At last the War of the Spark has begun. The culmination of a storyline that started... I don't even know when, during Bolas's machinations in Conflux? With the Mending in Future Sight? Anyway, it's part of the peculiarity of a card game narrative that you can't really approach the auxiliary content unspoiled, because you'll look at the cards, and the cards can't help but spoil the narrative. I won't talk too much about it while reviewing the creatures of the set, but a few of the major events in War of the Spark are plainly depicted on cards, though fortunately not on creature cards. Let's just look at the trailer, by far the best Wizards of the Coast ever put together. We're really living a new, splashier era for Magic: The Gathering (who knows, maybe they'll even end up not calling it "The Gathering" anymore, considering that expression never meant anything!)
The presence of 39 new planeswalkers, which just obliterates any previous record, necessarily makes WAR a very non-tribal set, since the creature slots are fewer than usual. And with the exception of Zombie, which represents Bolas's host of Eternals (the new Army type appears only on tokens), the creatures are scattered among the tribes, resulting in roughly the same number of affected subtypes as in Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiance, which however featured about 30 more creatures.
Anyway, let's have a look at these new creatures and their tribes. As always, the main focus is on all the Constructed applications, the tribes are presented alphabetically, and you'll find a hypertextual list at the end.
Highlights:Tomik, Distinguished Advokist is the card version of an interesting Ravnica character, the upstanding lawmage (or "advokist") Tomik Vrona. He's Teysa Karlov's right-hand man and Ral Zarek's lover (hooray for representation!), and has been instrumental in helping Kaya ultimately align the Orzhov Syndicate against Nicol Bolas. After the War of the Spark, he's acting as the Orzhov representative. Also, as shown in the artwork, he rides a Gargoyle, hence the flying.
But what about him as a creature on the battlefield? His ability is powerful if very specialized, shutting down land destruction, plus Crucible of Worlds and other kinds of land recursion (therefore all that Crucible/Wasteland or Crucible/Strip Mine insanity). He might have a place in white-friendly sideboards, but he's also a 2/3 flyer for two, which is a solid enough set of stats to justify mainboard him in any White Weenie or Death & Taxes build.
Highlights: All right, Sunblade Angel is just a collection of popular Angel keywords on a small, overcosted body. But Feather, the Redeemed, oh boy, she's pretty much the opposite. She costs just three mana, albeit all colored, and comes with an above-the-curve, non-boltable body and a larger-than-life ability that basically gives free buyback to all the pump spells in your deck. And more: current Standard pairs her up with Sheltering Light for defense and scrying, and Defiant Strike for offense and card-drawing, but also with Reckless Rage for removal, because it still targets a creature of yours while hopefully killing one of the opponent's; it's a card that was designed to trigger enrage in Dinosaurs, but it fits Feather's needs too.
And the possibilities are many, you'll just have to research the kind of cards that would be used in heroic decks, including the companion creatures, which are easily found in Feather's colors. War of the Spark itself proposes at least twonew candidates, as we'll see below. It's currently uncertain if Feather will be the centerpiece of her own archetype in Standard or even in Modern, but chances are, she might. Hers is exactly the genre of ability that just asks to be built around, and can reward you nicely for that.
All right, kids, backstory time: Feather is actually the nickname of Pierakor az Vinrenn D'rav (yeah, she did need a nickname), a disgraced angel of the Boros Legion with a long, complex story. She's the sole surviving first-generation angel, directly created by the Guild's parun, Razia. After all of her sisters and Razia herself were murdered by Szadek, Feather briefly served as the guild leader, creating a new generation of angels with only two wings rather than four. One of those was Aurelia, who rebelled against Feather, accusing her of being unworthy since she hasn't been there to defend her creator and the other angels while they were exterminated. As her card's name implies, she redeemed herself during the War of the Spark, so all's well that ends well. Except for Razia. She's still dead.
Highlights:Vraska's Finisher is an okay card, especially to finish off (case in point) a planeswalker you could only partially damage, maybe even outside of combat with something like a Goblin Chainwhirler. All the attention here goes to the weirdly named Massacre Girl, though. Under that spunky punk rock name and looks, we find a midrange drop that attempts to do some sweeping while leaving a menacing body behind. The thing is, she's potentially able to wreak some havoc around the battlefield, your side included, but she needs the right conditions to start from. If the battlefield happens to host creatures with scaled toughness, she can basically kill 'em all; but you can't bank on that, and if you're faced by a couple of high-toughness critters, then she'll do nothing of relevance on her own, and at that point spending five mana for a 4/4 may feel like a bad investment.
Her best use might be to clear the field of an army of small tokens, possibly while accruing value off the death of her comrades, thanks to something like Midnight Reaper, Judith, the Scourge Diva, or Liliana, Dreadhorde General. It's worth noting how, under her watch, any of your removal spells targeted to big guys outside her reach suddenly receives the extra bonus of killing all the X/1s as well, which in turn might escalate into another full-scale, uh, massacre. It's a neat design, we must give it that. Still not sure about that "girl" thing, though. It being part of the lore doesn't make it any less awkward.
