Dear Magic players, PLAY WHITE PLAY WHITE PLAY WHITE PLAY WHITE PLAY WHITE - Love, WotC
P.S. Don't play blue, it's useless. Cheers.
mrnubnub
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(12 votes)
And wizards said white was the weakest... "So we added in Armored Elephant, a 3/5 for 5 mana. It surely makes up for the suck that is Baneslayer Angel." I just hate this card for the fact its balanced by a 5 yr old Yugioh player, and completely makes Serra Angel useless, which was a real cool card, and well balanced.
Mode
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(11 votes)
I also have to agree with the precendent comments: Where is the balance here? Triple-white wouldn't have been a bad idea for this card i guess...
That's not a weenie anymore, that's a ridiculously undercosted card. At least that protection part was redundant as hell. What justifies this card's abilities? Being a Mythic Rare? I hope not...
themanfromouterspace
★★☆☆☆ (2.6/5.0)(7 votes)
Absurd. Five stars.
Joseph_Leito
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(8 votes)
Wow. This is a REALLY nice card. 5cc for a 5/5 with TWO power abilities, flying and dual type protection? Win, I declare. Y'know, cept for being horrendously unbalanced.
Volcre
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(5 votes)
5 for a 5/5 flying is already really good... and then they give it first strike and lifelink... and then they give it 2 stupid protection abilities that are going to win 1 out of a 1000 matches for someone...
Warma
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(6 votes)
Vitun ***t saatana.
ThadeGelna
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(10 votes)
How do you rate this anything other than a 5? We dock marks due to its "overpower" status? Don't get it...
lightning19
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(8 votes)
this card kicks, all u are like this i useless where were u born dragons are huge demons are huge, and flying, first strike, lifelink all for five mana i've seen worse cards cost like 10 mana, if u can add vigilance to it holy heavens help the person staring at it.
demons and bragons are considered the big red and dlack cards so this basicly has protection from the most dangerous creatures, so this card should be counted as a stright 5 stars !!!!!!!!!
Lost 1 game in the release tournament because of this card. Rediculous, just plain rediculous.
Elysiume
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(10 votes)
5cc for a 5/5 is bland and somewhat mediocre for a vanilla creature. Add in flying, and you have a fair, but cheap creature. Then you give it first strike, lifelink, and some half-assed protection, and you have an insanely cheap card. Rarity does not provide sufficient balance. If it was like 4WWW, it would be fine. Even maybe 3WWW. 3WW means that it will go down early, and will dominate the field.
Horribly unbalanced. I opened one, read it, considered trading it. Read it again, decided against trading. Even if I never use my white deck, it's nice knowing I have a Baneslayer in it.
EvO
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(7 votes)
I just hate this card.
UltimaCenturion
★☆☆☆☆ (1.3/5.0)(6 votes)
OW.
INCREDIBLY unbalanced. This is why Black gets Doom Blade, followed by Rise from the Dead.
whiteman
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(7 votes)
great card flying,frist strike,lifelink,dual potection! Cant go wrong.
TroglodyteJB
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(16 votes)
This card is clearly a 5/5 star card in a vacuum, but the fact that it truly seems to throw any semblance of balance out the window is very frustrating. At the very least, it should have been legendary-- even then, it's undercosted. Hell, Xanthrid Demon costs more than this, and you have to feed it a creature every turn! Oh, and Xanthrid is the only flyer in the set naturally bigger than this guy, but even he can't kill her because of protection! Absurdo card.
Wayori
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(15 votes)
Angels we have heard on high, gently sweeping o'er five Plains
And the Mountains in reply, soon filled with Dragon bloodstains
Broooo-o-o-o-o-oooooo-o-o-o-o-oooooooo-o-o-o-o-oooo-o-ken
Goodbye Serra Aaaa-aaan-gel...
On second thought, I'm being a tad overdramatic. There's no way red could get a Dragon out in time to watch it not block and have its attack damage negated by lifelink. Thank Garfield for kill spells.
Rainyday2012
★★☆☆☆ (2.6/5.0)(9 votes)
Red could have trouble with this, mainly due to lifelink. Black and white just point their next removal spell at it. Blue counters it. Green might not be able to kill it, but as long as you're not mono-green this should not be a problem. Serra Angel was very good back in the days, but time passes and the game changes. I think Baneslayer is good, but fair.
Rudyardo
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Is this the future of creatures? Or is this just testing the waters first? Kinda makes me curious as to what insanity Zendikar may bring.
EvilDeath203
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
This card is so freaking broken. I was just using it today and my life total was 59 by the time I finally killed him. The only other creature I played that entire game was an Ornithopter!!!
thaviel
★★☆☆☆ (2.6/5.0)(4 votes)
ok i'd play a 5mana 5/5 flyer without any ability's other then the lifelink the other ability's are just candy
Iiory
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(11 votes)
well it needs vigillance,shroud and protection from blue..and it will be playable :PPPPPPPP
Chromatone
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(10 votes)
1st This was made so people wouldn't whine to hard about Wrath of God. (I'm glad its gone) 2nd I think Wizard's cares much more about draft, Serra is still great and much more frequent. 3rd Cheap removal is plentiful, I came back from 5 to 35 life after terminating her. I value shroud or prot. red/black quite high, so i still prefer to run the Sphinx of the steel wind in control. If she was 5/5 flying, shroud, first strike THAT would be broken. Still you cant not give this card a perfect 5!
godmetal101
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Sorry, forgot to rate it 5 *s
CeremonialBathory
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(7 votes)
They put this in the Divine vs. Demonic duel decks. Divine never loses. I wonder why. (The other big angel card has pro-black). In short, I hate this card. Did they attempt to balance it? Probably not.
Shiduba
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This card is damn powerful! It just mirrors how overpowered white is in M10. 5/5 in every way. Thank god it doesn't have VIGILANCE.... Oh and it's not even legendary.... WTF
woodsgirl
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Step down serra angel for the new rookie. The most powerful feared white creature ever. Should have been a legend. A focal point that shifts superiority to white. Five stars.
SocialExperiment
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
I have to agree, this thing is broken as hell. It wasn't in Divine vs Demonic though, CeremonialBathory, that was just Serra Angel.
YotianSoldier
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(18 votes)
Your right, "Cheap removal is plentiful". But that dosent mean that this card is balanced, a 100000/100000 for 3 mana can be bounced, exiled, burried and pacified too.
This card is balanced in standard 2010 play but its broken for the casual "play any card you have" gamers. Yes there are many many broken cards, but why add to the list? The rules changes for 2010 were targeted for the beginers and the casual gamers to make the game more intuitive. Im a casual player, and this card makes me feel like wizards is phasing out old classic cards and forcing players to buy the new ones. Great job Hasbro, keep it up and there will be a new format "Pre M10 only".
Grimn777
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(14 votes)
5 mana, in a single color, for a 5/5: middle of the road. add flying: hey, this is playable, good even. add first strike: wow, this is great! now I don't even trade with some of their bombs, I just wipe them! add lifelink: wtf?!? add protection from Demons/Dragons: Actually, these barely change anything to be honest. just makes it's interaction with bogardan hellkite that much more beautiful =)
God_of_Destruction
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.7/5.0)(3 votes)
i fought with this card and a simple Terminate made my opponent concede... Oh and there is a demon and a dragon that can beat this in battle: Malfegor and his henchmen, Defiler of Souls and Reiver Demon...
Bauble
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
@ Chromatone Say hello to the Zendikar promo card, Day of Judgement. {2}{W}{W}: Destroy all creatures. It's a sorcery by the way. It's just Wrath Of God with a different name. Same manacost as well. Great, huh.
-
I guess we all know why this card fetches so much on the market these days. Wow. Nothing more CAN be said.
DragonLord132
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Why Mythic cards are broken beyond repair: So Wizards can make more money off you by making the better cards fewer to find, therefore making you buy more and more boxes to find that power gaming card.
Not as great as everyone seems to be making it out to be. But still pretty damn good.
ong312
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(8 votes)
This is with little arguement the best creature in standard. If nothing else it is the most cost effecient. The Lifelink is a touch much when it's a 5/5 first strike, flying.
The argument over it's protection is best solved by this:
Protection from Red & Black renders the creature near banned and restricted list levels in standard. It would only be able to be killed in blue (god forbid you Polymorph them into another one!) or White.
Protection from demons and dragons very rarely effects a game but actually can on very rare occasion. Like if an opponent drops Bogarden Hellkite and CAN'T use it to deal 5 to Baneslayer since it's a dragon... or has to chump block, but doesn't have a chump that is not a demon or dragon.
Wizards has been trying to move toward more downside free large creatures (9/9 shroud for seven for example), however I agree not putting anything else in the set that can compete at a REASONABLE level with Baneslayer is out of hand.
It does not take away from the overall value of the card though
PaladinOfSunhome
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(4 votes)
This card is made of awesome. Give it Double Strike and watch it own the battlefield.
4.0
Kartakass
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
One of my all time favorite cards Serra Angel just become irrelevant. Seriously, this at 3WW is absurd. I'm not going to say they killed Magic 2010 by printing this, but they sure crippled it.. In limited this dominates battlefield and in constructed it's still awesome. In legacy it rocks and in vintage it's just ok. At least they didn't add protection from black and red. 5/5 normally, but 4/5 from a vintage player's standpoint.
Casual play is just as frustrating for some if they keep printing stuff like this.
Donovan_Fabian
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(5 votes)
I think you're all being a bit over dramatic.. there are good cards that come with a variety of the skills available on this card, and the demons and dragons thing sure.. but thats only a big deal if your playing a heavy demon or dragon deck. All the green and blue and white players out there are just like.. ok sure whatever. Without the protection shes a 5 mana angel with 5/5, flying, first strike, and life link. Considering we've seen more than a few cards with practically those exact same stats, although higher cost, I don't see this as game breaking. Paragon of amesha became an angel card like this for 5 mana a turn with higher power and toughness. I'm guessing they didn't want white to be getting totally annihalated by all the new dragons (and there have been a lot of them lately), and the new demons, which are especially powerful. I play green/blue myself, and I look at this card, and shrug.
CheloniaMania
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(11 votes)
increasing rarity to create absurdly nice cards is stupid. Stronger card abilities should be compensated with technical stuff like mana cost and not rarity. makes draft that much more unfair and constructed that much more meaningless because people who really want it would just buy 'em anyway. yeah thats right all WOTC cares about now is that we buy buy and buy
SStopher
★★☆☆☆ (2.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Try this with Wall of Reverance and it's just good game, on it's own its a good card but name a card that can't be good under circumstances, this card, no matter how great, is only good in circumstances, examples: Turn 5 you lay baneslayer angel woo, in responce i play a removal spell, which cost's around 3 less at minimum? Turn 5 you lay Baneslayer Angel woo, in responce i play a counter spell, which cost's around 2 less at minimum? Think this card is over dramatised, yea it's good but it's beatable, and not that hard to beat.
