TimmyForever, please go lie down in a ditch somewhere, where people with measurable intelligence will be safe.
lorendorky
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(3 votes)
This might as well have undying and be a mythic the way they design this stuff :P
Dabok
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This is scary and good! I like it, since I can respect that it's not quite "overpowered" (it IS super powerful, it can net a difference of 12 life in a single attack for 4cmc only), but still balanced enough to not make it frustrating (yeah, first strike and a simple ping does it for this guy) 4.5/5 for being quite balanced
Gcrudaplaneswalker
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
I just hope he doesn't Slip Tragically of have a Blind Obedience.
LordOfTheFlies87
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Scary.
SyntheticDreamer
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
Silverblade Paladin loves this guy, even though he bails on him at the end of the turn.
Buridan
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
your evolve creatures should like him pretty much
infernox10
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really like this card. It's just really cool. And if people out there think "Oh, it's just Christmasland where you pair this on T4 with your T3 Silverblade Paladin.", While I can admit that this is true, The fact is that that combo (along with your T1 and T2 plays) can outright win the game, which is a very powerful idea, And if that start DOESN'T happen, This card is STILL good enough to send out into the ranks if you see your opponent tapped out, or no first striker/pinger, etc. It gets a solid 4.5/5 for me.
Purplerooster
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(13 votes)
Wait, the Izzet made something more stable?
Curlie-Joe
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"Oh, you're happy that you survived combat and I'll have to sac him? Second main...Faerie Impostor(?)."
gotta say it with the "question" inflection. makes their sweat beads pop out faster
XTwistedsoulX
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My first thought was "ball lifelink" but the helix joke might be better. I dunno, ball lifelink just rolled off the tongue.
majinara
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Well, ball lightning is of course better. Still... I'm not sure. You can see this as six solid damage, or some dead creatures, or a twelve life sing. But on the other hand, if your opponent has a lousy first striker or anything that deals damage or gives -x/-x or something, then this guy does nothing at all. Hmm...
pedrodyl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Red splash white burn looks like a solid deck with this and Boros Charm. Not to mention all of the red decks already running around in standard.
Cyanide17
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The more I think about this guy, the more I like him. The haste helps with battalion (told you I was smart) and it's virtually guaranteed to punch through for a sizeable swing off the back of a medic or unpaired paladin. Thrash them to within an inch of their life and then burn them them the rest of the way.
Combolulz
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Pulled 3 of these at the Prerelease and one Gideon omfg I was souped
Only thing that defeated me at the two prerelease events I went to. "That friggin white Ball Lightning!"
Shadowcaster3975
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Random soldier: Commander! We've lost control of the spark troopers! They're out of control! Boros commander: Send in... the keyrune.
Yozuk
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I saw a game where this guy was playing a Orzhov deck who had Blind Obedience on the field. The poor kid had this in his hand. That really is just a major feel bad moment in magic.
Here is a neat 1 hit kill combo if your opponent decides not to block your Spark Trooper
Spark Trooper + Inquisitor's Flail + Boros Charm or a soul binded Silverblade Paladin after blocker are assign and before combat damage is dealt = a very scary suicidal trooper
Continue
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
White Lightning.
azure_drake222222
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Stormtrooper {2RRW}
Creature — Elemental Soldier
Storm (Copy it a whole bunch of times.)
Trample, lifelink, haste At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Spark Trooper.
MrSupermaus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Turn 1: Plains, any white one drop (Doomed Traveller works well Turn 2: Mountain, Infernal Plungeand then Spark trooper
Also Works well with Séance
zerosavant
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
At first glance, I considered Silverblade Paladin and thought this Spark Trooper would be amazing. But then I realized Blind Obedience was printed in the exact same set... and this card went from awesome to not so good.
Not to mention this set is very first strike heavy. It's kind of sad when you realize your entire double strike goodness plan is cut in half by something as simple as an Aerial Maneuver, or a Warclamp Mastiff.
