Kaya’s Wrath – MTG Card Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

I never thought I would see the day that they would print a Wrath of God variant that you might actually want to use when you have a lot of creatures. To be fair, it’s just as effective as the original when you’re not taking advantage of the life gain clause, but that mana cost means that it’s mainly for dedicated Orzhov decks outside of Ravnica seasons. And in those larger card pools, it’s not different enough from Wrath of God itself to warrant seeking it out, unless you really want to play it alongside Elspeth Tirel and feel bad about being forced to use a sweeper after she’s already used her +1.

Don’t get me wrong, though: there hasn’t been a straight-up four-cost Wrath of God effect in Standard for a long time. This card is going to be significant, at some point.

Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

Hey, it’s an unconditional four-mana “Wrath” effect. And it even has “Wrath” in its name. What a day, indeed.

I believe Kaya’s Wrath is the first unconditional four-mana board wipe to make it to Standard since Supreme Verdict was printed in Return to Ravnica (in 2012), so it’s been a while. Four mana is sort of in that “sweet spot” for mana cost, able to abate early aggression while not burning too much of your resources to do so. The upside is minor, since Wrath effects are usually something you want to avoid on a full board…though the life gain doesn’t hurt at all, and Afterlife can give an incentive to timing this well.

The downside is the color-intensive cost, asking for four colored mana to cast it. Make no mistake, that is a bit of a roadblock, and it limits which decks will want to play it. But those decks that can run Kaya’s Wrath will be very pleased with it, and the return of a four-mana Wrath is welcome indeed.

Constructed: 4.25
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander: 4