Spark Harvest

Sorcery

As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature or pay {3}{B}.

Destroy target creature or planeswalker.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (46)

TheOfficialCreator on Card Analysis #1 - Dreadhorde …

5 months ago

Hello, everyone!

I thought I would try my hand at creating an article series centering around the beauty of different card designs, as each card truly is unique in its own way, and I wanted to make my appreciation of that into a tangible form so that everyone could experience it.

A general outline of how this article series will go is this: a basic introduction (similar to what you’re reading now), cost versus effect, the flavor of the card, how the card interacts with its limited environment, cards that are similar to it and a short little blurb on what makes them different, a custom card inspired by the analyzed card and a short explanation of the process used to create it, the legacy of the card, and finally, a conclusion to round it all out.

That being said, let’s begin!

---

The card of today’s analysis is Dreadhorde Invasion, a card I chose to kick off the series with not only because War of the Spark is my favorite set, but also because it will give us a good platform to walk through the steps of this article series.

Dreadhorde Invasion is an oft-overlooked card that provides its user with a Zombie Army (a mechanic introduced and incredibly localized to War of the Spark, excluding a few exceptions such as Lazotep Chancellor) at the cost of a single life each turn. Obviously this adds up quickly, and the Army that is produced is rather clunky, as it is easier to remove (a la Fading Hope), non-evasive, and rather small even in its beginning stages. For {1}{B} it gives you a 1/1 creature on turn 3. That’s not a great payoff, especially for more advanced formats.

This is where the second clause comes in. If your Army can make it to six power, then Dreadhorde Invasion rewards you handsomely with an added lifelink, allowing you to gain back all that lost life and quickly breaking symmetry with your life versus your opponents. It’s not incredibly cost-effective (heck, a Forced Adaptation is more cost-effective in general), but it’s very fun to play with and can provide a lot more when juxtaposed with the rest of the game. But we’ll get into that later.

---

The flavor of Dreadhorde Invasion is perhaps my favorite part of the card. The Eternals are probably one of the most unique MTG villains (I mean, come on, they’re blue metal zombies that can cross between worlds and steal planeswalker sparks), and definitely one of my personal favorites. The idea of Dreadhorde Invasion is that Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker is executing his plan to become Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God, invading the plane of Ravnica with his army of Eternals empowered by The Elderspell in order to steal the sparks of the planeswalkers, trapped there by The Immortal Sun and invited there by the Interplanar Beacon. The invasion is eventually quelled by a joint effort by Liliana, Dreadhorde General, Gideon Blackblade, Ugin, the Ineffable, God-Eternal Oketra, and God-Eternal Bontu, with the defeat of Bolas wrapped up in the brilliant card Despark. Dreadhorde Invasion more than anything flavor-wise represents the whole of War of the Spark, perhaps better than any other individual card in the set (except maybe Enter the God-Eternals). And that is why I love it so much; it is a testament to my favorite set of all time.

---

As far as Dreadhorde Invasion’s performance in Limited goes, I must say that it has quite an unitive feel to how it operates in multiple deck strategies, similar to how it unites the flavor of the set. It has the keyword amass on it, which is the new ability introduced in the set, and which synergizes well with proliferate. Zombie Armies themselves receive gracious tribal support in the form of Gleaming Overseer, Eternal Skylord, Widespread Brutality, and the like. Beyond this fairly obvious synergy, however, there are many more options for how Dreadhorde Invasion can function in this set. For example, the creation of a creature every turn lends itself very well to sacrifice strategies revolving around Spark Reaper, Ahn-Crop Invader, and Spark Harvest, or even Liliana, Dreadhorde General and God-Eternal Bontu. In addition, the lifelink that can be attained on later turns goes well with Ajani's Pridemate and fits into a subtheme of life gain that the set has.

