If you haven’t heard about the latest update to the new Magic Spellslingers game, it not included rebalancing of card power levels, but also the introduction of 5 new Skill Class cards. The Skill Class cards take inspiration from both character roles in Dungeons & Dragons, as well as the Enchantment Class cards from the original Magic: the Gathering game.

To understand how Skill Classes work in Spellslingers, think of it as getting 3 cards into 1. By placing a Skill Class card in your deck, you’re guaranteed getting the 1st stage of skill progression inserted into the top 3 cards. After you’ve cast the 1st stage card, the 2nd stage card again gets put into the top 3 cards of your deck.

Each Skill Class contains effect that fit its character, and although there is 1 for every colour, they are not equivalent in power nor are they natural fits into any Spellslinger that shares the colour. After almost 2 weeks of grinding, we’ve ranked the Skill Class cards from worst to best, and give suggestions on which Spellslingers can benefit the most.

No. 5: Barbarian Class

After so many games, we’ve yet to seen a single Barbarian Class being played, and that’s probably because it’s just all-round underwhelming compared to the other Skill Classes. Let’s take a deeper look into all 3 stages of the class.

The only Artifact across all Skill Class cards is found in stage 1 – Mindless Rage – of Path of the Barbarian. It comes with 2 charges and can give 1 of your Creatures +1/+0 for that turn. The fact that this is a temporary buff makes it incredibly weak. If you don’t have a Creature, this also doesn’t do anything in terms of defence.

At stage 2 (Mindless Rage), you get to deal damage to a random enemy Creature equal to the power of your strongest Creature. However there are 2 problems with this. First, it’s to a random Creature so you can’t plan an effective strategy. And again this all depends if you have a Creature on the board. If you have none or only small ones, then this doesn’t help you get rid of threats.

The final spell (Indomitable Strength) has the biggest impact but is also favoured towards certain Spellslingers while proving quite useless for others. For example, Vivien and Domri utilise big green and red Creatures and can easily fulfil the “5 or more power” requirement. However Chandra, Nahiri, and Ral don’t rely on big Creatures as much and will find it may not trigger often.

5 damage is still significant and it’s restricted to only 1 trigger per attack, so it’s not overpowered. The 6 Mana cost is still a hefty price and it’s a “win more” spell since you would likely only cast it when you have big Creatures already on the Battlefield.

Highly Effective for these Spellslingers: Vivien, Domri

Less Effective for these Spellslingers: Chandra, Ral, Nahiri

No. 4: Paladin Class

Coming in number 4 is the Paladin Skill Class for white Spellslingers. It’s got some shine in the armour but some kinks as well. Overall, it likes decks that have lots of Creatures, but doesn’t really help any archetypes.

The 1st card – Faithful Steed – is a 1/2 Creature for 1 Mana that can buff itself or any other friendly Creature +0/+1. While a 1/3 is nice as a blocker, it isn’t strong in attack. The steed’s buff is right up Ajani’s alley, as it will trigger his ability, giving an additional +1/+1 to the next Creature he draws.

The next spell Divine Smite has the right intentions but can seriously fall flat if you’re not playing an army strategy. It can deal damage to an enemy Creature, but only equal to the number of Creatures you have. Since the board can only have 5 Creatures at a time, it is really only effective against enemies up to 5 Toughness, and that’s provided you even have a full Battlefield. More often you’ll want to use this when you have only 2 or 3 friendly Creatures, and that’s when you’d think of a Path to Exile (that also costs 3) instead of Divine Smite.

At the last stage, Aura of Courage again only makes sense if you have a healthy board full of Creatures that can make use of its effects. All Creatures get a +1/+1 buff on attack, so with 5 Creatures that equates to an equally-distributed +5/+5 buff. Creature-focused Spellslingers such as Gideon and Kaya will enjoy using this as a finisher to get those last points of damage across.

Highly Effective for these Spellslingers: Ajani, Gideon, Kaya

Less Effective for these Spellslingers: Teferi, Nahiri

No. 3: Druid Class

One would think that a green stompy deck doesn’t need more help with Creatures, but in the case of Druid, this Skill Class actually enhances the green game plan so well. The 3 cards provide a cheap attacker, Mana ramp, and finally a giant attacker who can also absorb damage.

The 1st card is a slightly weaker, green version of Leonin Healer. Wildshape Wolf costs 2 for a lacklustre 3/2 but heals yourself for 2. Note that you can’t heal other Creatures but the extra life keeps you in the game longer, and that’s important for green in order to cast the behemoths. Normally you would use Kalonian Tusker for your 2-Mana slot but it’s hard to complain about an extra Creature card.

