{"ops":[{"insert":"Giada, Font of Hope Primer"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Primer updated February 2025. Change Log included at the bottom of this primer.\n\nBracket Description"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The estimated bracket for this deck is 2, but this deck feels like it belongs in bracket 3. It has been optimized for angel, lifegain, and counter synergies. Some of the most expensive angels in Magic live in this deck. We run a lot of 1-cost protection spells that make the deck a lot less susceptible to targeted removal, and two of our angels will protect against destruction board wipes. This deck is resilient, can hold its own in the early game, handles interaction well, and has clear win conditions if it survives to the late game.\n\nChoosing an Angel Tribal Commander"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"To me, mono white just "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"feels "},{"insert":"right for an angel tribal deck. As it so happens, we have quite a few options for a mono white angel commander:\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Giada, Font of Hope"}},{"insert":"]"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lyra Dawnbringer"}},{"insert":"]"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Avacyn, Angel of Hope"}},{"insert":"]"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bruna, the Fading Light"}},{"insert":"] - melds with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gisela, the Broken Blade"}},{"insert":"]"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sephara, Sky's Blade"}},{"insert":"]"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"All of these ended up making the final cut of this deck besides ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bruna, the Fading Light"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gisela, the Broken Blade"}},{"insert":"]. Ultimately, angels have a "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"really"},{"insert":" high CMC, and it doesn't always feel realistic to play them. Having a mana dork and buff in the command zone makes a lot of angels viable where they would previously just be way too expensive for their power/toughness. Angels also bring a lot of utility to the battlefield - they often serve as removal, protection, ramp, and even draw - but the utility comes at a higher CMC than an equivalent ability attached to an instant or sorcery. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Giada, Font of Hope"}},{"insert":"] is the best card to make sure we can be playing the other cards we are excited about - ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lyra Dawnbringer"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Avacyn, Angel of Hope"}},{"insert":"], or ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sephara, Sky's Blade"}},{"insert":"] - at least 1 turn earlier.\n\nTake a Turn with Giada"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Giada's first ability (counters) works best with individual instances of a single angel entering the battlefield. Giada's second ability (mana dork) works best when used once every round. With those two things in mind, we are usually casting a single angel on each of our turns. Here is what a standard turn looks like with Giada:\nPlay a land for turn."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Play one angel."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Ideally, we would "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sometimes "},{"insert":"have enough mana available at the end of our turn for alternative game actions. We can save this mana for protection spells, to trigger draw (from clues, lands, etc), or to cast a flash angel."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Unless we have something like a ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Luminarch Ascension"}},{"insert":"] engine online, our opponents can expect to see approximately one new angel each round. This is somewhat predictable, so we need to make each of our game actions count.\n\nSide Note"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Did you know that you can turn ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mutavault"}},{"insert":"] into an angel at instant speed by tapping itself, and then the next angel you cast will enter with an additional +1/+1 counter on it from ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Giada, Font of Hope"}},{"insert":"]?\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"General Angel Tribal Strategies"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Cast Angels or Generate Angel Tokens?"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"To have an angel tribal, we need to make angels. \nThe two main ways to accomplish this is by casting angels or by creating angel tokens (typically via enchantment), and a Giada deck can be built around either of these strategies. This particular deck is built around casting angels and getting additional utility out of those casts. Actual angel creatures just have so much going on for them in Magic - it was too good to pass up. Plus, Giada only serves as a mana dork for angels, and any non-angel card means one less opportunity to use her abilities. \nThere is one angel token generator in this deck that requires additional cards to trigger it: ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Accord"}},{"insert":"]. This card only made the final cut because there are a lot of lifegain synergies in the deck naturally from the angels we're running. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Divine Visitation"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sigil of the Empty Throne"}},{"insert":"] are also excellent options for angel generators but would require a shift in deck focus to either generate non-angel tokens or to cast enchantments, respectively. The way ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Requiem Angel"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Divine Visitation"}},{"insert":"] loop together was very tempting for me.\nWith Giada, I would strongly caution against cards like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Entreat the Angels"}},{"insert":"], as these are meant to generate multiple angel tokens at once. When 3 angel tokens enter the battlefield at once, they do not see each other and only enter with a number of counters equal to the angels you control before you cast the spell. This is the least impactful way to use Giada's abilities - you don't get her as a mana dork to cast the spell, and you aren't putting as many counters down as you could. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Empyrial Storm"}},{"insert":"] is a much better option, since the spell copies itself and each angel will enter the battlefield separately. \n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Subtheme: Counters or Lifegain?"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"So we made our angels, and now we need to decide what secondary strategy we're going to lean into to get more value out of them. \nCounters are a good option for a subtheme because our commander already starts us out with some, and the counters will increase the damage dealt to our opponents each combat. Counters aren't heavily emphasized in this particular Giada deck, but cards like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Norn's Choirmaster"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Patron of the Valiant"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resplendent Marshal"}},{"insert":"] are all good options for buffing counter strategies. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resourceful Defense"}},{"insert":"] is a card near and dear to my heart, and it would work beautifully in a counters-matter Giada build. I would highly recommend running each of these in a Giada deck where angel tokens reign supreme and less resources are devoted to keeping our angels on the battlefield.