Fanning the Flames

Sorcery

Buyback (You may pay an additional as you play this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)

Fanning the Flames deals X damage to target creature or player.

Discussion (42)

momikulski on Niv-Mizzet, Parun

4 months ago

All of these cards work well when you are running basically just mountains, running blue splits their power, and using non basics reduces their effectiveness even further. Downhill Charge , Granite Grip , and Seismic Strike .

These cards are ok, but don’t really work with your primary concept. Titan's Strength I like this for the scry, and if it drew a card it’d be fine, but as a combat trick it’s pretty meh. Kavu Scout is at most a 2/2 for two in this deck. Kraken's Eye is pretty passive life gain, but it’s not going to win the game for you, and it is pretty unlikely to save you too (it does improve with some of the buy back spells I list later). The problem with Akroan Crusader is that if we cut the combat tricks this card becomes way weaker, and even with the tricks, it’s not got a high likelihood of having both at the same time. Why would we run that when we can run cards like Crackling Drake ?

Strider Harness is good, but it is over costed for what it does.

These cards are neat, but there are better options that are better suited to what you are trying to do. Lava Axe , and Warbringer .

Whisk Away I’m not loving this card, it is alright. It’s just low bang for the buck.

As for some cards that might help things, the issue I see is that your plan has a lot of draw, and some control, but not a lot of ways to win. As it is your commander is basically the only way you have of making use of the draw, out side of trying to win with Jace. Winning with Jace is gonna be tough cause you have to draw him, and then mill through your deck, it is possible just hard. So most of the suggestions are cards that work well with casting a lot of draw spells, or removal. This makes your plan of drawing a lot of cards do something other than drawing a lot of cards. Just like your commander they are all going to do something when you draw, or cast a spell. Talrand, Sky Summoner , Saheeli, Sublime Artificer , Murmuring Mystic , Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind , Guttersnipe , and Psychosis Crawler are all great for your deck.

You’ve got a bunch of good draw, but you missed a few older cards that are incredible like Arcanis the Omnipotent , Brainstorm , Opt , Treasure Cruise , and Faithless Looting .

Swarm Intelligence is great for casting a lot of spells.

A thing that might happen is running out of gas. So cards that give repeated use like flashback and buy back are huge. They mean you’ll always have something to do, and offer more value because of your cards that trigger on spell cast, or card draw. Some good examples include Mystic Retrieval , Fanning the Flames , Whispers of the Muse , Shattering Pulse , and though it is a little bit more expensive Capsize which is incredibly powerful and super annoying for other people to deal with if they can’t outright counter it.

AEtherize is just a super good card for the deck.

Your deck should basically just draw a whole lot of cards, and having the mana to play them is super important. I’d likely look at increasing the number of mana rocks (artifacts that make mana) in there, and making sure that you’re never hurting for your second color. Some solid suggestions for that are Izzet Signet , Izzet Cluestone , Commander's Sphere , Izzet Boilerworks , Terramorphic Expanse , Desolate Lighthouse , and Memorial to Genius is just great for your draw plan.

pyksilite on Praise The Sun (needs advice)

7 months ago

First off, Divinity of Pride cannot be run with your current commander. The black may be an optional cost, but it's still part of the cards colors, and can't be run in a boros deck.

It looks like you're trying to stay pretty budget, so I'd suggest Fanning the Flames as a very grindy, burn win condition. If you can find ways to copy with things like Reverberate it can be a pretty powerful game closer. Along with that, having some mana rocks like Sol Ring and Thran Dynamo will be useful to get your commander out faster and build up a competitive late game mana reserve.

Something that you should remember when playing burn in commander is that while single target removal is important, if all your cards go 1-for-1, you're going to lose, because there are 3 cards for each one you have. Removal like Arrows of Justice just aren't going to deliver you enough value to win games. Consider more flexible options like Swords to Plowshares .

You also run a lot of fog effects for not having a ton of creatures. Maybe drop a few in exchange for more consistent removal and some good card draw engines. I heavily suggest Invoke the Divine and Return to Dust . I think you should also consider Sunbird's Invocation to supply you deck with the follow up it needs.

Overall you have a good start, and with a little bit of work this could be a really neat deck. Keep up the good work!

DrkNinja on The Storm of Mizzix's Immaculate Experiment

7 months ago

Let me start by saying I've been playing Mizzix since he was released, and I've constantly strived to make my [[Primer]] Knowledge & Flame deck the best it can be. I'd like to believe with a 96% competitive rating, and the fact that I RARELY lose with the deck means it's a solid deck. As such it has seen several iterations and I've tried playing all kinds of cards... So here's a bit of advice.

