Pointed Discussion

Too expensive even with convoke, this deck has bad mana problems

This needed to be at least 6/6 in my view. With Flying and Convoke I give this 2 stars. An Elspeth deck doesn't have room for this card, as this would be a waste of mana. For 8 drop you might as well bring out an Eldrazi for similar heavy hitters.

the inverse of bogardan hellkite...

@Catowner: It's even inverted in the way that Bogardan Hellkite is good while this is bad.

Honestly, who made the decklist for Elspeth's deck?! He/she's got some explaining to do - I'd really like to know why Angel of Salvation takes up a rare slot in Elspeth's deck while Qumulox only takes up an uncommon spot in the Tezz deck when they have just about the same p/t, only that Qumolox doesn't require tapping creatures in order to be cast early in the game..!

Why would they put an effect they know everybody hates on a ridiculously expensive creature as a bonus? Most people wouldn't play damage prevention on a two- or three-mana cantrip, let alone an eight-mana flash creature. How utterly screwed do you have to be to want to tap eight creatures for a flying blocker and five points of damage prevention?

The damage prevention is intended to work with Flash - you can drop her in front of an oncoming Shivan Dragon or Baneslayer Angel and she'll survive and kill the other.

It's still a mediocre card at best and a terrible choice for this Duel Deck.

At least the artwork is nice.

Angels are so baffling to me, size-wise. Why do they so often have p/t 5 to 8? Angels rival dragons; dragons have diamond-hard scales, general enormity, and powerful elemental breath attacks. Angels rival demons, who ripple with muscle and sinew, wield cruel weapons, and are often huge in size. Angels are humans with wings, phisiologically. They aren't large, they have no heavy muscle structure, and sometimes they have no weapons. Can't explain this away by saying they are magically enchanted, because the most powerful human wizards in magic are usually 3 or rarely 4 power or toughness. Yet here we have these winged ladies, who (generally) have untoned muscles and weak frames. Of course they have to be 5/6s or 6/7s because White needs a big flying creature, right? I guess so. And its okay if the angel in question is legendary, because if your skill in fighting makes you a 6/6 you'd better be famous. Its just that while Sphinxes, Demons, and Dragons rule the blue, black, and red skies, respectively, and half-naked ladies manage to lay down aerial beats in white, it makes me wonder why we don't have some kind of mythical beast flier evergreen in white. Lammasu? Maybe. Archons? Archons seem like humans too, but they always have a mount of some sort... so they are more acceptable than angels. I say no angel should be greater than 4/4 without showing some serious muscle, having explained skill, or being legendary like Razia or Akroma.
Angel of Salvation is a fine card, in every other way. Flash and Convoke are really excellent together. Flash on damage prevention is necessary if it is a one-shot, and a 5/5 flier package can show up to surprise block and attack right back the next turn. It might be a nice sideboard in an elf deck, depending on if you have elves that are hybrid or something, because you can expect your opponent to side in Pyroclasm or Volcanic Fallout for sure. Don't know any elf decks that use white but I think its a decent option.

@Kryptnyt
I like playing with angels, so I fully admit I'm biased but... see, there's a difference between looking like a human with wings and being a human with wings. Angels do indeed look like humans with wings, but they are celestial beings, serving a greater power. Seeing as how most angels are white, and the theme of white cards are protection, it follows to reason that angels are protected with divine magic by the being they're serving. Also, judging by many angel abilities, the conclusion that they're bolstered by magic which focuses on improving their prowess in physical combat can be drawn (which is also very white-flavor). Really, it's the same as vampires being more powerful than humans, only they're powered by black magic rather than white.
Also, it can safely be assumed that angels are quite well equipped. They're not fighting with bronze swords and armor, but most likely finely made items from whatever heavenly realm they're coming from. So to me at least, angels being flying powerhouses makes perfect sense.

@krypton
I love angels. As for their weak frame, they are ANGELS so they have more powerful physical bodies. Kinda like a mutant from the X-Men of a comic book superhero. They would be quicker, stronger than regular humans. This makes up for their lack of size. Have you seen Legion the movie? Gabriel dressed in armor with that hammer looked like he could crush anything in his way with no problem.

Except in magic they aren't humans with wings. Flavorwise, they're physical incarnations of the power and ideology of white mana, the same is true of demons for black mana. This is why all angels are female, and all demons are (more or less) male.

You can't talk about their physiology as though it has any impact what so ever on their abilities, because they're creatures born of mana not flesh.

@krypnit
Keep in mind, angels don't necessarily have to be average human size. Many MTG angels are depicted without a frame of reference for size. Angel of Salvation itself is depicted against open sky. For all we know, it could be six stories tall. If you ask me, some of the angels on MTG cards are shown in a way that (albeit inconclusively) suggests vast size. (Angelic Arbiter, Deathless Angel, Empyrial Archangel, Iona, Shield of Emeria, Platinum Angel, and Sunblast Angel, to name a few.) Think of the Nephilim -- not the weird MTG ones, but the "real life" ones. Mythical or not, they were "angelic" beings that were colossal compared to humans.

