This card is great! It can revive several creatures twice! It's got good attacking power too. This is exceptionally good when up against an enchantment like Edge of Divinity.
jeff-heikkinen
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Unless the game has gone very long, her triggered ability won't do much... the first time. Persist, however, pushes this card into the top tier; she can single-handedly make Wrath of God, for example, entirely one-sided. This is a true terror to behold.
Owls_and_More_Owls
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(6 votes)
This is why Serra Angel is uncommon now. For one more white mana, it has all the same abilities plus one more power and toughness, persist, and anti-WOG. While WOG might not have been reprinted, that won't stop people from playing it, and doesn't stop it from being the best removal spell in the game.
Since I discovered EDH, this card has grown on me. It comboes with your opponents' cards as well as your own, it beats evasively, it defends, and it must be killed twice. One of the best white creatures ever for EDH.
Donovan_Fabian
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(6 votes)
Pro - an angel that has 5/5 flying vigilance and persist is awesome. Her ability can be played after a combat phase to return creatures/spells that just went to the graveyard. She basically counts as a 5/5 flying vigilance and a 4/4 flying vigilance if she is killed by anything other than an exiling spell, or a spell that uses negative counters. She can persist indefinitely with any way to remove her negative counters like fate transfer and quillspike.
Con - 6 cmc to return cards to hand is decent but will follow wrath of god and day of judgement at 4 cmc rather than before, and assumes you wont be playing anything else on the turn she hits play. You often wont be able to choose what time she gets killed thus causing her to return to play, sometimes netting you nothing back in your hand. Twilight shepherd doesn't actually replay the cards to the field she just returns them to your hand, which can either overload it, be discarded, or work like an expensive evacuate. Exiling her prevents her from coming back again to use her ability. Cauldron haze and cauldron of souls effectively do the same thing, but actually put the creatures back into play, for a lower mana cost (though without the creature addition of the angel herself).
In essence shes a powerful creature, though there are a lot of those around the 6 cmc mark, but its hard to rely on her returning cards to your hand ability, and even if you do you wont be replaying them all right away. Arguably needs some sort of combo that both removes counters from her while letting you kill her on demand like a sacrifice effect. Maybe world queller for example, or fleshbag marauder.
nammertime
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
This card is way more balanced than Baneslayer Angel and is worthy of its rare status... not to mention being extremely fun to play.
AbyssalManZero
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Can't believe I really don't see this angel played...
Just unfortunate, for one less {W} Baneslayer Angel will always have this angel's number easily...
Messiah21
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
What you guys don't seem to realize is that there is a nice combo with her that came in the divine demonic pack. An other wordly journey allowing you to play many spells every turn and, if you have enough mana or low costing cards, even on opponents turns.
Azazyel
★★★★☆ (5.0/5.0)(11 votes)
Screw the Baneslayer with a rusty stick. This, this is where it's at. It might be less powerful, but it's infinitely more beautiful and, when played, requires something the Walletslayer will never need - thought.
My favorite Angel. I stopped playing Magic during 7th Ed. and got back during Shadowmoor. I was enthralled by this girl's power, ability, and amazing flavor and artwork, made even more enthralling by the fact that she was the only Angel in all of the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block.
It's a damn shame she never got any flavor text, though. A damn shame.
gongshowninja
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Worldslayer. She'll be back and kill your opponents for you.
Evermint
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
The art has the perfect level of creepy and mysterious. Very suiting to Shadowmoor.
Zenzei
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
One of the best art I can think of out of all magic cards.
PrimeSonic
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
As great as this one may seem, don't forget that the cards go back to your hand, not the battlefield. You still somehow have to recast as many as you can, and most likely you'll find yourself discarding cards that you couldn't drop due to mana shortage.
As great as it is, I'd only play this one in a Persist heavy deck so whatever does go back to my hand can actually make its way back onto the battlefield.
Edit: After actually playing a deck with lots of board wide nuking, I have to say: this is the most combo-licious angel ever printed. If you've got the mana, run 4 and have fun with all the shenanigans you can pull off.
If you use her and an Angelic Renewal she cant be gotten rid of because she sends the renewal straight back to your hand. that and persist make her unstoppable. I have Akroma in my angel deck but its entirely built around Twilight Shepherd.
Hayw00d0909
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Currently using this in my Reanimator. Dump it in the graveyard early on via Entomb/Buried Alive, fill the board up with your creatures to get a good defense going...
When turn five comes around, pay your to cast Living Death. They sac all their creatures, you put Twilight Shepherd onto the battlefield and return all your creatures to your hand instead of sending them to the graveyard. Win.
Angry_Puppy
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(4 votes)
.5 for requiring thought to use. I demand Richard Garfield himself play my deck for me while I stuff doritos into my mouth and shout obscenities at the other children.
Eved
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Use auras on her. If anyone kills her your auras just go back to your hand. Instead of Wrath of God styled cards try Magus of the Disk, seeing as you get him back too. Two copies of her on the field makes her a pain to get rid of, one of the copies will go back to your and hand you can just keep replaying her turn after turn.
