War of the Spark: Difference between revisions

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   |code_expansion = WAR
   |code_expansion = WAR
   |code_expansion_ref = {{EzTumblr|http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/181929854438/is-war-of-the-sparks-set-code-wos-or-war-or-what|January 11, 2019}}
   |code_expansion_ref = {{EzTumblr|http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/181929854438/is-war-of-the-sparks-set-code-wos-or-war-or-what|January 11, 2019}}
  |plane = [[Ravnica]]<br/>[[Meditation Plane]]
   |code_expansion_explain =  
   |code_expansion_explain =  
   |code_development = Milk
   |code_development = Milk
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* Act 1: <c>Ignite the Beacon</c>, <c>No Escape</c>, <c>Emergence Zone</c>, <c>Dreadhorde Invasion</c>, <c>Ravnica at War</c> and <c>God-Pharaoh's Statue</c>
* Act 1: <c>Ignite the Beacon</c>, <c>No Escape</c>, <c>Emergence Zone</c>, <c>Dreadhorde Invasion</c>, <c>Ravnica at War</c> and <c>God-Pharaoh's Statue</c>
* Act 2: <c>Pledge of Unity</c>, <c>Rally of Wings</c>, <c>Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi</c>, <c>Topple the Statue</c>, <c>Enter the God-Eternals</c>, <c>Spark Harvest</c>, <c>The Elderspell</c>, and <c>Deliver Unto Evil</c>
* Act 2: <c>Pledge of Unity</c>, <c>Rally of Wings</c>, <c>Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi</c>, <c>Topple the Statue</c>, <c>Enter the God-Eternals</c>, <c>Spark Harvest</c>, <c>The Elderspell</c>, and <c>Deliver Unto Evil</c>
* Act 3: <c>Storm the Citadel</c>, <c>Divine Arrow</c>, <c>Unlikely Aid</c>, <c>Tyrant's Scorn</c>, <c>Command the Dreadhorde</c>, <c>Price of Betrayal</c>, <c>Gideon's Sacrifice</c>, <c>Heartwarming Redemption</c>, <c>Niv-Mizzet Reborn</c>, <c>Despark</c>, <c>Prison Realm</c>, <c>Oath of Kaya</c>, and <c>Planewide Celebration</c>
* Act 3: <c>Storm the Citadel</c>, <c>Divine Arrow</c>, {{Card|Unlikely Aid|WAR}}, <c>Tyrant's Scorn</c>, <c>Command the Dreadhorde</c>, <c>Price of Betrayal</c>, <c>Gideon's Sacrifice</c>, <c>Heartwarming Redemption</c>, <c>Niv-Mizzet Reborn</c>, <c>Despark</c>, <c>Prison Realm</c>, <c>Oath of Kaya</c>, and <c>Planewide Celebration</c>


