Opal Archangel

A statue that smites the aggressor: this enchantment sits inert until an opponent reaches for a creature spell, and only then does it rise as a 5/5 flier with vigilance, ready to attack and block on the same body. The design logic is a deterrent wearing the clothes of a permanent. As an enchantment it costs nothing to keep around and dodges creature removal until the moment it animates, because until then there is no creature to target. It taxes the one action most decks are built around, deploying threats, without asking you to hold up mana or commit a body of your own. The conditional trigger is what tempers an otherwise wildly overstatted five-drop. Against a controlling or noncreature draw it never animates, leaving you with five mana spent on a permanent doing nothing, and that dependence on the opponent's decisions is the exact price for the rate. The card reflects a school of thought, common when enchantments were trusted to carry threats patiently, that rewarded the defensive player content to sit back and let the other deck overextend into the swing rather than racing to land the first threat.