\nLifegain is the subtheme that this deck leans more heavily into. The primary reason for this is that we focus on casting angels, and the best angels in the deck care about lifegain. Cards like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Archangel of Thune"}},{"insert":"], my favorite angel of all time; ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Destiny"}},{"insert":"], our alternate win condition; and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Valkyrie Harbinger"}},{"insert":"], our best self-contained angel token generator. Each of these bring crazy utility to the battlefield if we lean into the lifegain subtheme. There are a few cards that only made it into the 99 because of this subtheme - namely ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Accord"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fumigate"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shattered Angel"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Vitality"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vanguard Seraph"}},{"insert":"]. These cards should probably not make it into an angels deck that doesn't care about lifegain. For example, ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cleansing Nova"}},{"insert":"] is usually a better card than ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fumigate"}},{"insert":"], but not when ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Accord"}},{"insert":"] is on the battlefield.\nQuite a few angels are great in both lifegain and counter subthemes, like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exemplar of Light"}},{"insert":"] (slightly better in a lifegain deck), ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sanctuary Warden"}},{"insert":"] (slightly better in a counters deck), and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Herald of War"}},{"insert":"] (slightly better in a counters deck). Each of these angels just provide an extreme level of utility with Giada's buffs alone, even if they aren't part of a deck with their "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"ideal "},{"insert":"subtheme. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exemplar of Light"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sanctuary Warden"}},{"insert":"] both provide draw, which is hard to come by in white. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Herald of War"}},{"insert":"] has the ramp capabilities to make the best angels in the deck cost only their white pips. Both ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sanctuary Warden"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Herald of War"}},{"insert":"] should get enough counters from Giada keep them popping off. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exemplar of Light"}},{"insert":"] does not trigger with Giada's counters, but both lifegain and counter subthemes should be able to trigger the draw on this card easily.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Utility Angels"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"We run a total of 37 creatures in this deck besides our commander, two of which are non-angles. That means we have a total of 36 angels in the deck including our commander, there are more angels in this deck than all other non-land cards combined, and there is a one-to-one ratio between angels and lands. All that to say - our angels need to put in WORK to make sure they are producing a well-rounded deck for us. Ideally, any given angel serves a secondary purpose of ramping, drawing cards, protecting our permanents, removing threats from our opponents, providing lifegain, or buffing other angels.\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Ramp"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The ramp angels in this deck are on the higher CMC side (as far as ramp goes), and a couple of them serve secondary purposes. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Herald of War"}},{"insert":"] is a straight ramp card, but does have the added benefit of being a big angel that we can throw at our opponents. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"] requires us to throw it at our opponents to be ramp at all, but it offers draw and lifegain in addition to treasure tokens. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of the Ruins"}},{"insert":"] is better used as a removal spell, but can also be treated as ramp for a plains to be sure we hit our land drops.\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Draw"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exemplar of Light"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Firemane Commando"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sanctuary Warden"}},{"insert":"] all provide straight draw. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exemplar of Light"}},{"insert":"] will trigger a draw when we gain life, while ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Firemane Commando"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sanctuary Warden"}},{"insert":"] all care about attacking with our creatures. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"] has the added condition that our opponent must have more cards in hand than us to trigger draw. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Inspiring Overseer"}},{"insert":"] also offers straight draw, but it only replaces itself by drawing us a single card and should not be considered card advantage.\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Wojek Investigator"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Sleuth"}},{"insert":"] both create clue tokens, which we can then pay two mana to sacrifice and draw a card. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Wojek Investigator"}},{"insert":"] is the strongest of the two, as at least one opponent usually has more cards in hand than we do. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Sleuth"}},{"insert":"] is only a good card when our deck isn't working how we would like it to. It's good insurance if we get board wiped or have to chump block with our angels, but ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Sleuth"}},{"insert":"] shouldn't be triggering if our deck is working.\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vanguard Seraph"}},{"insert":"] is not true draw and is only draw filtering, but we end up gaining a lot of life in this deck and draw is a lot more powerful if we are drawing the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"right "},{"insert":"card.\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Protection and Removal"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"These are grouped together because we typically use our splashy removal angels on cards that are threatening our board state, not just progressing our opponents'. Each of the following cards will be aimed at protecting our angel army, protecting our life, or removing a lethal threat.\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Avacyn, Angel of Hope"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sephara, Sky's Blade"}},{"insert":"] are the classic protection angels that make all of our other angels indestructible. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Breathkeeper Seraph"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Adarkar Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] can each protect a single permanent. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Breathkeeper Seraph"}},{"insert":"] is quite a bit stronger and more consistent at achieving that task, but ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Adarkar Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] can steal our opponents' creatures and that's fun."