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Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Arena | Legal |
| Block Constructed | 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 |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Herald of War
Creature — Angel
Flying
Whenever this attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
Angel spells and Human spells you cast cost less for each +1/+1 counter on this.
KayneMarco on
Lyra Dawnbringer: Seek & Destroy
1 month ago
A few other cost reducers to think about are:
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
4 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*
4 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*
8 months ago
I saw that too and was at first excited for a new angel BUT it's 5CMC so it's tied for Archangel of Thune, Herald of War, Lyra Dawnbringer and Sigarda's Vanguard. It doesn't gain life, cost reduce or finish the game. While it does increase the number of counters it's only once per our turn and only by a power of 1 per angel.
If we're trying to bring back Giada late game then we'd already need counters on the board to proliferate. If we're attacking it's not providing the same power as Vanguard which is essentially double. At most it'd be an 4-5 additional power? Nothing to write home about.
If we had other types of counters it could be interesting but at most it'd be an additional enlightened counter off The Book of Exalted Deeds or an extra quest counter for Luminarch Ascension. Neither of which are great choices.
As a body it holds up well enough, 5/4 flying first strike but at that cost we're looking more towards abilities and less at bodies.
If it's cheap and you want to test it out I'd say go for it but I'm personally passing. Also, it's phyrexian, and not pretty so ew. :)
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
9 months ago
My typical decks are Muldrotha, the Gravetide recursion, Teysa Karlov aristocrats and a Shorikai, Genesis Engine mechs. Those three usually have big flashy plays for instant wins so this deck definitely plays different. I looked over your whole primer and took your advice to heart to reduce the number of changes and focus only on your new additions and lands. I ran a few games using your methodology for mid-range aggro decks and listed how the deck performed. Let me know if this helps helm the host!
1x Snow-Covered Plains for Cavern of Souls
1x Snow-Covered Plains for Mutavault
1x Snow-Covered Plains for Crucible of Worlds
1x Snow-Covered Plains for Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Snow-Covered Plains for Path of Ancestry
Rogue's Gloves for Sword of Fire and Ice
Karmic Guide for Emeria Shepherd
Baneslayer Angel for Serra Paragon
Angel of Invention for Steel Seraph
Starting hand was very strong, I held a Youthful Valkyrie, Bishop of Wings, Righteous Valkyrie, Vanquisher's Banner as my draw card and 3 lands which included a fetch and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.
T1 - Fetch to Plains
T2 - Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx + Giada, Font of Hope
T3 - Plains + Bishop of Wings + Youthful Valkyrie
T4 - Plains + Using Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to cast Pearl Medallion & Mangara, the Diplomat which I had drawn into.
T5 - I drew 1 off Mangara, the Diplomat. Jhoira had played a Words of Wind forcing us to bounce Pearl Medallion. Yuriko saw our scary board state and hit us with a few unblockables but we still remained above 40 life.
Land + Pearl Medallion + Smuggler's Share (drew) + Starnheim Aspirant (drew) + Righteous Valkyrie.
T6 - I drew 1 off Smuggler's Share and 2 off Mangara, the Diplomat. Jhoira started building their boardstate with their commander out and a bunch of rocks. Yuriko had a few creatures out and was chipping away at our life totals.
At this point I could've slow played it further but with 2 draw engines out I felt comfortable in restocking my hand.
I played Vanquisher's Banner + Archangel of Thune + Valkyrie Harbinger drawing 2 and swung in for a bunch bringing both of them to their low 20's while I shot up to 60+ life.
I drew 1 off Smuggler's Share and 1 off Mangara, the Diplomat but Yuriko played a Toxic Deluge for 11 wiping our creatures and bringing their life total into the low 10s.
T7+ - At this point my memory is foggy, I replayed Giada and a few low cost angels with Vanquisher's Banner which refilled my hand a bit. But Yuriko miracled a Devastation Tide and played an overloaded Damn. Eventually Jhoira got knocked out by Yuriko after trying to rebuild their board state twice. By the end I had whittled Yuriko down to lethal and played Bruna, the Fading Light Meld reanimating Gisela, the Broken Blade Meld from the graveyard but never got to swing with it as Yuriko conceded.
Starting hand was decent but I don't remember much of it since it got wheeled away with a turn 3 Windfall.