Spideredd
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(6 votes)
I do agree that the card is too cheap, and I play alot of white decks, but the card is containable by means of the humble, and common, Oblivion Ring, or equally humble Doom Blade.
For those who say that the protection abilities are defunct because of the timing of the thing, I say this.
I have a casual deck that can have SIX dragons out on turn two.
That's right, 6 Dragons.
It is a rare occurance, but it happens, courtesy of Dragonstorm and four Dark Rituals.
The one time it happened, all 4 other players conceeded
madformedusa
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
This card is uber-powerful! ........but alas! Malakir Bloodwitch is comin' for ya' girl! LOOK OUT!!!
Omniance
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(16 votes)
One must wonder why this card was ever green-lighted with 5 CMC. Especially since she makes so many past angels/white fatties completely obsolete. Power creeps like this are getting out of hand. A few years ago this would've had a CMC of at least 7. Even if it was 6 it would've been something like 3WWW.
Pwnsaw
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Compare with an old favorite like Serra Angel:
Remove: vigilance
Give: Rarity +1/+1 Lifelink First Strike Pro Demons Pro Dragons
Its not any one thing she does, but that she does so much for such a reasonable cost. Not quite broken in constructed though, since she is as vulnerable as most creatures to removal.
Belz_
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(16 votes)
Ridiculous. It's either slightly undercosted or has one (or two) too many abilities. I always thought Serra Angel was balanced, but powerful. Shepherd of the Lost is a balanced angel as well for the same converted mana cost. But this ? It should've had less power and toughness (say, 3 each), be legendary or cost more, in my opinion. Rarity should have nothing to do with a card's actual power, but instead provide possibilities not present on the more common cards.
LovesBlack212
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Pulled this lady out of a pre-release and I was pleased, but taken back. Wait... all these abilities for five mana. Wow! This thing can win you games, but can be beat just as easily. This is the best from M10 and will be used for a long time. Also, what's with 4.41 rating? This thing is incredible, and overrated, but still it deserves at least 4.85.
Jokergius
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(6 votes)
As everyone SHOULD be aware, it IS NOT that hard to get rid off...Pacifism, O-ring, Journey to Nowhere, Counterspells, and the list goes on and on and on. Broken??? Perhaps...Invincible??? Now you're just being silly. Even a Reprisal can kill it. But power wise, i give it a 3/5... It's protection, not so great. Dragons and Demons, good ol' D&D (not THAT D&D). People don't use them as frequently as you think. Sure, you have your Ob Nixilis, or some other Demons out, or even your Hellkite Overlord or something, doesn't matter. Doomblade/ Terminate it, bye bye nuisance, hello easy prey.
@go
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(5 votes)
OP plain and simple
Tezz
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(3 votes)
compare this to Sphinx of the Steel Wind. the sphinx is better because it has +1/+1 more, all BA's abilities plus viligance, and protection from colors green and red, which is better than pro from demons and dragons. but that all costs you 3 mana more, and thats what makes baneslayer angel so good, i think.
BillyBullshot
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This + Finest Hour brought me back from losing 2-20 to winning. I was amused.
PhagePoker
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(5 votes)
Meh, they've been doing this for a while now, making cards that are just plain better than any comparable card in previous sets. It used to be that 1 mana would buy one power/toughness or 1 ability. You know, as if they were trying to make a game that made sense. Now they've got broken cards like this that you can only realistically get if you buy it as a single or just buy lots of packs, or get crazy lucky.
Champion_Kitsune
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(9 votes)
So good. Excellent. But I hate it soooo much. Would costing it at 7, or adding more W, or taking first strike or lifelink off have killed it? White used to suck, now it's broken. The opposite has happened to blue...I know Magic is a game of swinging pendulums, but come on! That's just the lazy excuse for not balancing the game like you should have been doing all along.
PhyrexianLobbiest
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(13 votes)
I was staring at two of these and a myriad of other angels across the board from me while playing a green deck. I was getting the tar kicked out of me, and I did eventually loose the game; but nothing was more satisfying than blowing Baneslayer out of the sky with Hurricane.
I call it a moral victory.
LeoKula
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(16 votes)
Totally agree with PhagePoker... they're just making ridiculous non specific dumb undercosted vanilla cards that are OBVIOUSLY better than an old one and doesn't even require you to make a choice... some cards like this one are just less cost, more features, period. I liked Magic when it was more complicated, like when you read a card and said "big deal" and then later you'd find a real good use for that.
Sidecutte
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(11 votes)
Seems kinda unbalanced for 3WW
lothrazar
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is great in the EDH format.
Emptyglass77
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
The best 5 CMC creature in Standard, if not any format! Yes, it probably should have cost more, or at least more W. Still, no reason to NOT play this in any deck that runs a decent amount of white. Yeah, its an immediate target for any of the cheap, easy removal that permeates the game. But that goes for pretty much ANY good permanent. Any card that demands a response is a good card! If an opponent leaves your Baneslayer out for more than a round or two, that's typically game. 5 stars from me.
QNG425
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
So nasty, yet so, so good! Just so unfair given secondary market cost, but gotta play 4x if you run white.
5/5
U-caster
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(5 votes)
To me, she kinda seems like akrohmas little sister or something. Definitely playable. Imagine them both in the same deck.
PeterRabit
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
I just have this image of someone using Form of the Dragon then getting slayed by baneslayer anger
revilolee
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(9 votes)
Should cost at least 1 more white mana...but still overpowered nonetheless...
Alex123321
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
tooooo gd to comment on
JaxsonBateman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Supremely good; that's all there is too it. There's no wonder why just about every deck with a little white in it has 4 in the main or sideboard.
KnightLord77
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
As a huge fan of white Angel cards, of course I am thrilled to have this one in a deck! But, I must admit that the first time I saw it, I thought, "Shouldn't there be at least one more W in its cost?" It just seems so blatantly unbalanced. It really should have been 3WWW or 4WWW. Either way, with all of those white-type abilities, it should have had at least WWW in its cost. The "protection from Demons and from Dragons" part doesn't bother me too much. There are plenty of decks out there that won't be affected by these abilities at all. It's the fact that she's a 5/5 with flying, first strike, and lifelink. With these abilities alone, she should cost at least one more White.
jdvue
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Very Powerful Card indeed. I pulled one out holo too from my first m10 pack. She's easy to summon not all that. I face two shivan dragons with her... and in the end lightning bolts just zapped her to bits. I dont see what all the racket is all about? She's powerful, but in these days a 1(b) doom blade gets gid of her like -that- or a terminate, (or in my case, 2 lightining bolts) etc... Powerful, but too powerful that it'll get killed. But when she dominates, she does indeed.
Reliquium
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(7 votes)
"Also, what's with 4.41 rating? This thing is incredible, and overrated, but still it deserves at least 4.85."
You are familiar with the concept of words meaning things, right?
Ajani_is_da_man
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
wow the $50 angel that get TERMINATED!
Taltor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If she dies imprint her with Death-Mask Duplicate.
Nickkom
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(7 votes)
Just a little bit of power-creep over serra angel. The only thing balancing this is that it is a "mythic rare." So it's balanced because only people willing to invest $160 into their deck can use a playset. Everyone else has to settle for less. Just make sure you play magic with people of the same socio-economic standing as you, or lower, and you'll be fine.
Then again, how much does terminate cost? heh heh heh. Die, Angel!
psyklone
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(19 votes)
If someone played this I'd pick my cards up, find someone whos playing Platinum Angel and Darksteel Forge together, make a hat out all my rares, and play against them with what was left. It'll be more fun.
nukeme11
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh what I would do for a playset, besides pay $200.
NecroArTeest
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(12 votes)
baneslayer's lifelink, first strike and +1/+1 (not to mention pro demons/dragons) > serra's vigilance.
both die to removal. (removal excuse is invalid)
what is serra's advantage giving that it has the same cost as baneslayer?
it has none.
realistically serra = virtually useless.
baneslayer will replace it nine times out of ten.
aka power creep.
BelloAbril
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(10 votes)
Completely broken, absurd card. Anything SPLASHING white will run 3 or even a playset. It's the default five drop. It adds NOTHING to the game, it doesnt have interaction, drawbacks, it's not a situational card or anything, well done Hasbro, keep ruining Magic. This is why i dont play it anymore outside of MWS, standard decks run 4x of this 40$ crap and extended decks with creatures MUST run a playset of expensivegoyfs if they dont want to lose. If tarmogoyf is what we see on 'Futuresight' as rare, hell, i can't even imagine what kind of unbalanced crap will wizards come up with for the 'mythic rare' slot in few years.
trooperofdoom
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This card is pretty fresh. However, there's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much removal in Standard right now that is doesn't really live that long. I mean, if it does, you win. But it's literally a removal magnet (I can't take credit for that).
Omnei_of_Bant
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
heheheh the art is sick 5/5
epochei
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
this card is amazing seeing that it can win games by its self if the opponent doesnt get rid of it quickly
RamzaFromIvalice
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Stop complaining, it's not like you can't terminate this one, a bit overpowered and that's it.
Trigvi
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(7 votes)
Hate this card. Mythic rare, uncreative, way broken, costs $200 a playset easy. I can afford a play set of these, however, I hate this card so much I'll never buy it. If Wizards keeps churning up cards as silly as these I will quit playing magic.
zinsavage123
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
this card is expensive as hell even on ebay. I see them go 160-220 bucks all day long.
beyond_malachi
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(6 votes)
A stupid design. Nothing else to say.
AbyssalManZero
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(9 votes)
... I'm inclined to agree with psyklone and Nickkom !
White is quickly becoming a nearly unstoppable force...
Path to Exile, Journey to nowhere, Oblivion Ring and now THIS?? And I know Journey and Oblivion Ring are BOTH type two so just about everyone is playing them together... (Too many are type 2 playing obsessed...)
White is getting all the annoying and insane cards... Where's all the good removal for the other colors??
Aside from Terminate, seriously??
Even Damnation is no longer type two BUT they went out of there way to print a new slightly watered down version of Wraith Of God aka Day Of Judgement... What about the removal for black... Doomblade just doesn't/wont cut it! Doesn't work against black (Though this Angel is white, the point is, the usefullness of doomblade is limited)!! Need new and better removal for other colors like black... Maybe some game removal for once for black (aside from Unmake)!