TaishoArcanix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
when i first saw this card, i about fell over. not only does it have haste and life link and a huge 6 damage if it hits, but it is a soldier too. Preeminent Captain is very much my choice for getting this card into play.
Moxxy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Well, I managed spread the name "Ball lightning helix" in my local card shop.
Avensai
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
All hail the mighty Ball Lightning Helix!
CapmCrunch
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I dunno, a twelve point life swing seems a little too devastating at four, even before you consider the busted combos. To me this seems like a card that they liked the idea of so much that they didn't fully contemplate the implications. I'm sure it was called Ball Lightning Helix in development, otherwise the lifegain seems tacked on. This card is fairly unfun in limited since it give Boros everything they need (reach, a haste creature and a way to negate your opponent's attacks). It's good, but not for the game.
don_miguel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
if this card is supposed to be a finisher, what do you want the life gain for? better use ball lightning.
Enchurito.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Have you read the flavor text carefully? It's a grammatical train wreck: "Izzet-designed conductors atop Sunhome charge empty sets of armor that give form to the fluctuating elementals." It makes zero sense as written. It should be something along the lines of: Izzet-designed conductors atop Sunhome charged empty sets of armor give form to the fluctuating elementals.
SpencerDub
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(9 votes)
"Have you read the flavor text carefully? It's a grammatical train wreck..." -Enchurito.
It's perfectly grammatical.
"Izzet-designed conductors atop Sunhome..."--this is the subject.
"...charge empty sets of armor..."--this explains what the conductors do.
"that give form to the fluctuating elementals."--and this explains what those charged suits of armor do.
Boiling it down, it says, "Conductors charge armor." What kind of conductors? Conductors that sit atop Sunhome and were designed by the Izzet. What kind of armor? Empty sets of it. What does the armor do? Give form to the elementals.
Your suggestion, however, makes no sense. "Izzet-designed conductors atop Sunhome charged empty sets of armor give form to the fluctuating elementals"? The tenses of the verbs don't match--"charged" vs. "give form". There needs to be a coordinating conjunction between the clauses "charged empty sets of armor" and "give form...". You wouldn't say "Izzet-designed machines generated electricity sometimes explode"--but grammatically, that's what your proposed alternative sounds like.
It's risky business calling something ungrammatical when your proposed alternative is far less so.
There's now this, Ball Lightning and Spark Elemental. Next:
Blightball 1BBG 6/1 Haste, Trample, Infect. Sacrifice Blightball at the beginning of the end step.
Seriously, this card isn't really all that useful. Why would you want to gain life in an aggro Boros deck? It's flavourful I suppose but still a bit silly. Much rather Ball Lightning for aggro.
@Capncrunch: It's fine for the game. Who wants lifegain in an aggro deck? It's a really silly fit. And you would never use this card outside aggro so it's just a waste. If you want too powerful, try Ball Lightning or Goblin Guide which both make ten times as much sense for an aggro deck.
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Steinburger That's awfully presumptuous to assume that someone would rather be hit in the face by Vexing Devil twice, with no removal, rather than counter it. Further, turn 4 they have had no removal for this, the devil, or the paladin?
I get they all pour on the damage, but battlion relies on people not killing your stuff or having blockers do it, or having bounce.. or counterspells... and vexing devil comes with a free counterspell attached.
StoneColdheart
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Dies to First strike.
RJ.693
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Its face is a spider. Golgari sleeper agent?
MindAblaze
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I appreciate where steinburger is coming from;
So they eat 4 from the Vexing Devil. This is the accepted response to a turn one devil unless you have some form of removal...for their one-drop. (or if they don't eat the four damage move on to turn two and give the vexing devil double strike with your boros charm)
Turn two, Boros Charm in the head. With no counters that makes enough sense...but not always a common play to burn face on turn two.
This is where my problem comes in...you play Silverblade Paladin and it doesn't die by your turn...fair, a 2/2 isn't that dangerous by itself.
But if they let you play Spark Trooper and soulbond it to the Paladin the following turn without interacting with you...they deserved to lose. There is no way that that's a realistic expectation. Maybe in goldfish testing, you can slam out 20 damage in the first four turns, but if they don't play a blocker or removal or any sort of hinderance in the first four turns...I'd be bored.