T1 - Fetch to Plains + Soul Warden
T2 - Seraph Sanctuary + Giada, Font of Hope
T3 - Plains + Crucible of Worlds
Lost 5 cards in hand to Windfall and drew a new 5. Jhoira played a Winter Orb and Yuriko played a Null Rod to shut down Jhoira's mana rocks. It also shut down my equipment in hand which was a Sword of the Animist and Mask of Memory. I stopped keeping track of the turns and cards played since the whole game slowed to a crawl. The one saving grace was that I never missed a land drop with the fetch land in the graveyard.
Yuriko kept playing Thieves' Guild Enforcer and changelings to try an alternate mill win strategy. I was hit with a board wipe and Giada was targeted twice. I overloaded Winds of Abandon which left the Jhoira open to be killed. I attempted to cast Emeria Shepherd which would've been perfect with my fetch land and 20+ cards in the graveyard but it was removed after it hit the board. Yuriko played 4 extra turns spells to try and whittle me down from high 30's to 8 but they ran out of answers and were dead on the crackback.
I should've mulliganed this hand as it didn't have a draw spell but I didn't want to hold up the table and the curve looked good.
2x Plains, Teferi's Protection, Angel of Condemnation, Starnheim Unleashed, Resplendent Angel, Herald of War
I was able to build up a decent board state and there were no wipes all game. However, Faldron played a Wand of Wonder and began using my removal spells against my angels. Marneus dropped a Divine Visitation mid-game and started pumping out 4/4 Angels w/ Vigilance which stalled my attacks towards him signifcantly.
Towards the end of the game I was able to tap Starnheim Unleashed for 9 creating 4 Angels with Giada on the board pumping them to double digit beasts. Marneus had the scariest board state but only 4 Angels at the time so I figured I could swing wide and knock them out.
Unfortunately the Ulamog player attacked with a single unblockable voltroned Wurmcoil Engine against Marneus who cast an Entrapment Maneuver netting 10 4/4 Angels.
In the end Marneus had 16 Angels attacking me and I tried to buy time with a Teferi's Protection which got countered with a Dovin's Veto.
Starting hand was great against these commanders:
4x Plains, Dowsing Dagger Flip, Battle Angels of Tyr, Smuggler's Share
T1 - Plains
T2 - Plains + Giada, Font of Hope
T3 - Plains + Smuggler's Share
T4 - Plains + Dowsing Dagger Flip & equipped, swing and flip to Lost Vale, cast Battle Angels of Tyr with Giada and Vale.
Mid-game Shorikai played an Organic Extinction doing a one-sided board wipe and started hitting for double digits with vehicles. I tried to rebuild with Emeria Shepherd but she was countered by Aesi. Fortunately, Shorikai ended up scooping to play Warhammer making it a 3-man pod and all our board states were pretty even. I had drawn a card on each of his turns due to their Shorikai ability. Aesi had provided me a couple treasures but wised up and started dropping lands on opponents turns with Burgeoning.
This game lasted quite awhile so there was plenty of back and forth and a lot of answers were used on my board. Both Muldrotha and Aesi had an Unnatural Growth and were staring down each other. I patiently waited until they were both tapped out and had no answers to pull off this sweet combo:
I had Bishop of Wings & Giada, Font of Hope on the battlefield and tons of mana. I cast Bruna, the Fading Light Meld into Emeria Shepherd. Cracked a Myriad Landscape for 2 Plains bringing back Righteous Valkyrie & Gisela, the Broken Blade Meld. Since they had no responses I was able to merge to Brisela, Voice of Nightmares Meld Meld. Due to all the Giada triggers and lifegain I shot up from 20 life to 62.
Aesi was hamstrung due to Brisela's static ability and their creatures weren't big enough to swing into my massive angels. Muldrotha on the other hand attempted to swing in for a massive 59 damage due to Unnatural Growth but I used Teferi's Protection and won the game on my turn.
Starting hand had no draw again but did have lifegain synergies so I decided to keep.
2x Plains, Cavern of Souls, Windswept Heath, The Book of Exalted Deeds, Archangel of Thune, Angelic Field Marshal.
