Cool they reprinted it. I love magic even more now just because they reprinted it, I need to sell my house now so I can buy a ton of copies and win games (sarcasm) because mythic>rare>uncommon>common>Razor Boomerang
DonRoyale
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(10 votes)
Well, if reprinting it means the stock influx will lower her price, then I'm all for it, I suppose.
dudecow
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(6 votes)
It's back again. As much as I hate it, can it really be given anything less than 5/5?
nammertime
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Wizards doesn't make any money from the secondary market, though I suppose having her available makes buying a box of M11 slightly more appetizing (but by no means justifies buying a box by itself). Still, a higher supply of Baneslayers with an as-of-yet unknown change in demand means that we can speculate that if the demand stays the same, the price will go down.
In other news, still one of the most powerful beatsticks available.
wolfbear2
★☆☆☆☆ (1.9/5.0)(7 votes)
Okay, the stupid nick names like walletslayer and such is more annoying then playing against the card it's self.
And no one is aloud to b!tch about it's price whill Jace the mind sculpture is around.
Revelation666
★★☆☆☆ (2.6/5.0)(13 votes)
Go away, we don't want you.
Tokosan
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(7 votes)
ORRGHGHGGHGH I HATE MAGICC GRRRR
Test-Subject_217601
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(10 votes)
Why does everyone assume this card has to be given 5/5 just because it's a good card? Yes it is a very good(read: undercosted) card, but a rating is based on how much you like it not how good it is. Why do you think Enormous Baloth has an overall rating of about 2.5?
Mode
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(20 votes)
I think this card shouldn't be downrated because you dislike it.
I'm not too content with this Angel as well - it at least should have a cost of imo, but Mythic Rare status seems to justify disproportionally good mana costs regrettably...
However, i think cards should be rated by playability, and that's certainly a plain 5/5 in this case afterall.
Eved
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(38 votes)
The more I look at it the more I think it should have been a legendary.
SKaREO
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(6 votes)
An excellent white card. Undercosted but not over-powered! It can be removed by red and black. White needs powerful creatures like this to compete with Red, Blue and Black.
Vinifera7
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(12 votes)
I'm a bi.tch, I'm a bi.tch Oh the bi.tch is back Stone cold sober as a matter of fact I can bi.tch, I can bi.tch `Cause I'm better than you It's the way that I move The things that I do
PhyrexianLobbiest
★☆☆☆☆ (1.9/5.0)(9 votes)
I still fail to see why so many people take issue with this card. Is it a Class A threat? Yes, but so are a ton of other creatures. Also, looking at the rest of the card list for M11 we have (all of these less rare than the angel; a lot of the answers are commons)...
Black: So, your Baneslayer is protected from my Demon? 1B Doomblade, which is pretty much black's answer to everything creature related, so your likely to be running several so no card disadvantage. They also have Nightwing Shade for chump blocking, or death by pump for the angel if you've got the mana.
Red: So, your Baneslayer is protected from my Dragon? 1R Combust, and Magma Phoenix comes out on the same turn and while it can't kill the Angel with combat damage; it does keep coming back and every time she kills the Phoenix it Lightning Bolts everything and everyone. Meaning that in a fight with the Angel it ends up dying, but it hits her for 6 killing her as well AND the Phoenix gets to come back. And it's not Mythic. EDIT: Someone pointed out to me elsewhere that the Phoenix does loose to the Angel due to First Strike. I apologize for the error.
Green: So, your Baneslayer is flying over all of my beatsticks? 1G Plummet, which is really handy if you're playing monogreen you're going to want some of these just because of greens flying shortcomings, so no card disadvantage.
Blue: So, your Baneslayer... oh wait, I already Unsummoned it for U. By the way go check out Tome Scour for a truly unfair card. Plus Blue can chump with any number of things.
Which leaves White: Who doesn't care about the angel at all, because A) White is using it, B) White has many things with which to chump to it, C) White can exile it, or better yet Condemn it at the cost of W and your opponent getting 5 life (which would happen if you let it attack anyway).
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is Baneslayer Angel is far from useless; it's a Class A threat that must be answered when it hits the board. However, while WotC has not changed the card itself they have "fixed" it in the Meta with multiple answers at common and uncommon.
Demonic_Angel13
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(18 votes)
*Face Plam* How could Wizard reprint this? Now if you ever want to make it to a tournament, you need to shell out 50 dollars or more. And I though Jace, The Mind Sculptor was expensive. Maybe, if I get some good white cards, I could sell my Mind Sculptor and get a single Bankslayer, I mean Banslayer Angel.
LTJZamboni
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(5 votes)
Guess who's back? Back again? Slayer's back Tell a friend.
SleetFox
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(9 votes)
A few points that need to be addressed to all sorts of different people:
1.) Yes this is expensive. The best and rarest cards always will be. This is no exception, and it's not even the worst in standard. Heck, it's only going to get cheaper now that it's coming back. 2.) Yes this is very powerful for 3WW. No, it doesn't destroy the game. You don't need this card to win, even if you're playing white. It's usually a good idea, but it doesn't warp the entire metagame around itself. There have been occasional top decks that didn't even use it when they could have. 3.) Yes, Doom Blade destroys it. Just like over 80% of all creatures. Non-argument. That makes Doom Blade good, but it does not make this worse.
phantom.lance
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
exalted angel is for 4WW and she too has flying, lifelink, and is a 4/5. baneslayer came at a time after Dragonstorm won in Worlds. arguably one of the most broken combo decks ever legalized. perhaps that could justify the extra protection with first strike, but at the cost of warping the metagame. if you have no black destruction, blue control, white removal, you're in for a very short game. that's borderline OP.
Dantos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is insanely powerful for it's cost, BUT...I guess WOTC wanted to give solid reasons for old players buying 11th edition cards/boosters. It also makes the game cool for new players who haven't been able to get great cards from previous editions, and for players only using cards within this set.
schacher
★★☆☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(14 votes)
An unfortunate reprint. If this is reprinted again then I'm calling shenanigans but I suppose if they didn't reprint it it would shock the standard environment too hard by removing a stupidly powerful card and actually making players think about what to put in their decks.
rsyd
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Anyone else see more of these than normal at the M11 pre-release? After first flight and the start of 2HG there were at least 3 confirmed pulls...
ZombieSnail
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
retarded 5/5
roqbthepirate
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I pulled one of these at prerelease, along with an ajani and 3 mana leaks. UW control here I come.
UltimaCenturion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sad day. It got reprinted. Hopefully, given the deck I run, I will have either won turn 4 or 5, or run out of steam and lost by default. Though I might want to sideboard combust. Anyways, who cares? The fact that it got reprinted means its price will go down. I would not be surprised if this gets reprinted AGAIN, meaning its price goes down farther. And farther. And farther. And I look forward to seeing the sadness on the faces of those who payed 100 dollars for a playset when that playset becomes worth only 10 dollars.
Falos
★★☆☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(10 votes)
hurr it's memorable and signature so we're reprinting it
**** that bull****‚ you're not justifying this and you're especially not justifying the money changing hands‚ no doubt WotC among them.
Plenty of more "representative" cards that have little or no breaking effect.
Aradimar
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(11 votes)
there is so much thats wrong with this card, when a new player asks about power creep this is the card I point at. Makes so many cards outdated and decks so much more expensive to contruct if you truly want to be competitive. Really not a fan of mythic rares at all, they didnt hold true to their word.
Gezus82
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
you know people always talk about how a card isn't worse because it dies to removal but for this card it's kind of true. My playgroup has a couple but I'v never seen it swing a game, in fact I'v never even seen it attack.
this is just such a big target it should basically read: 5cmc "target player discards a removal spell"
efletcher
★★★☆☆ (4.0/5.0)(48 votes)
With ceatures like Storm Crow and Chimney Imp I dont see how this card will ever see play in extended. Maybe some crazy deck in vintage has a spot for this card...
MDStrawHat
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(6 votes)
Crap
Tiggurix
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(43 votes)
They should correct its creature type. It should read "Angel Horror".
OutlawD1
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(10 votes)
"You want to put your kids through college? Too f'ing bad...all your moneys belong to us" --Wizards Sales Rep
Yes, the secondary market, but you have to be completely gullible not to believe that the card shops and wotc don't have a shared interest and arranged deals in reprinting cards like this.
KnockK
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I wish I pulled one at the prerelease but instead I pulled Mass Polymorph and Necrotic Plague and other unplayable Rares. Worst part is that I ended up doing better than the people that pulled it. fml. air servant.dec >
oo/5
MasterOfEtherium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.9/5.0)(13 votes)
Best Creature Ever Suck It Haters
gnilleps
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(7 votes)
Yes, they reprinted it. Yes it is a driving force in the meta. Yes they gave us solid answers to it. No, it does not tear a hole in the universe by staying for another year.
It's here. Stop complaining and buy your reduced cost playset.
Guntz1092
★☆☆☆☆ (1.9/5.0)(6 votes)
Wow. If your going to reprint a broken card, at least nerf it a bit. Maybe make it 3WWW? Make it a Legendary? (I wouldn't mind seeing an EDH deck of this) Give it a fair draw back?
anytwofactors
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(10 votes)
My first pull during the prerelease. Can you say "oh shit"
TheStud
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(8 votes)
Who didn't rate this a 5?!?!? Oh yeah; Haters.
U-caster
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(5 votes)
Man Im tired of this crap, and I hardly even see bankslayers around where I go to FNM. I've had my @$$ kicked enough by this card that I don't even want to see it again, yet my pal pulls one out of an M11 fat pack a few days ago.
BaneSlayerKirby
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(3 votes)
BaneSlayerKirby likes this.
Panpl
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(4 votes)
My friend got this from a booster, too bad for him we only play casual kitchen games with a bunch of friends. He put this into his angel-deck in the hopes of dominating us. I had black. A Doom Blade and Rise from the Grave later he was ready to sell this card to the first buyer. So he did and got a whole deck of cards for it.
TheSuperbloop
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(6 votes)
Remember when Serra Angel was considered an awesome card?
Seriously, this bites. WAY too overpowered. If it costed 5 dollars I'd be a bit irritated, but ~$50? That means that EVERY deck with white in it that wants to remian competitive needs to pay ~$200. That should NEVER happen in standered!
Don't do this again, wizards! Or else I will write another highly irritated comment! After this reprint, mythic rares CAN'T be this broken, okay?
Dr.Pingas
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'd be fine with it if it didn't have lifelink; sure, it's broken, but I've never had any issue with it that I wouldn't have with any other 5/5 flier besides putting it's controller 5 life ahead.
gruul_user666
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
jace the wallet emptier, bankslayer angel??? you guys are to much, i got a card (3 times the same) that wil make this card go "should i attack and risk the knife in the back? oh yeah, im talking about a trio of "the censored one", royal A S S A S S I N. having those on field and bankslavers on the other side will make the opponnent think about it. of course he could simply play stuff like martial coup, but theres something i like to call negate that does nicely on this. or better yet, if you dont have the censored one, get a few doomblades, it works everytime. trust me, i was once able to cast out rite of replication KICKED on a bankslayer, the guy shitted some heavy freakin' bricks...on an FNM. yes sir, pulled that on an Friday night magic. it was "le coup de la soire"
LiXinjian
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Dragonking987: If you had used a little less punctuation, we could have read your entire post without having to click the (see all) link. ;)
On another note, anyone else thinks the art on that card is kinda weird/average, especially coming from Mr. Staples?
iNathan
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(3 votes)
great card, i also love her ability "protection from demons and from dragons" haha, kinda unique dont ya think?
ion1000
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
A long time ago angels used to be peaceful creatures of the heavens. These days they kick A$$.
n00bmag1
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(13 votes)
This is a 5/5.
I don't like saying that.
I don't like lying even more.
MrMetalMan
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
why? just why?
chicollicolli
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(8 votes)
People, you can't say that Baneslayer (or for that matter almost any creature) is a bad card or (In this case) balanced because it can be taken out by a doomblade or similar spell. The fact is you could play one u on a Robe of Mirrors and make it untargetable, does this mean that doomblade is a bad card? No. You cannot compare spells with those which are completely different, particularly their answers.
This card's rating is obviously lower than it should be... people are hating on it because of its popularity and/or reputation.
Come on guys, this thing is a beast and is insanely powerful for its casting cost. OF COURSE there are things that can deal with it... welcome to Magic the Gathering.
Be honest and tell me that Sunscape Master is a better card.... Please.
5/5 all the way, anyone who says differently is fooling themselves. A game changer every time it hits the table.
murdershot21
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(5 votes)
omegaD, you have go to be the biggest dumbass I've ever seen, you're comparing this in overpoweredness to BLACK LOTUS? that was before the figured out what would be a good balance. THIS is *** 17 years after that, get real dumbass.
Galgus
★★☆☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(15 votes)
They just shouldn't make cards like this, its just silly how overstrong it is.
There should really be no power difference between commons and mythic rares, only complexity differences IMO.
TheGodOfWar91
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(7 votes)
Ok, seriously, who's rating this like a .5/5 or something? I mean I know you're all ***ed that they brought this back, but seriously, get over it. Just because your getting pwned by this card doesn't justify you giving it a bad rating, when its obviously a great card.
Yeah, it dies to creature removal. Great. So do 90% of all of the creatures out there. Would you rather every creature had shroud to justify them? Also if they're so bad and die to everything than how come on almost every U/W Control list I see in the top 8 has at least 3-4 of these in the SB and MB? And no, its not because every other player but you is bad. Its because this card is good, and is very powerful for its cost.
Seriously people, just give the card the rating it deserves.
SwordSkill
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
I remember the MTG world before this card was ever existed. You used to see the MOST 4 removals into a deck and only in RDW or black decks... Now, even green has Plummer in sb just to get rid of this...
If this had never existed, Eldrazi might cost more or has less power since this card changed the Type 2 powerlevel...
Serra Angel for example, whitch used to be rare during Tenth edition is now merely uncommon due to Baneslayer Angel.... Go figure.
I have nothing to say, aparently today I got one in a booster and I was surprised, I would never thought I could get one so easily, something that made me very happy, and very sad at the same time. If even someone like me could get one. Then...
Anyway, This just goes combo with Lotus Cobra and a felchland at the thirt turn to have it hit the table...= Actually 3 mana Baneslayer.
It may never seen attacking due to removals, but even holding your removals for something like this is a great honor to Baneslayer.
Not to mention that if you happen not to have a removal when neded and even letting it attack just once would deal 5 damage to you and your opp gets 5 life, something that is worth of 5 mana. Even removing it after that it has worth it's mana..
