On Angels' Wings

Glorious protectors that soar to victory on golden wings, Angels are one of Magic: The Gathering’s most iconic tribes. So you’ve decided you want to build a commander deck with one at the helm. But which of these righteous warriors is the right one for the job? Well, here are 15 of the most powerful Angel commanders ever printed.

 

15. Tariel, Reckoner of Souls

"Rise, and meet your new purpose."

Starting off the list is an Angel whose name and artwork are, unfortunately, a bit more inspired than his effect. Granted, Tariel’s ability to resurrect a creature from any opponent’s graveyard has incredible potential. Add on top that his Mardu color identity. You’ll have access to tons of premium removal to get those creatures into the graveyard in the first place.

However, Tariel costs a whole seven mana and can’t even use his ability right away since he doesn’t have haste. Not only that, but you don’t even get to choose the actual creature you resurrect. So forget the game-ending bomb that you want. Instead, you might just get the mana dork that died earlier on. Tariel might be incredibly powerful in the right circumstances, but those circumstances can take a lot of work to manufacture.

Pros:

• Strong color identity for graveyard synergies
• Great artwork

Cons:

• Very slow at seven mana, especially without haste
• Realistically, you won’t actually get to choose which creature he resurrects

 

14. Sigarda, Host of Herons

"Bastion for those who would seek it."

If you want to build a Voltron-style Angel deck, Sigarda is one of your better options. The fact that she has flying and hexproof and can’t be forced to be sacrificed makes her very resilient to removal. Only an overloaded Cyclonic Rift or some similar effect will do the trick. 

Past her Voltron capabilities, however, her power starts to fall off. Preventing you from having to sacrifice your permanents is nice. But outside of that, she doesn’t provide anything in the way of synergies or advantages for the 99 in your deck. This holds her back from being a truly powerful Angel commander.

Pros:

• A good option for a Voltron commander
• Strong meta-pick if you know your pod likes sacrifice themes

Cons:

• Little if any synergies to speak of 

 

13. Morphon, the Boundless

Anything and everything.

Although he’s not explicitly an Angel, as a shapeshifter, Morphon does technically fit the bill. Choose Angels when he enters the battlefield, and Morphon will provide a nice little anthem effect for your graceful flyers. He also opens up the possibility of playing all five colors, though you’ll find most Angels in white, black, and red. But build your deck right and even a small mana discount might go a long way.

Pros:

• Anthem effect on a commander
• Minor mana discount

Cons:

• Slow at seven mana
• His upsides are more impactful for other tribes

 

12. Firja, Judge of Valor

"Your worth? I'll be the judge of that."

Firja is the first commander on the list to bump up the power level a bit. Angels are a well-supported tribe in her Orzhov color identity. Also, her ability lets you draw cards while also pitching reanimation targets into your graveyard. Playing two cards on your turn in commander is very realistic. And if you can play a couple cards on an opponent’s turn, she really comes online.

The only downside is that Firja costs just a mana too much. She doesn’t do anything the turn you play her. So you have to wait a whole turn cycle before you can start using her ability. At four mana, Firja would be a real powerhouse in graveyard decks. At five mana, she’s definitely strong, but a little too fair.

Pros:

• Great graveyard enabler
• Card draw on a commander
• Good color identity

Cons:

• Slightly slow
• Vulnerable to removal

 

11. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

"Fear not, for I am with you!"

Just reading Gisela’s textbox is exciting. At first glance, it sounds like everything you do will deal double damage to your opponents. And it will — but that’s not all. If any source deals damage to an opponent or one of their permanents, it will be doubled. That includes sources your opponents’ control too.

And if all that wasn’t good enough, she even halves all damage done to you and your permanents. And she has flying and first strike?? Wait, how much does she cost again? Oh. At least she has decent color typing.

Pros:

• Incredible power swings
• Can incentivize opponents to target other opponents
• Flying and first strike let her attack and trade very safely and favorably

Cons:

• Expensive and slow
• Her abilities are so strong that opponents will likely remove her ASAP

 

10. Aurelia, the Warleader

Countless battles, and yet she remains.