Highlights: So, Bolas slew Niv-Mizzet, but the Dracogenius prepared for this event and left instructions for Ral, Vraska et al to resurrect him, which they did, turning him into the new Living Guildpact in the process. This means his Izzet trickery days are behind him, as now all he cares about are dual-color cards. Both his rainbow cost and ETB trigger require a deck that can handle any color of mana without trouble, which is a loose build-around-me clause. Is it worth it? Well, you get a 6/6 flyer for five, which is good if not exactly overwhelming, considering he doesn't have any other abilities once on the battlefield. But he would have potentially provided massive card advantage at that point, though how massive exactly is anyone's guess. In fact, you don't just need a deck that can cast anything regardless of the colors involved, you actively want to distribute the color combinations across your pile as evenly as possible, so that randomly picking ten cards off your library will result in the largest number of different combinations. Granted, there's still an unparalleled selection value involved (not many effects dig for freaking ten), but I don't think you can realistically expect to draw more than three cards on average, even within a perfect build. And that build is so restrictive that it's probably going to remain its own random oddity, even in formats like Commander. If only our Niv-Mizzet Reborn incorporated something to influence the casting of multicolored spells, like a Living Guildpact feels like it should do, then maybe my assessment would be different.
Highlights: This Bear has the heart in the right place, but that activation cost is so comically overcosted for its limited payoff that it's forever doomed to remain a casual card at best. But hey look, that's Vivien Reid in the background. Hello, Vivien! Summon us a better spirit animal next time!
Highlights: Beast is used here mostly as filler. I guess Leyline Prowler is playable, as deathtouch and lifelink are always a good keyword pairing, and its butt can safely block two-powered critters. The mana production is a bit odd on a three-drop that you want to stay untapped in defense, but it's a bonus ability that can prove relevant in a Golgari deck that wants to ramp but also wants to get something out of its ramp creatures.
Arboreal Grazer has some place in a land ramp and/or landfall deck that can use a solid first-turn blocker on its way to bigger things.
Highlights: I get what this guy's idea is, but entirely relying on the presence of another creature to do anything at all is not a good plan for a multicolored three-drop. It just makes him a great topdeck on an already well-stocked board.
Highlights: If War of the Spark's Beast selection was underwhelming, Bird's is almost entirely irrelevant. These four birdies are just basic commons that don't make for very strong picks even in a draft, except maybe for Aven Eternal.
Highlights: After End-Raze Forerunners in Allegiance, Boar keeps going big, this time with nothing less than a God! Ilharg, the Raze-Boar is part of the God-Eternals cycle (which is basically the only creature cycle in War of the Spark), but it's not one of the God-Eternals, the late Amonkhet Gods raised from the dead by Bolas to act as his top-shelf minions. This whole concept ran into an issue with the red representative, former Standard RDW star Hazoret the Fervent, who wasn't killed during Bolas's machinations on Amonkhet, and she remained on her home plane during the interplanar war (though she did lend her spear, which proved crucial to Bolas's defeat).
As a mana pie replacement, we get Ilharg, a native Ravnican god aligned with Domri. The resulting card is a powerhouse in Gruul or Jund midrange decks that enjoy attacking with a 6/6 trampler on their fifth or sixth turn, while adding to the carnage one more creature freshly cheated into play from hand. Free Rekindling Phoenix or Glorybringer, anyone? The Boar-summoned creature gets back to where it came from at end of turn, opening to multiple ETB shenanigans, though it works best with ETB creatures that are more likely to survive attacking (so Tetzimoc, Primal Death more than Ravenous Chupacabra). And Ilharg himself sports the same God-Eternal clause of the entire cycle, tucking himself third from the top if he ever dies or gets exiled from the battlefield. That makes him hard to entirely get rid of, though being discarded from hand or otherwise rendered unable to function on the battlefield remain frequently encountered options through which he could incur defeat. But all in all, he's a remarkable five-drop with monstrous built-in tempo advantage. Easily the best Boar ever printed; after all, he's their god.
By the way, if a God in the form of a boar gets the Boar type, why didn't Oketra get the Cat type, Kefnet the Bird type, Bontu the Crocodile type, Hazoret the Jackal type, and Rhonas the Snake type?
Highlights: Not much to talk about in the feline department, except to say that Charmed Stray is awfully cute (to call it semi-playable would be a stretch). Apart from Dreadmalkin, which is, if you can believe it, a zombified Cat under Liliana's command, I don't feel like the flavor for these Cats really match a plane being besieged by an extradimensional godlike entity and ravaged by a bloody conflict that threatens to end realities. But maybe that's just me.
Highlights: Lifegain trigger and mana production are two valid abilities that don't benefit from being randomly thrown together on a Limited-oriented common.
Highlights: The flavor text makes it sound like this Crocodile is the be-all and end-all of the Ravnican résistance. Let's just say it's not. This is a five-drop that may end up trading with a one-drop, Jace. Think about it.
Highlights: Still firmly in filler territory with these Cyclopes. Cyclops Electromancer thinks he'll matter in a spellslinging deck, but he's in for a surprise.
