I've been working on competitive angels for quite a while now and ended up with this (even if people just tend to thing that I tweaked the historic deck, sic....), and since Kaldheim I found to be pretty competitive and super fun.

I've never written about one of my decks xD, so check it out, give some feedback, and if you have any questions like or want to know why I used this card instead this other one, I'll be happy to elaborate in its matchups and give details on its plays. Side needs some adjustments for the crazy new meta though.

I am sure you will find surprising how well actually works and specially how fun it is. After all..who in Magic doesn't like Angeles? They deserve their own archetype!

Cool deck!

Is that worth it to splash black to Unguished unmaking only? Why not just going monoW and use more white removal? The cantrip land and fetches I can see being used tho

lil_cheez Hi! The version before this one had 4 paths instead of 2 paths and 2 anguished. Also 2 Emeria Shatered Skyclave (that were cast maybe like once in tens if not hundreds of matches) instead of the godless shrines. The rest was the same. The cantrip lands and fetches where there, to have some draws and thin the deck. With so much life gain I don't really care about paying all those 1 lifes. But precisely because of the life gain I don't really care about creatures getting trough (I often let them, a 5/6 Tarmo doesn't feel like a threat when you are gaining 4 to 8 life per turn, if not way more. There is no way they are winning a race against this deck...). But I was f* against the heliods, Karn -2 snaring bridge, some planneswalkers... Now, whatever they play, I have a way out. It doesn't hurt me with the matches that I was already good or neutral against, and helps quite a lot against the ones with the specific cards that really hurt me. At least morale wise feels good knowing that you might have a way out instead of simply scooping. And since I already used the fetches and cantrip lands before adding the unmaking to help with the draws, getting that only black mana doesn't change or mess with the mana base in any way, its basically the same. But If you have ideas for mono white universal removal that (preferably) exiles, I would like to hear them.

Anguished Unmaking is nice flavor wise but its really not a great removal spell in practice. If you really want to splash black, then I'd use Prismatic Ending and/or Vindicate .

Also, have you considered Archangel of Tithes ?

zapyourtumor I find Prismatic Ending to be pretty bad if you re only running 2 colors, that wouldn't remove even 1 of the things I care about (like ensnaring bridge or basically any planneswalker other than Wrenn).

Ive tried Vindicate but I don't find it better than Anguished Unmaking . Anguished doesn't hit lands but since I don't need it I'll rather have it be instant speed and exile the thing. The instant part is huge. Loosing 3 life is irrelevant in this deck. Non of the removals you suggested could remove Heliod for example.

How is Anguished not a great removal spell in practice? Its literally the best non conditional removal of the game next to vindicate. (which you recommended and is almost the same thing). 3cmc exile almost whatever you want, no questions asked.

I've tried Archangel of Tithes and its doesn't add much. 3 white mana some times can be a bit hard to have if you needed to declare cleric on Cavern to play bishop T2 or got a couple Seraph Sanctuaries early. Creatures in the deck tend to be big and gain me a ton of life so I don't mind being attacked, I can block or just let some damage trough. Also almost all my creatures fly so they can rarely be blocked. For that cost i'll rather play Angel of Jubilation . It shut's down fetches and some decks. But surprisingly Legion Angel turned out to be a MVP for 4cmc. Good evasive attacker that gives me card advantage (I am in white so I need whatever I can get, xD) and above all, ensures me 3 straight turns of triggering all my stuff, gaining a ton of life, putting angel tokens etc.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Heliods not really a thing anymore, but yeah I did underestimate the lifegain from bishop and righteous valkyrie, so I guess the life loss isn't too bad.

Thanks for the in-depth reply. I tried playing this deck a few times and it did turn out to be surprisingly competitive, haha.

zapyourtumor Yeah, Heliod is not a good up to date example...maybe think Kaldra Compleat ?xD (even if its not really a threat). I don't know, maybe its just me but I feel happier and safer when my removal says exile than when it says destroy, haha. Lately I've think about trying again Vindicate because of Urza's Saga anyway. So you may be right, it depends on the meta but those 2 are the main contenders for that spot.

Don't forget the life gain of seraph sanctuary, 1 by 1 it adds up...

I am really glad you wanted to try it! I really hope you enjoyed it. I do think it's surprisingly fun and competitive. Struggles against certain combos but other than that a solid tier 2 deck IMO.