I was only able to get one use out of The Book of Exalted Deeds trigger before Archangel of Thune was blown up and The Scarab God exiled it and copied it for their board. I actually drew a Mutavault and decided to do the combo of putting the Enlightened Counter on it. However when we got to the mid-game I felt like that was the wrong move to do so early.
Late game I had the following:
Seraph Sanctuary & a bunch of other lands
Angel of Vitality w/ 3 +1/+1 counters
Angelic Field Marshal w/ 4 +1/+1 Counters
4x Clue Tokens
Between the Soul Warden, Angel of Vitality and Seraph Sanctuary I was gaining 2 life whenever they cast a creature and 3 whenever I cast an angel. If I'd let the book stay on the battlefield longer I could've had a free 3/3 angel on each of my turns. Instead I cracked clues rather than play out my hand to draw into more answers and win the game. The Enlightened Counter never came into play, but I reminded the table at the end that without any land destruction, I could've gone to negative life and still not lose.
Forgot to take a picture of my hand this game but I kept Smuggler's Share as my draw card which ended up doing nothing. The Faldron player had already played a few games against the Giada deck so purposely missed double land drops to not give me a treasure.
Faldron cast an Etali, Primal Storm turn 6 with no haste enablers so I blew it up my turn. However, Lazav decided to copy it and the board had no answers. Lazav began swinging and got 2 rounds of Etali triggers which was pretty brutal. Since Lazav became archenemy, we teamed up to take him down bringing his life total to 4.
Perhaps the most memorable moment this game was that Faldron had suspended a Wheel of Fate so the whole table was playing out their hands for 4 turns, completely expecting to draw 7. When he went to removing the last suspend counter, Lazav cast Notion Thief so instead of us each drawing 7, he drew 28 cards. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have any way to use those cards to stop the flood of salt from the table and was killed shortly after by a pissed angel.
I was able to clean up the table after a few rounds with this final board state:
Angel of Jubilation - just an anthem and would've shut down my fetches but I played it late game
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - didn't stop anything on my opponent's board because they were all triggered abilities
Starting hand was top heavy but decided to keep:
Plains, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Pearl Medallion, Sword of Hearth and Home, Well of Lost Dreams, Sword of the Animist, Archangel of Thune
I figured with 2 ramp equipments and lifegain comboed with the well I'd be setup for mid-game pretty nicely. What I didn't plan for was missing land drops for 2 turns and having Giada blown up twice. By this time, the Aesi/Faldron player had figured out that Giada was consistently winning and decided to put a stop to it.
However, that let Ydris really take the game away. By the end I only had 4 lands, Archangel of Thune equipped with Sword of Hearth and Home and a Pearl Medallion. Aesi died to a single 30+ swing from Ydris leaving myself and Lazav to deal with the massive board state.
I thought I slowed him down by playing Darksteel Mutation on Ydris when he had no cards in hand but he topdecked Sakashima's Protege to copy Ydris and start the pain all over again. With Ydris having lethal on board next turn the only way to stop it would be to top deck the one board-wipe in the deck. But Lazav shot himself in the foot by playing Gyruda, Doom of Depths tossing my top 4 cards into the graveyard. The top card was Winds of Abandon and Lazav whiffed on the Gyruda trigger much to his chagrin.
Starting hand was decent: Plains, Plains, Thorough Investigation, Thraben Watcher, Search for Glory, Dowsing Dagger Flip, Sword of Fire and Ice
T1 - Plains
T2 - Plains + Giada, Font of Hope
T3 - Plains + Thorough Investigation
T4 - Plains + Thraben Watcher
T5 - Nykthos + Dowsing Dagger Flip & equipped, flipped to Lost Vale, Sword of Fire and Ice
On turn 6 I was able to knock out Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph with the sword setting him back a turn. He responded the next turn by blowing up my sword. After a 2 board wipes Ghyrson was back in a threatening position. I cast Darksteel Mutation on Ghyrson which completely shut down his strategy.
Closed out the game with an overloaded Winds of Abandon and swung lethal at Roon. I was also able to hardcast Sephara, Sky's Blade which would've stopped any board wipe coming from Ghyrson. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx was amazing yet again this game. I was able to tap it for 10 white using 8 to pay for the Winds and God-Pharaoh's Statue tax.
