Hello,

I am relatively new to Magic and have been tinkering with the idea of trying to make Angelic Accord work. I have been using this deck to play 8 or 9 of my friends and it seems to perform really well. I am wondering what the communities thoughts of it were, and if you think it would even be worth using at my LGS.

The general idea of the deck is to sustain my life while generating Angels.

What additions or changes do you think would be meaningful in a positive way?

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/angelic-accord-07-01-14-1/

Thanks :)

I mean it looks alright and I don't see why you couldn't take a few games by surprise, but it's not exactly like you're going to win an FNM with this by a long shot.

My first suggestion would be to scout out your local FNM to see how hardcore the competition is. In the event that people are all playing Tier 1 decks, well, you're probably going to lose... a lot. But, if it's more of a home-brew crowd, you could likely slide in and get some wins.

I see a few issues here:

1) You rely entirely on Angelic Accord. Literally there is no other back-up plan, shy of a monstrous, Unflinching Courage Fleecemane Lion. This is a problem, as people will catch on to your plan after Game 1 and can plan accordingly - Detention Sphere, Golgari Charm, Bramblecrush, etc etc - care of Sphere and Underworld Connections people are packing more enchantment hate in their boards than normal, making them particularly suited to deal with your plan.

2) You have a complete lack of resiliency against sweepers. A resolved Elspeth, Sun's Champion just ends the game as she can easily drop all your angel tokens while outpacing the rest of your board. Nevermind this, Supreme Verdict also pretty much just hoses you unless you can gain more life quickly.

3) This deck is SCREAMING for some Selesnya love to help out. Think about the gain you'd get from Trostani, Selesnya's Voice. Once you get an angel token, you can essentially ensure you will plop more out... populate a token, gain four, get another token... she becomes a life-gain and token generator rather quickly while also giving you a solid blocker. You'll note she also is pretty solid with Voracious Wurm.
- To this end, I would also suggest cards like Advent of the Wurm, Rootborn Defenses, and even things like Gods Willing and Brave the Elements.

4) I know they're pricey, but Temple Gardens are a must to be competitive in these colors. If you do want to go the gate route, 4x guildgates and Saruli Gatekeepers aren't a completely terrible idea.

5) I don't know that I'd run Alive // Well as it will require you to have a board presence to gain life. You could just as easily run Riot Control for the Fog effect and life gain there.

To make a long story short, go scope out your local meta to see if this could get any traction. If you're in a control heavy meta, you're screwed (same goes for Tier 1 builds), but otherwise you could likely steal a few games/rounds and likely have some fun.

Good luck!

TyWooOneTime wrote:I mean it looks alright and I don't see why you couldn't take a few games by surprise, but it's not exactly like you're going to win an FNM with this by a long shot.

My first suggestion would be to scout out your local FNM to see how hardcore the competition is. In the event that people are all playing Tier 1 decks, well, you're probably going to lose... a lot. But, if it's more of a home-brew crowd, you could likely slide in and get some wins.

I see a few issues here:

1) You rely entirely on Angelic Accord. Literally there is no other back-up plan, shy of a monstrous, Unflinching Courage Fleecemane Lion. This is a problem, as people will catch on to your plan after Game 1 and can plan accordingly - Detention Sphere, Golgari Charm, Bramblecrush, etc etc - care of Sphere and Underworld Connections people are packing more enchantment hate in their boards than normal, making them particularly suited to deal with your plan.

2) You have a complete lack of resiliency against sweepers. A resolved Elspeth, Sun's Champion just ends the game as she can easily drop all your angel tokens while outpacing the rest of your board. Nevermind this, Supreme Verdict also pretty much just hoses you unless you can gain more life quickly.

3) This deck is SCREAMING for some Selesnya love to help out. Think about the gain you'd get from Trostani, Selesnya's Voice. Once you get an angel token, you can essentially ensure you will plop more out... populate a token, gain four, get another token... she becomes a life-gain and token generator rather quickly while also giving you a solid blocker. You'll note she also is pretty solid with Voracious Wurm.
- To this end, I would also suggest cards like Advent of the Wurm, Rootborn Defenses, and even things like Gods Willing and Brave the Elements.

