I have an unnatural love of set reviews. Even if I spend most of my time drafting, I still spend plenty of time brewing. As such, when a new set comes up I love to see what new archetypes are possible and what holes have been filled in existing decks. Avacyn Restored is a stunningly powerful set that will change every single constructed format in existence, if only because of the most controversial land ever printed. Island. But we’ll get to that. Let’s start in color wheel order, with White:
[card]Angel of Glory’s Rise[/card]:
Creatures that cost seven mana are generally reanimation targets. This is a little different because it is a potential sideboard card against Zombies. She does have a tremendously powerful ETB effect that will swing the game in your favor if you’ve managed to dump a slew of humans in your graveyard, but that really doesn’t fit with what most reanimation decks are doing. As such I think she is a fringe card at best, but that’s fine. She’s a cool concept and I’m sure people will have fun playing her in less competitive formats.
[card]Angel of Jubilation[/card]:
Not quite as powerful as [card]Hero of Bladehold[/card], and a bit harder to cast. However, it does have an immediate effect. The ability to shut down sacrifice payments is a bit odd and I have no idea how to value it. Being an angel is an added bonus, so I do expect her to see play in white aggro decks, as both an anthem and as a potential finisher. The two problems I see with her, relative to Hero, is that she is not an army in a can that swings for seven damage (10 with an anthem effect), and that she only has three toughness. Even so, she is a high quality card.
[card]Angel’s Mercy[/card]:
Reprint. As a general rule most commons are best defined by their relevance in draft or pauper. [card]Angel’s Mercy[/card] is fine against a pure burn deck in pauper, but most Red decks are Goblin based and White has better tools there. In draft gaining seven life is pretty pointless. In Standard I’d rather pay two colorless mana for five life and draw a card, but we’ll get to that.
[card]Angelic Wall[/card]:
Reprint. Conceptually I love this card. It blocks almost all cheap creatures and buys you time for your Angels to come online. Also, the art is cool. Just a nice card all around. Addendum: It blocks some creatures, blocking is a lot harder in Avacyn Restored than it has been in other formats.
[card]Archangel[/card]:
Reprint. Seven mana uncommons in general seemed doomed to the scrap heaps of history (or get reprinted). Rares and mythics outclass it, and it won’t come up regularly in draft. I’d much rather save two mana and get a [card]Serra Angel[/card].
[card]Avacyn, Angel of Hope[/card]:
What a letdown she was. As soon as she was spoiled people were listing all the ways she disappointed them. The major issue was her weakness against [card]Vapor Snag[/card], but [card]Tragic Slip[/card] and sacrifice effects were noted as well. Perhaps the biggest issue is her lack of an ETB effect. While [card]Griselbrand[/card] technically doesn’t have an ETB effect either, he will draw you seven cards while Avacyn will… do what exactly? Thematically she is cool, it’s fun for all your permanents to be indestructible, but no highly competitive deck needs that ability and no deck pays 8 mana for a creature, so she competes against reanimation targets, and is found wanting in comparison. In other words
Addendum: Yes, [card]Griselbrand[/card] is better, but that doesn’t make her bad. She can be played off of [card]Descendants’ Path[/card], [card]Unburial Rites[/card], and is tremendous with [card]Defy Death[/card]. I’m not saying she’s great, but she’s better than I first thought.
[card]Banishing Stroke[/card]:
Shouldn’t witnessing a miracle make you say “Holy Shit?” This seems… less than miraculous. Paying six mana for this is a non-starter, and while it is always a useful draw, I just can’t see a good reason to play this. C’est la vie.
[card]Builder’s Blessing[/card]:
I like the artistic tribute to Castle. I will never play this in a 60 card deck. Probably not too many 40 card decks either.
[card]Call to Serve[/card]:
If you don’t think I am going to consecrate an [card]Orgg[/card] you don’t know me very well. [card]Hypnotic Specter[/card] won’t know what the heck just happened. On the other hand, this seems straight up weaker than [card]Spectral Flight[/card] as being an Angel isn’t that important in limited.