Highlights: Here's something that transcends its rarity: Mayhem Devil is in the mold of many previous creatures that punish the death of battlefield items, but its predecessors mostly cared about creatures (Blood Artist), sometimes only yours (Judith, the Scourge Diva), and typically attacked the opponent's face exclusively, whereas this little sucker can target anything. All right, hold your horses, the kind of mayhem that's in play here is linked to sacrifices exclusively, so that's the catch. But there are ways to abuse it nonetheless. From this set alone, Bolas's Citadel comes to mind, but mass sacrifice effects a la All Is Dust are known to exist. Plus, our Rakdos mischief lover here has pretty decent stats as a 3/3 for three, so it's not a one-trick devil, it can attack and block competently and drops at just the right turn.
Highlights: There are a few Dinosaurs that deal in +1/+1 counters, though not too many and not too popular (Siegehorn Ceratops, Snapping Sailback, Bellowing Aegisaur, and of course classic Fungusaur). But this little fella doesn't necessarily want to be part of its tribe, it can be a good proliferate option on a solid two-drop with suitable body stats. I like it that way, it's simple and straightforward, it's in the right colors, and you can flicker it to trigger another round of proliferation.
Highlights: There's some minor nice stuff among these Druids. Or maybe not so minor, as Paradise Druid's hexproof is a way to ensure your ramp stays alive in face of the ever looming burn. Her additional point of power would be put to better use as toughness, because Goblin Chainwhirler is bound to ruin the party here, but we take what we're given.
Definitely in the "minor but nice" camp are Pollenbright Druid, a simple proliferator that doesn't compare favorably to Huatli's Raptor but is an option for monogreen lists; and Evolution Sage, who does the same through landfall, and other than being played straight as a proliferate machine, which he will in Standard, can also represent a potential combo piece with effects that put a vast amount of lands on the battlefield at once. His stats are also alright, he might well sneak some damage in while waiting for his big turn.
Highlights:Living Twister is the only new Elemental of note. It comes with an aggressive cost, a very defensive body, and two complementary abilities. The first is a Seismic Assault effect marred by mana activation; the second supplies fodder for the Assault. We might look at the whole package as a late-game finisher of sorts, turning your land draws into two-mana shocks, and returning more lands in hand to keep going. It doesn't strike immediately as powerful but it's not weak either. Might work with cards that put lands into your hand for cheap, like classic Land Tax or fellow WAR tech Nissa's Triumph. Reducing the first ability's activation cost via Biomancer's Familiar might also help, although Living Twister's heavy reliance on red and green seems to suggest a strictly Gruul build.
Highlights: The Elves of War of the Spark are a disparate bunch. There's the majority of the Druids, with Paradise Druid being the one that's more likely to see play (in Standard she might become the go-to second mana dork in decks that don't plan to ever be able to put counters on Incubation Druid). Then there's Storrev, Devkarin Lich, a Golgari dude with above-the-curve body for his cost, and an appealing recursion ability. He has to connect to trigger it, but he's a five-powered trampler, so it shouldn't be too hard. He still doesn't seem to make a fireproof case for himself as a four-drop in Golgari decks, which naturally gravitate towards midrange so they have a ton of other options in that spot. Also, who the hell is Storrev? Lemme check. Uhm, nobody essentially, just some lich friend of Vraska's. Weak sauce.
Last but not least, though, Tolsimir is back! Remember Tolsimir Wolfblood from the original Ravnica block? No? Didn't think so. I did, though, albeit he wasn't great or anything, in fact for six mana he was kind of a tragically overcosted Wilt-Leaf Liege that had to tap himself and forgo an attack just to create his companion token, the wolf Voja. Now returned to the fold as Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves, he was updated to current creature standards, so he costs only five, Voja is created in automatic as an ETB effect, and he gifts you three life and a free fight to boot. It's not an otherwordly package, but it's reasonable, Tolsimir is now along the lines of something like Huntmaster of the Fells. Where he'll truly be amazing is within a Wolf tribal deck shell, since he acts like a next-level lord, with each Wolf entering the battlefield after him fighting (if appropriate) and giving life.
By the way, it's not clear how is Tolsimir back and where has he been all these years. His wikia page contains minimal information but kind of sounds like he was long dead.
Highlights: Why are Faeries in the Magic universe always mischievous little scoundrels? I swear Rogue seems to be the default secondary type of the entire tribe. This Guildpact Informant is pretty much a strictly worse Thrummingbird, and nobody ever played Thrummingbird seriously at the time, outside of the most casual infect decks. However, you might have noticed how planeswalkers are more and more being added to clauses that previously would have only worked after connecting with the opponent, so that's good, prevents you from having to choose between exploiting the ability that represents the only reason why you're running that specific creature and tactically evaluating your attack options on the battlefield.
Highlights: These two Giants are sort of a mirrored pair that doesn't actually mirror much. It's just, one is white and one is black, their CMC is the same, their stats amount to the same body total, and they both have ETB triggers – turns out one card is worth four life. Also, they're both forgettable commons, of course. It seems like Gideon was impressed by that lady giant. I guess they wanted him to convey some Tormund humour, except it doesn't really feel Gideon-like.
