It's hard to compare pre-mythic rare cards with post-mythic rare cards. The game has changed so much since it first came out that there are countless cards that are entirely irrelevant.
It's best to look at the card compared to a base to evaluate it. Okay, so 4/4 flyer for 3 and one W. Add 1 for first strike and 1 for "lifelink" like ability. That's 5 and a W. Sounds right. Too big a package for a common, so uncommon. Is it great? No, not standalone. It's too expensive a package. You could more easy simulate this creature in earlier turns. Is it awful? No, not really. It's good if you need all that stuff in one package to make room for other cards to make him shine. He's average and playable, if not a game winner.
It's nice to have cards like this for casual play when you'd rather have a flavor to your deck instead of the best possible combo. 3/5
Posted By:
InsideousRakael
(6/1/2010 6:41:12 AM)
Wow, comparing an uncommon to baneslayer angel, like comparing a Lada to a ferrari in terms of money cost, get a grip boy.
Posted By:
Sironos
(5/10/2010 9:47:15 AM)
An excellent comparison with Baneslayer Angel. Mythic rares shouldn't be more powerful than uncommons; they should provide more opportunities. This guy is strictly worse than Baneslayer, other than the fact that its lifegain ability is different and the additional white symbol, which doesn't justify the power difference.
@DlCK:
Your abusive language aside, we're not comparing market prices, here, but the cards as printed. If you pull a Baneslayer out of a booster it didn't cost you 45$, after all.
Posted By:
Belz_
(5/24/2010 4:38:09 AM)
The big problem with Magic boosters is that they have to balance the requirements of drafting with the needs (okay wants) of the players purchasing them for the cards. Certain things* have to be higher rarities to keep them from mucking up the draft but overcompensating can make packs kind of boring. Sometimes it's hard to see the value in spending $5** on a pile of commons I could get from the donation bin, a couple uncommons of wildly varying usability and one single ( barring foils) goofy and/or kick-but rare.
A whole lot of Magic's problem's seem to stem from this tension between buying packs for draft and buying them to build up your collection.
Wizards doesn't make money off of singles sold at card shops, just the packs they came in, so as long as this problem persists they'll have to rely on cheap tricks like mythic rarity.
*build-around, anything that takes a while to wrap your head around, anything that is more goofy than useful.
**Not everybody's lucky as certain parts of t... (see all)
Posted By:
TPmanW
(3/6/2011 9:20:42 PM)
This appears to be a spiritual successor to Kjeldoran Skyknight and Kjeldoran Skycaptain. Think about it - Kjeldoran flying white creatures with first strike, that escalate in power (only obviously printed sans banding). A solid draft pick in Coldsnap's awful Limited environment, but not going to see much constructed play.
Posted By:
Equinox523
(2/11/2013 2:21:30 PM)
Compare Uncommon vs. Mythic rare? A bit harsh on this fella. That's not to say I'd list him high on my must-have-in-deck list, but i might be tempted to draft him if I needed a white creature.
Posted By:
Malnourished_Student
(12/8/2009 5:42:42 AM)
Won me a few games with the buddies, but still prefer my Serra Angel.
Posted By:
pigknight
(3/15/2010 8:26:40 PM)
1st of all, Baneslayer requires a higher amount of colored mana.
2nd of all, Baneslayer is completely overpowered.
3rd of all, why isn't this lifelink?
Posted By:
HairlessThoctar
(3/9/2010 7:32:18 PM)
The "you can't compare Uncommons to Mythic Rares" argument really only applies to draft*. Rares shouldn't be strictly better than Commons/Uncommons, else this would just be another Yu-Gi-Oh. Rares should be flashier and possibly more powerful than commons, but more situational and/or more difficult to play.
Technically, this isn't strictly worse than Baneslayer Angel. Since it doesn't "officially" have Lifelink, its ability is stackable with Lifelink. Still, it's worse, and in absolute terms, ignoring the existence of Baneslayer Angel, it's kind of average. Baneslayer should cost one more mana, and this should cost one less.
*Student: Your argument is valid since you are actually talking about draft.
Posted By:
agalloch
(4/27/2010 9:32:37 PM)
Amen to that, InsideousRakael. Amen!
Posted By:
Tiggurix
(7/14/2010 10:15:28 AM)