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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 |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Guardian of Ghirapur
Creature — Angel
Flying When Guardian of Ghirapur enters the battlefield, exile up to one other target creature or artifact you control. Return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
2 weeks ago
I would definitely run Trouble in Pairs over Mangara, the Diplomat. Unfortunately it doesn’t come in foil and I’ve made it a point to foil out my entire Giada deck.
2 non-angel cards I have my eye on are Lost Jitte and Collector’s Cage.
With Jitte I’d probably stack counters and dump them all at once to untap a strong land like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Lotus Field.
For the cage I like the idea of doing hideaway on something big like Avacyn, Angel of Hope or Serra's Emissary for board wipe protection and a big swinger on your turn. You can then reset it with Guardian of Ghirapur or something that blinks it.
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
4 weeks ago
am3ience : Doesn't look like Guerric has been on in over a year so his list is a little outdated. He also made some budget choices. Depending on the power level of your pod you may want to look at stronger support. I've been playing Giada semi-regularly since release and my list has evolved over time:
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/help-me-giada-youre-my-only-hope/
There a few notable angels in the year since this list:
Inspiring Overseer - while it released the same time as Giada, Guerric didn't include it. When you're going for a blink theme and Sword of Hearth and Home is out then you can essentially gain life and draw an extra card once per turn.
Guardian of Ghirapur - if you have any ETB effect angels then this one can help immensely. Or if you picked up Throne of Eldraine then you can reset it, leaving 4 white up on opponents turns which is typically the magic number for protection.
Metropolis Reformer - It's a cheap angel at 2W, has vigilance as a keyword, provides us hexproof from targeted spells and semi-lifegain from blocks or a Blasphemous Act
Firemane Commando - While it's a 4 drop it provides much needed draw off attacks which you should be doing every turn.
Roaming Throne - Not technically an angel but it doubles all the triggers. If you check my list I have categories of Angel Triggers. Anything with the keywords "At, When, or Whenever" will be doubled. Unfortunately it doesn't double Giada herself as that's a replacement effect but it can still get out of hand very quickly.
Wojek Investigator - Also a cheap angel at 2W with vigilance and usually a free clue every turn I'd consider it a strict upgrade over Angelic Sleuth. However, if you need more card draw support I'd personally pick Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma or The One Ring.
I didn't add Aurelia's Vindicator or Merchant of Truth because their abilities don't justify the mana cost.
If you like Aurelia's Vindicator ability I'd recommend Angel of Serenity as the Disguise cost and ability is the same as Serenity but you don't have to jump through hoops of turning it face up. Also, you can target it with an Ephemerate or Teleportation Circle to get more than one usage out if it.
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
11 months ago
Ah, I guess spoilers don't work in comment boxes, that's annoying.
1. Guardian of Ghirapur IN Angelic Curator OUT
After nearly a year of playtesting, I'm not the biggest fan of the low CMC angels, especially Angelic Curator. While it's a 1/1 flying angel body for 2, the protection for artifacts is more of a hindrance than a help. It helped defend against a Blightsteel Colossus once but being unable to equip it hurts more. By turn 3 when we want to drop Angelic Curator we would rather want to drop a 3-4 CMC angel or an impactful Artifact, Equipment or Enchantment.
Guardian of Ghirapur is a far superior body to Angelic Curator at 3/3 for 3. Initially there weren't that many blink targets for this deck but I've tweaked it to have more relevant targets and provide some outs to accelerate our gameplan. Typical targets would be Stoneforge Mystic, Recruiter of the Guard, Inspiring Overseer, Karmic Guide, Sanctuary Warden, Bruna, the Fading Light Meld.
2. Karmic Guide IN Angelic Page OUT
Following the same logic as Angelic Curator, Angelic Page simply doesn't do enough when it hits the board. Karmic Guide was initially pulled due to lack of use as 5CMC is a lot for simple recursion and the deck was more focused on mana efficiency. However, with the re-introduction of tutors and blink mechanics it may have a place again.
