Fallen Angel never took nobody’s job. Before her, there were no 3/3 flyers that sacrificed creatures to get bigger. Fallen Angel debuted in Legends, reappeared in Chronicles, and then made a stay in the core set from 5th through 7th Editions. Not bad for a girl from the wrong side of Dominia, right?
There was another creature directly descended from Fallen Angel, but a little more aggressively costed for tournament play. This creature combed with several cards in Standard and Extended, most notably Pattern of Rebirth. It cost a Black and two to cast, had a 2/2 body, and could kill in a single turn.
I speak, of course, of Urza Saga’s Phyrexian Ghoul.
Phyrexian.
Ghoul.
Seriously.
Come on, folks — would you rather have a time-displaced techno-organic zombie from the baddest of bad places in the Magic world, or a freaking zombie bug? What the hell is a zombie insect anyhow?
Bobby: “Gramma, I done think the ant hill been possessed by Satan.”
Gramma: “Grab them there crucifix and shotgun, boy!”
Willy: “Is granny spry?”
Zombie Insect. Is this really the guy who’s been a central part of a tournament deck since Guildpact?
Prince Goodman: “By the Promise of Bunrei, I have the power!” *Holds sword aloft*
Battle Husk: “Che Che Che!”
Has anyone ever realized that they’ve been killed by a zombie insect? At least being killed by Phyrexian Ghoul was cool. Let’s compare these side-by-side death scenes:
*Cue the music*
Billy: “Ayiii! That Phyrexian instrument of death has absorbed the life force of not only an entire legion of soldiers and squirrels, but also of deranged hermits, and has now slain me in a single, blood-fuelled supernatural blow. I die now. Exeunt.”
*Cue the music*
Billy: “Ha ha. No really! An unnaturally reanimated lampyrid ate a Pontiff of some old church, the king’s army, and a couple of lions, and now he’s going to poof me? OH NO! I’VE BEEN SLIMED!!!!! Exeunt.”
Mr. Goodman seems to like filling in for Mr. Knutson in much the same way that Nantuko Husk fills in for Phyrexian Ghoul. I say further comparisons are warranted.
Knutson/Ghoul: Likes Football, Soccer
Goodman/Husk: Likes scones, buttermilk.
Knutson/Ghoul: Editor of MagictheGathering.com, editor of people’s lives.
Goodman/Husk: Wears a hat, is a hat.
Knutson/Ghoul: Tall and scary.
Goodman/Husk: Wears a hat.
Last of all, a vote for Fallen Angel is a vote to utterly crush the spirit of Ben Goodman, as you’ll force the best Black/White card out of Standard. I have nothing against Ben, you should have nothing against Ben, and hey, I don’t think Ben’s actually ever touched a Husk, but sometimes it’s just fun to see people suffer!
Vote Fallen Angel!
PS: In fairness, Ben Goodman Black/White deck didn’t run Nantuko Husk — but we’ll give him credit for the “good” version of the Black/White deck for the sake of argument.
PPS: Coming true, three years late! Thank you, Thrumming Stone!
PPPS: Ben Goodman, I love you!
PPPPS: I love your hat too!
PPPPPS: Craig informed me that I need to fill this article with additional text. Well, congratulations on your finish at English Nationals, you National Champion you! In celebration of your victory, I’ve prepared a little toast.
Dear readers of StarCityGames.com:
Cor Blimey! It’s been kipper and five since me blokes ate kibbles and chummed on the lorry! The bee’s knees Craiggers done tipsy-turveyed the whole blasted totolnanner, bloody ‘ell! Three cheers for the ol’ codger. Chip Chip Lorraine! Chip Chip Lorraine!
[What The Hell is all that malarkey about? — Craig.]
PPPPPPS: There is a good chance you might not have seen the PPPPPS after this article was sent in to be edited. If Craig did happen to leave it in, good show ol’ chap!
PPPPPPPS: No seriously, I love you Ben Goodman! I never meant to break your heart like that. Please come home.
PPPPPPPPS: This might be the longest set of postscripts in SCG.com history. The article after the article ended up being longer than the article in question, questioning whether the longer article after the article is the article and the article is more of a prescript to the postscript as the article.
PPPPPPPPPS: So Shivan Hellkite won last week’s vote — I predicted:
Shivan Hellkite
Two-Headed Dragon
Brimstone Dragon
Volcanic Dragon
Thunder Dragon
Crimson Hellkite
Rathi Dragon
Hunted Dragon
Clockwork Dragon
Dragon Mage
Tek
The actual order was:
Shivan Hellkite
Thunder Dragon
Two-Headed Dragon
Hunted Dragon
Dragon Mage
Rathi Dragon
Tek
Crimson Hellkite
Volcanic Dragon
Brimstone Dragon
Clockwork Dragon
I also said that the three that should finish on top, in a perfect world, were Shivan Hellkite, Thunder Dragon, and Two-Headed Dragon. Well, I got the winner right, and I got two of the top three right. We won’t discuss the rest of my list past there, because everybody loves a winner, and nobody loves Clockwork Dragon.
Of course, Tek, Crimson Hellkite, Volcanic Dragon, Brimstone Dragon and Clockwork Dragon took a combined 2033 votes. This was less than both Shivan Hellkite (2182) and Thunder Dragon (2058). Let’s just say that gramma was thrown from the train.
PPPPPPPPPPS: Vote Fallen Angel!