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Legality
Format | Legality |
1v1 Commander | Legal |
Archenemy | Legal |
Block Constructed | Legal |
Canadian Highlander | Legal |
Casual | Legal |
Commander / EDH | Legal |
Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
Custom | Legal |
Duel Commander | Legal |
Highlander | Legal |
Legacy | Legal |
Leviathan | Legal |
Limited | Legal |
Modern | Legal |
Modern Beyond Horizons | Legal |
Oathbreaker | Legal |
Planar Constructed | Legal |
Planechase | Legal |
Quest Magic | Legal |
Tiny Leaders | Legal |
Vanguard | Legal |
Vintage | Legal |
Angel's Feather
Artifact
Whenever a player casts a white spell, you may gain 1 life.
PrismMTG on Sorin’s family
8 months ago
First of all, I just want to start off with saying that as your first build, this is insanely impressive. Regardless of what I might advise that you change, this is a super great first deck.
So, touching on what I think you can improve on the most. The small swings of life won't matter as much as you think they will. Cards like Angel's Feather, Ajani's Mantra, and Ephara's Radiance with the small incremental life gain is not particularly good in a format where you start at 40 life. Cards like Debt to the Deathless are better because later in the game you can pump as much mana as you want into them. I would suggest replacing the above mentioned cards with more creatures with lifelink. You're running a mostly Vampire typal deck with some angels, both of those are great at using lifelink. That will help with the life gain aspect you like while making your deck more effective, both by putting more creatures on the board, and by gaining life in a more proactive way. Overall, I think you definitely need more creatures, Vampires and Angels like to have lots of bodies on the board and 23 is a bit low for that.
Next, I'm looking at your removal and I've got some suggestions there as well. Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares are some of the best pieces of removal in the game and I would highly suggest them. Harsh Sustenance is particularly not great because of you don't have any creatures of board, it's pretty useless. While sacrifice effects can be good, letting out opponents choose what to lose is not as good as getting to destroy something yourself. Granted, I don't know your playgroup, maybe there is a lot of hexproof, or a Voltron deck or something. Regardless, I would drop the sacrifice effects for more targeted removal. Last thoughts on the removal part of the deck, hand destruction effects aren't as great on EDH because you still have 2 other opponents that will have all the cards in their hands. Tbf, there are definitely worse effects, so if you like it, then absolutely, plsu it.
Overall your ramp package is really good, the only thing I would add is Arcane Signet and Talisman of Hierarchy for 2 more 2 mana mana rocks. The 1 damage from Talisman of Hierarchy isn't really going to matter and any deck that is 2 or more colors should be running Arcane Signet imo.
Alright, final thoughts. This is a fantastic first deck and importantly, these are just suggestions that I think would work based on my experience playing and building decks. If you like something and think it's fun, play it, no matter what anyone says.
So, suggestions
Cards I think you should cut Angel's Feather Ajani's Mantra Blood Reckoning Claim of Erebos Ephara's Radiance Harsh Sustenance
Cards I think you should consider adding Path to Exile Swords to Plowshares Arcane Signet Talisman of Hierarchy
Last thing, EDHREC is a fanTASTIC resource when building your decks, I suggest looking at the Vampire or Angel page for suggestions because I think you need more creatures, just pick whatever you like, I would be looks at somehow closer to 30 creatures.
And here is the Drana and Linvala page with a life gain focus because that seems to be up your alley.
Guerric on [Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
1 year ago
I am hoping for some community feedback on something. My plan has been to cut Harsh Mercy for Darksteel Mutation, as I found the former didn't help much, and in situations where I wanted it more single target removal was what I wanted. Mutation can also sideline annoying combo commanders, and so I intend to add it. I also intended to add Smuggler's Share in place of another card draw piece, but have had trouble deciding which one. Currently Smuggler's Share is in in place of Harsh Mercy since those situations are set, but I need to go back and cut the draw piece so I can put Darksteel Mutation in. Here are the options as I see them-
Critics of my earliest list didn't seem to care for this card, but I've found it to perform well. It is 3 cmc, which makes it a perfect turn three play, and it allows us to net clue tokens for free every turn since we are pretty much always attacking. Additionally, replacing this with Smuggler's Share wouldn't do anything to lower our curve, whereas cutting a pricier card would. While we do, of course, have to pay each time we want to sac one for a card, I've found that we can often do this and are often happy to do so. With our low curve we often may want to hold mana open for removal, Lapse of Certainty, board protection pieces like Cosmic Intervention, and even creatures with flash. If we don't need to do any I have often been glad to make use of it by drawing cards on my opponent's end step right before my turn. I've also found this card incredible in a blowout. When everything has been destroyed, it is great to be able to spend a bunch of mana and re-draw our hand to keep in the game. It has saved my game at least once. As such I think I am least inclined to cut this one, but I am putting it out there as it is still nowhere near the most superior tier of card draw, which in this deck would be Mask of Memory.