Also many player just waste their turn in case they didn't had a removal when it hitted the table and they afterwards happen to topdeck a Path to Exile or a Terminate or something, just to get rid of this.
Needless to say just go and watch the pro tour 2009 to see what actually happened.. Why did NAYA won.... And not only... This freaking broken card can even play on Band, or anything that contains White. You rarely get to see decks that have no Baneslayers in while having white.
One of the exceptions are Naya aggro whitch plays with low level creatures... And two or three at most, all others, including WW, run at least 3 times this card.
I am no extended expert, But I'm definitely seeing this card playing at Mythic Green...
Have fun, and don't cry if you get hit by it..
Guest513736147
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(5 votes)
Dies to removal. 1/5.
(tongue-in-cheek)
But honestly, too powerful.
DespisedIcon
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(10 votes)
@OmegaD, Gimme a break. Black lotus was an obvious development flaw that happened on the very first edition of Magic. Wizards has since acknowledged the error and stopped printing it (among other abusers, such as the Power 9) since the Revised edition (got it? REVISED).
The fact that, 17 years later after that, Wizards is making a mistake of the same kind reveals that either there's a long way towards a balanced game, or (i think the most possible answer) they are just trying to make some money.
Because, you see, basic economics would tell you that the best way to keep the prices up is to keep supply low, and by printing cards like these, Vengevine, Jace, The Mind Sculptor, Lotus Cobra, among other aberrations of power creep, on MYTHIC rarity status, it's pretty obvious that WotC's main mission right now is to take as much money as they can of the wallets of gamers like you.
" Fact is, overpowered is OK as long as it's infrequent & the rarity is appropriately as$igned." No it's NOT okay; tell that to the player that doesn't have the money to play magic competitively, or the budget player that just doesn't want to spend hundreds of dollars in -with all due respect to the game- a stack of cardboard.
circu196
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
@Test-Subject_217601 Exactly. See chimney imp. .5/5 for stupid brokenness.
AXER
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(6 votes)
So instead of whining about this... just give another whiner a 5 star rating and post good o' comments such as "cool artwork" or combo cards.
I agree Serra Angel makes more sense than this but... I got this in a repack and I was wondering how I could combo it.
channelblaze
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I feel bad for angel of mercy.
Diachronos
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I really don't get how people see this as being so powerful. You could probably find some way to get a 5/5 flyer with first strike and lifelink for about the same CMC, and pro Demons/Dragons is really only a problem if you use nothing else.
Not saying it's not a good card; I'd definitely run it if I had it. But I still don't think it really deserves the "OMFG BANESLAYER!!!" reaction.
Bolast
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I got 4 Banselayers just from buying 20+ Booster packs... call me lucky but yeah! I placed 4 of them in my Knight deck together with Knight Examplar and some more annoying Knights! Hehehe! I tell you at late game when this baby hits the battle field it's game ;P
benegade
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
this card isn't broken. as has been said, there are plenty of ways to deal with it. there's so much removal out there (you can just smite it with the freekin birds of paradise) that your strategy has to be bigger than one playset of tough creatures. if this thing is killing you, you need to put better cards in your deck. act of treason, fling, that's always fun. you can buy playsets of both for 3 bucks. cancel, mana leak. plummet. these are all commons.
one of the best creatures out there, but not unbeatable.
bagilis
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(8 votes)
Remember having played a doom blade on this in a Friday Night Magic. Then I did cast a Raise from the Grave on it.
Lol!
Paleopaladin
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(10 votes)
Who are these people not giving this a 5?
People, people, people - rate the card on its playability, not on the wisdom of Wizards printing it. Clearly 5/5. Geez folks! If they printed a version of Progenitus that cost only , it would obviously be a 5/5 for playability. Other players look at the ratings on this site to figure out if they should run the card in their decks, not whether or not they need to write an angry e-mail to wizards.
NecroticNobody
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(4 votes)
This card is not broken, it's just not very well designed. It's mana cost does not reflect the white flavour in my opinoin. Either remove/change a few of the abilities or change the mana cost to {2}{W}{W}{W} or {3}{W}{W}{W}. It is far out of the reach of casual players in terms of price, which I don't agree with. If Wizards wants to make Magic fun for newer players, they should lower the prices so that the new players, who don't shell out hundreds of dollars for cards, are not being beat down by the players who sink hundreds of dollars into their decks. This card is fun to play with though, but I dislike the design. My favourite thing to do against Baneslayer is Mana Leak it, then Rise from the Grave it and Clone or Rite of Replication the zombie version.
OMFGrhombus
★★☆☆☆ (2.6/5.0)(7 votes)
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
TheSwarm
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(30 votes)
They should totally make a 0/1 Colorless Artifact creature named "Baneslayer's favorite teddy bear" with flying, shroud, indestructibilty, defender and "protection from Baneslayer Angel"
whoiam
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Paleopaladin if someone pays attention to these ratings he has to be stupid. Playability of cards should be judged on your own or go to deckcheck and see if it's played.
Pwnsaw
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(5 votes)
I don't know why there are so many negative comments about reprinting this, it means more copies are available at a lower cost for everyone.
Beastlygreen
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I'll grudgingly admit that this is a good card. Five mana for a 5/5 flyer with a slew of other abilities? That's a sweet deal. I wish it weren't so good, but it is.... and I'm willing to accept that it will destroy anyone without a great air defense!
LordAlvon
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(5 votes)
People need to stop hating on this card.
Honestly, just because it's expensive doesn't mean that you have to cry about it.
I've got three. I opened 2 in packs, and traded for the third. They never cease to amaze me with their awesomeness.
This card is beautiful, I'm glad they reprinted it, and I hope to see it back in M12.
MTGGameHero
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Still the best Angel ever, going to be solid counter to reinforced dragonkind such as Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, Hoard-smelter dragon, and steel hellkite, and Carnifex demon although it still gets minus counters.
Those annoying infect creatures aren't gonna touch baneslayer armed with first strike.
With Path and Oblivion Ring going out it might be even getting better.
5/5
BlackAlbino
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
for those that don't understand economics, reprinting it made it drop in value. on the same note, i wish it were rotating now but now we'll need to wait a bit longer.
Wraique
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Hear hear Test-Subject_217601.
@ Diachronos: I'd like to see you rise to your own challenge. A 5/5 with flying, first strike, vigilance and lifelink for a converted mana cost of clost to five. I'll throw in one more caveat: not just until end of turn. Do it for {7}. Hell do it for {8}. You're gonna be there a while.
Kori260
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Overhyped and overpriced $$$, sure its a really good card but it's no where near invincable :P
DoctorKenneth
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(117 votes)
So, I've had a problem with this card for some time, and due to the ungodly hype and controvesy surrounding I've let it lie. But I think I'll take my crack at it, and let my comment get washed away in the 9+ pages sea of them.
The problem I have with this is not that it's broken. Frankly, the reason I love Magic is that for every strategy, however intricate, there is something that can answer it, however remote. And cards like this, however undercosted, always offer some glimmer of hope for the defending player. This is just another nail in a coffin, and one nail does not make for a secure lid.
It is, of course, a very undercosted, very sturdy nail, but you've heard all those complaints before.
No, my problem with this lies in the long term.
I'm not exactly talking about power creep, though something not unlike it. I'm talking about psychology. Players define what is standard and acceptable in a long-running game by holding it to the standard of their early experiences with that game. Dungeons and Dragons makes for a good example, but to stay in-game with this, look at Counterspell. The Counterspell thing has been going on for some time now, and has been largely abated by the inclusion of Mana Leak, but it generally isn't a nostolgia issue for those involved. People who grew up with counterspell accepted it as a universal standard for counter magic, and now every blue instant is held to that regard. We seek solid, defineable objects to compare things to, to say that one thing is better than another. We look to categorize, and our early experiences take priority.
New players aren't taught that Baneslayer is "broken" or undercosted. They find out for themselves that it is very good, and thus the angel becomes a baseline, an impossible standard that they hold other cards to. Soon they say things like "Yeah, that Serra Angel is okay, but isn't it kind of undercosted compared to Baneslayer?". And the point is thus: Wizards, if you keep printing big flashy, hyper-efficient things to impress Timmy (or even Spike), the new players you care about so much won't be able to properly value everything else you're putting out there.
Don't believe me? I dare you to count how many comments are made of older creatures on Gatherer that are merely offhand references to modern ones, rather than a discussion of the card in it's own right. Mind you, I'm sure that modern non-creatures have similarly reversed commentary (I'm looking at you, blue), but that's quickly being ammended- what with white's powerhouse enchantments, red and black's return to absurd creature destruction and discard, and blue's slowly returning power of control.
In short, this is not exactly power creep. But when the new players feel that this is normal, when they grow up with Baneslayers as a game staple, their voices can and will change the game as we know it. I don't know if it will be better or worse for the game as a whole, but as a personal supporter of longer and more complex games, I just hope people never accept this as the norm.
bowlofgumbo
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Ahh yes Baneslayer. The Angel who changed it all. There was a point in Magic's history where angels where just good, not the standard by which players judge overpowered cards. Power creep criticism aside, of course this is 5/5. Any other rating would be unfair - embrace it people :)
makochman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Baneslayer Angel.
How the mighty can fall.
djbon2112
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(33 votes)
I love how everyone blames Wizards for this being expensive...
HINT: WIZARDS DOESN'T MAKE MONEY OFF THE SECONDARY MARKET. The reason this card costs $40, and Jace 2.0 costs $70, is because PLAYERS ARE WILLING TO PAY THAT MUCH FOR IT. Wizards made some very powerful cards, and has tried again (as Richard did at the beginning) to use rarity as a balance. You have to open more packs to get them, and that's fair (if you argue it isn't, then your point is moot, because then you don't want a "collectable card game", you want a "card game". Decks of cards are $5). But everyone goes nuts for these, and the tournament players flock to buy playsets of them, whatever the cost. Is Wizards right in doing this? Probably not. But it's not their fault how much the card costs.
You want to *** about someone hurting casual players, it's hardcore, must-win-every-tourney Spikes who are willing to pay $40+ for a single card (and then want a playset or two) and therefore drive the price up. Wizards cares about new and casual players. That's why they create things like Starters, Archenemy and FNM. Saying they "hate new players" just because they created Mythics is dumb. You don't need playsets of Mythics to have fun, or to build a decent deck (hint: don't just copy the decklist with 8 PWs card for card from the internet, when you're just going to play at your local card shop). Mythics are there to be splashy, fun, cool cards to pull out of a pack and throw in your deck as one-offs. Just because the top tournament players think you need 4 Jace 2.0s and 4 Mox Opals in every deck doesn't mean you actually do. Use your own creativity, and your cards at hand, and actually MAKE a deck for yourself. And if you want to go win the Pro Tour that badly, then you can damn well afford to spend $500 on your deck, so stop complaining!
/rant
This card, though, is a 5/5. I hope it stays in the core set for the foreseeable future.
Rikiaz
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
DEATH TO POWER CREEP!!!! What happened to the good old days where Lord of the Pit was good, and the days where a 6/6 with no abilities was 6 to play, add abilities like the Titans and you got a 9 converted cost creature, and it was good, I wish magic was still like that. Power creep is why I only play casual and the reason why when my brother uses his standard deck we start with 40 life just so the game lasts more then 5 minutes. Seriously Wizards, I would rather play a long game then 5 games that last 1/5 as long. Mythic cards should be fun and unique, not auto included overpowered, undercosted (Ahem, Baneslayer/Titans/Wurmcoil ect.) they should be epic and unique, even if they arn't that playable except in certain decks.
ZuesAscendant
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(6 votes)
Powerful, efficient, well costed. I just hate the rarity. Not for what it does to card values, but what it does to the Limited environment. Because no matter how well my deck works, I still lose to the lucky player who pulls a planeswalker.
SoulShatterer
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Why did they reprint this steaming pile of broken?
Gomorrah
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wizards- Plains, M11 BSA
Us- In response, price PLUMMET!!!
baneslayeriscute
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great card, of course! ;)
Aburaishi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
... Well, at least she doesn't have vigilance! Now, on the counterattack-
(Triclopean Sight)
Good game.
EnV
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(5 votes)
Wait whats this? No vigilance. Serra Angel, well to tell you the truth Baneslayer is a powerful white beatdown card, but it can easily be crushed by non bolt removal. And like many of you have stated its a pain for people who don't regularly play in tournaments, and yes people will pay for this.....though its never going to be my profession......and again those who have the money will by this for the lulz. It gets ridiculous when you play up to 100 dollars for a small piece of laserprinted cardstock.
Sironos
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(5 votes)
Just broken, should either be FL/FS, FS/LF or FL/LF, all 3 abilities together for 5CMC is just broken. Mythic shouldn't be an excuse to make "broken, usable in all decks that run white" cards.
On the brighter side, it's very fun to doom blade this. The art on doom blade of an angel getting killed makes it kind of a 2 frame cartoon ^^.
Hoped I would see this die with m10 cycling out, and then it pops up again in M11...
Don't like this power creep. It would be fair, if all creatures of all rarities got stronger, but it seems like mythic rare is getting disproportionally powercreeped "4 og the 5 titans, wurmcoil, this, Jace the moneyscalper, lotus cobra, venge vine...". If this keeps going, soon standard will become a rich kid format, since you'll need to spend 600$ on your deck to make it competitive, since all your cards will have to be overpriced mythics.
Guess that's why I like vamps, no mythics needed in standard, since they all cost too much mana (I think I'm one of the few vamp players who didn't mind nocturnus cycling out, good riddance to overpriced undercosted overpowered mythics, whether they're black or white or any other colour.)
I find really funny that some people are crying because somebody didn't rated this card 5/5... I would rate 0.5/5 only beacuse of these people, and actually I do, but not only for this. It's because this card is actually a piece of crap (sic!), at least for me...
Let's beginning with the usual argument that "it dies for removal". It's not that this card will die for Doom Blade, it's because die ONLY for Doomblade... Almost every creature can't stand before this, so removal is actually the only way to get rid of this creature. People aren't saing that this is weak beacuse a doomblade can destroy it; people are happy because Doomblade can destroy it. In M11 WotC printed some answed to this card, and people put in sideboard cards only to answer Baneslayer Angel. This is a clear sign that this card has crossed the line...
I think that WotC shouldn't have reprinted this card since WotC doesn't reprint Counterspell because is an automatic 4x in every blue spell, and Baneslayer Angel is inside almost every white deck since his born. So somewhere the WotC logic doesn't work. Moreover, WotC said that there wouldn't be over-powered cards in Mythic rarity, instead we have this... I feel a little cheated...
