Angel Oath

[Negator13]

My friend has been testing with a UBG version of Meandeck Oath, running black for Duress, DT, and Skeletal Scrying, (With Akroma + SotN). However he recently cut the Scrying's, saying they were too painful. This got me thinking, because I really don't see the point of running black for just Duress, as Mana Leak does the same thing without fucking your manabase. Really the only reason I ever considered black as an option for Oath was Scrying itself, because as opposed to Intuition/AK,  it gives you a solid, early and late game draw engine without becoming near useless in the A.K. mirror. The only problem with the Scrying is the life loss, and I think I may have the answer to it, the same answer found in Ye Olde Germbus: Exalted Angel.

After he told me about his decision to cut Scrying, I immediately thought of the 4CC star, Angel. I propose running a UBG Oath list with a creature selection of 2 Exalted Angel. They aren't as spectacular as DSC or Akroma, but they still hit damn hard, and they negate the drawback of what is otherwise an amazing engine, Skeletal Scrying. Basically, by running Angels alongside Scrying you could have what is essentially a 3-color Germbus, sporting a solid manabase and a 2 mana win condition.

Angel Oath


Mana Sources (25)
4 Island
1 Swamp
1 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
4 Polluted Delta
4 Forbidden Orchard
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby

Win Conditions (7)
4 Oath of Druids
1 Gaea's Blessing
2 Exalted Angel

Permission (14)
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection
4 Duress

Draw/Search (12)
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Skeletal Scrying

Other (2)
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Crucible of Worlds

Sideboard (Tentative)
2 Echoing Truth
3 Arcane Laboratory
2 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Oxidize
3 Energy Flux
3 Ground Seal


I think this deck has alot of potential. The mana base is very hate resistant, with 5 basics, 4 strips, and easy access to all 3 colors. The permission count remains as high as the U/G versions. The draw engine is improved and there are maindeck answers to resolved threats.

The key thing to remember is that a 2 mana Exalted Angel is still an incredibly potent threat.  It doesn't mop up in 2 turns, sure, but if it allows you to run a stable, versatile draw engine, that's a trade I'm willing to make.

I'd advise anyone playing UG oath, and anyone trying to make UBG Oath work, to give this a try. It might be the key to running Skeletal Scrying successfully.

[Negator13]

Here's a conversation I had with my aforementioned friend that I think adds alot to both sides of the argument (Akroma+ SotN vs. Exalted)

svgmizer: heres my main issue with the idea: You don't need angel to abuse scrying in the format. Angel is too slow in a format thats fundimental turn is turn 1. Giving up the speed and resiliency of akroma isn't a good idea anymore

Negator 13: well first of all, why did you cut scrying if the life loss isnt' an issue

Negator 13: and second,  the Fundamental turn has nothing to do with your clock- it has to do with how fast you can set up control. whether or not you have stabilized and have a 6/6 haste or a 4/5 spirit link is irrelevant

Negator 13: FoW, Duress, and Oath are what let you get past the F.T. your creatures are just an afterthought and E.A. simply has more synergy IMO

svgmizer: decks that funsction like keeper (i.e. decks that run slow win conditions like angel and morphling) are not viable in the current format. this was made very clear to me in somers. And I cut the scryings not because the life loss hurt. I cut them because i was using them to dig for a certain answer/ combo piece. i can pay 2 mana with impulse to dig as deep as i would with a five mana scrying

Negator 13: decks that funsction like keeper (i.e. decks that run slow win conditions like angel and morphling) those are 6 and 5 mana. this is 2

Negator 13: remember, you're still using Oath- does it really matter if you use a 6/6 or a 4/5?

svgmizer: the point of oath of druids is to cheat cast costs and play powerful, overcosted threats. angel is not powerful enough in the enviroment

Negator 13: i disagree, i think the reason E.A. is obselte is b/c of its price tag.

