This deck is meant to be heavily Angel-themed, featuring my favorite card ever, Avacyn. Using a combination of her faithful soldier, Thalia in both of her incarnations, as well as slowdown effects like Silence, Wrath of God, and Archangel of Tithes, it's meant to stall the enemy until powerful creatures like
Baneslayer Angel
and Iona can finish the job.
In tests, this deck fares pretty decently against stuff like aggro, if I get a good opening hand. I'd like to make it more reliable. Why is Leyline of Sanctity mainboard, you might ask? Because it's free devotion, and that can make a pretty good difference, I've found. That's two free devotion right at the start of the game, in theory. If on turn 2 you drop Thalia and on turn 3 you do another Thalia, that's already 4 devotion. A turn 4 Archangel of Tithes gives you potentially 9 devotion on turn 5, allowing you to hard cast Iona, Shield of Emeria, using Cavern to make sure they can't stop it.
I know that Silence is traditionally used to protect combos, but I find it very useful generally. Against aggro, it's really good for early game stall -- hit them on critical turns like two or three in their upkeep, and all of a sudden they can't flood the board with their creatures. Then your Wraths or Archangels come online and slow them down further. You can use it to bait out control, forcing an opponent's hand before you play your other stuff that turn, or resign them to facing your attack (or Iona) without the use of spells. Silence in conjunction with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben seems pretty good at tripping up most non-aggro stuff, and Thalia, Heretic Cathar and Archangel of Tithes help slow down aggro. Linvala, Keeper of Silence is just a great creature with a good body for her cost and adds two devotion, and potentially shuts down stuff like Elves or whatnot. Avacyn lets you start blowing things up with impunity, which brings me to some of my questions.
For starters, Austere Command. I love the card even though I know it's slow, and more so with Thalia on the field. Its versatility is useful, serving as another way to wipe away creatures or also sweep enchantments or artifacts. With Avacyn out, it's one-sided no matter which mode I choose. The versatility is what makes me consider it over cheaper options for destroying artifacts and enchantments, because I can use it as another wrath effect if I have to on creatures. Use it to kill combo pieces or whatever.
In testing, I like the way both Thalias work together, especially in conjunction with Archangel of Tithes and Silence. Heretic Cathar's ability hits a lot of lands, and wrecks fast creature aggro like Elves or Goblins. Once I can get an Avacyn, Angel of Hope out, they become a lot less vulnerable to removal, and I like it because I want to make Avacyn a thing (I'm still pissed that Wizards killed her off with stupid Raid Boss Disease).
So anyway, what do you think? I'd very much welcome suggestions. The sideboard isn't complete yet because I have so many options for it, so I'm not quite sure how to build it yet. I've also considered putting in Temple Garden mainboard and adding Sigarda, Host of Herons, who teams up so well with Avacyn. Maybe take out one Cavern to put in a third Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx because its ability is so useful in this deck.