Kryptnyt
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Messiah, you only return cards put into your graveyard from the battlefield. Otherworldly journey never enters the battlefield.
DarthParallax
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Anybody else wish Serra Angel had stayed rare, just so it could have one little tiny reason left to feel special?
That aside, i like this angel alot. Funny, I didn't like it actually in Shadowmoor, but as soon as it came out with the Angels&Demons expansion symbol, it started being awesome. I guess its just nearly impossible to imagine this creature actually on the plane of Shadowmoor...?
asskicker123456789
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
awesome. it would be better if it just said "return to your hand all cards you own when they would be put in the graveyard this turn" that would include instant and sorcery spells you play.
GrimjawxRULES
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This is amazing with Cloudgoat Ranger: Board sweepers are way less painful when you're flooding the board with tokens on your very next turn.
MisterMirage
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Combine with Ghave, Guru of Spores so that you can easily sacrifice her and put 1/1 counters on her so that she can use her power over and over again, works the same with basically all Persist cards. The one downside is that she can't resurrect your tokens, but that can be worked around by turning all of them into counters with Ghave. Use with Hour of Reckoning in the same deck for delicious results. Also, enables you to survive mass removal/board wipe, which can be very prevalent and deadly against most token decks.
A0602
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
I'm Twilight Shepherd and this is my favorite angel on the gatherer.
Totema
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(7 votes)
I wish she was legendary, so that I could call her Commander Shepherd.
Kamishini
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Okay, okay, I don't know if anyone's said it yet, but this plus necromancy equals sheninegans beyond belief! You need a sac outlet, but if you have Vish Kal as said sac outlet, the sheninegans is even better! I had so much fun with those two in my WB Reanimator Commander deck. I LOVE this card to death! Multiple times, actually, lol
dovakhin
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
This can be one of the most useful cards in the game if you use it right. First, build up your creatures to where you have a formidable force to oppose your opponent's creatures. Then, attack with all your creatures for one crushing wave (don't worry about losing them.) Then, summon Twilight Shepherd, who will revive any creatures that died during the wave. As an added bonus, I would recommend adding Heartmender your deck. This guy can make any creature with persist nearly immortal, as he removes any -1/-1 counters at the beginning of your turn, and if your enemy kills heartmender, good news! Heartmender has persist as well! So if you combine twilight shepherd with heartmender, you will have an unstoppable, ever regenerating wave of creatures, as well as any spells, artifacts, instants, or enchantments played on your turn.
unerasablesin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If two of these, under one player's control, die at the same time do both come back into play or would one return the other to your hand?? My dad plays these and were not sure.
HeartbreakerStudios
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Would be great synergy with Restoration Angel if you can force alter her subtype.
antivitamin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"If two of these, under one player's control, die at the same time do both come back into play or would one return the other to your hand?? My dad plays these and were not sure."
Posted By: unerasablesin (7/23/2012 3:17:34 AM)
Both angels will return to the battlefield at the same time, then both triggers will stack. Neither angel could be affected by the triggers because neither are cards in your graveyard at the time the trigger resolves.
00zau
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If she dies, say to WoG, then comes back due to persist, could you then sacrifice her (or otherwise kill her) while her EtB is on the stack, putting her back in your graveyard in time to return her to your hand (thus allowing her to be played again w/o the -1/-1 counter)?
Hashbeth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed = a real fun time
TheDarkAngel77
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
play with cathar's crusade for unkillable, ever growing creatures. the -1/-1 counters and +1/+1 counters remove each other so persist always works.
Arachnos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This art is just glorious.
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
For those not getting it, the idea is that she's already on the board. THEN you Wrath of God.
I.E. T7 (or w/e) you attack, some stuff dies and you do damage. You Wrath the board. Your stuff goes back to your hand, she comes back to the field. You have both field advantage and *likely* massive card advantage.
If you have instant-speed reanimator tricks you could keep her in hand for an opponent to wrath the board, then use Shallow Grave on her (by discarding her to the top of the pile via some outlet) and get your stuff back. That is.. however.. far more conditional.
MindAblaze
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ unerasablesin and antivitamin
I think the question is about what how the stack works, and the reading of persist. Persist triggers when a creature with persist "dies" (is put into the graveyard from the battlefield.) So say somebody casts Wrath of God and you have two Twilight Shepherds on the battlefield.
Step one; everyone hits the yard. Step two; each shepherds instance of persist goes on the stack step three (provided there are no interventions); first instance of persist resolves, causing one shepherd to return to the battlefield. step four; the angel's ETB effect goes on the stack above the remaining persist ability, step five; the etb ability resolves returning all creature cards put into your graveyard this turn to your hand, step six; persist ability resolves, but since the remaining twilight shepherd is in your hand not the graveyard the ability fizzles.
