Crackle with Power – Strixhaven
Date Reviewed: April 19, 2021
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.00
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 4.00
Commander [EDH]: 4.38
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
David
Fanany
Player
since
1995
Though it seems, at first reading, like you might need to be from the math faculty to figure out what the heck Crackle with Power actually does, it’s a little more straightforward than it looks. It might help to think of this as essentially a variant of kicker: the more mana you pay, the more it does. But unlike some damage spells with kicker, it’s nearly unbounded. Anywhere you can generate an unusually large amount of mana, it can basically clear any size table you can think of, or just win the game on the spot. And though its most common casting in 40- and 60-card formats will probably be five damage for five mana, it’s that nearly unbounded ceiling that makes me optimistic about it. This is basically the burn spell that aggressive decks in Commander have needed for over a decade.
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander: 4/5
Despite that extravagant mana cost, Crackle with Power scales really well even at low values. 5 mana does 5 damage to 1 target, 8 mana does 10 damage to 2 targets each, 11 mana does 15 damage to 3 targets each…the more mana you spend, the more efficient the spell is, though 5 mana for 5 damage isn’t the worst rate of return in a pinch when you can aim it wherever you want. Equal parts finisher and hilarious mana sink, Crackle with Power does a lot more than it looks like it might at first, and it can pair very well with all of the support for instants and sorceries running around in Strixhaven.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander: 4.75
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Magic the Gathering Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We’d be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
Click here to read over 4,000 more MTG Cards of the Day! Daily Since 2001.