The Boros Legion continues its march down the list with Aurelia, the Warleader at its helm. As her flavor text suggests, Aurelia wants to get on the battlefield and swing in right away. Provided she survives, she lets you attack not just once, but twice on each of your turns. What really pushes Aurelia is the fact that she has haste, so you can make use of her ability the turn she hits the battlefield.

Like Gisela before her, Aurelia is a big target. Your opponents already don’t like being hit in the face. They don’t want it to happen twice. You’ll likely need some protection like Lightning Greaves to keep her safe. But if you can connect, Aurelia can carry your team to victory

Pros:

• Extra combats are always incredibly powerful, especially in Boros colors
• Haste enables her to make use of her ability right away

Cons:

• So powerful she immediately becomes a must-remove threat
• Six mana is limiting considering she’s likely to get removed

 

9. Liesa, Forgotten Archangel

"Persist, for you have my favor."

Orzhov’s back with a vengeance, as Orzhov tends to do. At the same mana value as Freja before her, Liesa has the same keyword abilities but on a more relevant body. She also allows you to replay your creatures while exiling your opponents’ when they die. Both of these abilities are strong — and the second especially so with the amount of graveyard shenanigans in the format these days.

Unless you already control a sacrifice outlet that doesn’t cost mana to activate already, you won’t be able to make much use of her first ability right away. But if you have some blockers sitting around, they’ll be able to protect her and you can just play them again on your next turn. Deathtouchers will work especially well in conjunction with both of her abilities.

Pros:

• Shuts down opponents’ graveyard synergies
• Decent sized body for the mana cost
• Allows you to get more value out of your creature’s enter and exit the battlefield effects

Cons:

• Similar to Freja, she would be a real powerhouse at four mana
• Needs some setup ahead of time

 

8. Liesa, Shroud of Dusk

From dusk to dawn and dawn to dusk.

Don’t worry, you’re not seeing double — this is also Liesa, but a bit more powerful. However, your opponents might do a double-take when they start losing two life every time they cast a spell. Granted, you will too, but lifelink on a 5/5 flyer can help you recoup that life quickly. So will Orzhov’s myriad lifegain synergies.

Now, the Shroud of Dusk does cost the same as her Forgotten Archangel incarnation. However, she lets you pay life in lieu of commander tax — a price you’ll happily pay in a format with 40 life. In theory, you’ll never have to pay extra mana to cast her, making her a solid, persistent threat.

Pros:

• Chips away at opponents’ health consistently
• Good stats and static abilities for the mana cost
• Her abilities synergize well with each other

Cons:

• You will need to include more lifegain effects than usual to offset her ability

 

7. Lyra Dawnbringer

"Our victory shall be as the glory of the rising sun!"

Lyra is strong. Like really strong. You can run her as your commander or even in the 99. She’s especially great when you already have some other Angels on the battlefield. That way you can maximize your use of her anthem effect and the lifelink she gives your Angels. Simply put, if you’re playing Angels, play her.

Pros:

• Very strong tribal synergies
• Trades well
• Great lifegain potential

Cons:

• Doesn’t provide protection for other Angels
• Limited to Angel tribal decks

 

6. Shalai, Voice of Plenty

Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da

While she’s not in the top-5 proper, Shalai makes it in spirit. Giving hexproof to all your creatures and planewalkers and even you really elevates her power level. Her activated ability also sneaks her into a Selesnya color identity and wants you to build a go-wide theme.

Shalai doesn’t protect herself, but there are many ways in Selesnya to get that job done. And if she does get removed, it’s not too painful, as recasting her isn’t prohibitively expensive. If you want a solid, all-around Angel commander that won’t attract too much negative attention, look no further.

Pros:

• Protects your board and YOU!
• Nice casting cost
• Can repeatably buff your board
• Well-rounded

Cons:

• Little, if any, to speak of
• Quite fair

 

5. Sephara, Sky’s Blade

Wingtips as sharp as swords.

Once you see the keyword “indestructible” stapled on a legendary creature, you know you’re in top-5 territory. Don’t let Sephara’s high mana value deceive you. More often than not, you’ll be casting her for a single white mana by tapping four other flyers. Hey, speaking of flyers: Angels do that. But they’re not the only ones.

