Ral, Storm Conduit – MTG Card Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

I suppose we should have seen Ral’s new incarnation coming: the instant-and-sorcery-tribal cards have kept on coming, and the Izzet League is among the best in the multiverse when it comes to that style of play. Decks like that are hard to deal with even under more mundane circumstances, when they have to actually spend a card to get a Twincast effect and only damage spells can deal damage. His exact power level depends on what else is in your deck with him, but the sky is pretty much the limit where Ral is concerned.

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

Talk about a spellslinger enabler. Ral 3.0 is one of the more powerful rare planeswalkers, thanks to a combination of potent abilities and good loyalty. He rewards Izzet for doing one of its favorite things (casting instants and sorceries), and his -2 lets you double-dip on them (and get another pop of his passive). An extra 1 damage for each spell you cast can add up in a color combination that casts plenty of them! His +2 is not extremely powerful (scry 1), but it helps push Ral out of kill range very quickly.

Ral is a planeswalker who is more part of a combo than an actual threat on his own, but he can be very threatening with the right set-up. High loyalty and on-demand spell copying are both excellent things to have, and that passive is a continual reward for going for it.

Constructed: 3.75
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander: 4.25