Wizards of the Coast released the newest expansion set for Magic: The Gathering into the wild on May 3rd.
War of the Spark Set Info
Release Date: May 2, 2019
Card Count: 264
Available For Purchase:
Planeswalkers Matter
War of The Spark will feature thirty six planeswalkers, with one planeswalker as the buy-a-box promo. With the previous promise of a planeswalker in ever pack, we now know they are going to fulfill that promise with planeswalkers at various rarities (The infinite cohost called it). There are going to be twenty uncommon, twelve Rare, and three mythic planeswalkers in the set. These characters are drawn from throughout the multiverse of Magic and throughout its history.
In addition to uncommon and rare planeswalkers, War of The Spark features new abilities and mana costs never seen before on cards before. Hybrid mana symbols are being printed on planeswalkers for the first time ever, allowing for flexible casting costs and fitting them in as many decks as possible. Wizards also confirmed in their War of The Spark Panel at Pax that all thirty seven planeswalkers will feature a static or triggered ability as part of their rules text.
Having abilities on planeswalkers where their vary presence influence the battlefield leads to many more opportunities for cool cards and cool play.
Japanese Alternate Art Planeswalkers
Wizards is making things VERY interesting for collectors this time around. They commissioned several Japanese artists to create alternate art for each of the planeswalkers in the set. These alternate art cards will be available in Japanese packs of War of the Spark and will replace the planeswalker in the pack 50% of the time.
Positive Proliferation
Proliferate shows up as a returning mechanic for War of The Spark. Last featured in the Scars of Mirrodin block, this mechanic lets you add any kind of counter to any number of permanents that you own. Which not only supports planeswalkers but creatures with +1 counters.
Amass an Army!
Amass is a key word focusing around the Dreadhorde, Nicol Bolas’s personal army of zombie warriors. Each card with Amass lets you create a zombie army token with +1/+1 counters or add more counters to your existing creature. The intent behind the ability is to create a single giant creature to destroy your opponent in only a few crushing attacks. Where it lacks in its ability to create multiple army tokens, the ability to go big leads to a massive creature dominating the battle field. Hope you don’t find a way to give it trample!
Some of Our Favorite Cards!
Dreadhhorde Invasion – Mike Guarino
My favorite War of the Spark card right now has to be Dreadhorde Invasion: 1) The card is crazy good in Limited and was an absolute powerhouse at Prerelease. The life loss is negligible and even recoverable if this goes unanswered long enough, and you can even speed that up with proliferate! 2) We knew that this would be good, because it’s a callback to the all-star enchantment Bitterblossom (from Morningtide). I really like how this set is cognizant of Magic’s history not only in the lore but also in card mechanics! 3) Speaking of lore, the relentless, sinister nature of the Dreadhore Invasion is realized here. Destroy the zombie invaders, and it’s only a matter of time before more take their place!
Sarkhan The Masterless – Susie Guarino
As an aggro-loving limited junkie, I was tempted to pick a more common, reliable, dangerous-but-not-total-bomb card like Trusted Pegasus as my favorite. (Plus the Vorthos in me cries every time I see that art!) But then I remembered that above all else I’m a huge smashy Timmy, so I have to say Sarkhan the Masterless is the most exciting card in this set for me. A 5-drop is plenty fast enough for a top-end bomb of a limited aggro deck, and honestly with the dragon shenanigans he can pull off I’m surprised he doesn’t cost more. The ping effect gets out of hand quickly and really deters the opponent from attacking. In the meantime, nothing is stopping you from your aggressive dragon army onslaught!! It’s true, when I played him this weekend he was instantly the target of removal, but not before he popped out that one dragon! If he and his immediate dragon pal force my opponent to focus fire two removal spells at me, that’s still plenty of value for a 5-drop! And if they can’t respond?! Oh. Boy. Gonna fill the skies with good good dragons. Who doesn’t love that?!
Crushing Dissent – Michael Duetzmann
Last set I fell in love with Frilled Mystic. It was a card that was both a creature and a counterspell. The casting cost was prohibitive though as it required a total of four mana, two of which being green and two being blue. Crushing Dissent is similar because it also counters a spell and creates a creature (because of the Amass keyword). It isn’t as effective of a counterspell because opponents can just spend two extra mana, but it is MUCH easier to cast as it only costs 2 colorless mana and one blue. This card has already worked wonders for me in limited formats and on MTG Arena.
Mowu, Loyal Companion – Evan Duetzmann
I love Mowu for two reasons. First, he’s a cute dog. Second, I think he would make a fun Commander because there are lots of green cards that give +1/+1 counters to creatures you control and he would make those cards better.
What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!
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Guest Writer 
Linda Wrobel