"Avacyn, Angel of Hope" EDH/Commander deck!

I come to you this afternoon, Steemit, with a tale a woe. Not for me, of course. A tale of woe that befell our friend and resident mystic, @tarotbyfergus. Last night, he arrived at @caffetto. He stood outside and did his regular acknowledgement shrug while smoking a cigarette. I revealed an inexpensive card, Grafdigger’s Cage, that I’d recently picked up that I expected to break one of his favorite EDH deck. He made a face that looked like this […see below], then exclaimed that tonight, we were playing for booster packs.

Things began in a concerning manner, as he repeatedly blew up and returned land to my hand in a very mana greedy deck. He won, then smirked and gloated like an asshole. He took a smoke break and I refilled my coffee. We sat down and began our second game, which ended much like the third, and fourth. In the end, I took all but one of @tarotbyfergus’ booster packs. As I sat home opening them, one by one, I decided it’s finally time to share my devastating Avaycn, Angel of Hope Commander deck.

If you will, jump over and read my previous EDH Magic: The Gathering post “"King of the Assholes" in Magic: The Gathering EDH/Commander format!". Some of the mechanics in this deck borrow lessons from my Padeem, Consul of Innovation deck. Mostly, in how to keep my Commander safe once she’s been cast.  Avacyn, Angel of Hope costs a whopping 8 mana. If she’s exiled or countered, you’re looking at 10, which is brutal. If possible, save that coveted Angel spell for when you’re opponent is tapped out, and prior to casting here, have something ready to protect her with enough mana to equip her.

My equipments of choice are Lightning Greaves, namely because it gives equipped creatures haste and shroud, with a “0” equip cost. That means if you have it on the battlefield prior to casting Avacyn, assuming she isn’t countered, you can immediately attach it to her and attack without fear of “target creature” removal. If you pull this off, congratulations, all your permanents are indestructible. This situation doesn’t typically happen till the end of the game, so let’s visit some of the set up earlier in the game.

Much of this deck is land. Many of the spells are expensive and you can’t afford to miss land drops. To help move things along, I use Sol Ring, Gilded Lotus and Overflowing Chalice as the artifact mana rocks. Gift of Estates is a cheap spell that can fetch you land if your opponents have more land than me […@tarotbyfergus has wisely started countering this sorcery, which pisses me off every time].

Another weapon in this deck is a barrage of board wipes and resets. Mostly just to weather the storm until I can reach my higher mana creatures, spells and artifacts. There are a lot! Fumigate, Day of Judgement, Martial Coup, Wrath of God, Mass Calcify, Divine Reckoning and Catastrophe, to name a few. 

The last weapon in this deck, is the symbiosis between Angel and Human creatures, and equipment. Sigarda’s Aid, Stonehewer Giant and Stoneforge Mystic help get artifact equipments from your library, hand or graveyard to the battlefield and in many cases, equip them for free on the same turn. My main equipments are Argentum Armor, Sword of Kaldra, Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Fire and Ice, Godsend and Deathrender. Those six equipments can handle almost any situation while giving you a chance to destroy permanents, exile creatures, draw cards, untap lands and distribute additional damage.

Two of my favorite tricks in this deck are Emira, the Sky Ruin, a nonbasic land that allows you to return target creatures to the battlefield if you control seven or more plains […as a mono white deck, this isn’t too difficult, and convenient on your way to casting Avacyn]. The other is an evil enchantment from Hour of Devastation called Overwhelming Splendor. The text reads, “Enchant player. Creatures enchanted player controls lose all abilities and have base power and toughness of 1/1. Enchanted player can’t activate abilities that aren’t mana abilities or loyalty abilities.” It may be the worst enchantment in the last 10 years of MTG, it’s relatively unknown even though it’s in Standard, and surprisingly, many players I roll against are unprepared to deal with curse enchantments. 

Here’s the deck list.

Lands

40 x Plains

1 x Emeria, the Sky Ruin

1 x Academy Ruins

Creatures

1 x Avacyn, Angel of Hope

1 x Puresteel Paladin

1 x Exquisite Archangel

1 x Angel of Finality

1 x Odric, Lunarch Marshal

1 x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

1 x Guardian of the Gateless

1 x Angelic Skirmisher

1 x Linvala, Keeper of Silence

1 x Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker

1 x Sun Titan

1 x Reya Dawnbringer

1 x Serra Ascendant

1 x Brimaz, King of Oreskos

1 x Mother of Runes

1 x Iona, Shield of Emeria

1 x Stoneforge Mystic

1 x Stonehewer Giant

1 x Monk Idealist

1 x Angel of Serenity

Planeswalkers

1 x Ajani Steadfast

1 x Nahiri, the Lithomancer

1 x Gideon of the Trials

1 x Elspeth, Sun’s Champion

Spells

1 x Champion’s Helm

1 x Gilded Lotus

1 x Sol Ring

1 x Deathrender

1 x Whispersilk Cloak

1 x Lightning Greaves

1 x Argentum Armor

1 x Sword of Fire and Ice

1 x Sword of Feast and Famine

1 x Godsend

1 x Sword of Kaldra

1 x Mask of Avacyn

1 x Norn’s Annex

1 x Planar Bridge

1 x Return to Dust

1 x Enlightened Tutor  

1 x Spear of Heliod

1 x Fumigate

1 x Day of Judgement

1 x Martial Coup

1 x Wrath of God

1 x Mass Calcify

1 x Divine Reckoning

1 x Sigarda’s Aid

1 x Idyllic Tutor

1 x Overwhelming Splendor

1 x Planar Cleansing

1 x Authority of the Consuls

1 x Disenchant

1 x Nevermore

1 x Gift of Estates

1 x Fragmentize

1 x Oblivion Ring

1 x Captured by the Consulate

1 x Catastrophe

1 x Enlightened Tutor

1 x Quarantine Field

1 x Gideon’s Intervention 

Thanks for reading! I know these MTG posts aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the game is a big part of my life and some of the only recreation I have. They’re fun to write and photograph. I post often, so for more MTG, illustration, photography and art, follow me here @kommienezuspadt!