3.5 for art, 5/5 for ability to swing the game and 2.5/5 for predictability, especially when you play a Paladin down before it. Total rating...11/15 or...3.67/5 Good job community, right on the money.
GhostCounselor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
People say this card is broken do not realize just how hard it is to actually play a spark trooper. It's not mindless and requires careful timing and consideration of board state.
Do not play one of these things without a Boros Charm in hand. If you don't, this won't deliver enough damage to end the game. Not to mention, it does die to first strike! Preferably, you also want a way to give this thing flying, using thing such as Ajani, Caller of the Pride or Gift of Orzhova. If you screw up, you essentially tapped out four mana for nothing. BUt if you time it just right, this almost guarantees you a win.
L00fah
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm wondering how this combos with Conjurer's Closet considering you can choose the order of the stack. Use Closet to exile him at the beginning of the end step, he misses it, and comes back after to stay in for an extra turn. Expensive combo, but it should technically work, right?
I wonder what other cards would work?
ArelMCII
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"Its face is a spider. Golgari sleeper agent?"
I was thinking more along the helmet being a Dimir mind control device that could wrest control of the elementals from the Legion at a moment's notice. House Dimir's emblem is a six-legged spider-thing, after all.
DritzD27
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I want to love this card but a friend of mine is THIS close to flat-out marrying his copies of Blind Obedience which just makes this card sad all day long.
Can he be used with Sundial of the Infinite and stick around? It causes you to skip your end step so as lond as you keep paying for Sundial, you could keep him for eatch turn.
Tamerlein
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Ball Lightning with lifelink. While Ball Lightning might be better overall, the one mana for lifelink was a decent tradeoff as lifelink becomes more valuable of an ability the higher the power of the creature is.
This is a very decent card in Boros.
4/5
sweetgab
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If aggro mirror becomes the main thing, this might be good enough to see play.
Once Hellrider rotates, these are the curve toppers we have for RDW:
Against aggro, this seems to be the best of the bunch.
ShiroRX
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's like they put Warleader's Helix into a suit of armor.
If used properly, it's basically a burn spell in a creature card. an adaptable one at that.
Alchemix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Lifegainwithbite Why would you want to use this over Ball Lightning? Well, because outside of monored, 1RRW is FAR easier to hit than RRR. Plus, THIS IS IN STANDARD. Ball Lightning is not.
Syrtees
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I want to like this card, but it seriously needs vigilance *sarcasm*
Nigeltastic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really want to enchant this guy with Gift of Immortality. Being able to order triggers on the stack should perpetually keep our volatile friend around every turn to beat down forever.
absreim
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Ball Lightning Helix. A 12-point life swing for 4 mana seems fair if you are able to connect with it.
RedJaron
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Conjurer's Closet and Sundial of the Infinite will only keep him around an extra turn since they both can only be used on your turn. End of your opponent's turn the Trooper is gone again. You would have him as a one shot life gain blocker though.
Gift of Immortality can keep him around if done correctly. Beginning of the end step, the Spark Trooper dies. Gift gets triggered in response to him hitting the graveyard and he comes back into play immediately. Since the Trooper dies at the beginning, and not just before the beginning of the end step, Gift's triggered rules says it comes back at the next end step, which would be your opponent's turn. So the Trooper stays around and waits for the beginning of the next end step. At that point, both he and the Gift trigger. Choose to have Gift resolve first and then the Trooper dies and retriggers the Gift. Same thing would happen if the Trooper has the Gift during main phase and died in combat.
The downside of this is that the Trooper isn't enchanted 99% of the time, so he'll die normally to any other removal ( combat, burn, whatever. ) If you're swinging or blocking with him, you'll need something like Boros Charm to keep damage off of him during the rest of the turn.
