This is exactly what aggro decks want in a burn
spell-- they want to kill opposing blockers and
hit the opponent for more damage, and this does
that. The only trouble is that it costs quite a
bit of mana for a spell that "only" deals two
damage to a creature-- if it can't kill the
creature, you don't get the extra three. The
fact that it's an instant means it can be
combined with red's first striking creatures (or
even simple blocking decisions), or you could
use a second burn spell to finish the target
off. You could also use it as a poor man's
"can't block" effect-- hit a creature with this
precombat and DARE your opponent o block with
that creature. Best used with mana up for
Titan's Strength and a card in hand that's
actually an extra Mountain but HE doesn't know
that. Still, there's just no better feeling than
killing a creature and slapping your opponent
for 3 in one go, then swinging into his
now-empty board for more damage.
Maybe it's my age, the length of time I've been
playing, the fact that I've seen so many
variants of this effect down the years; but I
find it difficult to get excited about cards
like this any more. I know that these variations
are in some way necessary since people play
limited, but for almost everyone else they're
mostly interchangeable and play very similarly
(though at least this one's name doesn't include
the words "fire", "lightning", or "lava"). If
you play a lot of limited, or have an aggressive
red deck in Standard, maybe your deck needed
exactly this card. If not, then I guess you
won't be using this quite as much.
Today's card of the day is Searing Blood which
is a two mana Red instant that deals two damage
to target creature and when that creature dies
that turn Searing Blood deals an additional
three damage to that creature's controller.
A two mana burn for two damage is a little below
the curve, but is enough to destroy many popular
creatures outright or after combat to finish one
off. Adding in the damage to an opponent and
combined with cards that trigger off that like
Chandra's Phoenix or Satyr Firedancer this is a
very efficient card in the right deck and should
see play in every format with dedicated burn
builds.
In Limited the double Red and only dealing two
damage to a creature is a bit weak, but it works
well after combat and almost any removal is
playable. A strong second or third pick in
Booster and easy choice to include in Sealed
decks with a focus on Red.
Searing Blood is a great new burn spell. I’ve
already put 4 copies of Searing Blood in my
Pyromancer Standard deck. This card is so bad…
it can do 5 damage for 2 mana! I hate it when
spells are cheap and powerful! I’m obviously
kidding. Searing Blood is a perfect card for any
of the Burn decks out there. How many 2/2
creatures can you blast with this spell? How
many 5/5 creatures can you block and then blast
with Searing Blood? I have to give this card a
high rating because it is 5 damage for TWO mana!
That is still hard for me to believe.
