Introduction
Hello, my dear readers!
Today I have something new for you! A deep look over all planeswalkers from the new set, as well as the best cards out of it as a small bonus! I’ll try to rate new cards with constructed in mind, and give you my best prediction which cards we will see on the battlefield soon!
My main focus will be on planeswalkers. Set with 36 (37 to be honest, as one is a buy-a-box promo) planeswalkers in it is a thing that never happened before in magic.
I really love the idea and the story about it. Video trailer of War of the Spark was epic, and I watched it over five times already, but for this review, I’ll try to put the flavor aside, and as a competitive player, I will focus on their playability. To make it happen I decide to make a tier list, here is how it works:
In this set, every single planeswalker has a static ability. This is something new, which makes evaluation a little bit more difficult, as we never had a chance to play similar cards before. I’m treating most of the new walkers as enchantments that my opponent can attack. Obviously, those enchantments have some zero mana activated abilities, but you get the point.
Let’s get to the most interesting part, the tierlist itself!
Planeswalker – S Tier
《Gideon Blackblade》
《Gideon Blackblade》 for me is the best planeswalker in the set. 4/4 indestructible attacker, starting with 5 loyalty (after +1) on turn 3. Do you really need more? No, you don’t, he’s good already, but you get it anyway! +1 ability is insane! You can give one of three powerful keywords to a creature ready to attack this turn and take advantage of it immediately!
Even with 《Gideon, Ally of Zendikar》, who was insanely busted in his standard, you had to choose if you want to use his ability, or you want to make him a soldier and smash into opponent’s face. Now, with 《Gideon Blackblade》‘s static ability, you can do both each turn, while ticking his loyalty up! Did I tell you already all of that cost three mana…?
《Jace, Wielder of Mysteries》
《Jace, Wielder of Mysteries》 is a blue planeswalkers that’s both win condition, and consistent source of card advantage. Do you know any other one, who does a similar thing?
Oh yeah, 《Teferi, Hero of Dominaria》. Except, 《Teferi》 costs one more mana, and is a huge standard staple already. Obviously, 《Teferi》 protects itself, and untap your lands, so it’s easier to protect him with your spells, but also requires white mana.
I’m pretty sure the new 《Jace, Wielder of Mysteries》 will find a home somewhere, sooner or later. Who knows, maybe we will see some kind of self-mill with 《Drowned Secrets》? That might be too fancy for competitive play, but never say never!
《Nissa, Who Shakes the World》
《Nissa, Who Shakes the World》 is more like an S- tier but I have really high hopes about her. Five mana planeswalker with 5 starting loyalty, +1 ability that protects herself, gives back two out of five mana spent, or attacks with haste is something that we have never really seen before. It’s literally a factory of 3/3 haste guys, and even if they kill your lands, you’re ahead of mana anyway, because all of your forests produce double mana anyway.
I can see new 《Nissa, Who Shakes the World》 in aggressive green decks, or a new ramp deck built around her. Remember the static ability also works with dual lands, even if you tap your 《Stomping Ground》 for the red mana, you technically still tapped a forest, so you get one red and one green mana in the process.
Planeswalker – A Tier
《Liliana, Dreadhorde General》
《Liliana, Dreadhorde General》 is a really powerful, but also very expensive planeswalker. 《Vraska, Relic Seeker》 sees some play now, and I believe the new Liliana also might be played as a one or two off in black midrange or control decks.
+1 works very nice with her static, -4 is a solid removal, especially against other midrange decks, or against aggro as follow up after mass removal. Remember that ultimate count’s lands as well, so it’s usually “you win the game” ability unless you’re really on 2 life against mono red.
《Ajani, the Greathearted》
《Ajani, the Greathearted》 is wonderful in decks built around him, and crap otherwise. You need a lot of cheap creatures to work with him and unlock his potential.
First of all, he single-handedly wins the mono red match up, which is good enough to make a cut in the sideboard of all green-white decks, but on top of that is a great lord for token strategies. The vigilance works perfectly with 《March of the Multitudes》, and +1/+1 counters with wide boards in general.
《Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord》
《Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord》 is insane against all aggressive opponents. The static ability makes him a ‘must be killed’ threat, as long as you have any creature on the board, while +2 makes him very hard to kill at the same time.
《Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord》 comes with 6 loyalty counters effectively which is probably the highest rate for four mana you can dream about. Thanks to +2 on the first ability, the second one can be used many times during a single game, which makes he truly annoying threat against control mages as well!
Everything below is kind of A tier. Good planeswalker, with a lot of potentials, but somehow worse than the rest of A tier. Probably need some more support in this or future sets, to make them standard playable.
《Karn, the Great Creator》
《Karn, the Great Creator》 is clearly powerful but needs a lot of work around him to make him worth. Right now I don’t see a good way to use him, and his static ability doesn’t counter anything in current Standard. Modern has cards like 《Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas》 or 《Tezzeret the Seeker》, and I don’t see 《Karn, the Great Creator》 being better than them in artifact-based decks.