Starting hand was strong if a little slow: Fabled Passage, Windbrisk Heights, Eye of Vecna, Sanctuary Warden, Pearl Medallion, Battle Angels of Tyr, Serra Avenger
Ramp wasn't ideal and I saw the limitations of having too much colorless sources. The Plains, Windbrisk Heights and Giada, Font of Hope were the only 3 sources of white most of the game.
There were some pretty wild swings this game as Jared got all 5 colors turn 4 with some ramp and started dropping Kavu's. He played Knight of New Alara turning them into 8/8 tramplers and started swinging in for 24 damage each turn. Isshin dropped a Tectonic Giant, Fervent Charge & Aurelia, the Warleader to swing in with 21 damage each combat & an additional 6 to the face. With so much damage flying around, the loss life from Eye of Vecna was actually pretty annoying. I used it 4 times during the course of the game when I probably should've played the bigger threats since a board wipe seemed unlikely.
Battle Angels of Tyr was blown up immediately but I was able to drop a Angelic Skirmisher & Righteous Valkyrie mid-game. If I had attacked more early game with Skirmisher out I could've had this one but I made a huge misplay. Jared swung in with everything at me after pumping 2 Kavu's up to 13/13's. As I was only at 46 life, I didn't get the anthem off Righteous Valkyrie so I had to take 26 bringing me down to 20. Isshin swung in everything at Jared knocking them out and on second combat came at me when I was at 8. As Righteous Valkyrie was only a 6/7 blocking into their 7/8's I figured I could survive the turn with one unblocked and just gain the life back next turn. Isshin was tapped out but had 2 treasures that I forgot and used a Boros Charm to get lethal.
Starting hand was ok, no draw engine but great lifegain:
Flooded Strand, Secluded Steppe, Emergence Zone, Soul Warden, Starnheim Aspirant, Angelic Skirmisher, Segovian Angel
T1 Soul Warden netted me a ton of life over the course of the game as Jared & Isshin did not play any board wipes. After playing Angelic Skirmisher as well and a couple angels, I was developing an oppressive board state.
Tevesh/Arminx drew a lot of hate early game because they played a strong ramp turn with a bunch of expensive mana rocks but then durdled for most of the game. Jared played a Two-Headed Hellkite that they pumped to 10/10 and just started swinging. Isshin tried going wide with Adeline, Resplendent Cathar and a few combat tricks but with Soul Warden on the field I ended up always being net positive after thier attacks.
Eventually the board grew massive and any one of us could've knocked out Tevesh/Arminx as they were wide open. I was sitting comfortably at 60+ life due to Soul Warden and Angelic Skirmisher. Tevesh/Arminx ended up playing Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and wiping all our creatures.
We all rebuilt our boards pretty quickly with Tevesh only having Armix, Filigree Thrasher and a couple equipments. Isshin tried going for the combo and knock out 2 of us with Godo, Bandit Warlord & Helm of the Host but misplayed and couldn't equip Godo.
Jared and I knocked out the Isshin player because of the obvious combo but Tevesh/Arminx equipped their commander with Commander's Plate, Cranial Plating, Skullclamp and swung 17 commander damage at Jared. I blew up their Cranial Plating with a Generous Gift and brought them down to lethal. The game ended next turn like dominoes, Arminx killed Jared and I killed Arminx.
Game 3 loss was due to Marneus just having the better plays here. Even if I were able to prevent some of their bigger combos, they could've won off straight value. Removal and threat assessment by the other 2 were pretty light towards Marneus which definitely helped them win.
Game 7 loss was due to 2 players getting mana screwed. After not being able to curve out with Giada it was almost impossible to come back. Top-decking that Winds of Abandon may have helped but they were so far ahead it's doubtful.
Game 9 was a misplay. Playing against the Isshin deck I should've known that there would be combat tricks but I was used to slow battlecruiser decks and not 2 mid-range aggro decks.
Smuggler's Share has been hit or miss. If I'm playing against blue, I'll typically get the draw, if I'm playing against green, I'll get the treasures. However, if the opponents aren't playing either of those colors and/or play smart, they can often get around it and it's a dead enchantment on board. I'm still leaving it in because when it does work, it works very well.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx has been great overall. Early game it may not do much but mid to late game it really shines. I usually leave 2 lands and Nykthos up after T5/6 fully expecting a board wipe and using it to activate abilities or crack clues. I'd highly recommend this land over a basic plains.