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Serra's Emissary"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Metropolis Reformer"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Windshaper Planetar"}},{"insert":"] will all protect us as a player - each in different ways. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Serra's Emissary"}},{"insert":"] will protect us from a chosen card type, which is insanely powerful. Most of the time, we will be gaining protection from creatures so that they cannot deal us combat damage. However, we could declare instants if we were playing a spellslinger deck that deals noncombat damage to players directly. We could also declare artifacts and gain full protection from an ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Aetherflux Reservoir"}},{"insert":"] on board. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Metropolis Reformer"}},{"insert":"] gives us hexproof and would also protect against an ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Aetherflux Reservoir"}},{"insert":"] or spellslinger deck. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Windshaper Planetar"}},{"insert":"] is a one-time protection spell against a potentially devastating combat phase."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of the Ruins"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of the Dire Hour"}},{"insert":"] will remove threats from our opponents' battlefields. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of the Ruins"}},{"insert":"] can take care of a couple artifacts and enchantments, while ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of the Dire Hour"}},{"insert":"] can wipe an opponent's most threatening creatures."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Lifegain"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Angels are either going to be lifelink creatures themselves, or they are going to have triggered abilities that provide us with smaller incremental lifegain.\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Baneslayer Angel"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Glorious Enforcer"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lyra Dawnbringer"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sephara, Sky's Blade"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Valkyrie Harbinger"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Archangel of Thune"}},{"insert":"] all have lifegain attached to them and will gain us life when they deal damage. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Baneslayer Angel"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Glorious Enforcer"}},{"insert":"] buff themselves, while ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Valkyrie Harbinger"}},{"insert":"] makes a bunch of angel tokens to buff our board. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lyra Dawnbringer"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sephara, Sky's Blade"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Archangel of Thune"}},{"insert":"] will each buff our whole board of angels."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Skirmisher"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Steel Seraph"}},{"insert":"] both provide the option to give one or more creatures lifelink during combat. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Metropolis Reformer"}},{"insert":"] doesn't exactly have lifelink, but it gains us life during combat based on the damage it takes. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resplendent Angel"}},{"insert":"] can technically give itself lifelink, but it costs a lot of mana to do so."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dazzling Angel"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Inspiring Overseer"}},{"insert":"] are perfect example of small incremental lifegain, with each only giving a single life. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Inspiring Overseer"}},{"insert":"] is only a one-time lifegain trigger, while ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dazzling Angel"}},{"insert":"] will trigger lifegain for every creature entering the battlefield. Both of these are great with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Vitality"}},{"insert":"], which will functionally double the amount of life gained from these cards."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shattered Angel"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Righteous Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] all provide us repeatable lifegain triggers, but at larger chunks each time. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shattered Angel"}},{"insert":"] will both give 3 life each time they trigger, but only trigger based on our opponents' game actions. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Righteous Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] provides a more substantial chunk of lifegain each time we play an angel."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Buff Angels"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Lots of way to buff our angels with Giada! If an angel creates other angels, that means more counters on future angels we cast; the angel can directly buff other angels with cool abilities or increased power; or maybe the angel simply makes itself a huge threat for our opponents to deal with.\nThe following angels create other angel tokens:\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resplendent Angel"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Valkyrie Harbinger"}},{"insert":"] each pop out 4/4 angel tokens if we reach a lifegain threshold each turn."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The following angels buff our board directly by giving an ability or increasing power:\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Thraben Watcher"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Field Marshal"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Skirmisher"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Steel Seraph"}},{"insert":"] will often be giving our attacking creatures vigilance so that they can also be blockers in the following turn(s)."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Skirmisher"}},{"insert":"] will sometimes be giving our creatures first strike, and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sigarda's Vanguard"}},{"insert":"] will consistently give our creatures double strike. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lyra Dawnbringer"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Righteous Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] will buff our creatures' power/toughness, and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Archangel of Thune"}},{"insert":"] will make our angels big by giving them +1/+1 counters."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The following angels will prove to be threats all by themselves:\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Youthful Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] will get bigger and bigger each time we cast an angel, ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exemplar of Light"}},{"insert":"] will get bigger each time we gain life, and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Herald of War"}},{"insert":"] will get bigger each time it attacks."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"We can cast ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Field Marshal"}},{"insert":"] on turn 3 right after our commander the turn prior, and she will come in as a 6/6. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Vitality"}},{"insert":"] is a 4/4 for 3 mana, before Giada's counters. Each of these can be a serious threat early game."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Glorious Enforcer"}},{"insert":"] usually has double strike, and hits for around 14 damage (assuming only Giada and one other creature on the battlefield)."