So my gf is learning the game and I'm looking to put together a few standard decks so that she can play FNMs too (rock on!). She wasn't too impressed with any of the standard ideas I've thrown up yet. She seems intrigued by Selesnya as a guild option for RTR after rotation and requested I look into "an angel deck." So this is what about 40 minutes of perusing the post-rotation sets has yielded.
The idea is to drop the humans early to provide some early defenses and also mislead the opponent. They see Doomed Traveler, Avacyn's Pilgrim, and Thraben Doomsayer and they'll be expecting Champion of Lambholt, Champion of the Parish, or tokens (I hope). But the real clincher comes in the form of angels, and with any luck, a quick Avacyn, Angel of Hope.
Obviously angels have a steep mana curve; however, that's the beauty of green as I can ramp the mana using Avacyn's Pilgrim and Somberwald Sage. Angels will get cheaper thanks to Herald of War to further expedite the process. And if none of those work, Descendants' Path will let me drop either the humans or the angels at no added cost to me.
I don't forsee getting decked with Mentor of the Meek pairing with Thraben Doomsayer to help me draw. Scroll of Avacyn gives a nice life gain while also powering some added draws. Lastly, multiple Descendants' Paths will let me cycle through the deck with the quickness.
Divine Reckoning works either once Avacyn is out or otherwise just to bail my ass out when I'm looking at a bad draw (or at least a bad board presence). Defy Death will let me score Avacyn if they counter her or if she's otherwise forced to the graveyard (and five is certainly cheaper than eight).
I have SOME removal in Pacifism and Oblivion Ring, but don't know that I'll really need much because of the basic design of the deck - I should be able to secure a better board presence pretty quickly or just chump block the crap out of them.
Lastly, Ajani, Caller of the Pride is just in for some grins. He can help with Herald of War by adding counters or otherwise his -3 ability will help get the kill.
So here are my concerns:
1) Sideboard - at current it has 4x Nevermore as I'm viewing that as the ultimate SB card. Play the first game, see what happens, sub them in and you can cripple most decks relatively easily - just think about calling out Mana Leak/Vapor Snag/Tragic Slip/Bonfire of the Damned or better yet, Delver of Secrets or Snapcaster Mage. Curse of Exhaustion is sort of barking up the same tree there.
2) Do I need more removal? Would it make sense to dump Pacifism for more oblivion rings - they're more versatile and can even help mana screw your opponent.
3) I can't help but think I'm missing something in green as the color balance is wildly in favor of white. I'd adjust the mana, but forests are so important to get things off on the right foot with Avacyn's Pilgrim.
4) Entreat the Angels, Banishing Stroke and several others are tempting. But are they necessary? I can't help but think that the creature composition of the deck is spread too thin. Would it make sense to drop some and make it more focused?
How does this sound more generally? Thoughts? As always, any input anyone can offer will be greatly appreciated.