====Magic Story====
====Magic Story====
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! Title !! Author !! Release Date !! Setting !! Featuring
! Title !! Author !! Release Date !! Setting !! Featuring
|-
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-old-friends-and-new-2019-05-08|War of the Spark: Ravnica—Old Friends and New}} || [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-05-08 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Hekara]], [[Teyo Verada]], [[Kaya]], [[Ral Zarek]], and many others.
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-old-friends-and-new-2019-05-08|War of the Spark: Ravnica—Old Friends and New}} || [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-05-08 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Hekara]], [[Teyo Verada|Teyo]], Barrez, [[Nicol Bolas]], [[the Gatewatch]] ([[Liliana Vess|Liliana]], [[Chandra Nalaar|Chandra]], [[Teferi Akosa|Teferi]], [[Jace Beleren|Jace]], [[Gideon Jura|Gideon]] and [[Ajani Goldmane|Ajani]]), [[Ral Zarek|Ral]], [[Kaya Cassir|Kaya]], [[Lavinia]], [[Jaya Ballard|Jaya]], [[Karn]]
|-
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-path-opulent-2019-05-15|War of the Spark: Ravnica—The Path to Opulent}} || [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-05-15 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Teyo Verada]], [[Kaya]], [[Domri Rade]] and many others.
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-path-opulent-2019-05-15|War of the Spark: Ravnica—The Path to Opulent}} || [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-05-15 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Teyo Verada|Teyo]], [[Kaya Cassir|Kaya]], [[Ral Zarek|Ral]], [[Jaya Ballard|Jaya]], [[Gideon Jura|Gideon]], Krumnen, [[Gan Shokta]], [[Domri Rade|Domri]], Akamal Cray, [[Govan Radley]], Sheeza, Jahdeera, Bombop, [[Vorel]], [[Maree]], [[Kiora]], [[Samut]], [[Eknet]], [[Temmet]], [[Neit]], [[Haqikah]], [[Kawit]], [[Huatli]], [[Saheeli Rai|Saheeli]], [[Kasmina]], [[Oketra]], [[Kefnet]], [[Bontu]], [[Rhonas]], [[Jace Beleren|Jace]]
|-
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-rallying-reluctant-2019-05-22|War of the Spark: Ravnica—Rallying the Reluctant}} || [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-05-22 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Teyo Verada]], [[Kaya]], [[Jace Beleren]], [[Gideon Jura]] and many others.
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-rallying-reluctant-2019-05-22|War of the Spark: Ravnica—Rallying the Reluctant}} || [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-05-22 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Jace Beleren|Jace]], [[Kaya Cassir|Kaya]], [[Teyo Verada|Teyo]], Blaise, [[Teysa Karlov]], Armin Morov, Slavomir Zoltan, [[Maladola]], [[Bilagru]], [[Domri Rade|Domri]] (mentioned), [[Ral Zarek|Ral]], [[Maree]], [[Aurelia]], [[Niv-Mizzet]] (mentioned), [[Gideon Jura|Gideon]], [[Isperia]], [[Jiang Yanggu|Yanggu]], [[Mowu]], [[Dack Fayden|Dack]], [[Saheeli Rai|Saheeli]], [[Ob Nixilis|Nixilis]], [[Davriel Cane|Davriel]], [[Angrath]], [[Huatli]], [[Samut]], [[Vorel]], [[Vivien]], [[Lavinia]], [[Ajani Goldmane|Ajani]]
|-
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-desperate-operatives-2019-05-29|War of the Spark: Ravnica—Desperate Operatives}} || [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-05-29 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Teyo Verada]], [[Kaya]], [[Ral Zarek]], [[Trostani]], [[Borborygmos]], [[Vraska]] and many others.
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-desperate-operatives-2019-05-29|War of the Spark: Ravnica—Desperate Operatives}} || [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-05-29 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Kaya Cassir|Kaya]], [[Teyo Verada|Teyo]], [[Nissa Revane|Nissa]], [[Rhonas]], [[Boruvo]], [[Emmara Tandris]], [[Trostani]], [[Gan Shokta]], [[Borborygmos]], [[Ari Shokta]], [[Ral Zarek|Ral]], [[Storrev]], Azdomas, [[Izoni]], [[Varolz]], Cevraya, [[Mazirek]] (mentioned), [[Vraska]], [[Ajani Goldmane|Ajani]], [[Khazi]], [[Mu Yanling|Yanling]], [[Jiang Yanggu|Yanggu]], [[Mowu]], [[Huatli]]
|-
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-operation-desperation-2019-06-05|War of the Spark: Ravnica—Operation Desperation}} || [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-06-05 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Teyo Verada]], [[Kaya]], [[Ral Zarek]], [[Vraska]], [[Rakdos]], [[Exava]], [[Tomik Vrona]] and [[Hekara]].
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-operation-desperation-2019-06-05|War of the Spark: Ravnica—Operation Desperation}} || [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-06-05 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Teyo Verada|Teyo]], [[Kaya Cassir|Kaya]], [[Ral Zarek|Ral]], [[Vraska]], Whipsaw, [[Exava]], [[Rakdos]], [[Tomik Vrona]], [[Hekara]], [[Varryvort]], [[Nissa Revane|Nissa]], [[Lavinia]], [[Borborygmos]], [[Gan Shokta]], [[Ari Shokta]], [[Emmara Tandris]], [[Boruvo]], [[Vannifar]], [[Vorel]], [[Aurelia]], [[Lazav]], [[Kefnet]], [[Niv-Mizzet]]
|-
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-ashes-2019-06-12|War of the Spark: Ravnica—Ashes}}|| [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-06-12 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[Teyo Verada]], [[Gatewatch]], [[Dack Fayden]], [[Liliana Vess]], [[Vraska]], [[Ral Zarek]], [[Niv-Mizzet]], [[Vorel]] and many others.
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/war-spark-ravnica-ashes-2019-06-12|War of the Spark: Ravnica—Ashes}}|| [[Greg Weisman]] || 2019-06-12 || [[Ravnica]] || [[Araithia Shokta|Rat]], [[the Gatewatch]], [[Nissa Revane|Nissa]], [[Tomik Vrona]], [[Lavinia]], [[Ral Zarek|Ral]], [[Isperia]], [[Dack Fayden|Dack]], [[Saheeli Rai|Saheeli]], [[Kaya Cassir|Kaya]], [[Hekara]], [[Vraska]], [[Nicol Bolas]], [[Borborygmos]], [[Vorel]], [[Karn]], [[Jaya Ballard|Jaya]], [[Boruvo]], [[Ari Shokta]], [[Gan Shokta]], [[Sorin Markov|Sorin]], [[Nahiri]], [[Teyo Verada|Teyo]], [[Arlinn Kord|Arlinn]], [[Bilagru]], [[Feather]], [[Maladola]], [[Rakdos]], [[Oketra]], [[Bontu]], [[Niv-Mizzet]], [[Angrath]], [[Mu Yanling|Yanling]], [[Jiang Yanggu|Yanggu]], [[Mowu]], [[Samut]], [[Aurelia]], [[Exava]], [[Lazav]]
|}
|}


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*{{card|Tamiyo's Epiphany||WAR}} is a functional reprint of <c>Foresee</c>.
*{{card|Tamiyo's Epiphany||WAR}} is a functional reprint of <c>Foresee</c>.