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Deck Vulnerabilities"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"There are a few categories where this deck is vulnerable and can be squeezed to death by an opponent: ramp, card draw, and reliance on our commander and subsequent angels. These are both impacted by the deck being mono white, as well as the particular strategy we chose for our Giada deck.\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Mana Curve"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"At the time of writing this, the deck is running 36 lands (counting ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sejiri Shelter // Sejiri Glacier"}},{"insert":"]) and has an average CMC of 3.68. Personally, that is the highest CMC commander deck I’ve built and there is an argument to be made that we should go higher on the land count. Cutting the lands this low was one of the final decisions I made for the deck because I had one too many games where I desperately needed to draw an angel and drew a land instead. In this deck, where draw is few and far between, it's a much bigger deal to miss an angel drop turn 6 than it is to miss a land drop. However, having such a high average CMC means we need to be ramping in a significant way so we can play our higher CMC win condition before another opponent ends the game.\nWe do run 10 different ramp spells in the 99 - 2 of which are mana rocks (besides our commander), 5 of which are mana reducers, and 3 of which can be considered miscellaneous. Since we are guaranteed Giada as a mana dork on turn 2, we have quite a few ramp pieces that cost 3+ CMC to cast but provide more substantial utility. We focus on colorless mana for our ramp pieces because we usually have plenty of plains on the battlefield, Giada herself provides a white mana, and colorless ramp pieces generally provide more utility.\nFor the ramp pieces that are 1 or 2 CMC, the goal is not to play them before Giada but to use them to ramp to bigger 6+ CMC angels. Because of that, we ideally want a lower CMC angel coming out in the same turn as our little ramp piece. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sol Ring"}},{"insert":"] is a net-positive mana rock that should not hinder our goal of getting another angel out in the same turn. Neither ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mind Stone"}},{"insert":"] nor ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Pearl Medallion"}},{"insert":"] are net-positive, but both only cause us to be down 1 mana on the turn they come out. With Giada, we ramp consistently enough to be able to play one of these plus a lower CMC angel. We usually want to be playing ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of the Ruins"}},{"insert":"] as a removal piece and huge body, but the card having Plainscycling makes it reasonable to keep in an opening hand as a 2-cost way to ensure we hit our land drops."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Ramp pieces that are 3 CMC aim to either significantly reduce the cost of angels or to provide a secondary utility. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Urza's Incubator"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Starnheim Aspirant"}},{"insert":"] both only cause us to be down 1 mana on the turn they come out, meaning we can still hopefully cast an angel on that turn. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Herald's Horn"}},{"insert":"] provides a pseudo-draw effect and is quite good in a deck where we are equally likely to draw an angel as we are a land. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Smuggler's Share"}},{"insert":"] provides draw in addition to treasure tokens if our opponents are drawing or ramping on their turns. I would classify ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Smuggler's Share"}},{"insert":"] as the worst of these ramp pieces, but straight draw in white is hard to come by and we need to be restocking our hand with angels."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"We only run a couple ramp pieces that are 4+ CMC, but they can be quite explosive. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"], at its best, can provide us a treasure token, trigger draw, and gain us 3 life in a single turn. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Herald of War"}},{"insert":"] is highly synergistic with Giada, and we could end up casting ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Avacyn, Angel of Hope"}},{"insert":"] just a turn later for 3 white mana. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Running the ramp spells we do makes our mana pool incredibly susceptible to creature or artifact removal - ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Avacyn, Angel of Hope"}},{"insert":"] should hopefully help with that. One upside of our existing mana pool is that we aren’t very vulnerable to non-basic land denial because we primarily run plains and only have a couple non-basics out each game.\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Whoever Said White is Decent at Draw was LYING."},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"While there are cards that can give you draw in white, they are not efficient and/or they are not without limiting conditions. Draw in white typically requires us to wait for our opponents to draw, requires us to spend a lot of mana, or requires us to meet specific conditions. Sometimes a draw card in white will require ALL of those things. Nonetheless, we need draw to get new angels in our hand. Thankfully, we only typically need one additional draw per round to replenish our hand. An ideal game for Giada consists of only playing 2 cards a round: 1 land and 1 angel.\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Smuggler's Share"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Wojek Investigator"}},{"insert":"] are good examples of cards that require our opponents to be drawing in order for us to draw. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Smuggler's Share"}},{"insert":"] relies on our opponents drawing two or more cards in a single turn for us to draw. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Wojek Investigator"}},{"insert":"] both require our opponents to have more cards in hand than us to trigger at all."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"War Room"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Inspiring Overseer"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mind Stone"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bonders' Enclave"}},{"insert":"] are all cards that draw us cards reliably but cost a pretty penny to do so. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"War Room"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bonders' Enclave"}},{"insert":"] are absolute lifesavers in this deck - lands when you don't need them and draw when you do. However, both of these cards cost 4 mana-producing lands (including themselves) to draw a card - that's just not efficient, but at least it's repeatable. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Inspiring Overseer"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mind Stone"}},{"insert":"] each cost 3 mana to draw us a card, but it's not a repeatable effect. These cards should not be considered card "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"advantage"},{"insert":", because you spend one card to get one card."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exemplar of Light"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Sleuth"}},{"insert":"] both require us to meet specific conditions to earn card draw. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exemplar of Light"}},{"insert":"] only gives us draw if we are gaining life or putting counters on our creatures. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Sleuth"}},{"insert":"] is even a longer route to draw: we need to put counters on our creatures, we need our creatures to die, then we need to pay 2 mana and sacrifice an artifact to draw one card. This is a perfect example of roundabout card draw in white. