COMMANDER! Review: Sigarda, Host of Herons

Hey guys! David again here to talk about our very first angel on the list, Sigarda, Host of Herons! I'm a little biased because this is my favorite Angel of the cycle from Avacyn Restored because the art looks amazing and the flavor behind this angel is off the charts. Furthermore, she's in two of the most versatile colors in the game, which make her extremely prime to be a great general for Commander.

Sigarda is a 2gww general, so she's not incredibly difficult to cast. She has amazing stats to boot, starting with a 5/5 Flying/Hexproof body and an anti-sacrifice ability for your permanents. PERMANENTS! Nice Razia's Purification you got there. She's as aggressively costed as any creature can be. Sigarda joins the ranks of Priveledged Position and Asceticism by pseudo-protecting your creatures from untimely deaths. Although Sigarda's protecting ability is more narrow than giving Hexproof to your entire board, she's a creature which gives her the advantage of swinging in at enemy planeswalkers or getting in the red zone for the kill. The last noteworthy thing about Sigarda is her Green identity; these Green fliers are extremely uncommon and are usually very interesting.

In the casual scene, Sigarda is a really cool card because she's a 5/5 flyer for 5 mana that comes out on the board faster than most of the opposing flying creatures her size. If you're opponents' decks at the table consist of heavy aggro or tribal decks, Sigarda will provide excellent defense by blocking most creatures coming for your life total or she'll be an asset in combat and smite enemies with her.. staff?(might be a scythe-like weapon). Her Hexproof ability also makes her extremely difficult to kill, since the format is dominated by light removal spells like Oblivion Ring and Doom Blade. Opponents cannot really touch her other than a Day of Judgment, which you can easily solve with a timely Asceticism with 1g open to activate it. Sigarda is also edict-proof and can't be killed by cards like Barter in Blood nor Tribute to Hunger which makes her extremely resilient against most of the removal in Innistrad Block Constructed, so she'll be a house against newer players who are just getting into Magic and are buying up Innistrad-Dark Ascension-Avacyn Restored boosters. If you're one of those deck brewers that like to make beginner-friendly decks, I think a Sigarda-themed G/W deck is a great place to start. She carries two evergreen abilities and has a specialized ability that isn't difficult to follow for newer players while providing a lot of board presence.

For Standard, Sigarda could be seeing a lot of play in the Naya (W/R/G) decks and play alongside Strangleroot Geist, Huntmaster of the Fells, and Restoration Angel as a top-end of the curve creature. She also can't be touched by Feeling of Dread, which we can assume will see tons of play after Alexander Hayne took U/W Control to an extremely impressive 1st place finish at Pro Tour Avacyn Restored. As for Modern and Legacy, I don't think Sigarda has any applications in those formats. Unfortunately, Modern doesn't have enough statistics nor premier events to really gauge what archetypes are strong in the format so it's difficult to say. If Modern evolves into a more attrition format and Liliana of the Veil becomes the premier removal card, then Sigarda could see a couple slots in G/W Birthing Pod.

What will Sigarda bring to the Commander table? I'm really excited for Sigarda because she's a different themed Commander from the more commonly played Rhys the Redeemed and Captain Sisay. She also has a different flavor for players looking for a Hexproof general without committing to Red and auras with Uril, the Mistalker. Sigarda is also a huge weapon against eldrazi and the Annihilator ability. If Ulamog, the Infininte Gyre is running rampantly around in your metagame, Sigarda is the scalpel you can use to protect yourself, since they won't gain any profit attacking into your board when you can simply chump block. If you're more of a Spike player (win at all costs), Sigarda is in the perfect colors to support the hate-bears strategy, which is playing creatures that try to lock down the board state, like Gaddock Teeg, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Ethersworn Canonist, Kataki, War's Wage, etc. This type of build could be more akin to a stacks strategy that I briefly touched on in the Thalia article. I think a Sigarda stacks strategy would get a ton of style points if they went for a win-con by Sigarda general damage.

I really like idea of using Sigarda in a Voltron (heavy equipment-based) strategy because of her aggressive mana cost. Alongside Stoneforge Mystic, Stonehewer Giant, and the various equipment support cards from Mirrodin block and Scars of Mirrodin block, Sigarda can be unstoppable. What's better than a large Hexproof Flyer that can't be edicted? One holding a ton of equipment. The protection swords are still a big deal and with a bit of evasion, Sigarda can be taking down opponents by dealing 21 points of general damage in maybe 2-3 swings.

The only problem standing in her way are the Bant (U/G/W) generals Jenara, Asura of War and Rafiq of the Many, who also have an aggressive mana cost and abilities; not to mention their access to arguably the most popular color in the format, Blue. I'd argue that Sigarda is a great budget option, since the Blue fixing lands are very pricey and the G/W color combination offers most of the aggressive cards necessary to upkeep the strategy. Removing the clutter of the Blue cards would help streamline the strategy into a pure mid-range aggro deck. Functionally, I think Sigarda's Hexproof ability sets her apart from the Bant pair. Although Rafiq and Jenara are usually done in a Voltron style and can find a Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots when necessary, it's a little extra work that you don't have to work towards if you're playing Sigarda. The only downside to the comparison is the Bant generals' ability to fall back and convert into a control strategy if they're unable to accomplish the kill on their opponent(s) in the midgame. I think a Sigarda deck can create its own backup strategy by including specialized mass removal spells like Terminus, Austere Command, and Mass Calcify along with large creatures that can carry the game after an empty board, like Avacyn, Angel of Hope or Iona, Shield of Emeria.

I'm really impressed by how much this creature was pushed and it's a very clear signal at how high Wizards of the Coast is willing to power creep creatures to balance their overall weakness in older sets. Starting with Goblin Guide, Wild Nacatl, Thrun, the Last Troll, and now Sigarda, the power creep in creatures is substantial and it's really exciting to see what creatures will look like in a few years. Until the next angel, Magic players!

Can't get enough Commander/EDH content? Check out the Commander Series on the MTG Casual Network Archive!

-David J.

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