Vial Smasher the Fierce

Legendary Creature — Goblin Berserker

Whenever you cast the first spell each turn, Vial Smasher the Fierce deals damage equal to the spell's converted mana cost to an opponent chosen at random.

Partner (You can have two commanders if both have partner.)

Discussion (51)

enpc on Inception! (aka Thrymception) [cEDH Primer]

1 day ago

In some ways, I wonder if the line would work better with Vial Smasher the Fierce just so the deck can include Wrenn and Six. Then just include Rath's Edge and hey presto, lands deck.

Vulnoth on Turbo Aggro Grind Time

5 days ago

Continuing where I left off.

continuing from creatures

Something to consider when addressing what to drop for my suggestions is how it affects your overall strategy and politics. Ashenmoor Gouger looks good because on paper it can deal damage, but consider what happens if you draw it 10 turns in and the table has all dug in for the long game. Hyper aggressive cards of the sort that do little else aren't going to help you after the first few turns. Hackrobat, Rakdos Firewheeler, Thrill-Kill Assassin, and the like are what you should look for when hacking cards out of the deck in the creature department. You might be gearing up to go fast and hit hard, but you still are playing the "long game", if you can even call it that.

Support

Onwards we march, starting with the strict spell category. Here, you should be looking for either utility or pure power. Spot removal cards like Go for the Throat work in regular 60 card formats, but lose a ton of value as the game is slowed enough for that one spell to have a diminished effect because it can only hit a single creature, often to little effect. Now Bedevil, on the other hand, is outstanding because you can hold it for either an artifact or 'walker, thus expanding your range and making it always live and effective.

• Allure of the Unknown - A huge resource generation spell. Additionally, it plays into politics well by letting an opponent (or friend) have a card. Gotta keep the train moving.

• Bituminous Blast - Perhaps not the most clutch of cards, but at least worth considering since EDH is slow enough for these types of spells to put in work, mostly because Cascade is nuts. I'd understand if it didn't make the cut, though.

• Captive Audience - Hilarious and effective. Instant enemy-maker, but if you haven't farted in the general direction of everyone at the table, others might turn a blind eye. In my experience, when Joe Shmoe poops out an army of dargons and you slap him with this, the table would generally point and laugh.

• Cauldron Dance - A nice little shuffling of creatures, which is nice if you're rich in chunguses.

• Kolaghan's Command - The best charm from its cycle, for good reasons. It's always live in EDH.

• Spiteful Visions - Perhaps risky for politics, but it does put damage on board, thus making Rakdos live, and generates card advantage.

• Fork/Reverberate/Wild Ricochet - copy spells, in my experience, tend to do a lot since they're just whatever everyone else is playing.

• Beacon of Unrest - There will always be something in the grave, and self-recursion is a godsend in my books.

• Scheming Symmetry - Helps your consistency and makes a friend.

• Subversion - Nibbles at your opponents while sustaining yourself, and makes Rakdos live.

• Generally any spell with X in its cost. As the game drags on, they only get better.

I did a brief skim of cards in Gatherer and from among my own decks, but don't be afraid to look at other decks or EDHRec for things that will help you. Just remember that your goal boils largely down to pinging to make Rakdos live, cards that Rakdos is payoff for, and utility general support that rounds out the deck.

Artifacts

Necessary gears to get the machine moving. Mostly it will boil down to mana rocks to accelerate your state, but there will be others that you want purely because they work well for you.

• Cryptolith Fragment  ^Flip - Mana plus ping.

• Commander's Sphere - Obvious utility.

• Sol Ring/Gilded Lotus - Big mana staple.

• Mind Stone/Hedron Archive - Both have their uses, and I adore them both, but in a multicolor they can run the risk of being unhelpful due to generating colorless mana.

• Firemind Vessel - Perhaps slow, but produces plenty of mana.

• Thought Vessel - A personal choice, but if you don't have enough draw power to fill your hand, then it's not worth the cash.

• Tome of Legends - Easy draws.

• Conqueror's Galleon  ^Flip - Another personal choice, but I find that once it transforms, the advantage it generates does wonders, and as a deck stuffed with creatures that could crew it, the fit seems nice to me.

• Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots - Staples for protecting your Commander. Also Haste.

• Sword of the Animist - Free Rampant Growth on attack. Obvious value is obvious.

Lands

Here you can start to have some fun. Being 2-color, you do have to be somewhat mindful of what you're running, but you can definitely make use of a lot of offbeat lands since you're not trying to be a fool and mana fix 5 colors. Keep in mind that you may not necessarily need everything listed here, but it's just a matter of helping keep your ability to produce both colors consistent.

• Temple of Malice - Slow lands may be unappealing, but Scrying usually helps.

• Arch of Orazca - Yet another personal choice. All you need is to have 10 permanents at any point while controlling/playing a card with City's Blessing and you have it for the game. At which point, Arch becomes something to do with spare mana.

• Reliquary Tower - Like Thought Vessel, it's worth considering, but is acceptable to pass on if you keep burning your hand up.

• Command Tower - Staple.

• Graven Cairns - Filter lands are always nice.

• Rakdos Carnarium - Slow, yes, but in the long run gives more mana.

• Shadowblood Ridge - Another pseudo Filter Land

Chopping Block

I encourage you to think these things out on your own or ask friends about this part, because understanding the process of what and why things stay or go is important to understanding your deck. Below are my suggestions for what needs to get yeeted.

