In a RWU deck which would you take if you could only choose one:
Benalish Herald
Coalition Honor Guard
Glimmering Angel
Thanks,
It is not a fair question as it really depends on what you already have.
If you need evasion, angel
If you have a midgame deck with some bombs, andcan already protect your creatures , herald.
If you have combo cards like acolytes or are facing a non-black playing opponent, honor guard.
Generally, I think the honour guard is the most powerful of the 3. R/W/U always has tons of flying and the guard makes all those flyers untargettable (instead of just one).
The walking book is strong, but is so mana intensive it needs to be build around a strong deck. And as personal preference, I prefer more aggresive decks.
Also note that the honor guard is the only one who doesnt need blue mana so its a better choice consistency wise.
honor guard, hands down. What in the set deals 4 points of damage? lightning dart, an uncommon, not likely to see more than one, maybe 2 in a deck. Prophetic Bolt, rare, definitely no more than 1. Ghitu Fire, rare, 1 tops. You see what I'm getting at? Any way of dealing enough damage to kill it is either going to require a very powerful(for limited) card, or multiple smaller things(assault/battery, fire/ice), and it's going to soak up precious removal. I can't count how many times I've lost to those darn honor guards.
I concur that it is tough to amswer this question without context, but here are some thoughts. My first advice is to take all three if you can. Sure it gives you 3 4cc critters, but I'd take those, because they smell of victory.
I like Honor Guard because they are hard to kill and protect your other critters. But it can be a mixed bag. The only down side is that all your critter enchantments and all your own tappers and tims end up targeting it. So it can backfire in the short term when your opponent plunks down a dragon. Also, it makes cards like Raka Sanctuary useless. Nonetheless, it is hard to argue with a critter that will complement your evasion critters so well, but protecting them.
I have also found the heralds very useful. By the time you can cast them, you tend to need more cards. I might choose heralds over Honor Guard in a deck with a lot of low cc critters that have abilities like Samite Archer and Stormscape Apprentice, etc.
Also, you can't argue with Glimmering Angel as a great card. It's a 2/2 flier for 4 that can be untargetable. Makes it a possible game winner. Of course, if you have the Honor Guard in at the same time, it will already be untargetable.
If you can tell us a little more about the other cards you've drafted/unsealed we can probably be more specific.
LoR
Coalition Honor Guard is definitely the pick.
There are common fliers usually available in u/w even though Glimmering Angel is the best. CHG gives you other creatures the Glimmering Angel ability without paying mana.
Benalish Herald can be a card drawing machine *if* you get enough mana to use it *and* your board situation is stable enough to not need the mana to cast anything. The CHG, however, is useful from the moment it enters play.
Don't know how many times I've been in games where "I win if he can't draw removal". I've almost never been unhappy to draw the Honor Guard.
I also have a soft spot in my SB for Coalition Flag. I've won when my opponent had three tappers in play and two Shakles in hand. That one Flag-enchanted creature wasn't going *anywhere* but the rest of the army could run wild and free.
Definitely Honor Gaurd, like everybody else said. I beat a deck with two Pyre Zombies, 2-0, in a team sealed tournament simply because of Coalition Honor Gaurd and a couple small factors. If this can do that, it belongs in any deck.
I do not dispute that honour guard is the better creature, but that doesnt make it an automatic. There are cases where it would not be my choice.
Also note that in draft you'll never have to make that call, and if thats a call for deck construction ,it doesnt matter, because a deck that chooses between those for card #23 is just sick.
Correct me if I'm wrong... Coalition is a 2/4 that must be targeted. Benalish is a 2/4 "draw an extra card a turn".
A difference like that must be looked at in terms of your deck. The better "generic" card is definately benalish heralds... but there are plenty of times I would take the coalition over it too. Any card that says "draw cards" will generally be better.
Course, if you are playing beatdown with multiple copies of 2/1's and 2/2 fliers, then coalition is awesome. If your playing with living airships, confounds, lightning angel and other harder to kill things, then the heralds will not only stall the ground, but draw your broken cards.
Lord of Rivendell here. I'm thinking of changing my name to Lord of DUMBASS. Coalition Honor Guard will not force you to target it with your own spells and effects. It only affects opponents.
Card Name: Coalition Honor Guard
Card Color: W
Mana Cost: 3W
Type & Class: Creature - Flagbearer
Pow/Tou: 2/4
Card Text: If an opponent plays a spell or ability that could target a Flagbearer in play, that player chooses at least one Flagbearer as a target.
In most cases, you'll want the Honor Guards, but again, post some of the other cards you had and we can provide more help.
LoD
Most of the time I'd take Heralds over the other two. Drawing extra cards a turn is disgustingly broken in limited.
Given the situation I would probobly take the honor guard. So many more things though need to be taken into consideration. Such as when I draft, I end up with all the "bomb" spells but never and up being heavy enough on the creature side so if you're like me the i might take the angel into consideration. But you also have to think about what you want to pass to your opponent. Maybe your deck was missing a little punch and you wanted to take the angel, would you really want to pass the honor guard that could make your tribal flames, scorching lava, and repusles obsolete given you oponent drafts it. So with all things taken into consideration I think this question requires more backround info to be properly answered. Hope i could help
Potatofloss
Potatofloss, I think it was a comparitive strength question , not a draft question, as you will never have an honor guard, an angel and a heralds in the same pack.
Thank you for pointing that out. I didn't even stop to think about that. In comparitive strength I would still stick with what I said in that the guard is the most powerful.
Potatofloss