This card competes with Cloudgoat Ranger in my cube, but Ranger is quite a bit more stable than this card. Cloudgoat is always a 3/3, it always produces 6 power over 4 bodies, and you can change it to a 5/3 flier to attack even after you've cast it, so long as you have your Kithkin. Additionally, Cloudgoat is more resilient against removal than the Angel of Invention. Simply put, Cloudgoat Ranger is the best army in a can for this slot.
While the anthem on Angel is cool, you have to already have a board for that anthem to pay off above its own servos. The problem is, if you have a board for this thing to pump, then it will be rare instances where you'd want to drop the angel to make your team better rather than hold it in reserve for when the board gets cleaned up. In those instances, sure, Angel is better, but most of time, Cloudgoat would do the job just as well because it goes wider and can adapt on the fly. What you get from Angel is both a token producer and an Anthem, but this is really only best for tokens.dec. That is a little too narrow an application for a higher cmc card.
Without that, it essentially has two modes, Baneslayer Angel mode and Cloadgoat Ranger mode. But it a poorman's imitation in either mode. In return for its loss of efficacy, you gain some cool interactions with Recruiters, Reveillark, and Alesha, Who Smiles at Death. If I have to cut one of my two 5 drops to fit the Angel in, the question becomes, are those interactions and added flexibility enough to pay you back for the loss of impact?
For me, the answer is no. I don't have much room in the five drop slot, so if I put something there, I want it to be the best at what it does. Even if that means losing some flexibility. This would have to be my third 5 drop with Cloudgoat and Baneslayer, which is still high praise for this card.
Also, Baneslayer is the boss monster. Queen beast. I'm not cutting her until they make a better her.
tldr; This is a modal creature that is either a poorman's Cloudgoat or a poorman's Baneslayer. The flexibility doesn't make me want to cut either of the originals. I'd only run it as the third 5 drop.
Now that I think about it, going big and tall mode with Angel of Invenntions is more comparable to Batterskull than Baneslayer Angel. Batterskull with flying that doubles as an anthem that also has an optional Cloudgoat Ranger mode?
are those interactions and added flexibility enough to pay you back for the loss of impact?
Loss of impact? This card will often have a bigger impact on the board than Cloudgoat Ranger does. They both provide multiple bodies and 6 power worth of threats. But you gain lifelink, vigilance and an anthem. Decks that want Cloudgoat will want the anthem effect. So instead of getting 6 power, you're getting a minimum of 6 power. You're not getting a poor man's Cloudgoat, you're getting a threat that is comparable to Cloudgoat in most situations, and it has its pros and cons in a direct head to head. Often being significantly better.
But that's a poor evaluation of the card, because that's only half the roles it can play. Comparing the pros and cons to Cloudgoat-mode is ignoring the fact that this can go into Gisela mode too. In a lot of matchups (even in decks that would want a Cloudgoat to execute their plan A) there's a tremendous amount of value in being able to audible on-the-fly into a creature that serves a different function. Non-red aggro, for example, may assemble a board state where a vigilant Gisela with an anthem strapped to it could be completely bonkers. And you have that option IN ADDITION TO it being able to function as a Cloudgoat-variant you maindecked it for in the first place.
tl;dr - Ignoring half of this card's modes, it's still comparable to Cloudgoat. And it also does a bunch of other good stuff too.
Saying that its just an imitation of cloudgoat or just an imitation of BSA seems too simple. The flexibility is what makes this card so beautiful. You need a BSA? you got it. you need cloudgoat? you got it. While it might not be as pure as either original the flexibility is just too good to simply say its a cheap knockoff of either card.
When I first read Angel of Invention I knew it was strong but I felt that it was a near-miss because of it's competition in the W-5 slot. Now, after reading all the analysis and discussion on this site I think I'm going to try it over Cloudgoat Ranger. It feels like blasphemy to write that because Cloudgoat Ranger has been such a staple white card in my cube. It's really been more than a staple. It's been an ICONIC white card since I first built my cube 3 years ago and I'm sure even longer than that for others. It feels sad to lose a friend but If your going to include Angel of Invention, I think Cloadgoat is the card it replaces.