Maybe we have to wait for few more sets, to see 《Karn, the Great Creator》‘s power unlocked, but I’m pretty sure, as soon as we see some good artifacts printed for standard, we’ll see the Great Creator on the battlefield!
《Ugin, the Ineffable》
《Ugin, the Ineffable》 is another iteration of 《Vraska, Relic Seeker》 and 《Liliana, Dreadhorde General》. 6 mana +1 create a 2/2 guy with some small upside. 《Ugin, the Ineffable》 protects itself, but unlike 《Vraska, Relic Seeker》, he starts at 4, not 6 loyalty, and doesn’t have ultimate that wins the game. That’s a big difference.
I believe in terms of raw power, 《Ugin, the Ineffable》 is the weakest one out of three, but he gets more value paired with artifacts or other colorless spells. 《Ugin, the Ineffable》 is in kind of the same spot as 《Karn, the Great Creator》, might be great, if we see some good support for artifact strategy in upcoming sets, or unplayable if we don’t. I think his potential is high enough, and it’s worth to keep an eye on him.
《Ral, Storm Conduit》
《Ral, Storm Conduit》 is a weird planeswalker. Doesn’t protect itself, minus ability requires other good spells in hand, to make it worth. Four mana isn’t a price I would pay for this effect.
On the other hand, there is a combo kill available with him! All you need is 《Ral, Storm Conduit》 in play, a cheap instant or sorcery on the stack, and double 《Expansion》. You play 《Opt》, or whatever spell you want, copy it with 《Expansion》, and cast the second 《Expansion》 to copy the first one. This way you get infinite 《Expansion》 copies, each of them dealing one damage to your opponent. BOOM!
To be honest, I think this combo is more fun than efficient, as you need 4 cards to enable it, which is definitely not easy, but Ral itself has a scry ability, which helps you find pieces you need, and it’s hard to kill with his +2, so who knows? Do you remember 《Saheeli Rai》?
《Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God》
《Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God》 is a very good five mana planeswalker. The only issue I have with him is his exact mana cost. Five exact colors of mana are hard to get even with dual lands. If you can cast him consistently, I think 《Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God》 is in the top 3 walkers in the set. The problem is, I don’t think you can….
+1 ability is insane, as it makes 2 for 0 each turn while pumping him up. Minus is the best ‘protect itself’ ability out of all planeswalkers spoiled in War of the Spark. His static lets you use some support of friends, and activate their +2, to speed up a game-winning ultimate.
《Sarkhan the Masterless》
《Sarkhan the Masterless》 is the best possible payoff for decks based on other planeswalkers. If you want to build a superfriends deck, 《Sarkhan the Masterless》 should be a four of! It’s not too powerful on his own, and I don’t expect him to be played in every red deck, but his ceiling is really high, especially now, with so many cheap planeswalkers!
《Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage》
《Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage》 is the only uncommon walkers on tier A list. Congrats to him! Pretty good sideboard card against controls. Easy to pay the cost, only three mana CMC, and very annoying effect. Not only discards three cards, but also might deal some damage during the process. Very well-designed!
Planeswalker – B Tier
The Uncommon Planeswalkers
Most of the uncommon planeswalkers are barely playable sideboard options. I don’t see them having an impact on standard unless metagame will shift and people will discover a new deck, that can be countered by any of static abilities of our new heroes. They are mostly over costed for the effect they provide, and minus abilities are usually bad, so you have to rely hard on static.
The Rare Planeswalkers
Rare ones here aren’t much better. Cards like 《Teferi, Time Raveler》 or 《Tamiyo, Collector of Tales》 can see some play in a pleasing metagame. 《Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge》 is too expensive for what he does. You don’t need affinity for creatures and planeswalkers, if you have access to six mana already. +2 is insane, but right now we don’t have enough good artifacts to make him worth.
《Chandra, Fire Artisan》 usually can be ignored unless you’re activating ultimate, so static is almost useless. 《Domri, Anarch of Bolas》 is so much worse than its four mana version from the last set.
Planeswalker – C Tier
Absolutely unplayable in constructed. Not much to talk about.
That covers all 37 planeswalkers. As for a bonus, I’ll try to find the most promising creatures and noncreature spells out of the new set, and shortly explain why I put my faith in them. I’ll focus only on tier S and A, as I don’t see any value in evaluating every single barely playable common.
Creatures – S Tier
《Feather, the Redeemed》
《Feather, the Redeemed》 might be the most interesting creature in the set. 3/4 flying for 3 mana is insane already, as it dodges the majority of cheap removal. 《Lightning Strike》, 《Shock》, 《Cast Down》 etc can’t really touch it.
The angel also benefits us for creative deckbuilding. You can take advantage of cards like 《Reckless Rage》 to get full value out of it! Can’t wait to see how people will use this new powerful three drop.
《God-Eternal Kefnet》
《God-Eternal Kefnet》 is probably the best God. 4/5 flying for 4 is great. Also, thanks to being relatively cheap, 《God-Eternal Kefnet》 uses his God ability in the best way, as he’s the easiest one to re-cast.