I mean, how are the other colors suppost to battle THIS when White has most the removal and just about all the good removal at THAT with the only exception being TERMINATE, but you got to play red-black to use it... White is becoming too over powered and just too easy to play and dominate with!!
NecroArTeest makes some painfully good points!
SwordSkill
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(5 votes)
I understand this card is balanced for standard but for casual games with friends and stuff this card is completely broken. It should cost like maybe more...
And why do all the T2 decks need to have so many removals just to get rid of this? I mean I haven't seen any T2 deck with less that 2 kind of removals X4 each... All in case someone cast all these crazy creatures that are T2 such as Terra Stomper this, and the 9/9 shroud (Whitch posses the less threat of all.)
And another thing that I don't understand is that they excuse this by making it Mythic Rare? Ok wizards let me know then if you make another rarety such as Epic Rare and put something like:
Ultra Super Power Savant Monster Haste, Trample, Double Strike
6/5
And I promise you that you will get some fanatic player who would pay with their lives to get it but the games would have been already ruined. So what do you prefer? To make money or to make a game that will last for generations? It's up to you. If you decide the first, then do the above or make another Black Lotus and name it Back Lotus so it won't have the same name and you will get new idiots that would happily run to get it.
kittyspit
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(7 votes)
for all you complainers out there about how unfair and unbalanced and 'how this card makes me wanna quit magic waah waah'....i play this card and play against this card, and you know what? it's NOT THAT GREAT IF YOU KNOW HOW TO HANDLE ONE. now, what was that instant removal spell that i always find sooo useful against this...doomblade perhaps?
rithrim
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
strictly worse than storm crow
Dingo777
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
so overpowered it makes sane people cringe, yes any white players love it, but this is just power creep going too far, this is near invincible and will haunt magic for years, there will be one nailed to the wall in every designer's room with a sign, NEVER AGAIN, just as a warning to them to never let something like this happen again, it was completely uncalled for
Bogarden Hellkite is the closest thing in terms of power in the same set to this card and even then, that is fairer, a 5/5 flying flasher that blasts multiple things when it comes in priced reasonably for its abilities
blitzer090909
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
OK yes it is unbalanced for its stats, but his card may as well have the ability,
apon entering play target opponent discards one creature remove spell, or you win the game
i mean honestly they will be getting 5 life back a turn and it takes a 6/6 with flying that isnt a demon or dragon...on 5th turn...to even have a chance to take it out
but lets all be glad it dosent have pro red/black
Behalter
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(10 votes)
Stupidly overpowerd and overpriced..... Don't like it even though its awesome -_-
fastpond
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
this card is good, but clone is still the best creature out there.
P-Slice
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(14 votes)
This card is stupid. I mean, come on! Why not just make it a one-drop?
Kryptnyt
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
But when the chips are down, Serra Angel can still attack AND block. And its cheaper to put in your deck too! ^_^ Well, I tried. Hard.
Guest1760089517
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(9 votes)
This card epitomizes everything I hate about modern Magic. Totally over powered / under coasted. Nothing fun about this card at all, Simply put this card reads "unless you have X4 of this card as well you will probably not beat me" cards like this ruin the game, they take away the strategy / skill and creativity and create a situation where there is just one best deck, which every one has. I love Magic the Gathering but the more I see this kind of insane card in newer sets the less inclined I am to buy newer sets and less likely I am to play new opponents as my not playing this doesn’t stop others from doing so. Shame on you Wizards for deciding that Mythic Rare should = overpowered and un-fun.
kowrip
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(5 votes)
I just pulled one of these from a pack last night and was very happy. This is definitely an excellent card. I rate it a 4.5, but I also don't see why this card is demanding such a high price. It's not a game breaker and it's not exactly hard to get rid of. It's just an excellent creature and nothing more. I also don't think it's necessarily better than a Serra Angel. It's very situational and vigilance is such a great ability to have, especially in multi-player games. In any case, I won't complain at all about such a great card.
MizoreIceQueen
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
as NecroArTeest said
"baneslayer's lifelink, first strike and +1/+1 (not to mention pro demons/dragons) > serra's vigilance.
both die to removal. (removal excuse is invalid)
what is serra's advantage giving that it has the same cost as baneslayer?
it has none.
realistically serra = virtually useless.
baneslayer will replace it nine times out of ten.
aka power creep. "
I'm pretty sure liflink itself = vigilince because unless you're going to chump block you should have the same board position from it (attack = 4 (5 but this is ignoring the +1/+1 in order to look at the ability matchup) damage to opponent, +4 life, taken later as damage when opponent attacks, no creature loss... vs. attack for 4 damage, then block opponent and trade, both lose a creature and your net life is still the same) then you get bonus +1/+1, first strike, and pro demons/dragons just cuz
I think I'd hate this card less if Serra Angel wasn't in the set... but why wotc, why destroy a classic =/
HolyArchangel
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(8 votes)
I don't really care about this card. Definitely over powered, but not hard to get rid of. Doom Blade or Terminate. Tah-dah!
faisjdas
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Good card, but has a huge target on it's head whenever it hits the board. When I'm playing against WW I always try to save a doom blade or terminate to take care of her when she drops.
MTGFreak
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Can you people stop all the bytching about this card?
Overpowered, probably. But this pales in comparison to Akroma's abilities and trying to compare this to Serra Angel is not an acceptable comparison. Serra was OP when it was printed in comparison to what was out at the time. Now theirs cards like Phage, Platinum Angel, Stigma Lasher,Tarmogoyf or even Lord of Extinction
BlechLotus
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Five reasons this isn't going to break standard 1.Terminate 2.Doomblade 3.Hideous end 4.Path to Exile 5.Assassinate and jund aggro is way more broken than a few white cards like this. If anything, go post this stuff on Blightning and Sprouting Thrinax
jacecontrol24
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(3 votes)
People need to stop freaking out about this card........... there is enough removal in jund and naya, boros normally has answers and vampire easily beats it... it is overpowered but having four in your deck does not mean you win at all
Japster
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(7 votes)
WalletSlayer Angel = Normal
BankAccountSlayer Angel = Foil
lordinfamous
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(6 votes)
You people complain too much you cant argue w a card that has so much going for it. I run 2 baneslayers in a elf and angel deck and when ever they come out to play i always get a satisfying groan from my opponents. I freakin love this card!!
Esprel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
zomg she is naked
SChowney
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Should cost 3WWW. 2WWW AT LEAST if only to prevent people from splashing for it. In a mono-white deck it's not too unbalanced these days, I don't think. For the cost, I think it could've shed Lifelink or First Strike, though. Pro Demons & Dragons is unnecessary. It's not as if Standard is particularly Demon & Dragon heavy, is it? I pulled one of these out of the first M10 booster I bought, and swapped out a Serra Angel for her in my mono-white angel deck, but if I drop her, she gets dealt with. Somebody's always going to use Hideous End, Path to Exile, Pacifism, Paralyzing Grasp, etc. Sometimes I wonder if her job is solely to take the heat off everybody else...
Asic
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Why isn't this a legendary creature? I might have been okay with it if it was.
VirtueVsVice
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
I wouldn't mind if this got restricted. Like Belloabril said, it's the default five-drop. I understand that removal ({b} and {w} removal at least) can take care of it, but this card just takes so much originality out of the game.
ClowWizardEriol
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(6 votes)
It's a powerful creature card with an efficient casting cost. Because of that, the card is insanely priced, especially since it was in a deck that won a Pro Tour qualifier. Even though there are plenty of low-cost creature removal cards in all formats, Baneslayer Angel demands attention when it enters the battlefield. It is a threat that cannot be ignored.
Juzám Djinn is also a creature card that has a high retail price, because it is powerful and efficient for its casting cost. Thus, even after Baneslayer Angel rotates out of Standard, I expect its retail price to remain relatively high.
D.C.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It has prtection from demons and dragons, and can be killed by demon dragon Malfegor.
Tobolococo
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(4 votes)
wizards, if you want an outstanding angel that is not completely broken like this then i suggest:
5cmc
4/5
Flying, Haste, Viligance
that would be a GREAT card even an EXCELENT card and not riducolous like this, you could make that a rare, what makes this so broken is mostly the lifelink and first strike.
thatguywiththebeard
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Baneslayer is over rated... It's not like its invinsible or anything. just packed with tons of abilities and too low of a mana cost. Not saying it's a bad card though because it isnt.
daekoaram
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This Card isn't that good , just one hideous , terminate ,feast if blood, pacifism and other cards can destroy this lol
all4ourking
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(4 votes)
When people groan about this card i say then don't try and pretend to be a "professional" player. If you aren't willing to spend money to get a professional deck, don't act like your that good. Baneslayer is not broken, its just very powerful. It doesn't have shroud/indestructibility. Its fine. Just path it.
But seriously, I have a very strong love-hate relationship with this card for a myriad of reasons, but you can't argue with the fact that pound-for-pound she's probably the best 5-drop in Magic history save Morphling.
Tommy9898
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(6 votes)
I wonder what the game would be like if a set was full of bad to ok cards? Might be fun.
Selez
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(6 votes)
If they reprint this in 2011 I'm going to be impossibly mad.
Please, Wizards, take advantage of your new, annual rotation of the core set, and learn from this horrid mistake. Resonance is the worst excuse for making a card overpowered that I have ever heard.
Zoah
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The only thing about this card that makes me even slightly afraid of it is it's First Strike. The rest hardly matters to me at all.
I don't get why everyone is so scared of life-link. Just today I had someone surrender to me, because he knew he was going to lose, when he had thirty life and I had seven.
Although I will admit,
Base rating: ***
stats and abilities exceed cost: +**
As far as straight forward cards go, she's as nasty as they come": *****
kilovortex
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
i can see how this card would be popular with the standard decks, but over all way over rated. it will more than likely drop in value like the rest of the over priced mythics and rares. i can see this card topping out at $15-$20 range, but $60 is absurd. this card will never be akroma, angel of wrath !!!
SleetFox
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
I don't see the purpose of rating this low because it's too powerful. It most certainly is powerful. It most certainly was a mistake. It most certainly does neuter the game. That's all the more reason it deserves five stars. It's ridiculously powerful, and that's more than enough to deserve five stars.
bighaben
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(20 votes)
This card is great, but it's just too much. This card should not cost 5CC, it's just ridiculously over powered. I think the public has stated that they don't like cards like this. Cards that cost $40 is not healthy for magic, Richard Garfield said so himself! 20 is the limit for standard, and this card was clearly created to be insanely powerful. WotC does not deal with the secondary market much so their not banking on this. But this card being so above the curve, so ridiculously overpowered, and so insanely rare just crosses the line. Put the card at Rare, or don't print it at all. Put fun things at mythic. Chase mythic's are not healthy for the game. If you make them, make them good in one, or two decks. Not good in every single deck that even considers playing the color of the card. Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Baneslayer are the only two I can think of. Zendikar was perfect in the regard that none of the mythics were so sought after that they were overpriced. Cards like Omnath, and Lotus Cobra is what we like to see in the mythic slot.
garbagegatherer
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@BelloAbril: Hasbro is just the distributor. In other words: don't be silly.