I only have 17 cards that aren't spells that Mizzix can discount, 6 of which is Ramp. I only have two creatures, Niv-Mizzet, Parun (I'm testing him for extra draw power and secondary win con) and Laboratory Maniac as one of my main win cons. Of the 9 cards remaining 2 cards help me with consistent draw power, 2 are to protect Mizzix, 2 win me the game, and the rest are just there. Now I'm telling you all this because even with me having so little cards that aren't reduced by Mizzix I STILL end up with them sitting in my hand for ages for fear of tapping out and not having a counterspell up. So there are a lot of cards you have in this deck that do not directly add to your winning... And some cards that just don't play well with a deck that wants to either combo out or burn everyone into the ground.

Here are some suggested cuts:

• Invert // Invent: Invert does nothing really, and Invent is WAY too expensive for what it does.
• Seething Song: Just trade it out for Desperate Ritual so that you can tutor Reiterate and Desperate Ritual with Firemind's
• Keranos, God Of Storms: Great card, but honestly it's just a win more card, this won't win you the game.
• Melek, Izzet Paragon: I played with this for awhile but at the end of the day it's the same as Keranos
• Blatant Thievery: It's a great card, but it always felt lackluster for me because it requires your opponents to have a good board state, which obviously you don't want. I'd suggest Aethersnatch in it's place because then your opponent just plays a spell for you.
• Ignite Memories/Mind's Desire: Storm cards are good but they don't get you the game. In fact I have whiffed both of those spells more times than I can count! I'd say go for something a bit more certain.
• Mizzium Mortars: I just think that this doesn't kill a LOT of creatures in this format Blasphemous Act is strictly better.
• Stolen Goods: It's too easy for this to be a bad card. what if it's a Rampant Growth or vanilla 2/2 or a lord that doesn't do squat for you. Just too RNG
• Temporal Fissure: Too expensive and again it's too easy to whiff the storm aspect
• Sentinel Tower: It just makes you a target, unless you are committing to storm.
• Future Sight: As a blue player you always want people to assume you have a counterspell, or don't want others to know you have a counterspell... This crushes that. If you REALLY need this effect, which I think isn't worthwhile, Precognition Field is better.
• Sunbird's Invocation: WAY TOO EXPENSIVE, and it's strictly just a win more card.

I know I stated a lot of cards are too expensive and you are playing mizzix but assume mizzix isn't on the table because he will be killed or a target 90% of the time.

Here are some cards I'd highly suggest playing:

• The Usuals: I know it's expensive but... Mana Drain , Force of Will , and Pact of Negation I feel are absolutely necessary for this deck.
• Lightning Bolt : I know someone told you to take this out... but... Firemind's plus 4 experience counters means you win the game. You dig for infinite mana with Reiterat+Reality Spasm/Desperate Ritual and grab lightning bolt to copy infinite times with infinite mana casting reiterate on it infinitely. It's a one card combo basically.
• Mission Briefing
• Power Sink : At worst its a counterspell at best it forces someone to pass turn.
• Disallow : One of the best counters in the game.
• Fuel for the Cause
• Increasing Vengeance
• Nexus of Fate
• Radiate
• Scour from Existence
• Syncopate
• Coldsteel Heart
• Meekstone
• Pyromancer's Goggles
• Darksteel Plate
• Fanning the Flames
• Mana Geyser
• Preordain
• Time Stretch
• Vandalblast
• Mystic Retrieval
• Mystic Speculation
• Evacuation

Sorry I know I posted a lot but I'm really passionate about this deck, and I love to see mizzix players succeed.

xaarvaxus on Grand Warlord Radha (Budget: Cheap)

9 months ago

Some cards of possible interest that shouldn't break the bank:

Fungal Plots Dead bodies can spawn you new bodies to keep attacking and generating more mana.

Hammer of Purphoros Haste is good and extra lands become attackers if needed.

Artifact Mutation Turn their artifacts into your attackers.

Fanning the Flames Something to do with all of that mana.

Overgrown Armasaur can produce more bodies to generate more attack mana. Thundering Spineback is a mana sink that makes more bodies and Forerunner of the Empire will fetch either or Ghalta plus ding the Armasaur to make a saproling. There may be other dinos that fit in here and most aren't expensive.

Inferno Titan has a firebreathing mana sink plus can help clear the way so all of your attackers actually connect more often. Warmonger Hellkite is even less expensive to buy and gives your whole team firebreathing. You have to attack every turn but you should be wanting to do that anyway.

Gruul Guildgate and Gruul Turf are dirt cheap. Sheltered Thicket is a budget dual that Wood Elves can go fetch. Cinder Glade does the same but might be just over what you're looking to spend. Raging Ravine might also be right at that budget line but produces both your colors early and attacks when you have the mana mid to late, getting bigger each attack. Myriad Landscape , Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse can fetch the appropriate color, thin your deck and create a shuffle effect if needed.

