What other set would you compare WAR to, in terms of comparative power level, based on the cards we've already seen? I'm thinking something around that Shadowmoor region where almost every card is interesting and some of them seem to be undercosted on purpose.
With this potentially ending the longest story arc in a decade, it makes sense to go out with a memorable bang akin to Invasion/Apocalypse.
Comparison other? Dominaria for sure but even that pales in comparison to GRN "block" as a whole. Maybe Tarkir block?
'buster
Definitely don't think this is on par with Tarkir block. Fetchlands, Delve, Siege Rhino, Ugin, Collected Company, Kolaghan's Command, Monastery Mentor - Tarkir made a huge impact on Magic across all formats and lead to multiple new archetypes and multiple bans.
There's a few powerful cards here, but nothing yet on the level of Treasure Cruise.
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This set does look very different from a limited experience due to the uncommon planeswalkers. From a standard standpoint, I don't know yet but given that its covering all 10 guilds it kind of has to push a little more power so that each guild gets something new. In a normal set like say the last two sets they were setting up the groundwork for the guilds and giving them a lot of options but not trying to make too many strong cards per guild. In this set, given the number of guilds and the fact that they want to introduce new cards for every guild they will need to push and potentially make more good cards than usual.
I don't know how the end product will look. Right now there are a number of interesting cards but I never like to say how I think a set looks until we see it all. As it stands with what we have seen though and expect, I would actually say my expectation is a little weaker than your average good set and that comes from the point that there wont be a rare land cycle. Sure its packed with a bunch of walkers but those don't retain their price tag half as well as a good rare cycle of lands.
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Liliana's Triumph - upgrade of Diabolical Edict that also combos with Lil of the veil
Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God - maybe a 1 of in modern grixis control
Angrath's Rampage - alternative to Liliana's Triumph but is it better than dreadbore
Dovin's Veto - is negate played in eternal formats? Idk
Neoform - just put this here because it's cheap
Karn, the Great Creator - prolly fits into urza tron
There are also a bunch of great standard and edh cards so far but these are the only ones I saw that were power cards... And Karn is really the only one that shakes up a lot of *****.
Besides the ones listed above, the one that still jumps out to me is Bolas's Citadel because time and time again, we figure out that free spells break things and once this is on the board, it's pseudo phyrexian land. Don't care if it's my life total, if I can still be at 1 or higher, I'm gonna win.
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this is mtgs, where occam's razor is so blunt it can't cut jello any more.
Overall, I agree that it's a high powered set, as well as one that pushes the boundaries of the color pie. Among other things, we now have a handful of red cards with blatantly blue abilities, as well as quite a few cards that are some of the most cheap and efficient removal standard has seen for a while.
its an absurdly powerful set. dominaria or khans are not on the same level at all. Scars of Mirrodin and its neighbouring blocks are what this is most like (which is probably the highest power level in magic history)
this set has a very very high number of rules breaking effects, mostly the static abilities on the PWs. fifth dawn is known as the set that most experimented with this kinda stuff. khans was more powerful in just aggressively costed spells. this set will open up many new combo decks/synergies in standard and modern and will probably lead to multiple bannings (ie. bolas's citadel, new teferi ect)
This probably won't shake up Modern quite as much as Tarkir block, but it'll be a close second (especially looking at the block as a whole). It's one of the highest powered individual sets in recent memory, and might make the overall block one of the strongest ever.
Sure Things: I think these cards WILL see play in older formats.
Dovin's Veto: Negate is mostly a sideboard card (it sees occasional maindeck play in Modern), but for Azorius decks this is a pure upgrade especially control decks where it can be a "hard no" to powerful planeswalkers and combo pieces.
Liliana's Triumph: Diabolic Edict in Modern is a reasonably big deal in a format with powerful hexproof threats so this will be a sideboard card at worst. The upside you get from running it alongside a Liliana (and there are numerous highly playable Lilis in all formats) is a real benefit for "Rock" and "Grixis Shadow"-style decks.
Karn, the Great Creator: A one-sided Null Rod would be worth sideboard consideration in older formats. Add on the ability to enable various combos and kills with his +1 and you get a spicy meatball. Add on the ability to pull a Mastermind's Acquisition and pull wincons out of the sideboard (including Mycosynth Lattice for a total lockdown) and you have a card with some real mainboard potential for all the big colorless decks in older formats.
Tomik, Distinguished Advokist: Hard shutdown of Depths decks (can't target depths with Thespian's Stage and most Dredge decks. A 2/3 flying body is also a lot better than the average hatebear and wears equipment well. His type is super relevant for older formats as well. Will be popular in most W/x decks.
Possible Players: I think these cards will be worth testing, but aren't sure things.
