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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Maelstrom Archangel Contest Winner
July 27, 2009

Round four is underway! In today’s article, three more contestants will showcase their strongest builds centered on Maelstrom Archangel! This one promises to be an interesting fight indeed. If there’s anything better than swinging for 5 flying, it’s getting to play cards out of your hand for free!

We’ll start with Michael.

4 Selesnya Evangel GW
4 Dauntless escort 1GW
4 Maelstrom Archangel WUBRG
4 Iname as One 8BBGG
2 Autochton Wurm 10GGGWW
1 Ghastlord of fugue (u/b)(u/b)(u/b)(u/b)(u/b)
1 Nobilis of war (r/w)(r/w)(r/w)(r/w)(r/w)
1 Phantom nishoba 5GW
4 Supply / Demand XGW/1UW
4 Mirrorweave 2(w/u)(w/u)
4 Reviving vapours 2WU
4 aether mutation 3GU
4 Windbrisk heigths
2 Mosswort bridge
3 Bayou (G/B)
1 Underground sea (U/B)
1 Taiga (G/R)
1 Tropical island (U/R)
1 Savannah (G/W)
2 Plateu (W/R)
2 Tropical island (G/U)
2 Tundra (W/U)
4 Pillar of paruns

The main idea of the decks is to get Maelstrom Archangel out and use it to play Iname as One (or Autochton Wurm) then, as you played it from your hand, the ability will trigger and you can go fetch 1 of your toolbox spirits. When you have your enormous mana cost fatty out the problem is of corse that it won't win you the game (one get killed the other chumped)

Aether mutation changes that as you bounce it and get 12 or 15 1/1 tokens. The fatty is now in you hand and you can repeat next turn for even more token fun :D

When you got your tokens out you can mirrorweave for double digit attacking maelstroem arcangels (a pretty cool picture), In a big multiplayer game you can instead mirorweave nobilis of war (conviniently tutored up by Iname as one) for 14 (12 tokens + angel + nobilis) attacking flying 31/4 creatures to test you opponents defences.(my prediction someone will die).

-----

Next up is Jacob.

Archangel's Supply

// Lands
    4 Seaside Citadel
    3 Pillar of the Paruns
    6 Plains
    5 Forest
    5 Island

// Creatures
    4 Maelstrom Archangel
    4 Wall of Denial
    1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
    4 Birds of Paradise

// Spells
    2 Cruel Ultimatum
    1 Violent Ultimatum
    4 Kaleidostone
    4 Supply/Demand
    2 Finest Hour
    2 Pernicious Deed
    1 Steel of the Godhead
    1 Veinfire Borderpost
    1 Shield of the Oversoul
    1 Fracturing Gust
    1 Runes of the Deus
    4 Path to Exile
    1 Akroma's Memorial

Quick Explanation:  Use Maelstrom Archangel to play ultimatums or other high power cards fetched with Supply which conveniently can also get a Maelstrom into your hand.  Finest Hour and Runes of the Deus can make Maelstrom end games quickly.  Kaleidostone insures the 5 color on turn 5 and cantrips.  The single borderpost can be fetched with supply to get the red/black if you don't get a Kaleidostone for the 5.  More of a Multiplayer deck as it can have slow starts.

=-----

And third, we have Trei.

// Lands
   3 [A] Plateau
   3 [R] Bayou
   2 [A] Tropical Island
   3 [B] Badlands
   3 [B] Taiga
   2 [U] Savannah
   2 [B] Scrubland
   2 [R] Tundra
   2 [A] Underground Sea
   2 [U] Volcanic Island

// Creatures
   4 [CFX] Maelstrom Archangel
   2 [ARB] Knight of New Alara

// Spells
   3 [ALA] Esper Charm
   4 [ALA] Jund Charm
   4 [ALA] Naya Charm
   2 [EVE] Waves of Aggression
   1 [B] Mox Pearl
   2 [PS] Eladamri's Call
   1 [A] Mox Emerald
   1 [U] Mox Jet
   1 [U] Mox Ruby
   1 [A] Mox Sapphire
   3 [GP] Stitch in Time
   2 [JU] Mirari's Wake
   3 [DIS] Shielding Plax
   2 [DIS] Rise/Fall

Now, into the deck-by-deck analysis.

1: How does each deck intend to win?

Michael’s plan is to use the Archangel to drop as high of a mana cost creature as he can, return it back to his hand with Aether Mutation for a horde of tokens, and then use Mirrorweave or Nobilis of War to pump up said tokens for a lethal alpha strike.

Jacob seems to be going for a “one-two punch” approach—hit the opponent for 5 and then play a crippling spell like an Ultimatum or Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. Finest Hour and Runes of the Deus make it even more of a one-two punch.

And Trei sought a similar route, only using Waves of Aggression and Stitch in Time to double up on Archangel beats, and Knight of New Alara to double the size of the Archangel, for a potential 20 points of Archangel damage in one turn.

2: What is each deck’s flaw?

Michael’s biggest problem is that if he can connect with the Archangel and drop an Autochthon Wurm or Iname as One, he should be able to win the very next turn just by swinging. All these tricks with Aether Mutation and Mirrorweave just seem unneccesary, and while you’re setting up that combo, you’re giving your opponent more time to find a kill spell for the Archangel or a Planar Cleasning or a counterspell.

Jacob’s biggest problem is that his only means of casting his Maelstrom Archangel is off Kaleidostones, Pillars of the Paruns, and a single Veinfire Borderpost. And for the record, the Borderpost won’t work because he needs a black mana AND a red mana, and the ‘Post will only give one or the other. So he either needs a Kaleidostone, a Pillar and a Borderpost, or two Pillars, and he has no way to fetch any of these cards save the Borderpost.

Trei’s biggest problem is that he has almost no defense against a creature-heavy opponent. He has six creatures, and his only defense is Jund Charm, Naya Charm, and Fall. And none of that will kill a creature with 4+ toughness.

3: You never draw Maelstrom Archangel. Now what do you do?

Michael has Ghastlord, Nobilis, and plenty of Saproling generation, so he should be fine. Especially since some of his token generators (Supply) could also be used to tutor for the Archangel.

Jacob can hold an opponent at bay with Walls until he can afford to hardcast some of those trump spells. Again, he has Supply & Demand to bail him out that mess.

Trei will eventually run out of Charms, and then get steamrolled.

So, after taking a good hard look into these three Maelstroms’ vortices, I’m going to award the victory to Jacob! Congratulations, Jacob! Be sure to get me your mailing address so we can send you your prize!

In the meantime, here’s my take on a Maelstrom Archangel deck. If you just swung with a 5/5 flyer, what kind of card would you most like to play? A blocker, I would guess.

Creatures:

4 Maelstrom Archangel

3 Stoic Angel

4 Wall of Denial

4 Lightning Angel

2 Razia, Boros Archangel

4 Enlisted Wurm

Spells:

4 Esper Charm

4 Bituminous Blast

4 Deny Reality

4 Spitting Image

Lands:

4 Pillar of the Paruns

4 Rupture Spire

4 Seaside Citadel

4 Crumbling Necropolis

4 Jungle Shrine

3 Vesuva

I decided to go with a multicolor Angel theme because why not. The plan here is to drop an Archangel or at least a few blockers in the meantime, and then unleash your biggest creatures to hang back and block. The Spitting Image can give you a second Archangel for next turn, and cascade cards seemed like a cute way to cheat an extra card out of the Archangel.

Speaking of cascade, be sure to stop by on Wednesday when we’ll see what folks did with Maelstrom Nexus!

~BMoor