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sanctuary Warden"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Firemane Commando"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Chivalric Alliance"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Court of Grace"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"] all require us to be attacking with our angels to draw us cards. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"] takes it further and requires us to deal combat damage to a player, but that is fine because its ability is incredibly powerful when it does trigger. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Court of Grace"}},{"insert":"] also requires us to deal combat damage, but specifically to the player who is currently the monarch. All of our angels have flying, so each of these conditions are usually achievable with low risk to our board state."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Herald's Horn"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Folk Hero"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dawn of a New Age"}},{"insert":"] all reward us with card draw if we have angels in our library, play angels, and keep our angels alive. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vanguard Seraph"}},{"insert":"] doesn't even provide true draw, just draw filtering. Any angel that was even tangentially related to getting more angels into our hand made it into the deck, though. \nSomething to keep in mind with the draw limitation is that we should be making most of every single card we spend mana on before we play a new card. If we have an activated ability on the board, we should be dumping our mana into that before we seek to play a new angel most of the time.\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Giada is Our Only Hope"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This deck doesn’t really function without Gaida. Sure, we have an alternate win con and angels with some busted abilities, but Giada is the card that makes angels powerful enough to manage the life totals of 3 players at 40 life each. Her counters and her angel ramp is most of our strategy. Thankfully, she's not terrible to re-cast from the command zone after being removed once, especially with mana reducers on the board. But more than one removal of Giada puts our gameplan at risk, and removal of any one angel weakens our strategy.\nProtect her and her angel friends at all costs with permanents that give static protection and instant protection spells. \nMost of our permanents that offer protection for other permanents are angels. The exception is ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Caduceus, Staff of Hermes"}},{"insert":"], which is primarily used as a lifegain card in the deck, but will also offer indestructible protection for one of our creatures if we're doing okay on our life total. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sephara, Sky's Blade"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Avacyn, Angel of Hope"}},{"insert":"] will protect all of our angels against creature damage and \"destroy\" board wipes. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Serra's Emissary"}},{"insert":"] is a fairly versatile card; we will typically be declaring \"creatures\" to gain protection against all damage dealt, but other card types can also be declared if an opponent has a lot of targeted creature removal or is targeting players directly. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Breathkeeper Seraph"}},{"insert":"] is a great option to protect itself and one other creature. This will keep the creatures alive through board wipes, targeted destruction, standard combat damage, and even something like wither. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Adarkar Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] offers the least protection out of the options listed but also offers some theft. If all is going according to plan, we are killing some of our opponent's creatures when they attack us, and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Adarkar Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] can snatch them right up to buff our own board. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Every instant in the deck that aims to protect our angels will only cost one or two mana a piece. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dawn's Truce"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Brave the Elements"}},{"insert":"] can protect all of our angels from combat damage and targeted removal, with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dawn's Truce"}},{"insert":"] also capable of protecting against board wipes and artifact/enchantment removal. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sejiri Shelter // Sejiri Glacier"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gods Willing"}},{"insert":"] will both protect a single creature from combat damage or targeted removal. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cloudshift"}},{"insert":"] will also protect against lethal combat damage or a creature being targeted, but ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cloudshift"}},{"insert":"] will also refresh the counters placed on an angel by Giada. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rebuff the Wicked"}},{"insert":"] protects artifacts and enchantments, as well as creatures, and is the only true counterspell in the deck. Sometimes a targeted removal spell coming from an opponent will come with several other effects attached, so having a true counterspell available can prove useful."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"If we do ever have a board wipe tear down our angel army, ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bishop of Wings"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Sleuth"}},{"insert":"] should give us some resources to work with.\n"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Other Non-Angel Spells"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Any spell that was not an angel had to fight incredibly hard to make it into this deck. Keep in mind that our mana-reducing permanents are powerful cards, but most of them only reduce the cost of angels. With such a high mana curve, we can't be flinging around spells willy nilly if they aren't on sale. The vast majority of non-angel cards that were included in the 99 are meant to bandaid the deck vulnerabilities outlined above: ramp, draw, or protection. \nThe only non-angel, non-lands card that are in the deck and haven't previously been discussed are low cost removal spells, board wipes, angel token generators, and lifegain cards.\nWe actually have quite a few angels that come with removal included - they just cost a ton of mana. This is where non-angel cards will buff our removal capabilities. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Swords to Plowshares"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Path to Exile"}},{"insert":"] are the epitome of leaning into white's strengths: one mana, permanently take care of one creature. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Invoke the Divine"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Heliod's Intervention"}},{"insert":"] give us artifact/enchantment removal with a secondary lifegain option. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Grasp of Fate"}},{"insert":"] will take care of up to 3 nonland permanents for 3 mana. The inclusion of "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"nonland permanents is essential when we're up against a planeswalker deck."