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White and Blue | Black and Lands

Today we continue our set Review with all the Red and Artifacts cards from War of the Spark. We got a good amount of cards to go cover so let's get started, but before we do, let's go over my grading scale.

Each card will be listed by color/guild, then alphabetically by name.

Each card will given a rating of 1-5. If a card would receive a 0, meaning it will see no play in that format ever, its rating is left off the list.

Rating - Explanation - Standard - Examples

0 - Will never see play in this format (Sphinx's Decree, Crafty Cutpurse (Most Rivals of Ixalan cards)).

1 - Unlikely to see play. (Amplifire)

2 - Could see fringe play, or occasional sideboard card. (Crushing Canopy, Disdainful Stroke)

3 - Commonly played, staple in a single deck, or frequent play in several decks. (Thought Erasure, Shock)

4 - Format staples. Sees play in multiple decks, one of the best cards in the format. (History of Benalia, Wilderness Reclamation)

5 - If you're in these colors, you should almost assuredly be playing that card. (Teferi, Hero of Dominaria)

	2.5 - Chandra is a great card, especially since she's a Lava Axe if your opponent's decide to attack her and kill her, but the problem (can't believe I'm saying this) is that Red already has so many ways to gain card advantage that Chandra isn't needed. Cards like Risk Factor, Experimental Frenzy, and The Flame of Keld are all just better ways to generate card advantage.
	2 - This wouldn't be playable if it couldn't hit Planeswalkers. Even so it's going to be hard to play this over Lightning Strike since Chandra is good but not insane.
	3 - This feels like a colorshifted Snapcaster Mage. Your opponent untapping with Dreadhorde Arcanist is going to be a terrifying experience. Colossus alone is 9 damage just by itself on turn three. It can also generate card advantage with spells like Chart a Course or Defiant Strike. This card is pretty sweet and highly explosive.
	2 - One of the sweeter finales but very hard to build around and harder to make X equal ten or more. I'll definitely be brewing around this card at some point though, it's just too fun not too.
	2 - This is probably a fine one or two off in Mono-Red or in a aristocrats style of deck where you are wanting to sacrifice your permanents for other benefits.
	3 - If Dreadhorde Arcanist is terrifying to have your opponent untap with, Illharg is a nightmare. It honestly just means you're going to die to the boar god and his Ghatla, Carnage Tyrant, or best friend Rohnas.
	2 - A nice option for midrange decks to have access too. Just not sure it's better than Lightning Strike unless you're a control deck and even then, is it better than Lava Coil? Probably not as long as Rekindling Phoenix or Arclight Phoenix is popular.
	2 - Krenko is another Red card that you don't want your opponent to untap with but not nearly as scary as Dreadhorde Arcanist or Illharg since thankfully the tokens do not enter the battlefield tapped and attacking. Still a great way to make tokens to sacrifice and trigger Cruel Celebrant.
	2 - I'm sure this will find a home in a counterburn deck, especially since you can just go nuts and cast multiple spells a turn to make this tank large and in charge. Could be better than Enigma Drake in the right metagame since it does dodge battlefield wipes.
	1 - Red has many great cards at 4 mana and Neheb isn't going to be better than most of them. Third time seeing print and it's still bad. Sorry buddy, maybe the 4th time's the charm.
	2 - Cheap trick for Dreadhorde Arcanist that also smoothes out your draw. Not terribly exciting but efficient.
	2.5 - Turning your planeswalkers into dragons is a great way to kill your opponent quickly or to lose your planeswalkers. I feel like Sarkhan will be a better walker in the sideboard as a way for walkers to quickly turn the tide against control decks.
	2.5 - Rampaging Ferocidon is banned and Tibalt isn't too far off from that card. It seems that every non-Red deck has a way to gain life main deck or at least in the Sideboard. Tibalt gives Red decks a way to fight back and might just be the card Mono-Red needs to better compete in best of three.
	2 - I hate that this comes into play tapped but here we are. It does provide two different colors which is great for Chromatic Black and decks trying to cast things like Niv-Mizzet Reborn.
	2 - What a nightmare of a card. Thankfully it's legendary. This statue might actually make playing a land destruction deck worth trying out. While I don't think it would be tier one, it sure would be fun, at least for you.
	2 - A great card to fix your mana while keeping your hand full. It's also just a solid card in Tezzeret, Sai, and The Antiquates War decks.
	2 - A different Chromatic Lantern. If you don't need all five colors of mana, then the Scry 1 is actually pretty valuable.

Top 5 Red and Artifact Cards

1. Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
2. Dreadhorde Arcanist
3. Sarkhan the Masterless
4. Tibalt, Rakish Instigator
5. Chandra, Fire Artisan

The Red cards in this set thankfully aren't as absurd as the ones we got last time, like Skewer the Critics and Light Up the Stage. They are a lot more reasonable this time around and I couldn't be happier. Illharg and Dreadhorde Arcanist while scary are also pretty fun and require the deck-builder to think about what they want. That's a lot different than just jamming 12 three damage spells in your deck with everything else that does damage alongside Light Up the Stage and Experimental Frenzy. Make sure to tune in tomorrow as we cover the Green and Colorless cards from War of the Spark!

As always, thanks for reading,

Ali Aintrazi

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