I have an Orzhov Angel tribal deck with
Liesa, Shroud of Dusk as the commander (though
Liesa, Forgotten Archangel works as well). The deck is 75% white, so there's a lot of overlap here with mine. Just going section by section:
Card Advantage - Definitely thin, but that's white. You should run
Smuggler's Share. People drawing two or more cards per turn in commander is fairly common, and it also gives you a chance for limited ramp. The problem with it is that it is not always reliable or consistent draw and often feels like a do-nothing 3-drop, but it's something that people are probably not going to waste removal on so you will eventually get value from it. You could
consider something like
Cosmos Elixir as well since you're leaning into the lifegain.
Firemane Commando is also worth a look (it is an Angel), as well as
Tenuous Truce.
Icon of Ancestry isn't exactly draw, but it gives you a bit of card selection. I would cut
Angelic Sleuth. Not only does it rely on your stuff
leaving the battlefield - and without many
blink effects, that means dying (which you don't want to happen) - but also you still have to pay the additional 2 mana and sac the clue to draw each card. I like that you included both
War Room and
Bonders' Enclave in your lands.
Bombs -
Akroma's Memorial doesn't seem the most efficient to me (though it is flavorful). All those keywords are nice, but a bit redundant; you already have flying on everything and consequently probably don't really need Trample, are already running other things that give
Vigilance, and are already bigger than most things such that you don't need First Strike (it
might be useful if you're facing
Demons or
Dragons, but at that point you already have the problem of playing against
Demons or
Dragons). The haste and pro-black/red is nice, yes, but I don't think it's worth the loss of tempo for playing a 7-mana artifact. Likewise with
True Conviction. I know it's a finisher, I'm just not fond of the card because of the cost. I'd almost rather have a
Coat of Arms or
Door of Destinies. If you feel you need more combat support,
consider things lie
Angelic Skirmisher,
Brave the Sands, or
Sigarda's Vanguard.
Life
Shenanigans -
Shattered Angel is definitely not a good card, but I shoehorned it into mine anyway. You should also be running
Seraph Sanctuary in your lands.
Speaker of the Heavens?
Angelic Accord or
Resplendent Angel? If you're running
Test of Endurance, might as well play
Felidar Sovereign too. Otherwise, you don't actually have too many cards that have or grant
lifelink, so maybe cut Test?
Protection - Seems fine, though I would like to see
Swiftfoot Boots too.
Mandate of Peace is an interesting tech, but probably one of the weaker cards in this section. Same with
Silence (opponents can still respond to the
Silence being cast).
Rebuff the Wicked is a card I like but can never seem to find a spot for in my decks.
Consider Kindred Boon.
Ramp -
Archangel of Tithes is not ramp. It's a fine angel, but it is not ramp. I'd
consider cutting
Quicksilver Amulet. I run
Belbe's Portal in my deck, and most of the time I just never play it because the one-turn tempo loss of paying 8 for an Angel that probably costs less so that I can maybe play one per turn for only 3 in the future never seems to be the best play.
Sword of the Animist would be fine.
Consider Archaeomancer's Map and
Keeper of the Accord.
Nyx Lotus is also great. I keep mentioning tempo loss, but 4 mana to tap for far more than that a turn later is a huge swing, and people are going to be reluctant to use removal on a mana rock most times. I run
Gilded Lotus in my deck and tried
Thran Dynamo, but cut the latter and might cut the former too.
Cryptic Gateway is fine if you're going wide, otherwise it can end up leaving you more open than you would like. Good tech though that not many people seem to know about (at least not before the reprint).
Monologue Tax isn't great, but there if you're desperate.
Recursion - All good. Maybe cut
Twilight Shepherd. It's a little slow. I toyed with it in mine and it just felt clunky. Not sure about
Cauldron of Souls.
Dawnbreak Reclaimer is an interesting card but is also a little clunky.
Removal - You're in mono-white, so
Mass Calcify would be worth a look. I tend to shy away from boardwipes like
Cleansing Nova in Angels just because they're so expensive to get back out onto the field.
Excise the Imperfect is another good spot removal card. There are also Angels that do removal, though often it is temporary. E.g.
Angel of Sanctions,
Angel of Serenity,
Admonition Angel,
Angel of the Ruins.
Aura of Silence isn't bad but serves as more of a stax card (see below).
Staxish - This is the section I would focus on trimming down. If you want to play stax, play stax (like taxes Liesa). You're playing Angel tribal, so you should be trying to beat face.
Angel of Jubilation,
Angelic Arbiter, and
Linvala, Keeper of Silence are fine.
Smothering Tithe is taxes, but I always include it with ramp because almost nobody ever pays for it. Even
Magus of the Moat would be OK because it fits your deck. Personally, I would cut everything else.
Utility - Like with Sleuth, I'm not sure about
The Ozolith; it needs your creatures to leave the battlefield to do anything. I guess the threat there is that you make a giant beater if anyone ever wipes your board, and 1 mana is an amazing investment for what it does, but I'm not sold on it.
Angel of Condemnation is fine because it's a sort of weird modal recursion/removal card, but I found it too clunky in my deck. You're a mono-colored deck so you would want to run
Caged Sun (or
Gauntlet of Power), but I found it to be far too slow. By the time I have enough mana to cast it and benefit from it, I was either already too far behind or didn't need it.
Untagged -
Serra the Benevolent can be considered utility.
Serra Ascendant is not an angel but is an amazing card especially on turn 1 in commander, so that's fine.
Youthful Valkyrie is good.
Helm of the Host does not seem necessary nor like it fits with the deck. Sure, two (or more) Giadas would be nice, but you're paying 9 mana for that. Just cast another beefy angel instead.
Lands - I'd
consider going up to 35. I'd cut
Maze of Ith. Can't tap for mana and doesn't really do much to help your deck.
Hall of Heliod's generosity is also something I'd
consider cutting since you don't run too many enchantments (but I see you, sneaky
Test of Endurance at instant speed). Similar logic for
Serra's Sanctum (though if you have the card, I understand wanting to run it just to flex and because it has a high ceiling).
Homeward Path... I guess if your playgroup meta runs a lot of steal effects?
Opal Palace doesn't seem necessary.
Path of Ancestry would be better for a tribal deck. Also not sure if
Rogue's Passage is necessary considering you run exclusively flying creatures.
Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire is not one of the better
Channel lands, but you're running enough Legendary creatures and it taps for white by itself that there's not really a reason to not include it.
Lastly, where are
Battle Angels of Tyr? If you're leaning into lifegain,
Ajani, Strength of the Pride is a solid value (4 mana to
exile all opponents' creatures and artifacts, or worst case +1 to gain life). There are other interesting techs that I don't run but thought I would list:
Angel of Finality,
Angel of the Dire Hour,
Blinding Angel,
Resolute Archangel,
Subjugator Angel, and
Sunblast Angel.
EDIT: I'm an idiot. I forgot Giada gave +1/+1 counters and not static +1/+1, so suddenly Ozolith, Cauldron, and Sleuth seem much better. I still don't think I would include any of them.
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