Crucible of Worlds was a powerhouse in Game 2. Unfortunately I only ever drew it in 1 other game and it was immediately blown up after I used it once. I think it's worth it because if left unchecked provides you tons of ramp and if it draws out a threat then our draw artifacts or equipments live.
Emeria Shepherd is a bomb. 2 games it was instantly blown up because of how big a threat it was. When it was left unanswered, it absolutely carried the game. I think it's a definite swap for Karmic Guide to get that last push end game.
Darksteel Mutation was great the 2 times I used it. I think there's a need for another one-sided board wipe against decks that go wide and have flyers. In game 3 Marneus out angeled the angel deck and we simply didn't have enough token generation to get through.
Folk Hero wasn't mentioned in the gameplay reviews but I did draw and play it a few games. Unfortunately it was played later in the game when I already had other draw engines on board so its impact was minimal. However, it's definitely an improvement over Dawn of Hope as I didn't have to pay mana for the few cards I did draw.
You've mentioned that Avacyn, Angel of Hope deserves a place in this deck and I wholeheartedly agree, mostly because I bought the new borderless version from double masters specifically for this deck. However, her close cousin Sephara, Sky's Blade almost accomplishes the same thing except she only protects creatures. I think the only reason to end up running Avacyn is to lean into the land destruction that she's known for.
kirbysan on
[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*
10 months ago
I love your deck and have been using it as a template as my regular deck for random pub games. While it performed pretty well without any upgrades, I found it ran out of steam mid to late game after I get blown out by a board wipe. After a game or 2, players would usually exile Giada the moment it hits the board, slowing down our ramp signifcantly. Also, if we miss a land drop mid-game, we're basically stuck waiting for a good draw. I realized that building an early oppressive board state begs for a board wipe when everyone else is still building but it sets us back significantly. With that in mind, I cut a lot of the lower CMC angels and built more towards value/recursion. Based on your comments it seems that this deck is more budget focused but since I'm making this my main, I've decided on pulling the best cards from other decks for some spicy upgrades. Let me know what you think below (sorry for the wall of text):
Mox Amber - With Giada on our board turn 2, this is like an additional land drop.
Mox Opal - I'm currently running 19 artifacts so hitting metalcraft isn't hard.
Archaeomancer's Map - This one isn't as good as Land Tax but it can help us keep pace with Green ramp and drop the tapped lands on opponent's turns when we can't use them efficiently.
Smothering Tithe - I've played this card in 2 other decks and it's always been great. It usually pays for itself by the time it comes back to you and if not removed can add plenty of mana over the course of the game.
Smuggler's Share - I have mixed feelings about this card. The smarter opponents will play around it, but should still give us some card advantage overall.
Scroll Rack - Wheeling away a mediocre hand for 1 is strong. Particularly good with Land Tax or Windbrisk Heights.
Flagstones of Trokair - Comboes with Lotus Field.
Thespian's Stage - Copy Lotus Field or Lost Vale.
Vesuva - Copy Lost Vale or Flagstones of Trokair or Myriad Landscape.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - Value with a strong board presence.
Ancient Tomb - Helps with the artifacts and equip costs, life loss is not a concern in this deck.
Cavern of Souls - I hate when blue counters our big angels, so this stops it.
All the fetch lands - Arid Mesa, Fabled Passage, Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, Prismatic Vista, Windswept Heath. This reduces our number of basic Plains to 11-12 but I haven't had issues with it yet so far as long as we have access to colored mana in my starting hand.
Stoneforge Mystic - Amazing with Sword of Hearth and Home. Keep blinking it and grab the rest of your equipment package for free. Second target would usually be Lightning Greaves just to get some protection on the board or make some hasty angels.
Weathered Wayfarer - Comboes well with the newly added lands. Fetching Lotus Field helps guarantee activation while keeping pace with the ramp.
Recruiter of the Guard - Prime targets would be Stoneforge or Wayfarer but can also hit Starnheim Aspirant or Karmic Guide. Also gets the cost reduction from Herald of War which is nice.