Highlights: Two insignificant Goblins accompany the majestic return of Krenko. His new title of Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin makes him do a variation of what Krenko, Mob Boss used to do back in Magic 2013: create an increasing number of Goblin tokens. Except now Krenko drops one turn earlier but has to risk his own skin to attract new recruits to his posse (which, if you ask me, is only fair). This in a way makes him worse, as the older self could just hang back and fills your board with dudes, especially if he was played within a Goblin shell. There are some elements in the new one's favor, too: he's disengaged from tribal strategies; he grows himself over time; and more importantly, he fits better an aggressive curve, whereas the Mob Boss was irremediably midrange. You just have to protect the spirited malfeasant and you'll have got yourself a gang soon enough.
It's also worth noting how new Krenko creates two tokens without external help, whereas old Krenko would start at one if he was the only Goblin on the battlefield. Old Krenko would then proceed geometrically from there, but new Krenko's ability being power-based means you can cast a Giant Growth on him to help him survive the attack and he'll churn out five tokens right away. At the end of the day, they both have their strengths and their weaknesses; you'll have to choose your green-skinned gangster according to the job you're pulling.
Highlights: The Gods of the Amonkhet pantheon are back! Bolas zombified all the deceased Gods that his other Gods had killed during the Hour of Devastation, in order to have them fight his ultimate battle to become a god himself. Which is kind of counterintuitive, considering Bolas has kept treating gods like puppets all this time, so you'd think he was already beyond that level. But we know our favorite Dragon Pharaoh works in mysterious ways.
He also ran into the issue of needing a new red god, because Hazoret wasn't killed, and Bolas is very OCD about his monocolored cycles. So Domri was like, "Hey, boss! I know this local god we could recruit. He's a boar! And he's always angry! You're gonna like him". And that's how Ilharg, the Raze-Boar came to be part of this cycle. He somehow shares the same God-Eternal "immortality" clause the others get, despite not being a God-Eternal himself. Let's talk about this aspect first. When the God type was introduced with Theros, all the Gods had indestructibility to represent their divine resilience. This applied to the Amonkhet Five too, whereas the Bolas-colored Forgotten Gods returned in hand after dying. This was a step back, because while both the indestructible Gods and the bouncing Gods were equally vulnerable to exiling effects, the latter also required to be cast again, exposing themselves to a renewed chance of being countered or forcibly discarded; plus they could be defeated by instant graveyard removal as well (don't get me wrong: they were weaker in these regards, but plenty powerful in other ways).
Now the God-Eternals (plus Ilharg) take a third path: if they're sent to the graveyard or to the exile zone from the battlefield, you get the option of resetting them into your library third from the top. This is, in turn, worse than any of the previous divine clauses, because libraries always run the risk of being shuffled, and you lose a draw when you draw them again, so that's inherent card disadvantage. On the other hand, they don't fear exiling effects, which leaves very few straightforward ways to get rid of them permanently, once countermagic and hand disruption have failed to get them in time. One way is, as mentioned, shuffling the opponent's deck after a God-Eternal tucked himself, or otherwise send them first to the bottom with cards like Condemn or Terminus. Another way involves neutralizing them while leaving on the battlefield, using Pacifism and such.
Other than the "immortality" clause, all the God-Eternals (plus Ilharg) have similar costs and bodies ranging from 9 to 12; all of them have a static ability linked to their color, plus another ability that's always triggered, not activated. We already analyzed Ilharg as a Boar; I'll just add that he's even more relevant in a God tribal deck, because he'll naturally find many other expensive creatures to drop onto the battlefield. As for those Gods which were properly resurrected in zombie form instead of being Domri's imaginary friend, let's have a look at them in no particular order.
God-Eternal Rhonas immediately appears as one of the splashiest. His ETB trigger provides an Overrun effect that might well spell lethal damage for the opponent. There are hidden issues, though. First of all, doubling the power of everything in your team is good and scary, and universal vigilance means you can launch your assault without fear of a counterattack, but there's no guarantee your alpha strike will actually connect: if your creatures don't get trample from somewhere else (or another evasive ability; trample just seems more likely because we're in green), it might not prove effective enough. Also, the toughness stays unmodified, so the creatures don't get better chances to survive attacking than they had before.
