Vexing Devil

Creature — Devil

When Vexing Devil enters the battlefield, any opponent may have it deal 4 damage to them. If a player does, sacrifice Vexing Devil.

Discussion (48)

sergiodelrio on Sideboard Strategy Advice Needed for ...

1 week ago

Realistically, I'll only see 3-4 out of the 15 sided cards, so they all kinda need the potential to deal 4+ damage on their own.

Prowess might do the job and I've thought about it... still considering it.

The Goblin token on the other hand would allow me to use Goblin Grenade :D

Also looking at Vexing Devil , Koth of the Hammer and Boros Charm ...

What other cards could have the potential to deal 4+ damage on their own in this deck?

heckproof on Riftfire

2 months ago

If you want card draw in mono-red you can run Commune with Lava ; it works really well with Tron. The rituals are fine when they work but if you can’t find a Worldfire they’re really awkward. I might suggest running some mana rocks, like Boros Signet or something like that. Vexing Devil is only really good in Burn because it gives your opponents choices and 9 times out of 10 they’ll take the 4 damage. Flame Slash is decent anti-creature removal. I wouldn’t run any Evolving Wilds . They’re just too slow. I’d replace them with more mountains, or, if you’re feeling fancy, Ghost Quarter for the mirror-they’ll never see it coming!

Wuzibo on Riftfire

2 months ago

@Scarlet2009 What is ex map? Also there are lots of decks with 1 win con.

@heckproof Thanks for the advice and explanation on Ricochet Trap . Price keeps me away from Karn Liberated , but i know it would be good. I'll cut the other walls. I want Electrostatic Field though. If surgical extraction hits my worldfire, electrofield and Arc Blade recurring could be alright back up with rift bolts and bolt... however, i just realized arc blade isn't on the deck list. I'll correct that. I was looking for a good red x spell. Banefire is a definite. With the aforementioned cards that could be decent. If i have two arc blades cycling through suspension one banefire cast with one tron set out could put them on a short clock. Vexing Devil s seems like the play for creatures. Any recommendations on card draw? Cut some of the ritual spells for Chromatic Star ? more red draw spells? Dragon Mage or something similar? Wheel of Fate ?

StopShot on I think Eldraine’s Fervent Champion ...

2 months ago

Last I checked of Gilded Goose was the hype reactions when it was spoiled. I’m not running any green decks that run mana-dorks, so it’s been an insignificant presumption as I haven’t been inclined on fact-checking something that doesn’t particularly pertain to me. Just don’t give me credit if it does turn out Modern-playable as this card isn’t something I want to start discussion thread about anyway.

For myself I’m not ever really satisfied with any of the decks I play whenever I run into a wall or get caught on a snag. I have access to all the burn cards you’d find in any top list and I like to experiment with what’s outside that pool of cards together to see what can be made or done better or at least more towards my liking which is reflective of my play style as well as what is in my local meta. I’ve played with every burn creature card that has been noted on this thread, and I’m proclaiming that I believe this card should be taken with particular interest due to my own personal satisfaction of it compared to the other creature cards I have played with in comparison. I can’t make an argument for why x is greater than y if neither one is strictly better than the other so of course this debate is going to bubble down to a situation-by-situation-case basis, because how else are we supposed to go about this? And what situations we consider to be too narrow or absolute or ridiculous is dictated by our own personal experiences which vary just as much.