Pyre of Heroes - While Search for Glory can fetch some of our legendary creatures, I prefer getting them straight onto the battlefield. I wouldn't use it on the lower cmc Angels, which I mostly pulled out, but on the higher cost ones to cheat out big angels. The dream is to target the one-off 5 cost angels like Karmic Guide or Sigarda's Vanguard to pull Sanctuary Warden for the card draw into Emeria Shepherd for the recursion or Bruna, the Fading Light Meld to bring out Brisela, Voice of Nightmares Meld Meld
Sword of Fire and Ice - I haven't added this one in yet but I think it's a strict upgrade over Rogue's Gloves. Getting the pro blue/red and pinging things off the board is just so much more value for the extra 1 cost.
Lightning Greaves - Short of board wipes, single target removal is the bane of this deck. I usually voltron Giada with all my equips and let the other angels synergize the board.
Emeria Shepherd - Especially strong recursion with fetches. Dropping this on the right turn with a fetch in hand can be game ending.
Serra Paragon - Doubles as a Crucible of Worlds and can grab our swords back when destroyed, and it's an angel to boot. Definitely an auto-include.
Steel Seraph - Haven't playtested this one yet but I like that it's a 3 drop with relevant abilities. The dream is to cheat out Emeria Shepherd with Pyre of Heroes as a turn 3-4 play.
Max_Hammer on
These silly hoomans - Need Help
10 months ago
Well hello there! I had way too much time on my hands, so here’s this. By the way, it’s all ordered best to worst. (:
- Circle of Dreams Druid is going to drop loads of mana, assuming you can pay the three green.
- Fallaji Wayfarer is going to give all of your stuff (including your commander) convoke! Not all, but a lot.
- Hamza, Guardian of Arashin is going to make a lot of your creatures cost a lot less.
- Herald of War makes all of your humans dirt cheap if he gets counters. But, oh, what’s that? This deck loves making counters for creatures? Perfect.
- Nissa's Expedition is just Cultivate but it potentially costs a lot less.
- Gaea's Cradle is perfect if you have a small fortune laying around and you’re in need of mana.
- Bennie Bracks, Zoologist every time you make a token? So every turn? Alright, sick.
- Ulvenwald Mysteries lets you investigate the murder of your entire army. A board wipe kills this deck, but this (plus loads of mana) could help bring it back.
- Season of Growth lets you scry a lot, letting you look for pretty much whatever and just pull it out.
- Devouring Light, Conclave Tribunal, Hour of Reckoning are all removal spells but if you’re on a mana budget with a lot of 1/1’s.
- Elspeth Tirel is a board wipe, if you manage to keep her around for long enough. If that’s not what you need, though, she’s got plenty of utility otherwise.
- Coordinated Barrage, Kabira Takedown Flip, and Outflank aren’t super powerful, but can destroy pretty much anything that comes your way. If it’s not hexproofed, shrouded, or indestructible, it will be killed.
- Devout Chaplain says “The power of Christ compels you! Begone!” but this time it actually works.
- Sanctuary Lockdown lets you say “Not this combat phase, Satan,” and if you have enough mana, you can do that again and again and again. Plus, if you decide you can’t, then it’s still a big boy.
- Kamahl's Will will destroy just about anything in sight and can give you extra attacking force, if you can manage a way to keep all of your lands safe.
- Loxodon Hierarch is going to save your deck (which is very sensitive to board wipes) from a board wipe, judy once. Use wisely.
- Scapegoat won’t save your tokens, but it will save everyone else, commander included.
- Kindred Boon can slowly but surely make literally every creature you own indestructible.
- Ephemeral Shields is extra protection that can easily be pulled out of your back pocket.
- Basri's Lieutenant isn’t going to save your deck, but it will buy you time or give you a chance next turn at a kill, if the board wiper was low.
- Song of Freyalise is budget, makes every spell into a convoke spell, and then lets your hammer your opponents with the might of ZEUS!!
- Path of Ancestry should go into every tribal deck!! Well, maybe not every, but it’d definitely be good in this one, so there you go.
- Branching Evolution is just perfect for this deck. Double it, yesssss!
- Hydra's Growth would be perfect on your commander, especially since your best protection works just on them.
- Rick, Steadfast Leader is enough to make a human deck cry. This is no longer a democracy, this is a Ricktatorship.
- Crowned Ceratok, Tuskguard Captain, and Bramblewood Paragon all give your big creatures trample. Just yes.
