| This deck packs a huge punch by playing some of the best tap-out threats in the format. Rather than trying to go late with a pure control plan, we're hoping to close out the game with pseudo-burn threats like Westvale Abbey, Chandra, and Pia and Kiran Nalaar. In an unknown meta, this is a much safer plan.  
I was fortunate enough to open this card at my prerelease and I can tell you first-hand that the hype around this card is real. Comparing it to Serra Angel doesn't come close to doing the card justice. Archangel Avacyn shows real strength as a way to protect your board from sweepers in the most punishing of ways—a 4/4 flying mythic rare. When you're making a board full of tokens, I can't imagine a more satisfying place to be than to have an Avacyn waiting in your hand. Some lists have cut down to only three copies of Avacyn, paying respect to the fact that she's a legendary creature but I think that's wrong for this weekend. Most of your opponents will have to kill Avacyn if you manage to resolve her and on she's your best answer to Chandra, Flamecaller, a card that is a real threat against deck. 
Despite being a staple of both Standard and Modern decks, the Nalaars have seemed to slip under the radar yet again though I think that's a mistake. Not only were they already one of the best tap-out threats in the format, but they play really well with Avacyn. Avacyn's enters-the-battlefield trigger allows you to make aggressive attacks with the tokens and the 2/2 and will protect them from sweepers, but the best interaction is Avacyn's flip trigger. If you untap with both cards in play, you can sacrifice both tokens to deal four damage to your opponent. Then on the next upkeep Avacyn will turn vengeful, deal three more damage, and attack for six, which adds up to a whopping 13 damage while you sweep away your opponent's creatures. Pia and Kiran also play will with Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and one of the newest cards Shadows over Innistrad…  
Westvale Abbey is another piece of the late-game burn plan. A lot has been said about this card's ability to two-shot people with a card like Secure the Wastes and while I didn't cut all the copies of Secure from the list I found that I could play Westvale Abbey more honestly inside a Red/White shell. With both Chandra and her parents making expendable tokens, this card gives you another avenue of attack at very little cost. Frequently there will be leftover creatures from Gideon,Knight of the White Orchid, and Hangarback Walker to allow you to threaten the release of Ormendahl, Profane Prince if your opponent taps out on mana. 
What began as a two-of in my list quickly grew to be a full playset and I wouldn't want to change it for this weekend. Because I'm not sure what sort of threats to expect from my opponents, the safest way to play is to just have removal that answers things as unconditionally as possible (see: Stasis Snare). While that was my initial reasoning behind the card, my opinions changed the first time I was fortunate enough to hit two creatures at once. I believe Declaration in Stone is going to be a staple removal spell of Standard and by playing a playset you'll be ahead of the curve at #SCGBALT. It's true that the card does have a drawback and if we were trying to play a late-game grinding control deck then we may have to think twice about this card. However, our plan is to start going for our opponent's life total around Turn 5 or 6. If they want to spend their time and mana slowly drawing cards, it's okay by me if they lose with a couple extra cards in hand. 
If you skimmed the decklist, this card probably stuck out like an unrationalized denominator. To be honest, I'm not sure what removal spell we're supposed to be playing in this spot because it's not clear what we're trying to remove. If you want to play things safe, then I think Avacyn's Judgment, Roast, Fiery Impulse, or even extra Silkwraps would be fine here. The reason I chose to play Oath is because I believe that all of these spells should be decent at killing threats based on what I've been seeing in decklists over the last week. Oath of Chandra has the potential to fall flat but it also has real upside. It triggers off our seven maindeck Planeswalkers and it also protects our removal from Dromoka's Command. I'm pretty excited to watch the first Standard Open this weekend. It's only a quick jump from Baltimore to the Invitational the following weekend in Columbus and you can bet that players will be pulling out all the stops for the end of Season One. — Matthias Hunt, @MtGMatthias | 
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