ViashinoWizard
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(4 votes)
"Guys what's going on I can't see sh*t"
Ligerman30
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Combos with a lot of edh utility cards like Armillary Sphere, Relic of Progenitus, Sakura-Tribe Elder, even something like strip mine or ghost quarter or fetches. If you ultimate and kill a plains-walker, you can get it back. Not only that but if you trade up in combat, you get to you just get to refill your hand post-combat and then it blanks the next sweeper they have.
very solid card
4/5
NobuTheBard
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
She's making Archangel look pathetic in comparison. Not that it was all that hard to do, but still...
Hercynian
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My favorite art on a magic card of all time.
kiseki
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So many combos! I love this card. This card isn't "anti-wrath" so much as it encourages you to play your own Wrath of God spells. This is so amazing with Cataclysm! Oh, and the creature you select with cataclysm should be your Juniper Order Ranger to get rid of that pesky persist counter, and you will need an ashnod's altar so that you will have an infinitely large creature and infinite mana. This is your graveyard when you have a miraculous recovery in hand is very likely to result in card advantage. Also! It has synergy with itself, so long as one has a persist counter, and the other does not. Anytime a wrath effect occurs, you just recast the dead one and you will again have two shepherds, one with a persist counter. And all that before you get to an efficient, evasive and defensive body!
Comments (42)
Con - 6 cmc to return cards to hand is decent but will follow wrath of god and day of judgement at 4 cmc rather than before, and assumes you wont be playing anything else on the turn she hits play. You often wont be able to choose what time she gets killed thus causing her to return to play, sometimes netting you nothing back in your hand. Twilight shepherd doesn't actually replay the cards to the field she just returns them to your hand, which can either overload it, be discarded, or work like an expensive evacuate. Exiling her prevents her from coming back again to use her ability. Cauldron haze and cauldron of souls effectively do the same thing, but actually put the creatures back into play, for a lower mana cost (though without the creature addition of the angel herself).
In essence shes a powerful creature, though there are a lot of those around the 6 cmc mark, but its hard to rely on her returning cards to your hand ability, and even if you do you wont be replaying them all right away. Arguably needs some sort of combo that both removes counters from her while letting you kill her on demand like a sacrifice effect. Maybe world queller for example, or fleshbag marauder.
Just unfortunate, for one less {W} Baneslayer Angel will always have this angel's number easily...
My favorite Angel. I stopped playing Magic during 7th Ed. and got back during Shadowmoor. I was enthralled by this girl's power, ability, and amazing flavor and artwork, made even more enthralling by the fact that she was the only Angel in all of the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block.
It's a damn shame she never got any flavor text, though. A damn shame.
As great as it is, I'd only play this one in a Persist heavy deck so whatever does go back to my hand can actually make its way back onto the battlefield.
Edit: After actually playing a deck with lots of board wide nuking, I have to say: this is the most combo-licious angel ever printed. If you've got the mana, run 4 and have fun with all the shenanigans you can pull off.
When turn five comes around, pay your
That aside, i like this angel alot. Funny, I didn't like it actually in Shadowmoor, but as soon as it came out with the Angels&Demons expansion symbol, it started being awesome. I guess its just nearly impossible to imagine this creature actually on the plane of Shadowmoor...?
I LOVE this card to death! Multiple times, actually, lol
Posted By: unerasablesin (7/23/2012 3:17:34 AM)
Both angels will return to the battlefield at the same time, then both triggers will stack. Neither angel could be affected by the triggers because neither are cards in your graveyard at the time the trigger resolves.
I.E. T7 (or w/e) you attack, some stuff dies and you do damage. You Wrath the board. Your stuff goes back to your hand, she comes back to the field. You have both field advantage and *likely* massive card advantage.
If you have instant-speed reanimator tricks you could keep her in hand for an opponent to wrath the board, then use Shallow Grave on her (by discarding her to the top of the pile via some outlet) and get your stuff back. That is.. however.. far more conditional.
I think the question is about what how the stack works, and the reading of persist. Persist triggers when a creature with persist "dies" (is put into the graveyard from the battlefield.) So say somebody casts Wrath of God and you have two Twilight Shepherds on the battlefield.
Step one; everyone hits the yard.
Step two; each shepherds instance of persist goes on the stack
step three (provided there are no interventions); first instance of persist resolves, causing one shepherd to return to the battlefield.
step four; the angel's ETB effect goes on the stack above the remaining persist ability,
step five; the etb ability resolves returning all creature cards put into your graveyard this turn to your hand,
step six; persist ability resolves, but since the remaining twilight shepherd is in your hand not the graveyard the ability fizzles.
very solid card
4/5
This card isn't "anti-wrath" so much as it encourages you to play your own Wrath of God spells. This is so amazing with Cataclysm! Oh, and the creature you select with cataclysm should be your Juniper Order Ranger to get rid of that pesky persist counter, and you will need an ashnod's altar so that you will have an infinitely large creature and infinite mana. This is your graveyard when you have a miraculous recovery in hand is very likely to result in card advantage.
Also! It has synergy with itself, so long as one has a persist counter, and the other does not. Anytime a wrath effect occurs, you just recast the dead one and you will again have two shepherds, one with a persist counter.
And all that before you get to an efficient, evasive and defensive body!