#he would replenish all my death defiances if i take no damage in the next three encounters amen

[wolfythewitch]

Might mess around and draw Jesus in the hades art style, his boons would be very health based methinks

[housebeleren]

War of the Spark Commander Cards

Now that I’ve taken a look at the Legendary Creatures for War of the Spark, it’s time to look deeper and see if there are any other cards in this set for Commander. (Spoiler alert: there are.)

Since there are a lot of them, I’m going to do this quick, first impression style, with what pops into my head. I’ll try to touch on cards that I think do have lots of potential, as well as cards that look like they should but probably don’t. So let’s take a look!

Superfriends? I mean, he’s got the Ajani Steadfast ability, so yay redundancy? If you want two of these effects and have the colors for it, go for it because the other abilities are so-so at best.

I love this. It’s like two hate cards in one! Shut down tutors & completely obliterate Graveyard strategies. Even if you only activate Ashiok once, the main job is done, but it’s clearly a better card if you can keep it around.

This is going to be a powerhouse in 60 card formats, but is a little iffier in Commander, just given the giant range of CMCs in the format. That said, it can be a nice silver bullet for when you need it, and gives some monocolor decks access to removal they wouldn’t have otherwise, so I can definitely see this showing up in mono Red, Blue, or Black decks, in particular.

Enough other people have talked about this card already, so you don’t need me to do it. It’s going to see play, I think it’ll just take some time to find the perfect home for it. One interaction I’m particularly fond of is with Circu, Dimir Lobotomist, because you can exile excess lands off the top of your own library to keep the card train flowing.

Most of this cycle are purely Limited fodder, but I think there’s some potential here. For one mana over Call to Mind, you get double the effect, with the downside that you don’t get to keep bringing this card back for extra shenanigans. If it weren’t for the exile clause, I’d call this a slam dunk, but as it is I think it will find some homes.

I mean, sure. It’s a lot of action for one card, but realistically most of the time you’d rather just have a full sweeper. Ten bucks says this gets reprinted in a Commander deck release within the next 3 years, because this is the kind of shit they love.

For the most part, I’d rather just play Torch of Defiance, which gives you a lot more option for your mana. But if you think you can protect her long enough to get to the ultimate, that’s pretty awesome card advantage for Red. Or if you think you’re going to want to run her in a Doubling Season build.

This is so fucking cool. I’ve seen decks run Ever After before, and this is along those lines, but with a lower floor and a higher ceiling. Obviously, the dream is to prevent the damage altogether, but even if you’re getting a few pieces back and losing 10-15 life, that can be worth it. I like the potential to assemble combos out of opponents’ graveyards, and I definitely think there will be decks that find a use for this.

Were you looking for another Blood Artist effect? Well, you got one, and it comes with a relevant creature type attached as well. Sure, it only works on your creatures, like Zulaport Cutthroat, but this will see play for sure. 

Interesting side note, I think this is the first time I’ve seen templating for Planeswalkers “dying.” Kinda a flavor miss, because losing all loyalty doesn’t really represent death, it just represents the planeswalker peacing out and leaving you to deal with your own bullshit. But whatever, it’s clean templating.

This seems destined to be a staple, and another one I’m guaranteeing will show up in a precon Commander deck within the next few years. Yes, it’s a little expensive for creature removal, but mana hungry decks will play it.

Three thoughts. One, even without having a Bolas out, getting your third and fourth best cards back from your Graveyard can still be totally awesome in a deck that can easily get stuff put in the grave. Two, in a Bolas-themed deck, this is a slam dunk. Three, mono Black decks might like this in any case, because normally they can only grab creatures, and this allows for all card types, which is pretty unique.

Okay, four thoughts. Seb McKinnon is a gem, and I can’t even express how happy I am that they’ve been letting him move into more conceptual, less literal pieces in the past few years. This plus Deathsprout in the same set? We don’t deserve it.

This just seems super efficient, even though it misses some problematic permanents. You won’t have trouble finding targets in EDH. I’m sold.

Bitterblossom occasionally sees play. You really want to have a use for the one token per turn to make this worth it, because the extra +1/+1 counter is much less relevant in the format. If you desperately need consistent sac fodder generators, this can be some good redundancy for you.

For the most part, this feels like a strictly Limited Uncommon, but I do think there’s one archetype that might have a home for it, and that’s go-wide Zombie decks. It’s not uncommon for Zombie decks to rack up huge numbers of Zombie tokens, and giving them all flying can be a game-winning proposition. I’d expect to see this in some builds of Varina, Gisa & Geralf, or maybe even Grimgrin.

These two cards belong in exactly the same decks. Superfriends decks & +1/+1 counters decks. They’re a touch flimsy, but they’ll each do solid work.

I’m just going to use this card to represent the entire cycle. All 5 of these cards have potential homes in EDH, it really just depends on the individual deck. None of them are the best at what they do for X<10, but they’re all insane if you can cross that 10 mana threshold. 

For a color combination that’s usually majorly struggling with replenishing their hand, this card has real potential. I like that it’s completely card-neutral, as it even replaces itself, so you’re never really down. Instant speed also goes a long way, and I can imagine tons of Boros decks wanting this.

How nice of these cards to come so close in the alphabet to each other! I’m putting them together because it’s obvious. These are both for the same deck, and that deck is Superfriends. Interplanar beacon may not be right for all builds, but I can’t imagine any Superfriends build not wanting Ignite.

Y’all know I’m always down for more Jace in my life, so this really shouldn’t come as a surprise, but I am super down for this card. Having a second Laboratory Maniac is phenomenal, and the fact that he can trigger that last card draw himself to win is just icing on the cake. Any deck that wants Lab Man will probably be interested in this.

