So many questions. Like… What do decks even look like in this brave new world of War of the Spark [Standard]? Pro Tour Champion (and Hall of Famer) + the lovable Michael J. Flores discuss the Top 8.

1. Is Planewide Celebration just a Draw 16?
2. How good is Narset, Parter of Veils from War of the Spark?
3. “Is Flux Channeler just Monastery Mentor?”
4. Is Narset’s Reversal the sweetest thing ever against Nexus of Fate?
5. How many copies of The Elderspell will each of us have in our first Nicol Bolas, Dragon God decks?
6. How do we feel about Knight of Autumn for our Selesnya card with Niv-Mizzet, Reborn?
7. What is green bringing to the table that white doesn’t already have?
8. Will Mike have the ONLY Army?

Let’s go!

Is Planewide Celebration just a Draw 16?

Planewide Celebration
5GG
Sorcery
Choose four. You may choose the same mode more than once.

• Create a 2/2 Citizen creature token that’s all colors.
• Return a permanent card from your graveyard to your hand.
• Proliferate.
• Gain 4 life.

It might not look like a “draw sixteen” on its face; but choosing to gain four life four times is a heck of a combo with Lich’s Mastery.

Lich’s Mastery may be getting even more of a bump with War of the Spark, as Bond of Flourishing makes of a bananas redundancy to Revitalize that might just.. Revitalize the archetype. Abzan Mastery anyone?

How good is Narset, Parter of Veils from War of the Spark?

Pretty good.

Narset’s card drawing ability might be stronger [on a three mana Planeswalker] than Jace Beleren; plus she puts tremendous pressure on opponents who want to cast things like Chemister’s Insight or other card draw.

Not for nothing, but she also punishes the poor manascrewed opponent looking to cycle out of a weak hand [albeit maybe not in the current Standard].

Completely unwitting splash damage victim? The beatdown player running Rix Maadi Reveler. Sorry 🙁

“Is Flux Channeler just Monastery Mentor?”

Michael certainly doesn’t think so.

His general argument is something like this:

• It doesn’t get big itself.
• It doesn’t make material; though it does make existing material bigger.

Patrick thinks this card might have a home, regardless.

Is Narset’s Reversal the sweetest thing ever against Nexus of Fate?

The new Fork + Remand certainly looks sweet, and sweet for this purpose. But…

Not if they already have 14 lands in play.
Not if they already have a Wilderness Reclamation.

But otherwise? Pretty sweet.

How many copies of The Elderspell will each of us have in our first Nicol Bolas, Dragon God decks?

Patrick: One
MichaelJ: Three

How do we feel about Knight of Autumn for our Selesnya card with Niv-Mizzet, Reborn?

1. Boros: Deafening Clairon. Down.
2. Orzhov: Mortify or Oath of Kaya. Sounds great.
3. Golgari: Death Sprout? Might actually help us cast this thing!
4. Selesnya: Knight of Autumn? Okay maybe we just skip Selesnya?
5. Gruul: Um, we have to be able to do better than Knight of Autumn, right?
6. …

Okay, okay. Maybe we don’t have to draw ten cards. Or even nine. Eight is a nice number too, isn’t it?

For further discussion: Modern

Wait until you hear Patrick’s suggestion for Simic!

What is green bringing to the table that white doesn’t already have?

Ahem. How about the ability to exile exactly one card?

Take that, Disenchant.

Will Mike have the ONLY Army?

Mike will not have the only Army. He might be stuck as the only one with an 11/11 Army being brickwalled by a 2/2 Army, though.

Patrick argues that Amass is actually a drawback, not a feature. His argument is that you’d rather have three 1/1 creatures for three mana (like a Hordeling Outburst) than a single 3/3 for three mana… But then again he is talking to the only person (aka Gnarled Mass fan) on earth where this might be a dense argument.

Hot take: Is Lazotep Reaver better than Dreadhorde Invasion?

Woah.

Shots fired, am I right? It’s “Amass Nekrataal” versus “Amass Man-o’-War” (or “plus” in Mike’s universe) and more, so much more, in the cast itself:

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Oath of Kaya is Pretty Horrible… For anyone who wants to play fair Magic

In this episode, Mike reveals his favorite card from War of the Spark

It’s Commence the Endgame!

Here’s his thinking: Commence the Endgame is a hefty six mana, yes; but it does everything he ever wanted. It draws “only” two cards. But instead of the other two cards he might get from, say, a Dragonlord’s Prerogative, the rest translates into a kind of Maro. This, of course, feeds into his new pet mechanic: Amass.

Patrick is a little less impressed. “It’s just another card draw spell that makes a dude,” says the Hall of Famer.

“I don’t know if it’s the best card; but it’s my favorite.”
-MichaelJ

Everything You Could Ever Want to Know About Oath of Kaya from War of the Spark

• Don’t love Commence the Endgame? Mike posits Oath of Kaya might be the actual best card in the set.
• It’s like a slow Lightning Helix. Throwback to fourteen years ago: Mike wrote the original preview for Lightning Helix on the Mother Ship!
• But it’s not just a slow Lightning Helix. This card is a massive disincentive to anyone wanting to play fair Magic at all. Remember all those shiny Viashino Pyromancers WotC gave away to MTG Arena players a few months back? They’ll never see the light of the stage or the ning of a strike again. Not with this around.
• “Well if they never trigger the second ability it’s just worse than a Lightning Helix.” -Patrick

God-Eternal Oketra is… Very Difficult to Kill

It’s not actually unkillable. It is, in fact, very difficult to kill.