Teferi, Time Raveler and Vivien, Champion of the Wilds: These two are similar in that they offer extremely powerful abilities that manipulate your ability to play cards outside your turn, they are three CMC, and they can replace themselves. However, they don't seem to slot into any particular deck at the moment. I think they're both worth testing for sure.
Nissa's Triumph: This card is wildly unplayable without Nissa on the battlefield, but a triple Sylvan Scrying (which, conveniently, finds all three Tron pieces) is a big deal. I will be curious if the upside on this card is high enough to merit testing adding some Nissas to Scapeshift, Tron, and Depths decks to enable it.
Ral, Storm Conduit: This creates some infinite comboes that win on the spot, and those combos are easier to trigger in older formats (for example, it is instantly infinite with Fork. I think it'll be a big player in Standard, but we'll see if it is fast enough for Modern and Legacy.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer: Is a more splashable, more resilient Young Pyromancer that can also do various combo shenanigans worth an extra mana? I don't know, but I think it is worth testing.
Angrath's Rampage: If this was an instant it'd be a sure thing. As a sorcery, I am not sure it is worth playing over Liliana's Triumph, Terminate, or Abrade.
Dovin, Hand of Control: Another powerful effect that is a bit more than its competitors but comes with some upside. More likely to see a ton of play in Commander than Modern but worth listing.
Finale of Promise: Hey, look, another card that enables comboes with Ancestral Vision and Living End! This is also a heck of a payoff for a big mana deck. I'm a little cooler on it because Electrodominance ended up fizzling, but this generally has a higher ceiling that Dominance even if it is slower and has a lower floor.
Dreadhorde Arcanist: Doesn't necessarily slot into a deck neatly (seems good but not great in Burn and burn is tight on slots), but could team up with Monastery Swiftspear and other Heroic/Prowess cards to make a whole new archetype in older formats.
Dreadhorde Invasion: Bitterblossom hasn't been the rockstar we expected with an unban, and this is mostly worse...except that Zombie is waaaaay more relevant than Fairy as a typing. Worth a look for sure.
Vivien's Arkbow: I think this is bad, but it is also interesting and worth testing.
Neoform: How much better and more able to enable comboes is Neoform compared to Eldritch Evolution? Unclear, but I'm sure lots of folks will test it.
Hawk7915, I think you're missing out on Bolas's Citadel in your Possible Players list. It not only creates entire combo decks around it that dodge graveyard hate, we've also tested it in Eggs and it looks like it can bring back that combo deck with the absurdly long turns.
Also, it's quite possible that the biggest way Neoform enables combos is in conjunction with Eldritch Evolution. We're building what's basically faster Grishoalbrand that dodges graveyard hate but is weaker to counterspells with both Neoform and Eldritch Evolution. The scary part is that Turn 2 wins are quite possible and Turn 1 wins are kinda Magical Christmas Land but will come up.
Hawk7915, I think you're missing out on Bolas's Citadel in your Possible Players list. It not only creates entire combo decks around it that dodge graveyard hate, we've also tested it in Eggs and it looks like it can bring back that combo deck with the absurdly long turns.
Also, it's quite possible that the biggest way Neoform enables combos is in conjunction with Eldritch Evolution. We're building what's basically faster Grishoalbrand that dodges graveyard hate but is weaker to counterspells with both Neoform and Eldritch Evolution. The scary part is that Turn 2 wins are quite possible and Turn 1 wins are kinda Magical Christmas Land but will come up.
I should have mentioned Citadel although I'm not super sanguine (pun intended) on how good it's going to be.
1) A six mana sorcery speed combo enabler that is a Permanent (and thus vulnerable to disruption) has a HIGH bar to clear to be playable outside of Commander. That's not to say it's NEVER Happened (Amulet Bloom does have Hive Mind as its plan A kill condition), but even now today Mind Over Matter and Dream Halls aren't necessarily enabling Tier 1 archetypes and I'm unsure that Yawgmoth's Bargain would see significant play if unbanned. In a world of Through the Breached Eldrazi, Show and Tell-ed out Omniscience, Paradoxical Outcomes, and Ad Nauseaum this may just be too slow.
2) While this looks a bit like Bargain, it is mostly worse. It does enable you to go off right away which is nice, but in general artifacts are more vulnerable than enchantments, 3BBB is harder to cast than 4BB, and like Experimental Frenzy you end the chain of combo power if you hit too many lands.
If anywhere can make it work, it is eggs and it will especially "go off" if Lotus Petal can make its way to modern, but as it stands now I am not optimistic it'll get too much farther than "gimmick".
EDIT: Waidaminute...can you use this to cast Ancestral Vision, Living End, and (most importantly) Lotus Bloom without paying? Cause if so that is actually pretty bonkers.
Darn it, Hawk7915, I should have tacked "Modern" onto everything I said. I agree that there likely is no Legacy deck that can push Bolas's Citadel past Ad Nauseam Tendrils. (The Citadel was a terrible fit in ANT when I tested it for some minutes.)
