The Guardians of Thune *Angels in Pioneer Primer*

Pioneer Angels GW (Selesnya) RG (Gruul) RGW (Naya) RW (Boros) Tribal

Hexaflexagon

Ramp and Lands (31)

• 2x Domri, Anarch of Bolas
• 3x Forest
• 4x Llanowar Elves
• 3x Paradise Druid
• 2x Plains
• 2x Rootbound Crag
• 4x Sacred Foundry
• 4x Stomping Ground
• 3x Sunpetal Grove
• 4x Temple Garden

Angels and Synergies (19)

• 1x Archangel Avacyn  ^Flip
• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 3x Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
• 4x Bishop of Wings
• 3x Lyra Dawnbringer
• 4x Resplendent Angel
• 3x Shalai, Voice of Plenty

Removal and Card Selection (12)

• 2x Cast Out
• 2x Domri, Anarch of Bolas
• 2x Domri Rade
• 2x Dromoka's Command
• 2x Scorching Dragonfire
• 2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

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Sideboard

Other (15)

• 3x Brave the Elements
• 3x Deafening Clarion
• 2x Domri Rade
• 1x Dragonlord Dromoka
• 2x Single Combat
• 2x Unbreakable Formation
• 2x Vivien Reid

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Maybeboard

Mainboard Considerations (8)

• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Cast Out
• 1x Dromoka's Command
• 1x Fortified Village
• 1x Game Trail
• 1x Gisela, the Broken Blade  ^Meld
• 1x Single Combat
• 1x Sylvan Caryatid

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Hello, and welcome to my primer for my first Pioneer deck, The Guardians of Thune.

Introduction and Background Information

This deck was made after the announcement of the new format Pioneer. I got the inspiration to make this deck when my former Standard deck Selesnya Standard Midrange rotated out of Standard when Throne of Elderaine was released. This deck is pretty much a Pioneer version of Selesnya Standard Midrange. It doesn't focus or rely on the Resplendent Angel and Lyra Dawnbringer combo as much as the inspiration deck did, however, it still features the combo.

General Strategy

The main focus of this deck is to ramp (Paradise Druid and Llanowar Elves) out a bunch of expensive Angels (Archangel Avacyn  , Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, and Shalai, Voice of Plenty) and start beating face.

Colours

I chose 3 colours for this deck: Red, White, and Green. I'll provide reasoning for each of those colours as to why I put them in.

I chose White because you need it for pretty much any Angel deck, as most of Magic's Angels have White as one of their colours and the most powerful Pioneer Angels are White.

I added Green for card selection (Once Upon a Time), ramp to get my high-cost Angels out faster, and Dromoka's Command. I also use Green for Shalai's ability.

Red is used for one of my Angels (Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice) and Scorching Dragonfire. It may be also used for some sideboard cards.

Strengths

• An almost unbeatable combo once it gets going.
• Good support cards.
• A pretty versatile removal suite.
• Key cards are protected by Shalai, Voice of Plenty.
• Good in a grindy midrange meta.

Weaknesses

• Slow without any ramp.
• Pretty bad against aggro decks, especially Collected Company.
• Terrible against control.

Combos and Synergies Show

In this section, I will cover all the combos that I have found in this deck, although there may be more.

Lyra Dawnbringer + Resplendent Angel

The first combo that I want to talk about is the Lyra Dawnbringer + Resplendent Angel combo. As mentioned before in my Introduction, while it features in my deck, this deck isn’t as reliant on the combo when compared to Selesnya Standard Midrange. You attack with Lyra (or any other Angels with 5 or more combined power with Lyra out) and gain 5 life. At the end of the turn, Resplendent Angel triggers, giving you a 4/4 Angel token with flying and vigilance, which gets pumped up to a 5/5 with flying, vigilance, and lifelink. When you attack or block with the Angel token, you gain 5 life, allowing you to get another Angel. Angel of Vitality can also be added to this combo to gain more life, although it isn’t necessary.

Llanowar Elves + another ramp card + 5 drop

This combo allows you to get a 5-drop on turn 3.

Avacyn the Purifier + Lyra Dawnbringer

The flip side of Archangel Avacyn   + Lyra Dawnbringer is extremely powerful, as you deal damage using Avacyn, the Purifier’s ability, and gain a whole load of life off that using Lyra Dawnbringer’s passive.

