Unmatched
ANgel
Overview
Angel is a vampire first introduced in the cult classic TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He eventually received his own spin-off show titled Angel that aired from 1999 to 2004. Angel managed to spawn a series of tie-in books filled with mostly original stories that continued until the show ended in 2004.
Angel, formerly known as Angelus, is a legendary vampire known far and wide for his brutal and evil deeds as much as his good looks. He was cursed to have the soul of his human life returned to him which led to him feeling shame and guilt for the atrocities he committed. After his failed relationship with Buffy, he moves to Los Angeles to help those who are helpless and save the souls of those who have lost their way. In Unmatched, Angel uses his vampiric strength and reflexes to hit his opponents with hard and quick attacks.
Angel is included in Unmatched: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Hero Stats
Health: 16 / Attack: Melee / Movement: 2
Special Ability
After Angel or Faith attacks, if you lost the combat, draw 1 card.
Sidekick: Faith
Health: 8 / Attack: Melee / x1
Strategies and Tips
Angel is a hero that specializes in the fundamentals. He emphasizes attack over defense while having very few card effects, many of which require him losing combat to activate. Competitively, this puts him near the bottom of many tier lists in the game. Since he doesn’t have any wild or over the top abilities, it is imperative that you play a strong, fundamentally sound game and think three steps ahead of every move. With that said, he can still compete with many of the Unmatched roster.
Primary Strengths
Strong attacks
Escape options
Primary Weaknesses
Few defensive options
Heroes with high value attack cards
Ranged fighters
Tip#1: Positioning
Angel has few defensive options, making proper positioning key to his victory. Always aim to position yourself where your opponent has to use an action to reach you, or even a boost. This isn’t always easy since you have to attack, so here are some cards you should look out for when planning your approach:
Five by Five is a Faith attack card with a value of 5. After combat this card allows Faith to move up to 5 spaces, even through opposing fighters. Besides the high damage this card can deal, it is a great tool to either get Faith out of trouble or box in your opponent.
Disengage is very important to Angel, as it is an attack card with a value of 4 that he and Faith can use, and it lets you place your fighter in an empty space in their zone after combat.
Killer of the Dead is Faith’s best card. This scheme allows you to deal 2 damage to one opposing fighter adjacent to Faith. If your opponent is pressuring Faith and ends their turn next to her, consider starting your turn with this scheme and following up with Five by Five.
Of course, if you rely on nothing but these cards your opponent can try to use a Feint to keep you from escaping. That’s when Angel’s card Angelus, Scourge of Europe comes into play. This attack card has no effect and an attack value of 5, making it great for punishing the use of Feint.
Angel and Faith each have powerful attack cards at their disposal that are likely to force your opponent to retreat from facing you in combat; however, it is still important to not get too aggressive and leave yourself in a vulnerable position to take a ton of damage in retaliation. You should plan your defense before each engagement.
Tip #2: Smart Defense
It is said that the best defense is a good offense. The power of Faith and Angel is certain to make your opponent hesitate to approach you, but in the process of attacking you will find yourself in the position of having to defend. Your versatile cards will come in clutch here. Unless you are completely out of options, I would recommend saving them for defense.
The Rogue Slayer is a Faith card with a value of 3 that lets you deal 1 damage to each opposing fighter adjacent to Faith after combat. There are few situations where I wouldn’t recommend saving this card for defense. 3 is a good defensive value, and it is especially powerful when surrounded by multiple 1 hp sidekicks.
Momentous Shift has a value of 3 that either fighter can use that becomes a 5 if your fighter is in a different space than they started the turn in. Angel and Faith both have enough good attack cards, so it is worth saving this to defend with. You may not get the 5-value attack, but 3 is a solid defense to use against most attacks.
Brooding is an Angel card with a value of 3 that also deals 1 damage to the opposing fighter if Angel loses combat. This card is situational. Often it will be best saved for defense; however, there are instances where it could be valuable to use as an attack.
Feint is the most valuable defensive card in this deck, and its use will depend on your opponent. The defensive value of 2 will leave you taking damage most of the time, but it’s ability to immediately cancel all effects on your opponent’s card is more than worth it. Be smart when using this card and try to predict when your opponent will use a card with abilities to cancel.
Tip #3: Plan to Lose
No, not the game! Angel’s special ability and many of his card effects are reliant on him losing combat to activate. This sounds bad on the surface, but this works out great with Angel and Faith both having high value attack cards. After attacking a few times with the strong cards, you can bait out your opponent’s stronger defense cards while attacking with the following:
Regroup is the ultimate bait card and a guaranteed 2 card draw with Angel’s ability.
Wisdom of the Ages is a 3 value Angel card that lets you draw 1 card after combat. This is a safe bait card, as if you don’t lose the combat you can still draw 1 card.
Brooding, as mentioned previously, deals 1 damage to the opposing fighter if Angel loses combat. Again, not the greatest bait card, but if you can manage to force your opponent to defend with a higher value defense card, then they’ve wasted a strong card, taken 1 damage, and you get to draw a card. It’s a win-win-win!
Cursed with a Soul is another card you are unlikely to lose combat with, but if you do, the ability to recover 1 health is a nice bonus. Try not to think of this effect as one you are striving to activate, but a nice surprise if you do manage it.
Haunted by Faces is Angel’s only defense card. With a value of 3 and an ability that only activates if you lose combat, this isn’t the best option. Since you’re not attacking, you don’t even get to activate Angel’s special ability if you do lose combat. If you do lose though, you get to place Angel in any space in his zone which could give you the advantage you need to reach a pesky ranged fighter. Try to hold on to this card as a last resort.
Final Thoughts
Angel may not be the flashiest hero in Unmatched, but he can be a reliable pick against many of the other heroes. He is an excellent hero for introducing new players to the game and helping them understand the core mechanics of how Unmatched plays. His mechanics may be simple, but strategizing how to trick opponents into defending low value attacks with high value defense cards to activate his ability makes for satisfying gameplay.