But yes, you can do your best As Foretold impression and pay 0 life to cast Lotus Bloom from Bolas's Citadel.
Restoration of ReasonW
Enchantment (C)
When Restoration of Reason enters the battlefield, each player exiles all cards from the War of the Spark set from the battlefield, their library, their hand, and their graveyard. W: Exile target red spell that should be a blue spell. W: Exile target opponent who uses the time out feature on MTG Arena. You win the game. W: Exile Mark Rosewater. "Something must be done, this is out of control."
Restoration of ReasonW
Enchantment (C)
When Restoration of Reason enters the battlefield, each player exiles all cards from the War of the Spark set from the battlefield, their library, their hand, and their graveyard. W: Exile target red spell that should be a blue spell. W: Exile target opponent who uses the time out feature on MTG Arena. You win the game. W: Exile Mark Rosewater. "Something must be done, this is out of control."
Aside from burning profit which red spells should have been blue?
Wow, after just a few more days we have even more stuff! This set's power level is pretty bonkers indeed. No sure things, but lots of "worth testings":
Deliver Unto Evil: In addition to having absolutely sick art and a sweet name, this card offers a very powerful effect that is a sort of hybrid of Yawgmoth's Will with the mindgames of Fact or Fiction and Gifts Ungiven (and with no restrictions so you can "cheese it" like folks do with Intuition). The cards I just mentioned are among MtG's most powerful and exciting in history, so I suspect this will make waves even ignoring the Bolas rider. And of course, with the Bolas rider this card is power nine levels of insanity...but that's so unlikely to work that it's more a sidegrade than a real thing.
The Elderspell: Despite the absolute hysteria happening over in the reveal thread, this is most likely just a sideboard card - but it is a hell of a sideboard card. Also interesting is some sort of Grixis Superfriends that uses this on their OWN walkers to instantly ultimate someone like Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God or Jace, the Mind Sculptor to win the game. That actually seems spicy enough to be worth testing in Modern, especially with a few other revealed cards today...
Ashiok, Dream Render: Speak of the devil, here's a walker I'd love to have kick around until I was ready to slam UBBBBBR for the instant God-Dragon Elderspell KO. A permanent Shadow of Doubt (or the most relevant part of Stranglehold) would have my attention at 1(U/B)(U/B) and might be worth sideboarding around given how devastating it is in a world of fetchlands. The fact that good ol' Ashi ALSO mills four cards and then exiles their entire graveyard up to five times before they bite the dust is just gravy and lets Ashiok do double-duty as both Grave hate and Tutor hate or help enable mill wins. I'd be tempted to say Ashiok was a sure thing if it wasn't for its wording preventing you from making mischief with Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin and Path to Exile, but I still think its a contender.
Ugin, the Ineffable: Six mana is a lot, but making all colorless spells cost 2 less, blowing up permanents, and summoning 2/2 dorks that draw cards is a real card. I could see it being tested in Tron and Eldrazi decks just because of how powerful all his effects are.
God-Eternal Kefnet: Here me out! This card is VERY gross with extra turn effects. While it is itself a bit slow and easily disrupted and all the good top-of-library manipulation is largely banned, this can easily go off with an extra turn effect and goes infinite with an extra turn effect + Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Scroll Rack. Is it enough to take the "Taking Turns" deck out of meme status and into the realm of a real deck? I would love to test it.
Here are some strong late reveals--this set is pretty darn strong; in terms of the last some blocks, this may be behind only Cruise/Dig and Eldrazi Winter eras:
Blast Zone: Quite possibly the most versatile card in the set, this land can blow up any nonland permanent (or 2+!) you want as long as you have the patience and that permanent doesn't have a converted mana cost of 0. Control wants this, big mana wants this, midrange wants this, and it's quite possible that some combo decks want this, too.
Finale of Devastation: Cost-wise, this is in between Green Sun's Zenith and Chord of Calling. The redundancy will be welcome, so will granting the freedom to play singletons of crucial creatures, and some decks may be able to use the finisher part of this spell.
Finale of Eternity: The closest black will get to Sudden Demise for a while, this may as well be a one-sided Infest for 1 mana more, and this scales the more mana you sink into it.
Agreed. This is the most powerful set that has dropped in a while. The only concerning issue is that its the end of an era. Be careful how much you spend. Remember something new is right around the corner. Of course this too is exciting, however, no one like getting bit in the butt....I think.
On an overall powerscale this comes closest to Scars of Mirrodin. One more person mentioned this in the thread, but its probably because alot of players did not play around that time.
I can understand the Shadowmoore reference, since that set also had very little cards that were stone useless, but its impact on formats aside from standard and up to this day has been minimal.