So much whining and complaining for a pretty sweet angel. This creature has always been somewhat underestimated since it deals with damage prevention. Like all creatures that prevent more than one damage, it is actually a real blow-out of a card. It shines the most when you're in a stand-off and when your opponent goes in for some damage, you cast it, prevent most if not all of the incoming damage to you and your creatures, and eat a couple of his threats.
Really, this angel has won me more games than her dragon counterpart simply because she always causes a blow-out. And it's not even such an expensive trick in a board stall.

Oh, and in the elspeth deck, this is one of the few cards that make elspeth survive the long game. It needs no mention that the tezzeret deck will not survive an EOT angel of salvation if it resolves.

@ Kryptnyt: Sounds like your debate was ever so slightly bias. Just an observation. So to be fair, so will be mine. Angels are NOT humans w/wings.. Angels resemble humans in the flesh, some of them even once were humans. But to say they ARE human is to say a Vampire is human, or a Werewolf, even a Zombie.. All of whom were USUALLY once human but through death have gained "superhuman" abilities. In this case, be that it's Angels being briefed, those abilities happen to be God given and therefor, of the strongest and most powerful kind. Angels typically represent light, peace and love plus, play for the "GOOD" team. They don't appear scary, powerful or give you a need to be defensive feeling because they don't go looking for trouble, they are guardians of those deserving protection and would normally be seen doing kind acts through the looking glass. But when there's war, and someone who represents "Good" has their back(s) up against the wall, they will show up and when they do, the continued fight is usually a short one. You see, Evil/the Dark side, in all of its lust for greater power has usually sacrificed its soul achieving it. Although almost NEVER the plan, initially, it's almost inevitable and much like a child who's gotten away with 1 too many wrong-doings, Evil actually wants to receive its DESERVED punishment, Angels are the ones who respectfully oblige those deserving :)

I really want this to be good in Kaalia of the Vast-- but the different alternate cost effects don't synergize: the thing is, you REALLY want the flash to be useable, so 'combos with Kaalia' ACTUALLY doesn't hold true, for once.

In ordrer to make this playable in Kaalia though, you need tokens. The tokens will probably be coming from Luminarch Ascension or Dragonmaster Outcast. And tapping those for convoke seems a lot less efficient than just attacking.

Sadly, this is not going to make it into Angel tribal-- but it looks like it could be very very nice in W/G, using Elves or Soldiers or some other throwaway token type + Doubling Season.

@the discussion about wether angels should be powerhouses or not:
Imagine this as a Gaea's Revenge taking the form of a hot chick with wings. Because that's what it actually is, a construct of mana shaped by its creator to look pleasing to our eyes.

@the card:
Flash and convoke on the same card seal the deal for me, even if the prevention ability isn't that great. Specialy now that we have Intangible Virtue to give our tokens vigilance and Herald of War to make this almost free.

Rating: 4/5

You can her with 4 lands if you have 4 creatures. In the same scenario, you can block with the four creatures, then tap the creatures + lands to flash her in and divide the 5 damage to save your creatures.

If you flash her in to block, she's essentially a 5/10 blocker if you prevent the first 5 damage to her.

She can be splashed into any deck since you pick the color of mana when tapping a creature you're using to pay cast a card with convoke.

I wish Wizards would print more creature cards with flash + convoke and perhaps ETB abilities.

She works with Flicker and Bounce effects to make use of the prevent 5 damage effect. Also works better with a wide P/T boost to drop her in on a power attacker to block and kill it.

Hooray, Proof that 'Convoke' may be coming back.
3/5 Stars

@Kryptnite

Theisticly speaking, there is no mention that angels are or ever were human. They are divine entities which perform tasks (usually messengering) for a deity of some sort. They are not even "Not Human" in the same way that zombies etc are "Not Human" as they were never human - despite the myth which states that some people become angels when they die.

Flash makes up for this card. You need to tap 2 creatures just to make it an on curve creature from todays magic standards. Though when this thing hits the board, it can completely shut down baneslayer angel and swat it out of the sky. Thats gota be worth a 3.5/5 right?

When I was reading the comments about angels just being humans with wings, i kept thinking of the Saint of Killers from the Preacher graphic novels. He looks like a sour old man, but is incredibly powerful, able to take massive amounts of damage without even twitching and able to destroy anything that comes between him and his goals. When I think of an angel in combat I don't ever think of them going up to someone and punching them- if Angel of Salvation fought a bear, the bear would just be incinerated by a column of light. The bear's attacks might weaken her essence a bit, but there wouldn't be a wound or blood or anything else we mortals associate with injuries.
(Also rulesinquisitor, Iona is canonically absolutely massive- if you look really closely in her art you can see people on the rocks floating around her)