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BMoor's Magic The
Gathering
Deck Garage Round four is underway! In today’s article, three more contestants will showcase their strongest builds centered on Maelstrom Archangel! This one promises to be an interesting fight indeed. If there’s anything better than swinging for 5 flying, it’s getting to play cards out of your hand for free! We’ll start with Michael.
4 Selesnya Evangel GW ----- Next up is Jacob.
Archangel's Supply =----- And third, we have Trei.
// Lands Now, into the deck-by-deck analysis. 1: How does each deck intend to win? Michael’s plan is to use the Archangel to drop as high of a mana cost creature as he can, return it back to his hand with Aether Mutation for a horde of tokens, and then use Mirrorweave or Nobilis of War to pump up said tokens for a lethal alpha strike. Jacob seems to be going for a “one-two punch” approach—hit the opponent for 5 and then play a crippling spell like an Ultimatum or Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. Finest Hour and Runes of the Deus make it even more of a one-two punch. And Trei sought a similar route, only using Waves of Aggression and Stitch in Time to double up on Archangel beats, and Knight of New Alara to double the size of the Archangel, for a potential 20 points of Archangel damage in one turn. 2: What is each deck’s flaw? Michael’s biggest problem is that if he can connect with the Archangel and drop an Autochthon Wurm or Iname as One, he should be able to win the very next turn just by swinging. All these tricks with Aether Mutation and Mirrorweave just seem unneccesary, and while you’re setting up that combo, you’re giving your opponent more time to find a kill spell for the Archangel or a Planar Cleasning or a counterspell. Jacob’s biggest problem is that his only means of casting his Maelstrom Archangel is off Kaleidostones, Pillars of the Paruns, and a single Veinfire Borderpost. And for the record, the Borderpost won’t work because he needs a black mana AND a red mana, and the ‘Post will only give one or the other. So he either needs a Kaleidostone, a Pillar and a Borderpost, or two Pillars, and he has no way to fetch any of these cards save the Borderpost. Trei’s biggest problem is that he has almost no defense against a creature-heavy opponent. He has six creatures, and his only defense is Jund Charm, Naya Charm, and Fall. And none of that will kill a creature with 4+ toughness. 3: You never draw Maelstrom Archangel. Now what do you do? Michael has Ghastlord, Nobilis, and plenty of Saproling generation, so he should be fine. Especially since some of his token generators (Supply) could also be used to tutor for the Archangel. Jacob can hold an opponent at bay with Walls until he can afford to hardcast some of those trump spells. Again, he has Supply & Demand to bail him out that mess. Trei will eventually run out of Charms, and then get steamrolled. So, after taking a good hard look into these three Maelstroms’ vortices, I’m going to award the victory to Jacob! Congratulations, Jacob! Be sure to get me your mailing address so we can send you your prize! In the meantime, here’s my take on a Maelstrom Archangel deck. If you just swung with a 5/5 flyer, what kind of card would you most like to play? A blocker, I would guess. Creatures: 4 Maelstrom Archangel 3 Stoic Angel 4 Wall of Denial 4 Lightning Angel 2 Razia, Boros Archangel 4 Enlisted Wurm Spells: 4 Esper Charm 4 Bituminous Blast 4 Deny Reality 4 Spitting Image Lands: 4 Pillar of the Paruns 4 Rupture Spire 4 Seaside Citadel 4 Crumbling Necropolis 4 Jungle Shrine 3 Vesuva I decided to go with a multicolor Angel theme because why not. The plan here is to drop an Archangel or at least a few blockers in the meantime, and then unleash your biggest creatures to hang back and block. The Spitting Image can give you a second Archangel for next turn, and cascade cards seemed like a cute way to cheat an extra card out of the Archangel. Speaking of cascade, be sure to stop by on Wednesday when we’ll see what folks did with Maelstrom Nexus! ~BMoor
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