Akroma Relevance?
Deck Help forum
Posted on July 16, 2020, 3:10 p.m. by SilentPlague
I have a Boros deck that I try to run as agro. I have both Akroma, Angel of Fury and Akroma, Angel of Wrath. I have the older versions that are not rated as mythic, but I know they have both been reprinted. This led me to believe they were either still good enough to keep up with a little bit of power creep, angels are just iconic, or both. Their abilities overall are insane. The only issue is that they are expensive (CMC). They go against my rule of CMC of 6 or less in an agro deck, but I have had others say they are good back up. Does anyone play them or build decks around them? Are there just completely better angels out there? My deck is very aggressive and attacking happens nearly each turn. It is built around battalion. Maybe I just am using these wrong or use them in the wrong format (modern).
TriusMalarky says... #3
If you're playing aggro, you shouldn't ever run anything above 4 or 5 and that's in extreme cases, aka Torbran, Thane of Red Fell.
Now, they're not bad in EDH. They do stuff. But they're 100% unplayable in 60-card formats.
They just cost too much to not immediately win the game, while also being on the low end of good cheat-it-into-play targets.
July 16, 2020 3:50 p.m.
Omniscience_is_life says... #4
I run Akroma, Angel of Wrath in my Atla Palani, Nest Tender
deck as I can basically just put it onto the battlefield for free, but if you can't circumvent the mana costs of these cards they aren't worth it.
July 16, 2020 5:28 p.m.
TriusMalarky says... #5
Yeah, She's not horrendous to cheat into play. There tend to be better things in those colors, mostly green ones, but she's still not bad at all.
July 16, 2020 5:53 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #6
@TriusMalarky Actually, you can check and Akroma, Angel of Wrath has put up some old tournament results in a modern Soulflayer list!
I've seen some decent Mtgo league results for the morph flicker combo with Akroma, Angel of Fury, but no tournament results.
So, while not amazing, both actually can and have seen 60-card deck play, they are definently not 100% unplayable, and any more morph combos will always have Akroma as an option for the best cheat target. No clue what could be printed though!
July 16, 2020 8:15 p.m.
SilentPlague says... #7
I appreciate the input. I'm pretty much playing with them wrong. Works ok at the kitchen table, but I wouldn't walk into FNM expecting much in the deck I have them both in. I do keep my agro decks generally 5 and under unless I can find some exceptional 6 drops. I may look into some decks that cheat them in early. Those are some good ideas.
July 16, 2020 8:44 p.m.
They are the prototypical "keyword soup" creatures. In their prime, they were extremely powerful. Now, it's more that they are an option for a creature to cheat out in some way early to get a leg up.
As others have said, generally there are better option, because if you spend that amount of mana you should be outright winning the game, and that's just not the case.
July 17, 2020 9:09 a.m. Edited.
TriusMalarky says... #9
Eh, I've never found a 5-drop other than Glorybringer worth running in aggro. Even Chandra's Incinerator is a 2-drop.
July 17, 2020 10:01 a.m.
psionictemplar says... #10
Gotta say I feel your issue with the akroma's. I've wanted them to work for a long time myself, but there just isn't good homes for them. I tend to think of them more as sideboard cards for specific matchups, such as using Akroma, Angel of Wrath with Worship against say burn, or Akroma, Angel of Fury against decks with Path to Exile or counterspells. Mainly just as ways to tax an opponents ability to answer them.
SynergyBuild says... #2
Akroma, Angel of Fury is sweet flicker target.
In a mono-white list you can morph it and then cast Charming Prince or Flickerwisp it to cheat it out. It comes back in unmorphed!
I don't think the other is useful though, outside of lists that aim to abuse its abilities with a card like Soulflayer. It most likely just dumps it into the yard though.
Neither seem castable, and if they were there are much better targets.
July 16, 2020 3:22 p.m.