Pointed Discussion

Flying, vigilance, and haste on a card not called Akroma, Angel of Wrath? Say it ain't so!

I get a lot of mileage out of Razia; she functions as both a flashy finisher and a way to decimate the opponent's army, especially when used in concert with burn cards like Lightning Helix.

She's one of the most powerful cards I've ever used in a deck; she attacks immediately, can block a creature thanks to vigilance, and can even prevent damage when needed. The only bad thing about her is that she is way too expensive. In my opinion eight mana seems a little much for a creature that can easily be killed by removal.

I agree she is a bit too exsepsive, mostly since she can be killed or removed easly, but shes still an awesome card. fast, powerfull and deadly. ^_^

4.0

Well, yeah, I kinda agree as well. I'm more of a Szadek, Lord of Secrets fan and he's 1 mana cheaper than her - but also vulnerable to removal etc. - who isn't, right?
Gotta give 'em shroud! ;-)

Or the "good" shroud like effects on Privileged Position - that should do the trick!^^

Szadek, Lord of Secrets isnt AS prone to removal... he's part black, right? so terror et al doesn't affect him

i actually think she's rather useless. for most decks sporting white and red, there are far better cards at a cheaper cost. nearly every other angel comes to mind.

Akroma, Angel of Wrath is just all around better... less prone to removal and needs 3 white rather then two and two red. It is a 6/6 and also has all the things Razia has except the prevention.

Card of the Day - January 03, 2006 The more abilities a creature has, the more important it is that those abilities make some kind of sense together. Razia is a great example of this working well, as even any two of vigilance, haste, and the ability to tap to prevent damage work very synergistically.

Well, it's not preventing, its redirection, don't act like it's the same. It means, while she'll die after taking six damage, she'll deal additional 3 dmg anywhere you please. Of course, unlike Akroma, theese 6 dmg can be delivered anytime, not in a single turn (so opponent can block her in your turn and then burn her with some sorcerry).

However, Akroma's protection's makes her better, you simply don't want to risk losing 8 mana creature.

Still, she's just way too cool to not have her in a RW deck - archangel with a blazing sword ? Hell yeah !

No first strike to back up that 6 Attack? Weak.

eight? EIGHT?!

....I would prefer 6 toughness, ok first off, she can be Fogged, second off the can beTerminateed and third her CMC is too high, I would personally use Akroma Angel of Wrath over her any day.

Bulhakas akroma came out before this so how dose preferring akroma letting the power creep cloud or judgment.

Razia's got dat @$$!!!

She's gorgeous! I'm making a R/W deck mono ravnica, I can't wait to get my hands on one of these... just have to figure out how to ramp up to eight mana using the cards in that set.

Akroma is better, but look at her. LOOK AT HER. She is the hottest thing ever printed on a piece of cardboard, I will drop ten bucks for a foil version right now just cuz its so damn pretty..


"Razia's got dat @$$!!!" -Pinsir52

Could Not have said it better myself.

Granted, Akroma is better, but Akroma is unbalanced and this isn't. I think you people are letting the power creep that has been going on lately cloud your judgement. It takes a good deck builder to figure out ways of keeping their 8 mana creatures alive and relevant. If you expect creatures to come with built in invulnerability, the game becomes too easy and uninteresting.

Update
@ dragonking987

How does that invalidate the fact that recent sets are getting people used to completely overpowered cards being the norm, rather than the exception?

No first strike?

This card is one ability short of spectacular.

She costs 8. Akroma does too.
With Dragon Arch, she costs but two.

While Razia does cost 8, she is effectively a 9/3 flyer so she may be worth it.

Plus, who actually hardcasts cards nowadays...

One of my favorite cards, and my eternal EDH general.

She was in the first deck that I ever received, and that deck has remained with me throughout the years as my principle deck. There were some dark times when I considered taking her out of that deck, because 8 mana was just too much and she died so easily. It almost seemed like people always saved at least one removal spell for the moment when I finally managed to cast her, just to ruin my day. But, I kept her in, because I realized my favorite way to win was to have her swing for the final kill.

She immediately swings overhead for 6 damage, which is 1 less than you'd get if you spent that mana on a fireball. With a balefire liege or glory of warfare out, you're getting 1 more damage. Balefire liege especially makes her scary, because casting her and attacking with her means 11 damage, 3 life gained, and your opponents have to contend with a flying 8/5 that can redirect 3 points of damage.

I think that it's important to mention that she works great with one of my favorite cards, shining shoal. Having those two in my hand in the early part of the game lets me sigh with relief. If I get the chance/have to redirect 8 points of damage (typically as a complete surprise to my opponent since I'm not using any mana), that's usually game over or very near to it. Otherwise, I get up to 8 mana and use Razia to win. Shining shoal really makes it so that I no longer feel bad about seeing her in my opening hand.

In EDH, she works well for me. At 8 mana, she doesn't really get to take part in most of the game, meaning she's better off being forgotten and overlooked until it's time to win. The majority of my strategy until then is to wait until I get the right cards in hand while keeping my opponent's board in check, completely ignoring anything that increases their life. It's amazing how secure people feel when they have 60+ life, even though they still die from just 21 points of combat damage from a general. With a scourge of the nobilis or a sunforger, Razia deals that damage fairly quickly. It's an odd strategy, but it keeps working for me, and it always feels good to send an angel with a fiery sword to cut down a person who thinks they are invincible.

I don't think I've mentioned just how awesome the card alone is. Great art, a great mix of abilities that synergize well with each other (including my two favorites, flying and haste, as well as a powerful unique ability with multiple applications), and a solid 6 power. Though not the strongest card in the world, she's powerful, impressive, and really feels like the general of an army, even when you're not playing EDH.

Razia really shines in EDH.

Primarily, after the inevitable Wrath from one of your opponents, whilst everyone is busily trying to rebuild their board. She really likes to carry Inquisitor's Flail in that format, especially with any of the myriad "Double Strike" enchantments on field.

8 mana is pretty steep, but being able to look to the guy sitting across from you and say "Boom. Head shot." is priceless.

Suck on that, Lightning Bolt.

YeeeEEEAAAOUCH!

Gotta save an Oblivion ring for her

Or a Lightning bolt, oh, wait..... Blast! Foiled again!

Even Kamahl can't ping her! She'll bounce it right back and kill HIM! That 3 toughness with the 3 damage redirect is SUCH A TEASE! She can even survive a Magma Rift!

She's expensive but if you have the mana she could be a real game-ender. Because of the haste it makes it real hard to deal with her unless you've got some -X/-X or direct spot destroy. The damage redirect saves herself from damage, and the vigilance and flying are aggressive so she can attack, block the next turn and to redirect to survive up to 5 damage! Probably best to have only 1 or 2 in a deck so you get to her later when you have the mana instead of her stuck in your hand for most of the game.

Too bad she can't stop my Dismembers in my mono-green deck >:(

4/5

Like any classy date, she's sexy, troublesome, and well worth the expensive cost.