If you want to go really nuts, you could use two Gift's to stagger the effect and keep him continually enchanted and on the board. Trooper has two Gifts and he dies during the main turn. He goes right back in play and the two Gifts hit the graveyard. End of turn the Trooper and both Gifts trigger. Put one Gift on the stack, then the Trooper, then the other Gift. The top Gift resolves, attaching to the Trooper. Then the Trooper dies, triggering the top Gift to put him immediately back in play and the top Gift will come back end of next turn. The Trooper is now in play for the bottom Gift to resolve and reattach and the turn ends.
The one question to that working would be whether the bottom Gift will reattach to the Trooper since technically he died and may not be considered the same creature for the effect.
Arachnos
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I'm surprised they didn't call him "Shock Trooper".
Comments (60)
I like it, since I can respect that it's not quite "overpowered" (it IS super powerful, it can net a difference of 12 life in a single attack for 4cmc only), but still balanced enough to not make it frustrating (yeah, first strike and a simple ping does it for this guy)
4.5/5 for being quite balanced
It's just really cool.
And if people out there think "Oh, it's just Christmasland where you pair this on T4 with your T3 Silverblade Paladin.",
While I can admit that this is true,
The fact is that that combo (along with your T1 and T2 plays) can outright win the game, which is a very powerful idea,
And if that start DOESN'T happen,
This card is STILL good enough to send out into the ranks if you see your opponent tapped out, or no first striker/pinger, etc.
It gets a solid 4.5/5 for me.
gotta say it with the "question" inflection. makes their sweat beads pop out faster
Boros commander: Send in... the keyrune.
Yep, lots of ways to make this a game-ender.
Honestly, if you get to the fourth turn and haven't dealt the 8 damage to make this guy lethal, you're playing the deck wrong.
T1: Vexing Devil smashes them for four
T2: Boros Charm, same thing
T3: Silverblade Paladin or Ajani, Caller of the Pride
T4: Lethal Spark Trooper.
Spark Trooper + Inquisitor's Flail + Boros Charm or a soul binded Silverblade Paladin after blocker are assign and before combat damage is dealt = a very scary suicidal trooper
Creature — Elemental Soldier
Storm (Copy it a whole bunch of times.)
Trample, lifelink, haste
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Spark Trooper.
Turn 2: Mountain, Infernal Plungeand then Spark trooper
Also Works well with Séance
Not to mention this set is very first strike heavy. It's kind of sad when you realize your entire double strike goodness plan is cut in half by something as simple as an Aerial Maneuver, or a Warclamp Mastiff.
-Enchurito.
It's perfectly grammatical.
"Izzet-designed conductors atop Sunhome..."--this is the subject.
"...charge empty sets of armor..."--this explains what the conductors do.
"that give form to the fluctuating elementals."--and this explains what those charged suits of armor do.
Boiling it down, it says, "Conductors charge armor." What kind of conductors? Conductors that sit atop Sunhome and were designed by the Izzet. What kind of armor? Empty sets of it. What does the armor do? Give form to the elementals.
Your suggestion, however, makes no sense. "Izzet-designed conductors atop Sunhome charged empty sets of armor give form to the fluctuating elementals"? The tenses of the verbs don't match--"charged" vs. "give form". There needs to be a coordinating conjunction between the clauses "charged empty sets of armor" and "give form...". You wouldn't say "Izzet-designed machines generated electricity sometimes explode"--but grammatically, that's what your proposed alternative sounds like.
It's risky business calling something ungrammatical when your proposed alternative is far less so.
There's now this, Ball Lightning and Spark Elemental. Next:
Blightball 1BBG 6/1
Haste, Trample, Infect. Sacrifice Blightball at the beginning of the end step.
Seriously, this card isn't really all that useful. Why would you want to gain life in an aggro Boros deck? It's flavourful I suppose but still a bit silly. Much rather Ball Lightning for aggro.
@Capncrunch: It's fine for the game. Who wants lifegain in an aggro deck? It's a really silly fit. And you would never use this card outside aggro so it's just a waste. If you want too powerful, try Ball Lightning or Goblin Guide which both make ten times as much sense for an aggro deck.