God-Eternal Oketra is also an amazing card advantage engine! “People have built their entire deck design around much worse value than ‘cast any creature'” in the past.

This card seems tailor made for G/W. It prevents you from being punished for drawing a late game Llanowar Elves. In fact, you’ll get a nice five-damage-for-one-mana return on one of those!

Additionally, cards like Growth-Chamber Guardian will be extra useful as they can help ensure a steady stream of triggering creatures. Just a great card.

Our intrepid duo talk more and more great cards! War of the Spark just keeps giving them to us! We have no idea what Standard will look like in a couple of weeks; but it’s going to be… Different for sure.

Check out our new episode in full:

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Chandra, Fire Artisan from War of the Spark

The newest take on Chandra starts off with a very different kind of ability for a Planeswalker… A non-loyalty one!

It’s important to note that it doesn’t matter who removes the counters from Chandra — you or your opponent — or how they are removed. You can take them off with that [-7], or by operating a Heart of Kiran in some format. Or, in the most obvious scenario, you tick Chandra up from four loyalty to five; the opponent attacks her to death… And gets five to the face for his trouble.

But let’s talk about that [-7] for a second, shall we? In addition to a Wheel of Fortune like effect (that doesn’t force you to discard your hand!) Chandra will give the opponent a zinger for seven. That’s kind of like an Ultimate itself, isn’t it?

This new Chandra is going to be an important tool in the new Standard. It’s probably easier to work with than Experimental Frenzy, for instance. A Red Deck is far less likely to “get stuck” than under Frenzy, because Chandra lets you keep playing cards normally, on top of her [+1]. And when you go [-7] to try to finish the game? A Red Deck can both appreciate dealing seven to the opponent’s face and have a low enough set of casting costs to actually take advantage of the Ultimate’s time limitation.

Verdict: This card is going to be awesome in Standard!

War of the Spark: The Best of the Rest

Chandra is actually the last card we talked about this episode, more or less. Check out some other War of the Spark discussions:

• Niv-Mizzet Reborn – A hell of a Mulldrifter! “Somehow a Tidings with selection that has a 6/6 flyer attached”
• Angrath’s Rampage – Mike was originally lukewarm until he realized this card kills Bogles and Geist of St. Traft. “Modern, here we come!”
• Dreadhorde Invation – Patrick thinks one of Mike’s favorite cards so far is only pretty good. Just remember that a 1/1 ground creature (or +1/+1 counter) is much worse than a whole new 1/1 flyer.
• Bolas’s Citadel – How much would you pay for an Experimental Frenzy that would not shut down your ability to use your hand?

All these, and tons more!

You’ll have to give Chandra, Fire Artisan (and pals) a listen to find out more:

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Storrev, Devkarin Lich is Close on the Body

“There was a time when a four casting cost 5/5 cost you a life a turn and everyone was signing up for that.”

Storrev is “only” 5/4 Trample… But on the other hand it doesn’t cost you a life per turn. Furthermore, being Legendary is actually an upside in a world where Cast Down is one of the most common removal cards.

Point being, this Legendary Zombie Elf Wizard is close on the stats… Not close enough without its abilities maybe, but…

You’re Really Going to Want Storrev for the Hit Trigger, Though

Storrev is essentially a 5/4 trampling Ophidian.

For a card of this type — which often come out at 1/3 for three or even four mana in the case of Thieving Magpie — Storrev has outstanding power and toughness.

But that’s not all!

Trample is really meaningful here!

The opponent can’t just throw chump blockers or small token creatures in front of Storrev in order to prevent the card advantage trigger. Hand in hand, the ability to attack opposing Planeswalkers (and not just opponents themselves) makes Storrev a highly flexible attacker and source of card advantage.

What Might You Want to Get with Storrev, Devkarin Lich?

Storrev is fine as an attrition / grinding tool. Or as the realization of the old Jamie Wakefield “it’s the last fatty that kills you” theory. Storrev can clean up after you’ve traded a bunch and that’s great.

However, you can also do some aiming with this card. Here are some ideas (that, admittedly, transcend just Standard).

• Sakura-Tribe Elder – You can play the Rampant Growth-like Staple Snake to get Storrev out on turn three… And then get it back with your first attack!
• Cycling creatures – One of Storrev’s strengths is the ability to “aim” its card drawing, rather than just drawing whatever is on top of your deck. But if you want that kind of ability, creatures with cycling or landcycling work great. Engine!
• Plaguecrafter – Sacrifice this to itself and you can clear a path for your Legendary Zombie Elf Wizard… And have fuel to clear a path again next turn.
• Explore creatures – Merfolk Branchwalker and Jadelight Ranger can put random creatures into your graveyard… Right where Storrev can get them back for value!
• Planeswalkers – Especially some of the new War of the Spark ones that only have “minus” abilities. Reload!

We’ll be back tomorrow!

But first, give our Free Preview Podcast a listen:

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