Somebody said that this card isn't overpowered and/or that powercreep doesn't exist, but looking at white cards in, for example, Ravnica Block (an overall powerful and well-received block), I found 6 creature with power 5 or more:
-Autochthon Wurm, a card clearly for kids and surely not so powerful
-Razia, Boros Archangel, a legendary 6/3 for .
-Stoic Ephemera a 5/5 flying with defender
-Hunted Lammasu a 5/5 flying for with a heavy drawback
-Blazing Archon a 5/6 for , far from broke
-Angel of Despair very powerful, maybe even a little over, but for .
It seems that 5 years ago the standard was very different.
This card is crap even because for it's implications: it sets a different standard.
I can't rate a card only because it's strong. Following the same logic a 5/5 trampling, flying, with shroud for only should be rated automatically 5/5, but actually it's not right...
I stress that I rate this card 0.5/5, and I have to tell you that I don't even play Magic after Time Spiral block. I've left because I didn't like creature-type blocks as Lorwyn, not because I was tired of this game, but when Mythic rare has come I knew that I had to left because I knew that something like this soon or later could happen. And the fact that WotC continues this trend is a confirmation of my worries! Looking at cards like this I am even happy to have left before... Only, I'm sad looking where this game, that I used to love, is heading...
landboysteve
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(19 votes)
What a lot of people commenting on the "unfairness" of this card are missing is this.
In the history of MTG, I can't think of one card that, by itself, won you a game. Last time I checked, you still need a supporting cast.
Take Jace. What good is he if he's all you have out there? A couple of 3/3 creatures attacking a defenseless player turns him into toast if he's not out for at least 2 turns.
A black lotus, by itself, never won anybody a game last time I checked and it's the most expensive card in the game, somewhere around a grand or more by now.
My Power 9 deck kicks butt not because of the power 9 cards in it but because I actually have a decent deck (merfolk) built around it.
And no matter how good your deck is, if you're looking at one land in 8 turns (I've seen it happen) you're toast.
Those bitching about people being able to "buy" decks need to understand that in standard play, most of the really great cards are not even tournament legal anymore. And if you're going to play vintage, well then hell, you better come prepared for something a lot better than a Baneslayer Angel...even if you have 4 of them.
This game has NEVER been about one card. It's been about having the intelligence to recognize card combos and use a little strategy...something that's lost on a lot of the younger players. They think that if they just slap together a deck of $100 rares that they're going to win every game. Trust me, I've seen some pretty stupid players lose with some damn good decks. I should know...I used to be one of them. It took me years to REALLY learn this game the RIGHT way.
I'm not saying I can beat a guy playing power 9 with a bunch of commons, but if he's playing those cards and I'm not, because I don't have them, then I have no business playing vintage or legacy or whatever.
If you have a head on your shoulders and actually understand this game, you can put together a deck that doesn't cost a fortune and compete with the "spoon fed" everything-under-the-sun-in-their-decks spoiled brats who wouldn't know REAL strategy if it bit them on the backside.
And please STOP blaming WOTC for the price of cards. If we weren't willing to spend that kind of money on these cards, they wouldn't command these prices.
Oh, and for what it's worth, in deck testing just recently, my elf deck (value about $5) beat my power 9 deck.
Again...it's what's between your ears and not what's in your deck.
rinoh20
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(7 votes)
dies to baneslayer.
flare1122
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Akromas are still the best in my mind. Cause doomblade kills this chick pretty quick.
randomewolf
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this is why i run 4 unsummon 4 doomblade and 4 tidehollow strix
Kamidii
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Baneslayer Angel. BS Angel. That sums it up.
J_Lennon
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(5 votes)
Inferior to Akroma, Angel of Wrath.
divine_exodus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What? No trample? No vigilance?
Orza
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
When I saw this card in the M10 spoiler I quit Magic(tm)... for a few months.
Khultar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
probably the most cheap ass easy to use card in all of magic:the gathering, this card is so godamm hard to kill, and wut really ***es me off is that it's 5mana for 5/5, WTF is that shit
Trizeam
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Should be legendary and cost 6. At least 6. Then it would still be good!
It's really interesting to look at all the comments over the last year or so. This sexy piece of pie was BLOWING everything out of the water a year ago this time, but it is amazing to see now that you don't even hear about Baneslayer anymore. I think it goes to show how much Baneslayer isn't actually broken. If it was, everyone would obviously be using it still. I don't even think I've been seeing it in sideboards as it was there a couple months ago. It totally proves all the people that were so upset about this card wrong. Baneslayer was just sooo good at the time because of the cards around it. The way the format was back then just happened to be perfect for this card. It was printed at the PERFECT (some may say worst) time, and was a dominator. I respect you Baneslayer, and it was nice watching you're run. You did some amazing things for a while. You're fire burned bright but fast, and now we've all moved on and forgotten you. Don't worry, I haven't. Now that your under twelve bucks I'm going out to pick up 4 of you!! YAY! I'm gettin' me some BSA!!!
bijart_dauth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.7/5.0)(3 votes)
i dislike this card, it just dosnt seem very angle like to me, and the pro deamons and dragons should make it a specified card, and yet those abilities are almost never used. Its mostly just a supper efficient beater, which I as a combo player I see few uses for.
__Silence__
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@theswarm they do have one but it doesnt have flying or shroud instead it has another... nice... ability... its called stuffy doll...
This card has clearly been heavily debated for quite some time now. The fact it isn't a perfect 5/5 is very humourous and clearly indicates many people spite the card and have violated their right to vote for their own personal glorification of ego placation. Doctor Kenneth makes a very valuable point regarding the full spectrum. Printing cards this powerful will definitely create a new standard staple of creature comparison. And the newer players will definitely scoff at anything that has a 5/5 body or greater that costs 5 or more mana. We have to face the facts with this card... It is very powerful and calls for a quick resolution from the opposing player. Although on the other side of this debate, any card that is 5 cmc is a heavy brick to unload. And there are so many cards that are 2 cmc or less that can easily remove this threat. But what makes this issue extremely humourous to me, is the crystal clear fact that Wizards covered their A/S/S. If you look closely... Baneslayer was printed in M10, which was also followed up with reprinting in M11. Maybe its just me... but someone please explain how conveniently a card like Combust was quickly printed in M11 along side baneslayer. I think someone was trying VERY hard to cover some spoiled tracks. An uncounterable solution that happens to deal the exact damage equal to baneslayer's body.... hmmm... Maybe it is just me... but this seems like the classic, "Hey guys... ummm... yea ....we F'ED up! Quick print a retraction!"
5/5
Yoktes
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(7 votes)
I have found my fav use for baneslayer
in a game i had today, i was constantly telling my friend that i had baneslayer in my hand, and that he was going to be a great start to the massacre (i had just gotten the card that day) and when i caste it he countered it with no thought to what else i may have in my hand
1 turn later, i played my akroma, angel of wrath and pasted him
Ahh not being reprinted in Magic 2012. I've been waiting for that.
HPS
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@ dragonking987
I agree with you but not on the ff:
>Alara got kicked out blue white controol pretty much died?
UW didn't die. After Alara, Mono Black Vampires dominated for a short while, but because of MBV's awful record against Jund decks, UW slowly became the deck of choice and it still is today.
>if baneslayer angel is in a good chunk of the winning decks then why is its price dropped almost 80% since alara got kicked out?
And fluctuating prices are not good indicators if a card is being effective or not. The main reason why prices for Bane dropped is the same reason why prices for other older cards drop. Most players just get tired of them and are into new cards.
Magic is a combo of card effects, a card -no matter how weak or strong- becomes dominant if that card mixes well with the others. And with that, I am confident to say ( and you can check this on the internet) that Baneslayer is in 90% of almost all UW variation decks. Most foks uses Banes as sideboard-worthy along with Kor Firewalker, and sideboarding is a very vital part of the game. And since UW is the deck to beat in standard, this card still sees play.
Many of the most competitive UW decks in Extended have Banes partnered with Kitchen Finks, and Wall of Denial in them.
Just witnessed a Legacy mini tourney match, and the winning guy uses Bane in his Jace centered deck.
Other powerful tournament decks that still uses Banes; Mono White Knights, Boros, GW Quest, GW Summoning Trap, Bant, Naya, and other decks that has white mana in them.
To say Bane is no longer a good card is almost blasphemous considering all of her abilities are meant to dominate and for only five mana.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
@ dragonking987
>When alara got kicked out blue white control pretty much died?
I remember that Jund and Bant were the bests of Alara-era Standard, good UW control decks only came late. But now that we are in Zendikar and Scars of Mirrodin, UW control decks are the decks-to-beat.
>Baneslayer not included in the winning decks?
Really?...
The best standard decks (Caw Blade, Caw Go, UW Control, Naya, GW Quests, Boros) uses this card as round two back up and round three finisher
Some of the best extended decks (Bant, UW Faeries, Naya Zoo, UWR, Boros) sometimes uses 1 or 2 Banes in the first rounds and often use them as finishers in rounds two and three.
On tournaments, she's a sideboard card and see plenty of play on round twos and threes. Nowadays, 2-3 Banes are considered practical but there are decks that still uses 4 of these.
On casual plays (games you do with your friends), she's a main board killer that annihilates your opponent's dragons and demons.
land_comment
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Please don't be reprinted in M12, Please don't be reprinted in M12,
lol this is ratted lower then storm crow. HPS really? I see plenty of mono white white red mono blue and blue black decks but not vary many blue white decks but I guess it different in other places.
HPS really if baneslayer angel is in a good chunk of the winning decks then why is its price dropped almost 80% since alara got kicked out? White lost its two best kill spells when alara got kicked out which hit Blue white control pretty hard and all the new white cards seem to favor the more aggressive decks.
I have nothing ageist this card when alara got kicked out blue white controol pretty much died. And back when alara and m10 where in standard there where plenty of really good decks that you could make on a small budget. One of the winning decks in the world standard championships was a life gain deck made most out of commons and uncommonness. Now of days baneslayer is in none of the winning decks. People mostly wine about her because they are looking for excuses for losing most of their games she isn't broken and nether are the new sets some of the cards from the urza block made the new stuff look like Jokes so please stop complaining if you dont want to spend huge amounts of money on a standard tournament legal deck you dont have to play in extended games in them you have more then enough choices you could easily make a good deck on a some what small budget magic is just a game try to enjoy it.
SeiberTross
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(6 votes)
To me, this card says...
"Hey you know what...we never see Timmy play white, we want Timmy to play white more."
wait it dies to doom blade AND go for the throat? terrible. 1 out of 5.
TPmanW
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Wow post-M11 titans her reputation's taken a beating. She's easily in the bottom third of mythic rares if sorted by community rating. Every titan beats her, so do each of the Eldrazi. How did the "best creature in Magic" get beat out by Timewarp, Serendib Efreet, Kird Ape, and Zuran Orb (Yah I know those last ones are all really nostalgic but still)?
@ Thaxian_Number_14: Holy carp you're right! There's no way that's an accident. Baneslaer is the new Lorthos.
Jesseman
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(22 votes)
Size does matter, when it comes to 5 CMC angels. I am concerned if Serra Angel is even comparable, but it does have vigilance, which could save you from a possible storm crow attack.
Bursama
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(6 votes)
Oh. My. God. ... But it dies to Doom Blade. 5/5
AlunJaceImpostor
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(4 votes)
close to broken.
it's not the flying, it's not the first strike, it's not the lifelink, it's the flying AND first strike AND the lifelink that just make me sigh when people play it. Should be 7CMC.
blurrymadness
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(19 votes)
@dragonking987 I've never lost a game to Baneslayer, because I've never even seen one laid on the table. Still, it's broken in the sense that it's hideously murders every comparable card for the cost. It's not "broken" in the grand scheme of things, it's "internally" broken. Internal balance in this game would be the balance within a color/comparable cards, and this flat out kills them. The common example is the completely obsoleted Serra Angel. It's not that serra angel is bad, it's that it SHOULD be a relatively good angel. Baneslayer makes it crap.
Urza's is a grand example of awesome stuff, as is mirrodin, but just because they've made actually broken cards and then they come out with creatures that are REALLY REALLY REALLY good doesn't mean this card is somehow irrelevant. Fact is there's a huge difference in dropping this over Serra Angel. You trade vigilance for +1/+1, lifelink, and first strike (and some protection that never happens.)
It's certainly arguable that previous big bombs are better, like Simic Sky Swallower. While it has little standing for it, that shroud and big body evader made a similar impact of people finding ways to cram it into a deck.
It is nifty however how much the price dropped. Still not cheap, but no longer the "bankslayer" people were calling it.
scumbling1
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(8 votes)
"It's not "broken" in the grand scheme of things, it's "internally" broken. Internal balance in this game would be the balance within a color/comparable cards, and this flat out kills them."
Wizards has been pushing creatures' power for their mana costs for a long time now, but who's to say that they got the appropriate ratio of power to mana cost right for creatures in the first place? There is no standard for card design beyond what impact a card has in a given format / metagame. There is no known formula for designing the perfect creature on paper. If a creature can exist with so many abilities for five mana without damaging the format, then it's past the only test for 'brokenness' there is.
"It's not that serra angel is bad, it's that it SHOULD be a relatively good angel."
This is not an argument; this is simply your opinion.
WIzards has been pritning strictly better cards in the same color (and set) since Alpha. Baneslayer is simply another instance of a practice they've kept up all along. If your opinion is that Serra Angel (or any other creature) should be some sort of metric for efficiency, it's unrealistic to expect the game to uphold such a idea -- the metric for playable creatures has always been in flux.
mike_stubbs1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I never will know why they didn't cost this at 6.
BlackKWYte
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
legendary please so i can have some actual fun
Hayw00d0909
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(40 votes)
Well, today I broke down and decided a couple of these were the missing pieces of my deck, and I ordered a pair.
I've never touched drugs in my life, but at $10.00 a piece for simple cardboard, I felt like a junkie.
Ninjazilla
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Thank god that Kargan Dragonlord isn't a dragon or my dragon deck would be 100% screwed
olegna
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Corrupted Conscience's favorite :D if you run this card? you must protect it.. lol
Gabriel422
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(18 votes)
Well, if anyone still hates this angel, now you have the option of running four Dismembers in every one of your decks!
When this gets banned the name suddenly changes to "Banslayed angel"
Avatarless
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Awesome flavour text :D
Boday1
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
It really isn't broken, it's a big, stompy, powerful creature. It's undeniably a very, very powerful creature, but there are many ways around it. Dismember,Go for the Throat,Consuming Vapors etc.