EpicPridemage
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
meh, easily killable, called divine verdict, doomblade, ... or made useless: faiths fetters, pacify, frozen solid ... or blockable: gianth spider + giant growth, ...
True_Smog
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(7 votes)
An overpowered moneySLayer. What were they thinking ?!
Snowfan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
WTB.
spicayd
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
No offense, but anyone not giving this thing a 5/5 does not realize how absurdly broken this card is.
"Oooooh it dies to removal, this card suxors."
Yeah, and so does 95% of the creatures out there. Unlike most of those creatures though, an unanswered Baneslayer basically says: You win.
And no, I'm not one of the guys who goes out and buys a playset of the "staple" cards to keep fresh decks..the most I've spent on a single card is like $2, and then I trade for card I think would be effective. Yet cards like this make me cringe at how over-powered they are.
xonix2002
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
Good card, but it dies to a Storm Crow with two giant growths, which will actually cost less.
BrutalJim
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
I play white and I am even mad this got printed. I guess if I wanted to spend 200$ and get 4 copies of this I would think differently, but I certainly won't be doing that anytime soon.
MagnusTW
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(7 votes)
Just stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The designers are infinitely shortsighted for letting this get to print. This creature is a turning point in the history of Magic: the Gathering, and not for the better.
NeoSin
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(5 votes)
White is becoming so broken its not even funny. Cards like this and Path to Exile are just flatass unfair.
Studoku
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(18 votes)
I'm so glad wizards kept their promise of not printing tournament staples at mythic rare.
Youipt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I can't kill this thing, its got a great set of abilities.
I play a Destructon/Lifegain deck, and fought a Baneslayer and three wall of denials and only had a Hellkite Charger out. died pretty fast.
9.5/10, great opposition
TennGuy1988
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Did you guys know that the art for Baneslayer Angel was gonna be the art for Serra Angel in 9th edition? I always looked at this card and it seemed so familar to me but it wasnt till I was goign through some old stuff and found an unopened 9th fat pack (packs didn't have anything good but a wrath, figures) but while I was reading the players guide it had a section on the art for serra angel and this was the first draft.
Dregrage
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Fortunately, it dies to removal.
Azymth
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
At 3WW she is insanely cheap, but hardly a "GIN" card when she arrives. I always stack my decks with plenty of creature control and my crosshairs would drop on her as soon as she hit the table. Cards like this are mythically rare for a reason. It would take someone a fortune to get four of her in their deck and if they have the Money to do that, then their deck is probably ridiculous in the first place.
I LIKE the fact that Hasbro creates cards like this and makes them hard to find. It adds a mystery and luck to the game. Powerful cards should be extremely rare. The game is more strategy than "who can put the most powerful creatures in their decks." I've built very successful decks out of commons and uncommons with nothing with a mana cost above 3 and kicked some serious ass with them.
Any card can be dealt with: doom blade, deathmark, terror, pacify, divine verdict, seismic strike, fireball, blinding mage, assassinate etc. need I say more?
WER386
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(5 votes)
This thing is totally overrated. I can think of around a dozen 5 mana, less than 5/5, non flier, first strike and/or lifelink that are actually white in extended, let alone the protections. Now its the Baneslayer Angel, later will be the Aeon's Torn (15/15 flying, when cast you play an extra turn, protection from colored spells, if put on graveryard, shuffle it into library, 15 CMC colorless, card from Rise of Eldrazi). The developers are having a spike of "lets make uber stuff that costs 500% times more than normal stuff in both, mana cost and real life cash just to see what comes out!". Well developers, after ROE, STOP THE DARN SPIKE OF UBER CARDS. I understand metagame sometimes changes and needs some refining, comparing a Sisai's ring with a Sol ring, but it has limits; you cannot put 144 cards that read "cannot block unless you control a zombie" and a 145 one that reads "15/15, zombie, flying, trample, haste, lifelink, vigilance, cannot be the target of opponent's spells, you have no maximum hand size, when enters play you draw 9 cards, 25 CMC colorless", you want to know why? in 2 ways: 1-elvish piper is still in standard (next cycle out of standard, about 3 months, cycle out of extended: about 6 years, does not rotate out of legacy, not even restricted in any format); and if you dont play green guess what? your opponent is either lucky or rich and plays elvish piper that drops a 15/15, flying, trample, haste, lifelink, vigilance, cannot be the target of opponent's spells, you have no maximum hand size, when enters play you draw 9 cards, 25 CMC colorless" on turn 3. So what do you do? make a green deck with an elvish piper and... you know the rest. and 2- Simple: ill gather 25 mana and win the game 2 turns later. This is a serious calling to whoever is developing rise of Eldrazi, my warning: dont mess with the balance of quality of the cards, I'm a modest MTG player since weatherlight expansion and pains me to see a 5/5 flier with 4 more abilities for 5 mana when I recall of cards that cost 4 mana and were 2/2 with fear and "when deals combat dmg to an opponent he/she discards a card". You are putting a "2/2 CMC=2B, cannot block if you don't control a vampire" (Mindless Null) and a Baneslayer in the same format, unless you want to completely discard players like flies and force them to pick the white color and a baneslayer angel, or better yet, why bother with colors? get the 15/15 eldrazi thing. Today, in a dozen games I played 12 games (100% if you did not get it) against blue+random color, mostly red, 4 wall of denial, 4 jwar isle sphinx, lands, things to draw cards and around 15 counters, in STANDARD ONLY!, please, I expected to see this card with a direct 5/5 stars, but the fact its rating is not even 4.5 shows that most people think in the same way. I've always been a poor player who hardly get enough cash to have a MTGO account with decent cards, but if the developers keep shooting these kind of cards, I'd rather go and play ju-gi-oh (w/e its spelled), where overpowered cards are in great numbers at least.
ICEFANG13
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Well she is overpowered, her SCR (Storm Crow Ratio) is 14/5ths which is amazing! I'm not a fan of very powerful cards that just win games, I like a little thought when using your creatures, however it is printed it is overpowered, it dies to removal like many cards. thornraven made an excellent comment and I would like to see it slightly different such as a 4/4 first strike that becomes the above card when you are losing life wise. But magic friends remember why the rules changed? It was for new players and if a new guy somewhere gets one in his first booster and wins a game by the skin of his teeth on his first game because of this card, this honestly overpowered card, let him be happy. I remember my first magic learning moment when playing against thornraven the first time, I was losing bad, and I asked him if I could play Barter in Blood when I had no creatures and made him sacrifice his two guy field. That was a special memory for me. I was also the first of my magic friends to see the potential for using Path to Exile. Magic is trying to restart in some ways let this be a Black Lotus for the new generation, and let Razor Boomerang be the new Wood Elemental. Like I said its already here don't hate it too much it is what it is.
Clearly 5/5 and P.S. Magic R&D please don't print another Baneslayer Angel or Storm Crow powered level card for a while it messes with the Balance.
heh lapdog I used a magic card as a word :D
thrallallmighty
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I think Admonition Angel is better just one land enters and you kill baneslayer angel with her. it is a good card but not soooo good it isnt overpovered.
fallout2012
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What doe's everyone have a huge boner over this card for? Yeah its sweet but I can think of endless ways to kill it as soon as it comes out. Hit's you a couple times, gain a little life? So what. Sphinx of Steelwind is way better then this.
JeditTheUntouchable
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(5 votes)
three words, PATH TO EXILE!!!!!!
agalloch
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Maybe it should cost one more mana, but it's certainly not broken. People are complaining about power creep among creatures, but I'm not. In the early days of Magic, Creature spells were weak and non-Creature spells were overpowered. Yes, there has been a power creep among creatures, but I welcome it. Creatures are finally being costed at what they should have been costed in the first place.
Despite this argument, yeah, it should probably cost one more mana. But it's not so far off the curve that I would call it broken. It's played in Standard, but it hardly warps the format.
Beautiful artwork, by the way.
Lunarblade
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Probably the most feared white creature out there.
mlanier131
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(7 votes)
TOO good. If this is reprinted I will quite playing magic.
thornraven
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is a card that will almost always be used in constructed and limited. Yes, I will warp my deck color just to fit this guy in there, in limited. In standard, She is a strong pull to play white, but I'd rather play Jund. Almost 5/5, but can't beat Jund. 4.5/5 So close, too bad.
Not overpowered enough.
Stray_Dog
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
ARGUMENT FOR: Sometimes having overpowered cards can be fun, simply for the fact that they are overpowered! Cards like Baneslayer Angel divide the playing field into two types: those who play the card, and those who do not play the card. This adds structure and a minimum of predictability to the meta-game. You KNOW people will be playing Baneslayer Angel, simply because they have no reason NOT to play it! Furthermore, people who play Baneslayer Angel KNOW that there will be many players who have prepared their decks specifically to counter it, so they will have to include stuff to protect their investment.
So perhaps, if Magic did not have these notorious cards, these 'celebrities', the game would be less interesting?
Besides, how sweet is it to go up against a $60 (Australian) Baneslayer and counter it on turn 5 with a simple $0.20 Essence Scatter? Very satisfying of course!
InsideousRakael
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
This is ridiculous. Have they just run out of ideas and decided to just give up? These card designers need to start using their imagination instead of just packaging abilities together for low, low prices.
BiOhyBr
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is the reason I keep a Nemesis Trap in my black deck.
I had someone a few days ago use a Tooth and Nail to pop out her and a Progenitus on me, adding insult to injury was having an Anger in the graveyard and controlling a handful of Mountains.
We were both playing our Red/Green decks, and for 2 mana, I made his heart stop. G, tap, Elvish Piper a False Prophet into play. R, tap, Lightning Bolt the prophet. Problem solved, killed him the following turn using a good old fashioned (and cheap) Blistering Firecat.
End result? Priceless.
MrDressup
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
if i was a rich man i would plaster my walls (literaly) with every copy of this card and invite everyone over to see how i saved standard...until it rotates SO STOP WHINING its AWESOME
people say they miss cards like phexian dreadnought and Juzam djinn, this is IT
Sironos
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(7 votes)
I think wizards has a manic depressive guy in the 5CMC design staff that made this one day and chimney imp the next day ;)
OpenSeasonNoobs
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Best White aggro card ever. Better than Akroma even, cause it's cheaper.
