Magic: The Gathering – The 8 Best Angel Kindred Commanders
Summary
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope ensures all your cards are safe from most removal spells.
- Lyra Dawnbringer upgrades all your Angels with +1/+1 and lifelink.
- Giada, Font of Hope helps cast bigger spells & boosts Angel creatures with +1/+1 counters.
One of the oldest kindred types in Magic: The Gathering, Angels can be a powerful force on the battlefield in the right deck. In Commander, picking the right legendary creature to lead your angelic battalions is a big deal, so having all your options available is vital if you want a strong deck.
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PostsWe took a look at all the 55 legendary Angels in the game and narrowed them down to the absolute best options in the game. Whether you’re after a few extra combat steps or want to power up your creatures with counters, we have you covered.
8 Avacyn, Angel Of Hope
She Watches Over All
CloseAn exceptionally straightforward commander, Avacyn, Angel of Hope might take a while to get going, but once she does, everything you have is safe from just about all removal your opponents could throw your way.
With Avacyn out, all your permanents gain indestructible, protecting them from all removal except exiling effects. Avacyn herself has indestructible as well, and despite the eight mana cost, she can all but secure you a victory just by being in play. Avacyn doesn’t require you to go in an Angel kindred approach; you can go for a mono-white good stuff deck.
7 Lyra Dawnbringer
A True Kindred Commander
CloseA pure Angel kindred commander, Lyra Dawnbringer upgrades all your Angels with two strong effects. First, she gives all your Angels +1/+1 and then she gives them all lifelink while she’s at it.
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Posts 1Having access to an anthem in the command zone lets you keep Lyra in the back pocket until you’re ready to go in for a powerful attack, letting you push your Angel creatures above your opponents. You will want to combine Lyra with any other mono-white kindred cards to get an advantage, since you’ll be a bit restricted in your utility cards since white is an underpowered color in Magic.
6 Aurelia, The Warleader
Combat Steps From Above
CloseWhile Angels might not be the focus in a lot of decks with Aurelia, the Warleader as the commander, she certainly makes a huge impact on the battlefield, often winning the game all on her own.
With three ability keywords, Aurelia has some evasion and the ability to attack the turn she comes out, and then hang back and play defense. Attacking with Aurelia for the first time each turn lets you untap all your creatures, giving you an extra combat phase afterwards.
Aurelia decks tend to go in two main directions, either a very heavy equipment-focused design or in an extra combat steps style of deck. If you’re headed in an equipment direction, you’re going to want to pick up pieces of equipment like Helm of the Host and Sword of Feast and Famine, both of which make Aurelia an absolute powerhouse on the battlefield.
For those looking to invest in some extra combat steps, you can use cards that give you this effect like:
- Aggravated Assault
- World at War
- Relentless Assault
- Isengard Unleashed
5 Shilgengar, Sire Of Famine
A Demonic Influence
CloseThough not an Angle on their own, Shilgengar, Sire of Famine makes for a fantastic Angel commander, if you’re not afraid to sacrifice a few of the heavenly creatures while you’re on your way to victory. Shilgengar is a white and black commander thanks to its hybrid costing ability which lets you sacrifice six Blood tokens to bring back all creatures from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it.
If a creature with a finality counter would die it gets exiled instead.
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PostsYou can earn those Blood tokens also through Shilgengar. All you have to do is sacrifice another creature to make a single Blood token. If that creature was an Angel, you get a number of Blood tokens equal to its toughness instead.
This type of aristocrats and Angel kindred strategy blend lets you take your Angles to the graveyard freely, without worrying about being at a disadvantage since you can bring them all back at instant speed with Shilgengar.
4 Liesa, Shroud Of Dusk
A Different Approach
Say you're a bit tied with traditional Kindred-style decks and want to test your deck-building skills with something new. That's where Liesa, Shroud of Dusk comes in. This white and black Angel costs five mana to start and has a baked-in way to get around commander tax by letting you two life instead of having to pay that two extra mana each time.
Once on the battlefield, Liesa acts more like a tax effect, forcing your opponents to lose two life every time they cast a spell. The downside is that this ability affects you too so you will want to pack your deck to the brim with all sorts of ways to gain life in the meantime. Powerhouse Angels like Archangel of Thune and Resplendent Angel will be putting in a ton of work here, so make sure you protect them throughout the game.
3 Sigarda, Font Of Blessings
An Extra Angel
CloseA true kindred experience, Sigarda Font of Blessings has three main abilities that give you a huge advantage over your opponents. First up is that Sigarda gives your other permanents hexproof, which is a blessing and a bit of a curse. Sure, your other cards are safe, everything ranging from your creatures to your lands, but Sigarda puts a huge target on her back when you do so since she doesn’t naturally have any protection.
Once you have Sigarda protected with something like Swiftfoot Boots or Champion's Helm, you can use Sigarda to look at the top of your deck at any time you like. With that information, you can cast Angel and Human spells from the top of your deck, effectively giving you an extra card in your hand each turn.
You can use cards like Sensei's Divining Top to manipulate the top card of your deck every turn, letting you dig deeper and deeper to find the best Angels you can.
While Sigarda might not do anything splashy like other commanders here, she does offer a level of consistency that comes with kindred-based decks and the ability to craft your next draw however you like.
2 Kaalia Of The Vast
A Triple Threat
CloseA rather unique Angel commander in that you won’t likely exclusively be playing Angel creatures, Kaalia of the Vast is one of the original commander cards from when Wizards of the Coast backed the format. This red, white, and black legendary Angel lets you take an Angel, Demon, or Dragon card from your hand and play it tapped and attacking when you have Kaalia attack an opponent.
This will, of course, have you building a deck with all the best Angels, Demons, and Dragons you can get your hands on cards like:
- Master of Cruelties
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope
- Terror of the Peaks
1 Giada, Font Of Hope
Ramp And Power
CloseEasily the most consistent and powerful Angel commander you can run is the savior of New Capenna, Giada, Font of Hope. This two-mana Angel comes down quickly, which is rare among the many higher mana value creatures, and helps you cast those bigger spells, since you can tap her to add a white mana that can only be used on Angel spells.
Once out, Giada has each other Angel you have enter the battlefield with an extra +1/+1 counter on it for each Angel you already have in play. This has your Angels get progressively bigger and bigger the more you have out. This ability also looks at tokens, so if you have a way to reliably make Angel tokens you can keep getting them larger and larger.
The biggest thing you want to look out for with Giada is that the deck is partially vulnerable to board wipes or targeted removal. So make sure not to commit too heavily to the battlefield or to throw Giada out to the wolves without any backup.
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Like Follow FollowedMagic: The Gathering
Franchise Magic: The Gathering Original Release Date August 5, 1993 Publisher Wizards of the Coast Player Count 2+ Age Recommendation 13+ Length per Game Variable Expand Collapse
