Angels are those that are looked to for inspiration, power, and hope. When those angels turn against you all is lost, especially hope. When Nahiri and Emrakul got ahold of these Angels, the worst came of it. They turned against the ones that looked for inspiration and hope, and struck them down.
I attempted to take my two favorite things in magic and put them together in my standard deck, Mardu and angels. The goal of this deck is to win early game through removal and win mid game with Angels, and take it late if necessary. The angels in the deck can take care of most problems that will arise in standard, but there is also a strong presence of burn in the deck. There are five cards in the deck that can tick down the opponent by 3 damage here and there within play.
The creatures in this deck are mainly Angels with a splash of creatures that are utility and help me stabilize in dire situations. Thraben Inspector gets an early game body that can help me get to my midrange area that this deck excels at. It also gives a clue token that is good for a revolt trigger and card draw. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim is a terrific two mana costed creature in this deck. It's toughness of 3 stops most aggro and with deathtouch I can trade her into larger creatures. Her mana abilities also help fuel the deck allowing me to sacrifice a creature that will be killed for additional life and assurance it's in grave instead of exile. The first mana ability also allows me to have a way to trigger revolt and have a way for
Archangel Avacyn
to flip. Now with the Angels, Gisela, the Broken Blade is an amazing Angel for 4 mana giving me flying defense and lifelink. Archangel Avacyn
is a pro in tough situations, protecting my board and providing me with a 4/4 vigilance that flips in the event my creature dies giving her more power and a 3 damage burn. For another strong enter the battlefield option I have Linvala, the Preserver for possible 5 life and another 3/3 body. Finally, Bruna, the Fading Light is a tough Angel on her own but her cast trigger brings back my Angels and melds with Gisela for the all powerful Eldrazi Horror Angel, Brisela, Voice of Nightmares.
To help the deck survive into the midrange win that it is capable of, there are a fair amount of cards that grant board advantage and or card advantage. The kill spells in the deck work very well with the decks in standard. Fatal Push is good early game, and with the revolt triggers that the deck provides, can last farther into the game. Murder is terrific for later game as I can kill any major threat that is sticking around and causing issues. Fiery Temper is a hybrid card as it allows me to deal with many different situations. I can burn smaller creatures, burn planeswalkers to dampen their effectiveness, or hit the opponent in the face. I have many ways to trigger the madness ability with Tormenting Voice, Nahiri, the Harbinger, and Collective Brutality. Collective Brutality provides card advantage by making an opponent discard, it provides a life sway, and it can also kill a small creature. Finally, Tormenting Voice gives terrific card advantage and the discard ability.
Finally the walkers in this deck are key. Liliana, the Last Hope is an essential piece to slow and render creatures useless early game and return creatures from my grave to hand to keep the Angels coming. Nahiri, the Harbinger is a terrific add to this deck allowing for card cycle to find what I need, a minus ability that takes care of tapped threats, and finally, an ultimate that lets me get my dangerous enter the battlefield effects on the field. Finally, the last walker is Sorin, Grim Nemesis who allows for lifegain, card draw and burn, and an ultimate that swarms the enemy while gaining life.
There's great options in these colors for a strong sideboard for each different encounter. Generally I would sideboard like this, but it is up to how my opponent is playing their specific deck.
Against the more aggressive matchups I would take out the higher end spells, such as
Sorin, Grim Nemesis
, a few
Archangel Avacyn
s,
Linvala, the Preserver
, and Bruna, the Fading Light in place for
Radiant Flames
and Incendiary Flow.
For the more grindy and longer games I would take out the cards on the low end of the mana curve, such as Fatal Push, Thraben Inspector, and an Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim for cards such as Murder,
Declaration in Stone
, Lost Legacy, and To the Slaughter.
I have a similar version of the deck that runs off the sub-theme of artifacts. It is a little more slow and controlling but is very strong and consistent. The deck can be found here: Angels of Lost Hope (Artifact Version).
