Dale's Avacyn, Angel of Hope EDH

Commander / EDH Angels Mono-White

Saintdale

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DALE'S Avacyn, Angel of Hope VOMMANDER PRIMER

Introduction:

Hi and welcome to my Primer for playing Avacyn, Angel of Hope in commander format. Lets take a look at the card:

Avacyn, Angel of Hope

Every commander player should start by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their commander. Once I have identified the strengths and weaknesses of my commander, I like to build the rest of the deck so that I can utilise that cards strengths, and work around it's weaknesses. Lets investigate the strengths and weaknesses of Avacyn, Angel of hope as a commander:

Strengths: -Big beater with evasion -Built in Safety (Indestructible) keeps her on the field -Makes opponents “destruction” cards useless -Enables combos that generate card advantage (e.g. board wipe)

Weaknesses: -Mono-Coloured commanders limit our card pool -Slow (Expensive to play at 8cmc) -Still vulnerable to exile, return to hand, -1/-1 effects, etc

Lets investigate each strength and weakness individually and look at some of the companion cards we can use with her.

Strengths:

Big beater with evasion Avacyn is an 8/8 flyer, who can only be blocked by other fliers. This suggests to me that I shouldn’t invest in any buffs such as Honor the Pure. At 8/8 She is already stronger than most other fliers, and making her a 9/9 will not help her to beat many (if any) new opponents, nor would it save her from spot removal such as Path to Exile . This means that a deck built around Avacyn should go tall, not wide

Note: Tall vs Wide Strategy: Here is a basic introduction to Tall vs Wide Strategy. If I have 1 x 8/8 creature, and my opponent has 8 x 1/1 creatures, we each have very specific problems to overcome. For example, The player with 8 x 1/1 creatures will lose a creature to combat damage if they swing with them all, but the player with 1 x 8/8 creature can’t possibly hope to block them all and thus has no way to prevent the direct damage the other creatures will deal. As a “tall” player, you don’t want to let your opponent be “wider” than you. It is wise to invest heavily in board wipes that keep “resetting” the creature count on your opponent's side of the field when they get too wide for you to handle. Board Wipe has the ability to take out many cards on the “wide” field, while only removing a few cards on the “tall” field (because tall cards are typically more expensive to play and therefore fewer tall cards are played).

Beaters:

Archangel of Thune Baneslayer Angel Gisela, the Broken Blade Linvala, Keeper of Silence Lyra Dawnbringer Akroma, Angel of Wrath Sun Titan Angel of Jubilation Archangel of Tithes Admonition Angel Angelicarbiter Emeria Shepherd Bruna, the Fading Light Resplendent Angel Angel of Sanctions Sephara, Sky's Blade Radiant, Archangel Angel of Serenity Adarkar Valkyrie Angel of Finality Karmic Guide Angel of Grace Serra Ascendant Heliod, God of Sun Indomitable Archangel Sublime Archangel Twilight Shepherd Reya Dawnbringer Serra's Guardian Angel of Deliverance Emeria Angel

Makes opponents “destruction” cards useless

This is one of Avacyn's biggest strengths. If myself and my opponent have 7 cards in our hands, and I can make 2 of them useless, it is like playing against an opponent who has 5 cards instead of 7. I will mention that it can also make combat advantages useless as well. Any creatures that are taller than you should not be a problem, after all, your creatures are indestructible blockers.

Enables combos that generate card advantage (e.g. board wipe)

Board wipe is strong in any tall deck, but it is even stronger in this deck because of Avacyn’s ability to make all of your permanents indestructible, saving all of your cards from destruction. For this reason, we should priorities “destruction” board wipe over “exile” or “return to hand” board wipe.

For Example, cards like Magus of the Disk and Nevinyrral's Disk can be made indestructible by Avacyn, Angel of Hope and we can use their ability every turn, essentially clearing all non land permanents our opponents have, while our cards remain untouched.

Weaknesses:

Mono-Coloured Being a white card, you can only play other white cards. White has its own strengths and its own weaknesses that we need to work around. Two of the biggest weaknesses in white are Mana ramp and Draw power, so it is essential that we find other ways around these weaknesses so that we can keep up with other multi colored decks.

Ramp: Darksteel Ingot Sol Ring Land Tax Sword of Animist Marble Diamond Commander's Sphere Mind Stone Fellwar Stone Herald's Horn

Cost Reduction: Instead of ramping Mana, some spell are useful at reducing the cost of cards. Cards like Oketra's Monument can allow us to play Avacyn, Angel of Hope on turn 7 instead of turn 8. I have included the following "cost reduction" spells:
Oketra's Monument Pearl Medallion The Immortal Sun Urza's Incubator

Draw Power: Endless Atlas Dawn of Hope Skull Clamp The Immortal Sun Herald's Horn Heirloom Blade Well of Lost Dreams Vanquisher's Banner

Slow (Expensive to play at 8cmc)

Avacyn will hit the field on turn 8 if you don’t find a way to ramp or decrease her cost. This gives your opponent 8 turns to prepare for her which is surprisingly problematic. Some decks are designed to finish the game in 8 turns, other decks will use cards such as (insert cards) to prevent her from ever being played. So, what can we do to solve this problem? I have already addressed Mana ramp/ Cost Reduction above.

Board wipe:

Nevinyrral's Disk Magus of the Disk Armagedon Austere Command Day of Judgment Catastrophe Cleansing Nova Ruot Akroma’s Vengence Wrath of God

Still vulnerable to exile, return to hand, -1/-1 effects etc There is a saying about how careful one should be when keeping all their eggs in one basket, because if you drop the basket, you break all your eggs. Some people like to split their eggs into multiple baskets so that A single drop won’t break so many eggs, however, in this instance I think it is best to invest in bubble wrap to protect our basket from drops. With most of your deck relying on avacyn, and with such a hefty mana cost, you can’t afford to play her into removal spells too frequently. If she isn’t on the board, our destruction so The solution here is to play protection spells such as…

Protection:

Lightning Greaves Swiftfoot Boots Mother of Runes Flickering Ward Indomitable Angel Rebuff the Wicked Shelter Brave the Elements

Other strategies in the deck:

**Reanimation:

** Lyra Dawnbringer Sun Titan Resurrection Marshal's Anthem Brought Back Emeria Shepherd Bruna, the Fading Light Karmic Guide

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Spot Removal:

** Swords to Plowshare Path to Exile Return to Dust Mangara of Corondor Aura of Silence (dis)Enchantment Generous Gift Crush Contraband Revoke Existence

**Land:

** plain Emeria, The Sky Ruin Seraph Sanctuary Temple of the False God Homeward Path Terrain Generator Rogue's Passage Kor Haven Miren, the Moaning Well Arcane Lighthouse Buried Ruin High Market Inventors' Fair Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx Ghost Quarter Mirrorpool Seagate Wreckage Hall of Heliod's Generosity Strip Mine Command Beacon Boseiju, Who Shelters All Cavern of Souls Field of Ruin

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Angel Tribal Bonuses:

** Sword of the Animist Herald's Horn Vanquisher's Banner

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Mana Sinks:

** Dawn of Hope

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Other:

** Helm of Possession Helm of the Host Ghostly Prison Glaring Spotlight Crackdown Nevermore

**Statistics:

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Overall CMC cost of this deck:

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Cards	0
Folders	New