Is Razia, Boros Archangel Supposed to Regain Prevent Damage This Frequently?

jtwood

I just wrapped up getting a butt kicking from a Razia, Boros Archangel:

During the match, her final ability worked like this:

My Turn: I attack, she blocks, damage is prevented, Prevent Damage goes away

Gerg's Turn: Razia does not regain Prevent Damage

My Next Turn: Razia regainst Prevent Damage, continues to wreck my life

Is this the intended design? That Razia should lose Prevent Damage for two, very literal turns (the turn where it's lost, and the next turn)?

If so... Man, I should have bought her when she was out. She would be tinykitty awesome for those "take less than X damage" nodes, since she would almost never die in combat.

Tilwin90

It is actually prevented for two turns: your turn, and Greg's turn. That's two. It's the same as Underrealm Lich. She is nowhere near as annoying and punishing as Undergrowth Champion though unless you consider the flying. 

There are many ways to deal with her but naturally it's not that straightforward:
1) You can still remove her with non-damage removal - this makes her an easy prey for blue bounce, white exile/disable/destroy and black destroy. In fact the colors having most trouble with her are green (which now possesses Assassin's Troph) and red (unless you possess Banefire in standard or Hour of Devastation in legacy which bypass prevent damage).

2) The idea of her prevent damage is not to keep her vulnerable for two of your turns, but to actually force you to damage her twice. That is the hint in her 4 toughness too. She is vulnerable to Exquisite Firecraft (though naturally you need two of them or one and a creature) or Justice Strike, plus a few other damage spells. Slamming into her with two creatures is also an option - her flying/vigilance ensures she will jump in front of most assaults. Of course the more reinforced she is, the nastier she gets. I can see her being very punishing in a Rebirth deck, but keep in mind point 1.

3) Her first ability is actually there to punish tramplers. She answers Zacama but not Gishath or Ghalta. I frequently play this triplet of dinos in my Huatli2 deck and sequence them quite fast, so they will destroy Razia, but now I take quite some damage from my assault -> three tramplers will punish me with at least 27 damage, and that's unless you face a reinforced Razia.

4) She succumbs to double strike. The simplest creature that kills her is Iroas's Champion, a simple uncommon (though when I came up with this I was thinking of Ball Lightning - but Ball is actually going to cost you 18 damage because of its trample). By no means do I think this is the best answer, as there aren't many useful double strikers in this game, but might be a reason to get Zetalpa back into the fold (I rarely use her nowadays).

The nastiest combo I see with her is with Lyra naturally. Giving her first strike makes her a formidable defender thanks to her 9 power, and it already neutralizes your option #4.

I already predicted she is probably a very powerful exclusive thanks to her synergy with Lyra, and if I were to spend on any this set it would be her and the Golgari Sisters (as I already have all mythics I'll just wait to craft them).

As for those 10 or less damage objectives, she's such a nasty cookie. If people will start to employ her too in those nodes she'll be equally annoying to face thanks to her haste.

Powerful? Yes. Overpowered? Nah!

Gun Bunny

Also keep in mind that she shrugs off the first creature you hit her with, but not the second or third, or you can ping her with a small damage spell before your attack.