Cloudgoat, Baneslayer, and Angelof Invention are very close. I would not fault anyone for selecting one over the other. Personally i find the Servo mode too iffy, as it leaves my anthem at 1 toughness that can lead to bad blowouts.
It's an easy decision for me since for some reason I still have Kermic Guide. Out she goes.
Angels are cool and all, but there isn't really any tribal synergy involving Angels in any cube list I've ever seen, including yours. In fact, if anything having Angel in the type line is a downside because you can't target it with Restoration Angel to rescue it from removal or to get more Servo tokens.
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My only worry with this card is the 1 toughness and how easy she'll be to remove both in combat and with actual removal spells. With that said, however, I still think I like her more than Cloudgoat, at least on paper with no game play experience. If you're worried about red removal or combat issues, you can buff her toughness to avoid that. I just think she's quite versatile and will do good work in the cube environment. Worst case scenario, the one toughness is a true liability, and you cut her after a few drafts to bring back Cloudgoat. She's definitely worth a shot.
I have a feeling that I'm going to see this cast to make Servos, but the flexibility is really nice in times when the Servos are outclassed on the ground and you don't tend to see many anthems nowadays stapled onto creatures. I like it.
For some reason I'm still running Dictate of Heliod so I'll be cutting that. Eventually though I think my white section only has room for 1 army in a can 5 drop so it will be a death match between this and Cloudgoat.
Still don't like the lack of a second point of toughness. Being a 4/4 makes Batterskull much better. A 4/3 can block far fewer creatures and dies to a lot more red removal. If Angel of Invention were a 2/2, I would at least test her. Being a 2/1 pushes her over the line from testable to staying out.
I like Dictate of Heliod far better than this Angel. In WX aggro, that card wins almost as many games as Armageddon does. It is pretty much uncuttable for me.
Still don't like the lack of a second point of toughness. Being a 4/4 makes Batterskull much better. A 4/3 can block far fewer creatures and dies to a lot more red removal. If Angel of Invention were a 2/2, I would at least test her. Being a 2/1 pushes her over the line from testable to staying out.
I like Dictate of Heliod far better than this Angel. In WX aggro, that card wins almost as many games as Armageddon does. It is pretty much uncuttable for me.
Dictate of Heliod has been really good for me too. With so few combat tricks in my cube, the instant speed pump can be back breaking with just two or three creatures on board.
Still don't like the lack of a second point of toughness. Being a 4/4 makes Batterskull much better. A 4/3 can block far fewer creatures and dies to a lot more red removal. If Angel of Invention were a 2/2, I would at least test her. Being a 2/1 pushes her over the line from testable to staying out.
I like Dictate of Heliod far better than this Angel. In WX aggro, that card wins almost as many games as Armageddon does. It is pretty much uncuttable for me.
I'm okay with Angel being a 2/1 mainly because it's in white, the color with the most anthems, pump effects, and equipment shenanigans, all which further magnify her keywords and tokens.
While I do like Dictate of Heliod, I don't like it over the top tier white 5-drops and certainly not over Angel of Inventions either.
Dictate is a much different card than this one. I too put it closer to an Armageddon style of cards and definitely think that 450 is a range where Dictate should be played (especially since we have so few worthy combat tricks).
I'm coming around to this being a possible replacement for cloudgoat but my 5 drops need to close the door in victory for an aggressive deck or provide stonewall defense against the aggressive decks. This angel blocks like poop for a 5 drop so I will just have to see if it's offensive power. I do want to find room for more anthems though so I'll rotate the angel in if I can get one at a reasonable price.
I like this Angel a lot. Was thinking it was close to Cloudgoat Ranger, but the more I think/read about it, I think it could even be better. I would not cut Baneslayer Angel for it (unless you want to go deep into token support and run both Cloudgoat and Angel of Invention). If they kill her, she leaves only one less body behind compared to Cloadgoat, and there aren't that many spells that would kill her in servo mode that wouldn't kill Cloudgoat too.