When playing with Mangara I have found him to be a powerful draw engine. His first ability rarely comes into play since I usually have big vigilant blockers that deter attacks. Still, it is there. His second ability has been amazing though. In my playgroup at least, most players are casting at least two spells per turn by the mid game, and I have got a lot of cards off of him. I've found his lifelink ability situationally good as well, since his toughness allows him to attack more often than one might think. The weaknesses of Mangara are that he costs four mana, which is more than we like to pay for an engine piece, and that as a creature he is arguably the most fragile permanent type. I haven't found in my experience that he gets hit with targeted removal too much since I usually have more threatening pieces on the board which draw that. He does die to board wipes though, which is not really true of most of our other draw pieces. That being said, when he dies to board wipes, I have usually already drawn several cards off of him, justifying the four cmc I put him on the board with. As with Thorough Investigation I am not inclined to cut him, but he is four cmc and thus deserves to be considered.
Some might consider it a heresy of sorts that I even suggest cutting this card as it is a staple draw engine in most tribal decks. In my mono-green elf deck it is incredible and makes for one heck of a draw engine. It essentially turns every angel we cast into a cantrip- we draw a card to replace it. We'll usually draw at least one card during our turn off of it, and sometimes we'll draw two. There is also the anthem, which we always appreciate in an aggro deck even if we don't need it. That being said, it's nowhere near as good here as in my elf deck. There I have gratuitous amounts of mana, more creatures than lands, and very cheap creatures, allowing the card to take over the game if not answered. Here our resources are more limited, the 5cmc is felt more, and our ceiling isn't so high. We therefore have to more carefully consider the downsides. The most obvious is that at 5cmc this is our most expensive draw piece. Paired with that, it is a pretty fragile permanent type, as players tend to pack lots of artifact hate. Moreover, this is precisely the type of permanent players tend to remove, as it keeps our tank full of gas in the long run just by doing what our deck does. The floor for this card is that our opponents blow it up before we draw a single card off of it, putting us back a turn at a point we can't afford that. It would be worth it if we could play it and draw two cards off of it the first turn, but at 5 that this is highly unlikely, meaning it has to survive a turn or two before we can get a return on our investment. Also, this is just a personal consideration, but if I cut it I can put it in my Trynn and Silvar deck where I think it will do great work and draw less hate. This card as such is much higher on the cut list than the prior two.
At the outset it is worth mentioning that this card has a bit of a symbiosis with the last card on the list. When I initially made this deck one focus was on using lifegain for card draw, but since then two of these life-draw pieces, Dawn of Hope and Cosmos Elixir have been cut. As such, cutting either of these last two cards would pretty much eliminate this theme. With that noted, onto the card. This card has almost always been on the chopping block as I revise the deck, but so far it has always made it through, and not for nothing. To begin with, as an enchantment it is a more resilient permanent type. People tend to pack less enchantment removal, and when they have it in hand they are wise to use it on truly game-winning enchantments. I always chuckle inwardly while playing my Teysa deck when someone blows a Disenchant effect on one of my mana rocks just before I play Necropotence or Bolas's Citadel. Needless to say, if they have it they probably aren't wasting it on this card, which will probably last the whole game. This card is essentially an Angel's Feather stapled to a Phyrexian Arena, albeit without the life loss and with a limitation on the draw instead. As such its ceiling is simply drawing a card every turn and gaining some life. It's floor, on the other hand, is just having an over-costed Angel's Feather on the field, which is still just fine. This card as such furthers two of our gameplans- life gain and card draw, and as we cast lots of white spells it will gain us quite a bit of life, especially if Angel of Vitality is on the field. I've found it almost always draws me the card as well. This card will almost never wow us, but Phyrexian Arena continues to be a staple card not because it wows us but because drawing an extra card per turn turns out to be pretty great. Another argument in favor of this card, and this has only to do with flavor, is that it belongs in an angels deck. We have both Bruna and Gisela in the deck, so if we can't have Sigarda herself we might as well have one of her spells. You can also pick up a beautiful, full art foil of this card for about a buck, making it a cosmetic delight. As such I am pretty reluctant to cut this, though I have always considered it.
