With the release of Magic: The Gathering's newest set, The Hobbit (HOB), several new cards have been released into the Standard format that have exciting and innovative effects. One of these cards is Wizard's Staff.

With a casting cost of , Wizard's Staff offers a lot of potential when it's included in spellslinger decks, which are decks that focus on casting a high volume of Instant and Sorcery spells to overwhelm their opponent. Equipping it costs , unless the Creature it's being Equipped to is a Wizard. If that's the case, then the Equip cost is reduced to .

Once Equipped, it provides a Creature Prowess, and it will double the number of times that Creature's Triggered Abilities happen. Triggered abilities are any abilities that begin with "when", "whenever", or "at" in the abilities text.

The 10 Synergistic Cards for Wizard's Staff

Since Prowess is a Triggered Ability, the Creature equipped with Wizard's Staff will see that benefit trigger twice, but Prowess isn't the only Triggered Ability worth doubling.

Here are the top ten cards in Standard that offer the highest synergy with Wizard's Staff.

1. Valley Floodcaller
2. Emberheart Challenger
3. Bria, Riptide Rogue
4. Sokka, Tenacious Tactician
5. Slickshot Show-Off
6. Thor Odinson
7. Coruscation Mage / Firebrand Archer / Firespitter Whelp
8. Black Waltz No. 3
9. Gandalf, Goblins' Bane
10. Thor, God of Thunder

Each of these cards already have Triggered Abilities that make them worth playing, but with Wizard's Staff added, those Triggered Abilities get a huge boost. Let's take a closer look at what each of them offers.

10. Valley Floodcaller

Valley Floodcaller allows you to cast noncreature spells as though they had flash. It also has a Triggered Ability that provides a +1/+1 bonus to all of your Birds, Frogs, Otters, and Rats for the turn whenever you cast a noncreature spell. You also get to untap those Creatures. This can offer you a lot of defensive capability while still being able to attack as usual.

Since the bonus this Triggered Ability provides is limited to specific Creature types, you'll want to build your deck with this limitation in mind putting Valley Floodcaller at the bottom of this list.

9. Emberheart Challenger

For , Emberheart Challenger comes in as a 2/2 with Haste and Prowess. It also has the Valiant ability keyword, which means that whenever Emberheart Challenger becomes the target of a spell or ability you control for the first time each turn, you will exile the top card of your library and can play that card until the end of your turn.

Since Wizard's Staff cannot override a restriction that limits an ability once per turn, you'll only be able to trigger Valiant once, but even only getting one extra card that you can play makes the interaction between Emberheart Challenger and Wizard's Staff very beneficial.

8. Bria, Riptide Rogue

Bria, Riptide Rogue naturally has Prowess, plus she provides other Creatures you control Prowess as well. Her Triggered Ability allows you to make a Creature you control unblockable this turn whenever you cast a noncreature spell.

By having Wizard's Staff Equipped and casting a couple of noncreature spells, your opponent will need a timely removal spell, otherwise Bria will help your team attack for lethal damage very quickly.

7. Sokka, Tenacious Tactician

Sokka, Tenacious Tactician creates a 1/1 White Ally creature token whenever you cast a noncreature spell. While Sokka is in play, other Allies you control have both Menace and Prowess (which Sokka also has).

Equip Wizard's Staff to Sokka and begin pumping out Ally after Ally that are not only able to get bigger in size but are also difficult to block effectively.

6. Slickshot Show-Off

Slickshot Show-Off was likely one of the first Creatures you would have expected to see on this list. Having both Flying and Haste makes it a dangerous attacker. However, its Triggered Ability is what makes it so deadly.

Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, Slickshot Show-Off gets +2/+0 until the end of the turn. With Wizard's Staff Equipped, casting one noncreature spell turns this 1/2 Creature into a massive 7/4 threat.

5. Thor Odinson

Thor Odinson has both Flying and Vigilance, making him great for both attacking and defending. Additionally, He also has two instances of Prowess.

By Equipping Wizard's Staff and casting a single noncreature spell, Thor goes from being a 4/4 Creature to being a 10/10 Creature for the turn. If your opponent can't block Flying Creatures, you can follow this up by casting Burn Together, the Adventure portion of Callous Sell-Sword, to finish off your opponent immediately.

4. Coruscation Mage / Firebrand Archer / Firespitter Whelp

This trio of Creatures are all tied for fourth place because they all have a similar ability. While any of these Creatures are on the battlefield, whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this Creature deals one damage to each opponent.

Repeatable direct damage directly to your opponent's life total is never a bad thing, plus you get the additional benefit of whatever the noncreature spell you cast provides.

3. Black Waltz No. 3

Everything I just said about the cards in the number four position of this list remains true, but Black Waltz No. 3 amps things up a notch. Instead of dealing one point of damage to your opponent when you cast a noncreature spell, Black Waltz No. 3 deals two instead.

Since Black Waltz No. 3 has Deathtouch, the Prowess provided by Equipping Wizard's Staff makes it a tricky Creature for your opponent to block effectively.

2. Gandalf, Goblins' Bane

Gandalf, Goblins' Bane effectively has Prowess, though it is written out in long form instead of being keyworded. He also deals one damage to each opponent whenever you cast a noncreature spell.

One would hope that Gandalf would work well when Equipped with Wizard's Staff, and he certainly does, both mechanically and thematically.

1. Thor, God of Thunder

Even though he isn't a Wizard, Thor, God of Thunder is the best card to play alongside Wizard's Staff.

When Thor, God of Thunder enters the battlefield, you can exile an Equipment, Instant, or Sorcery card from your graveyard, which you can play until the end of your next turn. This can be a great way to get back a Wizard's Staff that was previously destroyed, or an additional use of an Instant or Sorcery that furthers your plans.

Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, Thor deals damage equal to that spell's mana value to any target. Whether you choose to take out your opponent's blockers with this damage or to send it straight to their life total is up to you. Since the damage is based on the mana value of the noncreature spell you cast, the amount of damage dealt can be massive.

Conclusion

If Wizard's Staff only provided Prowess to the Creature Equipping it, it likely wouldn't see play. The juice simply wouldn't be worth the squeeze.

But, by adding a doubling effect to any Triggered Ability, the Equipped Creature has so many more options available to them. Triggered Abilities that are simply good when triggered once become fantastic when triggered a second time. Finding combos like this is what makes playing Magic fun for a lot of people.