Fire Covenant

Instant

As an additional cost to cast this spell, pay X life.

This deals X damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Big Apple Highlander	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
PreDH	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

DreadKhan on Lightning Bolts shoot from my fingertips

2 months ago

It's a bit pricey, but Exquisite Blood is generically very good with burn effects. If you don't mind a combo potentially showing up you can also use Sanguine Bond, which also happens to love your Commander's Lifelink (and fwiw unlike most decks that just throw that in you are VERY able to burn people to actually win on the spot).

I think if you want to use Manabarbs maybe you should look at more Artifact type ramp that won't trigger it? There are some easy ones like Rakdos Signet, Talisman of Indulgence that can even give you coloured mana, and some like Worn Powerstone and Thran Dynamo that can help keep your Commander on the table. Also, maybe I'm missing a ton of them, but IMHO you should have more artifacts if you want to use a Mox Opal.

Some other random goodies you might like: Maddening Hex (this would be HILARIOUS with some doublers), Chandra's Ignition (if you target something with lifelink remember it's the CREATURE doing the damage, so you can gain a TON of life off of this if the board is fairly full, and it's great with a Deathtouch source like Gift of Doom), Fire Covenant (one of the best burn spells ever), and MAYBE a Rionya, Fire Dancer since you've got all those Sorceries.

YMMV but I love having some small card draw effects in a deck like this, maybe Night's Whisper, Winds of Change, Humble Defector, and/or Phyrexian Arena? I feel like Sign in Blood's BB might be awkward.

It's not exactly 'lightning from your fingers', but Brash Taunter is one of the funniest creatures in Magic, just having the little guy out can make you much harder to attack into, and before your turn if you didn't need to remove/burn something you can use mana you're holding up to pick a fight with the biggest creature on board. It's nutso with all your damage doublers IMHO. One of my favorite interactions in all of Magic is how good Scavenged Brawler is with Taunter, it's the kind of thing you won't pull off often, but if people aren't running enough Swords to Plowshares family effects it's amazing.

DemonDragonJ on Fire Covenant or Reckless Assault?

1 year ago

Caerwyn, yes, that makes sense, and I even asked several of my friends about this, and they all agreed that Fire Covenant was the preferable card, so I shall keep it, in this deck, and hope that WotC eventually prints a strictly better version of Reckless Assault, since I like that card's concept.

DemonDragonJ on Fire Covenant or Reckless Assault?

1 year ago

Caerwyn, plakjekaas, Fire Covenant is a one-time effect, while Reckless Assault can be used over many turns; what if I use the instant, and then an opponent later summons a creature that I wish to destroy? Also, I certainly do not intend to defeat my opponents with the enchantment, but one never knows when even a single point of damage shall make a difference, and it also would be useful for dealing with annoying planeswalkers, as well.

RiotRunner789, I previously had a Pestilence Demon in this deck, but I removed it, because of how expansive it is.

plakjekaas on Fire Covenant or Reckless Assault?

1 year ago

It's worse, you need to pay for the enchantment too.

If all three opponents have a 3/3 you'd like to get rid of, Fire Covenant will cost you 3 mana and 9 life to get rid of them all, at instant speed.

Reckless Assault would cost you 4 mana at sorcery speed, and then 9 mana and 18 life at instant speed for the exact same result of killing three 3/3s.

433% more mana, 200% more life, gets worse in scaling the more you want to target. And you think it's superior, because it can target players? Would you play Pestilence over Toxic Deluge as well, for the sole purpose of wiping the board? Or does the deck need a wincon so badly you'd want to pay 240 life and 120 mana to kill your opponents?

Reckless Assault is the opposite of efficient, keep the Fire Covenant, that might be one of the best cards in the deck.

DemonDragonJ on Fire Covenant or Reckless Assault?

1 year ago

I have a copy of Fire Covenant in my Tariel, Reckoner of Souls EDH deck, as that deck can afford to pay the life that that spells requires, but I am considering replacing that card with Reckless Assault, since I feel that the enchantment is overall a superior card; it does require a greater investment of both life and mana, but that fact that it can target anything and can be used repeatedly makes it worth that higher cost, in my mind.

