MTG has a lot of great Angel cards, here are some of the best for EDH.

Since the printing of Serra Angel in Magic: The Gathering's very first set, Angels have been a creature type synonymous with white mana within Magic. Often known as being sizable flying creatures that often come with potent and potentially game-winning abilities, nearly every Magic set includes at least one new angel.

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While the creature types have been a huge part of the game for years, the recent printing of Giada, Font of Hope within Streets of New Capenna has significantly increased the appeal of Angel tribal decks. So in order to assist those looking to create a powerful and synergistic deck around the most impressive Angels in the game, we're going to explore five great cards that would benefit any Angel tribal deck!

While Angels are a notably powerful creature type with access to a significant number of high-impact creatures, a frequent trait of these 'bomb' Angels is their high mana costs. In addition to including a significant number of mana rocks within an Angel tribal deck, one way for players to more easily access these costly Angels are through the use of Urza's Incubator and Starnheim Aspirant.

An artifact and a creature respectively, these cards are each capable of reducing the mana costs of one's Angels by two mana, making them much more accessible and easy to cast. Each requires three mana to cast, while Urza's incubator has its controller name a creature type when it enters the battlefield, causing creatures of that type to receive a two-mana cost reduction, Starnheim Aspirant is a 2/2 Human Cleric that specifically reduces the mana costs of Angels by two mana. Once an Angel tribal player has one of these cards in play, they can access their mana sources in a much more economical manner, not needing to expend all of their resources to cast a single Angel.

Printed in Avacyn Restored, Angel of Jubilation is a great Angel that is capable of progressing its controller's gameplan while potentially throwing a wrench into an opponent's schemes. A white 3/3 with flying for four mana, Angel of Jubilation provides each of its controller's other nonblack creatures with +1/+1. It also prevents players from paying life or sacrificing creatures in order to cast spells or activate abilities.

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While the passive anthem effect this Angel provides helps to bolster the offenses of other Angels, Angel of Jubilation can be a huge headache for strategies such as Aristocrats to deal with, even preventing the likes of a fetch land from being used. While this restriction on paying life and sacrificing permanents is universally applied to all players, as Angel decks rarely aim to utilize such effects, in most cases this only penalizes one's opponents.

Like the previously mentioned Urza's Incubator and Starnheim Aspirant, Herald of War is a card capable of significantly reducing the amount of mana needed to cast one's most potent Angels. A white 3/3 Angel with flying for three mana, whenever Herald of War attacks, it gains a +1/+1 counter. While the ability to grow in size is a nice benefit, this is important as any Angels and Humans its controller casts cost one mana less for each +1/+1 counter on it.

Though this ability would already be quite useful within an Angel tribal or Human tribal deck, it is a must-have within a deck helmed by Giada, Font of Hope, as Giada allows Angels to automatically enter the battlefield as soon as they're cast. This means that when paired with Giada, a Herald of War can instantly provide a cost reduction that rivals or exceeds that of an Urza's Incubator.

Prior to the printing of Giada, Lyra Dawnbringer was viewed by many as the quintessential commander option for a mono-white Angel tribal deck. Simple yet incredibly effective, Lyra Dawnbringer is a 5/5 with flying, first strike, and lifelink for the cost of five mana. Already showing how far creatures in Magic have come when compared to the classic five-mana Angel, Serra Angel, Lyra Dawnbringer even provides each other angel under its owner's control with +1/+1 and lifelink.

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This means that in a deck filled to the brim with Angels, a player is capable of dealing more damage than they would otherwise, but they can allow their life total to explode in size, enabling the use of Lifegain based win conditions like Aetherflux Reservoir, Felidar Sovereign, and Test of Endurance

While Angels often are associated with somewhat steep mana costs, Resplendent Angel is an efficient Angel that can provide substantial benefits for a minimal investment of mana. A 3/3 with flying for three mana, at the end of each end step, if its controller gained five or more life that turn, they create a 4/4 Angel token. As Angel decks often contain several means of gaining additional life, this is a reliable means for an Angel player to continuously grow their board state.

Even if an Angel player is in dire straits and lacks a means of gaining life, for the cost of six mana, Resplendent Angel's activated ability can provide it with +2/+2 and Lifelink until the end of the turn, enabling its own triggered ability.

Though Giada, Font of Hope is quickly becoming the go-to commander option for an Angel tribal deck, even for those looking to build an Angel tribal deck with an alternate commander, it's hard to imagine such a deck that wouldn't at least want Giada within the ninety-nine. Reasonably costed at a mere two mana, this 2/2 Angel with flying and vigilance can function as a white mana ramp and is capable of being tapped to produce one white mana that may be spent only to cast Angel spells.

While efficient white mana ramp is solid, Giada causes one's other Angels to become progressively more threatening over the course of a game. This is because as long as Giada is in play, each Angel its owner controls enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters equal to the number of Angels its owner already controls. This means that not only can Giada help a player cast their Angels earlier into a game through mana ramp, but it can help make them all the more deadly, even allowing something as innocuous as a Segovian Angel to serve as a potential threat.

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Staff Writer, Paul DiSalvo is a writer, comic creator, animation lover, and game design enthusiast currently residing in Boston, Massachusetts. He has studied creative writing at The New Hampshire Institute of Art and Otis College of Art and Design, and currently writes for TheGamer. In addition to writing, he directs and produces the podcast, "How Ya Dyin'?" He enjoys collecting comics, records, and wins in Magic: The Gathering.