Burn spells are always nice, if they're costed
efficiently. Stoke the Flames isn't, but it has
Convoke to make up for it. How good is Convoke
in Red? Typically, red wants to be swinging in
with creatures, not tapping them to help cast
spells (or leaving them open in case you need to
Stoke or block). Then again, red does like to
pour Goblin tokens onto the field
indiscriminately, so you may find yourself
getting a free 4 damage off sometime. The
flexibility is nice here, but I think I'd still
rather just have Searing Spear or the like (and
hope that I don't see too many 4-toughness
creatures).
It seems to me that we could easily have seen
this card in the original Ravnica block - the
convoke keyword could fit with the Boros just as
easily as the Selesnya, especially when you
consider that they got a co-operation themed
keyword in Return to Ravnica. Stoke the Flames
is also notable among direct damage spells for
being useful for aggressive decks at any stage
in the game. Early on, you can use cheap
creatures to power it out, perhaps if you need
to take down an unexpected large blocker. Late
game, the actual mana cost is easier to meet,
and it represents a large piece of an opponent's
life total. In that sense, its impact is similar
to some of the direct damage spells in Magic's
history, and all it asks is that you use a
little care in building your deck.
Today's card of the day is Stoke the Flames
which is a four mana Red instant with Convoke
that deals four damage to target creature or
player. Four mana for four damage isn't
bad and having the flexibility to be used on
both creatures and players puts it well ahead of
cards like Lava Axe. Convoke adds some
situational value and acceleration, such as
removal against a larger creature that is
preventing an attack.
Overall this is a decent card for Red and will
see some play in less competitive formats as the
efficiency just isn't high enough to make it at
the tournament level.
In Limited this is a fairly low cost removal for
creatures that can be otherwise difficult to
oppose and works as burn if a finisher is
needed. An easy second or third pick in
Booster, even with the double Red in the cost,
and an automatic inclusion in Sealed if Red is a
large portion of the build.
Dealing 4 damage to a creature or player is a
pretty strong effect. Paying a straight up 4
mana for it is less so. Clearly the idea with
Stoke the Flames is to play a lot of small
creatures so they can help you pay for it with
convoke. With this in your hand and at least a
couple creatures in play, you have options every
turn. Do you attack? Do you leave them open for
blockers? Do you use your creatures as mana to
play your burn spell. And as any savvy Magic
player knows, the more options you have, the
more likely that one of those options is
something your opponent can't handle.