On the surface, level 2’s Barkhide Growth doesn’t seem to do much, but actually does a lot of heavy lifting for the late game. It ramps you up by giving an empty Mana gem slot and as an added bonus gives a random friendly Creature +1/+1. Having that extra empty Mana gem slot means on the next turn onwards, you are able to cast either a bigger Creature or perhaps an additional card when you normally wouldn’t have been able to. Spellslingers such as Nissa and Kiora also rely on ramp to get their late game payoffs to help them win.

The 3rd level is the Wildshape Brontosaurus with a staggering 8/10 stat with Trample and Ward. If those 2 weren’t bad enough, it even serves as a shield to your own life total, directing to it any damage that was meant for you. To make matters worse, the Brontosaurus heals itself for 2 each turn. With Ward, it also can’t be targeted by destroy spells like Flagrant Foul for at least a turn.

Ultimately, this dinosaur is immensely difficult to deal with and any opponent will have to wait a turn (which means an attack) before Ward falls off. Good luck to them!

Highly Effective for these Spellslingers: Vivien, Nissa, Kiora, Domri

Less Effective for these Spellslingers: Vraska, Drizzt, Ajani

No. 2: Wizard Class

School of the Wizard is a blue Skill Class card specially designed for Spellslingers that love to cast spells (i.e. not Creatures or Traps). The 1st 2 stages start off slow and but the last and ultimate ability can be strong if you’re build your deck around it.

The 1st level – Wizard’s Familiar – is a 1/1 Flyer for 2 Mana. It doesn’t really do much as a sacrificial blocker, but it can hit in the air for a few points of damage if needed. In a deck utilising Flying Creatures, Wizard’s Familiar fits in well. It has an important Debut ability, which reduces the cost of a random spell in your hand by 2 – that means cards such as Unsummon, Anticipate, or Remand all now cost 0.

Signature Spell is the next level of the Wizard Skill Class, and is probably the weakest of the 3, as you have to spend 2 Mana to draft 1 of your signature spells into your hand. The downside is that you don’t get a cost reduction on that drafted card, so you might have to wait a turn before you can cast it again. Nevertheless, being able to get an additional copy of a signature spell can be invaluable. For Teferi, that could be an Absorb or Teferi’s Acolyte that can help you from the next turn onwards.

The last level is Elemental Mastery, which gives you a free 5/5 Water Elemental at the end of any turn where you spent at least 6 Mana on spells. Again, this doesn’t count Creatures so for certain Spellslingers that rely on combat, this isn’t going to be useful at all. But for others such as Ral and Ashiok, this is a great way to get a big presence on the board that can serve as blockers or attackers.

If you’re using Jace and have activated his Multiverse Mind ability, then take note that each new spell drawn will only cost 1 Mana, making it difficult to hit the 6-Mana threshold.

Highly Effective for these Spellslingers: Ashiok, Ral, Teferi, Jace (good and bad)

Less Effective for these Spellslingers: Kiora, Jace (good and bad)

No. 1: Warlock Class

The Warlock Class boasts great effects in all 3 stages, especially the final Whispers of the Grave, which gives a nice drain ability to aggro Creatures that die on your turn. This works

The 1st stage is the excellent Pactbound Quasit, a 2/3 Creature for just 1 Mana. On each of your turns, you drain 1 life from its Toughness, so it’s eventually going to die, but before that happens you can always swing in for a few points of damage or trade with an enemy Creature.

Removal spells are a premium in this game, and the 2nd stage XX is also amazing as it gets a Creature -3/-3. Even if an enemy Creature has Toughness higher than 3, reducing its power by the same amount means it becomes a much less effective attacker. If you plan things well, you can even raise the effect to -5/-5 when 1 of your Creatures die. Often the best move is to attack 1st, and if any of your Creatures die, make use of the upgraded spell.

The last stage is a permanent effect for the rest of the game, whereby if any of your Creatures die during your turn, you will drain 1 from your opponent. This fits in perfectly with aggressive black Spellslingers like Liliana and Angrath who always attack en masse. Even if they lose a couple of Creatures, you’re slowly draining their health away too.

There is more planning needed for Ashiok and Vraska, but both can also take advantage of the Warlock Skill Class to great effect. Ashiok drains an additional 1 for Nightmare triggers, while Vraska always tries to sacrifice their Creatures on their own turn anyway.

Highly Effective for these Spellslingers: Ashiok, Liliana, Vraska, Angrath, Kaya

Less Effective for these Spellslingers: None?