Flashing MTG Angels prove viable in MOM Standard Metagame Challenge

Flying and Flash tribal Magic: The Gathering themes received a boost through Errant and Giada, a legendary mashup Rare from the March of the Machine Standard-legal set. 

The Standard meta in best-of-one and best-of-three turned into the Wild West with the digital launch of March of the Machine on April 18. A new card type/mechanic called Battle cards improved various decks while Phyrexian tribal became a valid competitive possibility. Angel tribal also improved with the addition of Errant and Giada from the MOM set. The legendary doesn’t have enough support to carry a build on its own, but it doesn’t need to when paired with Giada, Font of Hope. 

The March of the Machine Standard Metagame Challenge is taking place from April 21 to 24, giving players a chance to earn up to 30 MOM booster packs with seven wins and no losses. Having a deck that can compete against Aggro, Control, and everything in between improves the odds of hitting those seven wins. 

How to play MTG Flash Angels

The Flashing Angels MTG deck performs better in a best-of-three Standard Constructed format but can hold its own in best-of-one as well. It’s an Azorius build that can aggressively end games when drawing on curve, while also having the ability to play Tempo. 

As soon as I saw Errant and Giada during the MOM spoilers, building a deck around the legendary mashup became a passion project. And it performed well during the March of the Machine Standard Metagame Challenge with a 6-1 and 5-1 record, which could have been better if not for gameplay errors on my part. 

Ideal mulligans for MTG Flash Angel deck

I found that having either a Giada, Font of Hope or Faerie Mastermind in an opening hand is a solid start with an additional angel that can get cast on curve. Never cast Faerie Mastermind on your second turn but hold it up to Flash in on your opponent’s turn, potentially taking advantage of card draw from decks that are playing the MTG color Blue. 

The same can be said for Errant and Giada during the early-game stages but not during the later stages of a match when you may have enough mana to cast another creature with Flying or Flash off the top of your library. And having Hopeful Initiate in an opening hand is always a good thing. Players should ditch cards like Serra Paragon and Ao, the Dawn Sky unless they have three or more mana and a solid curve. 

Combos and combat tricks

Guardian of Ghirapur, another new MOM card in Standard, combos with a number of cards in the deck. Using its Flicker ability on cards like Steel Seraph and Inspiring Overseer creates card advantage and a powerful board state presence. Steel Seraph also plays a role in providing some much-needed Lifegain, allowing players to skip worrying about life points early on during a game. And players can opt to run Reckoner Bankbuster over Wedding Announcement, providing another Flicker target for Guardian of Ghirapur. 

Players can also opt to Flicker a creature that attacked that turn, bringing it back at your end step as if it had Vigilance. And if Gianda, Font of Hope is on the battlefield, and the creature was an Angel, it can return as a stronger version of itself. 

Using the Flash mechanic properly is also a huge advantage to the Angel deck. By playing Azorius colors, opponents have to question whether you’re holding up removal through counterspells or The Wandering Empeorer and may slow their own gameplay strategy down while you gain a board state advantage. 

Sideboard in the MTG Flash Angel deck

The sideboard is what sets this Standard deck apart from other Azorius creature builds like Soldiers. Packed with Control-style cards, a player can opt to turn the Angel Flash deck into a Control one with Hullbreaker Horror waiting to close out games upon playing enough mana.  

Both Overcharged Amalgam and The Wandering Emperor thematically fit in the deck with Errant and Giada by having Flash. Two Depopulates can take care of an opponent’s board state has a clear advantage over yours while Loran of the Third Path can take care of pesky Artifacts and Enchantments.

Creatures on the battlefield can get protected through cards like March of Swirling Mist and Spectral Adversary, which also happens to thematically fit into the build since the spirit has Flying. And additional Fading Hopes can take care of Transformed Incubate tokens.

Is the Angel Flash deck worth crafting in MTG Arena?

After playing countless best-of-one matches on MTG Arena and two rounds of the Standard Metagame Challenge, I feel comfortable saying that the deck is competitively viable. It’s not the easiest build to pilot but hardly over-complicated either. The Angel Flash deck is expensive to craft with MTG Arena wildcards.

Related: All MTG March of the Machine cards worth money

Lands like Plaza of Heroes and Secluded Courtyard are nice to have but not necessary, as they add a small layer of protection and mana fixing. Cards like Ao, the Dawn Sky can get substituted out, along with March of Swirling Mist and Overcharged Amalgam. Players who don’t already have the basic angel package unlocked, however, should likely focus on crafting a different type of MTG deck unless worrying about MTG Arena wildcards isn’t an issue.

All images via WotC.