Angel of Salvation MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost8
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Angel
Abilities Convoke,Flying, Flash
Power 5
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Angel of Salvation’s flash ability creates unexpected plays and wards off enemy attacks.
  2. The specific mana cost can hinder its integration into multicolored decks.
  3. Its synergy with life-gain and defensive strategies make it a meta-relevant pick.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash; convoke (Each creature you tap while playing this spell reduces its cost by or by one mana of that creature's color.) Flying When Angel of Salvation comes into play, prevent the next 5 damage that would be dealt this turn to any number of target creatures and/or players, divided as you choose.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Angel of Salvation offers a unique form of card advantage by including a preventative measure to guard your life total. The option to flash it into battle during an opponent’s turn can often equate to saving key cards, such as other creatures or planeswalkers, from being decimated in combat, effectively protecting your board presence and retaining your advantage.

Resource Acceleration: While the Angel of Salvation itself doesn’t directly contribute to mana acceleration, its higher converted mana cost can synergize well with various ramp strategies. This can lead to substantial mid to late-game plays, harmonizing with decks that facilitate faster, more powerful summonings through resource acceleration tactics.

Instant Speed: One of the cardinal virtues of Angel of Salvation is its flash ability, allowing you to summon it at instant speed. This flexibility gives players the strategic edge to respond to threats immediately and unexpectedly or simply endow oneself with a formidable blocker when most advantageous. The capacity to operate on the opponent’s turn transcends the conventional pace of gameplay and fortifies your defensive and offensive maneuvers profoundly.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One downside of the Angel of Salvation is that it doesn’t come with an inherent discard softening mechanic, which means each card in your hand remains a precious commodity. In game scenarios where your hand is depleted, summoning this creature can be problematic, potentially setting you back in card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: With a specific mana cost that includes two white mana symbols, the Angel of Salvation may not seamlessly fit into multicolored decks. This mana requirement can lead to difficulties in casting the card on curve, especially in environments where mana fixing is less reliable.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The casting cost of the Angel of Salvation is relatively steep, coming in at eight mana. Considering the diversity of MTG’s card pool, there are alternative creatures and spells that might provide a more cost-efficient presence on the battlefield or more immediate impact at a lower mana cost.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Angel of Salvation offers a varied toolkit for decks that require flexible answers. Its instant speed gives you the ability to react swiftly during combat, and it can be a game-changer when it comes to preserving your life total with its damage redirection ability.

Combo Potential: This card’s Flash ability, combined with the potential to provide a significant life boost, makes it an ideal pairing with strategies that capitalize on life gain or need surprise blockers. It’s also resourceful in decks that exploit creature casting triggers.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where aggressive strategies are prevalent, Angel of Salvation shines as a powerful deterrent. Its substantial body can stabilize the board, making it a relevant card that can easily turn the tide of a game in your favor.


How to beat

The Angel of Salvation is a high-cost powerhouse in Magic: The Gathering that demands a strategic approach to overcome. With its impressive abilities, this card can turn the tide of battle in your opponent’s favor. Key to defeating it is understanding its strengths as a flying defender with a significant life-gain ability upon casting. Mana efficiency and timing are crucial; this means having removal spells ready or on the battlefield to disrupt your opponent’s late-game strategy.

Target removal spells like Murder or Path to Exile can efficiently deal with Angel of Salvation before its life-gain effect can trigger, as can board wipes like Wrath of God when timed correctly. Keep in mind, baiting out your opponent’s flash ability can work to your advantage, allowing you to counter the threat on your terms. By prioritizing threats and maintaining control over the board, you’ll find that even the mightiest angels can fall.

Overall, keeping pressure on your opponent and managing resources carefully will ensure that an Angel of Salvation doesn’t become your end-game demise. Understanding its casting cost and abilities will guide you to victory. Always play patiently and wait for the right moment to strike—and remember that even divine beings have their weaknesses in the complex world of Magic: The Gathering.


Cards like Angel of Salvation

The Angel of Salvation stands as a commanding presence among defensive creatures in Magic: The Gathering. Its similarities with other safeguarding angels like Guardian Seraph are notable, primarily as it provides a robust creature that can influence the board’s state. However, the Angel of Salvation takes a unique approach by offering not only a flying defensive body but also a significant life gain through its damage prevention ability, something Guardian Seraph does not possess.

