Baneslayer Angel, you say?
General forum
Posted on May 12, 2010, 9:34 p.m. by sporkife
This might seem like a stupid question, but...
Why, exactly, is Baneslayer Angel so good? It's a 5-drop, and will almost certainly eat one of : Path to Exile Deathmark Terminate Vendetta Doom Blade Journey to Nowhere Oblivion Ring Maelstrom Pulse , or even Martial Coup or day-of-judgement, only one of which costs 5 or more mana, in short order, none of which it has any form of resistance to. Yes, it will win a straight-up fight against anything with less than 5 toughness and no first strike, but the evasion is only so-so, lifelink, well, requires combat damage, and the protection is utterly useless. A creature and a burn spell take it out, gangblock, etc. I mean, I understand that it's good, but not $50+ good... am I missing something here?
Well, first of all, a 5/5 Flier for 5 is fairly priced.
Now this is where things get crazy. A card is only as good as the setting it is being used in. For current standard :
The first strike means that it's going to out-race a Vampire Nighthawk and not eat the deathtouch.
Protection from Dragons means that it shuts down Jund's aerial game. Protection from Demons means that it also shuts down Abyssal Persecutor (and before it was even printed, to add insult to injury)
The lifelink means that it is also going to gain a fair chunk of life with every fight.
It's so good just because of what it's fighting against. It's really the first strike that makes it spectacular, because it can even tear apart Sphinx of Jwar Isle ; there's nothing that flies right now that even has a chance against it barring an Eldrazi, but that's an entirely different mana league.
May 13, 2010 3:48 a.m.
i mean first off flying, lifelink, 5/5 is already impressie (serra's angel was a staple for years and thats already better) now first strike added to that , Most creatures (except for four types) that can fly or even have reach are smaller then five toughness. Meaning baneslayer kills them without a second glance. of the four types that are as big (angels, demons, dragons, and sphinxs) Two of them cant touch her. so other then angels, sphinxes and spot removal, Nothing can touch her regularly.(that i know of there is no cost effective if any at all burn spell that can take out baneslayer without having X in its cost) a baneslayer screws red, and green. And is still a good card against both blue, black and white. (Esspecially if you wasted your spot removal early game) Lastly her cost. Turn five sees very little Super beater cards. so the few things that can take her on, usually aren't on the board for at least a turn or two.
May 13, 2010 3:51 a.m.
mattlohkamp says... #5
it's useful because of how incredibly cheaply costed the card is (5/5 for 5 is average, and adding flying, first-strike, and lifelink is just ludicrous) - and it's $50 because it's a mythic rare, so do the math if you'd like: 1 mythic per roughly 8 packs, which is about a 1/120 (15 cards per pack) chance of just pulling a mythic card to begin with, and a further 1/15 chance AFTER that of the particular card you pulled being a baneslayer (15 mythic rarity cards in m10)
it's not a stupid question, it just has a stupid answer: it's fifty dollars worth of supply and demand.
May 13, 2010 4:47 a.m.
In addition to the reasons listed above, it's just like Gideon Jura or jace, the mind sculptor: there's virtually no card in your color that you'd rather play on that turn. Doesn't matter what kind of deck you're playing: if you're playing white, you want a Baneslayer Angel . Yep, it eats removal- but that's removal that someone is specifically not using on your Rafiq of the Many or Rhox War Monk that is currently stomping face. Drop a Baneslayer and win.
It's why I hate mythic rares >_<
May 13, 2010 11:36 a.m.
KrazyCaley says... #7
It's the first three abilities that make it nuts, spork. It's evasive, it kills basically anything that's not a REALLY huge monster without taking a hit back, and probably most importantly, it lifelinks to keep you alive in a tough situation. Dr. M has it right- there's not much else you'd rather play on turn 5 with white; it's just better than most other cards at that mana cost.
To be sure, it does "die to everything," but most creatures do, and not every deck runs super-heavy removal. Even those that do are often OUT of removal by the midgame.
Baneslayer Angel is just a monster, but she's one of the nastiest, most aggressively-costed monsters out there. And because she's a mythic rare, she will continue to cost $50.
May 13, 2010 7:28 p.m.
mattlohkamp says... #8
compare, for instance, to Sphinx of Jwar Isle - which dies to almost nothing apart from wrath and sacrifice effects - and is more fairly costed at 5/5 flying shroud for 6. it's still a lot of value for the price, but the fact that you can drop baneslayer for one mana less and get more value...
May 13, 2010 7:56 p.m.
KrazyCaley says... #9
Yeah. Also note that Baneslayer Angel is an easy answer for Sphinx of Jwar Isle .
