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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 |
| Historic Brawl | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Modern Beyond Horizons | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Planar Constructed | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Maelstrom Archangel
Creature — Angel
Flying
Whenever Maelstrom Archangel deals combat damage to a player, you may cast a spell from your hand without paying its mana cost.
kamarupa on
Uren8
2 months ago
Oh boy. I have... uh... a lot of thoughts.
I'm going to start with ramp and mana base. I've been commenting something along these lines on a lot of decks lately. Ramp isn't much of a ramp if you're missing land drops regularly. Getting to, say 3 available mana on t2 is nice, but if you don't hit a land drop or dork on the next 3 turns, the ramp didn't really help. I'm generally not a fan of spells like Arboreal Grazer and even less a fan when there aren't a substantial number of lands in a deck to start with. At a mere 20 lands, you're going to be have to be very lucky to get both Arboreal Grazer AND 2+ lands in an opening hand. And even if you do, the likelihood of you continuing to draw lands just isn't very high. Basically, any effect that lets you "play an additional land" is just way too conditional to be consistent in my view, and therefore, I prefer to run with dorks and enchantments and rarely, rocks. You do have an enchantment that tutors you 2 lands, but at a pretty steep 4MV, I think it's going to function as much as a 'thinner' as it will a ramp spell. I do see some redundancy there with Prime Time, so I could see it be a useful spell. I should state that Prime Time isn't a creature I have much experience with, so I don't know much about what other spells synergize with it best, but I have a gut feeling that what you've brewed could have better synergy with it. It seems like it might be getting included because it's a well known and feared threat more than being a perfect fit. You also have Flare of Cultivation, which seems like your 3rd best ramp spell after your two dorks. While I like that you can cheat it into play, I don't like the required sac cost to do so as the only really good target is the Arboreal Grazer and that's just too conditional to be consistent. It's not a spell I have lot of experience with, and while I'm not a big deck thinner, I can't deny it has a lot of powerful potential. But I want more good targets for it, preferably ones that actually WANT to be sacrificed. The best part of your ramp is that you have 8 1MV dorks. Given your EXTREMELY high average MV of 4.35, I think 8-10 is probably the right number. To sum up, I would cut Arboreal Grazer and possibly reconsider both Prime Time and Encroaching Dragonstorm, either leaning into Prime Times most classically defined deck elements or cutting it. I'd try to find another 1MV creature for your Flare of Cultivation to target (6-8x 1MV non-dorks that want to be sacced) or I'd look for some other ramp choices. I'd also consider adding in something like Fertile Ground, or maybe Utopia Sprawl, as you do already have a good number of lands with the basic Forest type. If you do go for the Sprawl, then perhaps Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth might be a smart add. Finally, I'd like to see this deck reach for at least 22 lands if not 24. You've just got a hell of a lot of very high MV spells and these days I strive for 22 lands as my minimum. It's just more consistent.
Next, I want to follow up on some of what Balaam__ brought up - disruption. Disruption doesn't do much good in a sidebaord. It needs to be mainboarded or else your deck will not only end up unbalanced when sideboarding, but you'll also be tempted not to sideboard as much as you struggle to choose what spells to swap out of the mainboard. I believe almost all decks need at least 4x disruption spells in the mainboard, with 8 being best. Disruption comes in a lot of forms - counterspell is great, but I don't like tieing up mana playing the waiting game. Removal is classic for reason. Usually half of 8 disruption spells are a form a removal. Sideboards offer us different methods of removal so you can get past all the defenses opponents might use to prevent that removal. That makes sideboarding a lot easier to pull off, swapping removal for removal. I really like protection spells Heroic Intervention - while defensively, it can function like a counterspell, offensively it can do things counterspell can't. It largely comes down to preference, but disruption beyond removal is almost always essential. Of course, there's also discard, which is a solid choice, too, though I don't prefer it because it misses cards drawn after it's cast and so isn't as foolproof as a pre-emptive defensive play. I also like squeezing in 1x Fog spell when I can. I love the comedic flavor of it, but again, that's just my preference/sense of humor. Assuming you cut Arboreal Grazer, Flare of Cultivation, and at least a few copies of Encroaching Dragon Storm, even after adding 2x land, you should have room for at least 4x disruption spells in your mainboard. Incidentally, all these changes should also help bring down your average MV, which will make the deck not only faster, but more resilient as it will be able to respond to opponents.
One thing I do think you have right here is the number of creatures. But I'd like to see tighter choices that play off each other a bit more. I get that Prime Time and Flare of Cultivation support Ureni, the Song Unending, but at 3 copies and Legendary status, I'd want to solely focus on that creature or abandon that whole strategy - it's all or nothing with spells like that - run 4x of Ureni to maximize its odds it comes up when Breaching Dragonstorm when that hits. Maybe even look for spells that let you tutor it to the top of your library - Scheming Symmetry comes to mind, though I don't think that's exactly the right spell for this brew. Brainstorm might be a good option - not really a path to card advantage, but it would be useful in setting up Breaching Dragonstorm.
To return to Balaam__'s feedback, I also agree with him that Breaching Dragonstorm, especially at 5MV is too easy a target for opponents to thwart. I do think you've got enough ramp to hardcast some of your threats at least some of the time, but adding in a secondary (or even primary?) cheat-in spell would almost certainly make the deck more consistent. Elvish Piper, for example might be just as fast or even more consistent, though it wouldn't help with your big sorcery spells. Although I think this would be a significant departure from your current brew, Maelstrom Archangel would be a nearly identical backup to Breaching Dragonstorm. I'd probably go for 6-8 total "cheat-in" spells.
Overall, I feel like this deck isn't quite focused enough. It's not clear what it really wants to accomplish and doesn't seem completely committed to any one goal. At the same time, it also seems a little over-gunned - I sometimes say, "you don't need to bring a tank to a water-pistol fight to get a win" - when it comes to successful brewing, it's not the biggest threat that wins, it's the fastest fully effective one. So my broadstroke advice is to try to narrow the deck down to the core you really want to win with and try to support that core as much as you can.
I do love me some card advantage and I can see how Up the Beanstalk could have been useful here. As alternatives, you might consider Garruk's Uprising, Tribute to the World Tree, or even just plain old Harmonize
Sometimes I find I'll start a brew like this and realize I might have tried to squeeze 2 or more decks into one. It might be useful to fork this once or twice and explore different aspects in each fork. Make one with a lot more disruption mainboard, one with different ramp spells, one that really focuses on Prime Time, etc etc.
I hope some of this is helpful. I'm just spitballing off the top of my head. Don't take it as me being too critical. I'm really just throwing out the first thoughts that came to mind and I'm very likely to have missed nuances, etc.
legendofa on If you could run any …
1 year ago
Deathrite Shaman comes out quick and starts doing stuff.
Surprised nobody mentioned Maelstrom Archangel yet.
Notion Thief is a less dirty Opposition Agent/Hullbreacher.
Maybe a mono-green OHKO Groundbreaker? I don't know how well that would work, but I'd give it a try.