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fumigate"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Austere Command"}},{"insert":"] are our two board wipes for the deck. These work well with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sephara, Sky's Blade"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Avacyn, Angel of Hope"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dawn's Truce"}},{"insert":"] to make the board wipe one-sided. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Luminarch Ascension"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Court of Grace"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Accord"}},{"insert":"] are all enchantments with repeatable abilities that create 4/4 angel tokens for 4 mana or less. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Luminarch Ascension"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Court of Grace"}},{"insert":"] are both self-contained token generators that require no other cards to function. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Accord"}},{"insert":"] does require lifegain cards to produce angel tokens."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Authority of the Consuls"}},{"insert":"] is the only non-angel lifegain card that hasn't already been mentioned, but ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bishop of Wings"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Caduceus, Staff of Hermes"}},{"insert":"] were both included primarily for their lifegain effect. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Authority of the Consuls"}},{"insert":"] is great for off-turn lifegain triggers, and can be very beneficial for triggering ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resplendent Angel"}},{"insert":"] or ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Valkyrie Harbinger"}},{"insert":"] with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shattered Angel"}},{"insert":"] on the battlefield."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nWin Conditions"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n1. Angel Army"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This is the most straight forward strategy and the one our deck most likely aims to win with - bonk 'em with angels. Getting an angel out every turn starting round 2 means that our army gets pretty big pretty fast, especially if we have token generators out. Angels are inherently evasive with flying, so we don't really run any dedicated evasion cards in the deck. As long as our opponents don't run a lot of removal or have a lot of fliers, our angel engine should grow out of control and win us the game.\nUtilizing Flash"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Winning the game via good ole fashioned combat is an honorable way to build a deck - it's also predictable and easily interrupted. Even if we are setting an angel down a turn and we are predicted to win in 4 turns, that gives our opponents ample opportunity to do something drastic and avoid losing. White is the one of the best colors in magic for flash and instant-speed casting, so why not use that to our advantage?\nWe run 3 angels in this deck that have flash: ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Windshaper Planetar"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of the Dire Hour"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sigarda's Vanguard"}},{"insert":"]. Each of these can be devastating to a combat phase, and can completely turn the tide of the game in your favor. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of the Dire Hour"}},{"insert":"] will obviously wipe the opposing player's board, but has the added benefit of being a body buffed by Giada that you opponents did not have the opportunity to plan for before your next combat phase. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Windshaper Planetar"}},{"insert":"] can result in one of your opponents losing the game at your hand during another one of your opponent's combat steps. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sigarda's Vanguard"}},{"insert":"] can give all of your creatures double strike at the last minute so that you either kill your opponent's creatures, unexpectedly deal double damage during your next combat phase, or both."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"It wouldn't be a very sneaky deck if we ONLY ran those 3 cards at instant-speed. My two favorite instant-speed cards in the deck are surprisingly lands: ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"War Room"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bonders' Enclave"}},{"insert":"]. Each of these cost 4 lands to activate, which is perfect because ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Windshaper Planetar"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sigarda's Vanguard"}},{"insert":"] each cost 4 lands plus Giada to cast (assuming no mana reducers are on the board). A few other lands have slightly less impactful activated abilities to use on an opponent's turn: ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Witch's Clinic"}},{"insert":"] can eat up some mana to gain us life if we block a small creature on our opponent's turn, ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Cave of the Frost Dragon"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mutavault"}},{"insert":"] can each become creatures to block in a pitch if we were holding mana open for something else that didn't happen."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"We have 10 total instants that can serve as protection or removal. These should all be held until the last possible minute when they can be played, and we can cast or activate something else if the protection or removal was not needed."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The best card in the deck for instant-speed angels is ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Luminarch Ascension"}},{"insert":"]. I am a bit conflicted about this card because it screams to my opponents \"hit me, or I get to make a crazy number of angels\". However, if I'm able to keep them from hitting me, creating angels at any time for 2 mana is pretty unbeatable."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Make the Angels Count"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Besides making our strategy a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"surprise"},{"insert":", the best we can do is make our strategy "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"strong"},{"insert":". This includes cards that make a lot of angels, cards that make our angels big, and cards that make our angels powerful.\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Luminarch Ascension"}},{"insert":"] makes angel tokens the most efficiently in this deck, after the conditions are met. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Valkyrie Harbinger"}},{"insert":"] is a close second because it requires no cards or conditions besides itself. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Court of Grace"}},{"insert":"] is consistent with one free angel a turn if we are maintaining a threatening angel army. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resplendent Angel"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Accord"}},{"insert":"] are decent token makers, but rely on other cards to generate lifegain for them."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Giada, Font of Hope"}},{"insert":"] herself is going to be doing the heaviest lifting to make our angels big, but some other cards will certainly help out. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Archangel of Thune"}},{"insert":"] will become unmanageable for our opponents very quickly in this deck. Even isolated buffs like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Caduceus, Staff of Hermes"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Thraben Watcher"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Righteous Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lyra Dawnbringer"}},{"insert":"] will help our angels dish out more damage."