Saint Avacyn of Winterfell (EDH / Commander)

Why Winterfell? Snow Covered Lands + Extraplanar Lens is an excellent Starting point for any Mono-Colored EDH deck. Especially White since it doesn't have great ramping options.

Soldier Tribal, with a “Soldier Token” sub-theme as support. Avacyn, Angel of Hope in command as a win-con.

After piloting an Avacyn, Angel of Hope “Angel tribal” deck for the better part of two years with very poor and inconsistent results... I have been brewing multiple different ideas to salvage my investments and put high priced mono-white staple cards to use in a fun project with more consistent results.

The main thing I noticed about running Avacyn in the command zone is that it doesn’t really matter what your strategy or purpose for her is, opponents view her as an immediate win-con and save removal or counterspells each and every game with her name on it, unless of an unexpected visit from the Emrakuls and Ulamogs of the world.

So in reality Avacyn is seen by your opponents as a win-con on a stick. And is in reality a 10-12 drop, not an 8. Don’t even bother with hexproof. I’ve had Merciless Eviction and Play of the Game played in response to her. Again we all approach Avacyn as this awesome tool of protection and so on and so forth, to our opponents however, she is every bit as nasty as Sheoldred, Whispering One.

After many hours of brewing and considering different options, I feel the best use for her, is to drop her as a win-con in the midst of an army that has gone as wide as you can possibly stretch it across the table.

Be prepared for an awnser and just pray it’s not Play of the Game or other nasty shenanigans.

I’ve hardly ever been able to welcome her from the command zone and benefit from her presence first cast. Sometimes even the second one is anwsered.

Oh but when you get that chance to get a couple of swings in, it makes EVERYTHING so worth it. Insta-smile.

There is not much piloting notes here. I took great care in constructing a Soldier + Soldier Token Synergy with a low CMC curve. It's meant to aggressively go wide and hopefully buff quickly with several anthems. I need to revise my soldier list at some point to double check this synergy. this is a first draft in testing.

Also, I think with this strategy there is poetic justice. Soldiers and warriors on a field of battle often pray to saints, and deities. It’s only fair that in this deck the Angel of Hope hears their plea and comes to their aid.