[card]Cathars’ Crusade[/card]:
Well, this can get out of hand quite quickly; except for the fact it costs five mana and doesn’t have any immediate impact. Paying five mana for this kind of effect is suicidal. I like the teamwork concept, but I just don’t think this works.
Addendum: There are other people who think this might be nuts. In other words, potentially a five mana enchantment that says you win if you untap with this. I am skeptical.
[card]Cathedral Sanctifier[/card]:
[card]Lone Missionary[/card] doesn’t have to be so lonely anymore when hating out Red decks in pauper. We will come back to this when we discuss [card]Vexing Devil[/card].
[card]Cloudshift[/card]:
Patrick Chapin and Michael Flores suggested the value of [card]Restoration Angel[/card]’s blink effect will often be worth a full card. While I do love me some [card]Restoration Angel[/card]s, I don’t buy that the blink is worth a card and I don’t expect we’ll see too many [card]Cloudshift[/card]s. It would be different if we could permanents we didn’t control, but alas, [card]Cloudshift[/card] doesn’t work that way.
Addendum: There are legitimate methods of abusing this. Whether or not those decks are tournament worthy is still undetermined, but this IS worth a card in the right deck.
[card]Commander’s Authority[/card]:
Let me get this right: for five mana I get an aura that pumps out one 1/1 human every turn. That’s it. No bonus to power or toughness, no additional abilities. Even hexproof creatures couldn’t care less about this. Sorry.
[card]Cursebreak[/card]:
Artifacts are strangely unafraid of White removal these days. Also, in general card advantage is worth more than two life, so [card]Ray of Revelation[/card] is still the enchantment remover de jour.
[card]Defang[/card]:
Wait, what got defanged, the creature, or removal in general?
[card]Defy Death[/card]:
Don’t judge this harshly because it isn’t as good as [card]Unburial Rites[/card]. Reanimation is still valuable as a graveyard tutor and a way of accelerating out large monsters. The fact that [card]Griselbrand[/card] will [card]Defy Death[/card] more often than Avacyn is amusing. Having eight reanimation spells is a huge bonus to the strategy and will make such decks much more consistent.
Addendum: The Angel bonus is more relevant than a thought. Costing more than [card]Resurrection[/card] is worse than I thought. 5 mana and double White is tough.
[card]Devout Chaplain[/card]:
Removing artifacts and enchantments is great as an ETB ability, not too good as a tap ability. Sorry, that’s just the way these things go.
Addendum: Unless there is no removal.
[card]Divine Deflection[/card]:
Yes, this is a blowout when it works. The problem is that it is mana intensive and hard to avoid telegraphing. Also, it doesn’t solve the problems White needs to solve, so while I like the card, I don’t expect it to see much use.
[card]Emancipation Angel[/card]:
While I liked this card more when it cost two mana and was a 2/3 flyer, this is still pretty useful. Returning a [card]Blade Splicer[/card] is always nice, and being an Angel has some serious fringe benefits. There are many ways to turn the downside into a positive so [card]Emancipation Angel[/card] will definitely see some play. Given the name [card]Emancipation Angel[/card] I can’t help but notice how often Angels are depicted as White, but I’m not really going to quibble with thousands of years of Christian art.
[card]Entreat the Angels[/card]:
One moment we were just chilling in front of the bowling alley, and the next minute, boom, Angels were flying out of the sky. Man, they were everywhere. It was, like, a miracle man, I’m telling you. What, “Breathalyzer test?” Seriously man, I wasn’t high, I had just rolled a 202. Yeah, Jesus was there, he was getting ready for his match.
Seriously, this is nuts. Sure you need five mana to get your first angel, but it keeps scaling up up and away. Add the fact that sometimes you’ll miracle this and it becomes straight up awesome. Seriously, just try drawing this when you have 3 or 4 mana, and burst out some angels in the early-mid game. It is hard to lose at that point.
