Lightning Strike

Instant

Lightning Strike deals 3 damage to target creature, player or planeswalker.

Discussion (51)

zapyourtumor on Purple Drank

2 weeks ago

You only have 22 spells, 14 of which are instants, but 20 creatures. I'd probably cut dreadhorde as its less aggro and more of a midrange value spellslinger creature in a pyromancer-type deck imo. Some instants and sorceries you could add are Light Up the Stage , Lightning Strike , ... and actually looks like there aren't many options in pioneer because all the good ones are only modern legal. But I still think you should cut some creatures for more spells.

acbooster on Chandra Casts Gun

2 weeks ago

Brain in a Jar nets you almost no value, with Lightning Strike being the only card that would benefit since you have to pay a mana into it to get the effect. Wild Slash requires a lot of legwork to get the useful part of the effect, which is the unpreventable damage.

Bonecrusher Giant , Skullcrack , and Insult / Injury are better includes than Wild Slash, if only because it's a guaranteed 'damage can't be prevented' effect as well as damage. As for walkers, Chandra, Torch of Defiance would likely do better than Chandra, Flame's Catalyst . Comes out earlier, has a mana ability, and is strong creature spot removal in a pinch. Burning for face is important, but you definitely need to keep your opponent's board state in check at the same time.

Hardhitta7 on Purple Drank

4 weeks ago

I don’t really want it to be a Arclight Phoenix deck, just want my prowess stuff. Plus I would have to add more discard outlets for Phoenix like Chart a Course and such.

The Stormchaser Mage are gonna be replaced with Soul-Scar Mage if I like the format enough to buy them.

I’m currently at 20 lands with the Spikefield Hazard  ^Flips. And I think Expressive Iteration is too good not to play. It’s even seeing play in Modern.

If I played Izzet Charm it would replace Prismari Command .

I’ll see about fitting some Lightning Strike s in.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Mtg_Mega_Nerds on Purple Drank

4 weeks ago

Make it 20 land. Add Arclight Phoenix for Stormchaser Mage . Add 4x Lightning Strike for the 2 copies of Spikefield Hazard  ^Flip and 2 copies of Shock . (You will have 2 copies of shock left over) also add Izzet Charm for Expressive Iteration .

TheVectornaut on The Burn deck

1 month ago

The best way to power up this deck would probably be to find lower CMC alternatives to Lightning Strike and Searing Spear , plus something a little stronger than Shock . Lava Spike and Rift Bolt are some popular options. With Thermo-Alchemist being an easy source of damage on demand, spectacle cards like Skewer the Critics and Light Up the Stage would be my personal choices. You also have a lot of lands for burn, so maybe Shard Volley or Searing Blaze could be on the table. Finally, any cantrip becomes a lot better with all of your creatures caring about them. In mono-red, the best options would probably be Manamorphose , Tormenting Voice / Cathartic Reunion , or Needle Drop .

Argy on Pioneering Burn

1 month ago

Did you play this deck much?

Are you still playing it?

You've changed it since your first match report, as a lot of the cards you mention are different.

I agree wholeheartedly that Soul-Scar Mage isn't that great. I think people mostly use it against Indestructible Creatures, but it is a slow method of killing them.

Oh, and also to turn on Wizard's Lightning - Skewer the Critics might be a better fit in a lot of circumstances, although I like Lightning Strike better than both of those.

I agree that Bomat Courier is extremely handy.

I haven't yet played a match up where I could get the most out of Rampaging Ferocidon although there is a lifegain deck that plays in my local meta.

Interesting to go back and playtest this deck. Feels like a good start.

Curious to see your thoughts on it, now.

TriusMalarky on What Makes Phyrexian Mana More …

2 months ago

Two-brid mana is inherently balanced. It takes work and building around it to be able to pay instead of , but it also takes work to be able to pay . The two-brid cards available are pretty bad outside of mono color(and even then, it tends to be Spectral Procession in Modern and Beseech the Queen in EDH that are the only ones that see play) for that reason. However, if new cards were printed, there would be no real problem outside of some annoying people complaining about color pie breaks online.

For example, Lightning Bolt but twobrid. Giving ALL colors access to Lightning Strike isn't broken at all. Does it help decks like Tron or Monoblue who typically have problems removing creatures? Yep. But will it break any format? Most definitely not. Well, it will make Modern Burn and Pioneer Red Aggro lists a lot better in this specific case.

Compare this to . You are almost always paying life instead of the mana cost. You will only ever not pay life in very specific situations. In fact, if you pay mana for it when you have enough life, people question you. They wonder what the hell you are doing in your deck. Phyrexian mana is like having a multicolored Simian Spirit Guide in your hand at all times, except it costs 2 life. It's raw, unfettered mana advantage, which quickly and easily turns into advantage in the action economy.

Also, take a look at the banned Phyrexian mana cards. And the playable ones. Gitaxian Probe is Peek , which is basically unplayable. Mental Misstep would be unplayable if it cost instead of . Gut Shot , Postmortem Lunge , Mutagenic Growth , Dismember are all horrible if they didn't have the Phyrexian mana attached. It's the fact that they cost the generic cost only that makes them good. Dismember is a 1-mana spell, that costs a bit more later on if you have mana to spare but not the life. All the 1 mana Phyrexian Mana cards are actually zero mana.

philosopher on Dragons,Speed, and Control

2 months ago

Hello Hachendis,

Dragons & Dragon Support:

Dragonlord's Servant reduces the cost of your dragon spells by {1}.

Dream Devourer reduces the cost of your dragons by {2} by foretelling them with Dream Devourer , meaning, you could potentially play Dragonlord Kolaghan on turn 4.

Haven of the Spirit Dragon acts as a mana confluence with the ability to recur a dragon from the graveyard to your hand.

Crucible of Fire is the ultimate +3/+3 anthem effect.

Crucible of the Spirit Dragon : builds up mana to cast your dragons.

Draconic Roar costs the same as a Lightning Strike and if you reveal a dragon you get to Lightning Bolt your opponent's face for free - talk about value!

Crux of Fate a one sided board wipe.

Glorybringer : repeated Flame Slash on a flying and haste dragon.

Surviving the early game:

Frost Bite or Wild Slash are good 1 drop removal spells, with Frost Bite acting as a Lightning Bolt is you have a snow covered mountain in play.

Bloodchief's Thirst is better than Bedevil because for it is more useful in the early game and is worth the cost of having to pay the extra mana to remove a MV 3 or greater creature or planeswalker later in the game.

Remaining thoughts:

Thoughtseize and Duress is good in the sideboard vs control decks because you will want to remove their sweepers like Supreme Verdict .

Sign in Blood should be removed for early game removal or to keep in some Thoughtseize s in as Sign in Blood is less valuable in surviving the early game.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Philosopher