I have wanted to play this card forever, and this deck was the first commander deck where I had enough life gain to make it worthwhile. I think in considering this card, we need to do a ceiling-floor-middle analysis. The ceiling for this card is incredibly high. We swing in with a crazy amount of lifelink damage, and then dump our mana into drawing a ton of cards. The floor is like with Vanquisher's Banner- we play it turn four and it immediately gets blown up before we draw a single card. Even then, we spent four mana on it and not five. The middle though is really good though, as at per card we will draw lots of cards even with small lifelinkers, and this could arguably be called the most powerful draw piece in the deck for that reason. As an artifact, it is a pretty fragile permanent type and will likely be targeted for removal. That being said, the mid to late game comparison to Vanquisher's Banner is useful. Let's say I have eight mana available and a single big lifelinker in the air. I can play this for four, swing, and then immediately draw four cards off of it when I gain the life. This will usually have made the turn worth it even if the card gets blown up afterwards, and of course, of it does not get blown up, we'll probably win that game. Banner on the other hand would draw us one card if we could cast an angel after it, but wouldn't do much more than that. As such, given this card performs well at most levels, I think it's more likely than not that I keep it in, but it is on the list.
wallisface on Lifegain and Drain
2 years ago
Nice updates! The deck looks a lot more polished! My current suggestions would be to ditch all of Angel's Feather, Demon's Horn, and Tormod's Crypt. The Horn and Feather don’t really do anything to help you, and while Crypt can be strong in some matchups, a lot of the time it won’t gain you much value. I think you can also go down to needing only 23 lands.
With those cards removed I’d suggest instead running some mix of Fatal Push, Path to Exile, and Infernal Grasp. This will help give you a lot of early game disruption to help you setup for a stronger board position.
DarkKnightCuron on White Soldier Deck for Commander, …
3 years ago
Good Afternoon, Hope everyone is doing well.
I've amassed the following cards for specifically a soldier-themed deck, but I'm having trouble narrowing down the list for an appropriate deck, so I'd like to request advice and assistance. The general idea was to summon a bunch of soldier tokens, buff them, defeat opponents, but I keep stumbling into cards that would be 'cool' or 'awesome' with the theme. Here are the cards I am looking at:
Legendary Cards (Potential Commanders) Akroma, Vision of Ixidor (Synergy with Odric) Baird, Steward of Argive (Good delay) Brimaz, King of Oreskos (Cheap commander that produces soldiers) Darien, King of Kjeldor (decent way of making soldiers, expensive) Keleth, Sunmane Familiar (only for partner) Lena, Selfless Champion Mikaeus, the Lunarch Nahiri, the Lithomancer Odric, Lunarch Marshal Odric, Master Tactician Prava of the Steel Legion Thalia, Heretic Cathar Trynn, Champion of Freedom
Normal Cards Abzan Falconer (synergy with Mikaeus) Adaptive Automaton (buffs soldiers) Ainok Bond-Kin (synergy with Mikaeus) Ancestral Blade (2 for a 2/2 creature seems good, especially if I can re-assign it to Auriok Steelshaper) Angel's Feather (Life gain) Angel's Grace (emergency + synergy with Darien)(Isochron Scepter) Anointed Procession (Double tokens, yes) Anointer Priest (life gain for tokens, seems good) Auriok Steelshaper (seems like good synergy with the equipment in the deck, if they're included. Otherwise, might toss this out) Aven Brigadier (Might toss this) Aysen Crusader (P/T based on soldiers? Yes please) Ballyrush Banneret (cheaper soldier spells) Basri Ket (Synergy with Abzan Falconer and Ainok Bond-Kin)(Produces Soldier Tokens) Benalish Commander (Roundabout way of producing soldiers) Bounty Agent (Neat way of dealing with certain cards) Call the Coppercoats (Produces soldiers) Captain of the Watch (Produces soldiers, buffs soldiers) Captain's Call (Produces soldiers) Catapult Master (Neat way of exiling enemy creatures) Cenn's Enlistment (produces soldiers, retrace) Commanding Presence (roundabout way of producing soldiers) Conclave Phalanx (can easily be a free creature + free life gain) Congregate (good life gain) Conqueror's Pledge (produces soldiers) Coordinated Barrage (meshes with soldiers well. Isochron Scepter) Crusader of Odric (can get really tough and powerful, might be worth cutting though) Daru Stinger (Could be really potent) Daru Warchief (cheaper spells, buffs soldiers, seems good) Dawn of Hope (good synergy with life gains, produces soldiers with lifelink) Daysquad Marshal (produces 1 soldier token, only really good with other buffs/cost reductions) Decree of Justice (mostly just to cycle it) Deploy to the Front (Great way of expanding ranks of soldiers) Devout Invocation (This is basically a win condition) Door of Destinies (buffs soldiers) Elspeth Tirel (makes soldiers, gain life, emergency nuke) Elspeth, Knight-Errant (makes soldiers, indestructable emblem) Elspeth, Sun's Champion (produces soldiers, cool emblem) Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis (makes soldiers or gain life, neat concept) Enlistment Officer (Good way of thinning the deck) Entrapment Maneuver (produces soldiers while protecting