May 13, 2010 8:07 p.m.
Eh, I guess I can see why, though that still seems like a (very) steep price...what's a playset of fetches, $40? And maybe I'm still comparing her to Akroma, Angel of Wrath (last time I really followed standard was TS block ), and obviously Standard was a whole lot different back then.
And apparently I'm lucky if mythics come at that rate...I pulled 4 out of half a box of RoE.
Lifelink...don't get me started on lifelink.
May 13, 2010 10:29 p.m.
can i just point out that Baneslayer Angel has protection from demons Because of Halo Hunter
2'ndly its called WalletSlayer not Baneslayer
3'rdly The usual cost for creatures is 1 for each power then another one for each ability
Thus Walletslayer should be costed much higher, around the 9 Mark. Thus you effectively get her abilities for free.
But i do agree that the good old walletslayer is overpriced. But on that same not im glad it does cost that much so we see it less often :P.
May 14, 2010 9:29 p.m.
mattlohkamp says... #12
I did always think that Halo Hunter should have read something like, "when CARDNAME enters play, target opponent sacrifices an angel that they control of your choice." tricky wording to get around 'target angel.'
May 14, 2010 9:50 p.m.
IrishSkullpanda says... #13
wow, baneslayer is that rare? i pulled it in my first ever booster, looked at it, and snubbed it before moving on with my r/g. took me at least a year to realise its effectiveness, and i still cant be bothered with making a white deck to capitalise on cards like this, since most of my white cards are kinda... crap.
June 3, 2010 7:32 a.m.
Yeah I bought a playset of Baneslayer Angel s for 160 and I don't regret it... but don't tell my wife :p. I just wish I could play more magic so I could get more use out of them :p.
June 3, 2010 3:13 p.m.
As with any card, baneslayer is quite stoppable, but when it can't be removed easily it will sway the game greatly, hitting a player with baneslayer is a 10 point life swing. That is a serious problem for the defending player. That is why baneslayer is so good.
June 6, 2010 12:25 p.m.
Can someone explain to my why Firedrinker Satyr is a thing?
I mean the +1 power and the huge disadvantage it has compared to Bellows Lizard is a leap for a rare.
I just don't get it, I mean red has Rakdos Cackler and other stuffs so why is this even considered in decks?
Also why is it a rare?
October 23, 2013 6:10 p.m.
TurboFagoot says... #17
Two power on turn one, with the potential to grow bigger is pretty powerful in the right deck. Ignore the "drawback" of taking damage off of it, your life total in this kind of deck is irrelevant.
The card is powerful, when you get better at the game you'll know why.
October 23, 2013 6:15 p.m.
They probably didn't want to go overkill with red, so they gave it a 1-drop with a bad ability. Last time red had an excellent 1-drop (though it had lightning bolt too) was Goblin Guide , and standard wasn't too friendly.
But that's just me saying shit for fun.
October 23, 2013 6:17 p.m.
For most purposes, it's not as good as Cackler. The thing is, you can run both anyway. If you're careful, he usually won't screw you over. Even Jackal Pup saw play haha.
October 23, 2013 6:37 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #24
Is it a "thing"? As far as I know it's still a junk rare.
October 23, 2013 6:45 p.m.
Schuesseled, a ton of boros decks at my LGS use it and since I needed a onedrop for my rakdos deck (went with Shock ) someone recommended it to me, which is why I asked here, good to know I wasn't missing some sort of awesome combo or something that had to do with it.
October 23, 2013 6:49 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #26
Good for them I guess, a lot of people use Islands, in my meta, I'm thinking they might be a smart investment, get them now before they jump up in price. ;P
October 23, 2013 6:52 p.m.
The number of two power, red one-drops without significant drawbacks is few and far between. Even though Rakdos Cackler exists, I'd rather just have eight Rakdos Cackler s instead of four.
The drawback of Firedrinker Satyr isn't even an issue vs. control. In mirror matches, he just gets sided out for Shock or Boros Reckoner (if neither one is already a four-of mainboard).
Aggressive red decks don't care about their life total. By the time midrange or control is catching up and putting you within range of lethal, you've already lost. It means they have an active AEtherling , Obzedat, Ghost Council , or Stormbreath Dragon on the table.
October 23, 2013 8:03 p.m.
All I know is that I absolutely love seeing this guy played against me.
October 24, 2013 12:52 a.m.
vonbittner says... #32
If nothing better comes up in the block, it'll be a good replacement for when Rakdos Cackler rotates.