[card]Farbog Explorer[/card]:
I’d love to listen to her try to one up The Most Interesting Man in the World, if only to get him tell the story of the time he saw the “Stench of Evil” Demon (Or whatever that thing is) get next leveled by “Stench of Beebles.”
[card]Goldnight Commander[/card]:
I like the teamwork concept, but this isn’t powerful enough for constructed. It’ll be fun in limited though.
[card]Goldnight Redeemer[/card]:
Same issue. Six mana for a 4/4 flyer and some life gain is fine in limited, not in constructed.
[card]Herald of War[/card]:
Sorry, but no. Even in an era where creatures cannot be countered this isn’t good enough. For five mana we need a lot more than a 3/3 flyer and some future benefits. I’m not even sure an 8/8 and +4/+4 is good enough, but we’ll get to that.
[card]Holy Justiciar[/card]:
Too slow for constructed. I feel like the creature should cost two mana and the ability should cost 4 mana. In any event I’m sure this will be fun in limited and would wreck some Blue and Black zombies had this been part of Innistrad or Dark Ascension.
[card]Leap of Faith[/card]:
Avacyn Restored has a lot of strange pairings. Flying and take no damage? Sure, I get the concept, but it just falls apart when you get blocked by a flying creature. Maybe I’m over-thinking this.
[card]Midnight Duelist[/card]:
Well, vampires are pretty crafty. Some cannot be blocked by humans. Others will simply fly over him. Either way, this is an ability that will be relevant in limited, but will likely not come up much in constructed. Still, that’s fine for a one mana common creature. Overall I like the art and the design.
[card]Midvast Protector[/card]:
Flash would have been nice. Otherwise, while it conceptually looks like a shield, it plays out as a falter effect, which has little to do with protection. At most this will be a [card]Disenchant[/card] effect for opposing auras. Shrug.
[card]Moonlight Geist[/card]:
White is starting to collect 2/1 flyers with fairly weak abilities. That’s fine though, the key part is the two power on an evasion creature. The ability to prevent damage is merely a bonus.
[card]Moorland Inquisitor[/card]:
So what exactly is this guy doing to gain first strike? Is he throwing one of his axes? Is he switching to a halberd? I’m actually curious about this.
[card]Nearheath Pilgrim[/card]:
I love soulbond. Even if it is just a lifelink 2/1 creature, soulbond is cool.
[card]Restoration Angel[/card]:
Ah, we’ve arrived at my second favorite White card in the set. Flores actually did a pretty cool job breaking the card down, from abilities to artwork. I don’t consider the flash ability a throw-away, but I’m not sure how I’m planning on using it. Perhaps I will be abusing ETB abilites ([card]Blade Splicer[/card]?); perhaps I’ll be untapping a creature to create a blowout series of blocks. I might even be removing an opposing aura or countering a removal spell. The important thing is that I get a 3/4 flyer at instant speed, and can do so in any deck that can afford a single White mana. [card]Restoration Angel[/card] is a very good card despite not bashing you over the head with sick stats. Good design (Chevy Angel?)
[card]Riders of Gavony[/card]:
I’m not sure what to say. If this was the only option for White beatdown 4 drops it would still be useful as both a falter and as a way of creating invincible blockers. However, the competition at the 4 drop position in White is exceedingly fierce, with at least two Angels, a Hero, and an aura. I’m wondering if this might be useful as a one of in Humans for the falter effect, but [card]Angel of Jubilation[/card] might simply be better due to the immediate damage, while [card]Hero of Bladehold[/card] hits so much harder. This is still a useful card and I’ll be testing it out to see how it plays. It is possible the invincible blocking will prove vital in some matchups, while the falter wins others. Oh, and having vigilance is a nice little bonus seeing as how it will be both unblockable and unkillable in combat. I kind of looked past Riders of Gavony at first, and he might end up being outclassed by the Angels, but man would he be good in Red or Green, albeit in one of their major tribes.