The problem with Dictate is that it's bad after a sweeper or when the game doesn't go as planned and you don't have enough dudes on the board. An anthem on a stick, with lots of synergies, that can go either big or wide, should be pretty great every time you cast it.
Really, the only thing I don't like about this card is the 1 toughness, and considering you can choose to pump it up to 3, it really seems like an acceptable drawback.
So for people who are heavy on this card how do you feel when your board presence is bad. Maybe you have 0-2 other probably small creatures and are staring down a horde of zombies, red dudes, or a couple of green beast fatties. Cloudgoat can block 4 guys, offering a potential trade with a beast of larger, and the tokens can be chumps if necessary or trades with 2/1s and such. No impact on your other creatures. The Angel can trade up to a 4 power or make 3 blockers that can trade with small dudes, and potentially gain you some life. Seems to favor the goat, goat is also better vs any removal spells and is less vulnerable than a 2/1.
I think it's pretty comparable, probably better for the Angel, actually. If I can resolve a 4/3 flying lifelink vigilance against some zombies, I'm going to be a happy camper. The opponent won't be able to attack at all, unless they have a removal spell for the main body. The same situation would be true with CGR; they would kill the main body and their zombies would still be able to attack. Except that when I do have any other creatures out, I'm also getting the benefit of the anthem. Unless my opponent has 4+ 2/2 zombies out, they can't profitably attack into the 4/3 angel at all. And neither card is good against a pair of green beasts, but at least the lifelink and evasion can help me try and race them instead of just slowly chumping them until I have no board left.
You'll be surprised when playing this how often the vigilant Gisela is the right play. It crushes so many board states, and can break other boards wide open thanks to the anthem.
This angel has an anthem stapled to it, incase that part is being overlooked. It has an anthem on it. An anthem.
You'll get a minimum of 6 power and multiple bodies from it. More if you have any other creatures down. And unlike all the other army-in-a-can cards, this Angel has the ability to deploy as a completely different kind of card when the need arises (which is actually quite often). At face value in servo-mode only, it's probably just better than CGR anyways. In addition to having a completely second resolution option available that is just amazing in certain situations.
In fairness Gisela has first strike which makes is a scary blocker. But you are right , holding off their smaller guys while still getting in for an 8 point life swing may be a better option than I'm imagining.
Ya, the first strike on Gisela matters a ton in the midrange matchups, and I wish this creature had first strike instead of Vigilance (well, in some situations). But even if you don't want to drop CGR for her, I urge you to test her out, because this Angel is really good. I just don't want you to miss out.
I also think that card is scary good, but I rather just cut Baneslayer Angel for it. Main reason why is that the angel is not maindeck a lot. It does fill a major sideboard role against red agressive decks sometimes, but we do feel like it's not something that is absolutely necessary in today's cube. It may be a wrong move because it means two of our 5-drops would be very similar, as two arny-in-a-can cards, but we do enjoy tokens a lot. Opposition and Purphoros would like to have them both.
White has a fair bit of incidental artifact support now.
Enlightened Tutor
Angel of Invention
Relic Seeker
Stoneforge Mystic
Blade Splicer
Porcelain Legionnaire
plus Sphinx of the Steel Wind in Esper, with the possibility of Esper Tezz being rumoured.
Enough to be a fourth support colour for the deck, along with U, B and R. Maybe Commander will give us a WUBR artifact card?
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While the anthem on Angel is cool, you have to already have a board for that anthem to pay off above its own servos. The problem is, if you have a board for this thing to pump, then it will be rare instances where you'd want to drop the angel to make your team better rather than hold it in reserve for when the board gets cleaned up. In those instances, sure, Angel is better, but most of time, Cloudgoat would do the job just as well because it goes wider and can adapt on the fly. What you get from Angel is both a token producer and an Anthem, but this is really only best for tokens.dec. That is a little too narrow an application for a higher cmc card.
Without that, it essentially has two modes, Baneslayer Angel mode and Cloadgoat Ranger mode. But it a poorman's imitation in either mode. In return for its loss of efficacy, you gain some cool interactions with Recruiters, Reveillark, and Alesha, Who Smiles at Death. If I have to cut one of my two 5 drops to fit the Angel in, the question becomes, are those interactions and added flexibility enough to pay you back for the loss of impact?
