Thieving Angel

Format: Commander

Commander: Avacyn, Angel of Horror

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 43

Deck overview

This mono-black deck revolves around aggressive reanimation, high-end attrition, and graveyard theft. Led by Avacyn, Angel of Horror, the list leverages death triggers to maintain persistent board control while cheating massive threats onto the battlefield well ahead of curve. The early turns focus on deploying fast mana and using premier tutors like Buried Alive or Demonic Tutor to seed the graveyard with game-ending threats, notably Archfiend of Despair, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, and Portal to Phyrexia. Efficient reanimation spells such as Reanimate, Victimize, and Living Death establish overwhelming board states by Turn 4. Beyond its core reanimator plan, the deck incorporates theft and resource denial engines like Tergrid, God of Fright, Arvinox, the Mind Flail, and Brainstealer Dragon, which steadily strip opponents of cards and life. The combination of devastating enter-the-battlefield drains, heavy flying beaters, and board-wide edict effects enables the deck to close games rapidly across two combat rotations.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aberrant Return
  • 1 Ancient Brass Dragon
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archfiend of Despair
  • 1 Arvinox, the Mind Flail
  • 1 Ashen Powder
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Avacyn, Angel of Horror
  • 1 Beacon of Unrest
  • 1 Bismuth Mindrender
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Brainstealer Dragon
  • 1 Breach the Multiverse
  • 1 Buried Alive
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Changing Loyalty
  • 1 Come Back Wrong
  • 1 Culling the Weak
  • 1 Damnation
  • 1 Dark Depths
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Dauthi Voidwalker
  • 1 Defossilize
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor
  • 1 Grave Betrayal
  • 1 Grave Researcher // Reanimate
  • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  • 1 Grim Return
  • 1 Imp's Mischief
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 Kuroki, Thief of Talents
  • 1 Leaden Myr
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Mutated Cultist
  • 1 Nazgûl Battle-Mace
  • 1 Omnath, Locus of the Void
  • 1 Palladium Myr
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Portal to Phyrexia
  • 1 Rank Rat
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Rise of the Dark Realms
  • 1 River Song's Diary
  • 1 Sepulchral Primordial
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Solemn Simulacrum
  • 33 Swamp
  • 1 Tergrid, God of Fright // Tergrid's Lantern
  • 1 The Sibsig Ceremony
  • 1 The Soul Stone
  • 1 Thieving Amalgam
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
  • 1 Tinybones, the Pickpocket
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Treacherous Urge
  • 1 Troop of Ponies
  • 1 Twilight Diviner
  • 1 Ulamog, the Defiler
  • 1 Unhallowed Pact
  • 1 Unholy Indenture
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Victimize
  • 1 Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands
  • 1 Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist