Serra Avenger

[Christen]

Serra Avenger - :w::w:
Creature - Angel
You can't play ~ on your first, second, and third turns of the game.
Flying, vigilance
3/3

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mf110

Would have been really nicer if the restriction wasn't there. But it's also a nice mid-game creature nonetheless. ^^

[Shepherd]

Serra Avenger is a very decent finisher for WW... Imagine this scenario...
(comments in () are my farewells to the Kamigawa staples of white)

Turn 1: Plains, Savannah Lions (the official farewell to Isamaru)
Turn 2: Plains, Leonin Skyhunter (bye-bye Hand of Honor, 8 1/2, and Pale Curtain)
Turn 3: Plains, Glorious Anthem
Turn 4: Plains, Serra Avenger with mana up for Bathe in Light

Most likely going to end up in either WW or UW Skies...

[Christen]

I can clearly see this in UW Skies. Specially when Glorious Anthems and Prides flying around.

[Khuras]

OK, though this is a good card, I'm REALLY glad they are looking for more R&D talent. Because this 'ability' is the lamest I have seen in the game. Why don't they just put 'count to schfifty five before playing this card'? This is just such a pathetic concept that I'm vomiting with rage as I type. Now I must clean my keyboard.

[Khuras]

OOoooo, or how about: "wait X+1 days for us to release a new ability worth designing where X is the number of lame concepts already in your graveyard".
Alright, sorry. But, this is the least creative and overall laziest thing I have seen since the inception of the game.
That said, the card is good.

[GenericKen]

I'm not sure I understand your rage Khuras. Not all cards have to be an wild goose chase of rules and obscure stack timings. Sometimes, the direct approach is best.

I mean, if you're going to be upset about transparent design, Magewright stone must really tick you off.


As for the card, it won't be format defining (it won't exactly hold watchwolf back, nor Loxodon heirarch), but it'll be important in the metagame. And the art is just gorgeous.

[Mammon_Azrael]

Indeed, if simplicity like this gets you frothing at the mouth, I shudder to think of your rage at basic land.

Anyways, in non-type 2 environments, Aether Vial gets around it's fourth-turn play restriction, doesn't it?

As for type 2, it's fairly obvious this will be seeing some play in weenie ((probably UW is my guess.))

[Khuras]

Yes, aether vial would get around this stipulation. I dunno, I guess I was just doing something that is apparently, entirely lost on the audience here. And, to be fair, you can't hear my voice, but nonetheless: I was performing an age-old bit of human behavior - 'joking'.
There is a kernel of truth to my joking though, this is a lame and lazy concept. I understand the whole "timing" issue of time spiral, but this 'simply' lazy. It just seems to me that they could have been more creative in their conceptual work. Feel free to disagree, my sarcasm has been known rub folks the wrong way but, well- f$&# 'em.

[GenericKen]

Yeah, you gotta remember to use your sarcasm tags.


The card is well designed, because it plays around with the properties of mana cost, which traditionally have encompassed variables of tempo, efficiency, and consistancy. Seperating one from the other two makes the card interesting and unique.


People dismissing its raw power have to keep in mind that it *doesn't have suspend*. You can play it the turn you draw it. You just have to keep it off the stack the first three turns. Given that most games go past 4 turns, chances are she'll see play (depending on how good printed countermagic is).

[Bastard_Sun]

i spose the whole Aether Vial thing is the reason she just didnt have Suspend 2 - :0: (rules jargon) and no casting cost....

but i spose that would be pretty bad if you just played WW and dropped 2 of these and 2 blossoms on your first turn....

[GenericKen]

i spose the whole Aether Vial thing is the reason she just didnt have Suspend 2 - :0: (rules jargon) and no casting cost....

but i spose that would be pretty bad if you just played WW and dropped 2 of these and 2 blossoms on your first turn....

That doesn't really make any sense BS. She doesn't have suspend at all; you can play her the turn you draw her, just not on turns 2 and 3.

[Bastard_Sun]

i was just making speculations of how she might have evolved during development.