• Ashenmoor Gouger/Hackrobat/Hellhole Flailer/Rakdos Firewheeler/Thrill-Kill Assassin/Rakdos Guildmage - All just don't do that much. Awesome to drop in the first turns, but soon are just fodder. They're nice fodder for Lysolda and Judith, but overall too narrow in use and too low impact.

• Void Winnower/Blood Moon - As someone who wins almost all his games through player politics, I advise against these types of cards that choke the entire table. Like infinite combos kept as panic buttons in decks, you really only get to pull it once before the group starts remembering what you have up your sleeve. After that, you risk being targeted because they'll know what you have.

• Phyrexian Obliterator - BBBB in 2-color is a bold move for what's essentially a 5/5 unblockable.

• Dark Ritual/Doom Blade/Go for the Throat - I personally would cut them, but feel free to play around with at least the removal spells for consistency in board control. Ritual, however, is just not suited for this format.

• Everlasting Torment - It's the only card of its type in your deck, and actually makes you vulnerable to getting chump blocked.

• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Urborg serves almost no purpose in this deck.

• Rakdos Guildgate - Guildgates are just packfiller.

• Rakdos Signet/Rakdos Keyrune - In the modern day, your mana rocks mostly should be more useful than an overcosted creature, and if it only produces mana, it needs to be efficient like Sol Ring.

• Lava Axe - Shouting "Catch" while literally throwing this is hilarious, but the card's just horribly overcosted.

• Anthem of Rakdos - You will lose a lot of games you shouldn't lose because of this.

• Ogre Battledriver - Giving a dude Haste to swing is nice, but it's a lot easier to just run a pinger like Goblin Fireslinger or Lobber Crew

• Ob Nixilis, the Fallen - His Landfall is nice, but by nature isn't consistent, which is what you're looking for in ways to ping your opponent. Becoming a chungus is nice, but you're better off just skipping the hoops and playing an actual chungus.

• Vial Smasher the Fierce - This one I'm not totally sold on cutting, but she seems more complicated than just running a pinger. Play around with her and see how Vial Smasher synergizes.

• Master of Cruelties - Another I'm not totally sold on chopping, but he can only attack alone, which bottlenecks your options.

I know this all is sort of messy, but when making edits, start with comparable replacements (i.e. swapping a creature for a creature), run a few test turns, and see how things work.

Pervavita on Midrange in EDH - Curves, ...

3 weeks ago

I think a lot depends on your commander and colors.

In a 4+ color deck I shoot for my ramp to also fix me and try to keep it between 1-3 cmc. Burnished Hart is an exception because it has flexibility of being colorless to cast, ramps for two lands, and it's a creature for where that matters. Vial Smasher the Fierce I do break the mana cost rule because I'm just happy casting big spells and if my ramp is a big spell then even better as it sets me up for even bigger spells next turn.

I keep card draw between 3-5 but that depends also on how effective it is or how much the card it's self fits with what I need to be doing... also how desperate I am in my colors (4 colors you shouldn't be desperate enough to need to over pay).

Brutal_B on Grenzo goblin deck

2 months ago

Vial Smasher the Fierce is a goblin and could help throw some extra damage around. Mirage Mirror is great in any deck. Some anthems like Obelisk of Urd , Konda's Banner , The Immortal Sun and War Horn or even Ashenmoor Liege , Shared Animosity might help out the small bodied goblins. A couple lands worth considering are Rogue's Passage and Rakdos Carnarium . Legion Warboss should be slotted in as well as Warren Instigator . Goblin Smuggler and cards like Rogue's Passage and Suspicious Bookcase would be good at forcing some damage through. With that said Blood Mist should be in your list. Treasure Nabber ? Goblin War Cry ?

Goblins are small by themselves. So I think your best bet is gonna be anthems, buffs and combat tricks.

Gidgetimer on Vial Smasher and Hexproof

4 months ago

The only things that target in MTG are spells and abilities that specifically use the word "target" and aura spells on the stack. Vial Smasher the Fierce does not target and therefore does not interact with hexproof.

3n3rgy2 on Vial Smasher and Hexproof

4 months ago

I am currently playing a game where I have cast a Vial Smasher the Fierce and my opponent (in a 4 man game) has a Leyline of Sanctity out. Will vial smasher still be able to deal damage to him because it chooses and not target? Will vial smasher just skip that player?

GhostChieftain on Goblins, Brooding

4 months ago

You don't have a legal commander for your deck... either that or a legal deck for your commander depending on how you look at it. If your playgroup is cool with that, then great! Otherwise I would suggest playing this as Vial Smasher the Fierce and Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa or getting rid of the non red cards and still playing it as krenko.

deadlift1226 on CEDH Glint-Eye Spellslinger

5 months ago

Infinite Mana Combos:

1. Bloom Tender + ( Freed from the Real OR Pemmin's Aura )
2. Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter + mana rocks/dorks that give at least 3 mana
3. Palinchron + ( High Tide OR Mana Reflection )
4. Dryad Arbor + Utopia Sprawl

Wins:

1. Flash + Protean Hulk = Hermit Druid + Laboratory Maniac
2. Infinite Mana + Exsanguinate
3. Infinite Mana + Torment of Hailfire
4. Infinite Mana + Thrasios, Triton Hero = Draw whole deck and burn people down with Vial Smasher the Fierce and Nexus of Fate OR Blue Sun's Zenith OR Black Sun's Zenith