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Pojo's VS System Card of the Day

Azrael
Batman – Knightfall

Card #DGL-159

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Date Reviewed: 05.27.05

Constructed Modern Age Average Rating: 2.8
Constructed Golden Age Average Rating: 4.1
Limited Average Rating: 4.0

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ... average.
5 is the highest rating.

Nakaiya21	Azreal<>Batman – Knightfall Today we are going to finish up with another of my favorites from this set – Azreal<>Batman. (Behold the re-emergence of the Gotham Knight deck!) Why do I like this card so much? Well GK was my favorite team from DC origins. They really are a solid affiliation. After all, what other team has solid attacking, search capabilities, and counter abilities? The only downside to this deck was the 7-drop Batman. Sure, you could get around this weaker 7-drop by playing Big Bats or mixing in a few Magneto, but it never seemed that the curve GK deck would see strong tournament play for simply this reason. I guess UDE realized this also because now we have an all new option for our 7-drop GK character. Meet Azreal – a 16/14 7-drop character that not only allows you to control Batman, but also has the 5-drop Batman’s ability for attackers. This is a must card for all you GK player out there! Now you can put that 8-drop Superman back into your deck without worry and with a 16 attack, you can pretty much guarantee some extra endurance loss for your opponent. Now everyone wins! (Note – if you come up against this guy team attack him – otherwise you could be looking at some significant endurance loss.) Ratings: DCMA constructed – 3.0/5.0 …Ok so we lost most of our GK characters in this format, but Azreal is still a decent 7-drop with a good ability… GA constructed – 4.0/5.0 …This card is a must for GK decks. He is solid and sets you up for turn 8. Limited – 3.5/5.0 …Azreal is a great 7-drop for this set. He has no loyalty and his ability is killer in this format. I would certainly prefer him over Ganthet.
Jason Bunch	Azrael <> Batman, Knightfall Gotham Knights players have been crying out for a decent 7 drop ever since Origins came out, and now they finally have it. 7 drop Batman is a card that requires it's own deck, and needing Bats on the field to bring out Superman, Big Blue Boy Scout made for some tough decisions when it came time to KO either your 5 drop Batman or your 6 or 7 drop. Now, you don't have to worry. Az-Bats has decent enough stats, and his slightly weaker version of 5 drop Batman's "double stun loss" effect means that your opponent will have to think long and hard about whether it's worth stunning Azrael. Not much else to say about him, he's a beatstick and one of my favorite legacy cards to come out of this set. With some of the great League cards coming out in the new starter set, I fully expect My Beloved decks to come into their own post PC NY. By the way, good luck to everybody playing in the Pro Circuit this weekend, especially if you aren't playing Curve Sentinels. In Limited, he's a good pick, but he suffers from being the 3rd or 4th best 7 drop in this set. Still, his double stun loss effect can help win you a couple of close games. Not a first pick, but a solid pick if you don't want to worry about having to pull a rare 7 drop. Ratings: Golden - 4/5 Limited - 3.5/5
wierdofur	A good Big Bat card this time... Azrael <> Batman, Knightfall Number: DGL-159 Rarity: Uncommon Card Type: Character Cost: 7 Team: Gotham Knights Attack: 16 Defense: 14 Range: No Flight: No You are considered to control Batman. Whenever Azrael stuns an attacker, that attacker’s controller loses endurance equal to its cost. Cost: 7 His power combined with his effect makes the high cost necessary. ATK/DEF: 16/14 Par for the course for 7-cost characters. His slightly weaker DEF makes him highly likely to be stunned in return. Guess it's a trade-off for his double stun-damage effect. Range/Flight: Nada I guess this balances against his effect, so no hitting weak support row characters, and no hiding behind another character either, so he's an in-your-face type of guy. Effect: Batman, The Caped Crusader's big brother. Azrael <> Batman complements him nicely, and makes for a good burn-themed Bat-deck. Azrael <> Batman can be a good come-from-behind card that can swing the game in your favor and do that extra bit of damage needed for the win. Team Affiliation: Gotham Knights Lacking Loyalty is a good thing for him, and makes him splashable in other decks. I'd be a bit surprised not to see him get added into a few decks out there for that extra bit of damage he causes. The GK team has some good searching and negation effects, but lacks good character stats and equips. If you play him in a GK deck, add in several good non-affiliated plot twists and equips to bolster the team's weaknesses. Overall: Azrael <> Batman is a much needed heavy hitter for the Gotham Knights, and can work well in other decks too. He provides the power that burn decks, GK decks and The Brave and the Bold decks need. A good choice for splashing in other decks as well. I would've given him a perfect score if he had flight and range, as not having them limits him to a front row fighter unless equipped with cards to give him range and/or flight. 4.0/5.0 Modern Age: A good strong character for this format, and a good choice for the 7-cost character slot(s). You'll have to splash him in a deck as GK lacks most of it's cards, which are found in DC Origins. 3.5/5.0 Golden Age: Here you get the full complement of GK cards, so building a GK deck is feasible here. Azrael <> Batman makes a much better 7-cost choice than Batman, The Dark Knight. 5.0/5.0 Limited: I've said it before, and it warrants saying again: Big is big here, and you're more likely to get use out of him if you draw him, so Azrael <> Batman is a really good choice here. His effect can be the game winner. 5.0/5.0