For me, the answer is no. I don't have much room in the five drop slot, so if I put something there, I want it to be the best at what it does. Even if that means losing some flexibility. This would have to be my third 5 drop with Cloudgoat and Baneslayer, which is still high praise for this card.
Also, Baneslayer is the boss monster. Queen beast. I'm not cutting her until they make a better her.
tldr; This is a modal creature that is either a poorman's Cloudgoat or a poorman's Baneslayer. The flexibility doesn't make me want to cut either of the originals. I'd only run it as the third 5 drop.
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Loss of impact? This card will often have a bigger impact on the board than Cloudgoat Ranger does. They both provide multiple bodies and 6 power worth of threats. But you gain lifelink, vigilance and an anthem. Decks that want Cloudgoat will want the anthem effect. So instead of getting 6 power, you're getting a minimum of 6 power. You're not getting a poor man's Cloudgoat, you're getting a threat that is comparable to Cloudgoat in most situations, and it has its pros and cons in a direct head to head. Often being significantly better.
But that's a poor evaluation of the card, because that's only half the roles it can play. Comparing the pros and cons to Cloudgoat-mode is ignoring the fact that this can go into Gisela mode too. In a lot of matchups (even in decks that would want a Cloudgoat to execute their plan A) there's a tremendous amount of value in being able to audible on-the-fly into a creature that serves a different function. Non-red aggro, for example, may assemble a board state where a vigilant Gisela with an anthem strapped to it could be completely bonkers. And you have that option IN ADDITION TO it being able to function as a Cloudgoat-variant you maindecked it for in the first place.
tl;dr - Ignoring half of this card's modes, it's still comparable to Cloudgoat. And it also does a bunch of other good stuff too.
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It's an easy decision for me since for some reason I still have Kermic Guide. Out she goes.
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I have a feeling that I'm going to see this cast to make Servos, but the flexibility is really nice in times when the Servos are outclassed on the ground and you don't tend to see many anthems nowadays stapled onto creatures. I like it.
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I like Dictate of Heliod far better than this Angel. In WX aggro, that card wins almost as many games as Armageddon does. It is pretty much uncuttable for me.
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Dictate of Heliod has been really good for me too. With so few combat tricks in my cube, the instant speed pump can be back breaking with just two or three creatures on board.
I'm okay with Angel being a 2/1 mainly because it's in white, the color with the most anthems, pump effects, and equipment shenanigans, all which further magnify her keywords and tokens.
While I do like Dictate of Heliod, I don't like it over the top tier white 5-drops and certainly not over Angel of Inventions either.
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This creature, on the other hand, is completely bananas.
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I'm coming around to this being a possible replacement for cloudgoat but my 5 drops need to close the door in victory for an aggressive deck or provide stonewall defense against the aggressive decks. This angel blocks like poop for a 5 drop so I will just have to see if it's offensive power. I do want to find room for more anthems though so I'll rotate the angel in if I can get one at a reasonable price.
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The problem with Dictate is that it's bad after a sweeper or when the game doesn't go as planned and you don't have enough dudes on the board. An anthem on a stick, with lots of synergies, that can go either big or wide, should be pretty great every time you cast it.
Really, the only thing I don't like about this card is the 1 toughness, and considering you can choose to pump it up to 3, it really seems like an acceptable drawback.
You'll be surprised when playing this how often the vigilant Gisela is the right play. It crushes so many board states, and can break other boards wide open thanks to the anthem.
This angel has an anthem stapled to it, incase that part is being overlooked. It has an anthem on it. An anthem.
You'll get a minimum of 6 power and multiple bodies from it. More if you have any other creatures down. And unlike all the other army-in-a-can cards, this Angel has the ability to deploy as a completely different kind of card when the need arises (which is actually quite often). At face value in servo-mode only, it's probably just better than CGR anyways. In addition to having a completely second resolution option available that is just amazing in certain situations.
Oh, and it has an Anthem on it.
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