None us can truely gauge how strong static effects on planeswalkers are, but aside from that the powerlevel and manacost of all the spells and creatures feel very very pushed.
Luckily it isn't Ursa's Block or Tempest Block powerlevel, but definitely up there with Zendikar or Som.
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Honestly, this feels like the most powerful set since OG Innistrad. Dominaria was good, but it felt better than it actually was due to the overall mediocrity of Standard really since RTR. Tarkir block was very good, but it was over the course of 3 sets. But if looking at a singular set, obviously Khans was the strongest with DTT, Treasure Cruise, Swiftspear, Hardened Scales, Stubborn Denial, and Jeskai Ascendancy all finding various amounts of play, with DTT and Treasure Cruise being outright banned everywhere sans Vintage because of how broken Delve is in older formats and Monastery Swiftspear being a burn staple. I'm not counting the fetchlands since they were a reprint.
I look at this set and I see so many cards that are powerful enough to see play in multiple places in tiered strategies and a bunch of super janky cards that can find their way into some funky brews. Dovin's Ban will be played in Modern and Legacy. Liliana's Triumph will be played in Modern and Legacy. Blast Zone will be played at the very least in Legacy Lands. Karn could create his own deck. Finale of Devastation could be Modern's Green Sun Zenith.
This set is absurdly powerful and makes me so excited for Standard legal sets, as it's been quite mediocre for so long. Kaladesh didn't live up to Maro's hype at all, where I honestly feel WAR surpassed Maro's hype. I can't really comment about Limited, but from purely a constructed standpoint, this is the best set since OG Innistrad imo and took what worked great with Dominaria and took it to the next level. I really hope we keep this high power level, and I'll be very sad if the power level goes down. At the same time, this all coincides with the creation of Play Design, and I really hope that implies that we'll get more of this moving forward.
Has everyone here in Arena had the same problem with opening War of the Spark pre order packs? It says 4/25 but I have been able to open them. Did MTG not prepare to anticipate the overwhelming response to War of The Spark especially in Arena.
Bolas's Citadel theres beyond hundreds of countless ways to abuse this the biggest by far is Sensei's Divining Top because if you have it in play with the citadel you just created a loophole of playing Yawgmoth's Bargain in commander
Spark Doublehelm of the host was crazy enough we got a clone creature that does the exact same thing but can do walkers as well (not make tokens though)
Ashiok, Dream Render this has a high chance of making modern it turns off the opponents fetch lands and can loop hole past the eldrazi titans shuffle effect
Dovin's Veto in a way modern finally gets a counterspell too bad only sideboardable since its saids non creatures but im sure modern horizons will fix that
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer spellslinger decks will love this and the -2 turns a artifact into another artifact or creature you control thats nuts
The Elderspell unbelievable if theres a certain number of walkers you can ultimate a walker you just played the turn it comes out and its a walker sweep too
Emergence Zone as budget as it gets for all decks that need to flash something in play any deck thats land focused or has crucible of world like cards can play this forever in edh
God-Eternal Rhonas basicly Berserk all your creatures with no sac effect they knew if trample was the effect instead of vigilance they would have to ban it standard before they even have a chance to play it
Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God uh remember the the elderspell from earlier that plus a wrath effect you just win the game with just one ultimate (tin foil hat theory is this is a practice run for a urza walker in black border in the future)
God-Eternal Kefnet gives cards miracle and you cast a fake version and you get to keep the card you drew and you can loop hole sorceries on other players turns since its states "each turn" and any extra turn cards just infinites just like that if you have something like scroll rack in play and not to mention 2 cheaper
this episode of game knights up the amount of Kozilek, the Great Distortion decks and prices of colorless cards/staples this ugin is just gonna up them even more
and i even have a trick with it library of leng + Vivien's Arkbow then you can basicly only need to pay 1 with the bow and you cheat out the creature you just discarded becaues the library ability triggers if any source at all doesn't matter where and how can put it back on top
War of the spark is insane. I've only seen a fraction of what's out there, while I don't remember them by names yet, there is some seriously stupid stuff.
Ashiok, Dreamrender:
I got this card in a pack and I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. What in the world is WOTC thinking? Because milling 20 cards isn't enough, they decided it was best to exile, and that's on top of all the cards they already have in their graveyard?
On the receiving end of this during a game, 2 of these completely decked me out to nothing, mind you I was using a 60 card deck and I already had about 10 cards in my graveyard already.
The fact that it's a plainswalker is troubling, considering that plainswalkers are not as easy to remove as say, creatures or enchantments.
On the other hand, there is a lot of weird junk that seems to be overshadowed by better stuff. And then there's some cards where you say "hmm, that's a good card, put I can't think of a deck that would use this".
One thing I can say is there is a lot of room for experimentation. Very diverse set of cards with it seems infinite deck concepts to explore.