What does everyone else say about this subject? Should I replace Fire Covenant with Reckless Assault? I certainly am eager to receive your responses.

DreadKhan on Sauron The Grixis Lord

2 years ago

If you want to keep your budget fairly low, there are the signets (Rakdos Signet, Izzet Signet, and Dimir Signet) and the talismans (Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Indulgence, and Talisman of Creativity) to start with, but Grixis has access to a really good new option, Relic of Sauron, which I think is great. I'm not sure if it's really a good card, but Firemind Vessel exists. There is also Myriad Landscape, which can find a colour you don't have yet (and gets 2 of that colour). An option if you keep your fairly high (which is fine btw) land count would be to replace a land with Temple of the False God.

Since you actually need to ramp a few times from 3 mana to cast Sauron, you might run something weird like Dreamscape Artist, that can help get you to Sauron mana to get your deck online, including fixing your mana. It's incredibly janky, but Apprentice Wizard can help cast Sauron's colourless cost.

I could be wrong, but I think Arcane Adaptation is usually better than Xenograft. I think Maskwood Nexus is also better. I think you could find much better cards than Ugluk, including many that are lower to the ground. Foray of Orcs is not very high impact for the mana when there are cards that can just remove any creature for less mana, or cards like Fateful Showdown for similar. I would even play Fire Covenant over it. Torment of Golum sounds to me like an outright bad card, ymmv, but I think you can find something that works similar for less. I'm also unsure if Surrounded by Orcs is worth casting, adding only 3 power isn't very impressive, and if the army dies you lose the buff forever.

You can certainly shave some lands if you add more ramp sources, though I wouldn't go below 36 lands with a 6 mana Commander that needs 3 colours to cast. You can sneak that lower with a better mana base, but that increases the cost. If you lower your land count to 36, you could also look at the Guild Bounce lands, Dimir Aqueduct, Rakdos Carnarium and Izzet Boilerworks, each of these is a dual land that is cheap and helps you hit more land drops. They aren't great if you have lots of 'Enters tapped' lands, but without mostly Basics they are solid in a 3 colour deck. Guildless Commons also exists, but in a 3 colour deck I'd be more leery of it.

MtgHarmacist on Ah Ah Ah Ah Stayin' Alive!!!

2 years ago

Another card I thought about adding to your list for my deck is Fire Covenant for a defensive offensive spell

DreadKhan on tBZ_Garna-Bloodfist

3 years ago

I suspect cards like Rite of the Raging Storm would probably work in here, you'd either get in for 5 each turn or get a card, and nobody else can swing at you with the tokens/changelings. Since you can also use Goblin Bombardment after a creature has dealt damage, you can kill any creature before combat actually ends, so you'd still get the card even if they let the creatures hit them. Any token generator that would ever be worth using is probably good in here too, even Orochi Hatchery could draw a lot of cards if people have to block. The best way to force people to block would be any kind of power buff that is global, I like Berserkers' Onslaught in Red, double damage also works well with any other buffs you can add. I guess there is stuff like Judith, the Scourge Diva too. The effect is pretty clunky, but with your Commander Captive Audience looks a lot better, those tokens are much more valuable, and it still usually a death sentence for one player.

Zulaport Cutthroat is a great Aristocrat to look at, I usually don't bother with it but at your budget maybe Butcher of Malakir can be a real nuisance, as can Ogre Slumlord if you're losing lots of non-tokens. If you find yourself running more wipes/removal, Sangromancer can generate a lot of life.

Not sure if they're within your budget, but Fire Covenant and Phyrexian Purge can both clear a ton of other people's stuff. Make an Example might be the best sorcery speed removal effect ever printed, it's non-targeted and uses sacrifice, but you choose the piles that die so you always hit what you need to hit with it. Ashes to Ashes/Reckless Spite can clear a couple bodies. In Rakdos I feel like you want some of the following, Feed the Swarm, Chaos Warp and Wild Magic Surge to deal with awkward permanent types.