In addition to having one of the most stacked main set lineups of any set in recent memory, Reality Fracture also packs a truly fantastic Commander precon. This whole deck is a fascinating mass of powerful cards, with a few legends that are worth breaking off and building on their own. Avacyn, Angel of Horror is one such legend, taking an iconic Innistrad favorite and converting it into a brutal graveyard Commander.
Avacyn, Angel of Horror MTG
Where the original
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Flying, vigilance, indestructible
Other permanents you control have indestructible.
protected your creatures via Indestructible, Avacyn, Angel of Horror does so slightly differently. Like a more flexible
Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker
Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker
Whenever a creature with power 1 or less is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, you may return that card to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step if Shirei is still on the battlefield.
, this new Avacyn brings back any of your creatures that die at the end of the turn. Unlike Shirei, Avacyn also returns itself and doesn’t need to remain in play to bring back your other creatures.
By itself, this makes your board very difficult to deal with, but it’s especially good at generating value over time. Since Avacyn’s ability can be used on each end step, free sacrifice outlets like
Altar of Dementia
Altar of Dementia
Sacrifice a creature: Target player mills cards equal to the sacrificed creature's power.
will let you essentially blink your whole board four times a turn cycle.
With no limit on the kinds of creatures you can loop this way, Avacyn unlocks all manner of possible plays. You can bring back
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
When this creature enters, each opponent loses X life, where X is your devotion to black. You gain life equal to the life lost this way. (Each {B} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to black.)
repeatedly to drain the table out, for example, or loop
Solemn Simulacrum
Solemn Simulacrum
When this creature enters, you may search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
When this creature dies, you may draw a card.
for a constant stream of value.
Fair uses aside, Avacyn is also phenomenal at locking down your opponents’ resources. Creatures like
Accursed Marauder
Accursed Marauder
When this creature enters, each player sacrifices a nontoken creature of their choice.
can keep the board clear of opposing creatures, or you can loop any creature with
Grave Pact
Grave Pact
Whenever a creature you control dies, each other player sacrifices a creature of their choice.
for the same result. Add in cards like
Burglar Rat
Burglar Rat
When this creature enters, each opponent discards a card.
to whittle away opponents’ hands, and
Boggart Trawler
Boggart Trawler
When this creature enters, exile target player's graveyard.
to wipe out their graveyards, and you have a near-perfect lock.
With so many creatures going in and out of your graveyard each turn, Avacyn lets you tap into a nice suite of synergies there, too. Creature-death payoffs like
Morbid Opportunist
Morbid Opportunist
Whenever one or more other creatures die, draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn.
and
Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER
Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER
Whenever Sephiroth enters or attacks, you may sacrifice another creature. If you do, draw a card.
Whenever another creature dies, target opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. If this is the fourth time this ability has resolved this turn, transform Sephiroth.
will keep your cards flowing and drain your opponents, respectively. You can also use ‘leaves the graveyard’ pieces like
Twilight Diviner
Twilight Diviner
When this creature enters, surveil 2. (Look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them into your graveyard and the rest on top of your library in any order.)
Whenever one or more other creatures you control enter, if they entered or were cast from a graveyard, create a token that's a copy of one of them. This ability triggers only once each turn.
and
Desecrated Tomb
Desecrated Tomb
Whenever one or more creature cards leave your graveyard, create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying.
to boost your board.
Tricks of the Trade
While Avacyn is undeniably powerful, it’s also prohibitively expensive mana-wise. To get around this, max out all of black’s best ramp options, including classic rituals like
Dark Ritual
Dark Ritual
Add {B}{B}{B}.
and
Sacrifice
Sacrifice
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Add an amount of {B} equal to the sacrificed creature's mana value.
. You’ll also want to include the infamous black land duo of
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Each land is a Swamp in addition to its other land types.
and
Cabal Coffers
Cabal Coffers
{2}, {T}: Add {B} for each Swamp you control.
, as well as tutors like
Urza’s Cave
Urza’s Cave
{T}: Add {C}.
{3}, {T}, Sacrifice this land: Search your library for a land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
and
Expedition Map
Expedition Map
{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Search your library for a land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
to find them.
Another great way to get Avacyn down cheaper is through
The Sibsig Ceremony
The Sibsig Ceremony
Creature spells you cast cost {2} less to cast.
Whenever a creature you control enters, if you cast it, destroy that creature, then create a 2/2 black Zombie Druid creature token.
and
Heartless Summoning
Heartless Summoning
Creature spells you cast cost {2} less to cast.
Creatures you control get -1/-1.
. Both enchantments grant a two-mana discount and synergize well with your game plan once Avacyn hits the table. Ceremony, in particular, is fantastic with Avacyn, netting you extra tokens while killing your creatures immediately so they return for extra triggers at end of turn.
These ramp elements also support Avacyn’s powerful-but-pricey infinite-turns combo line. To pull this off, you’ll need Avacyn out alongside
Magistrate’s Scepter
Magistrate’s Scepter
{4}, {T}: Put a charge counter on this artifact.
{T}, Remove three charge counters from this artifact: Take an extra turn after this one.
and
Coretapper
Coretapper
{T}: Put a charge counter on target artifact.
Sacrifice this creature: Put two charge counters on target artifact.
. Each turn, you can tap and sacrifice Coretapper to put three charge counters on Scepter, then tap Scepter to take an extra turn. Avacyn brings Coretapper back in the end step, so it’s ready to tap next turn again to keep the loop going.
As iconic as the original Avacyn is, her new Angel of Horror variant is far more fearsome in the command zone. In fact, once you get past the tricky mana cost, this is one of the most intriguing Aristocrats Commanders we’ve ever seen, especially in Mono-Black. Once the dust settles, I expect this new legend to be one of the most popular Commanders from Reality Fracture as a whole, precon or not.
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