mr_chazy on
2 years ago
Recommended Removals: Nissa's Renewal Treacherous Terrain Verdant Mastery Violent Ultimatum Omnath, Locus of Mana Omnath, Locus of Rage Omnath, Locus of the Roil Begin the Invasion Endless Detour Titans' Nest Wayfarer's Bauble
Recommended Additions: Muldrotha, the Gravetide Bloom Tender Chromatic Lantern Maelstrom Archangel Surrak Dragonclaw Zaxara, the Exemplary Chulane, Teller of Tales Animar, Soul of Elements The World Tree Genesis Wave Tempt with Discovery Maelstrom Nexus Cascading Cataracts Urza's Filter Esika, God of the Tree Flip Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign
Stardragon on fun, janike maybe broken cards …
2 years ago
For King of Whispers- I didn't know about fateseal that was what im looking for for him but I thought the effect of scrying your opponents library may have been too powerful but if WotC made the ability I'll be putting it in
For Devil's I can reword to be read better but I don't want to change the effects I love it the way it is
Archangel of Destiny glad you like it if Maelstrom Archangel was legendary we wouldn't need a custom 5 color angel commander
Hells Gallon- I wanted it to gain soul counters when you sacrified creatures to crew but didn't know how to word so it happened and I put as 2 soul counter for 1 spirit to help curb it in token sac decks
Glad you like deep depression
I guess your right Orzhov wouldn't seal instants or sorceries and I could make it treasure but we so many treasure makers now a days but I does for orhov better
Guerric on
[Primer] Unleash the Dragon! *Updated*
3 years ago
1) Dragon's Hoard OUT Ceta Sanctuary IN
As much as I love the flavor of hoard, it is generally slow and unreliable card draw, and any artifact-based ramp that costs three mana or more is too much these days, so it's never been great there. Ceta Sanctuary is such a perfect draw spell for this deck. With Scion out it will always draw two cards every turn and discard any one card from our hand, which allows us to filter any dragons we draw into the graveyard where we can get them out more efficiently. Kudos to kookoo for this fabulous suggestion!
2) Scourge of Valkas OUT Lathliss, Dragon Queen IN
Scourge was always good mostly as a Fireball when you could mass reanimate it, and pretty bad in most other situations. If it is on the board and one dragon enters, that's at best doming something for two. In contrast, if Lathliss is out and a dragon enters we get a 5/5 dragon token. What's more to the point, if we mass reanimate Lathliss we'll get tokens for every other dragon, and if we have a haste enabler all of those tokens will be able to attack that turn.
3) Vorosh, the Hunter OUT Scalelord Reckoner IN
Reckoner has always been great, so I'm not sure why I took it out of the original deck. Knowing they'll get reciprocity for removal is always a good incentive for your opponents to leave you alone and try to politic instead. Vorosh was great if you could get the counters, have Scion stick around, and then use him with Skittles the next turn, but this was kind of a slow process with a lot of investment, which can be easily disrupted. Putting six counters on Scion has a way of putting more of a target on him due to the possibility of commander damage alone, so I think reckoner is a better card.
4) Ojutai, Soul of Winter OUT Old Gnawbone IN
Ojutai is a great disruptor and has salvaged a few iffy games for me in the past by freezing down my opponents, but it is in very particular situations that he helps us and in others it's not as good. Gnawbone gets us lots of treasure, and is a great first target for Scion, and can also hoard us resources on the board later in the game. Its just an all-star card that's good in every situation, and I had to put it in.
5) Crucible of Fire OUT Kairi, the Swirling Sky IN
Kairi just has so much utility that she's hard to pass up. She is a third protection target for Scion, which we definitely need, and can also provide great utility on board-wipes. Crucible is good and always better than you expect it to be, but it is the weakest link at this point.
6) Herald's Horn OUT Sakura-Tribe Elder IN
Horn is a great card, but not in this deck. It is best in tribal decks with cheap creatures where you can cast multiple spells a turn at a discount, and draw a card on one and three turns. I'll probably put it in my Trynn, Champion of Freedom and Silvar, Devourer of the Free deck where it will rock the house. Here it only draws a card one in four turns, and we would rather draw other cards than our dragons. As a ramp piece it doesn't help us cast Scion, hard-casting our dragons isn't a focus, and its not likely we'll be casting more than one. Good old Elder gets us a land for two mana, which is where we really need to be on ramp in this deck.