Eved
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I got one in a booster. Saved myself $56. I don't plan on buying 3 more, no matter how much I like this card. Oh, by the way, my Serra Angel wins me more games then this guy does because my Serra isn't a removal magnet.
Nytestryke24
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
...
Air_Silverblade
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Good card, but it die to.. no wait, just kidding. I love her.
Cute-Hydra
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This card is appalling I mean it takes 4 turns to win a game for 5 mana, there are plenty of cards that win the game quicker than that for 5 mana I mean Door to Nothingness wins the game the turn after and only costs 5mana.
BlackAlbino
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
i like wood elemental better ; but seriously, very OP, pushes most other balanced angels out of use, although not as OP as some eldrazi... 10 mana 12/12 loads of bonuses, no drawbacks, tons of cards designed to ramp him... 15 mana, you've basically won, again loads of ramping... 7 mana, destroy all but lands and your OP fatties... yet this is what people focus on and the eldrazi are 'brilliant'
back to this card... although it's OP and shouldn't be reprinted, Jund will easily dodge the pro-dragon, chew her up, mutilate the body, and bring her back to fight for you. not only jund, my hellcarver deck destroyers her and everything else. balance & it that betrays ( just cause it's OP don't mean you don't use it =P ) Or just tie her up w/ guard gomazoa
boggsanator
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
even if it is a creature (and therefore easily removed) good lord. i liked the idea that to get first strike AND lifelink on a creature it required enchantments and the 2 4 1 risk. give this thing a combat trick or deathtouch with basilisk collar....gross.
it's not that it's so powerful, it's that it's a 5 drop. If the Serra Angel is a 5 drop, then this should at least be wwwww, preferrably 4www or 5www, but there isn't evena drawback. It's like Wizards said 'hmm...you know what would be funny? If a card could just win even if you couldn't possibly win before it was played...like if you were down by 30 life or had zero board control".
I think it changed the metagame and it certainly changed the monetary factor of building a good competitive deck....oh, wait.....yeah, that was the point...it's about the money.
NinjaJeff
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Welcome back for another year of Standard, BSA. You rock!
Aun
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Very strong card, almost as broken as the Gyof
Oh, now they reprint it in M11? Awesome, Wotc makes more money!
persecutor
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This demands Wrath Of God or Day of Judgement by itself. It's that good. 5/5
Duskdale_Wurm
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Extremely broken. And it is legal everywhere?!
0.5/5
If Wizards wanted to make a broken card they could always make it 4WW. Even then it's broken.
It should be 5WW or 3WWW. Fortunately it dies to Doom Blade. : )
Hibron
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
This you could have cut three of its four abilities and it still would be a solid card.
This... thing... should never have been printed. They better not reprint it in M2011.
EDIT: They did.
@Cute-Hydra Was that a joke? Mana acceleration might get you there faster, but door to nothingness costs as much as a progenitus to activate. Hardly a turn 6 win.
slaveofbolas
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
i honestly have no real problem with this card. its good yes, its op, yes, but honestly there are so many cards like this these days and they have many answers to cards like these, i mean even in a zendikar intro pack, i already have the perfect counter to a baneslyaer, malakir bloodwitch. sure she is 1 point behind the angel stat wise, but vamps have got angels in the bag.
nineyears
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
she is so good is ensane how good she is... but i gotta be honest, i dont even have one copy of this angel and they are too expensive for me to buy. i mean i got lucky for having four jace, the mind sculptor and four gideon jura and four elspeth, knight-errants.( i didnt buy them either i just got lucky with booster packs and fat packs and trading cards for them) i mean i wouldnt spent fifty dollar in a card thats too much for a piece of cardboard with printed artwork on it.
this card is exicting if u dont get it kill u r done. but for the records i like spells like path to exile and condemn which can literally shut down any danger in the horizon. i am a fan of brave the elements which is an amaizing spell in my opinion. these card are fun for me to play with and plus i like having tricks up my sleeves.
as for baneslayer angel herself, i hope i get to have at least three copies of her this time around. that will literally make my mono white deck a lot more powerful. as for now, i got to settle down with honor of the pure which is great.
OutlawD1
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
legendary, 5/4, 4WW or 2WWW and this card might have been balanced
"We are happy to have it be one of the faces that represents Magic to the world" - Wizards
FFS, seriously? OP cards drive dem' kids wild
can you say '$160 deck minimum' for another year?
lungsoftheocean
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I believe this card is included in M11 as well. Maybe it will drop in price? I still can't believe the punch it packs for only 5. Yikes. Love it though! So long as its in my deck and not someone elses!
Tezzeret1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I'm not a fan of this card, the only thing i like about it is lifelink, i mean it does'nt even have vigilance, pro demons and dragons?!?!? kinda stupid, Serra Angel is better than this chick
Bulhakas
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
So this is what this great game has come to? This card's design is as subtle and clever as a mad ogre banging its head against a rock.
Gomorrah
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This just in- mlanier131 has just quit Magic!
Knight_of_the_Abyss
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
You're all just jealous of blue and white magic users. :3
achilleselbow
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
This card represents the reason why I don't play standard and instead just make crazy decks out of odd cards I've accumulated over the years. And I have a pretty decent-paying job too, it's just that I would just feel retarded paying the equivalent of a round-trip plane ticket for 4 pieces of cardboard that are not even going to be 'legal' in a year or so. Screw you, Wizards.
EvilCleavage
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
You know what, I really gotta say, I had a different outlook on this card months ago. I thought that it was perfectly cool to have a card that costs 40-50 dollars mere months after it's release. On one hand, I have to admit, it makes me feel reeeeeal good knowing that Elspeth I pulled about two months ago in a booster is worth forty bucks. But on the other hand, I don't even play with it, I can't make a deck with 2 or four of them in it, and I doubt I'll be pulling any more anytime soon haha. But when you look at a card you don't have, it really sucks to know your chances to get one are very slim, and the more time passes the harder it's gonna get. You know, it wouldn't be that bad if you could actually get your hands on some M10! Seriously, the next core set needs to have a lot more printings. I think that would solve the whole problem with the prices. Straight up, It sucks that my local shop doesn't bring in M10 just because they are more expensive and they don't make as much on them as say RoE, Zendikar, and Worldwake :S. PRINT MORE WOTC! You will make us so much happier!
The_Trendkill
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
This card is only marginally less degenerate than Psychatog. Since the time this was released, I honestly cannot say that I've seen a deck that was capable of producing white mana that would not have been better with four of these in it.
For someone like me who is constantly walking the fine line between casual and competitive play, this card is very bothersome. It represents a considerable number of things that I believe are very bad for the game. Firstly, it gives me serious concern about power creep. Not since the heady days of Ravager Affinity being legal in standard have we seen the release of cards as powerful as this, several of the planeswalkers, and the cascade mechanic. Similarly, not since those days have we seen a deck as dominant in standard as Jund has been over the past year, and sadly, the remarkably overpowered and thoughtless cascade mechanic is the only thing that has been keeping Baneslayer in check. It's degeneracy countered by degeneracy, and that's a bad situation for the game.
Secondly, I don't think it's healthy for the game for there to be not just one, but several $40+ cards in the standard format, which is supposed to be "accessible". In fact, cards that expensive aren't really justifiable until one turns back the clock all the way to Legacy and Vintage, and in those formats the only cards I would usually be willing to shell out that much money for are dual lands and some various other old gems. Such prices are understandable in eternal formats, but $500 decks in standard is unacceptable. Mark Rosewater said to us all in his column regarding the introduction of Mythic Rares that it would be Wizards' policy to not just print the most powerful tournament staples at mythic rarity. Based on this, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Gideon Jura, and Elspeth, Knight-Errant, I feel inclined to say that the public has been cheated.
Additionally, this card seems so brainless. Is it fun to play with? Absolutely. Hardly anything in Magic is more fun than pounding on your opponent with a really good creature. However, just because something is fun does not mean it is good for the game. Playing Tolarian Academy was fun. Playing Ravager Affinity was fun. Playing Trix was fun. Those decks also ruined formats and led to bans. Of course, the one thing those decks required that winning a game with Baneslayer Angel does not require is mental capacity. Whenever you were trying to go off with Necropotence orArcbound Ravager you had to make sure that you weren't about to accidentally overextend yourself and mess things up; once Baneslayer hits the table, if it's not immediately dealt with, the game is over. Morphling is as overpowered a 5-drop as there ever was, and it's jaw drops at the sight of this thing. It may have been annoying as hell in its time and won more games than Baneslayer ever will, but at least Morphling required you to think and plan ahead farther than turning the card sideways.
So how good is the card? It's up there with renowned names like Morphling, Psychatog, Arcbound Ravager, and Tarmogoyf. I dislike it tremendously but I can't deny it's power, and on it's own merits as a creature, it's a 5/5 if there ever was one.
f_fivefiftyseven
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Honestly its not as broken as people say. I agree that it should have a CMC of 6, but even costing 5 it isn't completely broken or format warping. While it is a mythic, and overpriced, many standard decks that run white don't even maindeck a playset. More than anything, Baneslayer isn't an unfun card to play against. Very few of the "broken" cards and decks in standard are. The only deck I honestly don't enjoy playing is Mythic Con***ion. However, I will say that this card is pushing the limit, and is almost always better than Serra Angel
n00bmag1
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This one time, MTG made a creature card that was too good. People responded by poting comments about how it liked to make a classic like serra angel grab its ankles and plead for lube. MTG responded by reprinting it. Then, for no reason, everone died. True story.
TDL
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
A part of my love for Magic died when I saw this is going to be reprinted in M11. Should have been renamed "Baneslayer Seraph" so we could all call her "BS".
Kirbster
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Okay, so it's efficient. But who would you really rather have if you had only two islands - this or Storm Crow? Yeah, I thought so. Storm Crow is a directly superior card.
Jamesb8
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
which idiots didn't give this a 5
sheesh...
Pilin
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(7 votes)
THIS SUCKS!
Broken and overpowered. This card is definitely a scam, and if these designers keep it up with the tournament-staple mythics, there are gonna be lots of guys quitting tournaments altogether on account of not being able to afford (and contend with) the 500+ dollar decks.
What I don't get is that many of you guys complain about this card's excessive power, and you still give it a rating of 5 stars. The way I see it, the stars are not meant to reflect on the power level of the card; they're meant to reflect whether you like the card or not, and whether or not it's good for the game.
