MTG Salvation

Aurelia, Image(Ideal?Avatar?) of Justice

Legendary Creature - Angel

Flying

Mentor

At the start of combat on your turn, choose up to one target creature you control. Until end of turn, that creature gains +2/+0, trample if it is red, and vigilance if it is white.




So basically what we have here is a flying 4/5 with vigilance and trample (on offence) that can permanently pump one of your other attackers every turn. For 4 mana that's quite a stat monster! She's worth discussing but I can't see myself finding room at 540. Red and white aren't lacking in the strong 4 drop department.

It can also buff your three-drop when you play this before combat on T4. Drawback is it only blocks as a 2/5. Still, this is enough for me to want to cube it. Inclined to cut Assemble the Legion, but a better cut might be Boros Reckoner.

I run 5 guild cards so this will replace lightning helix for me but I can see this missing the cut in most cubes. I like that she can buff something the turn she comes down and that her ability works well with other mentor creatures (if we get more cubeable ones).

Edit: Fricking incredible art!!!

Am considering cutting Boros Charm for this. Charm is great, but I like the idea of having another aggressive/top-end creature for Boros to have access to for RW decks, and this seems like a solid option. Not sold, but definitely considering it.

Missed that it can pump your three drop, that's actually pretty sweet. If this was a mono color card in either white or red I feel like it would probably be a slam dunk, and Boros isn't the deepest of guilds. If I were to make a cut it would be Lightning Helix, I just don't feel the need for another aggressive 4 drop in those colors.

Torn.

Seems very good! Excited to test it... Be surprised if it didn't make the cut.

2/5 toughness flyer makes it a very good blocker.. Also great on offense with red creatures..
can pump itself to become a 4/5 vigilance flying trample that also pumps another creature through mentor!

Giving another red creature +2/0 and trample on combat is a solid way of getting past the vindicate test. (vigilance is obv less good)

Does a lot of things WR wants (even lives through wildfire on colors that are wildfire friendly), AND it's tutorable by imperial recruiter, returned with Revilark, alesha etc. Pumped with Lyra

Slot is stacked, but think she great in enough archetypes, that she earns a slot.

^^^ Lol. I love the two power synergies!

She can buff that new legion warboss so that his mentor trigger can target her as well

In standard, i could see this card being the only reason mentor does anything for that matter. But in cube, i feel like she'll be a fun creature that we will definitely be trying out.

im really happy to have something to replace boros reckoner with. I have a planeswalker cap in my cube and dont run ajani so I have room for this and I am really excited!

This creature is definitely good. Not sure if I'm willing to cut one of the good RW spells for it, but I might test her snd see.

Think I'll test this over Reckoner.

Strong card, but both red and white have super strong 4 drops and Boros itself has Ajani Vengeant. Very crowded spot, so I'm unsure how necessary this card is.

I think this does enough to justify including it. If the trample were haste I'd be even higher on this card, but it still enables previously-outclassed creatures to be relevant while providing a solid body of its own. Au revoir Reckoner.

I've been running Ajani and Nahiri side by side in my Boros slot, and I'm so happy to throw another creature in there. Nahiri is rarely drafted in my playgroup, so that will be my cut. I do see the competition in mono R/W 4's, though. I'd slam this and never look back as a static 4/5 for an extra colorless mana, but for now she will do as a replacement for Nahiri. I'll be happy trimming down a PW from a guild that already has a better one for a creature that better suits its typical color identity.

If anyone is interested... I've been jamming cubes due to excitement of playing with all the new cards. Here's a small facebook chat transcript I just had with a group member. He's a player that 85% of the time forces an agro archetype.

ME: "Did aurelia do anything for you that cube?"

FRIEND: "Aurelia was very very good most of the games where I cast her. On the play and on curve she felt very strong....I played her on Friday and today, most games against non-interactive decks she would represent 2 more damage the turn I cast her. There was a game where I could give my needle spires +2/+0 and trample, so Stephen had to hold back more blockers than otherwise. otherwise just being 4/5 trample flying vigilance was good. She blocked a glorybringer at least once after it exerted to kill another creature. I would play her over Hellrider assuming they were equally castable"

ME: "wow, strong review...so the 5 toughness flying and vigilance was relevant?"

FRIEND: "Yeah, at least in the creature matchups. 2/5 blocks alot of green creatures. The mentor ability only ever came up twice I think, but my opponent had a bunch of non-flying creatures so I couldn't mentor...but then they had no outs to a 4/5 vigilance flyer"

Quote from Cythare »

Am considering cutting Boros Charm for this. Charm is great, but I like the idea of having another aggressive/top-end creature for Boros to have access to for RW decks, and this seems like a solid option. Not sold, but definitely considering it.

I'd cut helix before charm FWIW. I think an extra damage + the additional modes is better than 3 life.

I agree w/ asmallcat. Helix will likely be my cut for testing.

I disagree. Helix is much better at clearing blockers, and I think that's the most important function of the card.

It's no better at clearing blockers than a dozen other mono red and mono white removal spells. I don't feel the need to reserve a guild slot for a Searing Spear with upside when there are so many other effects that are nearly as functional.

I like Tajic quite a bit more than this, and will very likely be playing it in my 4-card Boros section.

I've also grown to like Helix more than Charm; not an opinion I used to have, but Charm has been seeing less and less play as Boros starts to do more non-aggro things.

I'm not sure. I mean, Baneslayer and Lyra are good because the have lifelink. Period. Without that ability, they wouldn't be remotely up for consideration. So as efficiently costed as Aurelia is, she just can't function in the role those other two are providing.

Despite the competition, I feel like I'll have more aggro decks happy to have another hard-hitting 3-drop than I'll have bigger-mana decks that are lacking in playable 4-drops. I liked Aurelia quite a bit, but I don't think she'll see as much play as Tajic will, at least for my playgroup.

Quote from wtwlf123 »

I liked Aurelia quite a bit, but I don't think she'll see as much play as Tajic will, at least for my playgroup.

Really? It's hard for me to imagine any agro deck capable of casting W and R mana for Tajic that would cut aurelia from their main deck.
Maybe some kind of 15 land deck with 10+ 1 drops and good WR fixing.. Those are pretty rare for me. A W splash R deck with zero other red creatures? and like Gideon, Elspeth, Hero of bladehold, 2x armageddon? (i'd probably still run aurelia in that deck)

If anything, I'd expect aurelia to see more play in agro because of it being slightly easier on the mana. This guy loses a lot of value if he can't be cast immediatly on curve, whereas aurelia is a more reasonable splash on 3 sources of fixing... Even if Taijic is slightly better in a pure WR agro deck.