==Banned and Restricted cards==
==Notable cards==
* <c>Karn, the Great Creator</c> has a one-sided <c>Null Rod</c> passive ability that generally only gained power with larger formats. Despite its suffocating interaction with <c>Mycosynth Lattice</c> that led to Lattice's banning in Modern, it was not generally damaging for formats up to Legacy. Vintage, however, is defined by its fast mana, most of it being artifact based. Karn hence was restricted in August 2019.
===Banned and restricted cards===
* <c>Narset, Parter of Veils</c> has a draw-restricting passive most famously seen on <c>Leovold, Emissary of Trest</c>, already a powerful card in Eternal formats. While it was frustrating in most formats, most decks had sufficient methods to remove Narset at a reasonable exchange. In Vintage, however, the bulk of the format required some form of additional card draw to operate, and with fast mana Narset hamstrung enough decks that it needed to be restricted in November 2019.
* <c>Karn, the Great Creator</c> has a one-sided <c>Null Rod</c> passive ability that generally only gained power with larger formats. Despite his suffocating interaction with <c>Mycosynth Lattice</c> that led to Lattice's banning in Modern, he was not generally damaging for formats up to Legacy. Vintage, however, is defined by its fast mana, most of it being artifact based. Karn hence was restricted in August 2019.
* <c>Teferi, Time Raveler</c>, unlike the other two, had play problems as a whole. The passive ability prevents an opponent from casting spells on its controller's turn. However, the wording only allows functional sorcery spells, stopping combat tricks, spells like <c>Finale of Promise</c>, and protective spells like <c>Lazotep Plating</c>, cutting out synergy decks powered by such cards like <c>Feather, the Redeemed</c> and <c>Arclight Phoenix</c>. Its -3 ability rendered most non-planeswalker permanents that cost 3 or greater ineffectual, while the ability to cast a sorcery with flash punished aggressive decks greatest, given that <c>Shatter the Sky</c> was in Standard. All in all, Teferi pushed decks away from the middle of the curve into extreme aggressive or heavy ramp (consequently knocking out control); its only saving grace was that it kept Flash decks and Temur <c>Wilderness Reclamation</c> decks from overwhelming the format. Six weeks prior to rotation, Teferi was banned alongside <c>Wilderness Reclamation</c> as a sign that Wizards acknowledged how frustrating the two cards were. Teferi was later banned in both Historic (October 2020) and Pioneer (February 2021). With the release of [[Alchemy]] for Historic, it was rebalanced and unbanned by changing the passive to "Your opponents can't cast spells on your turn" and increasing the mana cost by {{1}}.
**After a few years as a format mainstay in Pioneer, it was determined that Mono-Green Devotion's positioning as a big-creature deck with a slow and resilient combo kill meant that many conventional strategies were not feasible, such as midrange, other artifact combo, many types of control, and some form of fliers decks. Karn was banned as its focus point in December 2023. Explorer followed Pioneer's lead.
* <c>Narset, Parter of Veils</c> has a draw-restricting passive most famously seen on <c>Leovold, Emissary of Trest</c>, already a powerful card in Eternal formats. While she was frustrating in most formats, most decks had sufficient methods to remove Narset at a reasonable exchange. In Vintage, however, the bulk of the format required some form of additional card draw to operate, and with fast mana Narset hamstrung enough decks that she needed to be restricted in November 2019.
* <c>Teferi, Time Raveler</c>, unlike the other two, had play problems as a whole. The passive ability prevents an opponent from casting spells on his controller's turn. However, the wording only allows functional sorcery spells, stopping combat tricks, spells like <c>Finale of Promise</c>, and protective spells like <c>Lazotep Plating</c>, cutting out synergy decks powered by such cards like <c>Feather, the Redeemed</c> and <c>Arclight Phoenix</c>. His -3 ability rendered most non-planeswalker permanents that cost 3 or greater ineffectual, while the ability to cast a sorcery with flash punished aggressive decks greatest, given that <c>Shatter the Sky</c> was in Standard. All in all, Teferi pushed decks away from the middle of the curve into extreme aggressive or heavy ramp (consequently knocking out control); its only saving grace was that he kept Flash decks and Temur <c>Wilderness Reclamation</c> decks from overwhelming the format. Six weeks prior to rotation, Teferi was banned alongside <c>Wilderness Reclamation</c> as a sign that Wizards acknowledged how frustrating the two cards were. Teferi was later banned in both Historic (October 2020) and Pioneer (February 2021). With the release of [[Alchemy]] for Historic, he was rebalanced and unbanned by changing the passive to "Your opponents can't cast spells on your turn" and increasing the mana cost by {{1}}.
* <c>Dreadhorde Arcanist</c>, like Karn and Narset, had varying impacts depending on the strength of cheap spells. It has the ability to "flash back" spells with cost less than or equal to its power, which at one power tends to be a reasonable threshold, and the 3 toughness makes it not particularly sturdy. That said, the breadth of options in Legacy makes it an engine in a format where one mana spells have high impact. It was banned in February 2021.
* <c>Dreadhorde Arcanist</c>, like Karn and Narset, had varying impacts depending on the strength of cheap spells. It has the ability to "flash back" spells with cost less than or equal to its power, which at one power tends to be a reasonable threshold, and the 3 toughness makes it not particularly sturdy. That said, the breadth of options in Legacy makes it an engine in a format where one mana spells have high impact. It was banned in February 2021.


