This White Seven-Drop from Return to Ravnica Looks Very Playable

September 13, 2012 | Posted by Dee

Starting with the five Titans in M11, Wizards has been increasing the power level of expensive creatures, or creatures that cost five or more mana.

I think this is a good thing because it gives us a good reason to build midrange, control, and ramp decks. I don’t mind super aggressive decks but Magic seems better when most games aren’t ending on turn four or five.

The latest expensive creature to catch my eye is a white mythic rare Angel from Return to Ravnica. She costs seven mana so she’s more expensive than a Titan. However, you could argue that she has a bigger impact once she hits the board.

Check out Angel of Serenity below.

Angel of Serenity

[Preorder Angel of Serenity on eBay at a low price]

Fiend Hunter is a solid card that costs three mana. Angel of Serenity gives you three upgraded Fiend Hunter abilities for only seven mana.

The ability is upgraded because if your opponent destroys her, the three creatures you exiled go to his hand instead of returning back to the battlefield. This slows him down a lot because he has to pay for the mana again to cast his creatures.

If this was Angel of Serenity’s only ability, she would be pretty good. Exiling creatures is better than destroying them because it stops undying and Gravecrawler shenanigans. Plus, it doesn’t turn on morbid for Tragic Slip.

But the Angel can do more. She gives you the option of exiling creatures in graveyards.

One of the drawbacks of Fiend Hunter was his weakness to decks with a lot of removal. You can’t really rely on him as a removal spell if your opponent has many ways to kill him.

In contrast, Angel of Serenity is still very useful against these decks. You can cast her for value even when your opponent has a removal spell in hand.

For example, let’s say he has a 4/4 on the board while you have nothing. You cast Angel of Serenity. Your three targets for exile are Restoration Angel and Thragtusk in your graveyard and his 4/4.

This play puts your opponent in a very tough position. Now he has nothing and you can attack for five damage in the air every turn with Angel of Serenity. However, if he kills her, Restoration Angel and Thragtusk will return to your hand.

On rare occasions, you should exile creatures in your opponent’s graveyard. He could be threatening a flashbacked Unburial Rites and he doesn’t have enough mana to hardcast the creature in his graveyard.

For example, he could have Griselbrand and Unburial Rites in his graveyard but he only has five mana. This is a good spot to exile Griselbrand with Angel of Serenity.

The Angel has a powerful enters the battlefield ability so she combos well with Cloudshift and Deadeye Navigator. If you stack her ability correctly with these spells, you can exile creatures from the battlefield permanently.

I see Angel of Serenity going in a couple of decks. First, she seems like a good finisher for ramp decks. These decks can hit seven mana quickly with mana acceleration cards like Farseek and Avacyn’s Pilgrim.

Second, she looks like she fits well in tap out control decks. These decks aim to control the board with removal spells in the early turns. Then, they start dropping powerful expensive spells to win the game.

Angel of Serenity seems powerful enough for these decks. Just make sure to play enough creatures. You don’t want to play her on an empty board and have nothing to exile in your graveyard.

Third, Angel of Serenity should be pretty good in reanimator decks. She looks like a great target for Unburial Rites.

[Preorder Angel of Serenity on eBay at a low price]

Filed Under Return to Ravnica Spoilers