Everyone at Wizards KNOWS this card is blatantly overpowered, but they're gonna look at this card's feedback and say "Well, most complain about the power level, but they're still loving it, see? FIVE STARS... I guess they actually like overpowered stuff, even if they say they don't. Now we'll have to make all kinds of unbalanced cards on every other color, so they can contend with this freaking monster. Better yet, let's make every single card slightly overpowered -yes, even commons and uncommons, what the heck- and transform Magic entirely."
I suppose there's a lot of pressure to keep players interested after so many years, but they're taking easy street with cards like this. More power is not better. This is not only strictly better than Serra Angel, it's on the same set, and that's just wrong.
I understand Magic changes and evolves through time; first we had Lightning Bolt, then it got swapped with Shock because Lightning Bolt was too powerful at the time and it was unhealthy for the game. Now we have Lightning Bolt back and it's not so terrible. Printing Baneslayer Angel at this cost and in this set is like printing Lightning Bolt and Shock together, only Shock would be common and Lightning Bolt uncommon or rare. Following this logic, a Red instant for 1 Red mana could deal five or six damage if you put it at mythic rare. That's just twisted and greedy. Really cheap Shot, WotC. Really cheap.
spike_barnett
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Cards like this are killing Magic. 0/5
thepoisonx
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(5 votes)
Ever since the arrival of Shards of Alara, Magic began suffering from a power creep, being this a perfect example. And seeing the spoiler from M2011(this abomination being reprinted) they arent done yet with power creeping.
Magic is bleeding and slowly dying.
Ashamed
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Guess what's being reprinted?
Enchantment_Removal
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
It just dawned on me that Wizards is trying to, like, start Magic over. Sort of into a new game, or new round. So they are making cards in context of what's out recently and, so it seems, paying absolutely no attention to cards older than Lorwyn. So just like in the original days of Magic, where THE creature was Serra Angel, in this new magic, one of THE creatures is this here Baneslayer Angel. But then there is the context. What kind of removal did Magic have back then? Whatever it was, it was not nearly as state-of-the art as removal today.
Where is the multiverse ID to Combust already??
My main argument here is that this is not "power creep" for the sake of "power creep". The game has been many places and has developed over a long time. Also, the players of the game have a big impact on the game.
Yeah, I don't like where things are headed just like a lot of you- but here's why: The majority Magic players shape the Magic game according to their attention spans- which are getting progressively shorter and shorter. So Wizards comes out with cards with more huge, more clear, advertisements. Example: So you win a game against someone; the reason why you won and they lost is because you knew something that they didn't. Their loss right? Until the combined amount of those players' woes urges Wizards to adjust the game for them, causing you to lose the rules that allowed your strategies to work.
Bear in mind: Magic is not a super secret fraternity. It constantly needs people to pay the starving artists that make our cards (they are probably not starving). So at all times and all places, make good Magic players out of others, so that we can have a good game. When you win a game at the expense of someone else, you help make a lame Magic player, and they all form to make a lame game.
Test-Subject_217601
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
By the way, I got my Baneslayer out of a booster pack.
omggeesterliciousman
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This card shouldn't be rated down because it's too good, people should just respect it for being so powerful. I think it's a great card and deserves a 5/5
TheMoustacheCame
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(5 votes)
i remember the time when u were playing a no abilities 5/5 for 7 mana was a nice deal, wizards its just making broken cards so if u wanna continue playing u HAVE TO buy new expansions, after invasion block, the game went straight down with a lil comeback in timespiral, this kind of card is a big fu you to the players who play extended, due standart mean change your deck all the time, and vintage means playing against decks that can win the game in turn 1 or even 0 wich i dont see interesting in a game. And now they put name to every freaking ability and make 1000 cards with it due their lack of creativity.... just go to the beloved dominaria card and art style and start doing things right again
Lionhawk
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I mean seriously, who would you rather have? Serra Angel, or this pretty little Minx? 5/5
Boday1
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Yes, It's broken. But do we really need to whine about it? Look at the decks winning large tournements, I see little to no Baneslayers in there. Sure I use four in my U/W control, and SURE I spent the money to get them, but you really need to get over yourselves a little. This is the way the game is, if you don't like it go play something else.
Zulp
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(8 votes)
I've never seen such a polarizing card as far as controversy.
surewhynot
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
With the new card Plummet, BS angel's price is doing just that. So to all those spikes out there who forked over $200 for a playset...how stupid do you feel now? XD
Down to $15 a piece. With U/W control being weak again with Shards leaving, this card is now vaguely affordable. A playset is only $60 -.-
MasterOfEtherium
★☆☆☆☆ (1.3/5.0)(9 votes)
Stop Complaining NERDS I Want Mythics To Be Godly 5/5 Keep em C U Mmin Wizards
divine_exodus
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
WOOOOAAHHH!!!!! 476 votes!
EDIT
The rating right now, with 482 votes, is 4.192. On gatherer, there are 2674 cards with a rating equal to or higher than this.
Sad.
bijart_dauth
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(6 votes)
This card has more comments on it than black lotus, 21 pages vs 13
Feralsymphony
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(7 votes)
Hey, Wizards, higher rarity isn't actually an excuse for making cards grossly overpowered!
dragonking987
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
not as good Exalted Angel powerleek. this card is to slow exalted angle is only a tiny bit less powerful and can attack as early as the 4th turn compared to baneslayer which can not attack tell the 6th. scumbling1 did you even read the card or can you Just to big of a noob to understand how Morph works?
Gako
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Remember the days when we thought this card was overpriced? Oh Jace TMS, how foolish we where.
Come on people, it's called power creep. This game has been running for what... 18 years? Ha, I bet the game is older than a lot of you complaining about it. You are seriously asking for them to keep printing the same cards? Really? They might as well have quit years ago if that's the case. ALL creatures are more powerful than they used to be. This has been happening slowly for over a decade and I still find a ton of reasons to play really old cards. There is a balance here, don't know how you find that so hard to see. Wizards is just trying to keep the game exiting and judging by all the controversy I would say they are doing a great job.
Baneslayer totally sucks anyway, it just dies to removal spells. 0/5
Zoltantf
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
"Some angels protect the meek and innocent. Others beat face, or eat doom blades."
GolgariLichLord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What ever happened to wizard's idea of mythic rare creatures not being powerful, but instead being unique and game-changing. This card is ridiculous! I started playing again when this card was released and I was shocked how overpowered some of the new creatures were. What ever happened to flavorful mythic rares?
niallcmurray86
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Seriously....look how many pages of comments there are for this damn card lol. I like it, its hella fun to bash an opponent with one of these and its not like its invincible guys. Sure Serra has been a staple card forever, it is one of my favorites, but things have changed in Magic. This card is meant to be the Angel answer to all beefed up, flying, amazing ability having Demons and Dragons honestly. It does that well. It has cycled out of standard so it really doesn't matter anymore how broken or not broken she is anyway. And for other formats and casual? Just give us good ol' Counterspell back WOTC and we are good!
talcumpowder0046
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wizards must've made a fortune off of tournament players.
Pummeler
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
best. card. ever.
Aquillion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why is this card a Mythic Rare? It's not special. It has no unique abilities. It's not a specific legend or anything. It's just a huge really-overpowered beatstick. It should be uncommon at most; even rare would be pushing it.
Rare was originally supposed to be like Mythic Rare is supposed to be like today -- harder-to-use or more complex cards, with the core "raw power" cards being uncommon or common. That's why eg. Terror, Dark Ritual, etc were common.
LordOfTheFlies87
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I still don't buy Maro's defense of this card. Boooooooooooooooo.
Pongdok
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It is apparent that it is the B squad that works on the core sets. They make some really powerful cards, but the flavour and style are all over the place, and in the end, the sets end up feeling like a disjointed mess. (I despise reminder text, too.) There is one good way to fix this problem. Don't buy dumb stuff like Baneslayer Angel, and if a set is bad enough (looking at you, M2014), don't buy boosters. They will step it up the next year to get sales back up. If you keep rewarding bad behaviour and shoddy game design by chasing mythics, everyone gets burned and the game suffers. You might notice that this steaming pile hasn't been reprinted in a few years. Call it a victory for rationality and good taste, and let's move on. 0.5/5
Comments (214)
PLAY WHITE PLAY WHITE PLAY WHITE PLAY WHITE PLAY WHITE
- Love, WotC
P.S. Don't play blue, it's useless. Cheers.
Where is the balance here? Triple-white wouldn't have been a bad idea for this card i guess...
That's not a weenie anymore, that's a ridiculously undercosted card.
At least that protection part was redundant as hell.
What justifies this card's abilities? Being a Mythic Rare? I hope not...
demons and bragons are considered the big red and dlack cards so this basicly has protection from the most dangerous creatures, so this card should be counted as a stright 5 stars !!!!!!!!!
Lost 1 game in the release tournament because of this card. Rediculous, just plain rediculous.
Horribly unbalanced. I opened one, read it, considered trading it. Read it again, decided against trading. Even if I never use my white deck, it's nice knowing I have a Baneslayer in it.
INCREDIBLY unbalanced. This is why Black gets Doom Blade, followed by Rise from the Dead.
And the Mountains in reply, soon filled with Dragon bloodstains
Broooo-o-o-o-o-oooooo-o-o-o-o-oooooooo-o-o-o-o-oooo-o-ken
Goodbye Serra Aaaa-aaan-gel...
On second thought, I'm being a tad overdramatic. There's no way red could get a Dragon out in time to watch it not block and have its attack damage negated by lifelink. Thank Garfield for kill spells.
2nd I think Wizard's cares much more about draft, Serra is still great and much more frequent.
3rd Cheap removal is plentiful, I came back from 5 to 35 life after terminating her.
I value shroud or prot. red/black quite high, so i still prefer to run the Sphinx of the steel wind in control. If she was 5/5 flying, shroud, first strike THAT would be broken. Still you cant not give this card a perfect 5!
This card is balanced in standard 2010 play but its broken for the casual "play any card you have" gamers. Yes there are many many broken cards, but why add to the list? The rules changes for 2010 were targeted for the beginers and the casual gamers to make the game more intuitive. Im a casual player, and this card makes me feel like wizards is phasing out old classic cards and forcing players to buy the new ones. Great job Hasbro, keep it up and there will be a new format "Pre M10 only".
add flying: hey, this is playable, good even.
add first strike: wow, this is great! now I don't even trade with some of their bombs, I just wipe them!
add lifelink: wtf?!?
add protection from Demons/Dragons: Actually, these barely change anything to be honest. just makes it's interaction with bogardan hellkite that much more beautiful =)
Say hello to the Zendikar promo card, Day of Judgement. {2}{W}{W}: Destroy all creatures. It's a sorcery by the way. It's just Wrath Of God with a different name. Same manacost as well. Great, huh.