[card]Righteous Blow[/card]:
On the other hand Red has [card]Shock[/card] while White gets stuck with this. Fine in limited but I don’t think this will stop the bombs, and trust me, in Avacyn Restored limited, there will be bombs.
[card]Seraph of Dawn[/card]:
My favorite pauper cube card in the set. Flying, lifelink, and an unboltable butt is a steal for four mana. I’ll be drafting these pretty darn high.
[card]Silverblade Paladin[/card]:
[card]Mirran Crusader[/card] spoiled us. We got used to 4 power and protection for Red and White. This doesn’t quite have that resistance to removal, but in return one of your other creatures gets to hit a bit harder. I’ll be testing Paladin to see if he deserves a spot in a VERY crowded 3 drop slot (seriously, White is absolutely stacked at 3 mana options these days. [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card], [card]Lingering Souls[/card], [card]Mirran Crusader[/card], [card]Blade Splicer[/card], and [card]Fiend Hunter[/card] are just some of the choices, and occasionally add [card]Timely Reinforcements[/card]). Having said that, I like Paladin, if only because I want to see how soulbond plays out. It might be consistently worth half a card, in which case Paladin could get interesting.
[card]Spectral Gateguards[/card]:
OK, as much as I love soulbond, gaining vigilance for five mana just doesn’t seem that exciting. Sorry.
[card]Terminus[/card]:
I stared at [card]Terminus[/card] for a long time before I started typing. A six mana Wrath effect is generally not good enough, but in this case the miracle can be backbreaking. If we had access to [card]Brainstorm[/card], the format would be exceedingly different. As is there is only so much [card]Ponder[/card] can do. I feel like [card]Terminus[/card] will be too slow/inconsistent, but if I am wrong [card]Terminus[/card] will cause significant swearing, as any good miracle should. The fact that this ignores regeneration, indestructibility, and any other nonsense is outstanding. Creatures in graveyards are resources and this denies that.
Addendum: Costing six is still problematic, but [card]Terminus[/card] is the real deal. The effect is strictly better than [card]Day of Judgment[/card], and you are still getting free blowouts every once in a while. Excellent card.
[card]Thraben Valiant[/card]:
Vigilance on a one toughness creature looks weird. That is all.
[card]Voice of the Provinces[/card]:
Another happy addition to the pauper cube.
[card]Zealous Strike[/card]:
Now this makes sense. You hulk up and get the first smash in. A nice trick, as White is getting pretty good at giving +2/+2. Admittedly, we no longer have any reason to give +2/+0, but that is fine.
There are a few other “White” cards I’ll be covering in other sections. Specifically: three Golden Angels, one RW land, and one rainbow land. So, the question remains, so far anyway, what has white gained from Avacyn Restored:
Two 3 drops, two 4 drops, one potential Wrath effect, one potential decree effect, and one reanimation effect. Of those I’d say the last will prove most relevant White was already well stocked with three drops, and wasn’t hurting for four drops either. Having said that, [card]Restoration Angel[/card] has flash, an additional plus with the blink effect, and will potentially be uncounterable. That’s a sweet trick. [card]Defy Death[/card] provides critical mass to reanimation strategies. Here are my top 5 White cards in terms of relevance in standard:
5. [card]Silverblade Paladin[/card]
4. [card]Defy Death[/card]
3. [card]Terminus[/card]
2. [card]Entreat the Angels[/card]
1. [card]Restoration Angel[/card]
Not a bad haul, especially given there are a few more goodies among the Angels and Riders of Gavony. Next up is the Blue Review
Seth Burn is a former Pro Tour player and a long-time Magic columnist who has written for both TCGPlayer.com and Star City Games. He is also known for his undeniable love for the NFL.