If all I was getting was a 4/5 for 7 mana, ya. It would be a bad blocker. But when you have an 8-power unblockable attacker AND a 4/5 blocker in one unkillable package, that's tremendous value for the mana.
We are talking about his defensive value. I already said he gets 5 stars in the "offense" and "resilience" columns. FOR A 7 DROP, a 4/5 water elemental w/ vigilance and no other defensive ability is not a good defensive value.
In addition, he may be unkillable, but it is not super difficult to remove him as a blocker for a turn, and on turn 7, often that's all your opponent needs.
Still don't like him more than morphling, but the point I think they're making is that he bashes in for 8 AND blocks and lives. What makes him so good, which I think you not quite getting (not trying to insult, just based on what I see) is that he performs something that none of you other finishers do, which is to defend and attack both at the same time with a single card.
You can't be serious man. Frost Titan freezes a creature on attack, which is basically the same thing as blocking, but better in many circumstances (worse in a few). Wurmcoil Engine, Baneslayer Angel, and Griselbrand gain a ton of life on the attack, which is similar to blocking a large creature. Sheoldred reanimates a blocker every turn, and kills an opposing attacker every turn, all while attacking. Grave Titan makes two blockers on attack, Inferno Titan kills multiple guys on attack or kills them outright, Battlesphere can leave blockers behind on attack or kill the opponent outright, Elesh Norn cripples/kills the opposing team and pumps your own while attacking. I could keep going. Aetherling having vigilance is nice, but it still pales in defensive value to most other finishers in the cube.
This is the part of my post where I reiterate that Aetherling is a strong card and possibly worthy of inclusion, but there are definitely some things he doesn't do as well as other ~7 mana finishers.
4/5 is huge. But even if you're blocking something that's bigger than that, you can always either pump the toughness to avoid trample damage, or simply pay U to remove him before damage.
Leatherback Baloth is "huge". Palinchron without flying is not. Mana cost matters when evaluating P/T. Also, any removal spell on the 'Ling means he has to flicker or die, something that is not true for a creature with actual Shroud/Hexproof. Not to mention that you can't "always" pump him, especially on the turn he comes down.
you know it can change its power and toughness, right? and you can block and blink to survive any attacker. so it pretty much blanks any single attacker and bashes for 8 each cycle. that's... pretty good.
Defense matters most on the first turn you drop this guy, when you are unlikely to have mana to pump him. And again, you have to compare him against other 7 drops in terms of defense, which I already did above, and he's the worst of any commonly run 7-drop in terms of defensive board presence. "Bashes for 8 each cycle" is not part of defense, I already stated that he is good on offense.
What blue finishers are you using with lifelink or board impact beside a single body? The only one I can think of that does something like that is meloku. Don't get me wrong, meloku is an amazing cube card. But I'd love a more resilient finisher for blue control. A huge selling point for this guy is being able to play a wrath after dropping him, I've had plenty of times I wanted to wrath but didn't have another finisher in hand.
I don't play any blue 7 drops, but I wasn't comparing Aetherling against blue 7 drops, since I have no benchmark.
7-drop finishers I play in cube:
Elesh Norn - huge board impact, good reanimator target
Myr Battlesphere - huge board impact, ends games quickly
Hornet Queen - huge board impact, is in a color that wants huge fatties
Karn Liberated - is Karn Liberated
Angel of Serenity - huge board impact, resilient
Simic Sky Swallower - similar card to aetherling, better reanimation target, better blocker, and worse against mass removal
The only 7-drop I play that has a comparable board impact to Aetherling is Simic Sky Swallower, but Swallower also doubles as a target for the cheat-into-play decks, where Aetherling is not as good.
Again, when Aetherling is good, he's really good, but he lacks some qualities that you want in a finisher.
Saying he's the best finisher possible is a tricky use of words. This guy is excellent in creature-light control mirrors, where you just need a large threat to stick so you can end the game.
However, finishers are about more than resilience and damage output. They are also about catching you up from behind, which this guy does not do very well. He has no lifegain and no board impact other than being a 4/5. If you blink him in response to removal, then he can't block that turn either.
Not saying he's unplayable, just that he's only great in certain matchups. The bar for 7 drops is really high in cube - I'm not sure if he makes the cut in my 450 unpowered list.
If your cube wants a blue 7 drop that is not a great reanimator target, this is definitely one of the best of them. Not sure if most cubes are interested in that, though, and I don't think mine is. Comparing this to Consecrated Sphinx, Frost Titan, or Sphinx of Jwar Isle is not valid - Aetherling is much worse as a 6 drop than any of them.
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We are talking about his defensive value. I already said he gets 5 stars in the "offense" and "resilience" columns. FOR A 7 DROP, a 4/5 water elemental w/ vigilance and no other defensive ability is not a good defensive value.
In addition, he may be unkillable, but it is not super difficult to remove him as a blocker for a turn, and on turn 7, often that's all your opponent needs.
You can't be serious man. Frost Titan freezes a creature on attack, which is basically the same thing as blocking, but better in many circumstances (worse in a few). Wurmcoil Engine, Baneslayer Angel, and Griselbrand gain a ton of life on the attack, which is similar to blocking a large creature. Sheoldred reanimates a blocker every turn, and kills an opposing attacker every turn, all while attacking. Grave Titan makes two blockers on attack, Inferno Titan kills multiple guys on attack or kills them outright, Battlesphere can leave blockers behind on attack or kill the opponent outright, Elesh Norn cripples/kills the opposing team and pumps your own while attacking. I could keep going. Aetherling having vigilance is nice, but it still pales in defensive value to most other finishers in the cube.
This is the part of my post where I reiterate that Aetherling is a strong card and possibly worthy of inclusion, but there are definitely some things he doesn't do as well as other ~7 mana finishers.
Leatherback Baloth is "huge". Palinchron without flying is not. Mana cost matters when evaluating P/T. Also, any removal spell on the 'Ling means he has to flicker or die, something that is not true for a creature with actual Shroud/Hexproof. Not to mention that you can't "always" pump him, especially on the turn he comes down.
Defense matters most on the first turn you drop this guy, when you are unlikely to have mana to pump him. And again, you have to compare him against other 7 drops in terms of defense, which I already did above, and he's the worst of any commonly run 7-drop in terms of defensive board presence. "Bashes for 8 each cycle" is not part of defense, I already stated that he is good on offense.
Evasion and protection, I agree. Defense, not really. A Rust Scarab/Water Elemental is not a good defensive return for the mana investment.
I don't play any blue 7 drops, but I wasn't comparing Aetherling against blue 7 drops, since I have no benchmark.
7-drop finishers I play in cube:
Elesh Norn - huge board impact, good reanimator target
Myr Battlesphere - huge board impact, ends games quickly
Hornet Queen - huge board impact, is in a color that wants huge fatties
Karn Liberated - is Karn Liberated
Angel of Serenity - huge board impact, resilient
Simic Sky Swallower - similar card to aetherling, better reanimation target, better blocker, and worse against mass removal
The only 7-drop I play that has a comparable board impact to Aetherling is Simic Sky Swallower, but Swallower also doubles as a target for the cheat-into-play decks, where Aetherling is not as good.
Again, when Aetherling is good, he's really good, but he lacks some qualities that you want in a finisher.
However, finishers are about more than resilience and damage output. They are also about catching you up from behind, which this guy does not do very well. He has no lifegain and no board impact other than being a 4/5. If you blink him in response to removal, then he can't block that turn either.
Not saying he's unplayable, just that he's only great in certain matchups. The bar for 7 drops is really high in cube - I'm not sure if he makes the cut in my 450 unpowered list.