It has three modes, but the problem with this charm is that the modes are modes that basically put you in the same place you were at the beginning of the previous turn.
Mode 1: Team Lifelink
This is really only used as a late-game, racing mode, that is pulled out only as a last resort, and in this mode, it is typically gaining around 6-9 life.
It's not that I don't like "one more turn", but rather than I think Thragtusk does this job profoundly better than Azorius Charm, and if you have Thragtusk and/or Centaur Healer, and/or Restoration Angel, this mode of Azorious Charm is the one you use the least.
Also, as far as gaining life, think about how much better Cloudshift is than this, since in all the modes of Cloudshift, you just get real or virtual life, as well as a removal spell, a token, or utility on your angel or against removal spells.
Mode 2: Draw a card
The problem with this mode is not that I don't like drawing a card, because drawing a card is cool. The problem is that that is all this card does. It is a Gitaxian Probe that always costs UW, and you don't get to look at your opponent's hand. (It costs 2 instead of 0, and does nothing)
The net effect after using this mode is the same situation you were in before you drew a card for this turn, and you get to hope to draw the card you probably should have put in your deck instead of Azorious Charm, and you get to pay 2 color-specific mana for the right to do it.
This is the mode people seem to be leaning on most of the time, saying "it's never dead!".
The problem with that for this card in specific, is that you might as well be playing a card like Think Twice, or Elvish Visionary, which give you the "Value" of cycling for two, but also give you additional value WHILE THEY ARE DOING THIS JOB. You can mill the Think Twice, and flash them back, or just use it twice, or blink the Visionary with your Restoration Angel, or block while gaining life, or trade with a Gravecrawler and tie up mana, attack for a point, or any number of other pro-active things, while drawing your card.
These other options are also easier to cast than Azorius Charm, which is not insignificant, since most of these decks are also trying to draw into cards like Supreme Verdict (1UWW) or Tamiyo (3UU), or Sphinx's Revelation (UUWX), which are not the most mana-friendly cards if you're trying to do them in the same turn as a Charm.
Since most cycle-events happen late in the game, a card like Sphinx's Revelation seems like it gives you a lot more value (two modes of the Charm at once, greatly amplified) when used in these late game "Need to draw something" situations.
This is almost the definition of a do-nothing card in this situation, where playing a card like Centaur Healer, Thragtusk, Revelation, Visionary, or even "Grizzly Bears" accomplishes what this card does, in so many better ways. Grizzly Bears draws you a zero-mana 2/2, and puts it directly into play!
Mode 3: Griptide (not quite)
Griptide/AEthertow is very close to a "Time Walk", but the problem with "Time Walk" is that you have to be doing something in that extra turn, or it didn't actually do anything at all for you.
The reason this Charm is not Griptide, but rather Aethertow, is that the creature targetted has to be either attacking or blocking at the time, which is, in a word: Terrible.
Your opponent can not attack, they can have a card like "Hellrider" where the value comes from the attack itself, or the opponent's creature can block, saving them damage before you Aethertow it.
I saw a game of Bant Control against RB aggro in this weekend's SCG open that exemplified this problem. The RB aggro guy was stuck on 1 mana the entire game. They cast a Cackler, then the next turn cast a Cackler, then the next turn cast a Cackler, got a Cackler Charmed, and this turn played itself out at least two turn, and the Bant Control player died.
The problem with this situation is that the Bant Control player was not ahead. They traded two mana and a card, which is basically their entire turn, for the draw step, and one mana of their opponent, which was exactly their entire turn. But their opponent was DOING SOMETHING during that time, and the Bant Control player was busy casting Charms.
This is arguably the best-case scenario for Azorious Charm. Your opponent is stuck on one land, you ensure they do not draw a land, and instead draw a stupid one-mana creature. And the Bant Control player was quite easily killed.
If this is the best case scenario for Azorious Charm, and it was cast two to four times, and the player easily lost the game, what the heck is this card in the deck for?
On top of this, we are playing with cards in this format that give incredible value when being cast, such as Thragtusk, Restoration Angel, and up to the absurd levels of Craterhoof Behemoth and Angel of Serenity. On top of this, Hexproof guys give this Charm trouble (Sigarda, Geist), where they are in the wheelhouse of Selesnya Charm, at the same CMC.
Conclusion
Azorious Charm is really best summarized by "It puts you in the same position you were before "X"". Where "X" was "last turn", or "your opponent attacked you", or the previous turn.If you are ahead, this is one of the better things you can do, but this charm in no way helps get you into the situation where you are ahead. It just does it's best to keep you there.
If you are behind, be it to a swarm of aggro guys, or a late game board stall, this card does actual nothing.
This card has options, but in my opinion they are mostly false options, because they all do the same thing. The charm doesn't bring you back from behind, it gains you some life while you chump-block, or allow you to swing and try to draw the card that you really need next turn.
It is not a pro-active card. If you want it to be good, you need to be playing a tempo deck, not a control deck, because the rest of your deck has to put you in a position where you are ahead on board, not clawing to get back from behind.
It is a very powerful in this type of deck, but once you go outside that, its use trails off dramatically. (Though even there, it looks pretty good when they are ahead)
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