She is good none the less, and play these with anthems and you are golden in a WU. one anthem makes her a 4/4, so essentiall 1WWWW for a Serra Angel. Now if there was just a way to give her first strike, maybe a red splash for Sunhome activations....

[Galvatron]

i spose the whole Aether Vial thing is the reason she just didnt have Suspend 2 - :0: (rules jargon) and no casting cost....

but i spose that would be pretty bad if you just played WW and dropped 2 of these and 2 blossoms on your first turn....
wel thers another spell sanre target LOL i can definatly se why they worded it that way we alredy have 1 2cc 3/3 to wory about

[drahcir]

Check it out.....WW that can't be played in 1,2 & 3 turns of the game, This is not gud!

[D3@D]

Not being able to play this turn 1,2 and 3 isnt that bad.

In standard you got more than enough 2cc spells to play these rounds.

[Rba]

it's a 4th turn Hill Giant with wings in all honesty. *shrug* it seems, mediocre at best. But im sure itll find a place with WW decks.

By hill giant i mean in the sense that its a 3/3 that you cast on t4.

[-Reaper-]

IMHO this is a very good card... The restriction prevents it from being broken (a 3/3 flying vigilance on turn 2 would just be insane), but it's still excellent in an aggro deck (this may very well become the most powerful creature played in W/x weenie decks in the new standard) because of the excellent cost/efficiency ratio...
This is the new "top end" spell for all white-based aggro; it can also be good in a control deck (I'm thinking of UW here) because you can play it on T4 leaving mana open for a counter and is both a good defensive creature and a beater for just WW... (don't forget it has vigilance)
I think this will see a ton of play in TS standard...

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that the art is simply awesome! Thumbs up on this one!

[Bastard_Sun]

This would be awesome if jitte were still to be legal, play the jitte turn 2 or 3 then this and equip for turn 4......

[D3@D]

I can see this in UW control as a fish/weenie kill condition

[Party_Wagon]

I think it's best place is u//w fish. Run about adozen creatures and back them with counters, condemn, bounce, ect.

[Haemoglobin]

This is an excellent card. It doesn't matter if you can't play it til turn 4. You just play other creatures until then. Maybe in a UW Skies deck or more likely WW.

[clustro]

dunno. looks dumb, since its pretty much costs 2WW to play. (though, admittedly, thats still above the curve)

aether vial is good with it though, and could maybe be useful with a dead protean hulk.
dunno what other use there is for it though.

[Haemoglobin]

Firstly it doesn't technically cost :2::w::w: as you are left with 2 mana left over or more if you play it later than that. Secondly, even if it costed :2::w::w: it would still be very good.

[Lauq]

i im just gald they chose to let you wait 2 turns before playing it instead of making it 4 mana or something :P indeed nice with aether vial :P

[clustro]

hey, you could also use this with unearth...interesting.
perhaps useful in a W/B weenie deck w/ all of those cheap black and white beats, unearth, and other stuff?

[Khuras]

A good card for control too, as control has no real desire to play a creature that early anyway.

[marten_range]

A good card for control too, as control has no real desire to play a creature that early anyway.

I second that. This could be good in a draw-go deck. Usually you come to a point where you want to drop some guy that hopefully will take you to victory but you don't want to tap out. This guy seems like it could fill that spot but it feels a bit too tiny for the task. Hopefully we get a card that you can't play for the 5 first turns but is beefier and undercosted.

I kinda like the idea of undercosted creatures with this sort of drawback but that's just me.

[priestblack]

she is deffinately a well designed card that will find her place in may decks. though as much as i like her... i really expected to see something more game breaking( like a new exalted angel)

[fireknight90]

ever since i saw this card i wanted to make U/w control the way i see it is u play this liek turn 6 or somethign and have mana leak and remand mana open and then just proceed to beat face...

