On this week's poll, Angel and Deadpool tied - not surprising considering that these characters are fan favorites. For my money, I thought that Deadpool would win going away - he's pretty well-liked - but what do I know? I flipped a coin, and it came up Angel.

Not to worry, though - due to the tie, I'll do Deadpool next. That also means that we'll be delaying our poll until Deadpool's overview goes live.

My first memories of Angel are from the X-Men Animated Series, when Warren Worthington III was featured in the episode "Come The Apocalypse." For the life of me, I don't remember a single thing that happened, but I remember that this was the first time that I saw him. He's also a character that some want to see featured in the announced "X-Men: Apocalypse."

I can't promise much here, but I can promise that I'll treat him better than X-Men 3 did.

The Die

Angel has a total fielding cost of two and provides shield energy. There are no bursts on any of his faces. His die features somewhat weaker stats - 2-3A/2-4D, but as we go forward we'll see that his abilities help to take that into account.



In fact, if he hit harder, it's likely that he would be overpowered.

Aesthetically, Angel's dice are just shy of my best; there is a slight blemish on one of his faces on a die where the paint wasn't applied as well as it could have been. Oddly, this is generally impacting a portion of his halo - perhaps he isn't such an angel after all! Otherwise, I love the clear blue look of the die; it's a nice one.

The Card

Angel's cards provide dice for a bargain - his rare is one of the few two-costers, and his other two cost three. Thematically speaking, Angel's abilities have him providing aerial support and finding ways to avoid blockers or deal damage directly to the opponent. This would seem to mesh with his character in the comics.

• High Ground - Cost 3 - Angel can't be blocked by a lower level character.
• Avenging Angel - Cost 3 - If blocked and not knocked out, he deals two damage to the opposing player.
• Soaring - Cost 2 - If you used an action this turn, Angel cannot be blocked.

"High Ground" would work well in a currently-theoretical "spinning" deck that we've toyed with but haven't used yet. If there is a viable way to make this style of deck work, then Angel would be a card to include.

"Avenging Angel" may combo well with something like distraction; there are theories about this in the comment to Kate's post about the "Terrible Take Twos". It's possible that, when pulling him back with distraction after blockers are declared, his ability still triggers. He was blocked (by virtue of having been assigned a blocker) and was not knocked out. It ought to trigger. Of course, I could see the argument for the opposite as well. A FAQTalk, perhaps?

"Soaring" is a necessary part of any squad that wants to use basic actions. Invulnerability is a good one to include here, as it's cheap and the ability may actually be useful. Also useful: something that pumps him up; now that damage matters all the more.

My Favorite

I have to cheat - I like all of these. "High Ground" is probably towards the back, but that's because he needs spinning to work and I don't know if such a squad is feasible yet. Please let me know in the comments if you've had success with a squad based on the spinning mechanic.

What makes him so good? Why is he worth it? Easy - he's a cheap purchase and his fielding cost vs. what you'll get out of his abilities is a bargain.

"Soaring" has a reliance on basic actions that could be a curse, but it's a fantastic synergy.

"Avenging Angel," even when you don't want to use/can't pay for Distraction, he absolutely can't be chump blocked.

The blocker-prevention is why it's good that Angel's stats aren't a bit better than they are. Unblocked damage is a great thing - but it can only be so much at once before it's broken. The obvious drawback is that Angels that hit will go back to your used pile. You will need draw acceleration (aka, churn) and perhaps even our good old tutor, Brimstone Biker, to help keep your Angels a-comin'.