Archangel of Thune MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityMythic
TypeCreature — Angel
Abilities Flying,Lifelink
Power 3
Toughness 4

Key Takeaways

  1. Lifegain effects with Archangel of Thune can snowball, turning all creatures into enlarging threats.
  2. Demanding mana and high cost require strategic deck building and timing for optimal play.
  3. Despite its cost, its versatility and combo potential make it a valuable addition to collections.

Text of card

Flying Lifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.) Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.

Even the wicked have nightmares.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Archangel of Thune shines by bolstering your entire board. Each instance of life gain turns into potential +1/+1 counters for all creatures you control, transforming a stable board into an army of threats. This consistent growth over time can outpace the opposition’s resources, providing a significant advantage.

Resource Acceleration: This card itself is not a direct source of resource acceleration. However, by increasing the power and toughness of your creatures, it effectively accelerates your board presence and resource value. This can lead to quicker victories, thereby reducing the need for additional turns or resources to close out a game.

Instant Speed: Archangel of Thune’s impact lies in the interactions with instant-speed life gain effects. By timing life-gain spells and abilities to your opponent’s turn or in response to actions, you can unexpectedly bolster your creatures, potentially turning the tide mid-combat or before critical turns in the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Archangel of Thune does not directly necessitate discarding cards, building a deck that maximizes its life gain ability could inadvertently force the discard of valuable cards to maintain a balanced strategy, which might put you at a disadvantage in tight situations.

Specific Mana Cost: This angel comes with a demanding color commitment, asking for three white mana within its total cost. This can be challenging in multicolored decks that require a solid mana base to consistently cast such color-intensive cards.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of five mana, Archangel of Thune may enter play later than some prefer. When tempo is crucial, its cost might be seen as a setback compared to other options that can impact the board more quickly or at a lower resource investment.


Reasons to Include Archangel of Thune in Your Collection

Versatility: Archangel of Thune not only stands out in life-gain decks but also serves as a formidable flyer in control or midrange builds. Its ability to bolster all your creatures with +1/+1 counters makes it a dependable choice in diverse deck strategies.

Combo Potential: The synergy between this angel and cards with lifelink or those that trigger upon gaining life can quickly escalate a simple life gain into a significant advantage. It’s a linchpin for combos that can spiral into overwhelming board states.

Meta-Relevance: Given its power to turn even the slightest life gain into a substantial boost for your team, Archangel of Thune holds its ground in a variety of metagames, particularly where incremental advantages can lead to victory.


How to beat

Archangel of Thune is an impressive creature in the world of Magic: The Gathering, boasting not only flying and lifelink but also the ability to place +1/+1 counters on all your creatures whenever you gain life. To counter this card, players need to adopt a strategic approach. Removal spells are your best friend against Archangel of Thune. Efficient removal like Path to Exile or Dismember can dispatch the angel before its life-gain ability gets out of control.

Another effective tactic is to use cards that can negate the lifelink ability, such as Solemnity, which prevents counters from being placed on creatures, thereby neutralizing the Archangel’s primary strength. Cards like Tormod’s Crypt can also be instrumental by disrupting graveyard strategies that aim to bring Archangel of Thune back into play. Lastly, maintaining pressure and focusing on reducing your opponent’s life total quickly can outpace the lifegain and buffing advantages provided by Archangel of Thune’s presence on the battlefield.

By incorporating these strategies and cards into your deck, you stand a much better chance of triumphing over a deck that runs the formidable Archangel of Thune. Understanding its strengths and responding with calculated counters is key to clenching victory from its angelic grasp.


BurnMana Recommendations

With the strategic depth that Archangel of Thune offers, it’s clear that this card can be a pivotal addition to your MTG collection. Whether you’re fortifying your life-gain themed deck, seeking to escalate midgame pressure, or enhancing your creature’s capabilities, Archangel of Thune stands out as an essential piece. If you’re eager to discover how to optimize your deck’s performance with this powerful angel, or if you’re simply looking to explore new, winning strategies that could shift the balance of your matches, delve deeper with us. Enhance your gameplay, refine your deck-building skills, and outsmart the competition—learn more and rise above the rest.


Cards like Archangel of Thune

Archangel of Thune stands as an impressive force in the world of lifegain mechanics within MTG. It invites comparison with other luminary creatures like Serra Ascendant, which shares the benefit of lifegain to bolster its power. While Serra Ascendant gains a massive power boost when your life total is high, Archangel of Thune takes a different approach by distributing +1/+1 counters across the board with each instance of lifegain.

Another card with a tangential relationship is Ajani’s Pridemate, a staple in lifegain decks that gets stronger with each life gained, yet it only enhances itself unlike Archangel of Thune’s inclusive buffing. There’s also Lyra Dawnbringer, whose lifegain ability comes with an added dose of first strike and grants other Angels you control lifelink, a useful symbiosis with Archangel of Thune’s abilities.

Comparatively, Archangel of Thune offers a unique blend of offensive and defensive capabilities, turning any small lifegain effect into a potential game-changer for the entire team. In the realm of lifegain synergies, this card truly shines with its potential to spread strength across the field and serve as both a win condition and board presence enhancer.

Serra Ascendant - MTG Card versions
Ajani's Pridemate - MTG Card versions
Lyra Dawnbringer - MTG Card versions
Serra Ascendant - MTG Card versions
Ajani's Pridemate - MTG Card versions
Lyra Dawnbringer - MTG Card versions

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Archangel of Thune MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2014 and Iconic Masters, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Archangel of Thune and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Archangel of Thune Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2013-07-19 and 2020-08-07. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12013-07-19Magic 2014M14 52003NormalBlackJames Ryman
22017-11-17Iconic MastersIMA 82015NormalBlackJames Ryman
32019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 13372015NormalBorderlessScott M. Fischer
42020-08-07Double Masters2XM 52015NormalBlackJames Ryman

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Archangel of Thune has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Archangel of Thune card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2020-08-07 Each creature with lifelink dealing combat damage causes a separate life-gaining event. For example, if two creatures you control with lifelink deal combat damage at the same time, the ability will trigger twice. However, if a single creature you control with lifelink deals combat damage to multiple creatures, players, and/or planeswalkers at the same time (perhaps because it has trample or was blocked by more than one creature), the ability will trigger only once.
2020-08-07 If a creature you control is dealt lethal damage at the same time that you gain life, it won't receive a counter from Archangel of Thune's ability in time to save it.
2020-08-07 If you gain an amount of life “for each” of something, that life is gained as one event and the ability triggers only once.
2020-08-07 In a Two-Headed Giant game, life gained by your teammate won't cause the ability to trigger, even though it caused your team's life total to increase.

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