I'm not saying this new Rhonas is bad or anything; for one thing, he's the God-Eternal that makes better use of the tucking clause, because you actually want him to die and re-enter the battlefield at a later point (which, if you're using something like (Vivien Reid), might even mean the following turn). The ideal life cycle of Rhonas is: trigger a bunch of damage, die blocking something big thanks to deathtouch, go back in the library, rinse, repeat. Despite sporting identical body and stats, he has a very different role from Rhonas the Indomitable. The older Rhonas would hit the battlefield as early as turn two, but he wasn't instantly active, which is an usual downside for the tribe (it was found both on the Theros Gods and the monocolored Amonkhet Gods) that this new batch of Gods sidesteps entirely. The Indomitable could reasonably expect to get online the turn after he dropped, though, and from that point on he would provide aggression, defense, and tactical value. The new Rhonas plays rather like a simple Overrun, but without the inherent issue of being a terrible draw on an empty board; he's just, like his previous form, much more effective on a crowded one. But unlike his previous form, he'll still threaten damage when left on his own, though at that point you're paying five mana for a 5/5, which is on the curve, but not above; maybe it's even below, considering most of the times deathtouch is moot on a big body. There are going to be decks that want to play a singleton God-Eternal Rhonas to have access to some degree of shenanigans (including esoteric stuff like doubling Ghalta, Primal Hunger's power and then Fling it), but he won't be the linchpin of a Stompy archetype the way his Indomitable incarnation was; the deck that wants to play God-Eternal Rhonas is one that'll probably be fine even without him.
God-Eternal Bontu has a quieter appeal. She also proposes an ETB trigger, which played straight means you get to convert your excess lands (and other less than useful permanents) into fresh gas. Combined with a more threatening body than her green counterpart (unlike deathtouch, menace gets stronger the larger the power of the creature is), already makes this Bontu a superior beater with value-supplying capabilities. And you can go one step further and imagine running her in a deck that explicitly asks for sacrifices, where you already gain some kind of advantage from your permanents going to the graveyard: if you let Bontu take care of that for you, your value will be twofold. Any comparison with Bontu the Glorified feels embarrassing: the old Bontu also wanted to be surrounded by sacrificial fodder, but you had to pay two mana for each, and if you didn't, Bontu wasn't even a presence on the battlefield at all. Death becomes her, but that's hardly surprising for a black god.
God-Eternal Oketra is possibly the most powerful member of the cycle, since her ability doesn't only work once, but constantly. This is true of Ilharg too, but Ilharg has to risk his hairy butt to get the job done, and you need to have a suitable creature in hand that won't get instantly annihilated upon attacking. With Oketra, you just have to place her within a creature-based deck, and she'll make an army for you. She'll turn typically bad late-game draws like Llanowar Elves into board advantage. She has a mostly defensive body, which is ideal, because she doesn't need to attack, her vigilant Zombie Warriors will do that in her stead (she can swing for as much damage as Ilharg, actually, but with no evasion to support her). Pair her up with her seemingly designated companion, Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner, and the inevitability train will leave the station. I can't tell if God-Eternal Oketra will find a home; she's tailored for a Bant Value midrange list that might not come to be anywhere. But her chances look better than Oketra the True's ever did. Four mana for a 1/1? What about no mana for a 4/4?
Finally, God-Eternal Kefnet appears as the most unassuming of the bunch, but it's the one with the most play potential at the same time. I mean, he copies spells. Not for free, sure, but with a significant discount. Problem is, even in a spellslinging deck, a good half of the time the first card on the top won't be an instant or sorcery. If that's the case, then Kefnet did exactly zilch for that turn (though you can try and trigger him in the opponent's turn as well, if you manage to draw a card there). And even if he doesn't whiff, the spell might not be the right one to copy in that moment; it might not have the right targets; hell, it might be a counterspell, which a blue-based spellslinging deck is bound to feature. To account for this unreliable behavior, Kefnet is the least expensive of these latest Gods, and works as a decent midrange flyer on his own. And that's the trick: he's always relevant. Even if you won't live the dream and have Kefnet regale you with a few extra spells out of nowhere every single turn, he'll do exactly that at least some of the times; and when he doesn't, he'll still be a sturdy flyer that keeps coming back from removal, again and again. I can't imagine a control deck that won't what that.
Out of the monocolored Amonkhet Gods, only Hazoret and Rhonas saw play. With these, I can see all of them played, at least in Standard. Maybe they feel lees "godlike", because they're just creatures that don't ask for devotion or other forms of appeasing, and do just one thing, sometimes only once. They're not intricate, flavorful designs; but playability-wise, they're a definite improvement.
Highlights: Good grief, the Ixalan-Dominaria-Ravnica environment has definitely NOT been artifact-friendly. But don't despair, artifact lovers: we're bound to get back to Mirrodin at some point.
Highlights: Look, I won't pretend this will see play or anything, but there's something to be said about surprise-killing that Teferi you managed to just put a dent on.
Also, I realize Wizards of the Coast dramatically dialed down the female objectification on card artwork in the past decade or so, but apparently "ladies with snakes for hair" get a pass (also "blue ladies with gills", if the art for Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner is any indication; then again, Kiora will always be doomed to look like a swimsuit contest participant).
Highlights: All right, Griffin, being condemned to an eternity of filler status is bad, but you're just resigning to your fate without even trying anymore!
Highlights: Devour by any other name. Comparing a sacrifice outlet like this to God-Eternal Bontu, you can appreciate the difference between mythic rarity and uncommon rarity.
Highlights: A consequence of Bolas's rampant zombification is that we've got random creature types in Zombie form. Like, Hippo, of all things. I get that they were part of Amonkhet (since they're African animals), but even the flavor text makes it sound silly, so maybe it's supposed to be taken as comic relief? (I suspect Mark Rosewater trying to be funny is a major root cause here). At any rate, this is the fifth Hippo ever printed, the first in black, and the first that's just vanilla, so the tribe is getting somewhat larger, but not better.
