Big enough to block and kill Baneslayer Angel,
and live, as well as survive Combust, the
biggest toughness-based kill spell in Standard
(not counting X spells of course). Angelic
Arbiter forces opponents to deal with it, not
only on threat of taking 5 flying each turn, but
to get out from under the sadistic choice the
Arbiter imposes on them. If your opponent
doesn't have the answer that turn, or
immediately thereafter, their actions will be
extremely restricted while you run roughshod
over them.
The first thing I could think of when I read
this card was the "Rule of One," a crackpot
self-help article that suggested you should only
have one interest or activity at a time. Angelic
Arbiter may be about restricting what goes on,
perhaps more in a bringing-order-to-chaos way
than a
inadvertently-hurt-the-people-you're-supposed-to-help
way, but there isn't only one way to play with
her. She combines with effects like Ghostly
Prison to bring everything to a screeching halt
no matter which option people choose, and with
almost any game state in a multiplayer game to
force people to figure out what the heck they
should do next. Magic, much like life, is the
opposite of the Rule of One: there is space to
have fun in almost any configuration you can
imagine.
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Angelic
Arbiter
Welcome back readers today's card of the day is
Angelic Arbiter a big flyer with a big mana
cost. In standard plenty of high mana cost cards
are played but with resident angel Banelslayer
hanging around white decks are hard pressed to
find room for cards such as this regardless of
how powerful the effects are, the ability to
shut down combat or have a semi Silence are
great abilities, I just doubt it will see much
competitive play. In extended and eternal the
same problem except there are many better
creatures and more powerful answers to this
card. In casual and multiplayer this should be a
popular card, being able to have a big flyer and
the ability to screw with multiple opponents is
fun. Angels are a popular casual tribe right
behind goblins and elves, this card will see
play in casual white/ blue control decks. In
limited its big and has evasion and can put
pressure on your opponents I would draft if your
in white.
Today's card of the day is Angelic Arbiter
which at seven mana and a 5/6 Flying doesn't do
much offensively for the cost compared to other
angels, but the two abilities can really
frustrate your opponent. It doesn't help
against any kind of instants on your turn, but
it does avoid any kind of advantageous spells
before, during, or after combat including any
response to your own effects. If not for
the high cost this would be a premier card, but
at seven the price is too high and the effect
too oriented for earlier stages of the game to
make an impact in constructed formats.
For Limited a seven mana 5/6 with Flying may not
be the best, but it certainly isn't bad either
and the effects can help as in the constructed
formats. A solid first pick and the two
White in the casting cost is quite easy to work
with in a multiple-color deck. With any
kind of pool this is an easy choice to play in
Sealed as there is no direct negative beyond the
higher than average mana cost as the effect is
only a negative for your opponent.
In Multiplayer having this impact all opponents
makes this a pretty drastic impact on the table
that is worth protecting when it hits the
battlefield. The format tends to last
longer which should allow this to not only hit
the field, but arrive around the time where the
effects will have the maximum impact on combat.
Playing Whispersilk Cloak with this to prevent
targeting and get free attacks won't make you
any friends, but with a defensive or life gain
strategy it can potentially win some games.