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"If we want to make our angels even stronger, we add in cards that give double strike, vigilance, and first strike (with the most powerful of these being double strike). ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Thraben Watcher"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Steel Seraph"}},{"insert":"]. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Field Marshal"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Skirmisher"}},{"insert":"] will give our angels vigilance, which will allow us to attack with them freely while still having defenses. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sigarda's Vanguard"}},{"insert":"] gives our angels double strike, while ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Skirmisher"}},{"insert":"] gives our angels first strike."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"One Sided Board Wipes"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"If our opponents are gaining life faster than we're dealing combat damage, they're growing their board state too fast, or we're playing against the pesky dragons, we'll need to board wipe. Obviously wiping the board isn't a win condition, but it is if you can make it one-sided. \nIf we have ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sephara, Sky's Blade"}},{"insert":"] or ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Avacyn, Angel of Hope"}},{"insert":"] on the board, or even ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dawn's Truce"}},{"insert":"] in our hand, our destruction board wipes become one-sided. After clearing out all threatening creatures (or even permanents) with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fumigate"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Austere Command"}},{"insert":"], we should be able to deal serious damage with our angels next turn.\n"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"2. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Destiny"}},{"insert":"]"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"I like this card a lot more than cards like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Platinum Angel"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Book of Exalted Deeds"}},{"insert":"], or ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Herald of Eternal Dawn"}},{"insert":"] (although this recent release with flash on it has tempted me to change my opinion). Anyhow, these cards both PREVENT the game from being won, while ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Destiny"}},{"insert":"] ENCOURAGES the game to be won. The two ways to get this card to pop off are to play it when you have a low life total and use it to raise your own life total, or to play it when you have a high life total and want to make someone lose next turn. \nThe former strategy is nice when your opponent is about to be taken out by other means (commander damage, poison, etc), so keeping their life total static is not a big deal. The negative of this strategy is that the second ability is harder to achieve, and your opponents have more rounds of opportunity to remove ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Destiny"}},{"insert":"]. \nThe latter strategy where we only play the card when we have a high life total is ideal when we are gearing up to win the game. This strategy gives your opponents only one round to knock your life total down or kill ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Destiny"}},{"insert":"] while she still has summoning sickness.\nOf course, ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Destiny"}},{"insert":"] does encourage a lifegain subtheme. This deck attempts to lean into the subtheme with good cards that happen to have lifegain, cards that focus solely on lifegain, and cards that capitalize on lifegain.\nLifegain Subtheme"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Some cards are really good cards and just so happen to have lifegain attached. This includes cards that focus on ramp, draw, or removal - like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Invoke the Divine"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Inspiring Overseer"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dawn of a New Age"}},{"insert":"]. \nMost cards that offer lifegain in addition to a second utility end up buffing our angels or creating new ones. \n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Valkyrie Harbinger"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resplendent Angel"}},{"insert":"] will create new angels. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Steel Seraph"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Skirmisher"}},{"insert":"] offer lifegain as a buff alongside other options. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Righteous Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bishop of Wings"}},{"insert":"] offer lifegain ETB but also give a secondary benefit for angels. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sephara, Sky's Blade"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Metropolis Reformer"}},{"insert":"] offer some creature and player protection, respectively, in addition to their lifegain abilities. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lyra Dawnbringer"}},{"insert":"] is probably the second strongest lifegain card with a secondary utility because it makes all other angels lifegain engines and buffs them. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Archangel of Thune"}},{"insert":"] reigns supreme as far as lifegain utility cards go."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Other cards are specifically included in the deck for lifegain alone - to prepare for ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Destiny"}},{"insert":"] or to provide lifegain for other cards that give benefits for lifegain. These cards definitely have utility in the deck, but they rely on other cards to get the most value:\n["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shattered Angel"}},{"insert":"] will primarily be useful for keeping our life total high, but there is a possibility of generating an angel on our opponent's turn with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Valkyrie Harbinger"}},{"insert":"] or ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Accord"}},{"insert":"]. This play requires ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Vitality"}},{"insert":"] or ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Authority of the Consuls"}},{"insert":"] to get the lifegain up to 4."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Fumigate"}},{"insert":"] is synergistic in the deck with indestructible permanents, but it can also provide an adequate lifegain trigger for a number of our permanents. If ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Heliod's Intervention"}},{"insert":"] does not need to be used as a removal spell, it can be used to generate exactly 4 lifegain, or it can be used to boost our life total up past where ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Destiny"}},{"insert":"] needs it to be."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Radiant Fountain"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Seraph Sanctuary"}},{"insert":"] are both lands that provide a small amount of lifegain on our turn. These lands - coupled with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Inspiring Overseer"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Battle Angels of Tyr"}},{"insert":"], or ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dazzling Angel"}},{"insert":"] - can be just enough to push us over the 4-life threshold that some of our lifegain payoff cards have."