Paying 6 mana for a 4/3 body isn't good at the best of times. However the combination of abilities given seriously increases the versatility of the card.
First strike allows that 3 toughness to be almost ignored so can act as a good defender if things aren't going your way, and when your in a position to attack your creature has flying so your opponent is on a 5 turn clock. Even if they do manage to destroy her she will continue to give you 1 life a turn until you bring her back to give your opponent another beating!
Top notch.
Neojoe
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
My favorite card. It's solid, plenty usable in casual, and has great artwork. Favorite card out of Ravnica and generally the only reason I build a solid red/white deck to mess around with.
Owls_and_More_Owls
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Awesome with Balefire Liege. You can tell a card is great when it doesn't even need to be on the field to be good.
Mapache
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Forget about actually casting it; you just want it in your graveyard. Use it in a dredge or madness deck to set up a completely passive life-gain engine that will frustrate any opponents hoping to take you out quickly.
Arachibutyrophobia
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
One time my hand was overflowing, so I discarded her. Overall, I benefitted more from having her in my graveyard than in my hand!
The ability's cost is utterly insane, but that doesn't matter. It's just an added goodie. (Like Apocolypse Hydra's second ability)
With Searing Meditation, I imagine this being good in a boros/lifegain deck.
DFG_Danger
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Balefire Liege doesn't make it that much better (just +2/+2). If you return it to the battlefield it doesn't count as casting it.
RafiqTheMiststalker
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Anything that costs more than 5 isn't automatically bad. Mobenator explained it perfectly. This is a good card.
Cyberium
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
For the # of abilities, this Angel is rightfully priced, but as many had pointed out, its power seems to magnify in the right deck when she's dead :)
Searing Meditation and Peace of Mind makes a nice combo.
I still love the card. And I still miss that time.
supershawn
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
didn't anyone else notice that this is a black card.
discard her, bury her alive or mill yourself till this ends up in your graveyard, you don't need red or white mana and you don't need to bother reanimating her either.
she just rewards you for doing somethign you would do anyway.
Paladin85
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Mobenator sums this card up pretty well. People who are against this, please name me any card thats useful when its in play, in the graveyard with a built in come back from the grave ability?
This card is not meant to be 4 in a deck since life gain is a minor upgrade. But having this as an alternate beatstick/blocker and actually helps you survive aggro games when its in play or the graveyard justifies the slightly high mana cost. Any lower, it would be imbalanced
Now the return to play ability is a bit restrictive and high mana costing, but at least it gives you the option to bring it back in the late game when your hand is already empty and have nothing else to play
4/5
Asmodi0000
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
For its time, it might not have been bad, but I just don't like the feel of this card. I play R/W almost exclusively, and I just can't find a good enough reason to play this card. If it was only 5 mana, I'd consider it, but I'd still prefer Nobilis of War and of course Balefire Liege.
At the 6 mana range, there's plenty of better white Angels and red Dragons with bigger bodies and more useful abilities than first strike and gaining 1 life a turn. Her ability to return from the graveyard for 10 mana is ridiculous, because even if you've somehow managed to get that much mana, you're better of casting something that's actually worth it.
While it's an interesting card to employ because of it's use in lifegain strategies, the fact that it has two nearly-useless abilities that bump up it's casting cost well above what the creature itself is worth keeps it out of my decks. Being within bolt-range with a backend of three is just another nail in the coffin.
Not the worse card in the world by any means, but just a card that I can't find myself willing to play. Maybe it's because I've seen enlarged art of the angel, and she is just all sorts of hideous. At least her sword's cool, I guess.
Comments (20)
First strike allows that 3 toughness to be almost ignored so can act as a good defender if things aren't going your way, and when your in a position to attack your creature has flying so your opponent is on a 5 turn clock. Even if they do manage to destroy her she will continue to give you 1 life a turn until you bring her back to give your opponent another beating!
Top notch.
The ability's cost is utterly insane, but that doesn't matter. It's just an added goodie. (Like Apocolypse Hydra's second ability)
With Searing Meditation, I imagine this being good in a boros/lifegain deck.
Searing Meditation and Peace of Mind makes a nice combo.
discard her, bury her alive or mill yourself till this ends up in your graveyard, you don't need red or white mana and you don't need to bother reanimating her either.
she just rewards you for doing somethign you would do anyway.
This card is not meant to be 4 in a deck since life gain is a minor upgrade. But having this as an alternate beatstick/blocker and actually helps you survive aggro games when its in play or the graveyard justifies the slightly high mana cost. Any lower, it would be imbalanced
Now the return to play ability is a bit restrictive and high mana costing, but at least it gives you the option to bring it back in the late game when your hand is already empty and have nothing else to play
4/5
At the 6 mana range, there's plenty of better white Angels and red Dragons with bigger bodies and more useful abilities than first strike and gaining 1 life a turn. Her ability to return from the graveyard for 10 mana is ridiculous, because even if you've somehow managed to get that much mana, you're better of casting something that's actually worth it.
While it's an interesting card to employ because of it's use in lifegain strategies, the fact that it has two nearly-useless abilities that bump up it's casting cost well above what the creature itself is worth keeps it out of my decks. Being within bolt-range with a backend of three is just another nail in the coffin.
Not the worse card in the world by any means, but just a card that I can't find myself willing to play. Maybe it's because I've seen enlarged art of the angel, and she is just all sorts of hideous. At least her sword's cool, I guess.
Get your crappy 1 life a turn, and can recriminate this later when you got the mana. This card needs a touch of powercreep.