Serra the Benevolent
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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

Serra the Benevolent

Legendary Planeswalker — Serra

+2: Creatures you control with flying get +1/+1 until end of turn.

-3: Create a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying and vigilance.

-6: You get an emblem with "If you control a creature, damage that would reduce your life total to less than 1 reduces it to 1 instead."

Icbrgr on Angelic Elspeth

2 months ago

So I just got done watching Aether Hub's latest content regarding what happened to Elspeth in March of the Machines.... personally I love it... I also wanna think that this was all possible due to Serra the Benevolent's old pre-mending planswalker magic. I think some could interpret this as being cheap/silly story writing but it kinda just works for me overall as a whole.

Although its not over yet... I think this story arch has been overall satisfying and I'm pretty pleased with it.

Does everyone think that this newfound power/transformation is permanent or just temporary for stopping the phyrexians?

Courtesy links:

Elspeth Transforms

Archangel Eslpeth CRASHES Norn's Victory

Icbrgr on I still don't understand why …

2 months ago

I like planswalkers personally... %90 of the decks that I brew that are not just netdecked or a tribal deck are usually built around a planswalker and there abilities... I just find that kind of deck building to more fun and can lead to some interesting things. Serra the Benevolent is my personal favorite example of this that I've done.

But I will say I can definitely see why there is room to complain about them...because of there existence it's very much so a case of if your deck strategy can use one then why wouldn't you?

  • they are something else to fuel delerium/Tarmogoyf.

  • war of the spark made some into global enchantment effects by having static abilities in addition to an activated loyalty ability.

  • they are a resource lightning rod by either demanding removal or act as a pseudo lifegain by drawing attackers.

  • in addition to a sorcery speed effect/ability which usually gives value by itself... something like Jace, the Mind Sculptor also just wins you the game if ignored.

Icbrgr on Serra's Descendants, competitive Angel Tribal

3 months ago

I'm a sucker for tribal decks in general and angels are just awesome.

A neat tech option could be Chancellor of the Annex to slow down some hyper aggressive strategies... besides that I feel like Serra the Benevolent needs to be here in some capacity.... mana for a Serra Angel that leaves a planswalker behind to then Glorious Anthem if she survives seems strong in angel tribal... at least the flavor is hard to resist lol (but I have my own personal bias I just love Serra).

Icbrgr on Modern Benevolence

3 months ago

@9-lives thank you for the kind words!

This deck is a passion project to be focused on Serra the Benevolent and thats why I'm running her at 3 copies. I know she isn't competitive but she is the focal point of the deck and the general brewing inspiration for my card choices.

playing a Serra Angel for mana that leaves a planswalker behind to Glorious Anthem with if she survives is very meh for Modern but im doing my best to have it work; even the Worship emblem isn't exactly an automatic win but sometimes it works and feels extremely satisfying.

I really wanted to have more burn spells in this list initially and ran a full playset of Lightning Helix in the mainboard but recently abandoned it altogether... as you were saying if I dropped the planswalkers and was more aggressive helix would come back; but with my decks gameplan I feel like I needed to have more for sideboard hate/removal because my LGS plays pretty powerful decks and its hard for a deck like mine to compete... currently is in here for Lightning Bolt for being a mainboard clock or essential removal for Goblin and aggro/prowess and a means to meaningfully interact with some opponents mana bases with Alpine Moon.

KBK7101 on Glorious Angels

5 months ago

Hello and welcome back to the game! Commander is definitely the best format for the game these days (in my opinion, anyway) and Giada is one of the best commanders printed this past year. Great choice!

You can definitely tweak this deck to be a lot smoother, and none of my suggestions will be terribly expensive (which is a subjective term, I know).

Recommended cuts:

Recommended additions:

Oblation and Swords to Plowshares for some more removal. Oblation can also be used on your stuff, either to protect it by shuffling it into the deck or just to draw some cards.

I have a Rule 0 commander deck featuring Serra the Benevolent as commander. While not exactly the same, it can be pretty close to what Giada wants to do.(Rule 0 meaning "Hey guys, would it be okay if I bend the rules and play this? If not, it's cool. I'll use Lyra Dawnbringer instead.") Here's the link if you would like to check it out for some other ideas/inspirations.

