White weenie is a classic decktype, and it's always getting new tools to work with. That said, it's always got its classic weaknesses, too. White's great at coming in fast with efficient weenies, cheap combat tricks and the best removal you can find. In a slower paced setting, however - such as any multiplayer game - suddenly that might not cut it. In my experience, white can have trouble closing out these sorts of games; I'm all for hashing it out with creatures and removal for a while, but games do have to
end at some point and I'm not exactly itching for a three-hour standstill. I don't like resorting to an "I-win" combo, but I do like the option of something above and beyond turning dudes sideways and hoping for the best. The big finishers you can find, citing Akroma as a classic example, can knock some heads in... but mass removal is the classic weakness of aggressive decks, and your big finisher makes you no more resilient to one than any of your cheaper guys. Can't we rely on some metric a little deeper than just being a fat flyer?
Thanks to the overlooked
Angel of Glory's Rise, we now have a very realistic option. It's everything you could want in a finisher: not only does it have an immediate and enormous impact on the board, but it's one of the most dramatic "grind-you-out" cards we've ever seen. Remember how much attention
Sun Titan got for being a fatty that could bring back a weenie every turn? How about a fatty that flies and brings
your entire graveyard back into play? If you're going to enact some recursion plan involving a random beater, you can't go wrong with reanimation on this scale.
Patriarch's Bidding still gets attention for its mass recursion; the
angel only applies to you and throws in a 4/6 flyer for just two more
mana. Because of this, the angel makes an especially great capstone as you can play a normal, "fair" game of
Magic for the first ten or so turns, but when it's late game and resources are tight, you can ask everyone else at the table the "okay, can anyone stop this?" question.
So obviously Angel of Glory's Rise restricts your deckbuilding somewhat as she only affects humans, but it's actually much more generous than you probably think. Take a look at the following lists; they're not supposed to be comprehensive, but the highlights should give you an idea of what you have at your disposal.
"Oh no, you mean I'm stuck playing Weathered Wayfarer, Auriok Champion, Mirran Crusader and Ranger of Eos? Whatever shall I do?" Yes, there are no shortage of humans that you will very much want to be playing anyways, and don't forget -
Miror Entity counts as a human! There's no better follow-up for bringing all of your creatures back than turning them all into 7/7s the next turn.
A natural combo to be found here is the interaction between
Fiend Hunter and Angel of Glory's Rise. You can exile your own Angel after she recurs your whole team, meaning a boardwipe will accomplish nothing against you. If the field is wiped, the Angel comes back, recurs everyone again and can be safely tucked away once more. You thought her undoing one boardwipe was bad, now she can undo every boardwipe from here to forever!
Say Halo to my Little Friends
Angel of Glory's Rise rewards you for playing cards that already have great standalone value, meaning you needn't ever be stuck flopping weak cards and praying for the other half of the combo to turn up before you die. That said, you can do more than just another "good stuff" build: human tribal has turned out to be versatile enough that the Angel can in fact form the core for a number of solid theme decks.
You a fan of Soul Sisters? Well, guess what:
Soul Warden,
Soul's Attendant,
Serra Ascendant,
Auriok Champion,
Syndic of Tithes,
Basilica Guards,
Knight of Obligation,
Ranger of Eos... all humans! This deck is already well-suited to sitting back and extorting multiple foes in a multiplayer setting, but the Angel forms the perfect remedy for your main weakness.
How about all the love token aggro has been getting lately? Curve out with
Mother of Runes/
Champion of the Parish into
Precinct Captain into
Blade Splicer into
Master Splicer/
Hero of Bladehold into
Geist-Honored Monk into
Captain of the Watch... hey look at that, all humans.
Get this - she can even be the high-end resilience that ally decks have always needed.
Hada Freeblade,
Kazandu Blademaster,
Kabira Evangel,
Mirror Entity,
Talus Paladin,
Changeling Sentinel,
Changeling Hero - all of them human as well as allies! Bringing your allies all back in one fell swoop, as the Angel does, is always excellent because in such a case the creatures all "see" each other coming into play - so you bring back six allies, then each of them get six triggers. You'll need changelings to fill the cracks, but four of each ally here will make for a solid chassis. Note that
Changeling Hero has the benefit of "hiding" your Angel, akin to the Fiend Hunter example earlier, to make you immune to mass removal. As a quick aside,
Mirror Entity also combos especially well with small creatures who amass +1/+1 counters.
Hada Freeblade's base size of 0/1 never changes no matter how many counters you pile on it, meaning the boost from a Mirror Entity is pure profit. So you bring back eight dudes who all put eight +1/+1 counters on each other, then Mirror Entity turns them all into 7/7s who still have their eight +1/+1 counters and... whoops, that's game.
Allies are too narrow? How about soldiers? Consider you're working with
Champion of the Parish,
Auriok Steelshaper,
Precinct Captain,
Veteran Armorsmith,
Field Marshal,
Gideon's Avenger,
Mentor of the Meek,
Veteran Swordsmith,
Daru Warchief,
Enlistment Officer,
Catapult Master,
Knight-Captain of Eos and
Captain of the Watch... whew! Every one of them a lord or a source of incremental card advantage. Imagine the swing that bringing back a Swordsmith, Warchief and Field Marshal all at once would be.
Here's another fan favourite - the more recently anointed knight creature type. We're talking
Student of Warfare,
Knight of the White Orchid,
Knight Exemplar,
Mirran Crusader,
Silverblade Paladin,
Hero of Bladehold,
Crusading Knight,
Knight of Obligation,
Riders of Gavony and
Pentarch Paladin, just for starters. Much like soldiers, knights have a strong 1- and 2-drop that can help you coast into the various hugely strong 3- and 4-drops.