[Tariq]

possibly a finisher for UW control? the low casting cost means you can keep counter mana open, and the deck doesn't want to play her during the early game anyways, making the "drawback" completely benign. sure, 3/3 is no Yosei, but the vigilance gives the control deck the same options that Serra Angel's vigilance gave pilots of "The Deck" way back when. It's definately worth consideration.

[DAP]

This is a real beauty of a card. I don't find it to be lame or lazy at all. I do think it is very simple but at the same time quite original. I'm still not sure what deck it will be best suited for due to lack of testing but it seems as though it could be a good fit for both w/x aggro as well as u/w control. As marten range said it may be too small for the finisher role but i'm not completely sure of that yet.

[Khuras]

I just think that the concept of wainting until turn X was the point of mana costs, not turn counting. I was considering it lazy from a design perspective, and I still do think it's lazy and unnecessary. I respect the opinions of those who think it's 'elegant', I just don't agree.

[Galvatron]

lol an gasp kills it you can mute for it with muddle that about the only good thing you can do with it

[GenericKen]

I just think that the concept of wainting until turn X was the point of mana costs, not turn counting. I was considering it lazy from a design perspective, and I still do think it's lazy and unnecessary. I respect the opinions of those who think it's 'elegant', I just don't agree.

I take it you've never been manascrewed?

There's a lot more to the manacost than tempo.

[drahcir]

i don't like the ability but the illustration was awesome...why they make it WW they should made it WWWW instead and take away the suspend alike ability...curse Mtg,Wotc!

[adarkmethod]

i don't like the ability but the illustration was awesome...why they make it WW they should made it WWWW instead and take away the suspend alike ability...curse Mtg,Wotc! yeah, because playing something for :w::w::w::w: on fourth turn is the same as playing it for :w::w:

[Galvatron]

i don't like the ability but the illustration was awesome...why they make it WW they should made it WWWW instead and take away the suspend alike ability...curse Mtg,Wotc!aint that statment a bit contradicting?

[Mammon_Azrael]

....I am so confused now....

[ChaZuco]

I don't see this in control much but definitely in WW and WU Fish.

[Galvatron]

I don't see this in control much but definitely in WW and WU Fish.agreed you can also se alot of griping along with it

[theBlackPlague]

I have built a U/W skies deck for post rotation specifically because i think this card will shine in it....hope i'm right for once, my deck seems to come out quick, but this will give it (imo) a great midgame card to seal it up...
1st turn suntail hawk
2nd turn pride
3rd turn anthem
4th turn angel with countermana open (or 2 angel against beatdown)
but we all know how a deck plays is always perfect on paper, lol
also, i play savannah lions as an alternate 1-drop...i mean come on, he's a friggin' 2/1 for W in a weenie deck...

[Christen]

I think I'll be using more snares for this one.

[Galvatron]

I think I'll be using more snares for this one.
somthing tells me that spell is gonna be real popular if it is not already

[Stokesy110]

This card is definately the new watchwolf!!

Spell snare will be come a sb MUST for all control decks once people start running this.

I'm playing bwu and even I'LL be playing this card I think.

[Christen]

This card is definately the new watchwolf!!

It doesn't replace watchwolf completely though. They are very different cards. You can play watchwolf turn 2, but avenger on turn 4 for an additional ability. Watchwolf = tempo, Serra Avenger = mid-game control

As it is prone to removal, it's still a very nice card. a 3/3 flying vigilant is not something to laugh at. And of course this is not the only creature on the deck that uses it.

[Ilmryn]

Serra Avenger is the goodness, and I agree, Spell Snare just got even MORE usefull... now where did I toss my playset of spell snares...

[Falkor]

Two basic questions: What deck? How many to run? Imo...

You can't run this in WWr, WWg, or WWb since you have better options in this spot. WW or WWu are the only options.

Now, how many do you run? Can you really run 4x in an aggro deck, or do you run 4x in an aggro-control deck, or do you run less than 4x in an aggro deck? I think these are your options...

[Ilmryn]

In U/W skies you play 4.
In Aggro control, 3 is prolly enough.
In WW you definitely play 4.