3. Recruiter of the Guard IN Mangara, the Diplomat OUT
Mangara has proven its worth in a few games if opponents continue with their strategy and play through it. However, like Smuggler's Share, if opponents decide to play around it, it's kind of a dead card on board. The first ability generally doesn't do much since opponents aren't swinging into our board and depending on the deck they can cast one big spell on their turn and save their instants for opponents. Recruiter of the Guard was in my initial build but pulled in favor of more angels. Typical line would be Recruiter of the Guard into Stoneforge Mystic to grab either Lightning Greaves for protection or Sword of Hearth and Home for protection, ramp and blink shenanigans. While it seems like adding 1 card for a maybe synergy seems inefficient I was able to pull it off in 1/3 games so it's not as inconsistent as it seems.
4. Firemane Commando IN Angelic Sleuth OUT
While the clues generated with Sleuth have saved me before, I would much rather have more consistent draw to keep my hand topped off rather than wastinga turn after a wipe to refill my hand. Firemane serves double duty as not only being a solid 4/3 angel body but also provides "free" draw through attacking which we want to do. It also helps direct combat decks towards opponents if they want the draw.
5. Invasion of Dominaria Flip IN Thorough Investigation OUT
In the same theme as Sleuth, Thorough Investigation provides draw for later with the added benefit of going through the dungeon. I've completed dungeons twice before with this card but the benefits haven't been as strong as I hoped. Invasion of Dominaria Flip provides lifegain and draw immediately and as long as we have 2 angels (Giada and 1 other) then we can defeat this battle the turn we drop it providing a 6/6 Serra Angel. When you staple all 3 together then that's incredibly efficient. Late game when we're trying to close out the game we may choose to not swing at the battle but instead go for lethal but the option remains.
6. Invasion of Gobakhan Flip IN The Ozolith OUT
In the dozens of games I've played with Ozolith I've only had it successfully work once. Late game it may seem like a dead card as it sort of hinges on either an opponent playing a board wipe and us refilling the board to swing again or using Pyre of Heroes on a stacked angel to grab something relevant. I much prefer Gobakhan as it slows down an opponents gameplay, easy to flip and provides benefits right away by buffing our board the same turn it comes out and also has "free" protection for later.
7. Conjurer's Mantle IN Mask of Memory OUT
Mask has been pretty great overall but sometimes slows down the game too much by making us filter. While there's a recursion package, it's not always guaranteed, so pitching relevant angel bodies early can be detrimental for late game, especially against graveyard exiles like Bojuka Bog. Yet, we'll still want to draw our cards so the discarding is necessary. Mantle is great not only because it costs the same, has a buff and vigilance and grabs relevant bodies off the top 6 without having to discard.
8. Clever Concealment IN Cosmic Intervention OUT
Cosmic seems good on paper but exile effects like Farewell or Merciless Eviction can make it useless. It also doesn't protect the angel tokens which can sometimes be the main body of threat. Concealment allows us to not just protect the tokens but lets the vigilant angels tap for a surprise protection. Oftentimes opponents will check untapped mana before blowing everything on a boardwipe so the convoke mechanic is super relevant for a well timed protection spell. Depending on the success of this swap I may consider Wand of the Worldsoul as well for some sneaky convoke shenanigans.
9. Chivalric Alliance IN Tome of Legends OUT
In the same line of thinking as Firemane Commando, "free" draw is better than costed draw. They both cost the same but having to pay for Tome of Legends can slow us down as well as if Giada is removed too much in the beginning. At most we'll ever get 1 draw per turn anyway so this swap was pretty simple.
10. Land Tax IN Smothering Tithe OUT
I've loved Tithe for awhile thinking it's a great ramp card. While it is good, it hinges on the decks it's played against. I've been most successful against my friends Jhoira's deck which colored my view when bringing it into pub matches. After reflecting on it for a year, it simply isn't worth it in mid to high powered casual decks that don't use draw as part of their strategy. In 90% of games I'll get 3-6 treasures before it gets removed or the game ends. Figuratively, you would drop it on turn 4 and if no one pays the tax then by turn 6 you'll have at most 6 treasures which is only net +2 mana. If the game lasts till turn 7 then you could have +5 mana but at that point opponents would either have game ending spells or plenty of open mana to pay the tax. Land Tax on the other hand can come down T1 before Giada even hits the field, thins out the deck while filling the hand with relevant plays and synergizes well with Emeria Shepherd or Emeria, The Sky Ruin. It was in the initial build of this deck before but was taken out along with the other artifact ramp to add more angels in.
