Angels and Praetors

Hey guys! my name is Drew Cordell, I will be blogging on Magic The Gathering General with Cal and Ryan. I have been playing for just over a year and have learned a great deal of information from reading pro player articles and they have really helped me improve as a player. I play on cockatrice often, my user name is Emperion, so feel free to add me on there.  Anyways lets get started with my topic of the day; Avacyn, Angel Of Hope. Avacyn at first sight looked like a very overpowered card that was quite possibly broken. seeing as the set is named after her,  I had to force my self to slow down and go over every word of text on the card to properly evaluate the card  without jumping to hasty conclusions.

Okay so lets go over the key components of the card, we have a 8 drop with 3w in the cost. She is a 8/8 with flying and vigilance and makes all of your creatures indestructible. At first glance she looked like a very solid and playable card, however  with the current state of standard there are many answers to this card once it resolves such as vapor snag, oblivion ring, Geth's verdict, tribute to hunger, Liliana of the veil etc... Once Avacyn hits the battlefield she does not provide any ridiculous benefit right when she resolves and could result in a wasted turn. However if paired with swift foot boots this card could be very powerful if you manage to get the combo. the 8/8 flying vigilance puts your opponent on a fast ticking clock to death but in the end Elesh norn grand cenobite is the superior version of this card.

at a cheaper mana cost Elesh Norn the clear choice to play at 7 mana with 2w in the cost Elesh Norn is easier to cast in a 2 or three color deck, whereas the 3w in Avacyn's cost inhibits your ability to play her in multi-color decks . Elesh norn's static ability "creatures your opponents control get -2/-2." becomes active the second Elesh norn resolves resulting either in a massive board clear, or rendering your opponent's creatures into petty obstacles in your wake of destruction. Even if your Norn gets hit by a kill spell when she resolves you have still destroyed your opponents tokens and small creatures. At a smaller mana cost with more benefits, Elesh norn gets the slot in the deck over Avacyn. At $30 USD Elesh norn is quite pricey but can save you numerous times in a difficult situation. She is a very solid investment to make because the standard metagame is more or less focused on tokens at the moment.
 I predict that Avacyn, Angel Of Hope will cost around $4-10 which could be a good replacement for budget players if you aren't looking to spend a lot  of money on a couple copies of Elesh Norn. When Elesh norn cycles out of standard Avacyn might be the replacement depending on what appears in the m13 core set. In modern Avacyn has no place. Iona shield of emeria is much more powerful due to being able to completely stop your opponent from casting spells of a chosen color. With Avacyn Restored being the largest set in the block it looks promising for housing lots of new playable cards as well as changing the metagame.
           
   Thanks for reading and feel free to comment and share your opinions Happy casting everyone! Until next time, Drew.