#by assuming dragons are somewhere between the extremes you could probably call it at 5-6 cows a week for the golds

[kariachi]

Achi’s Pern Thought of the Day: A gold dragon in the 9th Pass is, from the information we get in the DLG, like 5 stories tall, and given that probably like 30 tons with our best size comparison being fucking sauropods because there is only so much you can drop the weight on a 131 foot long quadruped, and yeah the other ranks are smaller but there’s far more of them, even the bronzes outnumber golds by multiples, and the other ranks are all far more active especially during a Pass, but supposedly these carnivores are functioning off a small number of wherries or cattle a week- for comparison an african wild dog in a zoo is typically fed ~31% of their body weight a week, and a crocodile typically ~10% of it’s body weight a week, while a gold dragon is supposedly going off ~6% a week, and the ratio is probably worse for greens and blues depending on the size of wherries-

And I’m just screaming in Scifi Writers Don’t Understand Scale. Love this series, but screaming

[housebeleren]

War of the Spark Limited - Bomb Rares

Alright, it’s that time! Time to check out the Rares and Mythics from War of the Spark, and get a sense of just what we’re looking for in our Prerelease pools. These are the cards you really want to see, because they’re going to give you that extra leg up whenever you play.

All ratings out of 5. Let’s begin.

White

I mean, could I start anywhere else? Let’s just look at the stats to begin with. He’s a three mana 4/4 with Indestructible that can’t be dealt any damage during your turn. I mean... I’m already sold. Sure, they can then just attack him back down, if you don’t have other creatures to block for him, but yeah. You’re going to cause some hurt when he comes down. If you have other creatures out, he’s a toolbox of abilities for them, and eventually, you can start cashing him in for removal. For a three-mana card, that’s a lot of action, and there’s no way you’re passing him if you open him up. 4.0

Finale of Glory just seems like a really, really good card. You only need to cast this for 4 to be on-curve, and anything above that is gravy. Most of the time, you’re only going to get X between 3-5, but those are all totally worth playing. The 10 or more isn’t happening in limited, I’m sorry to say, but if it does, they might as well just print “you win the game” on the card. 4.0

Honestly though, Oketra is the best White card in the set. She’s a motherfucking tank, and she literally just barfs out Eternals every time you cast any creature. Any creature! The fact that she comes back a few turns after you kill her is just mean. The God cycle is always pretty busted for limited, but they outdid themselves this time with Oketra. 5.0

Blue

I’ll be honest. I think this is a fairly optimistic take on this card. Jace doesn’t protect himself at all, but if you’re able to keep him safe, he’s advantage that will quite literally win you the game. You’ll bury your opponent in card advantage after only a few turns of this. Again, that’s all contingent on how well you’re able to keep him safe, but I’m willing to give it a try. 3.0

There’s obviously a tension here, which is that you probably won’t have tons of cards in your hand when you go to cast this, but if you can get X=4 out of it, which shouldn’t be too difficult, then this is a pretty solid play. The fact that it’s an Instant goes a long way in making this viable, since you can use the creature it creates (or buffs) to ambush an enemy attack, and then refill your hand for your next turn. I’m not saying it’s a slam dunk, but I can definitely see this doing some work. 3.5

Once again, though, it’s the god that’s the powerhouse for the color. Kefnet is huge for 4 mana, and will dominate anything else in the air. The ability is excellent, but pairs better with some colors than others, so I’d consider trying for Black or Red as my second color if I first picked this. In a perfect world, you want to be able to double up on your removal with this, which will be harder with White & Green. I can see Kefnet being no more than a big flier (which is still excellent!) in some builds, which is why I don’t think he’s quite the bomb Oketra is. 4.5

Black

Wooo baby. That is spicy for sure. She helps if you’re ahead, helps if you’re behind, and is fierce as hell while doing it. Seriously, there’s no way she’s not impacting the board in some way, and if she lasts more than one turn, I don’t see how you’re losing. She’ll be even more bonkers in constructed than limited, but that’s not saying much. 4.5

Bontu is huge, hard to kill, and hard to block effectively. That, plus a decent ETB, makes me really happy to see what she can do. I don’t think there will often be more than 1-2 cards drawn off this when she enters, so it’s not bonkers the way it will be in Commander and some other formats. 4.5