11. Plains IN Bonders' Enclave OUT
As one of the few available card draws in mono-white, Enclave was a land for hail-mary draws. I've only ever used these abilities in 1 game when I was desperate for any card draw and it felt terrible. Paying 4 to draw a single card is terrible use of mana. Also, there were too many colorless sources from lands so I was struggling early game to play 2 relevant white cards in one turn.
12. Mistveil Plains IN War Room OUT
Same line of thinking as Enclave. Mistveil's ability is more of an experiment as tap lands are generally too slow. Typically recursion would just put the creatures back on the battlefield but Mistveil can possibly help with the Blink/Tutor package we've introduced.
Considering Wand of the Worldsoul and Excise the Imperfect
Opponents: Sigarda, Host of Herons & Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn
Starting hand: Windswept Heath, Fabled Passage, Path of Ancestry, Bruna, the Fading Light Meld, Folk Hero, Righteous Valkyrie, Invasion of Dominaria Flip
Game lasted only 20 minutes as this hand curved out nearly perfectly.
T1 - Path of Ancestry tapped, drew Lightning Greaves
T2 - Plains (drew) into Lightning Greaves
T3 - Myriad Landscape tapped into Giada, Font of Hope, equipped Lightning Greaves swung with Giada
T4 - Windswept Heath into Plains into Folk Hero, swung with Giada, cast Righteous Valkyrie, drew a card
T5 - Mutavault (drew) into Invasion of Dominaria Flip and swung both Giada and Valkyrie into the battle flipping it to Serra Faithkeeper Flip to gain 8 life this turn and triggering Valkyrie's +2/+2 anthem
T6 - Cast Herald of War and equipped it with Lightning Greaves.
T7 - Cast Lyra Dawnbringer and Invasion of Gobakhan Flip. Equipped Lyra with Lightning Greaves. Swung in for lethal ending the game.
Lightning Greaves did work this game as it not only protected Giada from early single target removal but also accelerated combat damage each turn. While I did draw into both battles this game I didn't have a chance to test out Invasion of Gobakhan Flip except making a Krosan Grip more expensive which likely helped my Folk Hero or Lightning Greaves survive till the end.
Opponents: Sigarda, Host of Herons, Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn & Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver
Starting hand: Cavern of Souls, Scavenger Grounds, Mutavault, Guardian of Ghirapur, Folk Hero, Winds of Abandon, Battle Angels of Tyr
Initially I believed this hand was amazing as I had draw, removal and aggro all in one but failed to realize I had 0 colored mana except for angels. It ended up working out as the 2 Selesnya players ramped hard in the beginning allowing Tyr to do some work.
T1 - Cavern of Souls
T2 - Mutavault into Giada, Font of Hope
T3 - Scavenger Grounds into Battle Angels of Tyr, Giada sworded by Lathiel
T4 - Ancient Tomb into recasting Giada, swung with Tyr drawing a card and generating a Treasure token
T5 - Plains into Folk Hero and Herald's Horn and swung again with Tyr and Giada drawing a card and generating a Treasure token. Using the 3 open mana I cast Recruiter of the Guard fetching Stoneforge Mystic.
T6+ Cast Stoneforge Mystic to fetch Lightning Greaves but Stoneforge was promptly exiled. I had originally planned to use Guardian of Ghirapur to chain blink Stoneforge into Sword of Hearth and Home but instead used her on Recruiter of the Guard to fetch Thraben Watcher. I finished the game by casting Avacyn, Angel of Hope and equipping it with Lightning Greaves to give my board protection and started swinging away with indestructible vigilance angels.
I was nearly knocked out by the Sigarda player in the second to last turn because she was equipped with Sword of Hearth and Home making her unblockable as well as a Kaldra Compleat and finally a flashed in Sigarda's Vanguard for double strike. Luckily I had left mana open for Oblation and targeted the Sword of Hearth and Home allowing me to block with Ghirapur and Giada preventing lethal damage.
