I'm reminded of Hearth Kami. Everyone loved
Hearth Kami in Limited. Though that was before
the m10 rules change, when Hearth Kami could put
damage on the stack and then sack to destroy a
creature and an artifact. Torch Fiend can't do
that, but it only costs one mana to sacrifice
instead of X-- an improvement as long as it's
not targeting Ornithopter. Since we're coming
out of an artifact block, I doubt its ability
will lack for targets. But even if it does,
Torch Fiend never becomes a dead card in hand,
unlike Shatter. You can always swing for two
with it. And having one on the field helps to
discourage opponents from playing artifacts
unless they're indestructible, as everyone knows
that the first threatening artifact to hit the
board is as good as gone. Add in the ability to
activate Morbid on top of that, and you've got
an admirable creature for 1R.
One of the most interesting things about the
Innistrad block (apart from, y'know, the whole
horror-inspired setting) is the nonstandard
creature races used. The fact that the red
section of the set is full of devils, and that
ones like Torch Fiend are very good, gives hope
to fans of underused creatures like dwarves and
faeries. I've always been a big fan of artifact
destruction attached to a creature, all the way
back to the likes of Uktabi Orangutan, and my
opinion is that the ones that sacrifice for the
effect or otherwise do it from the battlefield
are slightly more powerful, as they can deter
your opponent from even playing their Howling
Mine or Mind Stone in the first place. I don't
need to point out that Torch Fiend is in the
same seasonal rotation as a Mirrodin block, and
his existence has to be accounted for by any
deck based on said block.
Today's card of the day is Torch Fiend which is
a two mana Red 2/1 that for one Red can be
sacrificed to destroy a target artifact.
This is a maindeck playable alternative to
Shatter or similar cards that strongly benefits
from being aggressive and useful even if no
artifacts are in play. This will be
popular for quite some time and should appear in
a decent variety of decks.
For Limited a two mana 2/1 is not bad and nearly
every deck will run as many artifacts as
possible when using multiple colors, so this
should be played whenever Red mana is in the
build. In Booster this should be drafted
early as it counts as removal and all copies in
Sealed should be included as there is no real
drawback to having this card available at any
stage of the game.
Welcome to the card of
the day section here at Pojo.com. Today we close
out our week looking at Torch Fiend from Dark
Ascension. Torch Fiend is a common red creature
devil that costs one generic and one red mana
for a 2/1. Torch Fiend has an ability that says
pay one red mana and sacrifice the Torch Fiend
to destroy target artifact.
I love red, everyone I know knows that. Torch
Fiend is just a great common. No more must we
fill our decks with artifact destruction spells.
Now we can have creature advantage that if
necessary becomes our artifact destruction! For
the same cost as a Shatter, or even Ancient
Grudge, you get a 2/1. This helps out
tremendously since you gain an attacker/blocker,
and should the need arise, you get your
destruction spell off for only one mana!
Torch Fiend also carries with it a deterrent of
sorts. Knowing what he is capable of, people may
hold off on playing their artifacts, since they
would not want to see it destroyed. This also
means that if they really NEED that artifact
out, they will commit a kill spell to the Torch
Fiend, and likely leave something much worse on
the board. Luckily, since it is common, there’s
liable to be more than one of these little
devils lurking.
Certain commons are more fun and valuable to some
players than some rares, this guy certainly
makes a case for himself. I know that the Torch
Fiend is amoung my favorite cards now.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
Torch Fiend a devilish card that can shatter
opponent’s artifacts. In standard Manic Vandal
and Ancient Grudge pretty much have the
destroying artifacts covered and you don’t even
need to lose your creature with the Vandal
making it somewhat of a worse creature even
though it cost initially less mana you need more
to activate it. In modern and extended it is
also outdone by other ways to destroy artifacts
making it somewhat of a niche choice. In legacy
and vintage once again there are lots of
creatures and even powerful spells to fill this
role I don’t see this creature seeing play over
any of them. In casual and multiplayer this guy
I like more than the Vandal because you can
threaten to blow up something when you choose
instead of just destroying something but nowhere
near as good as Viashano Heretic, making it
somewhat of a rattlesnake card in regards to
destroying problematic artifacts. In limited its
solid artifact removal and a creature so it’s
playable. Overall a card that is outdone by
other more powerful in tournaments and has a
small casual niche.