This one’s a little more tentative, but it churns out 1/1 of stats every turn, at the cost of 1 life. However, unlike Bitterblossom, this one helps you get out of the whole you dug by giving lifelink to your creature once it’s big enough. All told, it’s probably better for limited than Bitterblossom was, but worse for constructed. I’ll be optimistic and grade it accordingly. 4.0

Most of the time, you’ll cast this for X somewhere between 2-4, and that’s perfectly reasonable. You’ll clean up the board quickly with this, and assuming you have the targets, it’s a built-in 3 for 1. I’m sold. 4.0

Wow, Black really got a lot of powerful Rares this time around, didn’t it? I love Massacre girl. It’s not going to be unusual for there to be at least one X/1 on the battlefield, and if so, the likelihood that she just cleans up everything is pretty good. Even with no other creatures, she’s a 4/4 menace, which is a pretty high floor. I’d play that card without any ETB. But the fact that she’s a potential boardwipe that leaves you with a hefty body is great. 4.0

Red

You may be wondering why I didn’t pick Chandra for this spot, when she’s really very similar to Jace? Well, Blue honestly didn’t get many good limited Rares, but Red did, and Sarkhan is going to be a tough one to beat. First of all, he’s always going to come down and pump out a 4/4 dragon, which is worth 5 mana in and of itself. So right away, you have reached value. Then, the dragon protects him even better than usual, because anything that’s an X/1 just simply cannot attack you while either Sarkahn or the dragon are out. That’s huge, since one of the most common lines of play will be to try to swarm Planeswalkers with little guys, and you just can’t do that here. If Sarkhan lasts multiple turns, he’s going to continue churning out value, threatens 8 damage in the air every combat (more if you have additional Walkers), and if you ever get multiple dragons out at a time with him, I can’t imagine losing from that spot. He’s pretty much a bomb at regular Rare. 4.5

Ilharg continues the trend of the god cycle being good. Surprise surprise. 6/6 Trample for 5 is massive, and there will be pretty much nothing else on the board that can contest this. His ability is less useful in limited than in constructed, but if you have any other big monsters or creatures with good ETBs, he just gets better. Since the floor on him is so high, I’m giving him a high score. 4.5

The big risk with Krenko is that the opponent will blank him with a 3/3 the turn you land him, which would be unfortunate, because he’s really only good if you can get at least one swing in. However, if you can manage one attack uncontested, you’re in good shape. He keeps getting bigger, plus you can find ways to proliferate him, and leaves behind goblin tokens to keep your opponent occupied. If you happen to be in Red/Blue, he’s a really good target for Stealth Mission. Just saying. 4.0

Like many of the Rare creatures, I’m starting by evaluating Neheb on his base stats. 5/4 Trample for 4? I’m sold. Later in the game, he can help you replenish your hand by discarding excess lands, and that is a lot of utility for a 4 drop. Sold. 4.0

Green

When I look at Vivien’s textbox, my immediate thought is to be underwhelmed. But then I remember that she’s a 3 drop that comes in with effectively 5 loyalty, and that she’s more likely than several to get value. You’re not always going to hit with her -2 ability, which is unfortunate, but I do think she’ll typically produce enough advantage to be worth her very low casting cost. Also, granting flash to all your creatures is fantastic, so you can operate almost entirely at Instant speed to keep your opponent guessing. Altogether, I think she’ll generally play pretty well. 3.5

This is 9/9 of stats for 5 mana with Flash. Technically, it’s really basically a 6 drop, if you want to be able to ambush something with it, or swing with it right out of the gate. But even so, 6/6 Haste for 9 mana is ridiculous. My guess is the correct time to cast this will almost always be either on defense in combat or at end of your opponent’s turn, so you can always get one swing out of it. Yes, if they kill your creature at that point you’re down a land, but chances are you’re not going to try to curve too much higher than this. I’d always run this. 4.0

I know I just said that your curve probably ended at 6, but that was assuming you didn’t also have this card in your deck. The sheer flexibility of this is staggering, and well worth trying to ramp into. A lot of the time, you’re going to use this to get back a couple of permanents from your graveyard, then create a couple of Citizens to help defend while you wait to untap. But sometimes, you’ll have a board state with multiple Planeswalkers and creatures with counters and you just want to Proliferate 4 times. Either way, this is a card advantage swing I wouldn’t underestimate. 4.0