Highlights: Battlebond's Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom established Homunculi have unpronounceable names (which doesn't really make sense, since they're artificial creations of an alchemist or mage, so they should just have the name their creator gave them). Our new little friend Fblthp, the Lost (I think it's pronounced "feeble top") has a couple of roles to fulfil: be an early legendary value creature to enable legendary sorceries or generally "legendaries matter" and "historic matters" effects; and be magnificent in a deck that fetches him from the library, like a Birthing Pod or Prime Speaker Vannifar build. He isn't really of any consequence elsewhere, unless you really want a blue Elvish Visionary. And no, he'll never get tucked back into the library, although a miniature man can dream.
Highlights: So, Banehound is a black one-drop with lifelink and haste. It might signify something, even if nobody has ever heard of a Black Weenie or BDW archetype. As for Mowu, Loyal Companion, he's the... loyal companion of Jiang Yanggu. Back when his master was only seen in the Chinese-market exclusive Global Series, Mowu was summoned only as a token. Now he gets a legit standalone card, not specifically linked to Yanggu, though he works well as a receptacle for Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter's minus ability. You'll need some form of +1/+1 counter action for your three-tailed dog, otherwise you'll just be paying four mana for a slightly better, green Hill Giant. If you get him going, he'll be a self-contained Winding Constrictor; not unbelievably good, but an adequate defensive striker in decks with Hadana's Climb, for instance.
Highlights: Ravnica is not an ideal environment for the Human tribe, because it's a plane populated by many different humanoid beings, and War of the Spark in particular had to represent all the ten guilds, plus Bolas's Zombies, so the room for more Humans was very limited for once. They still managed to get their insatiable hands on a juicy mythic, though, so there's that.
Highlights: This Hydra is exclusively meant to act as a guardian and/or finisher in superfriends decks. I guess the theme of the set warranted such a creature design, but I'm not even sure it'll be something superfriends lists will actually care to play: they have plenty of inherent ways to win, and to protect your walkers from creature attacks, wouldn't you rather sweep the board than field one big guy?
Highlights: All the new Illusions are linked to either Jace, predictably, or to rookie walker Teyo Verada, the guy who had the misfortune of sparking up about five minutes before the War of the Spark started (he's the main point of view character in the novel). His namesake creature is negligible, while Planeswalker Decks exclusive Jace's Projection is just about decent for a starter level card – at least it grows steadily.
But I'm burying the lede here, because we get an exciting new card in Spark Double. Which, despite not being a Shapeshifter, is a Clone variant for Clone mana. Downside: it can't copy creatures from an opponent's side of the board. Upside #1: it can copy planeswalkers. Upside #2 (and necessary for #1 to function): it can copy legendaries without immediately dying. So this is pretty nuts, is it? Copying (Shalai, Voice of Plenty) to lock the universal hexproof has already become a mini-trend in Arena Standard. But the possibilities are endless, especially when you consider planeswalkers. (Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God) sort of already allowed to have a second copy of any given walker, but in a very mana restrictive way, and leaving static abilities out of the deal. Spark Double, for a reasonable mana investment, can double the fun on a vast range of powerful permanents. Never without in your creature toolbox deck or your superfriends build!
Highlights: Does an Insect really need to be humanoid and receive Assassin training in order to bite and poison people? Whatever, I don't really care, this might be more boring than that vanilla Hippo, which at least had the plus factor of being a Hippo.
Highlights: This guy is part of a series of amass creatures that grant a keyword ability to the Army tokens (and other Zombie tokens you might happen to have, which is relevant to Zombie tribal decks). They're not a real cycle, since there's only three others, all of which are Zombie Wizards, and they're exclusively in Bolas's colors (one of them is multicolored). In this case, trample is a good thing to give to your large Armies, I guess, but all these cards look very casual-oriented.
Highlights: Here's some other random subtype that's only in the set because it's been decided to spread the zombie treatment to a number of non-humanoid creatures, too. Amass is essentially the only new mechanic in War of the Spark, and it appears at common on very harmless cards like this.
Highlights: Is this lady of any interest to Ixalan-style Simic Merfolk decks? She places a +1/+1 counter like Jade Bearer, but also flies, so she herself could be elected as a receiver of the counters, including her own. And proliferating for five mana is something she could do later in the game, in case Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca didn't show up, or to go even taller. This Merfolk Skydiver is not terrible, is what I'm saying. She also tries to remain relevant in generic proliferate decks, because, unlike Jade Bearer, she doesn't necessarily seek the presence of other Merfolk.