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File:Stained-glass 29.jpg|[[Vraska]]
File:Stained-glass 29.jpg|[[Vraska]]
File:Stained-glass 12.jpg|[[The Wanderer]]
File:Stained-glass 12.jpg|[[The Wanderer]]
File:RavnicaAtWar.png|<c>Ravnica At War</c>
File:NoEscape.png|<c>No Escape</c>
File:StormtheCitadel.png|<c>Storm the Citadel</c>
File:CommenceTheEndgame.png|<c>Commence the Endgame</c>
File:GideonsSacrifice.png|<c>Gideon's Sacrifice</c>
</gallery>
</gallery>


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*{{YouTubeRef|b5W9t62t10I|War of the Spark Official Trailer – Magic: The Gathering|channel=Magic: The Gathering|date=March 31, 2019}}
*{{YouTubeRef|b5W9t62t10I|War of the Spark Official Trailer – Magic: The Gathering|channel=Magic: The Gathering|date=March 31, 2019}}
*{{DailyRef|making-magic/odds-ends-war-spark-2019-05-13|Odds & Ends: War of the Spark|[[Mark Rosewater]]|May 13, 2019}}  
*{{DailyRef|making-magic/odds-ends-war-spark-2019-05-13|Odds & Ends: War of the Spark|[[Mark Rosewater]]|May 13, 2019}}  
*{{DailyRef|making-magic/lessons-learned-part-5|Lessons Learned, Part 5|[[Mark Rosewater]]|August 7, 2023}}
{{Sets|state=collapsed}}
{{Sets|state=collapsed}}
{{Ravnica|sets}}
{{Ravnica|sets}}

Latest revision as of 18:10, 26 June 2024

War of the Spark
 
Event
 
Card comparisons
 
Mythic Edition
 
Planeswalker decks
 
Trivia
 
War of the Spark
[[File:{{#setmainimage:WAR logo.png}}|250px]]
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description Bolas's horns over the planeswalker symbol
Design Mark Rosewater (lead)[1]
Peter Lee
Dave Humpherys
James Wyatt
Jackie Lee
Ken Nagle
Development Dave Humpherys (lead)
Ian Duke
Andrew Brown
Ken Nagle
Jules Robins
Yoni Skolnik
Gavin Verhey
Art direction Dawn Murin
Taylor Ingvarsson
Release date May 3, 2019
Plane Ravnica
Meditation Plane
Themes and mechanics Planeswalkers, colored artifacts, hybrid mana, Vehicles
Keywords/​ability words Amass, Proliferate, Affinity for artifacts, Crew
Set size 264 cards
(101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares, 15 basic lands)
+10 Planeswalker deck exclusives
+1 Buy-a-Box promo
Expansion code WAR[2]
Development codename Milk
Core Set 2020 Standard
Guilds of Ravnica Ravnica Allegiance War of the Spark
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
War of the Spark
Mythic Edition		 War of the Spark Modern Horizons

War of the Spark is the 81st Magic expansion. It was released on May 3, 2019.[3][4][5] Officially, it is not part of a block. However, it is part of a series of three consecutive sets on the same world, unofficially referred to as the Guilds of Ravnica block.[6] It covers the event of the same name.

Set details

War of the Spark contains 264 cards (15 basic lands, 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares), and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all these cards. Ten additional cards are found in the set's planeswalker decks (2 mythic planeswalkers, 2 rares, 2 uncommons, 2 commons, and 2 common Guildgates). These are numbered #265/264 to #274/264. A unique Buy-a-Box promotional card numbered #275/264 is also considered to be part of the set. While all previous sets on Ravnica focused on the ten Ravnican guilds, this set focuses on the culmination of the Bolas Arc simply using the world as a backdrop.[7][8][9] Mark Rosewater calls it an "event set", meaning it is built around an event rather than the plane.[10][11] As a special feature, the set features a total of 36 planeswalkers cards (39 including the Buy-a-Box promo + 2 in the planeswalker decks.[12][13][14] Each booster pack contains a planeswalker card,[13] and all planeswalkers are new cards (no reprints).[15]

The set is accompanied by the first major paper Magic novel after an eight-year break.[16]

Storyline

War of the Spark key art
“  Be there when it ends.  ”
Main article: War of the Spark: Ravnica

The storyline and set revolves around the fight between the Gatewatch and Nicol Bolas. The fight turns into an all-out planeswalker war. Dozens of powerful planeswalkers, from many disparate realities, unite against the elder dragon, who has claimed dominion over Ravnica and is perilously close to completing the Elderspell that harvests sparks and will grant him "ultimate power" and godhood. As they fight alongside the Gatewatch—led by Chandra Nalaar, Jace Beleren, and Gideon Jura—against Bolas and his relentless army of Eternals, nothing less than the fate of the multiverse is at stake.[17] Little do the Gatewatch suspect that Bolas has not only accounted for their interference, but he is practically relying on it.[18]

The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in War of the Spark are:

Magic Story

Main article: Magic Story

In addition to the novel and its sequel (both by Greg Weisman) and the prequel by Django Wexler, part of the story appeared in six Magic Story chapters written by Greg Weisman.[19] Like the books, these were published after the set had been released.

