MTG Salvation

I think I prefer Jazal at a glance so i'll be leaving this out for the time being.

I think this card might surprise us all, there is quite a few interesting plays with it.

The most appealing aspect of this card is how lackluster the deeper options for white 4cc creatures is. There's Hero of Bladehold, Restoration Angel and Exalted Angel (if you classify it as a 4-drop). Then there's some okay utility creatures like Kor Sanctifiers and maybe Academy Rector, depending on your needs. But the true tier-2 guys like Jazal Goldmane, Sublime Archangel and Ranger of Eos were never super impressive to me, so I could see this guy seeing more testing than he would if there was a grip of better options.

Quote from wtwlf123 »

The most appealing aspect of this card is how lackluster the deeper options for white 4cc creatures is. There's Hero of Bladehold, Restoration Angel and Exalted Angel (if you classify it as a 4-drop). Then there's some okay utility creatures like Kor Sanctifiers and maybe Academy Rector, depending on your needs. But the true tier-2 guys like Jazal Goldmane, Sublime Archangel and Ranger of Eos were never super impressive to me, so I could see this guy seeing more testing than he would if there was a grip of better options.

This is kinda where I was going. I'd rather have a 2/3/5 drop --- where "second tier" cards of those costs are more appealing than this 4-drop

That may be the case, but this card has potential to be a playable tier-2 4-drop. Some cube managers should test this out and see.

this guy seems pretty interesting, especially with what has been said about the lower number of white 4-drops. in your control deck, all your late turn signets and ponders can give fs/ll to help pull you out of burn range. at the top of your aggro curve, all your burn spells can go to face while still clearing blockers out of the way. in any archetype, your removal spells become 2-for-1's, either protecting this guy or tapping theirs for a turn. it won't turn every spell into an exact 2-for-1 every time, but i think getting to cast 2 or 3 non-creature spells in a game with this guy out will gain some card advantage often enough to make him worth it.

my biggest complaint is that the last ability returns it to the battlefield tapped. otherwise it could pull some real aetherling-style duty playing offense and defense at the same time. even as is, i think he'll lead to some interesting games in my 720.

I think people are underestimating how freaking annoying this card is going to be to play against.

If you want to push damage through, you will basically need two 5/5s or bigger if they have an instant to play every turn.

Now, maybe building decks that include this card and a bunch of instants isn't that reasonable, but it seems promising.

I'll be testing this guy out over one of my three drops. I think he has a lot of potential and I love value cards like this.

This is the card I've been most unsure of my initial analysis. I think it merits testing at least.

Worth testing, but I feel like this is much more a constructed card, where you can jam your deck with low casting cost spells and go to town.

Will proxy it and give a shot. Seems really nice! All 3 activated ability could be relevant depending what type of situation you're facing. Looks like a very versatile type of creature.

I was looking for a new 4 drop and I could have just found it! Would try it before readding Kor Sanctifiers. Seems more fun as well!

Will provide you feedback ASAP!

Was pretty meh about these guys at first but I think he supports the Jeskai spells matter/ prowess theme I want to support. I'll probably test these guys and post my results in a month.

You don't even need "spells matter" to make this guy work. I really like how we are getting more cards that increase the synergy of non-creature spells (including instants and sorceries). There is a really good WUR deck just waiting to be built in my cube:

• Young Pyromancer
  
• Soulfire Grandmaster
  
• Snapcaster Mage
  
• Monastery Mentor
  
• Ojutai Examplars

Grab those guys and fill out your deck with your choice of removal, card draw, and plansewalkers and you have a sweeeeet deck.

So how has this been working out so far for people who've elected to include it?

I like it, but I also consider white's 4cc creature slot to be really shallow.

This card is good, but I agree with wtwlf. White 4-drop creatures are pretty shallow. You could run Ojutai Exemplars, Jazal Goldmane, or Sublime Archangel in this slot and not notice much difference in power level.

Agreed with all points. It's a cool card, but pretty interchangeable, and once they print the next Hero of Bladehold (hopefully this is a "when" and not an "if"), it's bye-bye to whatever Ojutai-Exmplar-variant you're running.

Definitely a cool card. Everyone has valid points. I think it really comes down to cube design/archtypes. This could be a good resilient threat that control would want. It fits well with "mostly non creature" deck, it gains life. I feel like this card needs more testing to see where it really stands.

It performed well for me.

Provides a versatile type of wall for control, but definitly not a finisher. However, he helps a lot stabilize the game. Gain some life back, has evasion that discourages opponent using removal on him and can tap down blockers or potential threats that he couldn't handle. Pretty sharp. Needs more testing though.

I ended up giving this one a fair shake, but I'm cutting it at 540. All of these abilities are fantastic in theory, but it makes you wish every card in your hand were an instant-speed cantrip. In reality you'll rarely be able to protect it, it will rarely be able to adequately protect you, and on the attack you'll sometimes just wish it had regular prowess instead. Rather than a board-dominating monstrosity, it's just a 4/4 guy that gets you some situational value when you untap with it.

It's not a stellar stand-alone creature, but it's a really good card in the spells matters archetype. It solves several of the deck's problems single-handedly. It's one of the few bigger bodies that deck has access to, it can tap down blockers that threaten your smaller creatures, and it can gain some life in the later stages of the game where you need to recover from the turns of damage you took while you were setting your infrastructure up. If you support that archetype with any of the deck-specific cards (beyond the ones that are just good enough on their own) this guy should probably be one of them. And the opportunity cost to include him is low, because white's 4cc creatures outside of the top 2-3 aren't very good anyways.

I disagree with your assessment on white's 4-drops; Sublime Archangel can push through massive damage in a hurry and grabbing Mother of Runes/Figure of Destiny with a Ranger of Eos is still one of the sweetest things you can do. Both are solid inclusions in that slot that aren't getting unseated easily. The 5th is a flex slot and Exemplars, while fine, hasn't proven more important to a successful Spells Matter deck than Exalted Angel to a morph deck.

Is he really a key piece of the spells matter deck? The deck has access to other tools like Ajani Vengeant, Exalted Angel, Baneslayer Angel, and Batterskull to stabilize... and Reveillark has been amazing at getting your infrastructure back after a sweeper. I'd really like to see more of the guys that can get on the board sooner and take advantage of cheap spells you want to be casting.

Quote from TheTennesseeFireman »

Exemplars, while fine, hasn't proven more important to a successful Spells Matter deck than Exalted Angel to a morph deck.

We will have to agree to disagree. The card has been very, very good in that deck for us. And the other 4-drops in white were all cut for being not good enough for any deck. At least Exemplars has a shell it's ideal in. Archangel and Ranger are okay cards, but 4cc cards were too powerful for them to compete. Exemplars pushes past the competition in the shell it's built for, so it at least sees some play in the role it was designed to fill.

Does this card have a home in 450? I picked up a foil on a whim, because goddamn it's a gorgeous card, and now really want to try it out and we've been unimpressed with Karmic Guide lately so that would make room for it.