Negator 13: like in slaver- without welder, Titan is shit
Negator 13: without Oath, E.A may be shit

svgmizer: it takes 6 turns to kill after oathing with it. its too much time. regardless if you pay 6 mana or 1

Negator 13: it doesn't take 6, you run two so it takes 3 turns
 thats really beside the point, is what im trying to say

svgmizer: assuming both hit play and remain

Negator 13: well with scrying, you;re drawing masses of answers so you should be able to make them stick

Negator 13: with impulse, you're going for card quality over CA

svgmizer: the deck doesn't need to. the deck just needs to set up the win and protect it. drawing a bunch of cards is nice, but not necessary

Negator 13: quick aside here- why are u running black, if you run impulse

svgmizer: duress, demonic tutor, and potentialy yawg will

svgmizer: it opens a lot of doors

Negator 13: will doesn't work with blessing and duress isn't better than leak if you have to mess up your mana for it

svgmizer: theres 3 strong plays in t1 right now: turn 1 3sphere, turn 1 duress, and turn 1 win. turn 1 duress answers the other 2 just as effectively as turn 1 3 sphere does, while turn 1 win is hard to do through disruption

Negator 13: and whether u run a two mana 6/6 or a two mana 4/5 has nothing to do with any of them

Negator 13: u have the turn 1 duress

Negator 13: you have a strong win condition

Negator 13: and your win condition allows you to have a strong draw engine

svgmizer: my point is that time is fast becoming the most precious, and scarce resource in the format. the difference in turns between how long 2 E.A. take and akroma and sotn take to win is astronomical

Negator 13: if you run Exalted Angel, you run Scrying. If you run Akroma, you run Impulse

Negator 13: with S.S, you draw masses of cards. these cards allow you to answer your opponents attempts to kill/win through your Angel- meaning your arguement of how E.A. gives them more time to do something broken is flawed

svgmizer: that based upon the assumption that you'll have all the correct answers and that you'll be able to win the potential counter fight

[Machinus]

This is actually not as bad of an idea as it sounds. If you are running exalteds you might as well cast them off drain and moxen, right? Well, Oath is actually faster, provides you with more flexibility in terms of creatures, and the reason that it seems appealing to me is that it offers a life cushion earlier in the game, something that is more appealing in a heavy aggro/aggro-control environment. It also adds scrying as an option. I have been running a few renewed faith's as well as balance and swords, but perhaps exalted is a better idea. I will consider this.

[Anusien]

The whole reason you run Oath is to win the game quickly, for the most part.  If you do win quickly, then you need less to protect the Angel/Spirit and you just go ahead and win, damn your opponent.  If the game runs longer, your Scryings are going to hurt you and potentially sit dead in your head, and you won't have an Exalted Angel.  Also, with Trample, Akroma gets around blockers much better.  Using Scrying + Exalted Angel just feels like a win-more setup, because you should win after you Oath out a creature anyway.

[Ultima]

I strongly agree with your friend about this.  I don't know about your testing but against decks like Control Slaver and 5/3, you don't have alot of time to gain life with exalted angels while your opponent is getting ready to put the slaver lock on you or duplicant your angel.  Further, the idea of running exalted angel is a contradiction to the role the deck plays primarily.  The deck plays aggro-control-combo like GAT, ie. it wins fast with a wall of counters to protect your men, it doesn't really try to control the game.

From this, I don't understand why your friend said that scryings are too painful.  Oath is fastest deck in the format to put down a fat creature, if you focus on winning fast, the life loss shouldn't be an issue.

[M]

Wouldn't Phantom Nishoba be strictly better than Exalted in this deck?

[tehmajickguy]

@M: The biggest reason that Exalted Angel would fit the deck better than Phantom Nishoba is that the Angel flies, while Nishoba gets blocked by the tokens your Orchards make, thus decreasing your Nishoba's size, and allowing your opponent the opportunity to Oath up a creature.

@Ultima: The statement I made about Scrying hurting too much was taken out of context.  That statement was made in regards to the Burninator match we had just tested my build of Oath against, in which scrying sucked.

I feel that the idea definitely has some merit to it, but not with the metagame in its current state .