Title Author Release Date Setting Featuring
War of the Spark: Ravnica—Old Friends and New Greg Weisman 2019-05-08 Ravnica Rat, Hekara, Teyo, Barrez, Nicol Bolas, the Gatewatch (Liliana, Chandra, Teferi, Jace, Gideon and Ajani), Ral, Kaya, Lavinia, Jaya, Karn
War of the Spark: Ravnica—The Path to Opulent Greg Weisman 2019-05-15 Ravnica Rat, Teyo, Kaya, Ral, Jaya, Gideon, Krumnen, Gan Shokta, Domri, Akamal Cray, Govan Radley, Sheeza, Jahdeera, Bombop, Vorel, Maree, Kiora, Samut, Eknet, Temmet, Neit, Haqikah, Kawit, Huatli, Saheeli, Kasmina, Oketra, Kefnet, Bontu, Rhonas, Jace
War of the Spark: Ravnica—Rallying the Reluctant Greg Weisman 2019-05-22 Ravnica Rat, Jace, Kaya, Teyo, Blaise, Teysa Karlov, Armin Morov, Slavomir Zoltan, Maladola, Bilagru, Domri (mentioned), Ral, Maree, Aurelia, Niv-Mizzet (mentioned), Gideon, Isperia, Yanggu, Mowu, Dack, Saheeli, Nixilis, Davriel, Angrath, Huatli, Samut, Vorel, Vivien, Lavinia, Ajani
War of the Spark: Ravnica—Desperate Operatives Greg Weisman 2019-05-29 Ravnica Rat, Kaya, Teyo, Nissa, Rhonas, Boruvo, Emmara Tandris, Trostani, Gan Shokta, Borborygmos, Ari Shokta, Ral, Storrev, Azdomas, Izoni, Varolz, Cevraya, Mazirek (mentioned), Vraska, Ajani, Khazi, Yanling, Yanggu, Mowu, Huatli
War of the Spark: Ravnica—Operation Desperation Greg Weisman 2019-06-05 Ravnica Rat, Teyo, Kaya, Ral, Vraska, Whipsaw, Exava, Rakdos, Tomik Vrona, Hekara, Varryvort, Nissa, Lavinia, Borborygmos, Gan Shokta, Ari Shokta, Emmara Tandris, Boruvo, Vannifar, Vorel, Aurelia, Lazav, Kefnet, Niv-Mizzet
War of the Spark: Ravnica—Ashes Greg Weisman 2019-06-12 Ravnica Rat, the Gatewatch, Nissa, Tomik Vrona, Lavinia, Ral, Isperia, Dack, Saheeli, Kaya, Hekara, Vraska, Nicol Bolas, Borborygmos, Vorel, Karn, Jaya, Boruvo, Ari Shokta, Gan Shokta, Sorin, Nahiri, Teyo, Arlinn, Bilagru, Feather, Maladola, Rakdos, Oketra, Bontu, Niv-Mizzet, Angrath, Yanling, Yanggu, Mowu, Samut, Aurelia, Exava, Lazav

Basic land panorama

The following basic lands form a panorama in that order: Mountain (#261), Plains (#252), Swamp (#258), Island (#254), and Forest (#264).

Marketing

War of the Spark "movie-style" poster

War of the Spark is sold in regular 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card and another one being a planeswalker), single color theme boosters[20], two planeswalker decks, and the War of the Spark bundle. The planeswalker theme of the set was revealed in a teaser that featured the art of the 36 planeswalker cards with an added stained-glass effect.[21][22] The boosters feature art from Liliana and Gideon (both from the set's key art), and from Teferi, Time Raveler.[23]

Each paper booster pack contains a planeswalker. This doesn't apply to 8-card "Arena packs" on MTGA.[24]

Preview season told a story in "scenes". All cards previewed on a single day had a connection to a story point, an event, or a key location in roughly chronological order.[25]

Events

  • War of the Spark came online on MTG Arena on April 25, two days before prerelease.[26]
  • Prerelease took place on April 27–28, 2019, the same weekend as London MagicFest and the second Mythic Championship of the year.[27] In fact, the MagicFest at a late date was revealed to be a "Prerelease grand prix".[28][29]
  • The Magic League was omitted from War of the Spark and all seasons for the foreseeable future, according to WPN because it demanded a lot of resources from stores and Tournament Organizers (TOs) and did little to drive play.[30]
  • Magic Weekend is an experimental one-off format, with special rules curated by Magic’s design studio.[30]

Promotional cards

Japanese alternate art

Japanese alternate art promo

All 36 planeswalker have a 50% chance that the regular artwork of the planeswalker card will be replaced by an anime-style alternate art card in Japanese-language War of the Spark boosters only. The Japanese boosters were made available to retailers around the world.[32]

These cards were also available in WPN promo packs during the Core Set 2020 play season, appearing in roughly 1:4 of packs. The alternate-art planeswalkers have only been printed in Japanese, but will appear in promo packs around the world.[32]

Tokens and emblems

The sixteenth card in the boosters is a token creature card or an emblem, with advertisements on the back side. There are a total of nineteen tokens and emblems:[33][34]

