Lyra, Archangel of DawnLyra, Archangel of Dawn | Art by Victor Adame Minguez

This week, we look at one of the more beautiful and deadly creature types, which has a biblical and idiomatic pedigree.

At their best, they look out for people, providing protection and guidance.

At their worst, they’re heavenly emissaries of doom and destruction.

Have you guessed it? It’s Angels!

Angels are huge flyers that also happen to work with life gain, making them ideal curvetoppers and race-winners. They might not be a featured type in Reality Fracture, but the upcoming set did provide them with an incredible new leader. Well, a new incarnation of an old leader.

Angel History

Unlike Wolves last week, Angels have been around since the beginning of Magic, serving as some of the finest win conditions in the game.

Serra AngelSerra Angel was a control finisher for a long time, dominating offense and defense with its size, evasion, and defensive ability in vigilance.

Lightning AngelLightning Angel also served as a control finisher in two generations, with its timeshifted status.

Baneslayer AngelBaneslayer Angel took that to another level, singlehandedly ending the Jund menace by outclassing Broodmate DragonBroodmate Dragon.

It’s taken a bit for Angels to get true support, however. Over the years, more and more Angels have been printed at lower mana values. Cards like Giada, Font of HopeGiada, Font of Hope and Youthful ValkyrieYouthful Valkyrie have made it easier to get multiple Angels out, enabling them to develop synergies and a cohesive identity. So how do we get curvetoppers to play with each other? And what does Lyra, Archangel of DawnLyra, Archangel of Dawn bring to the table?

What Does Lyra, Archangel of DawnLyra, Archangel of Dawn Do?

Lyra, Archangel of Dawn is another of the recent trend of early Angels, being a 3-mana 3/3 flyer. She's a solid beater that comes down before her flying brethren; as long as she has an ability that cares about Angels, flyers, or white creatures, she can be an excellent mono-white Angel commander. And her ability is absolutely incredible.

One of the strongest Angels in Magic is Archangel of ThuneArchangel of Thune, which puts a +1/+1 counter on all our creatures when we gain life. It’s an incredible combo piece, part of 11 unique combos in Commander Spellbook, with hundreds of variations; we could make a bracket 3-to-4 dedicated combo deck just on that basis.

Our commander is a fairer version of Archangel of ThuneArchangel of Thune; her ability is the same, but only puts counters on Angels, so we would need to have something like Maskwood NexusMaskwood Nexus out to use those combos.

But what if we just used the counters to add power to our already strong flyers?

Crazy might not be absolutely bonkers, but it’s still good!

Key Cards for Lyra, Archangel of DawnLyra, Archangel of Dawn

Angels have historically been curvetoppers, but Lyra gets better the more Angels we have out. As a result, we’re going with small-to-medium Angels that then grow, rather than singular large Angels that are already big.

Seluma may be an interesting rulebreaking commander, but it can also just be a solid card in the 99; it’s a 4/4 flyer for 4 that reanimates Angels when it connects, which is plenty strong.

Sephara, Sky's BladeSephara, Sky's Blade is a cheap flyer…when we already have flyers; it does beat down quite well, though!

Segovian AngelSegovian Angel is another cheap flyer and prototypical keyword soup carrier, taking on our commander’s counters expertly.

Angelic Field MarshalAngelic Field Marshal also gets better with our commander, but it comes down after, grows from having it out, and gives our board vigilance.

Starnheim AspirantStarnheim Aspirant and The Wind CrystalThe Wind Crystal are both cost reducers, which greatly helps our deck’s velocity, enabling our strongest starts and making sure our commander has a board full of Angels to grow.

In terms of removal, this is where we can lean into Angels’ more destructive inclinations.

Angel of the RuinsAngel of the Ruins comes in with a double DisenchantDisenchant, while Sunblast AngelSunblast Angel is the Angel of Death for tapped creatures. Interestingly enough, we have a lot of reanimation, so cycling Angel of the RuinsAngel of the Ruins can be a strong early-game play.

Battle Angels of TyrBattle Angels of Tyr and Wojek InvestigatorWojek Investigator are both conditional draw effects that care about opponents.

The Battle Angels can give us a draw, a Treasure, or some life, depending on whether we're behind the player we hit on those resources; Wojek investigates each of our upkeeps for each opponent we are behind on cards.

Our landbase has some…unusual inclusions: Radiant FountainRadiant Fountain gains us a couple of life when it enters, while Cabaretti CourtyardCabaretti Courtyard and its ilk can each find a PlainsPlains and gain a life upon entering; the life gain is the important part, as we can use our lands to trigger our commander!

But how do we close the game out?

How Does This Lyra, Archangel of DawnLyra, Archangel of Dawn Commander Deck Win?

Our plan is extremely straightforward: attack with large flyers that become larger as we gain life and make it hard to race against. But how do we make this a deck we want to pick back up?

We have some “Bucket List” items in here: melding Brisela, which is an incredible rush, and taking a player out with Angel of DestinyAngel of Destiny’s end step trigger. Bonus points if you can take out the whole table that way.

The Deck List

Conclusion

Angels have a range of strategies and colors, but are based solidly in the color white and the archetype Stompy, or big creature midrange.

How would you build Angels? And who would you use to command them?