I am generally very down on Karn in Standard & Limited, but he actually has a lot of potential in Commander. First, he completely shuts off opposing mana rocks, which is huge, but he also turns off a number of extremely problematic Artifacts, like Isochron Scepter. And given how many decks have crucial Artifacts as part of their win-con packages, he can also come in and retrieve those cards from exile, which can often be devastating. All that action can definitely make him worth considering for Artifact builds like Daretti or Breya.

This may seem strange, but there are already G/U decks that run big monsters as their main thing, and many of them would happily draw a card off of each one they land. Kiora comes down cheap, and helps you ramp into these leviathans, then rewards you for doing so. I’m into it.

I mean, is there any doubt? Liliana has a massive effect on the board, and makes sure you’re always drawing cards as your things naturally die. I can see tons of black decks being into this, to say nothing of the Zombie builds where this is a perfect fit.

I figured this was worth mentioning, even though there’s really only one deck that I think would be interested, and that’s Lord Windgrace. Okay, and maybe Omnath, Locus of Rage, now that I think about it more.

I actually think this little guy has a lot of potential in the right builds. For one, he’s a twist on a Blood Artist effect, particularly if your deck is built around sacrifice loops. But he also has the side effect of punishing your opponents, even just as they try to use their fetch lands. You can snipe away opposing mana dorks, or just go to the face repeatedly. There’s a lot of potential in this seemingly innocuous Uncommon.

I suspect this pick will be one very few people share with me, but I remember when Leovold, Emissary of Trest was a thing, and Narset is basically the important half of that. This + a wheel is an enormous blow to all your opponents in one fell swoop, and I can definitely imagine big wheels decks wanting this.

First person to cast this on Expropriate is my personal hero. That’s all.

I think it’s pretty clear that this is the best version of a Bolas Planeswalker that’s ever been printed, and that alone makes this a contender for many casual EDH decks. In a Superfriends build that can run him, it’s just bonkers. The play line of Doubling Season into Samut the Tested into this is a very viable win condition for such a deck. (Despite the flavor fail.)

For Standard, all of these modes might be useful, but for EDH I’m really only looking at the middle two. Grabbing back up to four permanents from the Graveyard is huge, and decks that want to proliferate will be more than happy to do so 4 times.

Ral is always pretty clear what deck he belongs in, and it’s usually Spellslinger. Being able to copy spells on his -2 is pretty big game, especially if you pair him up with extra turn effects. And it’s definitely possible to assemble a game winning combo with him. All you need is two spells that can copy each other, and one initial spell to get the ball rolling. That’s totally doable.

If your favorite deck is mono-White and your meta is full of multicolored cards, this could be worth considering. But outside of those conditions, I’d skip it.

This card goes in Breya. And Jhoira. And other degenerate Artifact decks.

Honestly, my favorite place for this iteration of Sarkhan is in a Superfriends deck as a way to alpha strike out of nowhere. Seriously, that +1 threatens a ton of damage if you’re running lots of Walkers, and he makes phenomenal tokens to protect them with. Seems great.

I can’t imagine a Voltron deck anywhere that doesn’t want this. Yes, it restricts you from casting Creatures or Planeswalkers even on your next turn, but if you only care about your General getting through, this is phenomenal. I immediately put this in my Taigam, Ojutai Master deck, and I bet it has homes in plenty more.

God what is with all the boardwipes in this set? Well, Wave of Reckoning is a thing, and this is easier to cast in Boros, so why not?

Sorin does so many things that W/B decks want to do. I can imagine decks like Ayli or Karlov wanting to run this for sure, as easy ways to gain lots of life. Then the fact that he can recur cheap creatures ties in perfectly. He’s not a slam dunk for every deck, but he’s a value machine in the decks that want him.

I immediately slammed this into my Aminatou, the Fateshifter deck, because now I have a second way to do infinite flickering. Beyond that, I’m sure there are many decks that would be interested in a clone that can copy Planeswalkers as well, though I do wish it weren’t restricted to ones you control.

Tamiyo is interesting, since her +1 seems like it would generally be awful in a singleton format. But then, there are a lot of decks that actually want things in the graveyard, like Sidisi, Brood Tyrant. And then, the fact that she’s got the Eternal Witness effect makes me stay curious. Finally, incidentally shutting off things like Fleshbag loops & forced discard makes Tamiyo a pretty intriguing package of useful effects. I’m willing to give her a try.

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir sees play basically on his static ability alone, so having that already makes this a card worth considering. My hunch is he’s a little too flimsy to make waves in EDH, but there’s probably an interested deck somewhere.

Tezzeret is not as good as people think he is, but Breya will still be interested, because she’s interested in anything degenerate to do with artifacts.

In case you’ve got that one friend who only has one deck and it’s Superfriends, this is his wakeup call to make another fucking deck.

I seriously can’t with all the board wipes in this set. I suppose this one is fun if you have a creature you really don’t want to lose for good.

There are some Green creature decks that can do some crazy shenanigans operating entirely at Instant speed, and those decks will be more than happy for Miss Vivien to drop on by. The rest of her text is mostly ornamental.

Vivien’s Arkbow may be a mediocre in Limited, but it has potential to be the real deal in EDH. Discarding a card is a real cost, but if you can reliably activate this for at least 6, you’re likely to hit every single time. And that’s not bad.

So that’s it. Those are most of the cards I expect to have an impact on Commander decks. Sure, there are likely a few I missed, but they’ll make themselves known eventually. What decks are you going to slot these cards into?