Commander Corner with Eric Ostby: Archangel Avacyn WRITTEN BY Eric Ostby

[Editor's Note: Eric Ostby is back with some budget-ish Commander decks. We'll be hearing from both him and Nick Wolf about Commander, so enjoy! - James]

Welcome back to Commander Corner! After a long hiatus, I found some time and inspiration to throw a few new decks together. The one I'm going to present today came together because of a very lucky draft pull. Commanded by the best Serra Angel ever, Archangel Avacyn, here is Red and White and Dead All Over!





Commander: Archangel Avacyn, by Eric Ostby





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It's not at all a stretch to say that this list could qualify as just "Boros Good Stuff", but some of the cards in here are specifically teched to this particular build, and in at least one case, this particular Commander. We'll start with the tech first, as you won't see them in many other decks.



Mark of Asylum





I actually had no idea this card existed until it was passed to me in a Chaos Draft. (I didn't start playing Magic until Scars block, so Alara block is a mostly foreign concept to me.) It got shoved into a couple of decks, trying to find a good home, until it finally ended up in this Avacyn build. It doesn't seem like the most useful card in general, as it prevents a very specific type of damage, but in a world where flipping Archangel Avacyn is both encouraged and allowed, making it a one-sided wrath that also has some splash damage against other red decks is surprisingly good tech. Also applies when you want to cast Blasphemous Act.



Kor Firewalker / Burrenton Forge-Tender





A bit of tech that I've borrowed from another person at my local shop who runs the Archangel. If nothing else, you'll be casting some red spells, which will gain you some life, and having a couple of creatures that don't really have to worry about Avacyn flipping is a plus. In addition, the Forge-Tender allows you to trigger Avacyn's flip just about any time you need it, with the only caveat being that you need a red source to target. Still, when you really need a non-Angel creature to die, Forgetender is more than willing to do its duty.



Commander Staple Scour from Existence





I am thus far unaware if this particular meme has gone anywhere besides my local store, but the more I play and build, the more I realize that this is just a good statement of fact. For 7 generic mana, you could play Karn and do similar things, but Scour has a couple of things in its favor. Firstly, it's dirt cheap (14 PucaPoints as of this writing, compared to 4445 for Karn Liberated from New Phyrexia). Second, colorless instant speed exile removal gets past almost every protection effect in Magic, save for hexproof and shroud. Facing down Iona, Shield of Emeria? No problem. Opponent with a board full of artifacts and Darksteel Forge? No sweat. Playing mono-black against an opponent with Blood Baron of Vizkopa (as I've done before)? This is your best out. It may not be the best removal you'll ever stick into a deck, but it takes care of the problems that nothing else can, and can mean the difference between an unwinnable board state and being very far out in front.



Old and Busted



Aurelia, the Warleader , Gisela, Blade of Goldnight , Adarkar Valkyrie





If you've ever built or played against a deck in Boros colors in Commander, odds are that at least one or two of these have hit the board and dramatically changed the game you were playing in. Aurelia has arguably the best immediate impact of the three, as she has haste and gives you an additional combat step if she gets to swing. Gisela is the most dangerous of the three, as while she doesn't have the instant impact Aurelia does, she completely wrecks combat math and any other damage dealing effects, and would almost certainly be the first one you hit with removal if you're playing against her. Finally, Adarkar Valkyrie is the slowest to affect the board, having neither haste nor a static ability that matters outside of combat, but if you get to untap with the Valkyrie, you've gained an excellent benefit towards keeping your creatures alive. In this particular deck, this means that if your Avacyn would kill something, you have a chance at getting it back immediately afterward. And that's not just your creatures, either; you can try and take any creature you can target before it dies.



New Hotness



Archangel Avacyn, Hanweir Militia Captain, Eerie Interlude





Shadows over Innistrad gave Commander players plenty of new goodies for their decks. Without Archangel Avacyn, this deck certainly would not exist. Not only is she the best Serra Angel ever, she provides you with a darn good attacking body after she flips, and makes things like Lifelink utterly hilarious if you get to make that combo happen. She is also an excellent Cloudshift target, as well as a good pair with another new card from SOI, Eerie Interlude. Unlike past versions of this effect, Eerie Interlude does not require you to blink your entire team out of play. This primarily serves as a reason to not be forced to kill your own tokens for no value, but there are actually quite a few creatures in this deck that would rather not be taken off the battlefield unless they were about to die, like Boros Reckoner, Adarkar Valkyrie, Gatstaf Arsonists, and the last card from SOI being discussed here, Hanweir Militia Captain. The Captain isn't really exciting on its front face, being merely a bear, but it's when he flips into Westvale Cult Leader that good things really start happening. A ever-growing body that brings friends along to help gum up the board seems like just the thing you're looking for in many Commander games, and if you really want to go on the aggro plan, this is your easy box of additional attackers.



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Wrap Up



There's plenty more to explore in this deck, so feel free to take this list and try it out for a while. I'm not even sure I've gotten to do everything this deck is capable of yet, but I won't stop trying to do as many crazy things as possible with the cards I've got. Expect to see a few more crazy ideas from me here in the near future.



And until next time, when Archangel Avacyn takes flight, be prepared for her to Descend upon the Sinful.

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Eric Ostby started playing Magic during Scars of Mirrodin block, and has been unable to put the game down since. His greatest Magic accomplishment to date is winning a standard FNM with UB Mill. Eric currently owns many, many Commander decks, and is attempting to duplicate the Magic Online Holiday Cube in paper.

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