I feel that this set in the current batch is both good and bad for a few reasons. One, this set is much stronger than the rest in the bunch and a lot of the other stuff won't be used anymore. On the other hand, this will open the door for a nice rich period of diversity in the decks you face against. People haven't really figured this set out yet, heck some like myself haven't even seen that much of it and I already know how strong it is.
The biggest welcome change that this set has brought is that I'm no longer playing mono red burn about 50% of the time anymore. Much to my delight, the new cards that I've gotten has given me an edge against that nonsense. I guess people must be dropping this deck for once because I hardly see it anymore.
All in all, I don't like the direction that magic is going in. I can't say I've liked that direction for some years now, but this is just one step further toward making everything an instant win card.
War of the spark is very fast and efficient, to a fault. My prediction is that long-winded control decks will take a hit while speed decks will dominate.
This set is full of quite powerful or efficient cards, for this I fear that M20 coming right after this will be badly overshadowed. May be not in a Mirrodin Vs. Kamigawa way, but still...
with The Wanderer on the field you can reanimate everything
It should have read "you lose life" instead of "deals damage to you". It would have made it much more black-flavoured.
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Comparison other? Dominaria for sure but even that pales in comparison to GRN "block" as a whole. Maybe Tarkir block?
'buster
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Definitely don't think this is on par with Tarkir block. Fetchlands, Delve, Siege Rhino, Ugin, Collected Company, Kolaghan's Command, Monastery Mentor - Tarkir made a huge impact on Magic across all formats and lead to multiple new archetypes and multiple bans.
There's a few powerful cards here, but nothing yet on the level of Treasure Cruise.
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I don't know how the end product will look. Right now there are a number of interesting cards but I never like to say how I think a set looks until we see it all. As it stands with what we have seen though and expect, I would actually say my expectation is a little weaker than your average good set and that comes from the point that there wont be a rare land cycle. Sure its packed with a bunch of walkers but those don't retain their price tag half as well as a good rare cycle of lands.
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[Modern] Allies
Liliana's Triumph - upgrade of Diabolical Edict that also combos with Lil of the veil
Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God - maybe a 1 of in modern grixis control
Angrath's Rampage - alternative to Liliana's Triumph but is it better than dreadbore
Dovin's Veto - is negate played in eternal formats? Idk
Neoform - just put this here because it's cheap
Karn, the Great Creator - prolly fits into urza tron
There are also a bunch of great standard and edh cards so far but these are the only ones I saw that were power cards... And Karn is really the only one that shakes up a lot of *****.
this set has a very very high number of rules breaking effects, mostly the static abilities on the PWs. fifth dawn is known as the set that most experimented with this kinda stuff. khans was more powerful in just aggressively costed spells. this set will open up many new combo decks/synergies in standard and modern and will probably lead to multiple bannings (ie. bolas's citadel, new teferi ect)
Sure Things: I think these cards WILL see play in older formats.
Dovin's Veto: Negate is mostly a sideboard card (it sees occasional maindeck play in Modern), but for Azorius decks this is a pure upgrade especially control decks where it can be a "hard no" to powerful planeswalkers and combo pieces.
Liliana's Triumph: Diabolic Edict in Modern is a reasonably big deal in a format with powerful hexproof threats so this will be a sideboard card at worst. The upside you get from running it alongside a Liliana (and there are numerous highly playable Lilis in all formats) is a real benefit for "Rock" and "Grixis Shadow"-style decks.
Karn, the Great Creator: A one-sided Null Rod would be worth sideboard consideration in older formats. Add on the ability to enable various combos and kills with his +1 and you get a spicy meatball. Add on the ability to pull a Mastermind's Acquisition and pull wincons out of the sideboard (including Mycosynth Lattice for a total lockdown) and you have a card with some real mainboard potential for all the big colorless decks in older formats.
Tomik, Distinguished Advokist: Hard shutdown of Depths decks (can't target depths with Thespian's Stage and most Dredge decks. A 2/3 flying body is also a lot better than the average hatebear and wears equipment well. His type is super relevant for older formats as well. Will be popular in most W/x decks.
Possible Players: I think these cards will be worth testing, but aren't sure things.
Teferi, Time Raveler and Vivien, Champion of the Wilds: These two are similar in that they offer extremely powerful abilities that manipulate your ability to play cards outside your turn, they are three CMC, and they can replace themselves. However, they don't seem to slot into any particular deck at the moment. I think they're both worth testing for sure.
Nissa's Triumph: This card is wildly unplayable without Nissa on the battlefield, but a triple Sylvan Scrying (which, conveniently, finds all three Tron pieces) is a big deal. I will be curious if the upside on this card is high enough to merit testing adding some Nissas to Scapeshift, Tron, and Depths decks to enable it.