Joseph_Leito
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
*Giggles at the lack of reprint*
Back to using Serra Angel! Yay!
netog121
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I pulled this card last year at the magic 2011 prerelease and have loved using it in u/w control deck ever since
GruesomeGoo
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(10 votes)
Annnnnnd goodbye! :3 She may not have been broken, but I've always hated her for outclassing the beautiful Serra Angel.
aznxknightz
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
I was playing an actual booster draft with a total of 3 players, i first picked baneslayer angel and never put it in my deck because i wasn't playing white. I still won.
It seems like white will be getting a lot of the powerful cards, flyers like this, removal like oblivion ring or path to exile, 2/1 for 1 mana, etc. This is 5 mana for a 5/5 beat stick, normally would be good, but Wizards took some drugs in and gave it 5 abilities. Aside from the protection, giving it 2 out of 3 of the other abilities is downright still playable and deserves to be in decks.
Now why can't something like this deserve to be in all colors, but mainly green, which is known to have beatsticks? Instead we get 5/6/7 mana cost creatures with, sometimes more often than not, no abilities.
ChaosK
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like it. Yes it is a bit overpowered but i actually think it fills a gap in whites 5 drop creature slot. I think white desperately needed a new strong iconic creature - Serra Angel was just too weak in todays standard.
Statisticwise white doesnt get played much by timmies/new players, this card helps making more new players play white. (new players tend to be most attracted to black an green because of the strong creatures)
GengilOrbios
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Broken card is broken.
NatalyNeeSama
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(10 votes)
Nha, people are taking the meme "Dies to removal" to serious.
Of course 90% of magic creatures dies to removal, but the point of the meme is not that!
The point is: A card that cost 50$ or more dies to a card that cost 50 cents or even 2$. This, we call, IRONY, and make the meme funny.
See, what will piece trough your heart: See a card you pay 50 cents die to a card that the opponent payied 50 cents, or a card that you have to sell your Car and even your SOUL dies to a 50 cents card? XD
Baneslayer is not alone; we can pick the example of Jace TMS with Vampire Hexmage.
Don't take this meme to serious, is only suppose to be fun, not to define the game or undervalue a card, is only for people have fun.
tazman321
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(6 votes)
@HollinDayze69lolll
That was bad and you should feel bad.
Guest742242900
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
lol underpowered card is underpowered dies to doom blade before it can even attack lol
Arachobia
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
I must admit, I have a deck with just one copy of her in it and if I get her out she has a tendency to upset my opponent. The first strike lifelink can gain you back any life loss while making her a hassle to kill via blocking and I have actually seen her upset a dragon player with her unique protection making her a nice blocker and an unblockable attacker. Sure, she's over-hyped somewhat because she is still weak to removal and high damage. But she doesn't deserve overly-critical treatment just because a few people are overly-enthusiastic about her.
TherealphatMatt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I run a black vampire deck that has more creature removal in it than you can shake a stick at it (while you're at it, make that stick creature-removal-on-a-stick vis a vis Gatekeeper of Malakir). This is one of the reasons why.
blitzer090909
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
its still a solid card in the new standard m11 scene, just played 2 in my u/w "control" deck last FNM...and yes while it does die to doom blade and go for the throat...its still can with one swing bring you back in a game if unanswered
Ladnarud
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(6 votes)
The problem with this card isn't that it's got extraordinary abilities, or that it's extremely powerful. The really idiotic thing is the mana cost. It's an average creature with a ridiculously reduced mana cost. THAT'S the problem.
Sure, it dies to removal, like 80% of other creatures. Sure, it can be mind-controlled, like the vast majority of creatures. That's not the point. The point is that it's got +1/+1, protection from two very powerful creature types, first strike, AND lifelink over Serra Angel......... for exactly the same mana cost.
Baneslayer's lack of vigilance is just a laughable attempt at making it not OBSCENELY stricly better than Serra Angel. This card, along with anyone who willfully plays with it, is quite pathetic to need such an unfair advantage.
gtamaster503
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card sucks. Might Leap one of your fatties and boom it's gone.
Kitty_the_Kat
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
This card isn't actually that great to be honest. There's a reason that this card has dropped so much in price, my local store sells these for $7 or $8, quite a difference from the old $50 price tag on it. Actually there's a few reasons. The original reason was Jace, the Mind Sculptor because he was bouncing these all day. The current reason is because its close enough in cost to be completing with the titans, which drop one turn later and actually affect the board in some way as they enter, they are also stronger than Baneslayer. EDIT: I also forgot to mention Mirran Crusader with Sword of War and Peace, which is usually better than this card in every single way, and is already swinging before this even hits the board.
There's also the issue of removal. Face it, creatures for the most part suck. They are the second most vunerable card type (after auras) and as such are extremely easy/cheap to take care of. So in order for a higher costing card (anything over 3 mana) to be aggressive enough to compete with the current meta, it has to have a good "enter the battlefield" effect or by producing great advantage when it starts swinging like Hero of Bladehold (Titans deliver in both of these areas), just so your mana/turn isn't completely wasted when it is dropped by a Doom Blade or any other type of removal.
In short, if you're not sure about a creature that costs more than 3 mana, how does it stack up against the Titans? Can it be locked down by a Frost Titan? Burned by Inferno Titan? What can it do to top Sun Titan's recursion ability?
And remember, these standards are not strictly speaking. Its up to the deck builder to weigh the costs/benefits of each card. You should just keep these things in mind because your opponents will.
Arachibutyrophobia
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(9 votes)
it doesn't have vigilance so it's NOT strictly better than serra angel.
HollinDayze69lolll
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(24 votes)
why does erryone think diz card iz so qood? i mean ya itz a mythic rare but dat doesnt mean anythinq nowadayz. in a year (or lesss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) dey'll prolly already have a new class out, like super mythic or somefin. anyway..... but i reqress.
yall r forqettinq about........................ Anqel of Mercy. datz rite i sed it. i kno a bunch of yu probably will think dat i'm dumb but itz tru, anqel of mercy is equal if not BETTER then baneslayer anqel.
lets start rite off da bat wit da p/t (power/touqhness, for u noobz out their). baneslayer is a5/5 and mercy is only a 3/3, but wen you think about it it doesnt make dat much of a diffrenece bcuz dey both have flyinq so nothinq can block dem (no one does flyinq nowadayz, cuz poinson counter r da new raqe and lets not forqet perlifrate!!), itz just a matter of waitinq it out.
NExt, da abilite.s wen we look at baneslayer, it haz first strike, flyinq, protection fom draqonz nd demonz, nd lyfelink;. converresly, anqel of mercy has 3 lyfe qiven 2 u wen it comez into play. think about it: if i have 1 lyfe nd my opponent has say, a qoblin piker dat he made invinsible wit whispersilk cloake, so i cudnt block it, nd he (or she!!!!!!!! its a qurlz world too u kno) wud kill me next turn. if i played baneslayer, den i couldnt even qet lyf bcuz it just came into play. but anqel wud qive me 3 lyf rite off da bat w/o even attackinq. so den i wud win.
next, da mana cost. baneslaer takes 2 white mamna, mercy only needz 1 - and dat, my friends, probably makes mercy better rite off da bat, w/o alld at odder stuff i already sed. bcuz wat if u only had 1 plain in ur deck? den u couldnt even play it (bsnslaeyr i mean.) but if u only 2 plans, den u wud be qettinq anqle of mercy out on da field pretty much every qame, rite of da batt cuz it only costs 5 nd dats not DATTTT much bcuz nowadays everyboy juts wants 2 play fatties leik porenitiqus, or craw wurm (my bf haz 3 craw wurm!!!! dis a shout out 2 u <<3333 babbi luv ya 4eva !~) we qoin 2 puerto rico in a coupel weekz!!!1
so, rite off da bat, we see dat i am rite, and dat my qurl mercy is probly better den baneslyer anyday. i know a lot of u mite disaqree but i am just a trailblazer, like christopher c (columbus) or maybe nicki minaj. if u want 2 chat me 4 advice on maqic (or yuqioh, i am prodiqy at both lol) den shoot me a messaqe. seeya
ps her picture looks so uqly, mercy is hawtttttt lol k hollin'dayze out <3
And yes, it's powerful... more powerful than most cards from this block... that's probably why it is a mythic rare. There are plenty of ways to deal with it though.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ OmegaD:
Iona, Shield of Emeria fills a different roll than "lol, turn 5 angel, deal with it or die" that Serra Angel, Celestial Colonnade, and Baneslayer are made to fill. Iona is actually a big dumb Reanimate target because it locks your opponents out of one color. This could be a critical removal color, it could be a non-artifact combo piece they need to go off. It's also a 3 turn clock. You're comparing Emrakul to Guard Gomazoa.
Sk8er_Boi_1999
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(10 votes)
Dies to Doomblade 0.5/5
PurpGuy
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(7 votes)
I'm surprised no one compares it more directly to Exalted Angel. Upgrades to +1/+0, First Strike, Protection from Demons and Dragons, and in return you pay 1 less.
Wait what
Maniacala
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I like this artwork better. http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee364/Maniacala/TyraelBaneslayerAngel.jpg
axiobeta
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
eck.
drpvfx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
DAMN!
I remember a time when people said cards like Serra Angel were OP and would never see print again.
Oh, how wrong they were! She may not be *strictly* better than Serra, but with +1/+1 and such a range of abilities, I'm afraid poor Serra has been majorly outclassed in 99% of decks, as Stasis decks aren't really so common these days ;-)
AncientTimer
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(10 votes)
Too broken to be fun
sarroth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This card supports my belief that, for many cards at least, sticking to flavor weakens the card. She is much more a destroyer of banes (that which ruins / that which causes death) with protection from Demons and Dragons, strong fantasy tropes that certainly fit the definition, and so her name and creature type are flavorful with her mechanics. However, with the generic protection from Black or Red she would have been more powerful and would have survived Doom Blades. Just an interesting observation.
Asmodi0000
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(13 votes)
I've never liked this card. It's simply too strong, and can easily win the entire game by herself. When my friend managed to get himself two of them, I had a chance to feel her power firsthand, and had to contend with a card that makes most other white creatures seem worthless. Rare creatures usually trumped uncommons and commons, and this was one of the first Mythic creatures to really display the true unrestrained power of the new rarity, making even rare creatures cower.
Oddly enough, as a birthday gift I received one, and reluctantly decided to use it, mostly for the sake of the person who went out of their way to get it for me. Even after having it in my principle deck for what may be well over a hundred games, she's only appeared once in my hand.
It was odd. Facing against my friend's most fearsome, nastiest deck, filled with brutal combos and devastating spells and abilities, I was in a bad situation, and it was only turn 4.
Until, Baneslayer.
I think I may have understood what she was intended for at that point. Not as some cruel piece of a terrible engine, but as a saving light against overwhelming darkness. She is a card to be used by the meek, to fight against foes of great power, to be just against the wicked. It's almost silly that it took me so long to realize this, when it's already printed on the card.
If you plan on using her, think about why you are using her. Read her flavortext, and question whether you are truly fighting for the side of righteousness. She is a holy sword that should not be profaned, and it's up to you to ensure that her blade only fights against the villains and oppressors.
BorosGeneral
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Er... Blaze for 5? I'd rather have protection from a color or two and double strike to be perfectly honest.
AvatarofBro
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
@asmodi0000 I appreciate your storytelling abillity and sense of flavor, but don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously?
ToastRecon
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Me playing a Furyborn Hellkite/Geosurge deck in casual. Needless to say I lost that match.
luca_barelli
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
the mana cost-to-power ratio and flying are crazy enough, but it's the lifelink that really pushes this thing over the edge.
OmTheOmnipotent
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(8 votes)
Baneslayer once used to be a great angel, then she took an arrow to the knee.
Zalfrezi
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Walletslayer Angel.
phyrexiantrygon
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Two reasons this card irks me: 1) It totally neuters my RB Demons/Dragons deck 2) With just a few tweaks, this could have been the perfect Avacyn... (namely better cost to ability ratio XP)
Still a solid 5/5 for power and playability, whether you like it or not.
GottaRunGottaRunNow
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(9 votes)
Could be worse. It could have protection from Red, or shroud. Could you even imagine the backlash it'd get then? This is a good card, very powerful, but, there are still a plethora of cards to combat it anyway, and many of them are one or two drops. So it's not hard to deal with at all if you prepare for it.
GlassJoetheChamp
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(12 votes)
They could have at least made it legendary....
Fenix.
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(5 votes)
This is a stupid card. Mythic Rares should be special cards with elegant designs, Baneslayer's just a creature with good abilities at a stupidly cheap cost. So it kind of upsets me.
But nothing is worse than Wurmcoil Engine in my opinion. While flavorful and with super cool mechanics, it's costing is just retarded. Something as impactful and devastating as that should at least cost 7.
alblast
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I remember times when this card could go for $50. Then along came the titans(mostly prime time) which pretty much killed the angel. It's pretty sad. This angel started out as a dominating force only to have her crown taken and then tared and feathered by the titans. She is worth maybe $5 now. Lets all remember the good times this angel had before its downfall.
pcballistix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
baneslayer and loxodon warhammer =)
Starry_Night
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ pcballistix: Baneslayer with Armadillo Cloak is even funnier (more obnoxious?). Armadillo Cloak hasn't been errataed to lifelink, which means that you gain life from her lifelink ability and then gain the same amount from the Cloak's trigger!
jfre81
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I don't usually sell cards so I'm glad I hesitated none after pulling one out of a pack to get it into a deck right away. Watch it get reprinted when they get around to making a truly formidable tribe out of angels.
Anyone who is bashing this card is just doing it to be different.
Gcrudaplaneswalker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I keep thinking it says Banhammer Angel for some reason…
Althom
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
She's BEAUTIFUL!!
Gonna get one of these as a remembrance. I really love Angel illustrations.
Really, even if angels are not too relevant in Type 2 now, I commend WotC for making them awesome all the same.
SquareWhale
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
There are far too many comments here. There is only one reasonable one. Everyone who reads this, go find the comment by DoctorKenneth and click "see more." You will be enlightened to the sole flaw in the game of MTG.
Paolino
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I have seen Baneslayer Angels at 5-6 euro. Our banks are safe, after Standard rotation. As it ALWAYS happens with foolishly speculated cards (see Karn Liberated for 40 euro which now costs 6, and now Sorin Lord of Innistrad for 50: it will cost at most 10 in one year time).