When compared to the stoic Wall of Reverence, which serves as a similar bastion of defense with a beneficial life gain during your end step, the Angel of Salvation distinguishes itself with its flash ability, allowing you to surprise your opponent and disrupt their strategy. While the Wall provides a consistent life buffer, it lacks the immediate board impact that the Angel delivers.

Browsing further through the echelons of celestial protectors in the game, Resolute Archangel also echoes the theme of life restoration. It resets your life total upon entering the battlefield, which can be a game-changing move. However, its lack of the flash ability and the proactive defense that Angel of Salvation offers again demonstrates the unique blend of versatility and might that the Angel of Salvation brings to the table in Magic: The Gathering.

Guardian Seraph - MTG Card versions
Wall of Reverence - MTG Card versions
Resolute Archangel - MTG Card versions
Guardian Seraph - Magic 2010 (M10)
Wall of Reverence - Conflux (CON)
Resolute Archangel - Magic 2015 Promos (PM15)

Cards similar to Angel of Salvation by color, type and mana cost

Akron Legionnaire - MTG Card versions
Avatar of Hope - MTG Card versions
Silver Seraph - MTG Card versions
Avacyn, Angel of Hope - MTG Card versions
Angel of Deliverance - MTG Card versions
Myojin of Blooming Dawn - MTG Card versions
Akroma, Angel of Wrath - MTG Card versions
Myojin of Cleansing Fire - MTG Card versions
Celestial Force - MTG Card versions
Wakening Sun's Avatar - MTG Card versions
Zetalpa, Primal Dawn - MTG Card versions
Flight of Equenauts - MTG Card versions
Herald of the Forgotten - MTG Card versions
Moonshaker Cavalry - MTG Card versions
Akron Legionnaire - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Avatar of Hope - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Silver Seraph - Judgment (JUD)
Avacyn, Angel of Hope - Commander Masters (CMM)
Angel of Deliverance - Shadows over Innistrad Promos (PSOI)
Myojin of Blooming Dawn - Neon Dynasty Commander (NEC)
Akroma, Angel of Wrath - Commander 2020 (C20)
Myojin of Cleansing Fire - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Celestial Force - Commander 2011 (CMD)
Wakening Sun's Avatar - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Zetalpa, Primal Dawn - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Flight of Equenauts - March of the Machine Commander (MOC)
Herald of the Forgotten - Commander 2020 (C20)
Moonshaker Cavalry - Wilds of Eldraine (WOE)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Angel of Salvation MTG card by a specific set like Future Sight and Time Spiral Remastered, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Angel of Salvation and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Angel of Salvation Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2007-05-04 and 2023-04-21. Illustrated by D. Alexander Gregory.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12007-05-04Future SightFUT 12003normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
22021-03-19Time Spiral RemasteredTSR 32015normalblackD. Alexander Gregory
32023-04-21March of the Machine CommanderMOC 1702015normalblackD. Alexander Gregory

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Angel of Salvation has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Angel of Salvation card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2021-03-19 If a creature you control has a mana ability with in the cost, activating that ability while casting a spell with convoke will result in the creature being tapped before you pay the spell's costs. You won't be able to tap it again for convoke. Similarly, if you sacrifice a creature to activate a mana ability while casting a spell with convoke, that creature won't be on the battlefield when you pay the spell's costs, so you won't be able to tap it for convoke.
2021-03-19 If multiple replacement effects apply to a player or permanent being dealt damage, that player or the controller of that permanent chooses the order to apply them, not the controller of the source of damage.
2021-03-19 If multiple sources would deal damage to an affected target at once, that target or that target's controller chooses which source's damage to prevent for each “shield.”
2021-03-19 If some of the targets become illegal for Angel of Salvation's ability, the original division of prevention effects still applies, but the effects that would have been created for illegal targets aren't created at all.
2021-03-19 When calculating a spell's total cost, include any alternative costs, additional costs, or anything else that increases or reduces the cost to cast the spell. Convoke applies after the total cost is calculated. Convoke doesn't change a spell's mana cost or mana value.
2021-03-19 You can tap any untapped creature you control to convoke a spell, even one you haven't controlled continuously since the beginning of your most recent turn.
2021-03-19 You divide the prevention effects as Angel of Salvation's triggered ability is put onto the stack, not as it resolves. Each target must be assigned at least 1 prevention “shield.” You can't choose more than five targets and assign none to a target.

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