the wheel :D
• Boros Locket, Commander's Sphere, and Mind Stone are in the ramp suite solely because they can be exchanged for draw later in the game.
• Sword of Light and Shadow, Sword of Forge and Frontier, and Sword of Fire and Ice all carry their weight some way or another

Ramp

All decks need a bit of ramp to get to those critical plays a little bit sooner!

• Arcane Signet seems as essential as Sol Ring
• Boros Locket, Commander's Sphere, and Mind Stone are in the ramp suite solely because they can be exchanged for draw later in the game.
• Perl Medallion scales slightly better than another rock, when most of my cards are white.
• Smothering Tithe creates a nice mana battery
• Sol Ring because this is really a 98 cards format
• Smuggler's Share because I should also get compensated when my opponets ramp!
• Sword of the Animist (ETB tapped), Sword of Hearth and Home, and Sword of Forge and Frontier (ETB ready to use) help me pretend I'm in {G}
• Sword of Feast and Famine for double tapping that mana

Control

All those pesky opponents needs to be defeated. Sometimes that means removing an artefact, exiling a creature, or getting rid of annoying combo piece. Luckily Boros is pretty good at this stuff:

• Boros Charm lots of utility in this card, but can also get rid of a pesky planeswalker
• Legion's Initiative can save me from a board wipe and be a mediocre anthem, while it's in waiting position. Obviously Teferi's Protection would be better, but there are no sword versions printed. This guy has spears in it.
• Martial Coup and Wrath of God will keep the board clear!
• Oblivion Ring deals with most threats and there are swords!
• Path to Exile, Return to Dust, Swords to Plowshares, Wear / Tear are cheap and efficient and... sword!
• Vandalblast is always wonderful. Even when cast for {R}
• Shadowspear for enabling those snipes or wipes by canceling out hexproof and indestructible
• Sword of Fire and Ice will ping those pesky utility creatures
• Sword of Sinew and Steel to keep those planeswalkers and artifacts abay
• Umezawa's Jitte because it awesome at eating small and indestructible creatures.

Utility

A couple of cards I could not fit into the other categories

• Assemble the Legion because I always wanted to play it and there are so many swords in that picture. Also seems pretty good, though a bit slow.
• Faith's Reward another substitute for Teferi's Protection. It has a sword. Can be used big or small
• Stoneforge Mystic because tutor for equipment, rebate on equipment, and uncounterable equipment. Also fit's nicely on the curve, and have a sword stone.

Equipment

It should come as no surprise that a swords tribal will be running the infamous Sword of X/Z/Z equipment. They are all good, one way or the other, and the protection from X/Y makes me happy. They should be covered by the other sections, but new information is: These are what inspired the deck in the first place!

The creatures

Well. They are the least bad angels. The tribe is kind of meh, with life link and stuff, but also they have SWORDS and SPEARS! In summary: They have wings. They fly. They have swords and spears. Some of them look kind. Some of them are angry. They're okay fighters. Some have tricks, but most are just meh. On the plus side, they can all carry equipment!

In addition I've given room for a couple of special non-agelic creatures:

• Esper Sentinel is too good to pass up on, and have a sword'ish arm
• Figure of Destiny is good on the curve, and have some flexibility later
• Puresteel Paladin and Stoneforge Mystic will do good stuff with equipment, and is all sword
• Stonehewer Giant and Serra Ascendant does not have a sword or a spear! I'm a bad person, I know it. Here you thought it was ASS and it turns out I'm the ass. I'm simply cheating, because these cards are too good to not play in this deck
• Sun Titan checks on the sword list, so he's excused. He'll bring back more than half of my deck on play or attack, so he's a keeper!

Land suite

Not much to note here. Tried doing the Crucible of Worlds + fetches thing, but it's just more hazzle than not. I've drizzeld enough duals in there for this to be a nothing burger, and even found room for some utility. Move along. Nothing to see. It's fine!

Help wanted

• What is good? What is bad? What would you add (and cut) to make it better? Please linger on the Maybe board. Lot's of good stuff there!
• I can not justify a spot for any planeswalkers. Can you argue that I should?

Top Ranked	Achieved #2 position overall 8 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	24 - 0 Mythic Rares 37 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.19
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, Soldier 1/1 RW, Soldier 1/1 W, Treasure
Folders	EDH decks, Commander, Coppied decks, Stuff, Decks, Commander Decks, EDH, Commander, Deeeeeeeeeecks