Ok I just saw the new Ghost Rider, and something about the flavor of this card and Serra Angel kinda clicked with me. I was reading the flavor text of each card, and it hit me. In Ghost Rider it is explained that the spirit inside Johnny Blaze was once an angel of justice, sent to earth to protect the innocent. I find this reminiscent of Serra's flavor text. Now this angel was captured by demons and driven insane through torture. Its purpose was twisted from protecting the innocent, to punishing the wicked. Thus it became a spirit of vengeance. Kinda reminds me of 'ol Baneslayer's text. Am I the only one that made this connection?
Azazyel
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(12 votes)
Oh man, I remember when this first came out. Everyone, myself included, was going nuts over how broken it was.
Nowadays, though, creature removal finally caught up. I can't play this (or any other similarly big creature that can't protect itself, save perhaps Phyrexian Obliterator vs. Mono Red burn) at any point without it getting bitchslapped by sac effects, paths, burn, creature destruction, O Rings, etc. the second it hits the board.
Testing a Modern control deck with this as the big finisher, it's proven a great removal magnet, but not much else. I've attacked with her maybe once or twice, over the course of ten games.
Every other time, she went to the grave the second she hit the field.
About the only color that can protect the Angel at instant speed from the kind of removal that is now out there (and you have to protect her at INSTANT speed, nothing else will do) is Blue. And that's assuming you have Islands untapped, meaning this girl no longer costs , she costs , i.e. her regular cost plus the cost of a Mana Leak assuming the opponent is tapped out or partially so when you cast her.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe Wizards didn't actually screw things up when printing this girl - it's just that Magic simply works a bit too slow for us to have noticed back then. Three years later, she's a really good, really beautiful creature, but no longer all that competitive unless you make a real commitment to using and protecting her.
It's... it's almost unbelievable, but I think -in this particular case, at least- that for all our ranting, R&D actually knew what they were doing when they printed this card. Who would've thunk?
KingJCa
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(4 votes)
DoctorKenneth, I have no idea how to respond to that, other than I totally agree. I myself am relatively new to the game, having been playing for a bit over a month. Even with my meager experience I realize that this card can't be taken as the norm, because it simply isn't. It's powerful, yes, and I do run four of them in my angel deck, but it was a screw up somewhere along the line of development. I certainly don't expect more like it.
alzabo
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(7 votes)
\(`O')/ ----M****F***'ING RAGE QUIT!!!!
KnexWiz
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
when this card came out i decided to run four of serra angel in every white deck then find a way to give it +1/+1 firststrike and lifelink. because put a Vigilance on baneslayer angle would be rediculus. this way when people see you with serra the get ready for the baneslayer that never comes
M_E_T_A_L_LORD
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(8 votes)
What part of mythic rare don't you hate-filled people understand?
adrian.malacoda
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Needs protection from Vampires and Zombies
Totema
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
@SgtSwaggr: The art actually has an interesting history. Greg Staples originally drew it for 9th Edition's Serra Angel, but for some reason it was not used. So he drew another one, which is still used to this day. They tucked away this artwork for a future angel, which happened to be this one.
@Metallord: That is exactly part of the reason why this is hated so badly. Because she's a mythic, she is very rare. Because she's very strong, she's also very valuable and expensive. She's so strong in fact, that she was a deck staple while she was still in standard - because she doesn't need any kind of specialized strategy to use well, just a supply of white mana. High price + deck staple = the only truly competitive standard players are the ones who can take out bank loans just to build their decks.
BurnedAlive
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
My OH my.... such an unpredictable card... Unusable to me and my world of perfection within my own walls.
Zoltantf
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
She is a beautiful bomb. Angels needed a flagship beater, other than Akroma, angel of wrath, and she is the answer. She is a good finisher in a control deck, and the lifelink is very useful against aggro. I don't like the fact that she out classes serra angel, but the Timmy in me can't help but to like her. Love her or hate her, you can't deny that Greg Staples is the man.
Zokorad
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Stop all the "obseletes Serra Angel." Serra Angel was the Gold in 7th Edition then Wizards just wanted to keep it in although Serra Angel is not supposed to be powerful anymore
dberry02
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm a big fan of Serra Angel. I'm kinda sad that they reprinted an overly powerful version of it. I still love Baneslayer though, don't get me wrong. It's just that poor Serra Angel needs a little love D:
Baneslayer: 4.5/5 for having badass flavor and being an allround great card!
Axelle
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(7 votes)
Attracts a lot of whiners.
Drewsel
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Protection from dragons. But, not from Dragonstorm. Pity.
TheDementiaBat
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(7 votes)
Strictly worse than stormcrow.
GraemeGunn
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
The reason why this card is SO good is because it costs FIVE mana. FIVE.
MechaKraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The fact it isn't legendary means you can have more then one of them out on the field, which is just great. If your opponent can't answer this, then you are well on your way to winning with it!
atemu1234
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(8 votes)
@ Test-Subject_217601 No, you rate it on how good the card is, not how much you like it. There are enough people who lost to this card to rate it zero, when it deserves muchmuchMUCH more than that. And enormous Baloth is rated 2.5? Your comment is rated 1.5.
Also, the sum of what everyone else is complaining about: "Overpowered" "Expensive"
People, cards like this is what keeps people playing the game. Comparing it to Serra Angel when it was rare (NOT MYTHIC RARE) is like comparing Progenitus to Storm Crow. Get over the fact they printed it, rate it by how good it is, not by how "broken" it is, and get back to your lives.
JoshMagic
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(5 votes)
picked up a playset for $24. :D
immelmann
★☆☆☆☆ (1.9/5.0)(10 votes)
I HATE broken cards like this. I wouldnt feel proud playing it, its disgusting.
Really, this card is good. But Magic needs good cards to be fun to play.
rogonandi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This girl likes to fight, and is really zealous about it considering the first strike ability. Protection from Demons and Dragons is a fairly specific ability, though I guess it can come in handy sometimes. It flies of course, and has lifelink which is cake icing. Get some protection on her as soon as you can, because just like most fatties, she's got a pretty big target painted on her forehead.
coyotemoon722
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(3 votes)
There's a reason her initials are B.A.
TheWrathofShane
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Its a 5/5 with 3 great abilities. Ill give it a 4.5/5 Strong creature, but still can be dealt with in any color.
Baneslayer is the best creature card in magic purely on a cost for performance basis. This is a 5 out of 5 stars as far as creature cards go. If you're not rating this 5 stars, what the hell else do you want on a creature for a 5 cmc. Pease show me a better creature for the same cost. Seriously.
JohnRoss
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Come on, I mean, this is a good card but it loses to to a alot of other angels(Gisela anyone?) And it doesn't have protection from anything practical.
RecurringMemories
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
5/5 All the way. Why? 1. Amazing abilities but her protection is mostly meaningless/Not overpowered. 2. Good value/CMC wise. 3. Art is epic. 4. Sets a new standard for BA creatures. 5. She makes people cry; if you want to know what I mean read half the comments about her.
ThePieManOfDeath
★★☆☆☆ (2.6/5.0)(4 votes)
This card isn't overpowered at all. There are loads of 1/1 creatures for 1CMC with amazing abilities, so why can't a 5CMC creature be 5/5 and have 3 good abilities? Playing a 5CMC creature is always a considerable risk, especially in Modern and Legacy, where it can be destroyed or exiled with a plethora of 1CMC and 2CMC cards. And for those saying that this outclasses everything else for the cost, Wurmcoil Engine, Mirror Entity, and Phyrexian Obliterator would like a word with you.
niallcmurray86
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
landboysteve: Amen brother.
KyotoKarakuchi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love this card. The usual thing I do with this card is strike whenever possible and give her an Armored Ascension. Sure, she is already flying, but think about all the life you can gain off of it. If you're going against a wolfir silverheart, and you have a complete white deck, that is an angel worth using.
EGarrett01
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
To Zylo, who said: "If you're not rating this 5 stars, what the hell else do you want on a creature for a 5 cmc."
How about fairness, balance, and consistency with the power curve of the rest of the creatures in the game?
This card ***es me off because it's so ridiculously above the standard set for other creatures and the casting cost. The excessive number of keywords seems like it was designed by a child with ADD who didn't care at all about what he was doing or what the standards were, almost like a disrespect to the game in general, and to make it the same cost as an iconic creature like Serra Angel while giving it more P/T and an almost strictly better set of abilities makes it insulting to older players on top of seeming lazy and sloppy in its design and ridiculously overpowered.
CaptainBlue
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I can still remember the feeling I got as I thumbed through a random booster pack I had bought during lunch at work to amuse myself. The cards covering her partially fell out from infront of her before I could finish reading them and I saw part of the word "Baneslayer". For some reason I felt obligated to finish looking through the pack in its original order so I placed them back on top of the stack and continued. It felt like those cards took forever to read.
Possibly my favorite card of all time.
Is it over powered? Probably.. BUT I DON'T GIVE A FLUCK! (as long as I'm the one using it)
5/5
Villainous1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I love the noise one of these makes when it smacks into my Wall of Tanglecord.
Smoke_Stack
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I agree with DoctorKenneth. That being said, I've never played against one of these and I have a hard time seeing what all the fuss is about. I dunno. My group plays a LOT of removal and as pretty as this chick is, one terminatemurderoblivion ring or tragic slip away from being toast. If it had shroud, it would be broken but honestly, I'd take any number of other angels over this one any day.
DarthParallax
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Kaalia of the Vast doesn't know whether to love her, or hate her. She doesn't particularly care, either. Your dead either way, cuz this just flat BELONGS in her deck.
EDIT: Avacyn Restored now is out. Sooo...Baneslayer...actually sux now? Wow. Well not sux, but is already not the Spikiest Angel. Compare to Sigarda, Host of Herons. SIDENOTE: Protection from Demons is pretty nice. Pro Dragons is more relevant against Dragons in general, but lifelink is kind of already Pro-Firebreathing, so..?
Oh, and Pro-Dragons is probably nice too, considering I am trying to proliferate the idea of 'sneaking' Kaalia into Scion of Ur-Dragon EDH lists as much as possible. Ur Dragon is just a really, really bonkers deck. Start with everything broken related to Maelstrom Archangel, like Maelstrom Wanderer. Add in all the KaaliA dumbness. Pro-Dragons is looking QUITE attractive. o.o
Most of the people that are commenting back to the dislikers are forgetting this:
Most of the Dislikers are probably simply weeping for poor Serra Angel. What Wizards did to her...wasn't right. Not by a long shot. Serra Angel was last seen as a Rare in Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic. And then shortly after that was an uncommon in the same set as Baneslayer. She was a Rare in Core X, then a Rare in Divine/Demonic....THEN...this.
I don't hate Baneslayer because it's not her fault she was born more powerful. But I do think it's still a huge shame, that Serra Angel fell SO FAR, so HARD, so QUICKLY :O :( It feels a lot like Wizards dumped Mary Jane Watson for Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man 3 style. Yeah, it was that bad. :/ Baneslayer actually nearly made people forget about Serra AND Akroma at once! o.O Akroma is simply irreplaceable, but Serra is forgotten in the real world. :'( For all the love she gets on Gatherer and in Binders...when was the last time you saw a Serra Angel -on the battlefield- in Constructed?
StudentOfEtherium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This Cards Real Name Is She Who Smashes Many Faces
psychichobo
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
Everyone says power creep, but really this gal still outdoes flyers like Sigarda, simply on the basis that there's too much there for so little investment. Siggy as least demands two colours, and can't first strike and lifelink. Her abilities are unique, she doesn't obsolete any other flyer.
Basically, any 5 cost flyer in White now has to be better than or different enough to Baneslayer to be valued. That's not a good thing. At least the Obliterator had the decency to be very black mana intensive.
Sure, she dies to removal, but Wizards did set a bar a bit too high for other cards to follow. Anything that wants to be a basic efficient 5-drop flyer is always going to compete against this.
Oh well. Malfegor kills her, amusingly. And on a side note, I have before with a mildly buffed Serra Angel. Vigilance counts for a lot more than you'd think...
EDIT: On a side note, just saw Havoc Demon. Including Carnifex Demon and Reiver Demon, that makes at least 4 I can think of that can kill her. Maybe it's a gesture of irony or something.
EDIT THE SECOND: So I went and made a list of Demons that could potentially kill this gal.
Disrespectful and inappropriate? So is this card. Come on, Wizards!
EKraj
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
Broken or not broken, I just think this card shouldn't exist. It isn't cool, it doesn't do anything to make the game fun, it just wins games in the simplest way. Has anyone actually said "Hey, that game where I swung with baneslayer for game was the most fun I've ever had winning!"
If Wizards wants to make a big powerful angel mythic then fine, make something like Iona, or Avacyn, not something like this.
Superllama12
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This thing is scary. I mean, it's really powerful. I think that what really does it is that there is nothing comparable at the same CMC. I mean, if there were a 5/5 angel for 5, this would be okay, but this has first strike. I mean, just one hit on a player is enough to swing the game a lot--10 point life difference is very significant. I feel that this is a little overpowered, if only because any hit swings the owner 5 life at least. Plus, nothing short of straight kill spells/Dismember do anything to it. So yes, I don't think that power creep is as bad as many people say, but I do feel that mythics get an unnecessarily high power level /rant
@HollinDayze69lolll: I don't have to patience to read that, you look like an idiot, it's unreadable, so please do us all a favor and shut up
Epicelves
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Hello, Hello Mr. walletslayer.
Phelplan
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Yep. I don't like her either. She could have been four white and 2 colorless cost and been balanced. or They could have left out lifelink and had her cost one more colorless mana. or She could have been 4/4 and cost three white and two colorless.
All of these would have been acceptable methods of getting her art and flavor onto the table in a way that doesn't make older good cards completely obsolete. She embodies the despised underbelly of the game we call Magic: The Gathering... that many of our favorite vintage cards just feel silly when you play them against cards like this. Which is kind of sad, because most of us really do want to keep buying cards, but not at the expense of having our older beloved cards becoming irrelevant.
I think it would be wonderful and ironic if the Baneslayer Angel became the Banned Angel. (In fact. I would cheer. It would be Wizards of the Coast fixing something that they never should have done.)
Secksee
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(6 votes)
Remember when a 4/4 with two nice abilities costed five, and was considered really good? This card should have never been printed. Sure, as the game ages and progresses, new cards are going to be made and have advantages over old ones, but they should not be strictly better than what didn't need improvement in the first place. The amount you get for 5 mana here is retarded. This isn't a power creep. It's a power dash. (Was going to say leap until I realized it rhymed.)
For the sake of the game, Wizards should not make their classic and well liked cards obsolete by making overpowered garbage such as this and tacking a mythic label on it.
BeatYouOnce
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(8 votes)
Stop down rating cards because you are bum hurt after they finished with you, this is a pure 5/5. No reason this should be rated under Serra Angel.