---

Dreadhorde Invasion-style effects are somewhat rare, but there is precedence for their existence. The most obvious example is Bitterblossom, an enchantment well-known for its splashes in Modern and which creates small flying threats every turn at the cost of some life. However, there is also Ophiomancer and Endless Ranks of the Dead, or more recently Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia. The thing that sets Dreadhorde Invasion apart from these other cards is its unique combination of losing life and gaining life alongside its ability to make a token larger versus just creating a new token.

---

Here is a custom card that I made that was inspired by Dreadhorde Invasion.

The process I went through to design this card went something like this.

1) Look at Dreadhorde Invasion and think about what the card is wanting you to do. What's the general theme of the card?

2) Build a general shell around the idea of losing life to gain life, pulling in inspiration from cards like Bloodghast.

3) Adding a tribal element to make it feel like a Dreadhorde card.

4) Adding a fitting name. "Vowmage" gives a feel of some kind of sacrifice to fufill an obligation, especially to a being like Bolas.

5) Adding flavor text that is both quippy and fits the situation. In this case, I chose to show who the Vowmage's vow is to.

6) Finding some art from DeviantArt that fit the theme. This art is from user Ryushadow, and is the only Eternal art I could find.

---

Dreadhorde Invasion, like most of its amass kin, is largely forgotten especially in competitive play where it is not a contending strategy. Zombie Armies are incredibly weak to removal and usually aren’t very cost-effective, so their weakness of being a single lone creature that just gets bigger and can be chump-blocked can’t really be ignored. War of the Spark as a whole is a largely forgotten story arc, and despite its misgivings it’s still a shame. Dreadhorde Invasion does not truly have a legacy, though it was reprinted in the Midnight Hunt commander set as a part of Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver’s commander deck. Hopefully, one day, we will see Amass return in a future set with greater support so that Dreadhorde Invasion may one day be viable.

---

Alright, everyone! That is the end of my article for today. Please let me know what worked for you and what didn’t so that I can sculpt this new article series to your feedback!

Speaking of user feedback, I would like to have every tenth card be voted upon by the community. If you want to submit an idea for what card we will go over, just let me know in your comment. The comment with the highest number of upvotes will have their card in the tenth article of the series.

Thank you all for the wonderful community we’ve made together! See you soon.

BossUltinuc on Golgari Elves (Commander/EDH)

9 months ago

Okay so I'm new to deckbuilding, especially for EDH so I'm just wondering if anyone has any useful/practical suggestions for this deck. I thought Abomination of Llanowar was a cool card, so I wanted to build around that concept of getting a lot of elves onto the field and my graveyard to really boost its power and toughness.

One thing I'll mention is that, with the exception of cards that are already present in the deck, I don't want to spend more then $3-5 on a single card. So keeping all of this in mind, any suggestions?

Commander: - Abomination of Llanowar

Planeswalkers: - Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury - Tyvar Kell

Creatures: - Elvish Eulogist - Elvish Archdruid - Imperious Perfect - Lys Alana Huntmaster - Immaculate Magistrate - Marwyn, the Nurturer - Elvish Visionary - Shaman of the Pack - Lathril, Blade of the Elves - Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen - Beast Whisperer - Timberwatch Elf - Elvish Mystic - Canopy Tactician - Poison-Tip Archer - Skemfar Avenger - Skemfar Shadowsage - Wolverine Riders - Ruthless Winnower - Wellwisher - Golgari Findbroker - Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Rhys the Exiled - Nightshade Harvester - Gilt-Leaf Winnower - Elvish Doomsayer - Storrev, Devkarin Lich - Nadier's Nightblade - Fyndhorn Elves - Llanowar Elves

Instants: - Putrefy - Golgari Charm - Murder - Village Rites - Grisly Salvage - Wrap in Vigor - Cast Down - Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip - Ghastly Demise - Infuse with Vitality

Sorcery: - Cultivate - Rampant Growth - Eyeblight Massacre - Shamanic Revelation - Casualties of War - Dig Up - Victimize - Sign in Blood - Spark Harvest - Diabolic Tutor - Deadly Brew - Bone Shards - Elvish Promenade