One of the usual downsides of a tribal deck is that you’re limited to playing creatures in that tribe. But Sephara really enables flying tribal, rather than strictly Angel tribal. This makes it easy to sneak in other powerful white flyers and still make use of her abilities.

Now, Sephara is going to be a lightning rod for removal. Granting indestructible tends to have that effect. And, unfortunately, her cost-reduction ability doesn’t allow you to circumvent paying commander tax. But paying three mana for a 7/7 with flying and lifelink that gives your other flyers indestructible doesn’t sound so bad.

Pros:

• Incredible mana cheating
• Good in Angel tribal decks and other flying-based decks
• Gives indestructible to your other flyers

Cons:

• Will be removed often and doesn’t protect herself

 

4. Avacyn, Angel of Hope

Radiance undeniable.

“Did someone say indestructible?” Avacyn laughed, as she burst through the sky in a golden blaze, blinding Sephara and pushing her aside. If you thought Sephara was powerful, Avacyn is all that and more.

No, she can’t cheat mana like Sephara can. But Avacyn does something that most other powerful Angels on this list don’t: she protects your other permanents and herself. That includes your lands too, by the way.

Besides the mana cost, Avacyn comes with one significant downside not printed on the card. She’ll draw the ire of your opponents and make you the archenemy before the game even begins. People know how strong she is, so when they see her in your command zone they may try to take you out before you even get the chance to cast her. That said, if you do cast her, it means that victory is imminent.

Pros:

• Did you read the card???

Cons:

• Expensive and a bit slow at eight mana
• You’ll likely be the archenemy for the entire game

 

3. Giada, Font of Hope

Don't underestimate her.

A relatively new commander from Streets of New Capenna, Giada quickly made her mark as one of the stronger Angel commanders. She has something that many of the other Angels on this list don’t have: consistency. The fact that she only costs two mana means you know exactly what you’ll be doing on the second turn of every game.

Angels are quite powerful, but because of that are also usually quite expensive to cast. Giada is mana ramp for your Angels with a buff for them that can become substantial later in the game.

Contrasted with Avacyn and Sephara before her, Giada is rather subdued, as reflected in her artwork. She isn’t big or splashy, so she won’t draw too much unwanted attention to herself or you. This makes her a safer commander to run if you’re worried about the politics of your game. That is, until, you use her to cast Avacyn or Sephara.

Pros:

• Ramps you into powerful Angels
• Buffs your Angels
• Consistent and cheap at only two mana

Cons:

• A true enabler, she relies heavily on other Angels and doesn’t have much power on her own

 

2. Kaalia of the Vast

She chose a pathway that some consider to be unnatural.

Welcome to cEDH. Kaalia has the notorious ability to cheat incredibly powerful creatures into play far earlier than they’re supposed to appear. And her Mardu color identity is what makes this ability so strong. Red and white have some of the best attackers, while black is the best color to search them up. Put it all together and you have a commander that can wipe out opponents in a matter of a few turns.

Pros:

• S-rank mana cheating ability
• Perfect color identity to enable her ability
• Can be played early in the game

Cons:

• Similar to Avacyn, she is a known powerhouse and will likely get removed endlessly 

 

1. Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice

An Angel? Or a nightmare?

It’s easy to forget that Atraxa is an Angel. Another cEDH powerhouse, Atraxa’s proliferate ability allows her to be played in a wide variety of decks. There are seemingly endless kinds of counters in Magic, whether they be poison, loyalty, or +1/+1, among others. Atraxa makes any counter-based deck she’s in exponentially better.

While she’s not usually run as an Angel tribal commander, she could be. As an Angel commander, she does lack red in her color identity, but makes up for it in every other way. If you’re ready to run the strongest commander in the format right now, or at least the most popular, look no further.

Pros:

• Incredible synergies in a wide variety of decks
• Powerful static abilities
• Can be cast fairly early in the game

Cons:

• You will likely be the archenemy of archenemies
• Doesn’t protect herself
• Can be tricky to cast as a four-color commander, but green shores up some of that weakness

 

On the Wings of Victory

Angels can be a difficult tribe to make work. Most of them are expensive to cast and lack a blue or green color identity, making card draw and mana acceleration a potential challenge to overcome. But if you can manage your resources well and reach the mid to late game, you can soar to victory on the wings of these glorious protectors. 

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