Highlights: Legendary Minotaur alert! Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion is above the curve as a 5/4 trampler hitting the road on turn four, and when he connects he can do some mass rummaging as well as provide mana to cast at least some of the fresh cards – unless they're all one-mana spells, which might not be outside the realms of possibility in red aggro. I don't know where Neheb could put his skills to use, though. His cost is not unappealing, but it's still in the same spot of vastly superior beaters like Rekindling Phoenix. And the success of his rummaging trick is dependent on how many cards you have to throw away, which by the time he gets online might not be too many – if they are, you were losing that game, and Neheb might fix it for you, I guess? Still not sold on him. But I love that his (minimal) backstory ominously emphasizes how he kept being defeated over and over again by everyone he faced. Legendary Minotaur alert over.
Highlights: Did you know that this is only the second creature in the game that's colorless without being either an artifact or an Eldrazi? The first one, Scion of Ugin, was not unexpectedly connected to everyone's favorite Bolas's brother as well. Nothing much to say about this Spirit Monk, except it uses a less effective version of the phantom mechanic from Judgment. It's still probably better than Scion of Ugin, though. That one was really bad. Like, "creature from a 1995 expansion" bad. Ugin should know better.
Highlights: There's a variously captivating trio of Mutants, but it's Roalesk, Apex Hybrid who takes the cake. It's the not tribe's first mythic rare, because Sliver Overlord was a Mutant for some reason (there's also a Goblin Mutant as one of the Game Night's exclusive cards, though rarity there is mostly conceptual). It's however the first that can be played in Modern, for everyone keeping count.
Roalesk made a lot of lists of the best creatures in War of the Spark, and I agree he's worthy of praise, but he still won't make mine, as it's more straightforward than I would have liked for some crazy Simic flying supersoldier extravaganza. As a 4/5 flyer for five Roalesk is not particularly outstanding, and trample is never too relevant on a creature that already has better evasion. His value resides in the +1/+1 counters he distributes upon entering the battlefield, and the double proliferate trigger he generates upon exiting. This makes me see him less as something you try to preserve on the battlefield and more as something you want to just fetch and then sacrifice away. And yes, I'm thinking of a deck based on Roalesk's own Simic mistress, the one and only Prime Speaker Vannifar. Mostly because, as you should know, I'm always thinking of decks based on Prime Speaker Vannifar. All hail the Ooze Queen!
Highlights: And that's the Naga tribe being dragged into this for absolutely zero payoff. Man, a 3/2 vanilla? No wonder Bolas lost in the end. (Did you know Bolas lost? Now you know).
Highlights: These guys aren't really worth of being called Nightmares. Leyline Prowler is more of a cute mana dork, Banehound dies of a cold, and Ashiok can wax poetics all night long about their namesake Skulker, that thing is just pathetic.
Highlights:"Would you give your life to save this world?", Gideon murmured. The pegasus snorted and spread wide its mighty wings. Okay, is that a yes or a no in Pegasus speak? Also, foreshadowing much? Also also, they did Pegasus Courser in Dominaria and reprinted it in Core Set 2019; did we really need a blink-and-your-miss-the-difference slight variation on the concept?
Highlights: I could call a four-drop 4/4 that proliferates honest, but the thing you can do with four mana in green these days blow your mind. This guy doesn't.
Highlights: Was there even any chance that one of these inconsequential tribes would come into War of the Spark as anything more than a filler common? I think not.
Highlights: I'm complaining about the minor tribes getting the filler treatment, but in truth even some major classes with hundreds of members like Rogue shared the same fate. Sometimes it's inescapable, someone gotta hold the idiot Limited ball.
Highlights:Tolsimir Wolfblood was a Warrior, yet Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves is a Scout. It's a bit odd, I wonder what made Tolsimir change career path offscreen. Also, Voja really cares about that complementary title of "Friend to Elves". But you don't do enough for your Elf friends, Voja. It's not like you make them give three life and fight when they enter the battlefield – now, that would have been an awesome ability, wouldn't it? Maybe a little too verbose to cram into a single rule box, I'm afraid.
Highlights: The only real protagonist in the Soldier area is Tenth District Legionnaire, and even there, she's mostly part of a specific list. A 2/2 with haste for two is certainly playable in aggro, but you won't want to ignore her growing ability, and the only build that works towards exploiting it properly is a Feather, the Redeemed deck, so those two gals are going to form a solid partnership. Incidentally, don't the Legionnaire's art and flavor text make you think she should have been a legendary creature named Mileva? I guess that's a concession to improve her power level by allowing multiples. But look at this, it turns out Mileva has indeed her whole life story mapped out in the background of anonymous cards: she started as a Tenth District Guard, then became a Tenth District Veteran, and now she just got a Battlefield Promotion; and she's quoted being sarcastic in the flavor text of Devkarin Dissident and Lazothep Behemoth, so she has a personality too. Tenth District Legionnaire projects our valiant redhead into potential tier-1 territory in Standard, but it's the culmination of a career that played out entirely in the shadows. Amazing.
Highlights: If played forfeiting the additional cost, as sometimes you'll be forced to do because it says "nonland", this Sphinx is just awful. If you return something to hand in order to enjoy a four-drop 4/3, then it's merely bad.
Highlights: "Spider blocks flyers" is literally one of the oldest tales in the game (remember when Giant Spider held the record of most reprinted card ever?), but a two-drop that trades with three-powered flyers is still sufficiently fresh to warrant at least a three-line recount of its existence.