Regardless maybe my own personal experiences I have had with testing around with this card in my burn list has helped in stirring an aggressive hypothetical debate which was not my original intention when I first started writing this thread post earlier today. My intention was to generate interest in getting other people to test around with the card for themselves by ‘selling’ that idea to them in a way that would make them more open-minded to the concept rather than passing judgment before giving it a shot themselves. Obviously a lot of people on this website come off as shrewd customers due to their strong interests and passions for the game which can make it hard to convince anyone to the point of hysteria like a comical skit on the television, but the bottom-line I wanted to get across is this - I run a Modern burn deck that I put a lot of time into adjusting and editing just to satisfy the question of, “If I were to run a burn deck how would I build it so that it plays and feels very in-sync with how I would want to play Burn in this format?” and it’s been this creature that has specifically helped me a lot in answering that question recently even though it wasn’t apparent at first. And so if there’s anyone who is currently finding themselves in the same predicament like I was who is really looking and testing trying to find that one card that fits so neatly in tuning their burn deck, may I recommend this card given the success I have found in it? I can’t say it’s for everyone like how Vexing Devil or Fanatical Firebrand is for every burn deck, but I am certain in that list of B-grade burn cards that this one fits in with them and it rectifies a recurring issue that I have had with most of the cards on that list, and I think that’s just interesting. I mean my problems probably won’t aline with other people’s problems that they put more concern in than I do and vice versa but that’s all fine. As non-intuitive as this card has been at surface-level what it has done for my deck has went beyond expectations and I think that’s worth a shoutout given its a new card coming out this set and that there might be someone who might need this this card without sparing it much thought initially like I did.

Anyways, thanks for attending my TED Talk. Posting unrelated picture just to help put tensions to rest.

StopShot on I think Eldraine’s Fervent Champion ...

2 months ago

@EsperControl4Life, Eidolon of the Great Revel I find terrible to play in the mirror match though if you’re on the draw, and if you’re on the play burn has one of the best answers to it in the form of Searing Blaze / Searing Blood . I’ve also seen Death's Shadow decks make a complete mockery of burn, whenever the burn deck plays Eidolon of the Great Revel as well. There’s also affinity decks that are so fast at dumping their hand before you can play Eidolon of the Great Revel , and I think it’s just these matchups and my poor luck at getting the first play is why I just don’t main board it anymore.

Vexing Devil is a weird one, but I think it’s biggest issue is you can’t force it to do damage the turn it comes into play which is especially important if you top-deck it with your opponent 1 turn away from winning the game. Sometimes your opponent might be 1 point away from losing the game and top-decking that Lightning Bolt or 1/1 haste instead would have made all the difference on who would have won the game. I think you could compare Vexing Devil to Rift Bolt in that Rift Bolt would probably see far less play if it could only be cast for its suspend cost. Also to a much lesser degree you can’t choose to have Vexing Devil not sacrifice itself. Very rarely your opponent might end up with 5+ life and you badly need a blocker to survive next turn. Also your opponent can reap a gross advantage on you if they choose to sac the Devil and Deflecting Palm the damage. I know the same thing can happen if you play Boros Charm , but it’s pretty obvious when your opponent has Deflecting Palm mana up, and at least with Boros Charm you have other modes to get around it, whereas you can’t do much with Vexing Devil in the same situation.

EsperControl4Life on I think Eldraine’s Fervent Champion ...

2 months ago

StopShot Competitively there is no reason to run Fervent Champion even with the best hand it would still deal less damage per turn then the best hand the current modern burn deck can deal. Also idk how long you have played burn but while Eidolon sometimes feels awfule it is one of the top reasons to play burn. Lastly for best one drop that burn doesn't play Vexing Devil takes the cake and if that isn't seeing play as a 4 of Fervent champion won't see play at all.

Kjartan on

3 months ago

Your deck seems to have a pretty big identity problem.

Banefire for example, begs for the game to go long and get grindy. Which stands in sharp contrast to Vexing Devil , which tries to end the game as quickly as possible.

If one of these cards are good at some point in the game, chances are, the other will be bad.

I think it would be a good idea to choose whether you want to be an aggro deck, or whether you want to grind.

I can help you in either direction if you want to :)

ClockworkSwordfish on Looking for cards to fit ...

3 months ago

Red is the best for forcing decisions. You've got Whims of the Fates , Stronghold Gambit , Breaking Point , Browbeat , Flaming Gambit , Vexing Devil and Blazing Salvo , among others. But black isn't so bad itself, including Dash Hopes , Lethal Vapors , Temporal Extortion , Volrath's Dungeon and the aptly-named Choice of Damnations . Eye of Doom might also be an option for forcing people to choose which permanent to put on the chopping block.