Cunning Sparkmage
Creature — Human Shaman
Haste
: This creature deals 1 damage to any target.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Worldwake
- Price
- $0.39
- EDHREC rank
- #10907
Cunning Sparkmage puts a repeatable, untap-triggerable 1-damage ping on the board for three mana — cheap enough to slot in and immediately apply pressure to small creatures and planeswalkers. Under Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot, that single damage point becomes a kill condition for anything with one toughness, turning the Sparkmage into a machine-gun that fires on your schedule.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot
Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot's ability to convert exact-damage kills into card draw means Cunning Sparkmage becomes a draw engine the moment it targets anything with one toughness — ping, kill, draw, repeat.
Kelsien, the Plague
Kelsien, the Plague gains experience counters whenever an opponent's creature dies on your turn, and Cunning Sparkmage's free tap ability supplies a steady stream of one-toughness kills to stack those counters without spending combat steps.
Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph
Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph adds two damage to any source that deals exactly one, so each Cunning Sparkmage activation becomes a three-damage ping — enough to reach most utility creatures and chip planeswalkers to zero in two shots.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Cunning Sparkmage sees virtually no play in Legacy, Modern, or Vintage — formats where a 1/1 for three that pings for one is far too slow to matter. Commander is its natural home: the singleton format's reliance on utility creatures with one or two toughness gives the Sparkmage a target-rich environment, and the slower pace lets you untap and activate repeatedly. In Oathbreaker it can function similarly in the right shell, but the smaller deck sizes and faster clocks make it a narrower include outside dedicated ping strategies.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.39 bulk tier
At $0.39, Cunning Sparkmage is deep bulk — the kind of card you pick up in a trade binder without thinking twice. Demand stays niche enough that the price isn't going anywhere meaningful; it's a role-player in specific commanders and priced accordingly.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.