I am in a quest to make Angel tribal and arquetype that actually exist (a man can dream, xD) so I am happy to share everything I've tried and please, if you enjoyed it and keep playing it share whatever new findings you do!

Heliod Not a thing anymore? It's a staple in the 3rd most used modern archetype, so I'm not sure what game you're playing.

I LOVE Legion angel, the card advantage is awesome and makes it a much better creature than it looks at first glance.

t34mki11 not anymore lol

t34mki11 Totally agree. When I saw the Legion Angel spoilers I was like: damn, so close yet so far to being good...if only it had vigilance or at least could survive to bolt... After like 2 test matches I was like: I wasn't expecting this, and I still wish It had vigilante or 4 toughness, but this thing is nuts. And MTG overachiever if I've ever seen one, xD.

Always happy to meet fellow Angel fans, I hope you give the deck a try and enjoy it!

if it was a 2/4 and 3 cmc it would be actually cracked

zapyourtumor I'll be down for 3cmc white card advantage written into an angel any day xD. In my dreams I see something around the lines of  Dawn of Hope stapled in to an Angel, xD.

white really needs some powerhouses like ragavan

Only good white card in mh2 is literally a removal spell that requires you to play 3+ other colors

zapyourtumor hahaha, true, probably the best white card doesn't even work in monowhite... I think Esper Sentinel is pretty neat, and all the incarnations are pretty good, including Solitude . But yeah, not a great set for white, specially for a set with supposedly a higher power level than the average sets.

darkmus
Sorry for the delay, now I see the uses of Anguished Unmaking. I was wondering why you didn't just used 4 PtEs in the maindeck

Unfortunately I think only Generous Gift could replace the Unmaking, but at this point I am convinced that it is worth the black splash, specially if the life loss doesn't matter much

I'll be following the deck!!

Cheers from Cheez

lil_cheez Generous Gift is a great card and a great suggestion, I actually used to have 2 of those in the side in the mono white version. Almost as good as Vindication. Then Heliod, Sun-Crowned came along and I was forced to change the card xD.

Thanks! I hope you give it a try. I am thinking on editing it and going full in depth into the deck, interactions, match ups, other possible cards etc. I want as much people paying this as possible, xD.

So stay tuned if you like it!

I'm usually not a huge fan of multiple copies of a legendary creature, you could potentially improve this deck by swapping in two Anointed Procession for your Shalai, Voice of Plenty or at least putting them in your sideboard, since this deck puts out a lot of tokens.

You might also consider combos like Avacyn, Angel of Hope + Wrath of God for kills instead of white+black kill cards, or just move away from kill spells, maybe for wincons like Aetherflux Reservoir , some/more Anointed Procession , etc.

cabal_patriarch If you're casting avacyn angel of hope you should have already won the game by then. Aetherflux Reservoir is more for storm, it doesn't gain much life in this deck especially cuz of vial, and if you have 50 life you don't really need a wincon at that point. Also, there's only 8 token generators so I don't think anointed procession is worth it.

1x Vault of the Archangel maybe? Flavor is on point.

cabal_patriarch I was going to go a bit in depth of why your suggestions don't really fit in this deck, but zapyourtumor gave you a really good answer, basically all your suggestions dilute too much the plan of the deck. I would only ad that I don't like multiple legendaries in a deck, that's why Shalai, Voice of Plenty is a x3. She used to be 2x but since is ability makes her the only possible objective she doesn't tend to stay around for long. Also combos with Giver of Runes making a nice look that essentially makes all my stuff untouchable. Plus she can be used as short of a counter spell with vial, which can be really handy even if you already have 1 in play and you have to sack it. Plus we want as many angel creatures in the deck as possible to trigger all our stuff.

I haven't tried Vault of the Archangel but I don't feel that it would make the cut. Not because of the card itself but because we can't afford more colorless lands because the Cavern of Souls are great, but all our creatures aren't angels plus the 4 instants... So essentially why have in a way already 8 colorless lands. I've tried Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Field of Ruin and those showed me that I can not afford more colorless/conditional colorless mana. Also I may be wrong, I don know without trying, but I think that my creatures are relatively to big to have death touch be really relevant, and already gain me enough life to make the life gain redundant. Flavorwise is amazing though, xD.

[ElsaW] let me know what you think if you try it

Cool deck! tbh this seems like a surprising playable angels variation and pretty good against the assorted Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Crashing Footfalls decks that are dominating rn.

