Raphael, Most Attitude

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4cmc 4/3 menace that builds up a pool of exiled cards via Alliance triggers (creature ETBs) and lets you play those cards on attack. Solid aggro-midrange threat in red creature-dense or go-wide shells, converting board presence into card advantage when attacking. Attack-trigger dependency means the payoff is conditional on Raphael surviving to combat, and the exile pool accrues slowly without a steady creature stream.

• The Alliance trigger exiles one card per creature ETB (not a may — it reads 'you may exile'), so you can deliberately limit exiling to control what's in the pool. The 'play' window is only while Raphael attacks, so land drops from exile are possible (they count as playing a card), enabling surprise mana if a land was exiled.

  tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

• Raphael's exile pool is cumulative across multiple turns and multiple ETBs — cards exiled in prior attacks remain available on future attacks, so the value compound over a long game even if you only have a few creatures entering each turn.

  tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

• Because the Alliance trigger exiles from the top of your library (no scry), Raphael pairs naturally with top-deck manipulation (Sensei's Divining Top, Scroll Rack) to pre-stack desirable cards before creatures enter.

  tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

• EDHREC rank: #18,662