Ral, Storm Conduit: This creates some infinite comboes that win on the spot, and those combos are easier to trigger in older formats (for example, it is instantly infinite with Fork. I think it'll be a big player in Standard, but we'll see if it is fast enough for Modern and Legacy.
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer: Is a more splashable, more resilient Young Pyromancer that can also do various combo shenanigans worth an extra mana? I don't know, but I think it is worth testing.
Angrath's Rampage: If this was an instant it'd be a sure thing. As a sorcery, I am not sure it is worth playing over Liliana's Triumph, Terminate, or Abrade.
Dovin, Hand of Control: Another powerful effect that is a bit more than its competitors but comes with some upside. More likely to see a ton of play in Commander than Modern but worth listing.
Finale of Promise: Hey, look, another card that enables comboes with Ancestral Vision and Living End! This is also a heck of a payoff for a big mana deck. I'm a little cooler on it because Electrodominance ended up fizzling, but this generally has a higher ceiling that Dominance even if it is slower and has a lower floor.
Dreadhorde Arcanist: Doesn't necessarily slot into a deck neatly (seems good but not great in Burn and burn is tight on slots), but could team up with Monastery Swiftspear and other Heroic/Prowess cards to make a whole new archetype in older formats.
Dreadhorde Invasion: Bitterblossom hasn't been the rockstar we expected with an unban, and this is mostly worse...except that Zombie is waaaaay more relevant than Fairy as a typing. Worth a look for sure.
Vivien's Arkbow: I think this is bad, but it is also interesting and worth testing.
Neoform: How much better and more able to enable comboes is Neoform compared to Eldritch Evolution? Unclear, but I'm sure lots of folks will test it.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
Also, it's quite possible that the biggest way Neoform enables combos is in conjunction with Eldritch Evolution. We're building what's basically faster Grishoalbrand that dodges graveyard hate but is weaker to counterspells with both Neoform and Eldritch Evolution. The scary part is that Turn 2 wins are quite possible and Turn 1 wins are kinda Magical Christmas Land but will come up.
I should have mentioned Citadel although I'm not super sanguine (pun intended) on how good it's going to be.
1) A six mana sorcery speed combo enabler that is a Permanent (and thus vulnerable to disruption) has a HIGH bar to clear to be playable outside of Commander. That's not to say it's NEVER Happened (Amulet Bloom does have Hive Mind as its plan A kill condition), but even now today Mind Over Matter and Dream Halls aren't necessarily enabling Tier 1 archetypes and I'm unsure that Yawgmoth's Bargain would see significant play if unbanned. In a world of Through the Breached Eldrazi, Show and Tell-ed out Omniscience, Paradoxical Outcomes, and Ad Nauseaum this may just be too slow.
2) While this looks a bit like Bargain, it is mostly worse. It does enable you to go off right away which is nice, but in general artifacts are more vulnerable than enchantments, 3BBB is harder to cast than 4BB, and like Experimental Frenzy you end the chain of combo power if you hit too many lands.
If anywhere can make it work, it is eggs and it will especially "go off" if Lotus Petal can make its way to modern, but as it stands now I am not optimistic it'll get too much farther than "gimmick".
EDIT: Waidaminute...can you use this to cast Ancestral Vision, Living End, and (most importantly) Lotus Bloom without paying? Cause if so that is actually pretty bonkers.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
But yes, you can do your best As Foretold impression and pay 0 life to cast Lotus Bloom from Bolas's Citadel.
Restoration of Reason W
Enchantment (C)
When Restoration of Reason enters the battlefield, each player exiles all cards from the War of the Spark set from the battlefield, their library, their hand, and their graveyard.
W: Exile target red spell that should be a blue spell.
W: Exile target opponent who uses the time out feature on MTG Arena. You win the game.
W: Exile Mark Rosewater.
"Something must be done, this is out of control."
Aside from burning profit which red spells should have been blue?
Deliver Unto Evil: In addition to having absolutely sick art and a sweet name, this card offers a very powerful effect that is a sort of hybrid of Yawgmoth's Will with the mindgames of Fact or Fiction and Gifts Ungiven (and with no restrictions so you can "cheese it" like folks do with Intuition). The cards I just mentioned are among MtG's most powerful and exciting in history, so I suspect this will make waves even ignoring the Bolas rider. And of course, with the Bolas rider this card is power nine levels of insanity...but that's so unlikely to work that it's more a sidegrade than a real thing.
The Elderspell: Despite the absolute hysteria happening over in the reveal thread, this is most likely just a sideboard card - but it is a hell of a sideboard card. Also interesting is some sort of Grixis Superfriends that uses this on their OWN walkers to instantly ultimate someone like Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God or Jace, the Mind Sculptor to win the game. That actually seems spicy enough to be worth testing in Modern, especially with a few other revealed cards today...