Card Choices Show

In this section, I will be providing reasoning for why I have added certain cards and why I haven’t added in others (WIP).

Ramp and Lands

The manabase for this deck is pretty simple. Some ramp in the form of Llanowar Elves (for turn 1 Elves into turn 2 3-cost card) and Paradise Druid (for more consistency with turn 3 5-cost Angel and colour fixing). I also have Domri, Anarch of Bolas

Angels and Synergies

This part will cover the Angels and the cards that synergise with Angels in my deck.

• Archangel Avacyn   is extremely useful against boardwipes and destroy effects, as well as protecting your creatures when blocking or attacking. Her flip side is also really useful, as it can come in handy against aggro decks if I pull it off fast enough. I only have her as a one-off because 5-drop slots are precious.

• Archangel of Thune allows me to pump my guys up when I gain life, which I do anyway.

• Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice gives my guys some extra power using her third ability and +1/+1 counters from Mentor.

• Bishop of Wings is a good support card for Angels, giving life when they enter and creating Spirits when they die.

• Lyra Dawnbringer is an extremely good beater and Angel lord. It should be included in any Angel deck and forms part of my main combo.

• Resplendent Angel is a good 3-drop and forms part of my main combo. It also has a really good self-pump ability that triggers itself.

• Shalai, Voice of Plenty is my main protector card, which protects my Planeswalkers and Creatures, as well as myself. She also has a really good mana sink ability.

Removal and Card Selection

• Cast Out is really versatile, as it can hit anything and has flash. It also has Cycling.

• Dromoka's Command is a good multi-purpose card. Not only can you pump one of your guys and probably remove a troublesome creature, but you can also make people sacrifice enchantments or stop burn spells dealing damage to you.

• Domri Rade has a good selection of card advantage, as well as a fight ability, which goes well with Lifelink.

• Scorching Dragonfire is good because it exiles the card killed, stopping graveyard shenanigans.

• I put Thalia, Heretic Cathar in this section because I have nowhere else to put it. She can slow down decks to a speed where I can compete.

Why I haven’t added (insert card name here)?

• Other 5 and 4 drop Angels: If I added anymore, my curve would be too high.

• Sylvan Caryatid: I rather Paradise Druid over this as Paradise Druid can attack.

Building and Playing this deck Show

This section will cover some tips, tricks, and pointers to playing this deck as well as some budget-friendly options and card replacements that could fit your meta better.

Budget Options

This part will cover options that are more budget-friendly than some of the cards I have in the deck. However, some things can’t be replaced, such as Resplendent Angel and Lyra Dawnbringer. This is because they are extremely essential to the deck and can’t be replaced. The landbase should be kept intact as much as possible.

• Archangel of Thune: This one is a tough one, as the effect is unique. You could try replacing it with another Lyra Dawnbringer or Angel of Vitality. You could also replace it with Angel of Invention or Gisela, the Broken Blade

• Archangel Avacyn  : You can try all the things listed with Archangel of Thune, and stuff like Unbreakable Formation if you need that indestructible.

Meta Changes (WIP)

There are a few things that could be changed, based on meta. I will be explaining the different choices that could fit your meta better compared to my current decklist.

• Knight of Autumn could be a better choice than Angel of Vitality in certain aggro-dominated metas, as it provides some life as well as a blocker in one card.

Tips and Tricks (WIP)

Priorities

This part will give you a general guide on what to play first, the left to right. This doesn’t account for any game situations, and is a general guide.

Turn 1: Llanowar Elves

Turn 2: Paradise Druid

Turn 3: Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Resplendent Angel, both Domris, anything else

Turn 4: Shalai, Voice of Plenty, Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice, anything else

Turn 5: Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Archangel Avacyn  , anything else

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Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or feedback on the deck, feel free to make a post in the deck's comments.

Top Ranked	Achieved #56 position overall 4 years ago Achieved #4 position in Pioneer 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Pioneer Tribal 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Pioneer legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 5 Mythic Rares 30 - 7 Rares 5 - 3 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.97
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, Emblem Domri Rade, Emblem Vivien Reid, Spirit 1/1 W
Folders	Pioneer, Interesting deck Ideas, white deck, pioneer