(RULE 0) Serra the Benevolent - Song of All (v1.4)

On a similar note, the user Guerric has a fantastic Giada deck on here that I'm pretty sure is the highest rated one. His deck would probably offer much better advice/insight than mind could. His deck is below. (Hope you don't mind me putting you on the spot like this!)

[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*

That's all I have for now. Hopefully this helps some!

KBK7101 on Glorious Angels

5 months ago

Hello and welcome back to the game! Commander is definitely the best format for the game these days (in my opinion, anyway) and Giada is one of the best commanders printed this past year. Great choice!

You can definitely tweak this deck to be a lot smoother, and none of my suggestions will be terribly expensive (which is a subjective term, I know).

Recommended cuts:

Recommended additions:

Oblation and Swords to Plowshares for some more removal. Oblation can also be used on your stuff, either to protect it by shuffling it into the deck or just to draw some cards.

I have a Rule 0 commander deck featuring Serra the Benevolent as commander. While not exactly the same, it can be pretty close to what Giada wants to do.(Rule 0 meaning "Hey guys, would it be okay if I bend the rules and play this? If not, it's cool. I'll use Lyra Dawnbringer instead.") Here's the link if you would like to check it out for some other ideas/inspirations.

(RULE 0) Serra the Benevolent - Song of All (v1.4)

On a similar note, the user Guerric has a fantastic Giada deck on here that I'm pretty sure is the highest rated one. His deck would probably offer much better advice/insight than mind could. His deck is below. (Hope you don't mind me putting you on the spot like this!)

[Primer] Helming the Host of Heaven *Update*

That's all I have for now. Hopefully this helps some!

KBK7101 on Heavenly Saint

5 months ago

I know that this is a WIP, but there are a few issues. Archangel Avacyn  Flip technically has a color identity and isn't legal in this deck. Same problem with Sigarda, Bruna, Razia and a handful of others. There are also some cards that are included twice.

If you want this deck to be playable, Giada, Font of Hope is probably your best bet for the commander. Sephara, Sky's Blade is another option. Morophon, the Boundless is a five color option, though that means the manabase will get pretty expensive. If you don't care about this deck being terribly competitive, and your playgroup is cool with it, then you could change the format of this deck to Commander: Rule 0 and run Serra the Benevolent anyway. If anyone isn't okay with that, then just swap her for Giada or Avacyn or someone. Easy. Just be sure to ask beforehand. The only issue with Serra as commander is her ultimate ability being immune to interaction. Promise not to use it and most people should be fine with it.

You'll probably want to look at cards like War Room, Bonders' Enclave and Vanquisher's Banner as sources of card draw, as well. Other cards that work really well with the angels tribal theme are Bishop of Wings, Rally of Wings, Resplendent Angel if you focus on a lifegain theme, and Harsh Mercy as a "board wipe but not for me".

Art wise, Angel of Flight Alabaster, Linvala, Keeper of Silence and Lyra Dawnbringer (who's getting a new full art treatment in Dominaria Remastered!) are some of my favorites.

TypicalTimmy on Will there Ever Be Female …

5 months ago

Well the Angels actually have lore behind their anatomy. The original Angels were created by Serra the Benevolent who created them in her image, who populated her own plane of existence literally called Serra's Realm. Since her inception, following her choice to die, Angels have been comprised of compressed (mostly white) mana that took form based on her original design.

So to that end, female Angles make sense within the context of the established lore. Though I'd prefer to see all races attributed. It would be nice to see any sapient being be represented in an Angelic format. For example, an Elf Angel or a Rhox Angel. Though, since Angel is a race at this point (Though unable to reproduce sexually), it would sort of be equivalent of asking for an Elf Rhox (Elf Rhino) or a Gnome Naga.

So, take that with a grain of salt. Again, as I said in the very first comment in this thread, there is an established reason Angels are portrayed as female, while Demons are not. But I feel Demons should be pushed toward animalistic abominations, and Angels should probably look "less Human", if anything. Though, again, they are literally based off of Serra - a Human.

Consider this: A Sphinx is not typed as a "Cat Bird", and a Naga is not a "Human Snake".

Angels, in my opinion, are fine as they are. More male Angels would be nice, but what would be the most nice is seeing them portrayed as other races. Not dissimilar to how Sol, Advocate Eternal is a Dragon Angel.

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