Ashiok, Dream Render: Speak of the devil, here's a walker I'd love to have kick around until I was ready to slam UBBBBBR for the instant God-Dragon Elderspell KO. A permanent Shadow of Doubt (or the most relevant part of Stranglehold) would have my attention at 1(U/B)(U/B) and might be worth sideboarding around given how devastating it is in a world of fetchlands. The fact that good ol' Ashi ALSO mills four cards and then exiles their entire graveyard up to five times before they bite the dust is just gravy and lets Ashiok do double-duty as both Grave hate and Tutor hate or help enable mill wins. I'd be tempted to say Ashiok was a sure thing if it wasn't for its wording preventing you from making mischief with Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin and Path to Exile, but I still think its a contender.
Ugin, the Ineffable: Six mana is a lot, but making all colorless spells cost 2 less, blowing up permanents, and summoning 2/2 dorks that draw cards is a real card. I could see it being tested in Tron and Eldrazi decks just because of how powerful all his effects are.
God-Eternal Kefnet: Here me out! This card is VERY gross with extra turn effects. While it is itself a bit slow and easily disrupted and all the good top-of-library manipulation is largely banned, this can easily go off with an extra turn effect and goes infinite with an extra turn effect + Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Scroll Rack. Is it enough to take the "Taking Turns" deck out of meme status and into the realm of a real deck? I would love to test it.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
Blast Zone: Quite possibly the most versatile card in the set, this land can blow up any nonland permanent (or 2+!) you want as long as you have the patience and that permanent doesn't have a converted mana cost of 0. Control wants this, big mana wants this, midrange wants this, and it's quite possible that some combo decks want this, too.
Finale of Devastation: Cost-wise, this is in between Green Sun's Zenith and Chord of Calling. The redundancy will be welcome, so will granting the freedom to play singletons of crucial creatures, and some decks may be able to use the finisher part of this spell.
Finale of Eternity: The closest black will get to Sudden Demise for a while, this may as well be a one-sided Infest for 1 mana more, and this scales the more mana you sink into it.
I can understand the Shadowmoore reference, since that set also had very little cards that were stone useless, but its impact on formats aside from standard and up to this day has been minimal.
None us can truely gauge how strong static effects on planeswalkers are, but aside from that the powerlevel and manacost of all the spells and creatures feel very very pushed.
Luckily it isn't Ursa's Block or Tempest Block powerlevel, but definitely up there with Zendikar or Som.
Give irony and sarcasm, when ignorance and stupidity is found.
The whip is kept for special occasions
I look at this set and I see so many cards that are powerful enough to see play in multiple places in tiered strategies and a bunch of super janky cards that can find their way into some funky brews. Dovin's Ban will be played in Modern and Legacy. Liliana's Triumph will be played in Modern and Legacy. Blast Zone will be played at the very least in Legacy Lands. Karn could create his own deck. Finale of Devastation could be Modern's Green Sun Zenith.
This set is absurdly powerful and makes me so excited for Standard legal sets, as it's been quite mediocre for so long. Kaladesh didn't live up to Maro's hype at all, where I honestly feel WAR surpassed Maro's hype. I can't really comment about Limited, but from purely a constructed standpoint, this is the best set since OG Innistrad imo and took what worked great with Dominaria and took it to the next level. I really hope we keep this high power level, and I'll be very sad if the power level goes down. At the same time, this all coincides with the creation of Play Design, and I really hope that implies that we'll get more of this moving forward.
on par with
domnaria
tarkir block
scars of mirridon block
vice etcetera
Karn's Bastion a land with proliferate
Bolas's Citadel theres beyond hundreds of countless ways to abuse this the biggest by far is Sensei's Divining Top because if you have it in play with the citadel you just created a loophole of playing Yawgmoth's Bargain in commander
Flux Channeler its almost like Inexorable Tide on a creature
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries leveler + jace's +1 afterwards = I WIN!!!
