Spark Rupture – March of the Machine Aftermath
Date Reviewed: May 12, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.13
Casual: 4.25
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 3.50
Commander [EDH]: 3.63
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Somewhere out there is someone – some people, I guess – who has been waiting for this card since 2007. You read that right. There were people who thought Magic had too many planeswalker cards after Lorwyn introduced five, and to whom Shards of Alara bringing five more a year later was unthinkable. Having said that, if you really did want to make an anti-planeswalker deck, I’m not sure this is actually the most effective way to do it. There are a lot more ways to destroy them outright, and not just with direct damage; there are plenty of cards that go out of their way to state “destroy all nonland permanents” or similar.
And yet . . . there are some interesting, or perhaps just silly, tricks you can do with Spark Rupture. Not only can you attack and block with all planeswalkers, not just the ones who have creature cards in March of the Machine: The Aftermath, but you can use them in other creature-based combos too. They still have loyalty counters on them, which makes them interesting targets for cards like Parting Thoughts. They’re still legendary, so you can use them with cards like Esika, God of the Tree or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire. Or even Adventurers’ Guildhouse, as I think there’s some value in getting silly after all the grimdark stuff they released this past year. You can mutate onto them, even though Chandra and Sarkhan are both clearly human; and I assume something insane happens if you return Spark Rupture to your hand after you do that.
In a certain sense, this card is more significant for what it implies about the lore, not to mention that Commander players may be happy that there will presumably be fewer mythic rare planeswalkers and slightly more mythic rare legendary creatures. But beyond that, it is a perhaps surprisingly open build-around card for casual decks – the kind I’m glad to see.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4
Limited: N/A (Aftermath is not draftable by default, though now I kind of want to try it in some kind of Pack Wars variant)
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
I’m omitting Limited scores for any cards from this min-set, as it’s not meant to be drafted.
Spark Rupture promises an interesting change to the mechanics of Magic and its planeswalkers, doesn’t it? In effect, it makes planeswalkers quit being planeswalkers, turning them into creatures to get their smash on. It is a cantrip enchantment, which is a sold starting point for most decks, but the main attraction is as anti-planeswalker tech. Note that they keep their loyalty counters, but that they can still die if they lose them all, which matters for counter removal and proliferate shenanigans. This works especially well with War of the Spark‘s uncommon planeswalkers, as most had high loyalty and no in-baked way to amass more loyalty.
Spark Rupture feels more like a tech card in formats, but I feel like most planeswalkers aren’t warping enough to necessitate bringing this along for the ride. Still, as a cantripping enchantment, there might be a home for this in decks with enough enchantments already, and you can catch an opponent unaware with this if they try to go about their normal gameplan. I think it’s a strong hate card in need of the right circumstances to allow its hate to be fully unfettered, all in all.
Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 4.5 (if you have a friend that loves to spam planeswalkers, this is for you)
Limited: N/A (it would be a 1.5, basically just a three-mana cantrip in a set with no planeswalkers)
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.75 (planeswalkers aren’t common in EDH, but the ones that make the cut are worth shutting down)
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