Hi, everyone, and welcome back to Daily Arena!

War of the Spark released to Magic Arena recently, and is available for Draft and Sealed. To help people prepare, I thought I’d supply some links to good resources for players new to the format, as well as some information condensed from some of those resources.

First, Ryan Saxe has a good article discussing this format’s mechanics in Limited:

Analyzing War Of The Spark Mechanics For Limited

Another thing to check out might be The Draftaholics Anonymous rankings for Pack 1 Pick 1 choices for War of the Spark.

As well as The LR Community Review, with ranking based on hundreds of user-submitted Limited grades for every card in the set.

Limited Resources is a great resource for limited players in general. Their War of the Spark Set Review: Common and Uncommon and Ravnica Allegiance Set Review: Rare and Mythic Rare contain in-depth card-by-card reviews and discussion from Marshall Sutcliffe and Luis Scott-Vargas.

Luis Scott-Vargas has a series of limited set reviews for each set, and these are an indispensable resource for card evaluation. I will provide links to the relevant reviews here, then add aggregated versions of some of the most salient information below.

War of the Spark Limited Set Review: White

War of the Spark Limited Set Review: Blue

War of the Spark Limited Set Review: Black

War of the Spark Limited Set Review: Red

War of the Spark Limited Set Review: Green

War of the Spark Limited Set Review: Gold, Artifacts, and Lands

Here are some highlights/takeaways from the resources linked above:

Top White Commons

Divine Arrow

Law-Rune Enforcer

Trusted Pegasus

Wanderer’s Strike

War Screecher

Top Blue Commons

Aven Eternal

Callous Dismissal

Erratic Visionary

Tamiyo’s Epiphany

Thunder Drake

Top Black Commons

Herald of the Dreadhorde

Lazotep Reaver

Ob Nixilis’s Cruelty

Spark Harvest

Vraska’s Finisher

Top Red Commons

Ahn-Crop Invader

Heartfire

Jaya’s Greeting

Raging Kronch

Spellgorger Weird

Top Green Commons

Band Together

Bloom Hulk

Courage in Crisis

Kronch Wrangler

Pollenbright Druid

All Cards Sorted into Tiers, By Color

*

(SEALED)

(DRAFT)

Note: Very situational cards show up twice with a red asterisk. Another note: Cards that are better specifically in sealed or draft will show up twice marked withorin the relevant position in the table.

Some notes on situational cards (marked by red asterisks* above) from LSV…



Ajani’s Pridemate

“At a base level, Ajani’s Pridemate is a passable card, and you may randomly end up with 1 or 2 life-gain cards in your deck. Once you have 3+, especially repeatable ones, this becomes a powerhouse, largely because the opportunity cost is so low on a 2-mana 2/2.” – LSV



Grateful Apparition

“Without any other synergies, this is mediocre, but the synergies with proliferate are abundant and easy to find. If you have two other cards that work well, I’d be grateful for Grateful Apparition, and at 3+ it becomes one of the better cards in your deck. I’d mostly look for +1/+1 counters, though planeswalker loyalty is another good combo.” – LSV



Rally of Wings

“Not many decks will be able to play this, but it’s a beating when you do have a good Rally deck. A teamwide +2/+2 and an untap for 2 mana is powerful–I’d look to have 8+ fliers in my deck before Rallying. Note that this works very nicely with Trusted Pegasus, and I’d count Pegasus as two fliers for this calculation.” – LSV



Augur of Bolas

“In the spells-matter deck (mostly U/R) this is a fine 2-drop. At 8 spells, you’re 50/50 to find one, which is decent. When you start lowering the spell count, this gets worse and worse, and it’s not worth playing in the average 5-6 spell deck.” – LSV



Bond of Insight

“I’ve been liking Bond in spell-heavy Draft decks. It flips four cards, so you have a few additional shots at finding better options, and a 2-for-1 that gets all the good common removal spells back is something I’m in for. This is another spells-matter payoff, and again rewards synergy more than just being a powerful card in a vacuum.” – LSV



Narset, Parter of Veils

“Narset is very similar to Augur of Bolas and operates under basically the same restrictions. I have had the passive come up before, and it was pretty annoying against my looter, but for the most part it won’t make a huge impact.” – LSV



Bolas’s Citadel

“The split rating on this is a little weird, but Bolas’s Citadel is a weird card. In a normal deck, you shouldn’t play this, as it costs a ton of mana and requires you to have a lot of life to take advantage of it. In a deck with good ramp, defense, and life gain, it can be quite the engine, and it is obscenely powerful if you have enough life points. This one is going to need more testing, but I am going to start with it in the ‘powerful build-around’ camp, where it delivers if you do the work.” – LSV



Command the Dreadhorde

“This is eerily similar to Bolas’s Citadel. It costs the same and rewards largely the same deckbuilding, and like the Citadel, is very powerful when you can get it to work. In a control deck with a lot of life gain, it’s a powerful finisher, especially if you have removal to put some of their better targets into the graveyard.” – LSV



The Elderspell

“The first rating is for the main deck, where I’d play The Elderspell if I was short on removal for planeswalkers (especially if I have a couple to add loyalty to). The second is for sideboard use, where it’s a good efficient answer if your opponent has a few in their deck. Note that while I’m not high on cards like Stealth Mission as an answer to planeswalkers, having a 2-mana direct kill spell is different. This is less vulnerable to removal and can help get you back into the game when you’re behind.” – LSV



Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted

“Ob is a great card, but can be a little tricky to use. When you’re ahead, he’s amazing, as the opponent will often not have time to use all the cards anyways. That makes him something akin to double Unlicensed Disintegration, which is usually unbeatable. In an attrition-based game, giving your opponent two cards per creature isn’t as appealing, but you can actually start pointing him at your own creatures instead. Killing a 1/1 amass token or a Lazotep Reaver in exchange for two cards is a great deal, and Ob’s passive still preassures the opponent at 1 per turn. On balance, Ob is much better in aggro decks, but with the right setup he’s good anywhere.” – LSV



Bolt Bend

“In a deck with a lot of 4-power creatures, Bolt Bend is a very strong spell. Sure, it may not have many targets in the opposing deck but when you do land it, it completely destroys the opponent. Making a removal spell hit their own creature for 1 mana is an incredible swing, and worth sometimes having a dead card in hand. This is a card that highly relies on the opponent’s deck, so side it out aggressively if you don’t see any targets.” – LSV



Cyclops Electromancer

“This scales up pretty quickly once you hit 7 spells, and at 13+ it essentially becomes a Flametongue Kavu. That’s a good build-around if I’ve ever seen one, and makes Cyclops Electromancer worth speculating on early.” – LSV

Hopefully this will be helpful to someone who is playing this format in limited and needs some sage wisdom from the pros. It was definitely helpful to me to put it together.



Devouring Hellion

“Red-black and red-blue both enable the sacrifice deck well enough, largely thanks to amass. Note that this can eat planeswalkers too, and devouring one with 1 loyalty that’s just sitting there can be effective. I’m a little lower on Devouring Hellion than I would be if the removal in this set wasn’t so good, and I’d usually recommend against going all-in early.” – LSV



Finale of Promise

“This is a promising build-around, and it’s basically a blue-red gold card. If you’ve got a healthy mix of instants and sorceries, this really delivers, and it triggers cards like Spellgorger Weird three times. That’s a lot of action, and Finale of Promise is one of the better reasons to be in the spells deck in the first place.” – LSV



Heartfire

“In a deck with 3-4 good fodder cards, Heartfire is an excellent removal spell (or finisher). Most decks will want this, and some decks will really want it, as it pairs excellently with amass, Tibalt, and Tibalt’s Rager.” – LSV



Cruel Celebrant

“Cruel Celebrant is passable in any creature-heavy deck, but doesn’t become a high priority until you really commit to the B/W sacrifice deck. This plus Spark Reaper, Teyo, and Lazotep Reavers is an effective combination, and I have enjoyed when that deck comes together.” – LSV



Invade the City

“In a heavy U/R spells deck, Invade the City sometimes is better than Relentless Advance, and that’s a pretty low bar. I don’t much like this as a build-around, and while I will begrudgingly play it if I’m at 15+ spells, it’s definitely not an early pick.” – LSV



Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God

“Bolas is an obscenely powerful card, but also a very difficult card to cast. I don’t recommend slamming Bolas and diving headfirst into Grixis, but if you see Bolas after taking a few black cards, it is possible to cast. You want to be heavy black, with blue and red as splashes, and prioritize fixers. Being able to -3 to kill anything and +1 to draw a card plus tax them for a card is awesome, and sometimes this even hijacks the abilities of other planeswalkers (though there aren’t many that do it better than Bolas). The power here is worth it, and fixing does make it possible, but you likely should keep yourself open to begin with, and only move into Bolas territory if you see him a little later.” – LSV



Huatli, the Sun’s Heart

“Huatli is a nice build-around, and really goes off with Charity Extractor. You often won’t want to even use the -3, and she survives pretty well with 7 loyalty. I like her in B/W decks the most, though I’ve seen G/W be able to use her well enough.” – LSV



Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner

“Kiora is basically a green card, given how few blue creatures are large enough to get you that extra card. She is fantastic as long as you have 5+ ways to trigger her, as she starts with a lot of loyalty and generates a good bit of extra mana (bonus points for combining her with New Horizons).” – LSV



Karn, the Great Creator

“Karn is a weird one. The best use I can imagine for him is to have a God-Pharaoh’s Statue and a Saheeli’s Silverwing in the board, making Karn a bizarre sort of Divination. I’m not sure how feasible that is, but you’ll likely be able to pick up all the pieces on the cheap.” – LSV



Firemind Vessel

“In a normal 2-color deck, this is crap. It’s too expensive and doesn’t affect the board until way too late. In a 3+ color deck, especially one with some expensive bombs, it becomes a strong enabler, though I tend to prefer the Mana Geode.” – LSV



Guild Globe

“I like Guild Globe, and am happy playing it in 2-color decks if they have a lot of double mana costs. It also triggers cards like Spellgorger Weird, and overall has a pretty low opportunity cost. In a 3+ color deck it becomes even better, and those decks will nab these as soon as they can.” – LSV



Mana Geode

“Like the other fixers, I wouldn’t really look to play Mana Geode in a 2-color deck, but it shines once you are getting a little more wild.” – LSV



Gateway Plaza

“Gateway Plaza is mediocre in 2-color decks and great in 3+ color decks, just like previous cards. Having your land cost 2 mana is rough, so it’s only worth it if you’re really going deep.” – LSV

Hopefully this will be helpful to someone who is playing this format in limited and needs some sage wisdom from the pros. It was definitely helpful to me to put it together.

As always, feel free to send any questions, comments and criticisms to me here, on Reddit, on Twitter at @DailyArena or on Facebook via the @DailyArenaMTG page.

Peace.



Joseph Eddy is a Father, Husband, Son, Brother, Software Developer, and Gamer. Magic is his favorite hobby, and he’s looking forward to seeing you all on Arena. He streams Magic Arena on a weekly basis (or more), but currently is unable to keep to a set schedule.