Spark Double helm of the host was crazy enough we got a clone creature that does the exact same thing but can do walkers as well (not make tokens though)
Ashiok, Dream Render this has a high chance of making modern it turns off the opponents fetch lands and can loop hole past the eldrazi titans shuffle effect
Teferi, Time Raveler and the one from dominaria was busted enough
Finale of Devastation its Green Sun's Zenith on steroids because you can get the another one from the graveyard plus if 10+ budget craterhoof behemoth
Dovin's Veto in a way modern finally gets a counterspell too bad only sideboardable since its saids non creatures but im sure modern horizons will fix that
Karn, the Great Creator he can rescue artifacts from exile or wish and the static is gross with mycosynth lattice and this karn ruined it in battlebond now we need a reprint of mycosynth lattice again
Saheeli, Sublime Artificer spellslinger decks will love this and the -2 turns a artifact into another artifact or creature you control thats nuts
The Elderspell unbelievable if theres a certain number of walkers you can ultimate a walker you just played the turn it comes out and its a walker sweep too
Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion and the other 2 nehebs weren't powerful enough
Emergence Zone as budget as it gets for all decks that need to flash something in play any deck thats land focused or has crucible of world like cards can play this forever in edh
God-Eternal Rhonas basicly Berserk all your creatures with no sac effect they knew if trample was the effect instead of vigilance they would have to ban it standard before they even have a chance to play it
Ilharg, the Raze-Boa sneak attack on a creature wtih no sac effect probably a chase mythic by far plus playable in Goryo's Vengeance decks in modern since it's dodges the exile clause and can 21 damage on turn 2 (Emrakul, the Aeons Torn as the creature you chose)
Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God uh remember the the elderspell from earlier that plus a wrath effect you just win the game with just one ultimate (tin foil hat theory is this is a practice run for a urza walker in black border in the future)
Narset, Parter of Veils not again another Leovold, Emissary of Trest static ability atleast this one is easier to deal with since it can't be put in the command zone
Cruel Celebrant another blood artist plain and simple plus in orzhov
God-Eternal Kefnet gives cards miracle and you cast a fake version and you get to keep the card you drew and you can loop hole sorceries on other players turns since its states "each turn" and any extra turn cards just infinites just like that if you have something like scroll rack in play and not to mention 2 cheaper
Dreadhorde Arcanist this is clearly another attempt of completing the 2 costed broken creatures cycle this ones case is flashbacking cards in the yard
(Snapcaster Mage, tarmogoyf, Stoneforge Mystic, dDark Confidant is the other for those wondering)
God-Eternal Bontu basicly reprocess on a creature but throw in walkers and enchantments heck comes with Barren Glory
Barren Glory + God-Eternal Bontu + Viscera Seer(or any creature sac outlet) + Mindslicer = You win (unless one of your opponenet(s) get the miracle draw)
Narset's Reversal sure remand and copy the spell sounds fair
Blast Zone its ratchet bomb on a land
God-Eternal Oketra this is just dumb and my brother pointed out a infinite with this too
God-Eternal Oketra + Phyrexian altar + Gravecrawler = infinite 4/4 zombie
(and did a mention oketra is a zombie)
Dreadhorde Invasion basicly a budget bitterblossom but no where near as powerful though
Finale of Promise lots of targets with this plus double dip them if you get it to 10 or higher
Ugin, the Ineffable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG4h_C9eUHg
this episode of game knights up the amount of Kozilek, the Great Distortion decks and prices of colorless cards/staples this ugin is just gonna up them even more
Vivien's Arkbow are they crazy this is a persudo birthing pod
and i even have a trick with it library of leng + Vivien's Arkbow then you can basicly only need to pay 1 with the bow and you cheat out the creature you just discarded becaues the library ability triggers if any source at all doesn't matter where and how can put it back on top
Command the Dreadhorde this one is Reanimate on steroids and the tricks you do with that you can do with this like purity for example
and the list just keeps going and going...
Ashiok, Dreamrender:
I got this card in a pack and I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. What in the world is WOTC thinking? Because milling 20 cards isn't enough, they decided it was best to exile, and that's on top of all the cards they already have in their graveyard?
On the receiving end of this during a game, 2 of these completely decked me out to nothing, mind you I was using a 60 card deck and I already had about 10 cards in my graveyard already.
The fact that it's a plainswalker is troubling, considering that plainswalkers are not as easy to remove as say, creatures or enchantments.
On the other hand, there is a lot of weird junk that seems to be overshadowed by better stuff. And then there's some cards where you say "hmm, that's a good card, put I can't think of a deck that would use this".
One thing I can say is there is a lot of room for experimentation. Very diverse set of cards with it seems infinite deck concepts to explore.
I feel that this set in the current batch is both good and bad for a few reasons. One, this set is much stronger than the rest in the bunch and a lot of the other stuff won't be used anymore. On the other hand, this will open the door for a nice rich period of diversity in the decks you face against. People haven't really figured this set out yet, heck some like myself haven't even seen that much of it and I already know how strong it is.
The biggest welcome change that this set has brought is that I'm no longer playing mono red burn about 50% of the time anymore. Much to my delight, the new cards that I've gotten has given me an edge against that nonsense. I guess people must be dropping this deck for once because I hardly see it anymore.
All in all, I don't like the direction that magic is going in. I can't say I've liked that direction for some years now, but this is just one step further toward making everything an instant win card.
War of the spark is very fast and efficient, to a fault. My prediction is that long-winded control decks will take a hit while speed decks will dominate.
with The Wanderer on the field you can reanimate everything
It should have read "you lose life" instead of "deals damage to you". It would have made it much more black-flavoured.