Gisela, the Broken Blade
Legendary Creature — Angel Horror
Flying, first strike, lifelink
At the beginning of your end step, if you both own and control Gisela and a creature named Bruna, the Fading Light, exile them, then meld them into Brisela, Voice of Nightmares.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Shadows over Innistrad Remastered
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #2552
Gisela, the Broken Blade puts a 4/3 flying, first strike, lifelink body on the board for four mana — stats that would be respectable at three. The cost is real: she's a meld card, so she either closes games with Bruna, the Fading Light or sits as a standalone beater, and unlike stax pieces such as Gaddock Teeg, she applies no passive pressure on the board state. In angel-tribal shells helmed by Giada, Font of Hope, that body is often enough to justify the slot on raw power alone.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Giada, Font of Hope
Giada, Font of Hope puts a +1/+1 counter on each angel entering the battlefield, and Gisela, the Broken Blade enters as a 4/3 — so she lands as a 5/4 and immediately accelerates Giada's mana ability. More than half of Giada decks run her, making this the defining home.
Shilgengar, Sire of Famine
Shilgengar, Sire of Famine sacrifices angels to fuel its activated ability, and Gisela, the Broken Blade's lifelink means she pays back life before she goes to the altar. The combination of on-entry value and sacrifice fodder is exactly what Shilgengar wants from its angel package.
Sigarda, Font of Blessings
Sigarda, Font of Blessings lets you cast angels from the top of your library and gives them hexproof, and Gisela, the Broken Blade slots in as a protected, evasive threat that advances both the tribal count and the damage clock. Nearly 42% of Sigarda decks include her for exactly that reason.
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Avacyn, Angel of Hope already makes your board indestructible, and Gisela, the Broken Blade adds first strike and lifelink to a creature that now survives virtually every combat and removal spell. The two together create an offensive line that's punishing to attack into and nearly impossible to race.
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight doubles damage dealt to opponents, and Gisela, the Broken Blade's first strike means she resolves combat damage before most blockers hit back — damage that Blade of Goldnight then doubles on top of. It's a straightforward but brutal pairing in a mono-white or Boros angel build.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Gisela, the Broken Blade is a reliable four-mana threat in any angel-tribal list and a meld payoff in dedicated Brisela builds — the floor is a pushed beater, the ceiling is a 9/10 flying, vigilance, first strike, lifelink game-ender. Outside Commander, the competitive picture is thinner: Modern and Pioneer are legal formats for her, but four-mana creatures with no enters-the-battlefield effect face a high bar in those 60-card environments, and the meld condition is nearly unachievable in a competitive match. Legacy and Vintage are legal on paper, but she sees no meaningful play there — the raw stats don't compensate for the absence of broken text. Oathbreaker is the one supplementary format where Gisela, the Broken Blade is worth considering, slotting naturally into a Giada or Sigarda signature-spell shell.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Gaddock TeegBruna, the Fading LightGisela, the Broken Blade
Opponents can't cast creature spells with a mana value of 3 or less; Opponents can't cast noncreature spells; You can't cast noncreature spells with mana cost equal to X; You can't cast noncreature spells with a mana value greater than 3; Lock
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Current pricing data for Gisela, the Broken Blade isn't available in this snapshot, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live number before buying. Historically she's floated in the $3–6 range for non-foil copies — cheap enough that angel-tribal players rarely hesitate, but worth confirming before a purchase.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.