Artifacts: - Sol Ring - Arcane Signet - Commander's Sphere

Enchantments: - Elderfang Venom - Moldervine Reclamation - Prowess of the Fair

Lands: - Evolving Wilds - Command Tower - Path of Ancestry - Llanowar Wastes - Jungle Hollow - Skemfar Elderhall - Golgari Guildgate - Tainted Wood - Necroblossom Snarl - Myriad Landscape - Foul Orchard - Darkmoss Bridge - Forest x13 - Swamp x13

LeonSpires on How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

9 months ago

The best way to make cuts is to look over the deck list and consider what serves a purpose (ramp / card draw / interaction) and what works with the theme of the deck and what doesn't. Create a list of cards that don't server a purpose or fit the theme of the deck and figure out what to cut / add.

If more cuts are needed look through the list starting at the highest converted mana cost and working towards the lowest. For each card ask yourself “does this card make a big enough impact for the amount of mana spent to cast it.”

Play the deck for awhile and periodically reevaluate what cards work in the deck and what cards don't.

Personally I would suggest cutting Avatar of Woe, Oona, Queen of the Fae, Extract from Darkness, Illicit Shipment, Notion Thief, Jaxis, the Troublemaker, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, Whispersilk Cloak, Maestros Ascendancy, and Spark Harvest.

Having taken a closer look at your deck I would suggest adding Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds for color fixing and extra triggers on Hedron Crab and Ruin Crab. Also Infernal Grasp, Profane Tutor, and Scheming Symmetry (mill what the opponent tutors).

Mill enables graveyard based decks. Having a few answers like Ashiok, Dream Render and Bojuka Bog is useful.

TheoryCrafter on Faerly Odd Wizards

10 months ago

If you're trying to use Mistbind Clique to get extra ETB activations for your other faeries you may also want to consider any combination of Bone Shards,Naban, Dean of Iteration, Riptide Laboratory and Spark Harvest. To supplement this strategy you then may want to consider Faerie Harbinger and Faerie Seer. Hope this helps. Happy Hunting!

Hastapasta on HELL DRAIN + KILL (Modern Mardu Sacrifice FFA)

11 months ago

Hi! Forgot to reply to you. I took out Rally the Ancestors and replaced it with Lightning Bolt. I feel that Spark Harvest has enough sac.

Gattison on Soylent Black is PEOPLE!!!

1 year ago

zapyourtumor: Good advice, thanks. I already took some of it. Despite AFR being an actually good set, I didn't buy much, so I'm using Spark Harvest for now. I may end up sticking with it instead of Eaten Alive though, because as a last resort Spark Harvest does allow me to kill (rather than exile) my own creatures, triggering both Jason Mamoa and Karl Urban.

As for splashing white... ugh, lol. No offense, it's a good idea, but I'm going to try real hard not to for a while before I give in and do that. XD

zapyourtumor on Soylent Black is PEOPLE!!!

1 year ago

Village Rites > Altar's Reap

Eaten Alive > Spark Harvest/Bone Splinters

Konrad seems too slow and doesn't have much impact for a 5 drop.

One thing you badly need here is an instant-speed reusable sac outlet. which can be used to sac your tap creatures for untapped tokens to surprise block, or just sac anything that is targeted with exile removal, or get instant speed card draw/drain. The only good one in pioneer thats a human is Cartel Aristocrat, and it might be worth splashing white just for that. White would also let you run Cruel Celebrant (not a vampire unfortunately), and maybe Return to the Ranks.

Lethos on That is the most Rakdos way to win

1 year ago

Pheardemons, I see your point. I think the lists I used to run had more sac targets like Carrier Thrall, Reassembling Skeleton, or Dreadhorde Butcher so I was able to get away wit it.

Something to think about though, you can count on your opponent trying to remove some of your more important cards, and just bank up extra food by sacking them first with Witch's Oven. This lets you sac Cauldron Familiar for other things like Spark Harvest and still return him to the battlefield with the extra food.