Lifegainwithbite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.9/5.0)(5 votes)
What some people don't seem to understand is that she dies to any and all removal. She's very powerful yes but in constructed, you should always have removal on hand to deal with your opponents' bombs. Baneslayer will rarely get a hit in before she gets removed and she isn't that much of a clock. Your opponent has three or four turns to draw a flyer or some removal while with the titans, they had barely any time at all (Inferno and Grave Titan especially). Baneslayer might be very hard to beat in casual but then, just adapt your deck to include more removal.
lebou04
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
this card is a 5/5...
you don't like it? just don't play it! funny fact is... people like it LESS then Morphling...
this card is wicked, deserves, BY FAR, a 5 star rating!
Some angels protect the meek and innocent. Other angels rape the metagame for years to come.
Jitteryowl
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(6 votes)
power creep ftw.
A 5/5 with close to a paragraph of keywords.
CMC of 5.
Really, wizards? This card should be banned or restricted in all formats.
meracleman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you REALLY want this to be broken, enchant it with Mask of Law and Grace. Then equip it with Canopy Cover. You'll never have playmates again hehehehe.
SilentOppressor
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I do enjoy eating these with Righteous Serra Angels.
Brakken
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
BaneSlayer Angel. BS Angel. I see what you did there, Wizards.
spinalgraft
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
The mascot of modern power creep.
It looks like one of those home made Magic cards kids make. The art is great however.
ChandraAblaze
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Love the cards abilities but I hate the art so much, Her head is so awfully small, and her white dress looks odd. Other then the art I have two and love to watch them hit the field and wrap up a game for me.
lungsoftheocean
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I know I'm going to get a lot of hate for saying so, but time shows all cards for what they're worth, and Baneslayer's spot in Legacy and Modern shows just how reactionary most comments here are.
There hasn't been a single top tier deck in 2013 for either Legacy or Modern that maindecks Baneslayer. At most, players have a single Baneslayer in their sideboard. The metagame outside of standard says that Baneslayer isn't powerful enough to even make it into a competitive deck.
As for Standard when she was in her prime, consider the environment. This was the age of Mindsculpters and Titans. Plenty of cards were banned during that rotation, and Baneslayer wasn't one of them.
No one likes losing to a strong, 5/5 finisher (heck, no one likes losing period), but that doesn't mean she's broken.
On a side note, Greg Staples is simply wonderful!
Bob111634
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This is a good card. We all know that. But it still dies. There's an awful lot more removal in the world than Baneslayers. If you don't like Baneslayer, run R/B with lots of removal and some Demons and Dragons to rub it in that they have 2 Baneslayers in the graveyard.
Reishyn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like Baneslayer. Yes, it's way more powerful than Serra Angel but, really, these days what isn't?! Complaining that Baneslayer Angel is responsible for power creep is like saying that a room is only messy when you flick the light switch on. You don't need to look at Baneslayer to know the meta has changed as far as creatures are concerned. Heck, there are creatures out there far more powerful than Baneslayer. Deathrite Shaman, Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant... these are the cards that should be raising eyebrows. Because they do a thousand things in one.
Baneslayer is just a very good beatstick. And it dies to everything a beatstick should. Every colour has an easy answer to Baneslayer. Every deck should be able to handle one if pressed. Doomblade, Claustrophobia, Oblivion Ring, Beast Within, etc... There's really nothing that makes this card too overwhelming. It does one thing and it does it well but that's it. We really need to get over all this Baneslayer rage. She isn't even a front runner in any format anymore.
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Amusingly, Thundermaw Hellkite still taps her down when it drops. Doesn't damage her though.
TheKazu
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This really should have been 4/4 or costed {1} more or not have had first strike or something. Or it could have been like costed at {W}{W}{W}{W}{W}, which would have kept its power level really high but at least made it require a ton of dedication which considering this cards flavor, it should.
OlvynChuru
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What really bothers me about Baneslayer Angel is that the protection is almost always pointless, and the generic abilities are what make the card powerful.
Comments (250)
In other news, still one of the most powerful beatsticks available.
And no one is aloud to b!tch about it's price whill Jace the mind sculpture is around.
I'm not too content with this Angel as well - it at least should have a cost of
However, i think cards should be rated by playability, and that's certainly a plain 5/5 in this case afterall.
Oh the bi.tch is back
Stone cold sober as a matter of fact
I can bi.tch, I can bi.tch
`Cause I'm better than you
It's the way that I move
The things that I do
Black: So, your Baneslayer is protected from my Demon? 1B Doomblade, which is pretty much black's answer to everything creature related, so your likely to be running several so no card disadvantage. They also have Nightwing Shade for chump blocking, or death by pump for the angel if you've got the mana.
Red: So, your Baneslayer is protected from my Dragon? 1R Combust, and Magma Phoenix comes out on the same turn and while it can't kill the Angel with combat damage; it does keep coming back and every time she kills the Phoenix it Lightning Bolts everything and everyone. Meaning that in a fight with the Angel it ends up dying, but it hits her for 6 killing her as well AND the Phoenix gets to come back. And it's not Mythic. EDIT: Someone pointed out to me elsewhere that the Phoenix does loose to the Angel due to First Strike. I apologize for the error.
Green: So, your Baneslayer is flying over all of my beatsticks? 1G Plummet, which is really handy if you're playing monogreen you're going to want some of these just because of greens flying shortcomings, so no card disadvantage.
Blue: So, your Baneslayer... oh wait, I already Unsummoned it for U. By the way go check out Tome Scour for a truly unfair card. Plus Blue can chump with any number of things.
Which leaves White: Who doesn't care about the angel at all, because A) White is using it, B) White has many things with which to chump to it, C) White can exile it, or better yet Condemn it at the cost of W and your opponent getting 5 life (which would happen if you let it attack anyway).
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is Baneslayer Angel is far from useless; it's a Class A threat that must be answered when it hits the board. However, while WotC has not changed the card itself they have "fixed" it in the Meta with multiple answers at common and uncommon.
Back again?
Slayer's back
Tell a friend.
1.) Yes this is expensive. The best and rarest cards always will be. This is no exception, and it's not even the worst in standard. Heck, it's only going to get cheaper now that it's coming back.
2.) Yes this is very powerful for 3WW. No, it doesn't destroy the game. You don't need this card to win, even if you're playing white. It's usually a good idea, but it doesn't warp the entire metagame around itself. There have been occasional top decks that didn't even use it when they could have.
3.) Yes, Doom Blade destroys it. Just like over 80% of all creatures. Non-argument. That makes Doom Blade good, but it does not make this worse.
Hopefully, given the deck I run, I will have either won turn 4 or 5, or run out of steam and lost by default. Though I might want to sideboard combust.
Anyways, who cares? The fact that it got reprinted means its price will go down. I would not be surprised if this gets reprinted AGAIN, meaning its price goes down farther. And farther. And farther.
And I look forward to seeing the sadness on the faces of those who payed 100 dollars for a playset when that playset becomes worth only 10 dollars.
**** that bull****‚ you're not justifying this and you're especially not justifying the money changing hands‚ no doubt WotC among them.
Plenty of more "representative" cards that have little or no breaking effect.
this is just such a big target it should basically read: 5cmc "target player discards a removal spell"
Yes, the secondary market, but you have to be completely gullible not to believe that the card shops and wotc don't have a shared interest and arranged deals in reprinting cards like this.
oo/5
It's here. Stop complaining and buy your reduced cost playset.
Oh yeah; Haters.
Seriously, this bites. WAY too overpowered. If it costed 5 dollars I'd be a bit irritated, but ~$50? That means that EVERY deck with white in it that wants to remian competitive needs to pay ~$200. That should NEVER happen in standered!
Don't do this again, wizards! Or else I will write another highly irritated comment! After this reprint, mythic rares CAN'T be this broken, okay?
On another note, anyone else thinks the art on that card is kinda weird/average, especially coming from Mr. Staples?
I don't like saying that.
I don't like lying even more.
Sorry to rant haha.
I agree with so many others here; it's sad to see Serra Angel go the way of Lord of the Pit, Craw Wurm and so many other classics.
5/5 for stats, not personal taste.
Come on guys, this thing is a beast and is insanely powerful for its casting cost. OF COURSE there are things that can deal with it... welcome to Magic the Gathering.
Be honest and tell me that Sunscape Master is a better card.... Please.
5/5 all the way, anyone who says differently is fooling themselves. A game changer every time it hits the table.
There should really be no power difference between commons and mythic rares, only complexity differences IMO.
Yeah, it dies to creature removal. Great. So do 90% of all of the creatures out there. Would you rather every creature had shroud to justify them? Also if they're so bad and die to everything than how come on almost every U/W Control list I see in the top 8 has at least 3-4 of these in the SB and MB? And no, its not because every other player but you is bad. Its because this card is good, and is very powerful for its cost.
Seriously people, just give the card the rating it deserves.
If this had never existed, Eldrazi might cost more or has less power since this card changed the Type 2 powerlevel...
Serra Angel for example, whitch used to be rare during Tenth edition is now merely uncommon due to Baneslayer Angel.... Go figure.
I have nothing to say, aparently today I got one in a booster and I was surprised, I would never thought I could get one so easily, something that made me very happy, and very sad at the same time. If even someone like me could get one. Then...
Anyway, This just goes combo with Lotus Cobra and a felchland at the thirt turn to have it hit the table...= Actually 3 mana Baneslayer.
It may never seen attacking due to removals, but even holding your removals for something like this is a great honor to Baneslayer.
Not to mention that if you happen not to have a removal when neded and even letting it attack just once would deal 5 damage to you and your opp gets 5 life, something that is worth of 5 mana. Even removing it after that it has worth it's mana..
Also many player just waste their turn in case they didn't had a removal when it hitted the table and they afterwards happen to topdeck a Path to Exile or a Terminate or something, just to get rid of this.
Needless to say just go and watch the pro tour 2009 to see what actually happened.. Why did NAYA won.... And not only... This freaking broken card can even play on Band, or anything that contains White. You rarely get to see decks that have no Baneslayers in while having white.
One of the exceptions are Naya aggro whitch plays with low level creatures... And two or three at most, all others, including WW, run at least 3 times this card.
I am no extended expert, But I'm definitely seeing this card playing at Mythic Green...
Have fun, and don't cry if you get hit by it..
(tongue-in-cheek)
But honestly, too powerful.
The fact that, 17 years later after that, Wizards is making a mistake of the same kind reveals that either there's a long way towards a balanced game, or (i think the most possible answer) they are just trying to make some money.
Because, you see, basic economics would tell you that the best way to keep the prices up is to keep supply low, and by printing cards like these, Vengevine, Jace, The Mind Sculptor, Lotus Cobra, among other aberrations of power creep, on MYTHIC rarity status, it's pretty obvious that WotC's main mission right now is to take as much money as they can of the wallets of gamers like you.
" Fact is, overpowered is OK as long as it's infrequent & the rarity is appropriately as$igned." No it's NOT okay; tell that to the player that doesn't have the money to play magic competitively, or the budget player that just doesn't want to spend hundreds of dollars in -with all due respect to the game- a stack of cardboard.
.5/5 for stupid brokenness.
and post good o' comments such as "cool artwork" or combo cards.
I agree Serra Angel makes more sense than this but... I got this in a repack and I was wondering how I could combo it.
Not saying it's not a good card; I'd definitely run it if I had it. But I still don't think it really deserves the "OMFG BANESLAYER!!!" reaction.
I placed 4 of them in my Knight deck together with Knight Examplar and some more annoying Knights!
Hehehe! I tell you at late game when this baby hits the battle field it's game ;P
one of the best creatures out there, but not unbeatable.
Then I did cast a Raise from the Grave on it.
Lol!
People, people, people - rate the card on its playability, not on the wisdom of Wizards printing it. Clearly 5/5. Geez folks! If they printed a version of Progenitus that cost only
Honestly, just because it's expensive doesn't mean that you have to cry about it.
I've got three. I opened 2 in packs, and traded for the third. They never cease to amaze me with their awesomeness.
This card is beautiful, I'm glad they reprinted it, and I hope to see it back in M12.
Those annoying infect creatures aren't gonna touch baneslayer armed with first strike.
With Path and Oblivion Ring going out it might be even getting better.
5/5
@ Diachronos: I'd like to see you rise to your own challenge. A 5/5 with flying, first strike, vigilance and lifelink for a converted mana cost of clost to five. I'll throw in one more caveat: not just until end of turn. Do it for {7}. Hell do it for {8}. You're gonna be there a while.
The problem I have with this is not that it's broken. Frankly, the reason I love Magic is that for every strategy, however intricate, there is something that can answer it, however remote. And cards like this, however undercosted, always offer some glimmer of hope for the defending player. This is just another nail in a coffin, and one nail does not make for a secure lid.
It is, of course, a very undercosted, very sturdy nail, but you've heard all those complaints before.
No, my problem with this lies in the long term.
I'm not exactly talking about power creep, though something not unlike it. I'm talking about psychology. Players define what is standard and acceptable in a long-running game by holding it to the standard of their early experiences with that game. Dungeons and Dragons makes for a good example, but to stay in-game with this, look at Counterspell. The Counterspell thing has been going on for some time now, and has been largely abated by the inclusion of Mana Leak, but it generally isn't a nostolgia issue for those involved. People who grew up with counterspell accepted it as a universal standard for counter magic, and now every blue instant is held to that regard. We seek solid, defineable objects to compare things to, to say that one thing is better than another. We look to categorize, and our early experiences take priority.
New players aren't taught that Baneslayer is "broken" or undercosted. They find out for themselves that it is very good, and thus the angel becomes a baseline, an impossible standard that they hold other cards to. Soon they say things like "Yeah, that Serra Angel is okay, but isn't it kind of undercosted compared to Baneslayer?". And the point is thus: Wizards, if you keep printing big flashy, hyper-efficient things to impress Timmy (or even Spike), the new players you care about so much won't be able to properly value everything else you're putting out there.
Don't believe me? I dare you to count how many comments are made of older creatures on Gatherer that are merely offhand references to modern ones, rather than a discussion of the card in it's own right. Mind you, I'm sure that modern non-creatures have similarly reversed commentary (I'm looking at you, blue), but that's quickly being ammended- what with white's powerhouse enchantments, red and black's return to absurd creature destruction and discard, and blue's slowly returning power of control.
In short, this is not exactly power creep. But when the new players feel that this is normal, when they grow up with Baneslayers as a game staple, their voices can and will change the game as we know it. I don't know if it will be better or worse for the game as a whole, but as a personal supporter of longer and more complex games, I just hope people never accept this as the norm.
