Pointed Discussion

Excellent card for setting up untap effects. In casual play, I like to pair it with a hateflayer to chain a few 6-damage hits at once.

Okay, am I the only one who, upon seeing the artwork, instantly thought "Wait, that's Iron Man"? :)

Strictly worse version Lavamancer's Skill....why not just do a reprint?

I agree though, it's good with untapping.

Fire Whip is arguably better than both this card and Lavamancer's Skill.

Better than Arcane teachings.

this and gorgon flail Duh.

This card can set up so many combos. Hateflayer, Stigma Lasher, Pili-Pala, Fallowsage... the list goes on and on. How can one not give this five stars?

true_mumin thats dead on, but i didnt catch it myself so thanks

@True_Mumin: Heck no you aren't. That's all I see when I look at this card. 'S still pretty good though.

Is it possible to enchant Hypnotic Specter with this and damage a player in response to him or her playing a spell? If that works, that would place the discard effect on the stack before the spell being played. Late in the game, this would force them to discard the only card in their hand, leaving nothing to play.

Turns just about any one-drop into a Cunning Sparkmage.

IRON MAN!!!

@Kelrath : While you CAN activate it in response of a player casting a spell, casting puts it on stack, and no longer in hand. You can activate it when your opponent can't possibly cast a spell other than an instant, achieving a soft lock or an effective lock, depending on who you're facing (If your opponent can't remove your creature or use his graveyard to play, you'll usually win, save for the occasional Obstinate Baloth) . It's still a good combo, just doesn't work like that.

Better than Lavamancer's Skill, as it can target players.

Also, the art is badass.

Should be called "Power of Iron" ;)

Little did they know that it was their beloved Aisling.

Psionic Gift

or

Hermetic Study

I would really say that Fire Whip is the better card outside of multiplayer team games as the only limitation is that the Whip needs to be put on your creature, whereas Power of Fire doesn't. Though, unless you have a deck that splashes red that is designed just to assist ... then I would think the whip is still better as it can be sacrificed in response to still chip in that 1 extra damage.

Could be fun with a card like Galvanic Juggernaut. Bonus points for deathtouch of course!

Hi everyone. I need something clarifying if someone can for me please, concerning the type of damage that is dealt by the creature ths card is attached to when you tap for the Power of Fire ability. Is it still combat damage? I had it on Aishling, the Extinguisher and was told tapping it and targeting the player to make them sacrifice a creature wouldn't work because Ashling must deal combat damage to player, and this card isn't dealing combat damage by tapping it?

@mattydrac

Your friends were indeed correct - enchanting Extinguisher with this enchantment would not cause them to sacrifice creatures.

Let me explain:

If a triggered ability requires combat damage in order to become activated, said damage needs to be inflicted by declaring an attacker (ie. during your combat phase) and in this case, also having that creature deal combat damage to your opponent (ie. they lose life).

"Combat damage" occurs only during the combat phase and is not the same thing as just "damage" (which can occur outside of the combat phase).

Now, this is where the difference between the two gets a bit tricky - if you were to enchant a Giant Scorpion with Power of Fire, for example, you could definitely do some nasty stuff. Regarding deathtouch, the reminder text on Giant Scorpion reads: Any amount of damage this deals to a creature is enough to destroy it. Notice how it doesn't say "combat damage." So, if you enchant the Giant Scorpion, tap it to using Power of Fire to deal 1 damage, target creature is dealt 1 damage and, as a result of deathtouch (which doesnt require combat damage specifically), it dies. (Side note: this tactic also works because the wording on the enchantment states the creature is dealing the damage, not Power of Fire.)

Anyway, sorry for the long explanation. I hope that clarified the matter though. In sum, combat damage IS damage, but a very specific type of damage. Always read the oracle text carefully for this shuttle but important variance in wording.

Horseshoe Crab

Yeah, this combos with a good bit of the game. Artifacts like Viridian Longbow are strictly better but this is good if you can't find something like the bow.

The most popular format is standard. This is not standard anymore, but there was a good reason players used this card when it was. They could not legally use fire whip instead....

The nice thing about the enchantment versions of this is that you can put out something first turn (utility creature usually) and then have them ready to ping off opposing creatures turn 2 with no wait. Very solid as if they don't have any removal right then you've gained card neutrality. Give it another turn and you're likely to enter card advantage territory (depending if it continues to kill creatures or if they spend the card to kill it.)

Still, probably better in blue where your 1-drop can be something hard to kill.

Dammit, my little brother has this on his Grixis deck... and he always attaches this to his Kederekt Creeper, and my whole game is ruined.

Kind of ironic that this doesn't pump power a la Firebreathing. But pyromancer abilities are still cool.