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Glorious Enforcer"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Caduceus, Staff of Hermes"}},{"insert":"] give big buffs if we have a strong enough life total, in addition to providing lifegain. These are strong enough lifegain cards to trigger any of our lifegain payoffs on their own."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Cards that benefit from lifegain will either check our life total (similar to ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Destiny"}},{"insert":"]) or check instances of lifegain. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Righteous Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Glorious Enforcer"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Caduceus, Staff of Hermes"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel of Vitality"}},{"insert":"] all care about our life total. This will be based on the relationship to our starting life total, the relationship to our opponents' life totals, or a static check on our current life total. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exemplar of Light"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vanguard Seraph"}},{"insert":"] both trigger on isolated instances of lifegain, but limit the triggers to once per turn. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Archangel of Thune"}},{"insert":"] triggers on each instance of lifegain but is not limited to once per turn. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Valkyrie Harbinger"}},{"insert":"], ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resplendent Angel"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Accord"}},{"insert":"] check your life at the end of your turn to see if you passed a 4 or 5 lifegain threshold. \n\nChange Log"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"3/1/25"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Replaced ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Windshaper Planetar"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Caduceus, Staff of Hermes"}},{"insert":"] with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Boon-Bringer Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resourceful Defense"}},{"insert":"]. This swaps an angel for an angel, a non-angel for a non-angel, a protection spell for a protection spell, and a lifegain card for a lifegain card. \nI thought ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Windshaper Planetar"}},{"insert":"] would be a lot stronger than it is in a 4-player game. The use-case for this card is to direct someone's big attack at another opponent instead of getting hit ourselves. However, this use case is usually only satisfied when one player is significantly further ahead than other players, and we're likely the second strongest at the table. In these situations, I much prefer to keep the weaker opponents alive to help me deal damage to the stronger opponent - ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Windshaper Planetar"}},{"insert":"] is a really awkward card to play when I'm trying to make alliances. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resourceful Defense"}},{"insert":"] is a pet card for me, and I prefer to have the protection for my creatures instead of protection for myself as the player.\nSince I removed an angel to put in ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resourceful Defense"}},{"insert":"], I decided to swap ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Caduceus, Staff of Hermes"}},{"insert":"] for a lifegain angel. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Caduceus, Staff of Hermes"}},{"insert":"] is a great card, but it costs 5 mana to give 1 creature lifelink, in a deck where my reducers only help with Angels. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Boon-Bringer Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] is incredibly synergistic with both a counters and lifegain subtheme. On entry, ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Boon-Bringer Valkyrie"}},{"insert":"] will give another creature lifelink and a +1/+1 counter until end of turn. This helps with the issue of summoning sickness on my lifelink cards, since I'm getting lifegain immediately when I play the creature.\n3/10/25"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Replaced ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Accord"}},{"insert":"] with a basic plains. I want ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Accord"}},{"insert":"] to be good in this deck, but I think ultimately it would be much better in a ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Lyra Dawnbringer"}},{"insert":"] deck where lifegain is guaranteed. All other cards in this deck have lifegain attached if they offer lifegain payoffs.\n5/20/25"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Replaced ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Heliod's Intervention"}},{"insert":"] with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Aetherspark"}},{"insert":"]. Removal is definitely a strength in white, but ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Heliod's Intervention"}},{"insert":"] played disappointingly in a deck that wants both removal and lifegain - choosing between them was never beneficial in a turn. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"The Aetherspark"}},{"insert":"], however, provides some much-needed draw and compliments the counter subtheme very well. I plan to introduce some removal/land MDFCs to make up for losing a removal card. \n8/8/25"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Replaced a basic plains with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ondu Inversion // Ondu Skyruins"}},{"insert":"]. I wanted to add in a little bit more removal but needed to keep the land count up in this deck to support the high CMC. It is not as big of a deal if lands come in tapped, especially after turn 2, because our commander increases our mana available starting turn 3.\nReplaced ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Witch's Clinic"}},{"insert":"] with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Demolition Field"}},{"insert":"]. While lifegain is desired in this deck, we actually don't want to be swinging with our commander very often. She's also not big enough to block anything substantial and survive. I decided to swap for a different colorless land that can take out a pesky nonbasic, since my pod frequently makes use of cards like ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Rogue's Passage"}},{"insert":"] to deal lethal commander damage.\nReplaced ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vanguard Seraph"}},{"insert":"] with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Sell-Sword"}},{"insert":"]. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vanguard Seraph"}},{"insert":"] is always a dead card in my hand, and we only have it in for draw filtering. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angelic Sell-Sword"}},{"insert":"] just does draw better.\n7/25/26"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Replaced ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resourceful Defense"}},{"insert":"] with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel's Grace"}},{"insert":"]. ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resourceful Defense"}},{"insert":"] has done very well in this deck, and this is purely a theme-based swap. I have another deck I'm cooking that will be a better fit for ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Resourceful Defense"}},{"insert":"], and ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel's Grace"}},{"insert":"] is VERY fitting for this angels deck. They're both protection cards, and I think the low CMC on ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Angel's Grace"}},{"insert":"] will improve usability.\n9/24/26\nReplaced ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Authority of the Consuls"}},{"insert":"] with ["},{"insert":{"card-link":"Seraph of the Sword"}},{"insert":"].\n"}]}