It has three power and flying, which is pretty
much the gold standard of "solid beatstick". It
also has lifelink, so it can keep your life
total above zero even without having to yield
the assault. That last ability is just gravy
though-- with every swing, you get to power up
all your creatures. And that includes the
Archangel herself, mind you, so with every
swing, she'll get stronger whether she hits the
opponent or not. The ability triggers whenever
you gain life, and lifelink triggers on any
damage dealt, to blockers or to opponents.
She'll even trigger if you gain life from some
other source, such as an extort activation or
the like. She may not be as strong as Baneslayer
Angel once was, but Baneslayer was divisively
strong anyway. I'd be proud to have the
Archangel as the win condition in my U/W control
deck, if I ever played one.
This card is clearly intended to be a
successor to Baneslayer Angel, but is arguably
more interesting in certain ways. Where
Baneslayer just smashed things (and generated
controversy), Archangel of Thune is more of a
build-around card, asking to be paired with
other cards and that you think about where best
to apply her ('cause, y'know, this is still
technically a strategy game). Yes, I use all of
those as compliments, because I'm not aware of
any rule which says that all angels have to just
sit there and look beautiful and have high power
and toughness, and aren't allowed to do things
like be part of a combo that lets you gain 9,001
life whenever you want. As it happens, though, I
do actually like the art.
Today's card of the day is Archangel of Thune
which is a five mana White
3/4 with Flying, Lifelink, and whenever you gain
life you put a +1/+1 counter on each creature
you control. Evasion with Lifelink is
decent and with even one effect to gain life
after it enters play this becomes a 4/5 which is
worth the mana cost. Boosting an entire
army, potentially with other instances of
Lifelink, makes for a very strong life gain
theme. Other mechanics like Extort or
cards that manipulate counters offer a wide
variety of combinations and deck concepts.
Overall this is a powerful card with a great
effect that will be very popular in Standard and
Modern, but in a different role than previous
angels like Baneslayer.
In Limited this is a bomb, first pick, and
potential tournament winner with any support.
Even if it is out of color it should almost
never be passed in Booster and later picks
increase the priority on anything with life gain
or token production. In Sealed this should
seriously be considered as part of a White or
White/Black deck, or possibly a White/Green if
the right cards are available. A simple
Soulmender alongside this puts a quickly ticking
clock on the opponent and with Archangel's
evasion the threat can be difficult to manage.
I always thought Serra Angel was majestically
enchanting, but this card, this vision of beauty
is simply divine. When it evades your opponent’s
forces by elegantly flying through the air, this
paladin of righteousness not only earns
you life but also sermons a permanent blessing
to all of it’s fellow creatures on the side of
good (ie your side). Her ability works whenever
you gain life from any source, so imagine if you
will the devilish fun that could be had if you
corrupted her or should I say…extorted her. (If
that language was to flowery I’m saying she
would be amazing in a black/white extort deck,
which is great because in the new standard
format that guild won’t be rotating out for a
long time)