4) I know they're pricey, but Temple Gardens are a must to be competitive in these colors. If you do want to go the gate route, 4x guildgates and Saruli Gatekeepers aren't a completely terrible idea.

5) I don't know that I'd run Alive // Well as it will require you to have a board presence to gain life. You could just as easily run Riot Control for the Fog effect and life gain there.

To make a long story short, go scope out your local meta to see if this could get any traction. If you're in a control heavy meta, you're screwed (same goes for Tier 1 builds), but otherwise you could likely steal a few games/rounds and likely have some fun.

Good luck!

Wow, that was an excellent assessment of what I am trying to do. I really appreciate your analysis. I'm in the process of obtaining 4x Temple Garden for this project. I will take your recommendations into consideration. Is there a list of "Tier 1" decks that I can review? I am a total noob when it comes to the formal competitive scene and was wondering if you could recommend any resources as well in regards to this.

Traditz wrote:Is there a list of "Tier 1" decks that I can review? I am a total noob when it comes to the formal competitive scene and was wondering if you could recommend any resources as well in regards to this.

Start here for a list of (mostly) the top decks:

http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckdatabase/deckshow.php?event_ID=19&start_date=2014-01-04&end_date=2014-01-04&state=IN&city=Indianapolis&order_1=finish&limit=8&t_num=1&action=Show+Decks

Mono Blue
Mono Black
Rw Aggro
Wb Aggro
RG Monsters
BW Control
UW Control
Esper (UWB) Control

These are the major ones right now.

Don't worry too much about people that say "I don't think you should run that deck. You're going to lose a lot."

Of course you're going to lose a lot; you're new! At your first FNM you're going to get your teeth kicked in every game and it will be the best time of your life. The only way you find out that a card is really good or really sucks is if you play with/against it. Once someone resolves an Elspeth, Sun's Champion against you, you'll realize why she's worth $19.

If you love building decks, build them. Deck building is half the fun of the game.

Timber wrote:Don't worry too much about people that say "I don't think you should run that deck. You're going to lose a lot."

Of course you're going to lose a lot; you're new! At your first FNM you're going to get your teeth kicked in every game and it will be the best time of your life. The only way you find out that a card is really good or really sucks is if you play with/against it. Once someone resolves an Elspeth, Sun's Champion against you, you'll realize why she's worth $19.

If you love building decks, build them. Deck building is half the fun of the game.

Oh I'll definitely second this sentiment. To me, the biggest challenge and enjoyment I get out of the game is building a deck that works even half as well as it should on paper.

Other places to look for the "tier 1" decks include the following two sites:

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/standard_deck_hq.asp

and

http://mtganalytics.net/

The first one might be of more use as you can click on the different archetypes in the column on the right and then go through the different variants people are playing to see which cards change and whatnot.

http://deckbox.org/sets/549234

Here is my take on Angelic Accord. Not in the same colors, but I've had fun with it.

Talus21 wrote:http://deckbox.org/sets/549234

Here is my take on Angelic Accord. Not in the same colors, but I've had fun with it.

Wow, that seems really scary. My girlfriend runs a bogbrew, festering, bubbling, combo and it is fierce, I can't imagine all of that going on while angels are spawning. Definitely something to consider.

Traditz wrote:

Talus21 wrote:http://deckbox.org/sets/549234

Here is my take on Angelic Accord. Not in the same colors, but I've had fun with it.

Wow, that seems really scary. My girlfriend runs a bogbrew, festering, bubbling, combo and it is fierce, I can't imagine all of that going on while angels are spawning. Definitely something to consider.

Mine won't win any FNMs either, but it's fun when it works. I have one friend that hates it with a passion. So that's always a good sign. :D