Angelic Destiny – A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Mythic Rare Card Review

by Phoenix Desertsong

 Without a doubt, Angelic Destiny is one of the most gorgeous Magic the Gathering cards. There was a lot of chatter when this card was first released that this card shouldn't be a mythic rare. I disagree. This is one of those cases where Wizards of the Coast created a card that just “feels” mythic. It wasn't a "chase" mythic rares, but it's a really good card!

My first experience with this card was actually in a Magic 2012 draft! I was passed it in draft, only because there was a foil mythic in the same pack. The guy who passed it to me even said "you're welcome!"

Objectively, I knew this card was powerful. Anything that can give your creature both flying and first strike and +4/+4 is absolutely ridiculous. Plus, this card only costs 4 mana to play! Granted, it does have a double white mana cost, which does push you towards white in Limited. But in Magic 2012, that was hardly a bad thing. This was actually fine to draft, too!

 Auras had gone out of style in the years before Angelic Destiny released. This as pretty much as good as they get, besides Auras that give you +1/+1 for each creature or land you control.  Best of all, when the enchanted creature dies, you get this Aura back to your hand. That's actually fairly unusual for Auras. This is good, though, because when an enchanted creature typically dies, it's a 2-for-1. It's still a 2-for-1 here, but you actually get the card back which helps even things out.  

That this card makes the enchanted creature an Angel in addition to its other types is actually sort of interesting. It adds great flavor to the card and certainly doesn’t hurt anything. This bit made casual players with Angel tribal decks quite happy; that was a huge audience for this card right away.

Angelic Destiny is a very good Magic card that’s certainly worth its mana cost. In Standard, this Aura did have its time in the spotlight. White Weenie was a very competitive deck back then, which was actually White/Blue thanks to Geist of Saint Traft and Mana Leak. Many lists would run one, two, or even three copies of Angelic Destiny. Even the vaunted Caw-Blade deck would occasionally run two copies of Angelic Destiny, as if it needed them. Later, Blue/White Humans would run the card with great success.

 In Limited, Angelic Destiny was a clear powerhouse, as it’s very difficult to stop a flyer with first strike in a format where removal is at a premium. But even in Standard, it's very hard to answer a creature that's buffed in both power and toughness by four.

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While it's only appeared in the odd Modern deck here and there since 2012, Angelic Destiny is definitely a very popular card in Commander (EDH)! Due to its power in Commander and casual formats, and just how darn pretty the card is, it's become a valuable card.

Have you ever played Angelic Destiny?

Updated 9/3/2018