Highlights: As the sole new Spirit that doesn't align itself with a specific character (and the two that do aren't anything worthwile), Grateful Apparition is a colorshifted functional reprint of Thrummingbird, but slightly better because it works upon attacking planeswalkers too, a positive trend we have already noted in the case of the inferior Guildpact Informant. I guess Thrummingbirds are the obligatory result of a proliferate environment, we must accept them as that.
Highlights: I've a feeling a 6/5 for five with an useful ability (one that's up-and-coming in green, I'm sure it's going to get keyworded at some point) would be considered playable or even good even just ten years ago. Now it's a negligible uncommon. Creature power creep and all that.
Highlights:Cruel Celebrant taps into a rich vein for Vampires (pun intended). It's the "death matters" mechanic that Blood Artist had famously picked up and improved from the likes of Kalastria Highborn and Falkenrath Noble. This latest variant only works on your creatures but, to stay in topic with the set, adds dying planeswalkers to the deal. Now, it's not like you can really engineer a mass-sacrifice of a very large number of planeswalkers (actually, with Doubling Season enabling Jace, Cunning Castaway's ultimate, you could), but Cruel Celebrant's trigger is still a wincon in the right deck, though Blood Artist remains the optimal choice outside of Standard, even just for not forcing a white splash. The higher toughness can be relevant at times, but it's not enough.
Highlights: This is a good new addition for the (Arcades, the Strategist)/(High Alert) deck in Standard. And nowhere else. And that deck is mostly casual, alas.
Highlights: Ravnica is at war, so it's time for the Warriors to come out and play. Except most of them are used as Limited fodder, which leaves us with the good, not great Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion, and with his lesser yet most appealing Dreadhorde comrade. Dreadhorde Butcher drops on turn two; swings immediately thanks to haste; has the Whirling Dervish ability (aka the Slith ability, aka the Innistrad Vampires ability), which in his case works on planeswalkers too; and last but not least, he can Fling himself upon dying. The last ability creates a situation where the more you allow the Butcher to connect, the worse the punishment you'll receive, not just because his power is growing, but because he'll be able to trade for something twice bigger than he is, or kill an otherwise uninvolved creature, or even finish you off. Brilliant new toy for Rakdos decks.
Highlights: The Weird tribe gets two new members, making up for their absence in Guilds of Ravnica. They're a form of elemental first created by Niv-Mizzet and then by all Izzet mages and chemisters as lab assistants. This implies only Ravnica sets can feature them (along with anthology and core sets that include Ravnica-based cards). These two are described as partners in their flavor text. Spellgorger Weird is a bad Taurean Mauler, while Spellkeeper Weird can sac itself to regrow some spell, which in turn will give Spellgorger one more +1/+1 counter, so it's not that memorable of a partnership. In fact, they don't help each other at all while on the battlefield, which is... weird.
Highlights:Dreadhorde Arcanist is the star of the Wizard tribe in War of the Spark. He needs dedicated building, of course, because he does his Snapcaster Mage trick only when attacking and only based on his current power. But if you organize your deck appropriately, it's a smash, because the spell he recovers from the ashes is cast for free. And since you want to increase his power to improve his chances in battle anyway, and it's of a red two-drop trampler we're talking about, concocting explosive attacks seems the natural route to take. Cast Giant Growth on him, swings as a 4/7, recast the Growth for free, presents your opponent with a 7/10 trampler on turn three. The Arcanist is also another great companion for Feather, the Redeemed, because the spells he regrows get exiled only if they "would be put into your graveyard", but Feather prevents that from happening, which means you can use the Arcanist to restock your hand of the spells Feather is going to buyback eternally from that point on. It's a neat Boros blowout factory that might even ascend to top-tier levels in Standard.
Elsewhere, Storrev, Devkarin Lich is similar in power level (and CMC and body and trampling ability) to Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion, as they're both slightly underwhelming to the point that it might be hard to bother break them. Soul Diviner turns any counter into card advantage, but it's not in the most suitable colors for that. Elite Guardmage has a solid set of basic abilities.
The Wizards also enjoy the reprint of Augur of Bolas in Standard; that one's always a welcome supporting player in control decks. The guy has still the nerve to pontificate about the future, but he didn't help Bolas avoid his fate in the end. You had one job, Augur of Bolas!
Highlights: It's clearly not Arlinn's Wolf that makes a high impact for the Wolf tribe, that pooch's irrelevant. Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves, instead, is really worth of his epithet. Every Wolf that enters the battlefield after him moves your life total three points up and gets a chance to kill something. Terrific off-tribe lord is terrific.
Highlights: Almost one quarter of all new creatures in the set are Zombies, but the best Zombies are Dreadhorde Arcanist and Dreadhorde Butcher, and those don't even particularly want to be in a Zombie deck (although the Butcher wouldn't feel entirely out of place there). "Zombies matter" cards include all the amass guys, especially Gleaming Overseer, which gives all the Zombie tokens hexproof and menace. But in the end, it doesn't even matter.