I know this is rehashing an old discussion but I really think that Anguished Unmaking isn't really playable over Vindicate. It's much beetter against Urza's Saga decks (particularly the food w/ Asmo) decks and Green Tron both of which seem to be pretty hard matchups for this deck at first glance. You should also probably put a Emeria's Call  ^Flip or two into the mana base somewhere for the late game. I also feel as though Archangel of Thune might be too slow for modern, especially since it dies to an Unholy Heat even after a trigger. Maybe some Angel of Invention instead since it gives immediate value even it just dies? Could also go with Serra the Benevolent as a repeated pumping source as well as a random "got'em" Worship.

You almost certainly no more about good vs. bad matchups than me with this deck, but maybe think about some Settle the Wreckage, Stony Silence and Selfless Spirit for the sideboard. Settle is good in the creature mirrors like Elves, which are probably faster than you on the ground. Stony is for the artefact decks like AsmoFood, although now that I think about it running Kataki, War's Wage is probably better to not shut of Aether Vial for you. Spirit could be good against Damn out of Esper Control and other sweepers which you probably have a problem against with this configuration with no way to gain card advantage outside of Legion Angel,

K0rt Thanks for the in depth suggestions. Yes, is actually working quite well in the new meta, there aren't that many combo decks around now, which are our main "weakness". The Anguished Unmaking vs Vindicate thing, as said before, there are no many Heliod, Sun-Crowned around lately, so yeah, they are pretty interchangeable depending on your local meta. Urza's Saga doesn't tend to be a big problem anyway.

I play Emeria's Call  ^Flip in the mono white version. In tens if not hundreds of matches I think I casted it like 3 times, and it resolved 1. The thing is we rarely get to 7 lands, and when we do its against control, and by that point they always have counter spells because we have been casting our things with Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls . In the other hand I ended needing to pay 3 life for basically a plain many times. In mono white for sure put 1 in there. But in BW we have enough lands that hurt us. Archangel of Thune is a beast, she steals games out of nowhere. She's a huge finisher. Next to Righteous Valkyrie the reason we are able to win matches. She rarely ETBs and doesn't put at leas 2 +1/+1s on all our other stuff that can attack(if not 4+), that's huge immediate value. Yeah, if she's killed in that exact moment with the trigger on the stack you don't get it. But it happens like 1% of the time, and you can easily play around that playing her with vial or protecting her with Giver of Runes and Shalai, Voice of Plenty . I don't think Angel of Invention is even in the same league as her (in this deck at least).

I've tried Serra the Benevolent and is more or less the same thing as with Emeria's Call  ^Flip seems great but it ends up adding nothing. the +2 is worthless, we don't tend to have a ton of creatures and our early ones don't have flying. The ultimate the very rare time I got to use it was always in a win more situation in which I had a ton of life anyway. She rarely was able to -3 more than once. Easily 9 out of 10 times (if not more) she ended up just being a 4cmc Serra Angel . And by that point the deck rather have other 4cmc angels that add more, and can be made uncountable with cavern or play at instant speed with vial.

About the side yeah, that is more adaptable to everyones local meta. This thing works super well in general against tribes, basically we excel against Aggro and midrange, do well enough against control and tend to be f*** against combo. So most tribes are easy wins, with the life gain they can't race us and we fly. Elves is for sure faster than us but not a lost game by any means, the thing is I don't she them that often. But if it is a common deck in your area I'll suggest to add 2 Settle the Wreckage , if not I wouldn't add a sideboard card just for a deck which is rare and not such a big threat. The hardest tribal decks are combo goblins and the new elemental deck (that can be brutal, not as a tribal deck, but as a deck in general). Non of them are an autolose by any means, but they ere the toughest ones. Stony Silence is a great card. I had Damping Matrix in the side before and I changed it for Linvala, Keeper of Silence . But in the new meta I am totally going back to Damping Matrix which is a bit of the best of two worlds between the silence and Linvala. Selfless Spirit is another great card, I've had it on the side but I don't seem to find many board wipes lately so I took it out. There is not much control in my area ATM. But another one that goes in and out depending on the meta. The control match up is not easy but it can be grinded up with the help of cavern and vial to cast our things and Giver and Shalai to save them from dying. Also don't over commit. Tends to be a 50-50. Thanks for the great suggestions!