If you happen to have Heroic Intervention I would recommend adding it but it is definitely more than what you've indicated your budget per card is.

gergonthedestroyer on Mizzix of the Izmagnus, I'll burn!

9 months ago

I really like some of your ideas to produce mana and will be incorporating them into my version. It's Mizzix in the Mix if you would like to look and see if my ideas work for you.

I went more "all in" on the experience counters and have found that colored mana is at a premium. Therefore, I changed my counter spells from things like Counterflux, Dissipate, or Spell Crumple to things like Condescend, Power Sink, or Syncopate. That way I only need one blue open and I always get an experience counter. Mindswipe gives added burn value, and I like Spell Burst over Forbid as the game lock.

I also tried to replace creatures with spells where possible, so Archaeomancer turned into Mystic Retrieval and Recall, and Lunar Mystic turned into Whispers of the Muse. I also found that effects like Guttersnipe and Electrostatic Field didn't work as well for me as just having another burn spell. This may just personal style though.

Blasphemous Act takes out Mizzix with everything else. You could try Bonfire of the Damned, Sudden Demise, or even Rolling Thunder for some board control. Fanning the Flames looks even better in your list than mine I think.

You are right about there being a problem if Mizzix gets too expensive. I added Inexorable Tide to keep the experience counters coming even with Mizzix in the Command Zone. That allows you to just set up for one big turn where you recast him and win.

Kyrinoz on Politics Schmolitics

1 year ago

If you're running Vandalblast I would definitely recommend running Mycosynth Lattice AND Darksteel Forge

Still that's like 3 card slots for a very costly board wipe. Personally I'm surprised I don't see things like Kederekt Parasite, Tainted Strike, Barbed Shocker, Paradox Engine, Capsize, on your list, as they all synergize quite well. I would also recommend, tossing some of the Talismans & Signets despite being cheap for other more reliable mana ramping such as Darksteel Ingot Dimir Cluestone, Rakdos Cluestone, Izzet Cluestone (as they can all be sacrificed for a draw, and their Keyrune counterparts, as they can be turned into a chump blocker in a pinch if needed.

Isochron Scepter imprinting either Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual with a Paradox Engine on deck = Infinite Mana, for redundancy even with mana rocks out, Paradox Engine + Mana rocks, makes buyback spells VERY useful, as once you've got enough ramp Capsize = Infinite bounce, and there a few others that become arguably equally useful, such as Fanning the Flames, Lab Rats, Mind Games, Mind Peel, Reiterate, Whispers of the Muse, just to give you a few ideas. Evincar's Justice can be viable here too, although with Evincar's Justice you need to be mindful that it damages you and your creatures too.

Brush with Death essentially works like Tendrils of Agony if you take the Infinite Black mana route, naturally if it's countered you can't buy it back, BUT if you're wanting some redundancies for a storm / life steal win condition, it's there.

Leyline of the Void is a must add for any competitive Nekusar, the Mindrazer deck. With the wheel package you're essentially exiling everything your opponents are forced to discard. Toss in a Helm of Obedience = Player targeted, Instant kill activation.

Also, I would definitely recommend keeping Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, specifically to prevent the self-mill, AND Leyline of Anticipation, and adding Vedalken Orrery for redundancy. You can easily create a soft lock & turn it into a complete hard lock with Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and Knowledge Pool, and why more people aren't running Day's Undoing is a bit surprising, given the redundancy to prevent mill, especially if you've acquired the means to drop it at instant speed, even on your own turn, to kill a stack & end the turn.

Also, with proper ramping, Barbed Shocker is pretty amazing, especially since it doesn't need to deal combat damage to force the wheel, (any damage it deals will trigger it), just saying. Rogue's Passage is a pretty standard commander staple too.

Liliana's Caress, Megrim, Raiders' Wake are also all must haves. Especially since, Raiders' Wake, Barbed Shocker, Shocker, (unblocked) or a Robber Fly (if you can force them to block it), & a Rogue's Passage can win the game by themselves, if your Commander or an Underworld Dreams, Kederekt Parasite is out.

CalebMaSmith on Jaya Ballard, Fiery Control [Primer]

1 year ago

My comment didn't fully work, so here's the combo I've recommended for you. Use mana rocks along with Paradox Engine and Fanning the Flames to deal infinite damage. This link will show you a few mana rocks to add with rankings: http://wrongwaygoback.com/blindfremen/2013/11/21/a-guide-to-mana-rocks-in-commander/

CalebMaSmith on Jaya Ballard, Fiery Control [Primer]

1 year ago

First of all, I love the deck! It seems very interesting and well thought out, there's nothing I can do to help you with better spells but I can assist with any mana problems and possibly suggesting an infinite combo for you;) (Also I would recommend adding in Paradox Engine because of all the tap triggers you have from your commander, so you could use her multiple times and then I would recommend adding in Fanning the Flames if you're down to get an infinite combo in here for the giggles)