War-Name Aspirant - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

by Phoenix Desertsong, Old School Duelist

War-Name Aspirant is a decent creature with the Raid mechanic. She's a 2/1 Human Warrior for 1R. Her Raid ability is that it enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it if you attacked with a creature that turn. A 3/2 for 1R is very good, obviously. Also, it can’t be blocked by creatures with power 1 or less, which is not an irrelevant thing. At the time, Sylvan Caryatid and its 0 power was a very popular creature in Standard. So, the Aspirant could get through Caryatid for 2 or 3 damage without any hassle.
 
This gal did see some Standard play in some builds of Red Deck Wins, although most of the card's success was seen in Magic Online Daily Events. To be fair, this was a pretty good card at the time and scanning Top 8 deck lists probably doesn't do it justice. She was also an extremely solid creature in Limited.
 
After leaving Standard, War-Name Aspirant mostly sees play in Commander. The Warrior is listed in about 100 EDH decks according to EDHREC. Primarily, the Aspirant is played in the Warrior Tribal focused decks led by Lovisa Coldeyes and Najeela, the Blade-Blossom. Also, one of the better one-vs-one Commanders, Zurgo Bellstriker, has played a copy of War-Name Aspirant. Other Commanders who have recruited the Aspirant include Zurgo Helmsmasher, Lovisa Coldeyes, and Alesha, Who Smiles At Death.  As one of the better creatures with Raid from Khans of Tarkir, it's nice to see that War-Name Aspirant still sees some play, even if it's fairly limited.
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