Fans of Magic: The Gathering’s Boros Legion, the Red-White guild from the plane of Ravnica, will be excited to see this new War of the Spark spoiler! Parhelion II is the latest addition to the Boros arsenal, with an army of 4/4 angels to attack with. For those not familiar, Parhelion was previously docked in Sunhome, the Fortress of the Legion. The Legendary vehicle rises again, ready to combat the Dreadhorde forces of Nicol Bolas in MTG’s War of the Spark.
Parhelion II adds another vehicle to Magic: The Gathering‘s upcoming planeswalker-centric set. Vehicles are a returning Artifact subtype first introduced in Kaladesh in 2016. They are noted for their capability to turn into creatures with the Crew ability. As it states, crewing a vehicle requires tapping creatures on the battlefield with power equivalent to the Crew value. In this case, that number is 4. Funnily enough, angels are noted for typically having a 4/4 power and toughness. That will make them a natural enabler for this 5/5 Vehicle with flying, first strike, and vigilance.
Where could this card see play?
While this card looks very strong and can definitely swing a game in your favor with a swarm of angels, I expect it to have very little impact in Standard. With a converted casting cost of 8, it will be a tough sell getting this floating fortress to even hit the table to make an impact. After all, the Standard environment is one where Mono Red can reduce your life total to zero as quickly as turn four. You may find yourself stuck holding this card without ever getting the chance to play it.
Most of the excitement around this card will come from Commander players, who will be eager to include such a monstrous vehicle in their Boros or Angel themed decks. These could possibly be helmed by cards like Feather, the Redeemed, who is shaping up to be one of the most potent Boros generals ever printed. Resolving Parhelion II after ramping up with mana rocks and then crewing the vehicle for attack the next turn will prove a lot less challenging.