-
I guess we all know why this card fetches so much on the market these days. Wow. Nothing more CAN be said.
See all other Mythics and Demigod of Revenge to see more evidence.
The argument over it's protection is best solved by this:
Protection from Red & Black renders the creature near banned and restricted list levels in standard. It would only be able to be killed in blue (god forbid you Polymorph them into another one!) or White.
Protection from demons and dragons very rarely effects a game but actually can on very rare occasion. Like if an opponent drops Bogarden Hellkite and CAN'T use it to deal 5 to Baneslayer since it's a dragon... or has to chump block, but doesn't have a chump that is not a demon or dragon.
Wizards has been trying to move toward more downside free large creatures (9/9 shroud for seven for example), however I agree not putting anything else in the set that can compete at a REASONABLE level with Baneslayer is out of hand.
It does not take away from the overall value of the card though
4.0
Casual play is just as frustrating for some if they keep printing stuff like this.
Turn 5 you lay baneslayer angel woo, in responce i play a removal spell, which cost's around 3 less at minimum?
Turn 5 you lay Baneslayer Angel woo, in responce i play a counter spell, which cost's around 2 less at minimum?
Think this card is over dramatised, yea it's good but it's beatable, and not that hard to beat.
For those who say that the protection abilities are defunct because of the timing of the thing, I say this.
I have a casual deck that can have SIX dragons out on turn two.
That's right, 6 Dragons.
It is a rare occurance, but it happens, courtesy of Dragonstorm and four Dark Rituals.
The one time it happened, all 4 other players conceeded
Remove:
vigilance
Give:
Rarity
+1/+1
Lifelink
First Strike
Pro Demons
Pro Dragons
Its not any one thing she does, but that she does so much for such a reasonable cost. Not quite broken in constructed though, since she is as vulnerable as most creatures to removal.
It's protection, not so great. Dragons and Demons, good ol' D&D (not THAT D&D). People don't use them as frequently as you think. Sure, you have your Ob Nixilis, or some other Demons out, or even your Hellkite Overlord or something, doesn't matter. Doomblade/ Terminate it, bye bye nuisance, hello easy prey.
the sphinx is better because it has +1/+1 more, all BA's abilities plus viligance, and protection from colors green and red, which is better than pro from demons and dragons. but that all costs you 3 mana more, and thats what makes baneslayer angel so good, i think.
I call it a moral victory.
5/5
You are familiar with the concept of words meaning things, right?
Then again, how much does terminate cost? heh heh heh. Die, Angel!
both die to removal. (removal excuse is invalid)
what is serra's advantage giving that it has the same cost as baneslayer?
it has none.
realistically serra = virtually useless.
baneslayer will replace it nine times out of ten.
aka power creep.
White is quickly becoming a nearly unstoppable force...
Path to Exile, Journey to nowhere, Oblivion Ring and now THIS?? And I know Journey and Oblivion Ring are BOTH type two so just about everyone is playing them together... (Too many are type 2 playing obsessed...)
White is getting all the annoying and insane cards... Where's all the good removal for the other colors??
Aside from Terminate, seriously??
Even Damnation is no longer type two BUT they went out of there way to print a new slightly watered down version of Wraith Of God aka Day Of Judgement... What about the removal for black... Doomblade just doesn't/wont cut it! Doesn't work against black (Though this Angel is white, the point is, the usefullness of doomblade is limited)!! Need new and better removal for other colors like black... Maybe some game removal for once for black (aside from Unmake)!
I mean, how are the other colors suppost to battle THIS when White has most the removal and just about all the good removal at THAT with the only exception being TERMINATE, but you got to play red-black to use it... White is becoming too over powered and just too easy to play and dominate with!!
NecroArTeest makes some painfully good points!
And why do all the T2 decks need to have so many removals just to get rid of this? I mean I haven't seen any T2 deck with less that 2 kind of removals X4 each... All in case someone cast all these crazy creatures that are T2 such as Terra Stomper this, and the 9/9 shroud (Whitch posses the less threat of all.)
And another thing that I don't understand is that they excuse this by making it Mythic Rare? Ok wizards let me know then if you make another rarety such as Epic Rare and put something like:
Ultra Super Power Savant Monster
Haste, Trample, Double Strike
6/5
And I promise you that you will get some fanatic player who would pay with their lives to get it but the games would have been already ruined. So what do you prefer? To make money or to make a game that will last for generations? It's up to you. If you decide the first, then do the above or make another Black Lotus and name it Back Lotus so it won't have the same name and you will get new idiots that would happily run to get it.
Bogarden Hellkite is the closest thing in terms of power in the same set to this card and even then, that is fairer, a 5/5 flying flasher that blasts multiple things when it comes in priced reasonably for its abilities
apon entering play target opponent discards one creature remove spell, or you win the game
i mean honestly they will be getting 5 life back a turn and it takes a 6/6 with flying that isnt a demon or dragon...on 5th turn...to even have a chance to take it out
but lets all be glad it dosent have pro red/black
And its cheaper to put in your deck too! ^_^
Well, I tried. Hard.
Shame on you Wizards for deciding that Mythic Rare should = overpowered and un-fun.
"baneslayer's lifelink, first strike and +1/+1 (not to mention pro demons/dragons) > serra's vigilance.
both die to removal. (removal excuse is invalid)
what is serra's advantage giving that it has the same cost as baneslayer?
it has none.
realistically serra = virtually useless.
baneslayer will replace it nine times out of ten.
aka power creep. "
I'm pretty sure liflink itself = vigilince because unless you're going to chump block you should have the same board position from it (attack = 4 (5 but this is ignoring the +1/+1 in order to look at the ability matchup) damage to opponent, +4 life, taken later as damage when opponent attacks, no creature loss... vs. attack for 4 damage, then block opponent and trade, both lose a creature and your net life is still the same) then you get bonus +1/+1, first strike, and pro demons/dragons just cuz
I think I'd hate this card less if Serra Angel wasn't in the set... but why wotc, why destroy a classic =/
Overpowered, probably. But this pales in comparison to Akroma's abilities and trying to compare this to Serra Angel is not an acceptable comparison. Serra was OP when it was printed in comparison to what was out at the time. Now theirs cards like Phage, Platinum Angel, Stigma Lasher,Tarmogoyf or even Lord of Extinction
1.Terminate
2.Doomblade
3.Hideous end
4.Path to Exile
5.Assassinate
and jund aggro is way more broken than a few white cards like this. If anything, go post this stuff on Blightning and Sprouting Thrinax
BankAccountSlayer Angel = Foil
I pulled one of these out of the first M10 booster I bought, and swapped out a Serra Angel for her in my mono-white angel deck, but if I drop her, she gets dealt with. Somebody's always going to use Hideous End, Path to Exile, Pacifism, Paralyzing Grasp, etc. Sometimes I wonder if her job is solely to take the heat off everybody else...
Juzám Djinn is also a creature card that has a high retail price, because it is powerful and efficient for its casting cost. Thus, even after Baneslayer Angel rotates out of Standard, I expect its retail price to remain relatively high.
5cmc
4/5
Flying, Haste, Viligance
that would be a GREAT card even an EXCELENT card and not riducolous like this, you could make that a rare, what makes this so broken is mostly the lifelink and first strike.
Once again, strickly worse than Storm Crow
But seriously, I have a very strong love-hate relationship with this card for a myriad of reasons, but you can't argue with the fact that pound-for-pound she's probably the best 5-drop in Magic history save Morphling.
Please, Wizards, take advantage of your new, annual rotation of the core set, and learn from this horrid mistake. Resonance is the worst excuse for making a card overpowered that I have ever heard.
I don't get why everyone is so scared of life-link. Just today I had someone surrender to me, because he knew he was going to lose, when he had thirty life and I had seven.
Although I will admit,
Base rating: ***
stats and abilities exceed cost: +**
As far as straight forward cards go, she's as nasty as they come": *****
or made useless: faiths fetters, pacify, frozen solid ...
or blockable: gianth spider + giant growth, ...
What were they thinking ?!
"Oooooh it dies to removal, this card suxors."
Yeah, and so does 95% of the creatures out there. Unlike most of those creatures though, an unanswered Baneslayer basically says: You win.
And no, I'm not one of the guys who goes out and buys a playset of the "staple" cards to keep fresh decks..the most I've spent on a single card is like $2, and then I trade for card I think would be effective. Yet cards like this make me cringe at how over-powered they are.
I play a Destructon/Lifegain deck, and fought a Baneslayer and three wall of denials and only had a Hellkite Charger out. died pretty fast.
9.5/10, great opposition
I LIKE the fact that Hasbro creates cards like this and makes them hard to find. It adds a mystery and luck to the game. Powerful cards should be extremely rare. The game is more strategy than "who can put the most powerful creatures in their decks." I've built very successful decks out of commons and uncommons with nothing with a mana cost above 3 and kicked some serious ass with them.
Any card can be dealt with: doom blade, deathmark, terror, pacify, divine verdict, seismic strike, fireball, blinding mage, assassinate etc. need I say more?
Now its the Baneslayer Angel, later will be the Aeon's Torn (15/15 flying, when cast you play an extra turn, protection from colored spells, if put on graveryard, shuffle it into library, 15 CMC colorless, card from Rise of Eldrazi). The developers are having a spike of "lets make uber stuff that costs 500% times more than normal stuff in both, mana cost and real life cash just to see what comes out!". Well developers, after ROE, STOP THE DARN SPIKE OF UBER CARDS.
I understand metagame sometimes changes and needs some refining, comparing a Sisai's ring with a Sol ring, but it has limits; you cannot put 144 cards that read "cannot block unless you control a zombie" and a 145 one that reads "15/15, zombie, flying, trample, haste, lifelink, vigilance, cannot be the target of opponent's spells, you have no maximum hand size, when enters play you draw 9 cards, 25 CMC colorless", you want to know why? in 2 ways: 1-elvish piper is still in standard (next cycle out of standard, about 3 months, cycle out of extended: about 6 years, does not rotate out of legacy, not even restricted in any format); and if you dont play green guess what? your opponent is either lucky or rich and plays elvish piper that drops a 15/15, flying, trample, haste, lifelink, vigilance, cannot be the target of opponent's spells, you have no maximum hand size, when enters play you draw 9 cards, 25 CMC colorless" on turn 3. So what do you do? make a green deck with an elvish piper and... you know the rest. and 2- Simple: ill gather 25 mana and win the game 2 turns later.
