Quote Originally Posted by Xero View Post
So, the Stax list that top 8'd the Source Tournament ran 0x Angels and 4x Magi. What do you think about this?
I am the Stax player who took top8 at the Source Tournament. Angel I believe is a HUGE win more card in this deck. This deck wins by locking out opponents and pinging away with 2 power dorks in the form of Magus and Factory. The only time I would want Exalted Angel is games two or three when I bring in my Suppression Fields as it takes a long time to be able to actively go on the offensive with Mishra's Factories as the mana investment becomes a hassle.

Mordel summed it up nicely - "Angels strike me as more of a luxury/crutch for players that are less confident in their choice deck for a metagame or overall skill-level in playing the deck."

I only played this deck at 2 other local tournaments (3 rounds cut to top 4) before taking it to the Source Tournament. Patience is definitely needed to play this deck correctly. I prefer the no Angel route simply because NEVER do I want to drop it in my first 3-4 turns as I want to be slowing down my opponent and after turn 4 I should have the game just about locked to where I want it so what is the point of having a 4/5 flying beater. I'd rather just wait for either a) My opponent to scoop or b) draw more lock pieces and wait for a Factory or Magus. Also my two losses of the day came from both Dreadstill Lists that were in the Top 8. Dreadnought is VERY bad news for you so I would urge everyone to try to cut some spots for Oblivion Ring in the main if you are not already running it.

I talked to Machinus after my top 8 loss and he gave me a few tips and play errors that he saw which were mostly due to my inexperience with the deck.