How the mighty can fall.
HINT: WIZARDS DOESN'T MAKE MONEY OFF THE SECONDARY MARKET. The reason this card costs $40, and Jace 2.0 costs $70, is because PLAYERS ARE WILLING TO PAY THAT MUCH FOR IT. Wizards made some very powerful cards, and has tried again (as Richard did at the beginning) to use rarity as a balance. You have to open more packs to get them, and that's fair (if you argue it isn't, then your point is moot, because then you don't want a "collectable card game", you want a "card game". Decks of cards are $5). But everyone goes nuts for these, and the tournament players flock to buy playsets of them, whatever the cost. Is Wizards right in doing this? Probably not. But it's not their fault how much the card costs.
You want to *** about someone hurting casual players, it's hardcore, must-win-every-tourney Spikes who are willing to pay $40+ for a single card (and then want a playset or two) and therefore drive the price up. Wizards cares about new and casual players. That's why they create things like Starters, Archenemy and FNM. Saying they "hate new players" just because they created Mythics is dumb. You don't need playsets of Mythics to have fun, or to build a decent deck (hint: don't just copy the decklist with 8 PWs card for card from the internet, when you're just going to play at your local card shop). Mythics are there to be splashy, fun, cool cards to pull out of a pack and throw in your deck as one-offs. Just because the top tournament players think you need 4 Jace 2.0s and 4 Mox Opals in every deck doesn't mean you actually do. Use your own creativity, and your cards at hand, and actually MAKE a deck for yourself. And if you want to go win the Pro Tour that badly, then you can damn well afford to spend $500 on your deck, so stop complaining!
/rant
This card, though, is a 5/5. I hope it stays in the core set for the foreseeable future.
Us- In response, price PLUMMET!!!
(Triclopean Sight)
Good game.
On the brighter side, it's very fun to doom blade this. The art on doom blade of an angel getting killed makes it kind of a 2 frame cartoon ^^.
Hoped I would see this die with m10 cycling out, and then it pops up again in M11...
Don't like this power creep. It would be fair, if all creatures of all rarities got stronger, but it seems like mythic rare is getting disproportionally powercreeped "4 og the 5 titans, wurmcoil, this, Jace the moneyscalper, lotus cobra, venge vine...". If this keeps going, soon standard will become a rich kid format, since you'll need to spend 600$ on your deck to make it competitive, since all your cards will have to be overpriced mythics.
Guess that's why I like vamps, no mythics needed in standard, since they all cost too much mana (I think I'm one of the few vamp players who didn't mind nocturnus cycling out, good riddance to overpriced undercosted overpowered mythics, whether they're black or white or any other colour.)
Jace 2.0- $70,
Proxy'ing $500 in cards- priceless.
Let's beginning with the usual argument that "it dies for removal". It's not that this card will die for Doom Blade, it's because die ONLY for Doomblade... Almost every creature can't stand before this, so removal is actually the only way to get rid of this creature. People aren't saing that this is weak beacuse a doomblade can destroy it; people are happy because Doomblade can destroy it. In M11 WotC printed some answed to this card, and people put in sideboard cards only to answer Baneslayer Angel. This is a clear sign that this card has crossed the line...
I think that WotC shouldn't have reprinted this card since WotC doesn't reprint Counterspell because is an automatic 4x in every blue spell, and Baneslayer Angel is inside almost every white deck since his born. So somewhere the WotC logic doesn't work. Moreover, WotC said that there wouldn't be over-powered cards in Mythic rarity, instead we have this... I feel a little cheated...
Somebody said that this card isn't overpowered and/or that powercreep doesn't exist, but looking at white cards in, for example, Ravnica Block (an overall powerful and well-received block), I found 6 creature with power 5 or more:
-Autochthon Wurm, a card clearly for kids and surely not so powerful
-Razia, Boros Archangel, a legendary 6/3 for
-Stoic Ephemera a 5/5 flying with defender
-Hunted Lammasu a 5/5 flying for
-Blazing Archon a 5/6 for
-Angel of Despair very powerful, maybe even a little over, but for
It seems that 5 years ago the standard was very different.
This card is crap even because for it's implications: it sets a different standard.
I can't rate a card only because it's strong. Following the same logic a 5/5 trampling, flying, with shroud for only
I stress that I rate this card 0.5/5, and I have to tell you that I don't even play Magic after Time Spiral block. I've left because I didn't like creature-type blocks as Lorwyn, not because I was tired of this game, but when Mythic rare has come I knew that I had to left because I knew that something like this soon or later could happen. And the fact that WotC continues this trend is a confirmation of my worries! Looking at cards like this I am even happy to have left before... Only, I'm sad looking where this game, that I used to love, is heading...
In the history of MTG, I can't think of one card that, by itself, won you a game. Last time I checked,
you still need a supporting cast.
Take Jace. What good is he if he's all you have out there? A couple of 3/3 creatures attacking a defenseless player turns him into toast if he's not out for at least 2 turns.
A black lotus, by itself, never won anybody a game last time I checked and it's the most expensive card in the game, somewhere around a grand or more by now.
My Power 9 deck kicks butt not because of the power 9 cards in it but because I actually have a decent deck (merfolk) built around it.
And no matter how good your deck is, if you're looking at one land in 8 turns (I've seen it happen) you're toast.
Those bitching about people being able to "buy" decks need to understand that in standard play, most of the really great cards are not even tournament legal anymore. And if you're going to play vintage, well then hell, you better come prepared for something a lot better than a Baneslayer Angel...even if you have 4 of them.
This game has NEVER been about one card. It's been about having the intelligence to recognize card combos and use a little strategy...something that's lost on a lot of the younger players. They think that if they just slap together a deck of $100 rares that they're going to win every game. Trust me, I've seen some pretty stupid players lose with some damn good decks. I should know...I used to be one of them. It took me years to REALLY learn this game the RIGHT way.
I'm not saying I can beat a guy playing power 9 with a bunch of commons, but if he's playing those cards and I'm not, because I don't have them, then I have no business playing vintage or legacy or whatever.
If you have a head on your shoulders and actually understand this game, you can put together a deck that doesn't cost a fortune and compete with the "spoon fed" everything-under-the-sun-in-their-decks spoiled brats who wouldn't know REAL strategy if it bit them on the backside.
And please STOP blaming WOTC for the price of cards. If we weren't willing to spend that kind of money on these cards, they wouldn't command these prices.
Oh, and for what it's worth, in deck testing just recently, my elf deck (value about $5) beat my power 9 deck.
Again...it's what's between your ears and not what's in your deck.
for a few months.
(Still, really good and RIDICULOUSLY cheap.)
-Oh look, it costs five.
-Power five.
-Toughness five.
-Has five abilities.
That's interesting.
Oh wait, I completely forgot about the text box...
(That, and BANE-SLAY-ER AN-GEL.)
5/5
in a game i had today, i was constantly telling my friend that i had baneslayer in my hand, and that he was going to be a great start to the massacre (i had just gotten the card that day) and when i caste it he countered it with no thought to what else i may have in my hand
1 turn later, i played my akroma, angel of wrath and pasted him
I agree with you but not on the ff:
>Alara got kicked out blue white controol pretty much died?
UW didn't die. After Alara, Mono Black Vampires dominated for a short while, but because of MBV's awful record against Jund decks, UW slowly became the deck of choice and it still is today.
>if baneslayer angel is in a good chunk of the winning decks then why is its price dropped almost 80% since alara got kicked out?
And fluctuating prices are not good indicators if a card is being effective or not. The main reason why prices for Bane dropped is the same reason why prices for other older cards drop. Most players just get tired of them and are into new cards.
Magic is a combo of card effects, a card -no matter how weak or strong- becomes dominant if that card mixes well with the others. And with that, I am confident to say ( and you can check this on the internet) that Baneslayer is in 90% of almost all UW variation decks. Most foks uses Banes as sideboard-worthy along with Kor Firewalker, and sideboarding is a very vital part of the game. And since UW is the deck to beat in standard, this card still sees play.
Many of the most competitive UW decks in Extended have Banes partnered with Kitchen Finks, and Wall of Denial in them.
Just witnessed a Legacy mini tourney match, and the winning guy uses Bane in his Jace centered deck.
Other powerful tournament decks that still uses Banes; Mono White Knights, Boros, GW Quest, GW Summoning Trap, Bant, Naya, and other decks that has white mana in them.
To say Bane is no longer a good card is almost blasphemous considering all of her abilities are meant to dominate and for only five mana.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
@ dragonking987
>When alara got kicked out blue white control pretty much died?
I remember that Jund and Bant were the bests of Alara-era Standard, good UW control decks only came late. But now that we are in Zendikar and Scars of Mirrodin, UW control decks are the decks-to-beat.
>Baneslayer not included in the winning decks?
Really?...
The best standard decks (Caw Blade, Caw Go, UW Control, Naya, GW Quests, Boros) uses this card as round two back up and round three finisher
Some of the best extended decks (Bant, UW Faeries, Naya Zoo, UWR, Boros) sometimes uses 1 or 2 Banes in the first rounds and often use them as finishers in rounds two and three.
On tournaments, she's a sideboard card and see plenty of play on round twos and threes. Nowadays, 2-3 Banes are considered practical but there are decks that still uses 4 of these.
On casual plays (games you do with your friends), she's a main board killer that annihilates your opponent's dragons and demons.
Ahhhhhhhhhh! Oh, wait, my Admonition angel kills this...
CAN'T FIGHT THE WORLDWAKE POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HPS really? I see plenty of mono white white red mono blue and blue black decks but not vary many blue white decks but I guess it different in other places.
HPS really if baneslayer angel is in a good chunk of the winning decks then why is its price dropped almost 80% since alara got kicked out? White lost its two best kill spells when alara got kicked out which hit Blue white control pretty hard and all the new white cards seem to favor the more aggressive decks.
I have nothing ageist this card when alara got kicked out blue white controol pretty much died. And back when alara and m10 where in standard there where plenty of really good decks that you could make on a small budget. One of the winning decks in the world standard championships was a life gain deck made most out of commons and uncommonness. Now of days baneslayer is in none of the winning decks. People mostly wine about her because they are looking for excuses for losing most of their games she isn't broken and nether are the new sets some of the cards from the urza block made the new stuff look like Jokes so please stop complaining if you dont want to spend huge amounts of money on a standard tournament legal deck you dont have to play in extended games in them you have more then enough choices you could easily make a good deck on a some what small budget magic is just a game try to enjoy it.
"Hey you know what...we never see Timmy play white, we want Timmy to play white more."
Timmy like.
This card also fits Naya's 5 power theme.
@ Thaxian_Number_14: Holy carp you're right! There's no way that's an accident. Baneslaer is the new Lorthos.
... But it dies to Doom Blade.
5/5
it's not the flying, it's not the first strike, it's not the lifelink, it's the flying AND first strike AND the lifelink that just make me sigh when people play it. Should be 7CMC.
I've never lost a game to Baneslayer, because I've never even seen one laid on the table. Still, it's broken in the sense that it's hideously murders every comparable card for the cost. It's not "broken" in the grand scheme of things, it's "internally" broken. Internal balance in this game would be the balance within a color/comparable cards, and this flat out kills them. The common example is the completely obsoleted Serra Angel. It's not that serra angel is bad, it's that it SHOULD be a relatively good angel. Baneslayer makes it crap.
Urza's is a grand example of awesome stuff, as is mirrodin, but just because they've made actually broken cards and then they come out with creatures that are REALLY REALLY REALLY good doesn't mean this card is somehow irrelevant. Fact is there's a huge difference in dropping this over Serra Angel. You trade vigilance for +1/+1, lifelink, and first strike (and some protection that never happens.)
It's certainly arguable that previous big bombs are better, like Simic Sky Swallower. While it has little standing for it, that shroud and big body evader made a similar impact of people finding ways to cram it into a deck.
It is nifty however how much the price dropped. Still not cheap, but no longer the "bankslayer" people were calling it.
Wizards has been pushing creatures' power for their mana costs for a long time now, but who's to say that they got the appropriate ratio of power to mana cost right for creatures in the first place? There is no standard for card design beyond what impact a card has in a given format / metagame. There is no known formula for designing the perfect creature on paper. If a creature can exist with so many abilities for five mana without damaging the format, then it's past the only test for 'brokenness' there is.
"It's not that serra angel is bad, it's that it SHOULD be a relatively good angel."
This is not an argument; this is simply your opinion.
WIzards has been pritning strictly better cards in the same color (and set) since Alpha. Baneslayer is simply another instance of a practice they've kept up all along. If your opinion is that Serra Angel (or any other creature) should be some sort of metric for efficiency, it's unrealistic to expect the game to uphold such a idea -- the metric for playable creatures has always been in flux.
I've never touched drugs in my life, but at $10.00 a piece for simple cardboard, I felt like a junkie.
if you run this card? you must protect it.. lol
Deathmark
u mad?
But now my U/W control is insane!
Still hate myself though.
Angel is a 5 letter word
The flavor text has 15 words in it, divisible by 5, likewise Baneslayer Angel is 15 characters long :p
It reminds me of Hex
Back to using Serra Angel! Yay!
She may not have been broken, but I've always hated her for outclassing the beautiful Serra Angel.
It seems like white will be getting a lot of the powerful cards, flyers like this, removal like oblivion ring or path to exile, 2/1 for 1 mana, etc. This is 5 mana for a 5/5 beat stick, normally would be good, but Wizards took some drugs in and gave it 5 abilities. Aside from the protection, giving it 2 out of 3 of the other abilities is downright still playable and deserves to be in decks.
Now why can't something like this deserve to be in all colors, but mainly green, which is known to have beatsticks? Instead we get 5/6/7 mana cost creatures with, sometimes more often than not, no abilities.
I think white desperately needed a new strong iconic creature - Serra Angel was just too weak in todays standard.
Statisticwise white doesnt get played much by timmies/new players, this card helps making more new players play white. (new players tend to be most attracted to black an green because of the strong creatures)
Of course 90% of magic creatures dies to removal, but the point of the meme is not that!
The point is: A card that cost 50$ or more dies to a card that cost 50 cents or even 2$. This, we call, IRONY, and make the meme funny.
See, what will piece trough your heart: See a card you pay 50 cents die to a card that the opponent payied 50 cents, or a card that you have to sell your Car and even your SOUL dies to a 50 cents card? XD
Baneslayer is not alone; we can pick the example of Jace TMS with Vampire Hexmage.
Don't take this meme to serious, is only suppose to be fun, not to define the game or undervalue a card, is only for people have fun.
