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Desolation Angel
3BB
5/4
Kicker WW ; Flying ; When Desolation Angel comes into play, destroy all lands you control. If you paid the kicker cost, destroy all lands instead.

Desolation Giant
2RR
3/3
Kicker WW; ; When Desolation Giant comes into play, destroy all other creatures you control. If you paid the kicker cost, destroy all other creatures instead.

     I am going to offshoot on this strategy, and maybe stretch a bit.  I don't think this strategy is going to be the end-all, be-all in type 2.  I do think it's once worth at least a first look, and maybe a second.

     Both these cards have rather rough coming into play effects, that are nullified when you are able to cast them with kicker by making the effect global.  Basically we have Wrath of God and Armageddon on legs.  These cards are brutal if you can properly cast them.

     I can see the effects of these card be best felt in a control deck.  A simple, R/W/B control deck.  The combination of a Wrath on one turn and a Geddon on the next has long been known to be good.  Now, though, we have the chance to increase the usefulness of this combo by giving each some teeth to go with it.  Plain and simple - if the board is somewhat clear when a Desolation Angel with kicker is cast, you can go ahead and hang it up - you're done for.   The trick is what deck does it go into.  

     I would propose a deck with very little-to-no offense with the exception of these bad boys.  You will need some obvious disruption to make sure they are not countered and not killed upon contract.  You will also need removal to handle board threats.  I know this may seem a little off-the-wall, but I would like to recommend the following rough draft:

4 Desolation Angel
3 Desolation Giant
1 Wrath of God
3 Rout
4 Void

4 Duress
3 Unmask

4 Vindicate
2 Terminate

3 Phyrexian Lens
3 Bloodstone Cameo
3 Marble Diamond

4 Caves of Koilos
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Urborg Volcano
1 City of Brass
1 Rith's Grove
1 Dromar's Cavern
3 Plains
3 Swamps
2 Mountains

The deck is available from this link if you want to try it out on Apprentice.

     The deck is simply a rough draft with a very specific way to win - Drop an Angel or Giant and end it.   There are some questionable choices in the deck.  First of all, the Phyrexian Lens.  Well, City of Brass is good, I've heard, and getting to keep it's likeness around post-desolation isn't bad either.  Unmask is there to make good and sure you can pop through an Angel when you need to.  Rout is over wrath because the idea of "End of your turn, Rout...On My turn, I'll Desolation Angel with kicker," is remarkable.  Void in quantity 4 can be used to clear off a board when a Wrath is not convenient, and is a must counter against blue since it can completely decimate counterspells if you get the right number.   The mana, as with anything in this set, is a little shaky, but with the use of diamonds, cameos, and lens and a plethora of lands that produce 2 or more of the needed colors for the deck, I think it's workable.

     Again, this is just brainstorming.  If people like the concept, I doubt this will be the exact version people are running, but the deck is definitely all about card advantage, and with 5/4 black fliers running around, I think this deck can put an opponent away with some fierce quickness.

     Any comments, questions, or articles of your own can come to me at MagicWebmaster@pojo.com.  I love to hear your opinions and I'd love to post your article(s).

Thanks for reading everyone and keep visiting!

Scott Gerhardt
MagicWebmaster@pojo.com