The Magic: The Gathering set Streets of New Capenna has brought with it plenty of new cards from across some of the game’s most loved and well-supported creature types. From the demons that run the crime families of New Capenna, to the reappearance of an iconic Phyrexian Praetor. In the background of New Capenna are MTG’s Angels, blessed beings who were usurped by the demons now running the plane. Some of these new creatures fit incredibly well into angel based decks, which – no matter what format you’re playing – will want to run some of the best angels in Magic.
While Streets of New Capenna is a MTG set designed with Standard play in mind, the best MTG angels will be able to find a home across plenty of the game’s formats, whether you’re looking to play a tribe of angels in Pioneer, or have your eyes on a legendary angel to lead your Commander deck into battle.
Whether you’re looking to beat down your opponent with flying threats, or lock them out of the game completely, MTG angel cards make some of the most versatile and powerful tools in any Magic: The Gathering deck.
These are the ten best angel cards in Magic: The Gathering:
- Platinum Angel
- Emeria Shepherd
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope
- Baneslayer Angel
- Restoration Angel
- Iona, Shield of Emeria
- Giada, Font of Hope
- Karmic Guide
- Aurelia, the Warleader
- Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice
Platinum Angel
There’s no line of text in Magic quite like “you can’t lose the game, and your opponents can’t win the game,” a line that just so happens to be written on Platinum Angel, a seven-mana flier with four power and four toughness.
While it might not have the most robust stats in the game, if nobody can take it off the board, then nobody other than you can win. As an Artifact Creature, there’s plenty of synergies you can create with Platinum Angel in mind, to ensure nobody but you can win.
Emeria Shepherd
Just like Platinum Angel, Emeria Shepherd can fly, has four power and toughness, and costs seven mana to cast.
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While this might seem underwhelming at first, this angel’s Landfall trigger lets you pick up a non-land from your graveyard whenever you play a land – and, if that land is a Plains, the card goes straight onto the battlefield instead. This makes Emeria Shepherd a great way to keep your big threats (or Platinum Angel) on the battlefield in a game of MTG Commander.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Speaking of big threats, one of the biggest, most powerful angels in all of Magic is Avacyn, Angel of Hope. While she isn’t easy to cast at eight mana, she’s incredibly resilient once she hits the table.
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Not only is she indestructible, but she gives every other permanent you control Indestructible too. With powerful stats and tons of keywords, Avacyn makes for an ideal commander in a Commander deck that wants to summon lots of angels.
Baneslayer Angel
A limited all-star when Core Set 21 was printed, and a curve-topping threat in white midrange decks, Baneslayer Angel is everything you want as a way to close out games, or turn the corner against a more aggressive deck.
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As well as being able to fly, Baneslayer Angel has First Strike and Lifelink, making it a nightmare to deal with in combat. If it doesn’t get taken out by a removal spell as soon as it hits the table, it can win you the game in no time.
Restoration Angel
During its standard lifetime, Restoration Angel was an absolute monster, blinking the iconic Thragtusk on and off the battlefield in order to gain life and generate tokens.
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As more and more powerful ‘enter the battlefield’ triggers find their way into Standard, the ceiling of a card like Restoration Angel just gets higher and higher. There’s a reason why this card still sees play in a format as high-powered as Modern, flickering powerful creatures like Grief and Solitude.
Iona, Shield of Emeria
Another angel that found her way into a classic old-school modern deck is Iona, Shield of Emeria. By being able to lock your opponent out of casting spells of any one colour when she entered the battlefield, Iona may as well have read “your opponent doesn’t get to play Magic.”
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In a Modern deck like Gifts Ungiven – where the eponymous card lets you put Iona into your graveyard only to reanimate her later – she can enter play on turn four, and close the game from there. She’s so powerful she’s even on the Commander banlist!
Giada, Font of Hope
A Legendary Creature from Streets of New Capenna, Giada, Font of Hope might be the perfect commander for an angel tribal EDH deck.
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Not only can she come into play early and often with a mana value of two, but she lets each other Angel come into play with more and more +1/+1 counters; between that and generating white mana herself, she can summon an army of angels to her side before anyone else at the table knows what’s happening.
Karmic Guide
On the surface, Karmic Guide might not look all that impressive. While it has the guaranteed Flying keyword that all angels do, it’s 2/2 that costs five mana. But as soon as it enters play, it lets you reanimate another creature.
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This alone has a lot of power to it – after all, it could let you cheat out a giant angel like Iona or Avacyn – but with the right support around it, Karmic Guide can be used to create all kinds of complicated, infinite, game-winning combos.
Aurelia, the Warleader
This angelic warrior is the perfect card to have at the forefront of a Boros (Red/White) Commander deck that wants to be attacking constantly. Aurelia, the Warleader is so aggressive that, along with being able to attack as soon as she comes into play, she gives you a second combat step whenever she attacks for the first time each term.
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With enough support around her – whether that’s her fellow angels, or a stack of equipment attached to her – Aurelia hitting the table can often mean game over.
Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice
When it comes to commanders, few are quite as iconic or powerful as the Phyrexian Angel Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice.
With an overabundance of keywords making her a threat in combat, it’s her ability to Proliferate (add counters to permanents) that lets her shine.
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Whether you want a board of creatures with +1/+1 counters, or an unending stream of loyalty for your Planeswalkers, Atraxa has the power and flexibility to sit comfortably at the head of any Commander deck.