And yes, the final god. The ETB on this is quite strong, and will sometimes be enough to close out the game on its own. If not, it will force your opponent to make a bunch of trades with your early drops, and then you’re still left with your giant 5/5 Deathtouch to protect you . Either way, it’s going to have a massive impact on the board. 4.5

Multicolor & Colorless

Assuming you’re in a base-Black deck, I honestly don’t think it will be too hard to come up with the amount of color fixing needed to cast Bolas. And if you do, you’re in great shape. Most of the time, just continuing to pump him up will be more than enough to push your card advantage to the extreme, and his -3 is there to take out any particularly problematic threat. But just the fact that his uptick is a 2 card advantage swing every time is bonkers, and if he lasts more than a couple of turns, I think you have the game locked up. I’m going to go and flat out call this a bomb. 5.0

Ajani is good. Really good. Assuming you have a couple of early drops, he’s going to immediately come down and make your field massive. If not, he starts at 6 loyalty and keeps your life total healthy. In fact, people are going to be so distracted trying to take him down, he’s likely to buy you way more than just 3 life before he dies. And he semi protects himself by granting your creatures Vigilance, so you can continue your assault without staying open. I like. 4.0

Poooor Domri. He just got mixed up in the wrong crowd. Well, most of the time, you’re going to want to cast him when he has a creature to protect him right off the bat, since his +1 effect doesn’t do much immediately. But once you untap, he ramps you from 3 to 5 mana, and threatens a lot of damage with his static ability. He’s not as flashy as some, but I think he’s going to be a workhorse. 3.5

The last Planeswalker I’ll mention here is Sorin, who interestingly does not have any removal attached. Instead, he can reanimate things if you need blockers, or you can just start him off at 6 loyalty and pick away at other Planeswalkers while you’re at it. But if you can get multiple reanimations out of him, you’re doing great. Either way, I suspect he will just generally be good. 3.5

If you don’t have any Planeswalkers in your deck, this is going to be underwhelming. If you do have Planeswalkers in your deck, this can be bonkers. With one Walker out, he can easily enter with 3-5 extra counters on him, at which point he’s a ridiculous threat that will only keep getting bigger the longer your Walkers stay out. He’s not a windmill slam, but he’s definitely worth trying to build around if you can. 3.5

Feather, aside from being everyone’s favorite character they had never heard of before, seems pretty great. She makes it on stats alone, though her mana cost is pretty restrictive for turn 3. You won’t have tons of cards that specifically target your creatures, but if you do, that is a value train that I want to be on. I think the floor is high enough on her that you should basically always run her in your colors, but definitely prioritize some good Instants & Sorceries that target once you know she’ll be in your deck. 4.0

There’s an awful lot of text on here, but at its core it’s basically a merged together Flametongue Kavu & Lone Missionary. Funny how a Red creature and a White creature splice themselves together and get a Blue/Black card. But whatever, it works. So yeah, you’re going to get a 4/4 creature out, it’s going to take out a creature with 4 or less toughness, and you’ll gain a bit of life. All told, not bad at all. 3.5

Again, this is a tricky mana cost for turn 3, and I’m surprised that it’s so defensive for a Red/Green creature. Still, this is one of the best mana sinks in the format, quite literally, as it can chuck extra lands at your opponent or their creatures in the late game. I think people will underestimate it at first because they don’t like giving up lands, but unless your deck needs ridiculous access to mana, one of the best things you can do with your lands beyond 6 or 7 is chuck them at the face. 3.5

Roalesk seems absolutely nuts. Assuming you have another creature in play when you cast him, he’s 6/5 of stats right off the bat for 5 mana, and 2/2 of that stats have Haste while the other 4/5 have Flample. Then when he dies, he leaves you with a bonus +2/+2. As a minimum!

There’s no way this isn’t bonkers. 4.0

I love reanimation. It’s my very favorite thing to do in these colors, and Storrev gets to do it for free. All he asks is that you swing with him. Well, my 5/4 Trampler? That sounds fine to me. I will happily swing with this, and even if he trades, he leaves you with a buddy he brought back. My only gripe is he’s a little easy to kill before you get your value out of him, but there will be games he just runs away with. 3.5

Board wipes are good. Board wipes where you get to save your best creature are better. It’s not Duneblast, but it’s much more playable. So I’m happy. 3.5

Last, but not least, it’s Ugin himself. His static ability is mostly decorative, so he’ll have to make use between his two loyalty abilities. Fortunately, he pretty much does. I love his +1, which is basically a fun callback to the Manifest mechanic, except it’s even better. Pumping out 2/2s that turn into cards when they die is phenomenal, and when a problem comes out, he can take a turn off to just destroy it. You probably want 2 or more activations out of him before he feels worth the 6 mana, but given that he’s probably your curve topper, you’re fairly likely to have a board to protect him. I’m all in for Ugin. 4.0

And finally, here’s all the rest of the cards.