  1. {C} 2/2 Spirit creature for Ugin, the Ineffable
  2. {W} 4/4 Angel creature with flying and vigilance for Finale of Glory and Parhelion II
  3. {W} 2/2 Soldier creature with vigilance for Finale of Glory
  4. {W} 0/3 Wall creature with defender for Teyo, the Shieldmage
  5. {U} 2/2 Wizard creature for Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor
  6. {B} 1/1 Assassin creature with deathtouch and "Whenever this creature deals damage to a planeswalker, destroy that planeswalker" for Vraska, Swarm's Eminence
  7. {B} 2/2 Zombie creature for Liliana, Dreadhorde General
  8. {B} 0/0 Zombie Army creature (1 of 3) for each spell with amass
  9. {B} 0/0 Zombie Army creature (2 of 3)
  10. {B} 0/0 Zombie Army creature (3 of 3)
  11. {B} 4/4 Zombie Warrior creature with vigilance for God-Eternal Oketra
  12. {R} 1/1 Devil creature with "When this creature dies, it deals 1 damage to any target" for Tibalt, Rakish Instigator
  13. {R} 4/4 Dragon creature with flying for Sarkhan the Masterless
  14. {R} 1/1 Goblin creature for Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
  15. {G} 2/2 Wolf creature for Arlinn, Voice of the Pack
  16. {M} 2/2 Citizen creature that is all colors for Planewide Celebration
  17. {G/W} 3/3 legendary Wolf creature named Voja, Friend to Elves for Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
  18. {C} 1/1 Servo artifact creature for Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
  19. Emblem for Nissa, Who Shakes the World

Mythic Edition

Main article: War of the Spark/Mythic Edition

War of the Spark Mythic Edition is a special draft-sized booster box. It contains eight masterpieces.

Themes and mechanics

Commence the Endgame

The main theme of the set is planeswalkers and cards that interact with them.[35][36][37] Apart from the usual mythic rare planeswalkers, the set also features rare and uncommon planeswalkers. All of the thirty-six planeswalkers in the main set have a static or triggered ability. The 20 uncommon ones have an additional minus loyalty ability (no plus abilities).[38] The 13 rares have additional plus and minus loyalty abilities. The 4 mythic rares have three additional abilities.[39] The four mythic rare planeswalkers are the two main protagonists of the story (Liliana and Gideon), the main antagonist (Bolas), and a secondary antagonist (Tezzeret).[40] Some two-color planeswalkers show up as monocolor planeswalkers in their base color.[41] Every planeswalker has a least one signature card that represents a spell they would cast. They're all named with the possessive,[42][37] except for Jiang Yanggu, whose signature spell is his companion Mowu, Loyal Companion.

The keyword action Proliferate from the Scars of Mirrodin block sees a return.[43][36] When a player proliferates, he or she chooses any number of players and/or permanents with a counter on them, then puts another of those counters on these players or permanents. However, a rules change has been implemented.[36] Formerly, you had to choose a type of counter already present and added one counter of that type, now you are adding one counter of each type already present.[44]

A new mechanic is Amass. "Amass N" means put N +1/+1 counters on an Army creature you control.[45] If you don't control one, create a 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token first.[36] It appears in {U}{B}{R} because it is flavorfully connected to Bolas's army.[46]

Crew returns, on the first-ever colored Vehicles.

Affinity for artifacts, last seen in the Mirrodin block, appears as a one-off on Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge. It reduces the mana cost of a spell by the number of artifacts that player controls.[47]

There is a small tribal theme for zombies. Some notable creature cards give bonuses to zombie tokens, depicted as members of the Dreadhorde.(Eternal Skylord, Vizier of the Scorpion, Dreadhorde Twins and Gleaming Overseer).

War of the Spark features the following limited archetypes:[48]

Card types

War of the Spark introduces the Army creature type. The Army functions together much like how R&D makes single creature cards that are flavored as a group of beings.[46]

The set also introduces the Davriel, Kasmina, and Teyo planeswalker types. The Wanderer lacks a planeswalker type.

Cycles

War of the Spark has eleven cycles.

Monocolored cycles

Cycle name {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Uncommon planeswalkers Teyo, the Shieldmage Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage Jaya, Venerated Firemage Arlinn, Voice of the Pack
The Wanderer Narset, Parter of Veils Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted Tibalt, Rakish Instigator Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter
Ten monocolored uncommon planeswalkers, two for each color.
The Gatewatch Gideon Blackblade Jace, Wielder of Mysteries Liliana, Dreadhorde General Chandra, Fire Artisan Nissa, Who Shakes the World
Five rare and mythic planeswalkers representing the original Gatewatch members. Each one has an "ultimate" loyalty ability, or one that cannot be activated immediately.
Triumphs Gideon's Triumph Jace's Triumph Liliana's Triumph Chandra's Triumph Nissa's Triumph
Five uncommon spells, each enhanced if you control a planeswalker of the respective type. They each depict a member of the Gatewatch and are a direct reflection of the "Defeats" from Hour of Devastation. Each has art by Kieran Yanner, who also illustrated the Defeats.
Gods God-Eternal Oketra God-Eternal Kefnet God-Eternal Bontu Ilharg, the Raze-Boar God-Eternal Rhonas
Five mythic gods, four invading eternalized gods from Amonkhet and one native to Ravnica.
Finales Finale of Glory Finale of Revelation Finale of Eternity Finale of Promise Finale of Devastation
Five mythic monocolored {X} sorceries, that each get a bonus effect when X ≥ 10. The names reflect the Accounting of Hours from Amonkhet.
Colored artifacts Parhelion II Silent Submersible Bolas's Citadel Mizzium Tank Vivien's Arkbow
Five rare colored artifacts.
Legendary natives Tomik, Distinguished Advokist Fblthp, the Lost Massacre Girl Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi
Five rare monocolor spells that represent important figures in Ravnica: four legendary creatures, and one instant that turns a land into a legendary creature.
Bonds Bond of Discipline
({Azorius Logo}/{Orzhov Logo}) 		Bond of Insight
({Dimir Logo}/{Izzet Logo}) 		Bond of Revival
({Rakdos Logo}/{Golgari Logo}) 		Bond of Passion
({Gruul Logo}/{Boros Logo}) 		Bond of Flourishing
({Selesnya Logo}/{Simic Logo})
Five uncommon monocolored sorceries, that each represent a pairing of two guilds sharing the card's color, forming shards.