HMK17	Azrael <> Batman (DGL-159) Knightfall Gotham Knights Cost: 7 ATK: 16 DEF: 14 Card Text: You are considered to control Batman. Whenever Azrael stuns an attacker, that attacker's controller loses endurance equal to its cost. Drools... Sorry about that, I'm just staring at good ol' Az-bat there. Most of us probably remember the storyline from the mid 90's (I'm dating myself here.) where Bruce Wayne first tangled with Bane and was injured enough to pass the mantle of Batman. Well, Azrael got the call, and as you can see he changed a few things about Batman. The main thing about those storylines(I recommend picking up Knightfall and Knight's End, as they are really good storys.)was that Az-bat straddled the line of morality being just plain brutal to most foes. This is reflected in his effect very plainly. Though I do wonder why no range. He had a bat-shruiken launcher and flame thrower in that armor. Oh well. His effect is one of the most mis-read in the game. I had people re-read it during pre-release as they thought it goes both ways. Nope, he shoots down incoming attackers ONLY. Still if the board is set correctly, this guy will create problems as nobody wants to lose at much endurance trying to stun down your 7 drop. In draft, there are three 7 drop characters you grab as a higher pick. Az-bat makes #3 alongside Nero and Sinestro. In constructed, Az-bat has competition in Gotham Knights. Good ol' pumpable Batman is still around along with the new Batman from the starter deck. However, each seems to have its place and they are not inclusive of their brother. His most likely slot will be as an alternate for Raven in The Brave and the Bold. Other than that, possibly a yet to be seen aggro-control GK deck. Overall, he's not a bad card. Still I wonder why he doesn't have range? Limited - 4/5 DC Modern - 2/5 Golden - 3/5 Till next week.
scyther8	Today we are reviewing a card that players have been wanting since Gotham Knights was released. A pure curve Gotham deck has not been possible due to the specialized nature of the 7 drop Batman: The Dark Knight. Enter today's card, Azrael as Batman. He's the new guy in town and he is kicking Batman and Magneto out of the 7 drop position for the non Fatman Gotham players. Let's see how he stacks up! Azrael as Batman 7 Resource Cost 16 ATK 14 DEF Rarity: Uncommon Initative preference: Even turns Effect: You are considered to control Batman. Whenever Azrael stuns an attacker, that attacker's controller loses endurance equal to its cost. First off, let's look at Azrael's stats. He, like many other 7 drops, diverts from the average 15 atk/15 def mold, taking one point away from his def stat and adds it to his atk. With 16 atk to throw at an attacker or defender, you can be assured that he'll stun anything on the turn outside of any defensive pumps your opponent may have. The 14 def however means if he attacks your opponent's 7 drop, odds are he'll get stunned quite easily back. Which brings us to Azrael's effect. If he stuns an attacker, your opponent loses both the stun damage from his character being stunned plus the effect damage from Azrael's ability. It's just like 5 drop Batman's ability only in reverse. Trading 7 drops with your opponent while it's his/her initative never looked so good now that they'll take a 14 endurance loss to your 7. (Assuming you reinforce him.) The other ability, which makes Azrael absolutely playable in Gotham curve is the fact that you are considered to control Batman. Why is that such a big deal? Well, it lets you play one of the strongest 8 drops in the game, Superman Big Blue Boy Scout. Beforehand, you needed to have the 3 (good luck) 5 or 7 drop Batman stay alive until turn 8 to play Superman. Now you have a solid 7 drop that'll ensure that if the game goes to turn 8, Superman will come out to act as a mighty defender or just big bruiser depending on whose initative it is on turn 8. In sealed, he's a 7 drop with an excellent attack stat. He's a definite high end pick as is any 7 drop in sealed. Obviously, the constructed rating is only for Golden Age. DC Modern Age: 1.5/5 He's a good generic 7 drop to splash, but virtually every DC Modern Age deck has a 7 drop that'll fulfill that team's theme and strategy. Golden Age: 4.5/5 With this gap in Gotham decks filled, it might have the ability to become tier 1. Sealed: 4/5 He won't support any team themes at all, but like I said, 16 atk is solid on its own.