Ignite the Beacon - Tutors are generally best left to constructed. Especially expensive tutors like this. If you draft the all-planeswalker deck, I suppose you can run it, but you’d need at least 6 before I’d even consider it. 1.0

Parhelion II - The problem is not that Parhelion II is a bad card. It’s just that many decks will try to run it that really shouldn’t. Unless you have access to copious amounts of ramp, I wouldn’t run an 8 drop, no matter how powerful it can be. That said, the ceiling on this card is very high, so I’ll give it a potential pass. 2.0

Ravnica at War - The first of many, many boardwipes at Rare. This one is so conditional that I doubt you’ll find an occasion to use it. Leave it for constructed. 0.5

Single Combat - This one, on the other hand, I’m pretty fond of. If you have the best creature on the board, this really does work, since they can’t even build up again before you do on your next turn. I would definitely run this in most builds. 3.0 

EDIT - I misread the card and didn’t realize it said “Until END of your next turn.” Not getting the first chance to rebuild makes this significantly worse, so I’m downgrading to a 2.0

Tomik, Distinguished Advokist - He’s got an awful lot of text for a 2/3 flier. The mana cost is tricky to hit on turn 2 unless you have 9-10 White sources, and you really want to hit him on turn 2. Don’t be fooled by his rarity & all the text. He’s a Legacy plant, and only ok for limited. 2.0

Fblthp, the Lost - As much as I love this little guy, he’s an Elvish Visionary, and that’s about it. You’re not casting him out of your library in limited, so treat him as a cantrip, and not much else. 2.0

Finale of Revelation - X is never hitting 10 for this, so it’s really just a flexible draw spell. You really want to get to 3 before this is any better than Divination, however, so keep that in mind. 2.5

Narset’s Reversal - The prospects for this in constructed formats are more exciting than here, where a lot of the time, you may not have a good target come up all game. I’d leave this for the sideboard. 1.0

Silent Submersible  - The fact that this card doesn’t have any evasion is most frustrating. Like Tomik, you really want to land this on turn 2 so you can enable a turn 3 swing and hopefully draw a card, because it’s going to be outclassed very quickly after that. There’s potential here, but it’s not going to be an auto-include in every deck. 2.0

Spark Double - Clone effects are usually decent, and this one even comes in a little bigger & better than what you copied. I’d run this most of the time I have good targets for it. 2.5

Bolas’s Citadel - This is probably the hardest card to evaluate for limited, but my gut tells me it’s a trap. Yes, you’ll dump a bunch of spells on the battlefield really quickly, but your CMC is much higher in limited than in constructed, so the likelihood of getting more than one or two cards off this before you have to stop seems iffy. Maybe you have a super powerful White/Black lifegain engine, but I’m not counting on it. Again, my gut is telling me to leave this for constructed. It’s like the Thousand-Year Storm of this set. People will try to run it, and they’ll be wrong most of the time. 1.0

Command the Dreadhorde - I think this effect is probably playable, but I’d much rather run Bond of Revival in my limited decks. Again, your average CMC is going to be much higher than in constructed, so pulling back more than one or two things is going to be very painful. 1.5

Deliver Unto Evil - I don’t like that my opponent gets to choose how good this is. Because chances are, in limited, the worst stuff in your graveyard will be pretty bad. That said, it only costs 3 mana, and you can get any type of card back, so it might work out. 2.0

The Elderspell - Everyone is so hyped about this card, but it’s so damn narrow. Sideboard this in if you go against Superfriends. Leave it put away otherwise. 1.0

Chandra, Fire Artisan - Chandra plays a lot like Jace in this set. They cost the same, and both are basically just card draw engines in their respective colors. Chandra even punishes people who try to take her down, and I like that. 3.0