October 24, 2013 9:31 a.m.
megawurmple says... #33
I agree that Firedrinker Satyr is pretty rubbish, especially with 1-drops like Rakdos Cackler around. A lot of decks this will be played in don't generate enough mana for the abysmal excuse for firebreathing to be useful. If you attack and pump it once, then your opponent Shock s it, you've basically paid 3 mana to Lava Spike yourself. Even if it's blocked by a 1/1, you've paid to deal yourself damage.
October 24, 2013 11:49 a.m.
It's a 1-Power Bellows Lizard .... but far worse. Bellows Lizard is a 1-Drop, with the same pump ability (minus the damage) but it still isn't played because 2 mana for a +1/+0 just sucks in terms of cost verses aggression, especially in RDW... add to that the damage each time you pump it, and you have an even worse creature.
People say to ignore the damage you take because RDW doesn't care about it's own life... only the life of the opponent. - While somewhat true, you still need to live longer than you opponent... and since the ability isn't that great even if it didn't have the damage, the damage makes it that much worse.
The only reason it's seeing any play is because it and Rakdos Cackler are the only 2 Red 1-Drops with 2 Power... In my opinion, that doesn't make it worth playing.
Some people are assuming that RW must ensure a 2-Power creature on T1... especially since Green, White, and Black have so many creatures that can do the same or better. - Personally, I think RDW just needs to change it's plan, and use removal, like Shock in it's place, and focus on T2 / T3 drops.
Alternatively, you can use creatures that are a little more suited to your deck, that can do just as well. - Creature heavy RDW decks could use Foundry Street Denizen , while removal/spell heavy RDW decks could use Blistercoil Weird ... things that pump passively, as your deck does what you want it to do anyway.
October 24, 2013 12:22 p.m.
I don't get why white has better 1 drop beaters than red right now. Soldier of the Pantheon is a complete badass, and Dryad Militant does some work too. Favored Hoplite is another favorite of mine.
October 24, 2013 12:23 p.m.
Also yes I know, White Weenies. But still, they're so incredibly aggressive that it seems that red can't compete, which is weird to me.
October 24, 2013 12:24 p.m.
so far I've had no luck with the fanatic, but I wasnt playing mono-red,
T1: Rakdos Cackler , T2: Ash Zealot , T3: Boros Reckoner , T4: Fanatic of Mogis does seem pretty viable though.
October 24, 2013 4:47 p.m.
I've had an opponent use Firedrinker in a boros deck. Swift Justice & Path of Bravery said hello. Needless to say, I regretted selecting a midrange deck for that duel.
October 24, 2013 5:51 p.m.
@The Doctor how can mono-red win turn 3 in this standard?
October 24, 2013 5:53 p.m.
The Doctor says... #42
T1 : Mountain, Firedrinker Satyr
T2 : Mountain, Burning-Tree Emissary , Burning-Tree Emissary , Firedrinker Satyr . Swing with the first Firedrinker Satyr . They are now at 18.
T3: Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx . Activate Nykthos. 6 Mana Available. Play Ash Zealot , followed by Fanatic of Mogis . Mogis's devotion triggers, 9 damage from devotion. They are now at 9. Swing out for 10.
Game.
October 24, 2013 6:47 p.m.
I discovered it by accident while playing at FNM against my girlfriend. She was piiiiisssssed.
T1: Plains, Hopeful Eidolon OR Favored Hoplite
T2: Plains, 2x Ethereal Armor , swing 7.
T3: Ajani, Caller of the Pride . -3, swing 14 flying.
I've pulled it off once T3 and once T4 in actual play. Feels dick man.
October 24, 2013 8:02 p.m.
hah sounds like a boss move for monowhite, maybe some Fencing Ace and such going for a WDW aggro.
October 24, 2013 8:06 p.m.
Azorius can turn 3 as well.
T1: Plains, Hopeful Eidolon T2: Hallowed Fountain untapped, 2x Ethereal Armor , swing 7T3: Ethereal Armor , Aqueous Form , swing 16 unblockable.
October 24, 2013 8:52 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #49
I've actually been curious why people haven't picked auras decks back up yet.
October 24, 2013 8:57 p.m.
I think its because its expected what with theros being an enchantment block, but with Paraselene gone it seems pretty viable,
DeckBuilder345 says... #2
Yes it dies easily to removal, but if you don't have that removal in your hand it can be put to devastating effect, especially because it is immune to the two fliers who are its biggest threats to kill it. Plus it swings for 1/4 of your life points at one time. Now as to $50+ good i think that is nutz! I would never buy one, in my opinion anything over $10 is overpriced, and really $5 or less is a much more appropriate. I tend to limit my purchases to under $5 per card.
May 12, 2010 11:55 p.m.