Adds speed to a Bant deck as well as providing early evasion... I kinda like it.
iammagic
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(5 votes)
good card. 2 mana for a flying+exalted creature. but woolly thoctar beats this. woolly thoctar's mana cost is mountain+plains+forest and it's a 5/4 creature. beat that!
Eppek_the_Goblin
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(7 votes)
Aven Squire will be competing with Sigiled Paladin, Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, and Jhessian Infiltrator for deck slots - and that's pretty stiff competition. Let's compare the Squire to each of these cards and see which is ultimately the best choice.
1.) Sigiled Paladin - The first advantage Squire has over the Paladin is that it doesn't require as much mana fixing. It's much easier to play a turn 2 card that costs 1W than a card that costs WW, especially if you're running all three of Bant's colors. The second advantage Squire has over the Paladin is that it has evasion, which is nice in an exalted deck. The drawbacks of Squire are that it is smaller to begin with, and it lacks first strike, an ability which can be as good as evasion in the right kind of deck. Overall, I would go with Aven Squire over Sigiled Paladin in 7 out of 10 situations.
2.) Sighted-Caste Sorcerer - Same exact casting cost, so neither card gets the advantage here. Aven Squire has evasion, the Sorcerer can give itself shroud. On the surface, this seems like a no-brainer, but with the removal-rich play environment, it's a very difficult choice. The biggest problem with exalted is that opponents can pick off your attacking creatures one at a time with spot removal if you don't have some way of protecting them. This makes the Sorcerer a very attractive two-drop. On the flip side, big creatures are also quite common, and the Sorcerer will have trouble breaking through the likes of Woolly Thoctar. I say go with Aven Squire.
3.) Jhessian Infiltrator - Squire definitely has the advantage of casting cost over the Infiltrator, especially when you take into account Davidhuman's point that the Aven Squire curves nicely with Akrasan Squire. Also, Jhessian Infiltrator lacks the exalted ability, so doesn't contribute to her own cause. Granted, the Infiltrator has a superior form of evasion, but I don't think that alone makes up for her drawbacks. Aven Squire again takes the cake.
4.) Deft Duelist - I didn't mention Duelist above, but I thought she deserved comparison in this discussion. Her casting cost is slightly worse than Aven Squire and Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, but not as bad (IMO) as Sigiled Paladin or Jhessian Infiltrator. She entirely lacks evasion and exalted, but instead packs first strike and shroud - which can be impressive when she's beefed up by other exalted creatures. Until the release of Conflux, Deft Duelist had been my card of choice for this slot in an exalted deck. Conflux gave us Aven Squire, but also gave us Path to Exile and a number of other spot removal cards. Duelist, like the Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, has problems with Woolly Thoctar and its ilk, but at least her first striking gives her a chance against them. That, and who says we can't play Path to Exile on their creatures? Deft Duelist remains my card of choice.
jhimbob
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
This card has buffed and won a lot of games with my Bant deck. The eventual 5/5 flying can't be beaten, but I'll agree with Eppek and say Deft Duelist is a much nicer card. So I play with both :D
Me and a friend were playing I brought this out (my only exalted flying) the next turn I used sigil blessingmaking it a 4/4 then with my 4 other exalted permanents it became a 9/9 then a soul's might making it an 18/18 till end of turn I used another soul's might the next turn making it a 20/20 and attacked for the win xD
PurpGuy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy has carried me to victory numerous times, when Jhessian Infiltrator was hiding from me. I took out Battlegrace Angel for this and have yet to regret it.
Comments (9)
1.) Sigiled Paladin - The first advantage Squire has over the Paladin is that it doesn't require as much mana fixing. It's much easier to play a turn 2 card that costs 1W than a card that costs WW, especially if you're running all three of Bant's colors. The second advantage Squire has over the Paladin is that it has evasion, which is nice in an exalted deck. The drawbacks of Squire are that it is smaller to begin with, and it lacks first strike, an ability which can be as good as evasion in the right kind of deck. Overall, I would go with Aven Squire over Sigiled Paladin in 7 out of 10 situations.
2.) Sighted-Caste Sorcerer - Same exact casting cost, so neither card gets the advantage here. Aven Squire has evasion, the Sorcerer can give itself shroud. On the surface, this seems like a no-brainer, but with the removal-rich play environment, it's a very difficult choice. The biggest problem with exalted is that opponents can pick off your attacking creatures one at a time with spot removal if you don't have some way of protecting them. This makes the Sorcerer a very attractive two-drop. On the flip side, big creatures are also quite common, and the Sorcerer will have trouble breaking through the likes of Woolly Thoctar. I say go with Aven Squire.
3.) Jhessian Infiltrator - Squire definitely has the advantage of casting cost over the Infiltrator, especially when you take into account Davidhuman's point that the Aven Squire curves nicely with Akrasan Squire. Also, Jhessian Infiltrator lacks the exalted ability, so doesn't contribute to her own cause. Granted, the Infiltrator has a superior form of evasion, but I don't think that alone makes up for her drawbacks. Aven Squire again takes the cake.
4.) Deft Duelist - I didn't mention Duelist above, but I thought she deserved comparison in this discussion. Her casting cost is slightly worse than Aven Squire and Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, but not as bad (IMO) as Sigiled Paladin or Jhessian Infiltrator. She entirely lacks evasion and exalted, but instead packs first strike and shroud - which can be impressive when she's beefed up by other exalted creatures. Until the release of Conflux, Deft Duelist had been my card of choice for this slot in an exalted deck. Conflux gave us Aven Squire, but also gave us Path to Exile and a number of other spot removal cards. Duelist, like the Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, has problems with Woolly Thoctar and its ilk, but at least her first striking gives her a chance against them. That, and who says we can't play Path to Exile on their creatures? Deft Duelist remains my card of choice.