That was bad and you should feel bad.
dies to doom blade before it can even attack lol
Sure, it dies to removal, like 80% of other creatures. Sure, it can be mind-controlled, like the vast majority of creatures. That's not the point. The point is that it's got +1/+1, protection from two very powerful creature types, first strike, AND lifelink over Serra Angel......... for exactly the same mana cost.
Baneslayer's lack of vigilance is just a laughable attempt at making it not OBSCENELY stricly better than Serra Angel. This card, along with anyone who willfully plays with it, is quite pathetic to need such an unfair advantage.
There's also the issue of removal. Face it, creatures for the most part suck. They are the second most vunerable card type (after auras) and as such are extremely easy/cheap to take care of. So in order for a higher costing card (anything over 3 mana) to be aggressive enough to compete with the current meta, it has to have a good "enter the battlefield" effect or by producing great advantage when it starts swinging like Hero of Bladehold (Titans deliver in both of these areas), just so your mana/turn isn't completely wasted when it is dropped by a Doom Blade or any other type of removal.
In short, if you're not sure about a creature that costs more than 3 mana, how does it stack up against the Titans? Can it be locked down by a Frost Titan? Burned by Inferno Titan? What can it do to top Sun Titan's recursion ability?
And remember, these standards are not strictly speaking. Its up to the deck builder to weigh the costs/benefits of each card. You should just keep these things in mind because your opponents will.
yall r forqettinq about........................ Anqel of Mercy. datz rite i sed it. i kno a bunch of yu probably will think dat i'm dumb but itz tru, anqel of mercy is equal if not BETTER then baneslayer anqel.
lets start rite off da bat wit da p/t (power/touqhness, for u noobz out their). baneslayer is a5/5 and mercy is only a 3/3, but wen you think about it it doesnt make dat much of a diffrenece bcuz dey both have flyinq so nothinq can block dem (no one does flyinq nowadayz, cuz poinson counter r da new raqe and lets not forqet perlifrate!!), itz just a matter of waitinq it out.
NExt, da abilite.s wen we look at baneslayer, it haz first strike, flyinq, protection fom draqonz nd demonz, nd lyfelink;. converresly, anqel of mercy has 3 lyfe qiven 2 u wen it comez into play. think about it: if i have 1 lyfe nd my opponent has say, a qoblin piker dat he made invinsible wit whispersilk cloake, so i cudnt block it, nd he (or she!!!!!!!! its a qurlz world too u kno) wud kill me next turn. if i played baneslayer, den i couldnt even qet lyf bcuz it just came into play. but anqel wud qive me 3 lyf rite off da bat w/o even attackinq. so den i wud win.
next, da mana cost. baneslaer takes 2 white mamna, mercy only needz 1 - and dat, my friends, probably makes mercy better rite off da bat, w/o alld at odder stuff i already sed. bcuz wat if u only had 1 plain in ur deck? den u couldnt even play it (bsnslaeyr i mean.) but if u only 2 plans, den u wud be qettinq anqle of mercy out on da field pretty much every qame, rite of da batt cuz it only costs 5 nd dats not DATTTT much bcuz nowadays everyboy juts wants 2 play fatties leik porenitiqus, or craw wurm (my bf haz 3 craw wurm!!!! dis a shout out 2 u <<3333 babbi luv ya 4eva !~) we qoin 2 puerto rico in a coupel weekz!!!1
so, rite off da bat, we see dat i am rite, and dat my qurl mercy is probly better den baneslyer anyday. i know a lot of u mite disaqree but i am just a trailblazer, like christopher c (columbus) or maybe nicki minaj. if u want 2 chat me 4 advice on maqic (or yuqioh, i am prodiqy at both lol) den shoot me a messaqe. seeya
ps her picture looks so uqly, mercy is hawtttttt lol k hollin'dayze out <3
And yes, it's powerful... more powerful than most cards from this block... that's probably why it is a mythic rare. There are plenty of ways to deal with it though.
Iona, Shield of Emeria fills a different roll than "lol, turn 5 angel, deal with it or die" that Serra Angel, Celestial Colonnade, and Baneslayer are made to fill. Iona is actually a big dumb Reanimate target because it locks your opponents out of one color. This could be a critical removal color, it could be a non-artifact combo piece they need to go off. It's also a 3 turn clock. You're comparing Emrakul to Guard Gomazoa.
Wait what
http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee364/Maniacala/TyraelBaneslayerAngel.jpg
I remember a time when people said cards like Serra Angel were OP
and would never see print again.
Oh, how wrong they were!
She may not be *strictly* better than Serra,
but with +1/+1 and such a range of abilities,
I'm afraid poor Serra has been majorly outclassed in 99% of decks,
as Stasis decks aren't really so common these days ;-)
Oddly enough, as a birthday gift I received one, and reluctantly decided to use it, mostly for the sake of the person who went out of their way to get it for me. Even after having it in my principle deck for what may be well over a hundred games, she's only appeared once in my hand.
It was odd. Facing against my friend's most fearsome, nastiest deck, filled with brutal combos and devastating spells and abilities, I was in a bad situation, and it was only turn 4.
Until, Baneslayer.
I think I may have understood what she was intended for at that point. Not as some cruel piece of a terrible engine, but as a saving light against overwhelming darkness. She is a card to be used by the meek, to fight against foes of great power, to be just against the wicked. It's almost silly that it took me so long to realize this, when it's already printed on the card.
If you plan on using her, think about why you are using her. Read her flavortext, and question whether you are truly fighting for the side of righteousness. She is a holy sword that should not be profaned, and it's up to you to ensure that her blade only fights against the villains and oppressors.
I appreciate your storytelling abillity and sense of flavor, but don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously?
1) It totally neuters my RB Demons/Dragons deck
2) With just a few tweaks, this could have been the perfect Avacyn... (namely better cost to ability ratio XP)
Still a solid 5/5 for power and playability, whether you like it or not.
But nothing is worse than Wurmcoil Engine in my opinion. While flavorful and with super cool mechanics, it's costing is just retarded. Something as impactful and devastating as that should at least cost 7.
Anyone who is bashing this card is just doing it to be different.
Gonna get one of these as a remembrance. I really love Angel illustrations.
Really, even if angels are not too relevant in Type 2 now, I commend WotC for making them awesome all the same.
Serra Angel
Empyrial Archangel
Archangel of Strife
Nowadays, though, creature removal finally caught up. I can't play this (or any other similarly big creature that can't protect itself, save perhaps Phyrexian Obliterator vs. Mono Red burn) at any point without it getting bitchslapped by sac effects, paths, burn, creature destruction, O Rings, etc. the second it hits the board.
Testing a Modern
Every other time, she went to the grave the second she hit the field.
About the only color that can protect the Angel at instant speed from the kind of removal that is now out there (and you have to protect her at INSTANT speed, nothing else will do) is Blue. And that's assuming you have Islands untapped, meaning this girl no longer costs
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe Wizards didn't actually screw things up when printing this girl - it's just that Magic simply works a bit too slow for us to have noticed back then. Three years later, she's a really good, really beautiful creature, but no longer all that competitive unless you make a real commitment to using and protecting her.
It's... it's almost unbelievable, but I think -in this particular case, at least- that for all our ranting, R&D actually knew what they were doing when they printed this card. Who would've thunk?
@Metallord: That is exactly part of the reason why this is hated so badly. Because she's a mythic, she is very rare. Because she's very strong, she's also very valuable and expensive. She's so strong in fact, that she was a deck staple while she was still in standard - because she doesn't need any kind of specialized strategy to use well, just a supply of white mana. High price + deck staple = the only truly competitive standard players are the ones who can take out bank loans just to build their decks.
Baneslayer: 4.5/5 for having badass flavor and being an allround great card!
Also, the sum of what everyone else is complaining about:
"Overpowered"
"Expensive"
People, cards like this is what keeps people playing the game. Comparing it to Serra Angel when it was rare (NOT MYTHIC RARE) is like comparing Progenitus to Storm Crow. Get over the fact they printed it, rate it by how good it is, not by how "broken" it is, and get back to your lives.
Nonblue in particular. Because Blue is just always really good.
For comparable mana...
Red gets Thundermaw Hellkite.
Green gets Seedborn Muse.
Blue gets Morphling.
Black gets Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon.
Hell, even colorless gets Razormane Masticore.
Really, this card is good. But Magic needs good cards to be fun to play.
Strong creature, but still can be dealt with in any color.
And notice all the above things were printed in the same core set as Banesalyer Angel.
Why?
1. Amazing abilities but her protection is mostly meaningless/Not overpowered.
2. Good value/CMC wise.
3. Art is epic.
4. Sets a new standard for BA creatures.
5. She makes people cry; if you want to know what I mean read half the comments about her.
Amen brother.
How about fairness, balance, and consistency with the power curve of the rest of the creatures in the game?
This card ***es me off because it's so ridiculously above the standard set for other creatures and the casting cost. The excessive number of keywords seems like it was designed by a child with ADD who didn't care at all about what he was doing or what the standards were, almost like a disrespect to the game in general, and to make it the same cost as an iconic creature like Serra Angel while giving it more P/T and an almost strictly better set of abilities makes it insulting to older players on top of seeming lazy and sloppy in its design and ridiculously overpowered.
Possibly my favorite card of all time.
Is it over powered? Probably.. BUT I DON'T GIVE A FLUCK! (as long as I'm the one using it)
5/5
EDIT: Avacyn Restored now is out. Sooo...Baneslayer...actually sux now? Wow. Well not sux, but is already not the Spikiest Angel. Compare to Sigarda, Host of Herons.
SIDENOTE: Protection from Demons is pretty nice. Pro Dragons is more relevant against Dragons in general, but lifelink is kind of already Pro-Firebreathing, so..?
Oh, and Pro-Dragons is probably nice too, considering I am trying to proliferate the idea of 'sneaking' Kaalia into Scion of Ur-Dragon EDH lists as much as possible. Ur Dragon is just a really, really bonkers deck. Start with everything broken related to Maelstrom Archangel, like Maelstrom Wanderer. Add in all the KaaliA dumbness. Pro-Dragons is looking QUITE attractive. o.o
Most of the people that are commenting back to the dislikers are forgetting this:
Most of the Dislikers are probably simply weeping for poor Serra Angel. What Wizards did to her...wasn't right. Not by a long shot. Serra Angel was last seen as a Rare in Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic. And then shortly after that was an uncommon in the same set as Baneslayer. She was a Rare in Core X, then a Rare in Divine/Demonic....THEN...this.
I don't hate Baneslayer because it's not her fault she was born more powerful. But I do think it's still a huge shame, that Serra Angel fell SO FAR, so HARD, so QUICKLY :O :( It feels a lot like Wizards dumped Mary Jane Watson for Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man 3 style. Yeah, it was that bad. :/ Baneslayer actually nearly made people forget about Serra AND Akroma at once! o.O Akroma is simply irreplaceable, but Serra is forgotten in the real world. :'( For all the love she gets on Gatherer and in Binders...when was the last time you saw a Serra Angel -on the battlefield- in Constructed?
Basically, any 5 cost flyer in White now has to be better than or different enough to Baneslayer to be valued. That's not a good thing. At least the Obliterator had the decency to be very black mana intensive.
Sure, she dies to removal, but Wizards did set a bar a bit too high for other cards to follow. Anything that wants to be a basic efficient 5-drop flyer is always going to compete against this.
Oh well. Malfegor kills her, amusingly. And on a side note, I have before with a mildly buffed Serra Angel. Vigilance counts for a lot more than you'd think...
EDIT: On a side note, just saw Havoc Demon. Including Carnifex Demon and Reiver Demon, that makes at least 4 I can think of that can kill her. Maybe it's a gesture of irony or something.
EDIT THE SECOND: So I went and made a list of Demons that could potentially kill this gal.
We gots:
Dread Cacodemon
Havoc Demon
Kagemaro, First to Suffer
Carnifex Demon
Reiver Demon
Defiler of Souls
Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis
Rakdos the Defiler
Malfegor
Woebringer Demon
Protection my ass.
Disrespectful and inappropriate? So is this card. Come on, Wizards!
If Wizards wants to make a big powerful angel mythic then fine, make something like Iona, or Avacyn, not something like this.
/rant
@HollinDayze69lolll: I don't have to patience to read that, you look like an idiot, it's unreadable, so please do us all a favor and shut up
She could have been four white and 2 colorless cost and been balanced.
or
They could have left out lifelink and had her cost one more colorless mana.
or
She could have been 4/4 and cost three white and two colorless.
All of these would have been acceptable methods of getting her art and flavor onto the table in a way that doesn't make older good cards completely obsolete.
She embodies the despised underbelly of the game we call Magic: The Gathering... that many of our favorite vintage cards just feel silly when you play them against cards like this. Which is kind of sad, because most of us really do want to keep buying cards, but not at the expense of having our older beloved cards becoming irrelevant.
I think it would be wonderful and ironic if the Baneslayer Angel became the Banned Angel.
(In fact. I would cheer. It would be Wizards of the Coast fixing something that they never should have done.)
For the sake of the game, Wizards should not make their classic and well liked cards obsolete by making overpowered garbage such as this and tacking a mythic label on it.
you don't like it? just don't play it! funny fact is... people like it LESS then Morphling...
this card is wicked, deserves, BY FAR, a 5 star rating!
oh and dies to path to exile or doomblade or victim of the night or.. mana leak etc...
long live Baneslayer!!
A 5/5 with close to a paragraph of keywords.
CMC of 5.
Really, wizards? This card should be banned or restricted in all formats.
BS Angel.
I see what you did there, Wizards.
It looks like one of those home made Magic cards kids make. The art is great however.
There hasn't been a single top tier deck in 2013 for either Legacy or Modern that maindecks Baneslayer. At most, players have a single Baneslayer in their sideboard. The metagame outside of standard says that Baneslayer isn't powerful enough to even make it into a competitive deck.
As for Standard when she was in her prime, consider the environment. This was the age of Mindsculpters and Titans. Plenty of cards were banned during that rotation, and Baneslayer wasn't one of them.
No one likes losing to a strong, 5/5 finisher (heck, no one likes losing period), but that doesn't mean she's broken.
On a side note, Greg Staples is simply wonderful!
Baneslayer is just a very good beatstick. And it dies to everything a beatstick should. Every colour has an easy answer to Baneslayer. Every deck should be able to handle one if pressed. Doomblade, Claustrophobia, Oblivion Ring, Beast Within, etc... There's really nothing that makes this card too overwhelming. It does one thing and it does it well but that's it. We really need to get over all this Baneslayer rage. She isn't even a front runner in any format anymore.