The first ability is a very well-designed source of card advantage, which makes him a new staple for blue-based midrange decks. I can’t wait to try him in a grixis full of removal discard and card draw, next to 《Thief of Sanity》– another midrange all star.
《God-Eternal Oketra》
《God-Eternal Oketra》 is not much worse. For me it’s S- tier, because I’m not sure if we have a white deck that can be happy to play a five drop, but raw power of Oketra is insane. 3/6 double strike is enough to start with. If they manage to kill her, which is not easy with 6 toughness in the first place, she will be back soon anyway!
The first ability is from another world. If you play a creature deck and utnap with her, it’s over. Do you remember 《The Scarab God》? Also, can I please open 《God-Eternal Oketra》 in my first pack of booster draft in London?
《Cruel Celebrant》
《Cruel Celebrant》 might be a little surprise. Uncommon in S tier? Oh yeah! I believe this was the lacking piece of a great mardu aristocrats deck. Right now we have a tier 2 deck using potential of cheap one drops combined with 《Priest of Forgotten Gods》 and 《Judith, the Scourge Diva》. With this new cool addition this deck might become a real player in the new standard.
Creatures – A Tier
《Augur of Bolas》
《Augur of Bolas》 is a sweet reprint. The best possible two drop for the Nexus Reclamation deck. Digs for 《Nexus of Fate》 or 《Root Snare》, blocks early pressure. Everything that deck needed to be even more busted. Can we ban Nexus, please :D?
《Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion》,《Ilharg, the Raze-Boar》
《Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion》 has a very cool ability, but I’m not sure if it’s good enough for standard. It’s too expensive for all-in red aggro decks, and not good enough for RG beatdown. 《Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion》 and 《Ilharg, the Raze-Boar》 are both missing haste to be broken, so maybe it’s possible to combine them with 《Rhythm of the Wild》 and make a brand new deck? I’m not sure, threat them more like A tier.
Noncreature Spell – S Tier
《The Elderspell》
Like. Really? When I saw 《The Elderspell》 for the first time, I was sure the picture of it was missing a number next to two black symbols in the upper-right corner. I can see this spell costing four, maybe even five mana. Even if they switched the any number part for destroy target planeswalker it would be decent.
With this wording I’m pretty sure this will be a killer for every ambitious player trying to build a new superfriends deck :(. Worst case, if multi-planeswalker decks won’t show up, it’s a great addition to all black midrange sideboards.
Noncreature Spell – A Tier
《Bolas’s Citadel》
《Bolas’s Citadel》 is probably the most interesting card in the set. I hope someone smarter than me will break it. The only reason I didn’t put it into S tier is I don’t have an idea how to unlock it’s full potential. It can be either completely busted, or just unplayable, fancy combo card available only for kitchen table.
《Ravnica at War》
《Ravnica at War》 is a nice iteration of mass removal. Usually, you want to play mass destroy effects in control decks, but this one made for mono colored aggro! I think white weenie will use this card in the sideboard, to fight multicolored midrange decks. 4 mana – exile 80 to 100% of opponent’s nonland permanents? I’ll take that! Poor GW tokens.
《Dreadhorde Invasion》
《Dreadhorde Invasion》 isn’t exactly a new 《Bitterblossom》. Making bunch on 1/1s with evasion is definitely better, than making a big zombie that can be destroyed with a single point removal spell after few turns of loosing life, but I would love to see an amass deck using 《Gleaming Overseer》, 《Invade the City》 and 《Widespread Brutality》 to take the full advantage of the new keyword.
That’s probably too fancy, for competitive play, but in the worst, case we get a solid two mana black sideboard card against controls, where your life total doesn’t really matter anyway.
《Ob Nixilis’s Cruelty》
《Ob Nixilis’s Cruelty》 is a solid removal. Nothing special, but 3 mana exile almost any existing creature in current standard is worth a highlight.
《Dovin’s Veto》
《Dovin’s Veto》 is a better 《Negate》 for control mirrors, so it will probably replace it in espers sideboards, the same way as 《Absorb》 replaced 《Sinister Sabotage》 three months ago.
《Finale of Eternity》
Award of distinction goes to the XYY cycle. The best card out if it is 《Finale of Eternity》, and that’s probably the only one, that can play on its own, but I would love to see some ramp decks (maybe with new Nissa?) trying to break 《Finale of Glory》 as a finisher, or 《Finale of Revelation》 as a card draw source.
《Blast Zone》
《Blast Zone》 technically doesn’t fit any of categories above, but it’s good enough to mention it in this article. I’m sure it will see a lot of play in control decks as a free 《Ratchet Bomb》. Great utility land and I’m very glad they didn’t think about making it comes into play tapped.
Conclusion
That’s all I have for you today. Didn’t want to make this article too long to don’t make it boring, but if you have any questions about cards that I didn’t mention, or you don’t agree with something above, feel free to message me on my Twitter. As soon as the article will be up, I’ll tweet about it, so there will be a ready place to discuss stuff in comments under my tweet!
Thank you so much for reading, and see you next time, after MC London!
Grzegorz Kowalski