Multicolored cycles

Cycle name {W/U} {U/B} {B/R} {R/G} {G/W} {W/B} {U/R} {B/G} {R/W} {G/U}
Hybrid planeswalkers Dovin, Hand of Control Ashiok, Dream Render Angrath, Captain of Chaos Samut, Tyrant Smasher Huatli, the Sun's Heart Kaya, Bane of the Dead Saheeli, Sublime Artificer Vraska, Swarm's Eminence Nahiri, Storm of Stone Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
Ten uncommon planeswalkers, who each have hybrid mana in their mana costs.
Gold creatures Elite Guardmage Gleaming Overseer Mayhem Devil Rubblebelt Rioters Huatli's Raptor Cruel Celebrant Invade the City Leyline Prowler Tenth District Legionnaire Merfolk Skydiver
Ten uncommon gold creature spells (or in one case, a noncreature spell with amass). Each is a signpost for a draft archetype.
Gold noncreatures Dovin's Veto Tyrant's Scorn Angrath's Rampage Domri's Ambush Pledge of Unity Despark Ral's Outburst Deathsprout Heartwarming Redemption Neoform
Ten uncommon gold noncreature spells, each of which is a generically powerful spell that encourages drafting in its colors.

Pairs

War of the Spark has (at least) two mirrored pairs.

Mirrored Pairs Description
Spellgorger Weird
({R}) 		Spellkeeper Weird
({U}) 		Weirds forming a partnership.[49]
Evolution Sage
({G}) 		Flux Channeler
({U}) 		Creatures with converted mana cost of 2M that proliferate when a certain card type is played.

Reprinted cards

Functional reprints

Notable cards

Banned and restricted cards

  • Karn, the Great Creator has a one-sided Null Rod passive ability that generally only gained power with larger formats. Despite his suffocating interaction with Mycosynth Lattice that led to Lattice's banning in Modern, he was not generally damaging for formats up to Legacy. Vintage, however, is defined by its fast mana, most of it being artifact based. Karn hence was restricted in August 2019.
    • After a few years as a format mainstay in Pioneer, it was determined that Mono-Green Devotion's positioning as a big-creature deck with a slow and resilient combo kill meant that many conventional strategies were not feasible, such as midrange, other artifact combo, many types of control, and some form of fliers decks. Karn was banned as its focus point in December 2023. Explorer followed Pioneer's lead.
  • Narset, Parter of Veils has a draw-restricting passive most famously seen on Leovold, Emissary of Trest, already a powerful card in Eternal formats. While she was frustrating in most formats, most decks had sufficient methods to remove Narset at a reasonable exchange. In Vintage, however, the bulk of the format required some form of additional card draw to operate, and with fast mana Narset hamstrung enough decks that she needed to be restricted in November 2019.
  • Teferi, Time Raveler, unlike the other two, had play problems as a whole. The passive ability prevents an opponent from casting spells on his controller's turn. However, the wording only allows functional sorcery spells, stopping combat tricks, spells like Finale of Promise, and protective spells like Lazotep Plating, cutting out synergy decks powered by such cards like Feather, the Redeemed and Arclight Phoenix. His -3 ability rendered most non-planeswalker permanents that cost 3 or greater ineffectual, while the ability to cast a sorcery with flash punished aggressive decks greatest, given that Shatter the Sky was in Standard. All in all, Teferi pushed decks away from the middle of the curve into extreme aggressive or heavy ramp (consequently knocking out control); its only saving grace was that he kept Flash decks and Temur Wilderness Reclamation decks from overwhelming the format. Six weeks prior to rotation, Teferi was banned alongside Wilderness Reclamation as a sign that Wizards acknowledged how frustrating the two cards were. Teferi was later banned in both Historic (October 2020) and Pioneer (February 2021). With the release of Alchemy for Historic, he was rebalanced and unbanned by changing the passive to "Your opponents can't cast spells on your turn" and increasing the mana cost by {1}.
  • Dreadhorde Arcanist, like Karn and Narset, had varying impacts depending on the strength of cheap spells. It has the ability to "flash back" spells with cost less than or equal to its power, which at one power tends to be a reasonable threshold, and the 3 toughness makes it not particularly sturdy. That said, the breadth of options in Legacy makes it an engine in a format where one mana spells have high impact. It was banned in February 2021.