yourself, smidge situational) Erase (cheap removal. Isochron Scepter) Evangel of Heliod (produces soldiers, potential for lots of soldiers) Even the Odds (Nice way of getting emergency troops) Fairgrounds Warden (cool removal) Field Marshal (buffs soldiers) Fiend Binder (cool removal) Finale of Glory (basically a win condition) First Response (Nice way of benefitting from small attackers, I think) Garrison Cat (produces 1 soldier token, effectively replacing itself, might be worth cutting) Gideon, Ally of Zendikar (only really here for the emblem and possibly getting buffed on attacks) Gift of Estates (Land is always a problem for me, good deck thinning) Glorious Anthem (buff) God-Favored General (produces soldiers, albeit a bit expensive) Haazda Marshal (neat soldier producer, makes lifelink soldiers) Hero of Bladehold (battlecry + soldier producer, great with Haazda Marshal) Holy Day (defensive spell, Isochron Scepter) Honor of the Pure (buff) Hunted Witness (replaces itself with a soldier, cheap, might cut though) Intangible Virtue (buffs tokens) Intrepid Hero (Great removal, lots of great memories, nostalgic for me, etc) Isochron Scepter (Keep using certain Instants as needed) Join the Ranks (a bit expensive but makes soldiers) Journey to Nowhere (removal) Keeper of the Accord (really cool card, definitely helps with soldiers and lands) Knight-Captain of Eos (basically a holy day by sacrificing a soldier, seems really good) Land Tax (Land is always a problem) Launch the Fleet (produces soldiers, great with Odric, Haazda Marshal, Hero of Bladehold, Brimaz, etc) Leyline of the Meek (Neat little buff) Lieutenants of the Guard (neat mechanic, might cut) Loxodon Partisan (battlecry, might cut) Loyal Sentry (neat concept, cheap) Makeshift Battalion (diet battlecry) Marble Diamond (might be good) Marshal's Anthem (neat card, might be beneficial in a pinch) Martial Coup (great removal + producing soldiers) Mentor of the Meek (card draw from soldiers) Militia Bugler (decent deck-thinning, might cut since its only top four) Militia's Pride (produces soldiers, lots of good synergy) Mobilization (decent buff, built-in soldier producer, tad expensive) Mother of Runes (utility, might cut) Murder Investigation (neat little way of producing soldiers, depends) Ninth Bridge Patrol (neat way of benefitting from tokens getting destroyed) Nomads' Assembly (huge potential) Oath of Lieges (Land is always a problem) Oathsworn Giant (expensive, but decent buff) Oblivion Ring (Removal) Omen of the Sun (produces soldiers, little life gain, scry later, flash, generally good) Palace Guard (cool card) Paragon of New Dawns (buffs soldiers) Path to Exile (Removal) Patrol Signaler (roundabout way of producing soldiers, might cut) Pay No Heed (cheap defense, Isochron Scepter) Pearl Medallion (cheaper spells is always better) Pennon Blade (make something huge, kinda expensive though, might cut) Phantom General (buffs tokens) Precinct Captain (cheap, produces soldiers for attacking, decent synergy) Preeminent Captain (free cast, depending upon circumstances, decent synergy) Proper Burial (decent life gain) Raise the Alarm (cheap soldiers, Isochron Scepter) Ranger of Eos (only useful if I have a lot of cheap creatures) Reborn Hero (neat concept, can bring it back) Rebuff the Wicked (neat counter) Recruit the Worthy (cheap soldiers, Isochron Scepter) Recruiter of the Guard (decent search) Remember the Fallen (might cut, decent card) Resurrection (decent way of bringing back an expensive creature) Return to the Ranks (potentially free method of bringing cards back) Reverent Hoplite (potentially lots of soldiers) Rhox Pikemaster (Decent buff) Righteous Cause (Decent buff, tad expensive) Riot Control (neat life gain, defense) Rootborn Defenses (defense, makes a soldier, neat) Safe Passage (defense) Selfless Squire (interesting utility, might cut) Sergeant-at-Arms (can create soldiers, seems expensive though) Shielded Passage (neat little defense, Isochron Scepter) Sol Ring (obvious reasons) Soul Parry (decent defense, Isochron Scepter) Soul Snare (neat way to keep up devotion + have something on hand to deal with a creature) Soulmender (cheap creature, life gain, might cut) Standing Troops (decent card, might cut) Stormfront Riders (expensive way of producing soldiers, flying, might cut) Strata Scythe (make something huge, might cut) Strength of Arms (decent way of making soldiers, Isochron Scepter) Sword of the Meek (decent way of bringing it back from graveyard, might cut though) Sworn Companions (lifelink soldiers) Terminus (nice clutch card) Thraben Standard Bearer (cheap soldier, can be good for creating defenders in a pinch) Timely Reinforcements (neat for emergencies) True Conviction (huge buff) Unified Strike (exile based on number of soldiers, isochron scepter) Unruly Mob (might cut) Valor (easy way to get first strike) Veteran Armorer (buff, might cut) Veteran Armorsmith (buff, might cut) Veteran Swordsmith (buff, might cut) Veteran's Armaments (decent synergy, might cut) War Report (good life gain) Wing Shards (neat card, might cut) Worship (synergizes with Darien)
Lands Drifting Meadow (cycling) Emeria, The Sky Ruin (awesome card if I can get 7 plains) Karoo (neat little card, not sure if worth it) 28x Plains New Benalia (neat card, not sure if worth it) Nykthos, Shrine of Nyx (white deck, probably a good call) Secluded Steppe (cycling)
Thank you for your time and attention.