There are a few reasons to run angels as a tribe. But you didn't seem to be running many or running them in suboptimal ways.

Youthful and righteous need a constant stream of angels hitting the feild. (Having flicker and or token tends to make these guys become real win cons)

Thune needs life gain (the more triggers the better)

I would be tempted to either go the all in life, all in mass flyers or all in tribal as at the moment it seems a mix.

Firja's Retribution is a solid midrange all in tribal options

Kaalia, Zenith Seeker is a solid dig spell that's also got angel like stats and would probably help a etb style decks alot.

And Lyra Dawnbringer is a very solid curve topper and would make a good addition in most list but especially go wide.

Another option is mono white devotion (using nythos for ramp, along side archangel of tithes. (Stall and ramp)

If your going in angel support I'm also a fan of archangel avacyn as she's a very solid curve topper on a list with support cards like bishop and speaker of heaven's etc

amicdeepThis deck already does all the thing you think it doesn't.

I have 23 angels in the deck. Is at least an angel each turn constant enough for you? because that's basically how it goes. With vial also during their turns actually. So yeah, both youthful and righteous get more than enough triggers. BTW righteous also triggers with clerics so all my creatures trigger her, if that not constant I don't know what it is, xD. Her passive is normally online by turn 3 or 4, so she is already a wincon. And Youthful is a powerhouse, she can grow to be a big trouble if let unchecked.

I do create tokens. Flicker effects are only good if you have cards with good ETB effects, but angels don't really have those (not the playable ones at least). So ephemeral isn't really good here, I've tried it and you end up using it more to save your stuff from kill spells than to trigger things. And to play flicker wisp I'll rather play another 3cmc angel that will also trigger my stuff, no need for flickering.

Thune has all the life gain she needs, there are 16 cards with repeatable free life gain triggers, she rarely enters and doesn't put at least 2 or 3 counters on all my creatures.

This is clearly going all tribal, and yeah, gaining life and putting flyers in play is what angel tribal does, xD. Going all life gain wouldn't be angel tribal, I already have in here all the free life gain effects for angel tribal of the game so I would have to branch out for that, and going all in mass flyers simply can't be done with angels, there is only one 1cmc angel and four 2cmc angels in the whole game. So I would also have to branch out for that. And for the record, I stomp flying go width decks with this, like is not even a match.

Bishop of Wings is a cleric but the text can't be more angel tribal and Giver of Runes well...Do you suggest I should play Segovian Angel instead? because is the only 1cmc angel option... Other than that all of them are angels. The best cards for this spot are Speaker of the Heavens and giver, and in modern she adds way more (even if admittedly speaker is a bit more "angel tribal"). I'll say it's as tribal as it can get. Believe me, I am the first one in line asking for a good 1cmc angel, xD.

I've tried Firja's retribution. Probably the best one of your suggestion. It doesn't either add or subtract much, it can be totally played in this deck. If I had more space I would totally add a couple, but for the moment ill rather have the 4cmc spells I have.

Kaalia zenith seeker is borderline unplayable in modern, in this deck totally unplayable. It dies to bolt and I would have to add a full 3rd color just to net 1 card from her? Not good at all. Legion ends up doing the same thing and nets me 2 cards.

Lyra is a worse Archangel of Thune in this deck, by far. I used to have 2 and 2 and gradually changed it. I rarely cared about life gain to every angel because I already gain a ton of life. And archangel's "anthem effect" is repeatable, stackable,it goes off for free in the deck and stays even if they kill the angel. Also archangel is not legendary, which matters.

I've used Nykthos in mono white and its tap for colorless substrated more than its devotion ability added many times. We don't play many 8cmc "you win the game" type angels here. We are more low to the ground, playing things every turn. By the time the devotion is online we already can play all our stuff normally. It helped Resplendent Angel trigger its second ability from time to time, but other than that not much. Archangel of tithes is another good card that doesn't add much either to this deck, with all the life gain we don't care about letting some damage through if we can't/don't want to block, and will almost all our stuff flying we don't care much about blockers.

Archangel Avacyn is also a pretty good card...if only she didn't transform (with us not being really able to control when she does it) and could potentially kill many of our own stuff...and we care a lot about our stuff living. In the other hand maybe killing their stuff doesn't help us really, if they can be killed by 3dmg we can handle them no problem on the block. There is no place for more 5cmc spells anyway so I'll rather have wincons in that slot.