- Horn of Valhalla can both make a bunch of tokens and then use those tokens to make a big, fuck off 99/99.
- Voice of Resurgence protects you against, or at least discourages the use of, counters and murders on your turn. Why? It makes a big, fuck off 99/99 when someone does.
- Queen Allenal of Ruadach makes more tokens and is a massive body. What’s not to like?
- Hanweir Militia Captain Flip is a mean creature and makes plenty of tokens.
- Primal Vigor, Second Harvest, Anointed Procession, Parallel Lives, and Doubling Season all say “What, you thought I was going to stop at only one million?” Though, I do have a feeling you left these out intentionally. Either they weren’t working or you avoid doubling strategies like these, which totally makes sense.
- Craterhoof Behemoth is, to say the least, a strong card. All of them get trample? And +99/+99? And it has haste? This is a way to turn a game around fast if I’ve ever seen one. The ultimate Might of the Masses creature.
- Might of the Masses is the classic. Instant destruction for just one green. Perfection.
- Seraph of the Masses is a Might of the Masses creature with flying and convoke.
- Shanna, Sisay's Legacy is a Might of the Masses creature with ability hexproof.
- Appeal / Authority is just slow Might of the Masses.
- Huatli, Radiant Champion is Might of the Masses but in Planeswalker form.
- Sigil of the Nayan Gods is Might of the Masses in enchantment form.
- Crusader of Odric is a poor man’s Might of the Masses creature
- Gideon, the Oathsworn just happens to slip and give all of your creatures an absurd number of counters. Not to mention the big body (noticing a pattern yet?) and the one-sided board wipe! He’s got a weird face again, sadly, pass.
- Gideon, Champion of Justice is a board wipe and a big, bad creature all wrapped into one. 7/10, he can dominate me.
- Gideon Jura can goad and destroy stuff. Perfect for removal and instigating fights when you know you’ll win. Not to mention the big scary 6/6 lurking beneath. Also a weird face, pass.
- Gideon of the Trials reads “Fuck your biggest creature, he’s not going to do anything, and also, as long as I’m around, fuck you more.” Nothing crazy, but can definitely make you public enemy #1 for having an effect like that. Pretty normal face, but that ability makes him a dick. 3.4/10
- Kytheon, Hero of Akros Flip is just some kid. Ignore him. This is a child, pass.
- Gideon, Battle-Forged!? Where did you come from? Nothing super interesting here, but for one mana not bad. Weird face, pass.
- Gideon, Martial Paragon can give buffs to all of your stuff, which is definitely not bad at all, and your opponents are automatically dead if he gets that ten ability off. That said, this Gideon can get it. 10/10.
- Gideon Blackblade is eh. He’s okay. He can get it, though. 7/10.
- Gideon, Ally of Zendikar can do some generic Gideon stuff. Make tokens, give buffs, be a 4/4. Eh. 6.7/10.
- Reconnaissance lets you attack with everything and then say “Well, no, actually, I didn’t attack with those.” This is one of those cards in Magic that you just have to believe was invented or inspired by toddler games where they invent the rules as they go along, y’know? Anyway swing at will!
- Peach Garden Oath is one mana for a crazy amount of lifegain. Lets you swing aggressively and pay as much life as you want.
- Kindred Summons gives you the gift of as many humans as you damn please. That said, be careful not to deck yourself.
- Sigarda, Champion of Light is the other Sigarda card you might want to add, since she likes giving you stuff.
- Chord of Calling is just a plain good tutor.
- Flight of Equenauts, Ledev Guardian, Conclave Equenaut, Conclave Phalanx, and Argivian Phalanx, are just free creatures, more or less.
wallisface on
1 year ago
Feridia Some decks can justify running cards above 4-mana, but it's not super common - you need a good reason to justify it. I would say Herald of War doesn't help your curve at all because its own mana cost is already 5, so its not actually helping you play threats any faster. Starnheim Aspirant might help you play slightly above curve, although I wouldn't say by much, as you realistically can't rely on drawing it in a game (and because it costs 3 mana, it's kindof an awkward card to cast, as it applies no pressure on its own) - generally speaking if you're wanting to run a higher mana-curve, you want a bunch of very-low mana cards (1-mana, sometimes 2) provide you some kind of mana acceleration.
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