7) Maelstrom Archangel OUT Sylvia Brightspear IN
I've had Sylvia since Battlebond when I pull her from a pack and have always intended to put her in. Three mana to give all our dragons double-strike is a nasty surprise, and cheap enough that we can still activate Scion that turn. The low-end is probably when only Scion is out, but we play her and make Scion into a big dragon for a voltron kill. The high end is we play her when a bunch of dragons are on the board, or put her and Gisela, Blade of Goldnight on the board with Tooth and Nail, and relish our opponents' tears! Maelstrom Archangel is best if we can cast her when a haste enabler is out and immediately put a permanent on the battlefield. She is expensive to cast and a big removal target, and there will be plenty of times we don't have anything good to put on the board with her. I wish she was legendary and could be an angels tribal commander, but Sylvia will be better here.
legendofa on When did you start playing, …
3 years ago
I started playing with the first Portal, kinda. That was the first set I got cards from. I spent the next few years off and on, getting bits and pieces of collections from people who were leaving the game or offloading bulk commons and uncommons. (I managed to get both Pardic Firecat and Diligent Farmhand and had no idea what Burst meant. I thought it was some action, like untapping, that the rules later dropped.) I started digging in a little deeper in Time Spiral block, then really jumped in with Alara. Since then, I've been either in deep or sitting out.
Favorite block is Alara. It was the one that I really got in with (if you missed that two sentences ago). I usually prefer multicolor builds to monocolor builds, and I wasn't in for most of Apocalypse and Ravnica. It has a unique and deep setting insert Return to Alara screed here. And the cards are just cool: Maelstrom Archangel, Godsire (Secretly pandering to the OP? Never!), Progenitus, Wall of Denial, Conflux, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Lich Lord of Unx... Add in stuff like Ad Nauseam, the Cascade mechanic, and Noble Hierarch, and the introductions of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, Sarkhan Vol, Tezzeret the Seeker, and Elspeth, Knight-Errant, and it had something for everyone. Planeswalkers were still brand new, and colored artifacts were a shocking and semi-controversial twist.
I don't like the one-set model. I understand that the three-set model and even two-set model had general dropoff after the first set, but the current model is too much, too fast. The mechanics are underdeveloped and unsupported. (In agreement with "it's always been that way" doesn't make it a good thing. I'm still waiting for Provoke to come back.) The planes are either shallow, limited in scope, or "open for exploration when we return" which may or may not happen.
The biggest and most disappointing change for me, though, is the official website. It used to have multiple articles a week: Making Magic, Savor the Flavor, From the Lab, Building on a Budget, Arcana, Card of the Day, theme weeks, it was all fun. Now, it's a couple of third-party articles, occasional short stories for the lore, and a bunch of promotion and self-advertising.
With my "it was better in my day" out of the way, I think the fundamentals of the game are in good shape. Aside from some cosmetic differences and minor rules updates, it's still the same game I was playing fifteen years ago, and there's a lot to be said for that. Sure, there's been some power and complexity creep, but aside from a couple of high-profile missteps that aren't totally without precedent (Urza block -> Mirrodin Affinity -> Zendikar Caw-Blade -> Throne of Eldraine/Ikoria), it's been well controlled compared to other popular TCGs. A deck from five, ten, twenty years ago can still find a home at least at the casual tables.
Guerric on Commander without the Legendary Rule
3 years ago
Ditto TypicalTimmy's suggestion of Maelstrom Archangel. We still lack a good five-color option for angels tribal, which the ultimate angel commander should be. Some have even built around it anyway and and use rule zero discussions to allow it in their play group, but most of us don't want to invest in a deck where that is our approach.
legendofa on Commander without the Legendary Rule
3 years ago
I'm going to go with, as always, Alara. TypicalTimmy already mentioned Godsire and Maelstrom Archangel, and I'm going to add Prince of Thralls, Hellkite Overlord, Blood Tyrant, and Magister Sphinx.
(For the curious, Empyrial Archangel and Sphinx Sovereign are the other two cards in the MNNO cycle. Either of them would work as well, I just don't find them quite as interesting.)