Trivia

Main article: War of the Spark/Trivia

Card comparisons

Main article: War of the Spark/Card comparisons

Preconstructed decks

Main article: War of the Spark/Planeswalker decks

War of the Spark features two planeswalker decks:

Planeswalker
deck name 		Colors Included Planeswalker
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Gideon W B Gideon, the Oathsworn
Jace U G Jace, Arcane Strategist

Stained-glass gallery

References

  1. ↑ War of the Spark Credits
  2. ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 11, 2019). "Is war of the sparks set code wos or war or what...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  3. ↑ Magic Europe. Twitter (February 18, 2019).
  4. ↑ WPN Product info
  5. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (April 19, 2019). "War of the Spark Release Notes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 18, 2018). "In the summer announcements video gavin mentions...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  7. ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 10, 2018). "Guild to Order, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 18, 2018). "Going back to ravnica is exciting but getting 3...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  9. ↑ Mark Rosewater (May 20, 2018). "As you look to revisit ravnica three times will...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  10. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 9, 2019). "Would that make War of the Spark a top-down set?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  11. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 9, 2019). "If event sets are based around a single event, ...?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  12. ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 24, 2019). "War of the Spark is doing something incredibly crazy that has never been tried before.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  13. ↑ a b Chris Gleeson (March 8, 2019). "A Closer Look at the Stained-Glass Planeswalkers". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 8, 2019). "Is that the crazy aspect about the set that you're super excited for us you see?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  15. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 8, 2019). "Are we allowed to know yet if any of the 36 planeswalkers are reprints?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  16. ↑ Cameron Kunzelman (September 1, 2018). "Magic: The Gathering Returns to Novels in 2019 With Greg Weisman's Ravnica". Pastemagazine.com.
  17. ↑ War of the Spark: Ravnica (Magic: The Gathering) (Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover). Amazon.com.
  18. ↑ James Wyatt (January 2019). "The Art of Magic: The Gathering - Ravnica". Wizards of the Coast.
  19. ↑ Chris Gleeson (April 18, 2019). "War of the Spark Story Hype". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  20. ↑ Jiri_One (May 2, 2019). "A Quick rundown of the new themed boosters". Reddit.
  21. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 9, 2019). "Will it be possible to buy stained-glass artworks of the planeswalkers on shirts or posters in the future?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  22. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 11, 2019). "You said the stained-glass planeswalkers weren't painted that way and the glass effect was added afterward.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  23. ↑ a b c d e f Chris Gleeson (April 1, 2019). "War of the Spark Promos and Packaging". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  24. ↑ MTG Arena Admin (April 2, 2019). "Preorder War of the Spark on MTG Arena". MTG Arena Forum.
  25. ↑ Blake Rasmussen (March 27, 2019). "War of Spark Preview Season Tells a Story". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  26. ↑ Magic Deutschland. Twitter (February 15, 2019).
  27. ↑ Magic: The Gathering. Twitter (February 11, 2019).
  28. ↑ CFBEvents. Twitter (February 11, 2019).
  29. ↑ Gavin Verhey (April 23, 2019). "War of the Spark Prerelease Primer". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  30. ↑ a b Before You Schedule War of the Spark.... WPN (February 15, 2019).
  31. ↑ Magic War of the Spark : Pre-Release, Friday Event #1
  32. ↑ a b Wizards of the Coast (April 22, 2019). "Japanese Alternate-Art Planeswalkers". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  33. ↑ Chris Gleeson (April 18, 2019). "The Tokens of War of the Spark". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  34. ↑ Tehtmi (April 30, 2019). "Token Rarity in WAR". Reddit.
  35. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 10, 2019). "Are there cards in WAR that aren't planeswalkers but synergize with them or use mechanics that they benefit from?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  36. ↑ a b c d Matt Tabak (March 31, 2019). "War of the Spark Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  37. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (April 1, 2019). "Waging War of the Spark, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  38. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 31, 2019). "Do all the uncommon planeswalkers only have minus loyalty abilities?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  39. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 31, 2019). "Does every planeswalker in War of the Spark have a non-loyalty ability?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  40. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 31, 2019). "The 3 mythic planeswalkers?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  41. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 31, 2019). "I just realized that Teferi, Narset, and Dovin are all in the set. And all WU.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  42. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 31, 2019). "Vraska’s Finisher, Tibalt’s Ravager, Ajani’s Pridemate... is this a trend we can expect to see with the remaining PWs in the set?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  43. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 8, 2019). "Waging War of the Spark, Part 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  44. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 31, 2019). "The Proliferate reminder text on Flux Channeler doesn't match the current rules". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  45. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 15, 2019). "Waging War of the Spark, Part 3". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  46. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (March 31, 2019). "Why force such a mechanic into these colors?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  47. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 31, 2019). "AFFINITY FOR ARTIFACTS IN STANDARD?!". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  48. ↑ Dave Humpherys (April 17, 2019). "Chronicling War of the Spark Set Design". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  49. ↑ Chris Mooney (April 4, 2019). "Wanna See Something Weird?". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

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