Opponents: Prosper, Tome-Bound, Sliver Overlord & Muldrotha, the Gravetide
Starting hand was pretty slow with only 2 tapped lands but I figured Luminarch would win me the game provided I wasn't attacked early game.
Starting hand: Kabira Takedown Flip, Windbrisk Heights, Luminarch Ascension, Invasion of Gobakhan Flip, Herald's Horn, Bruna, the Fading Light Meld, Generous Gift
Prosper started off the game insanely fast with a T1 Dark Ritual into Bucknard's Everfull Purse where he rolled 4 to cast Prosper on T1. They proceeded to dominate the game with a Reckless Fireweaver and later a Storm-Kiln Artist draining us to the low 10s. They attempted to finish us off with a Delayed Blast Fireball to wipe our board and swing with lethal. However, Slivers flashed in a Spiteful Sliver and Sliver Overlord to deal 30 damage back to Prosper bringing them down to 3. I used Luminarch Ascension to drop 2 angels before Giada died and got a 7/7 & 8/8 body that survived the fireball. While Slivers could have knocked me out with the Spiteful Sliver they had no real way to deal with Prosper after the fireball so I was able to knock out both players on my turn. Muldrotha had no answers so was dead on my next turn.
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
11 months ago
All,
Grabbed all my 3+ pod gameplays and the recent MOM gameplay and swaps and posted it on my own decklist. I'll keep commenting on Guerric page as it gets more traffic. Let me know your thoughts and if my thinking is sound. Thanks!
Help Me Giada, You're My Only Hope
March of Machine Upgrades (x12) - Blink/Tutor Show
Game 1 (3-man Pod vs. Sigarda Voltron & Lathiel Lifegain) Show
Game 2 (4-man Pod vs. Sigarda Voltron, Lathiel Lifegain & Wilhelt Zombies) Show
Game 3 (4-man Pod vs. Prosper Exile, Sliver Tribal & Muldrotha Reanimation) Show
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
1 year ago
Now that the full card list is up and searchable I figured this is the current breakdown.
Invasion of Gobakhan Flip flips to Lightshield Array Flip
The front side of this battle card doesn't do much except maybe slow down the strongest player. We wouldn't necessarily play it on curve but flipping the battle would be pretty easy and its effects would happen the same turn we flip it. Not only does it grow the entire angel army with continued aggro it serves as a protection piece against single target removal or damage spells which is great. Also, when we sacrifice it the battle goes into graveyard which can then be recurred with Serra Paragon or Emeria Shepherd.
I fully suspect this card to be double digits on release as it does so much for white aggro decks. Getting card draw on an angel stick is great and it curves out perfectly. It also encourages others to aggro your opponents, usually the combo players.
There aren't many 3CMC angels and this one has a pretty useful ability. Unfortunately we don't have too many ETB targets for it. Typical targets would be Inspiring Overseer or Sanctuary Warden for the draw or a mana rock to drop more threats.
This enchantment has the same effect as Firemane Commando but lacks any other useful effects. It fits into the same category as Folk Hero as it'll essentially be a draw a card per turn. While Hero would require Giada to be out, Alliance would require 2 creatures to attack. I figure after a board wipe it would be faster to draw with Hero as you could drop Giada and another angel and draw. If you have Alliance then you could do the same but then need to wait a full turn to attack in order to draw.
This equipment is great for tribal decks and can serve as additional card draw for 3CMC total. I'd say it serves a better purpose than Rogue's Gloves as the total cost is 1 less and it provides a slight buff, provides vigilance, triggers on attack instead of combat damage and can pull threats from the deck. On the off-chance that it whiffs then it's obviously worse but with 29 Angels in the deck statistically there's 1.75 Angels out of 6 cards.
This was mentioned in an article as the best white card of the set. I think it serves as a decent protection spell for 1 but I'm not sure how many we'd actually want in the deck.
Invasion of Dominaria flips to Serra Faithkeeper
Apparently this card isn't in the database yet but gaining 4 life and drawing a card is OK for 3CMC. It'll help trigger the lifegain payouts when there's no lifelinker on board. It also flips into a Serra Angel which is decent although you need 5 damage to flip it. I also like how it's recurrable like Invasion of Gobakhan Flip.
5CMC for its effects just aren't that great.
No specific angel buffs :(
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