So I know not that many of you (read: none of you) who read this blog are very familiar with Magic: the Gathering, but I was so excited about this card that I had to write about it. But before I get to the card, let me rewind it back a little bit.
This card that I’m about to talk about came out of the gates with a moderate amount of hype before it was generally agreed that the card was not very good. It’s value plummeted from $15 a piece to $2 a piece on a good day. I have always loved this card and have ALWAYS tried to find a way to play with it, but in the previous format, the consensus was right – the card just wasn’t good enough.
In response to the new format after the last block rotated out, I decided to try my hand at brewing a deck of my own. This was my first real foray into the world of deck building, and I was really anxious to try to put one together that was both entirely of my own devising and actually good. Of course, given the wide-open nature of the game currently, I thought this would be a great time to try out my girl, Admonition Angel:
She is the stone nuts. I won’t get into the specifics of why she’s so great within the context of the game, but just the picture will be enough for me to explain that Admonition Angel represents pretty much everything I love about Magic: the Gathering.
I mean, look at her. Have you ever seen a more badass angel? That girl is b-core (that’s Baumgartner-core, for those not in the know). The art is super epic, and the flavor (fantasy element) of the card is really winning.
Check it – first off, she’s in a Cathedral. Home girl is Catholic. Score. Second, see that halo AROUND her head? In the story, the angels of Zendikar have these halos because the bright light shields them from seeing anything impure. It does, of course, allow holiness to shine through. Third – check out that sword. Need I say more? This one has taken down countless hordes of demons with that sword. Like I said, guys – Stone. Nuts.
I’m pretty sure Admonition Angel boasts my absolute favorite art in the game.
Finally, this is one of the really interesting elements of Magic: the Gathering. I know this is lame and corny and incredibly dweebish, but sometimes, Magic actually helps call me to holiness. Art like Admonition Angel really stirs something in me – that deep and ingrained desire to participate in this epic fight. It helps to remind me that the fight we’re all in *is* epic, in the first place – and that’s something that I know I forget about a lot of the time. This stuff calls me to prayer. What more can you ask from a game?
By the way, in case you were wondering, my deck actually is sick. I’ve top 4’ed the last 3 weeks with it. Pro Tour, here I come!
9 comments:
Top 4'ed the last 3 weeks?!?!! Nice, dude!
And hey - whatever spurs you on, do it. :)
Actually can you post the real strat behind the card? I'm interested now...and plus you do know that many of the people who read this really DO know about the game, right?
Yeah dude its:
Admonition Angel - 3WWW
Flying
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, exile target non-land permanent other than Admonition Angel as long as Admonition Angel remains in play
6/6
In the old format 6 drops were ludicrus. Games were way too fast for that, and if you did play one, it had to just flat out win you the game. Not to mention the fact that you play a dangerous game with admonition angel, as any removal on her is disastrous. The last thing you want is to exile a ton of big creatures, planeswalkers, etc. and think you're stabilized only to have Admonition Angel killed and your opponent get all his stuff back. Back when Alara was in, decks had access to some awesome removal in the form of terminate and maelstrom pulse and path to exile, and Jund was pretty much 50% removal, so Admonition Angel didn't stand a chance.
But the fact still remains that she in a 6/6 flying creature for 6 mana, which is already crazy given her amazing ability. Now we live in a format dominated by the 6-drop titans cycle, so casting 6 cost creatures isn't just possible, it's actually kind of the norm.
Additionally, Path to Exile, Terminate, and Maelstrom Pulse have all rotated out. The only removal spells are doom blade (and you just don't play admonition angel into a doom blade) and condemn, which only targets attacking creatures. If you stick Admonition angel against any deck not running black, you lock up the board, exiling their stuff every time you drop a land (roughly 2x a turn) and glutting up the board with what basically amounts to a huge flying wall.
Plus, because of our dear friend lotus cobra, she can come out as early as turn 3. Turn 3 Admonition Angel is basically ggz.
Kori, this is great!! I think your blog exemplifies exactly what we are called to do -- find the things we're passionate about and then use them to make us better people and bring us closer to God. We've talked about this before, but your blog post reminded me so I thought I'd reiterate :)
This post, in the context of the last few posts, is why I love your blog. It's so varied and so "you". I wouldn't say that you're the only one who finds a deeper meaning to magic, but the way you do it is awesome! =)
Wow...so all the removal is gone. Yeah, big change in the game. Very cool strat.
If you get doom bladed, all the cards Ad Angel removed are returned to play? Is there any counter to a doom blade that you run in your deck?
No, there are no counters Maindeck. 3x negate are in the sideboard, but I generally board Admonition Angel out against doom blade decks.
J'ai appris des choses interessantes grace a vous, et vous m'avez aide a resoudre un probleme, merci.
- Daniel
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