We’re into the second week of Bloomburrow spoilers now, and more new animal-themed cards are flooding the internet as I write these words. It may seem strange to cover a card spoiled last Friday now, but in this case, it’s one you could have easily missed. Darkstar Augur wasn’t revealed by a specific outlet but rather dropped quietly via the official MTG card gallery. Thanks to this, it was surprisingly easy to miss. This is a crying shame since Augur is one of the most exciting cards we’ve seen previewed so far.
Darkstar Augur: A Clever MTG Throwback
Let’s get right into it. Darkstar Augur is a 2/3 Bat Warlock for three mana with Flying. It also has Offspring for one black mana, which lets you create a 1/1 copy of it as it enters for one extra black mana. You’ll see why this is relevant in a second.
Augur’s other ability is one that will be familiar to most enfranchised Magic players. At the start of your turn, it reveals the top card of your deck and adds it to your hand. Drawing you an extra card, essentially. The trade-off? You also take damage equal to the ‘drawn’ card’s mana value. Life for cards: a classic MTG bargain. In fact, as we’ll get to later, this exact line of text appeared on Dark Confidant, for a time one of the very best cards in Magic.
Will Darkstar Augur soar to similar heights? Quite possibly. It can be a three drop or a four drop, and it’ll give you two evasive bodies for that price. Already this is pretty great in Aggro decks. The ability works best there too, where you can draw extra cards without worrying about burning yourself out. Including this card in anything resembling a Midrange deck is a pretty big risk, especially if you plan on using the Offspring ability, so you’ll want to keep things low to the ground curve-wise.
Even with that caveat in mind, Darkstar Augur definitely looks playable in Standard. The rate here is solid, and drawing two extra cards a turn can win you the game before the damage adds up in Aggro. Notably, it also has the Bat creature type, which is receiving a lot of support in Bloomburrow. Throw in a Valley Rotcaller, for example, and you can gain back the life you lose to Augur’s ability very quickly.
Joining The Confidant Club
Interestingly, Darkstar Augur isn’t the only recent MTG card to hearken back to Dark Confidant. Keen Duelist from Commander 2021 offered a multiplayer take on the concept. Following this, Caustic Bronco from Thunder Junction played around with the set’s Saddle mechanic for a fresh spin on the idea. Bronco has actually seen a good deal of play, too, in combination with Insatiable Avarice to load the top of your deck for a big damage burst.
These cards may not seem particularly wild today. In fact, many other Dark Confidant-likes don’t even see play. Back in the day, however, Dark Confidant was a major player in Modern, and widely considered the definitive black two drop. The card was actually a desirable reprint in the original Modern Masters, and it went on to appear in the 2015 version of the set and Double Masters too. Thanks to the rapid advance of WotC’s FIRE design strategy, however, the card has quickly been power-crept into irrelevance.
If you’re looking for a solid black two-drop in current Magic, chances are you’ll reach for an Orcish Bowmasters or Dauthi Voidwalker long before you even consider Dark Confidant. That’s if you consider it at all. Outside of Commander, the card sees barely any eternal play now. If we’re honest most of the Commander play is likely due more to nostalgia than actual power.
It’s sad to see such a recognizable piece of Magic history fade into the background. It’s also rather ironic, too, given the card’s legendary flavor text: “Greatness. At any cost.” As long as WotC keeps printing cards that evoke Dark Confidant, though, its legacy will stay alight. With that in mind, Darkstar Augur is one of the best MTG cards ever printed in that very specific sphere.
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