That's awfully presumptuous to assume that someone would rather be hit in the face by Vexing Devil twice, with no removal, rather than counter it. Further, turn 4 they have had no removal for this, the devil, or the paladin?
I get they all pour on the damage, but battlion relies on people not killing your stuff or having blockers do it, or having bounce.. or counterspells... and vexing devil comes with a free counterspell attached.
So they eat 4 from the Vexing Devil. This is the accepted response to a turn one devil unless you have some form of removal...for their one-drop. (or if they don't eat the four damage move on to turn two and give the vexing devil double strike with your boros charm)
Turn two, Boros Charm in the head. With no counters that makes enough sense...but not always a common play to burn face on turn two.
This is where my problem comes in...you play Silverblade Paladin and it doesn't die by your turn...fair, a 2/2 isn't that dangerous by itself.
But if they let you play Spark Trooper and soulbond it to the Paladin the following turn without interacting with you...they deserved to lose. There is no way that that's a realistic expectation. Maybe in goldfish testing, you can slam out 20 damage in the first four turns, but if they don't play a blocker or removal or any sort of hinderance in the first four turns...I'd be bored.
3.5 for art, 5/5 for ability to swing the game and 2.5/5 for predictability, especially when you play a Paladin down before it. Total rating...11/15 or...3.67/5 Good job community, right on the money.
Do not play one of these things without a Boros Charm in hand. If you don't, this won't deliver enough damage to end the game. Not to mention, it does die to first strike! Preferably, you also want a way to give this thing flying, using thing such as Ajani, Caller of the Pride or Gift of Orzhova. If you screw up, you essentially tapped out four mana for nothing. BUt if you time it just right, this almost guarantees you a win.
Use Closet to exile him at the beginning of the end step, he misses it, and comes back after to stay in for an extra turn.
Expensive combo, but it should technically work, right?
I wonder what other cards would work?
I was thinking more along the helmet being a Dimir mind control device that could wrest control of the elementals from the Legion at a moment's notice. House Dimir's emblem is a six-legged spider-thing, after all.
CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE*explodes*
This is a very decent card in Boros.
4/5
Once Hellrider rotates, these are the curve toppers we have for RDW:
Exava
Burning Earth
Chandra, Pyromaster
this
Against aggro, this seems to be the best of the bunch.
If used properly, it's basically a burn spell in a creature card. an adaptable one at that.
Why would you want to use this over Ball Lightning? Well, because outside of monored, 1RRW is FAR easier to hit than RRR. Plus, THIS IS IN STANDARD. Ball Lightning is not.
Gift of Immortality can keep him around if done correctly. Beginning of the end step, the Spark Trooper dies. Gift gets triggered in response to him hitting the graveyard and he comes back into play immediately. Since the Trooper dies at the beginning, and not just before the beginning of the end step, Gift's triggered rules says it comes back at the next end step, which would be your opponent's turn. So the Trooper stays around and waits for the beginning of the next end step. At that point, both he and the Gift trigger. Choose to have Gift resolve first and then the Trooper dies and retriggers the Gift. Same thing would happen if the Trooper has the Gift during main phase and died in combat.
The downside of this is that the Trooper isn't enchanted 99% of the time, so he'll die normally to any other removal ( combat, burn, whatever. ) If you're swinging or blocking with him, you'll need something like Boros Charm to keep damage off of him during the rest of the turn.
If you want to go really nuts, you could use two Gift's to stagger the effect and keep him continually enchanted and on the board. Trooper has two Gifts and he dies during the main turn. He goes right back in play and the two Gifts hit the graveyard. End of turn the Trooper and both Gifts trigger. Put one Gift on the stack, then the Trooper, then the other Gift. The top Gift resolves, attaching to the Trooper. Then the Trooper dies, triggering the top Gift to put him immediately back in play and the top Gift will come back end of next turn. The Trooper is now in play for the bottom Gift to resolve and reattach and the turn ends.
The one question to that working would be whether the bottom Gift will reattach to the Trooper since technically he died and may not be considered the same creature for the effect.