This is a serious calling to whoever is developing rise of Eldrazi, my warning: dont mess with the balance of quality of the cards, I'm a modest MTG player since weatherlight expansion and pains me to see a 5/5 flier with 4 more abilities for 5 mana when I recall of cards that cost 4 mana and were 2/2 with fear and "when deals combat dmg to an opponent he/she discards a card". You are putting a "2/2 CMC=2B, cannot block if you don't control a vampire" (Mindless Null) and a Baneslayer in the same format, unless you want to completely discard players like flies and force them to pick the white color and a baneslayer angel, or better yet, why bother with colors? get the 15/15 eldrazi thing. Today, in a dozen games I played 12 games (100% if you did not get it) against blue+random color, mostly red, 4 wall of denial, 4 jwar isle sphinx, lands, things to draw cards and around 15 counters, in STANDARD ONLY!, please, I expected to see this card with a direct 5/5 stars, but the fact its rating is not even 4.5 shows that most people think in the same way.
I've always been a poor player who hardly get enough cash to have a MTGO account with decent cards, but if the developers keep shooting these kind of cards, I'd rather go and play ju-gi-oh (w/e its spelled), where overpowered cards are in great numbers at least.
Clearly 5/5
and P.S. Magic R&D please don't print another Baneslayer Angel or Storm Crow powered level card for a while it messes with the Balance.
heh lapdog I used a magic card as a word :D
just one land enters and you kill baneslayer angel with her.
it is a good card but not soooo good
it isnt overpovered.
Despite this argument, yeah, it should probably cost one more mana. But it's not so far off the curve that I would call it broken. It's played in Standard, but it hardly warps the format.
Beautiful artwork, by the way.
Almost 5/5, but can't beat Jund. 4.5/5
So close, too bad.
Not overpowered enough.
So perhaps, if Magic did not have these notorious cards, these 'celebrities', the game would be less interesting?
Besides, how sweet is it to go up against a $60 (Australian) Baneslayer and counter it on turn 5 with a simple $0.20 Essence Scatter? Very satisfying of course!
We were both playing our Red/Green decks, and for 2 mana, I made his heart stop. G, tap, Elvish Piper a False Prophet into play. R, tap, Lightning Bolt the prophet. Problem solved, killed him the following turn using a good old fashioned (and cheap) Blistering Firecat.
End result? Priceless.
people say they miss cards like phexian dreadnought and Juzam djinn, this is IT
This card is appalling I mean it takes 4 turns to win a game for 5 mana, there are plenty of cards that win the game quicker than that for 5 mana I mean Door to Nothingness wins the game the turn after and only costs 5mana.
but seriously, very OP, pushes most other balanced angels out of use, although not as OP as some eldrazi...
10 mana 12/12 loads of bonuses, no drawbacks, tons of cards designed to ramp him...
15 mana, you've basically won, again loads of ramping...
7 mana, destroy all but lands and your OP fatties...
yet this is what people focus on and the eldrazi are 'brilliant'
back to this card... although it's OP and shouldn't be reprinted, Jund will easily dodge the pro-dragon, chew her up, mutilate the body, and bring her back to fight for you. not only jund, my hellcarver deck destroyers her and everything else. balance & it that betrays ( just cause it's OP don't mean you don't use it =P )
Or just tie her up w/ guard gomazoa
it's not that it's so powerful, it's that it's a 5 drop. If the Serra Angel is a 5 drop, then this should at least be wwwww, preferrably 4www or 5www, but there isn't evena drawback. It's like Wizards said 'hmm...you know what would be funny? If a card could just win even if you couldn't possibly win before it was played...like if you were down by 30 life or had zero board control".
I think it changed the metagame and it certainly changed the monetary factor of building a good competitive deck....oh, wait.....yeah, that was the point...it's about the money.
Oh, now they reprint it in M11? Awesome, Wotc makes more money!
0.5/5
If Wizards wanted to make a broken card they could always make it 4WW. Even then it's broken.
It should be 5WW or 3WWW. Fortunately it dies to Doom Blade. : )
This... thing... should never have been printed. They better not reprint it in M2011.
EDIT: They did.
@Cute-Hydra Was that a joke? Mana acceleration might get you there faster, but door to nothingness costs as much as a progenitus to activate. Hardly a turn 6 win.
this card is exicting if u dont get it kill u r done. but for the records i like spells like path to exile and condemn which can literally shut down any danger in the horizon. i am a fan of brave the elements which is an amaizing spell in my opinion. these card are fun for me to play with and plus i like having tricks up my sleeves.
as for baneslayer angel herself, i hope i get to have at least three copies of her this time around. that will literally make my mono white deck a lot more powerful. as for now, i got to settle down with honor of the pure which is great.
"We are happy to have it be one of the faces that represents Magic to the world" - Wizards
FFS, seriously? OP cards drive dem' kids wild
can you say '$160 deck minimum' for another year?
For someone like me who is constantly walking the fine line between casual and competitive play, this card is very bothersome. It represents a considerable number of things that I believe are very bad for the game. Firstly, it gives me serious concern about power creep. Not since the heady days of Ravager Affinity being legal in standard have we seen the release of cards as powerful as this, several of the planeswalkers, and the cascade mechanic. Similarly, not since those days have we seen a deck as dominant in standard as Jund has been over the past year, and sadly, the remarkably overpowered and thoughtless cascade mechanic is the only thing that has been keeping Baneslayer in check. It's degeneracy countered by degeneracy, and that's a bad situation for the game.
Secondly, I don't think it's healthy for the game for there to be not just one, but several $40+ cards in the standard format, which is supposed to be "accessible". In fact, cards that expensive aren't really justifiable until one turns back the clock all the way to Legacy and Vintage, and in those formats the only cards I would usually be willing to shell out that much money for are dual lands and some various other old gems. Such prices are understandable in eternal formats, but $500 decks in standard is unacceptable. Mark Rosewater said to us all in his column regarding the introduction of Mythic Rares that it would be Wizards' policy to not just print the most powerful tournament staples at mythic rarity. Based on this, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Gideon Jura, and Elspeth, Knight-Errant, I feel inclined to say that the public has been cheated.
Additionally, this card seems so brainless. Is it fun to play with? Absolutely. Hardly anything in Magic is more fun than pounding on your opponent with a really good creature. However, just because something is fun does not mean it is good for the game. Playing Tolarian Academy was fun. Playing Ravager Affinity was fun. Playing Trix was fun. Those decks also ruined formats and led to bans. Of course, the one thing those decks required that winning a game with Baneslayer Angel does not require is mental capacity. Whenever you were trying to go off with Necropotence orArcbound Ravager you had to make sure that you weren't about to accidentally overextend yourself and mess things up; once Baneslayer hits the table, if it's not immediately dealt with, the game is over. Morphling is as overpowered a 5-drop as there ever was, and it's jaw drops at the sight of this thing. It may have been annoying as hell in its time and won more games than Baneslayer ever will, but at least Morphling required you to think and plan ahead farther than turning the card sideways.
So how good is the card? It's up there with renowned names like Morphling, Psychatog, Arcbound Ravager, and Tarmogoyf. I dislike it tremendously but I can't deny it's power, and on it's own merits as a creature, it's a 5/5 if there ever was one.
sheesh...
Broken and overpowered. This card is definitely a scam, and if these designers keep it up with the tournament-staple mythics, there are gonna be lots of guys quitting tournaments altogether on account of not being able to afford (and contend with) the 500+ dollar decks.
What I don't get is that many of you guys complain about this card's excessive power, and you still give it a rating of 5 stars. The way I see it, the stars are not meant to reflect on the power level of the card; they're meant to reflect whether you like the card or not, and whether or not it's good for the game.
Everyone at Wizards KNOWS this card is blatantly overpowered, but they're gonna look at this card's feedback and say "Well, most complain about the power level, but they're still loving it, see? FIVE STARS... I guess they actually like overpowered stuff, even if they say they don't. Now we'll have to make all kinds of unbalanced cards on every other color, so they can contend with this freaking monster. Better yet, let's make every single card slightly overpowered -yes, even commons and uncommons, what the heck- and transform Magic entirely."
I suppose there's a lot of pressure to keep players interested after so many years, but they're taking easy street with cards like this. More power is not better. This is not only strictly better than Serra Angel, it's on the same set, and that's just wrong.
I understand Magic changes and evolves through time; first we had Lightning Bolt, then it got swapped with Shock because Lightning Bolt was too powerful at the time and it was unhealthy for the game. Now we have Lightning Bolt back and it's not so terrible. Printing Baneslayer Angel at this cost and in this set is like printing Lightning Bolt and Shock together, only Shock would be common and Lightning Bolt uncommon or rare. Following this logic, a Red instant for 1 Red mana could deal five or six damage if you put it at mythic rare. That's just twisted and greedy. Really cheap Shot, WotC. Really cheap.
Magic is bleeding and slowly dying.
Where is the multiverse ID to Combust already??
My main argument here is that this is not "power creep" for the sake of "power creep". The game has been many places and has developed over a long time. Also, the players of the game have a big impact on the game.
Yeah, I don't like where things are headed just like a lot of you- but here's why:
The majority Magic players shape the Magic game according to their attention spans- which are getting progressively shorter and shorter. So Wizards comes out with cards with more huge, more clear, advertisements.
Example:
So you win a game against someone; the reason why you won and they lost is because you knew something that they didn't. Their loss right? Until the combined amount of those players' woes urges Wizards to adjust the game for them, causing you to lose the rules that allowed your strategies to work.
Bear in mind: Magic is not a super secret fraternity. It constantly needs people to pay the starving artists that make our cards (they are probably not starving). So at all times and all places, make good Magic players out of others, so that we can have a good game. When you win a game at the expense of someone else, you help make a lame Magic player, and they all form to make a lame game.
EDIT
The rating right now, with 482 votes, is 4.192. On gatherer, there are 2674 cards with a rating equal to or higher than this.
Sad.
this card is to slow exalted angle is only a tiny bit less powerful and can attack as early as the 4th turn compared to baneslayer which can not attack tell the 6th.
scumbling1 did you even read the card or can you Just to big of a noob to understand how Morph works?
A bad 5 mana angel -> Starlit Angel.
A good 5 mana angel -> Melesse Spirit, Angel of Light.
A very good 5 mana angel -> Serra Angel, Shepherd of the Lost, Angel of Flight Alabaster.
A too good 5 mana angel -> Baneslayer Angel, Angelic Overseer.
Baneslayer totally sucks anyway, it just dies to removal spells. 0/5
Rare was originally supposed to be like Mythic Rare is supposed to be like today -- harder-to-use or more complex cards, with the core "raw power" cards being uncommon or common. That's why eg. Terror, Dark Ritual, etc were common.
Boooooooooooooooo.