Knight Exemplar was of course always at its best when you can get two out at once - well, that's not too hard when you're bringing both back in one fell swoop. You may not have a way to tuck your Angel for re-use, but who cares about Wraths when all of your humans are now indestructible?
If You Build It, They Will Come Back
Okay, so we have a few ideas for archetypes, now let's talk about the deck itself. You know you'll want a set of Angel of Glory's Rise and a ton of humans. Past that you'll probably want a bit of card draw - not white's strong suit, but things like
Mentor of the Meek and
Well of Lost Dreams can work, depending on your build. What else is there to work with?
One thing worth considering - since you're dedicated to recurring a large graveyard, would it be worth it to mill yourself?
Codex Shredder,
Mesmeric Orb and
Altar of Dementia are all cheap ways to fill up your graveyard over time that are available to white.
Codex Shredder is definitely the weakest of the group, but that makes it innocuous - and cheap, as it can be had for ten cents. Plus, it can recur an Angel if you mill one out among all the stuff you want to bin.
Mesmeric Orb is quite unique, as the level of milling it achieves over time can be enough of a threat that it creates an uncomfortable standstill: usually desirable for a grindy deck that thrives in the lategame! Of course, you needn't fear as you tap lands to pay for extort triggers and Mentor of the Meek, milling yourself all the while you play a normal game of
Magic. Since the Orb is a symmetrical effect, it can make it less obvious what you're doing until your Angel swoops in for a massive turnabout. Of the three, though,
Altar of Dementia has to be the best of the bunch. I mean, right off the bat, it can combo with
Fiend Hunter and an Angel to mill out everyone else one the spot. I'm not so partial to infinite combos, personally, but it is an option. That said, having a free sacrifice outlet and a source of mill is not to be underestimated. For one, it makes your Angel (as well as all of your other creatures) immune to being removed from the game or tucked or otherwise rendered inaccessible.
Oblivion Ring,
Swords to Plowshares, even mass removal like
Final Judgment and
Hallowed Burial can no longer bring an end to your fun if you just sacrifice your critters in response. Furthermore, the Altar provides a legitimate alternate win-con. Let's ignore infinite combos for a minute here - you can sacrifice your whole board to mill someone, then Angel it all back and sacrifice it all again. That should be pretty substantial! This is a nice bit of backup to get at people hiding behind a "pillow fort" type deck: yeah, it's not foolproof, but the only opportunity cost is a card worth running anyway.
Another thing worth considering is to decide whether you'd be happy just casting the Angel when the time comes, or if you want the option of reviving it. I think being able to recur your bomb is always worth it: in the lategame, with three or more opponents, you could very well want to be casting an Angel every turn. In white, your safest option is definitely
Emeria, the Sky Ruin. All the support it needs is hitting your land drops, playing creatures and eventually you'll draw your lategame bombs and probably win. (Don't forget that
Weathered Wayfarer is a human that can fetch Emeria!) Your other option in white is to dip into some self-mill and use some straightforward reanimation like
Pulsemage Advocate (also a human!),
Resurrection,
Miraculous Recovery or the extra-flavourful
Defy Death to bring her back.
If you're building around Emeria, don't forget support cards like
Tithe,
Land Tax,
Gift of Estates and
Endless Horizons, as well as (human) creatures like
Weathered Wayfarer,
Knight of the White Orchid and the underrated
Noble Templar. Ultimately, keep in mind that Emeria decks want upwards of 26 lands, and likely no more than 10 spells so you have a solid core of 24-or-so creatures to work with.
Colour Me Mine
The Angel is certainly looking like quite the impressive bomb, but there's one thing I'd like to point out -
everything so far has been mono-white! I haven't even touched on what a splash of another colour can add, and there's no shortage of options once you do. Black in particular adds a ton of possibilities. First off, black's options for recurring your Angel are far superior -
Volrath's Stronghold,
Oversold Cemetery,
Phyrexian Reclamation,
Haunted Crossroads and
Recurring Nightmare can all bring back your Angel every turn if need be. Black is also much better at filling your graveyard with creatures, owing to more precision tools such as
Entomb and
Buried Alive as well as faster-paced ones like
Undercity Informer. You also gain access to superior sac outlets like
Phyrexian Tower and
Attrition, earning extra value before you drop an Angel or providing protection against exile effects.
Adding blue cranks the self-mill up to eleven, thanks to offerings such as
Traumatize,
Windfall,
Increasing Confusion and
Selhoff Occultist. The ally shell likewise gets a huge alternate win condition in
Halimar Excavator. It can build up creatures in your graveyard in the early game, then empty your opponent's deck all in one go thanks to the Angel. Bring back two Excavators and three other allies and that's 50 cards off the top of your opponent's library - probably that's game!
Touched by an Angel
So do we get to see a decklist after all these ideas being thrown around? At this point... I don't think it's necessary. The 'ideal' shell you're working in is pretty straightforward and practically builds itself. The various archetypes presented will all work well for creating a strong deck with surprising lategame punch, sure to take your opponents by surprise in a multiplayer setting. When in doubt, remember that Extort creatures (such as
Syndic of Tithes and
Basilica Guards) are good for filling any cracks in the end. Ideally you'll want something beefy like
Hero of Bladehold,
Mirror Entity or even a simple
Champion of the Parish to close out your games, but thanks to the resilience an Angel of Glory's Rise provides, you can probably get there thanks to the rush of weenies backed up by Extort triggers!
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