In Garruk's Wake

In Garruk's Wake was originally introduced in the 2014 Magic: The Gathering core set, M15, serving as a powerful high-mana sorcery that board-wipes creatures and planeswalkers controlled by opponents while leaving the caster's forces untouched. Its inclusion in the 2020 Zendikar Rising Commander set marked its reappearance as a staple utility card, intended to help Commander players stabilize the battlefield during mid-to-late game scenarios. The card captures a pivotal narrative beat in the Magic multiverse where the planeswalker Garruk Wildspeaker is consumed by a curse, reflecting his transition into a more aggressive and darker iteration of the character.

The artwork for the card was rendered by Greg Staples, who leaned into the dark, visceral aesthetic surrounding Garruk's corruption. Staples aimed to illustrate the sheer scale of Garruk's overwhelming power, using deep shadows and a muted, ominous color palette to emphasize the destructive energy radiating from the planeswalker. The design was received as a quintessential 'swing' card in the Commander format, favored by players for its ability to drastically flip the momentum of a game, even if its high mana cost requires careful timing to cast effectively.