Dreadhorde Arcanist - Nope. Leave it for constructed. 1.5

Finale of Promise - NOPE. Leave it for constructed. 1.5

Mizzium Tank - I like this much better than the submarine, because it’s super easy to crew, and has Prowess, so in the right deck, it’ll be a potent threat. It’s not for every deck, but there will be places it has its time to shine. 2.5

Finale of Devastation - I’ve said it before, tutors are for constructed. Don’t do it. 1.0

Nissa, Who Shakes the World - Nissa is back and she’s animating lands left and right. It’s a pretty powerful effect, though it does leave your lands open to creature removal. She can’t protect herself until you have 6 lands out, so do be aware of that. 3.0

Vivien’s Arkbow - The floor is high enough on this one that I’d be willing to try it. It’s cheap to bring out, and it’s a decent thing to do with excess mana in the late game. You just don’t want to be activating this for X = 1 or 2 at any point, so be cautious. 2.0

Teferi, Time Raveler - Teferi is going to ruin peoples’ days in all kinds of constructed formats. In limited, he’s going to be decent, and cause a lot of minor headaches. His only issue is he’s a little flimsy, but fine for a three drop. 3.0

Soul Diviner - In the right deck, this will be an engine unto itself. In the wrong deck, it’s a mediocre creature. Let’s assume you’re putting it in the right deck. 3.0

Dreadhorde Butcher - You really want to cast this on turn two, and not a moment later, as his value just plummets the later in the game it goes. But if you can come out the gate swinging with this, it can run away with the game. 2.5

Widespread Brutality - My only fear with this is that your opponent will have any Army too. That said, a 2/2 that comes in and deals 2 damage to (almost) all other creatures is worth running, so I’ll try it. 3.0

Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves - I really should have highlighted Tolsimir up above, because he packs a lot of heat for 5 mana. Let’s just say if you can run him, you absolutely should, and he’s worth trying to splash White for. 3.5

Oath of Kaya - I’m not really sold. If you have 5 or more Planeswalkers in your deck, mayyyybe? 1.0

EDIT: Once again, I need to learn to RTFC. Given that this hits any target, and not just players, I’m suddenly way more interested. The second ability is still mostly flavor text, but I could see it happening occasionally and perking you up. But the base ability is enough to play it that it’s worth majorly bumping up in my evaluation. Given it’s still not cheap for its mana cost (compared with something like Ob Nixilis’s Cruelty), I’ll give it a revised 3.0

Ral, Storm Conduit - Pass. Go break him in constructed. Though if someone does manage to assemble the infinite combo with him & two copies of Narset’s Reversal in limited, they win at life. But mostly I’d pass on Ral outside of constructed combos. 1.0

Role Reversal - Switcheroo has always been playable to some extent, and I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be here. 2.5

Casualties of War - My initial thought is that this is too expensive for a lot of modes that won’t come up often, but we played Conisgn to the Pit in Ravnica Allegiance, so it’s really not outside the realm of possibility. Don’t try to splash for this, and don’t run it if you have better removal, since most of the time it’ll be killing one creature and one land. But if you’re in these colors, it can do some work in a pinch. 2.5

Solar Blaze - Sure, cus what we needed was another conditional board wipe? Leave this for the Commander players. 1.0

Tamiyo, Collector of Tales - I... I keep trying to find ways to make this work. But at the end of the day, I keep coming back to that she’s mostly a 4 mana Raise Dead with some flavor text attached. Maybe sideboard her in against Black decks? Maybe don’t? I like her for certain other formats, but I’m not seeing it come together here. 1.0

Niv-Mizzet Reborn - If you have access to all 5 colors, knock your socks off. Someone’s going to try to run this, and good luck to them. But this strikes me as a 2 color format with an occasional splash, not a reliable 5 color one. And he’s not going to reliably draw you lots of cards like he would in constructed. 2.0

Karn, the Great Creator - Oof, this has no business in limited. Don’t do it. 0.0

Blast Zone - Save it for constructed. 0.5

Karn’s Bastion - In the proliferate deck, I think this gets there. It’s a powerful effect to have on demand. 2.5

Mobilized District - I like creature lands, and this one is pretty reasonably priced. I’d generally run it unless my deck was super color heavy. 2.5

So there it is! All the cards from War of the Spark! I can say I’m super excited about this format, and I think it’s going to be a blast. I’ll return to these ratings down the line, and see what I was right about, and what cards I misjudged (because there will be some of them). Until then, happy prerelease!