Pointed Discussion

One of the best burn cards out there, better than Lava Dart, which is already quite good. Almost infinitely reusable if played right (right before a creature you control dies).

How does this work with the recent rules change, making graveyard order no longer matter? Can I just rearrange my graveyard so that there is a creature directly above this at all times?

I'll just quote an excerpt for you, SinForSanity:
"1) Graveyard order - just as with Simultaneous Mulligans, we're adapting a technique that is already used in casual circles to maketournament Magic a little easier to play. The last time Wizards printed a card that cared about the order of your graveyard was over 10 years ago, in the form of Stronghold's Volrath's Shapeshifter, and R&D has been very clear that they don't want to use this as an explorable design space. As a result, as long as they're playing in formats with cards from Urza's Saga and on, we no longer care how the players order their graveyard."

So the graveyard order still matters here,
the rule is simply just turned off when playing with newer cards since these don't have such abilities.

I'm kind of unhappy about that though, becuse i used to like cards that care for graveyard order. And this decision likely means that we won't get any cards of this sort anymore.
Sure, most people didn't know about that order, just as with mana burn. But it used to be part of the game nontheless.

They introduced a similar mechanic in Coldsnap that activated whenever a creature was placed in the graveyard.

Wow, that's one trippy second ability! It's awesome! This has got to be the best interaction I've ever seen between card and art! Something I think the newer cards could definitely use more of.

Strictly superior to Scorching Spear.

I didn't know they officially got rid of graveyard order as a mechanic to use in the future, but I am glad to see it go. It was just annoying, IMHO. First, I could see somebody cheating with it - do you really memorize the order of your opponent's graveyard? Second - and most commonly - was that people would forget about these cards (because they had to be under another card) or there would be disagreement about what order cards go to the graveyard.

At any rate, I don't miss those types of cards, and that type of design can be approximated close enough either other effects that are easier to keep track of (are there other creatures in the graveyard, did a creature enter the graveyard this turn, etc.)

Goblins love all sparks equally and some more than others.

@Mode, can you post a link to where you found that quote? Thanks!

@Radagast: Of course you don't have to memorize what order someone's graveyard is in. Do you need to memorize their library to know that they're not re-ordering that? Of course not-- You just watch to see that they don't reorder it. If you're playing against someone who's using something that cares about graveyard order, and you see them start to reorder their graveyard, you yell "Hey, stop that!", just like if you saw someone start to look through their library for no reason.

As for people forgetting that these things are in their graveyard, well, that's their problem. People forget to do things all the time. I've won games because my opponent forgot to attack-- Should they stop printing creatures so that doesn't happen?

For some reason I absolutely love this. Maybe it's the graveyard order matters or all the 1's on the card or red card advantage. *shrugs*

It's really nice in pauper goblins against infect I have heard too o:

This card was practically unplayable when it released, since Magic was still using the batch rules (which sucked and didn't actually work.) Then, when Sixth Edition introduced the stack, Death Spark became one of the best recurring burn spells ever, arguably better than Hammer of Bogardan due to instant speed and 133% as much damage per mana spent (8 for 3 vs. 2 for 1.)

Then damage got removed from the stack and Death Spark took a hit, but it's still pretty awesome. Plus dat art.

This was (at one point, at least) Richard Garfield's favorite card. I can see why, especially back when it was first created and there were no other instants or sorceries that came back from the graveyard on their own.

This card likely led to the creation of a wide number of other cards, including the Buyback mechanic, Hammer of Bogardan, and a host of other abilities that activate from your graveyard.

I've heard of plagues transmitted through dead bodies, but bolts of energy? That's just rad.

looking at this art more closely, kinda has a resemblance to president J.F. Kennedy.(well, deadish) Then factor in the spark going through his skull and hmmm...... idk?