Drcfan on Mono White Angels
3 years ago
Intro
-
Hm it doesnt seem to have a consistent plan nor a legit format. I would suggest to go for modern since it has a lot of cards in its pool and is the most common 60 cards format besides standard. I am an Angels Deck builder since 6 years, so i have a couple of suggestions. Of course that doesnt mean that you have to change something, i mean it is just a suggestion and all the mentioned cards wont fit anyway in a 60 cards deck. Try to make it more consistent if needed by playing 4-of or tutor effects.
-
Since you mentioned your friend plays burn, i will give you some cards that will make your winrate nearly 100% against burn. Burn has barely no chance against lifegain decks. Angels can be build in a lifegain way, which i am personally no fan of but many are, so here we go.
-
If you want to check out a non lifegain modern Angel deck, you can check out Devotion to White Angels.
Remove:
- Akroma, Vision of Ixidor
- Angel of the Dire Hour
- Angelic Arbiter
- Angelic Wall
- Herald of War
- Serra Avenger
- Wall of Reverence
- Angelic Renewal
- Angel's Feather
- Devout Invocation
Add
- Resplendent Angel
- Archangel of Thune
- Lyra Dawnbringer
- Giver of Runes
- Soul Warden
- Auriok Champion
- Gisela, the Broken Blade
- Bruna, the Fading Light
- Ajani, Strength of the Pride
- Wall of Omens
- Nyx-Fleece Ram
- Authority of the Consuls
- Path to Exile
- Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
- Emeria, The Sky Ruin
- Settle the Wreckage
- Leyline of Sanctity
- Righteous Valkyrie
- Speaker of the Heavens
- Serra the Benevolent
Kind Regards Drcfan
Geo215 on Mono W Vigilance Life Gain Budget
3 years ago
Upgrades: -7 +7, adds about $55.77 and would no longer be budget.
-4 Elite Inquisitor +4 Banishing Light
-1 Angel's Feather +1 Angel of Destiny
-1 Angel's Feather -1 Prism Ring +2 Heliod, Sun-Crowned
carpecanum on +1 Lock Up
3 years ago
Well I'd ditch Angel's Feather but not sure about anything else because I'm not willing to look through each card with no classifications like you have it now. It just makes it harder to see what you have a lot or little of.
Epicurus on Card creation challenge
4 years ago
a7thson possibly, but that was off the cusp in a card creation forum, not a well-developed concept, completed after months of research, by a comity of paid card developers.
I think that the card, in concept, is pretty awesome. Even if the triggered abilities I came up with weren't the best choices, the idea of having abilities that trigger based on the colors of spells you cast - in a Witchmaw deck - is what makes it so cool. You fill that deck with multicolored spells, and rack up the benefits.
The only thing you would have to keep track of is what colors were spent to cast it in the first place. After that, it's just checking the color(s) of further spells cast afterwards, not much more complicated than combining Angel's Feather with something with sunburst.
And even then, yes, it might be too complicated for some players, and possibly even enough of them that it wouldn't make it to a printed set. I feel like if you understand the mechanics of the game enough to be commenting on a card creation forum, it wouldn't be too complicated for you.
Please don't read this post with a passive-aggressive tone of voice, because I know it sounds that way. Just saying the card is wordy, but not totally incomprehensible.