Comment Removed by Owner due to Rule misunderstanding
FoxdieUK
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Hi, New to Magic. Well actually used to play 15 odd years ago and recently got back into it after finding my cards in the loft.
This card is causing some arguments with my friend and me, basically, he's about to do 3 damage to my 1/1 creature. So i play, for example, giant growth on it. My argument is that im neither "preventing", or "re-directing" damage so the card should survive. His argument is that by playing Giant Growth i am playing an effect that is "preventing... damage.. to protect that creature".
Please help, game tonight and things get sour when this card hits the table.
Foxdie, your friend is wrong. You're still taking the same amount of damage, it is not preventing or redirecting the damage. It's just making your creature stronger so it doesn't die. Preventing would mean you somehow took less or none of the damage, redirecting would mean that you changed the target of the damage. You've done neither there.
Also, yes, Vines of Vastwood would in essence prevent it from happening (though not exactly the same as countering. The spell still resolves, it just does nothing). It sounds like your friend might not entirely understand the rules either. The last thing to be played is the first thing that resolves. So using the Giant Growth scenario, your friend plays Lightning Bolt which would deal 3 damage to your 1/1. You cast Giant Growth in response. The Giant Growth takes effect first, making your creature 4/4. Then his lightning bolt does 3 damage, which is not quite enough to take your guy out.
PhyrexianLobbiest
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(5 votes)
I love that this old Ice Age card can straight kill the new uber creatures like Progenitus, and Emrakul.
Lava Burst slayer of gods!
Of course, like I said on the Emrakul page- if you're going to drop that much mana for an X spell you may as well just sling it at your opponents face.
Arglypuff
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Actually, Lava Burst cannot touch either Emrakul or Progenitus. Both creatures have protection (from various things), and cannot be targetted by Lava Burst.
Kryptnyt
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@lukemol; actually, if a spell has no legal targets when it would resolve, it is countered. Check out the ruling on Multani's Presence if you doubt me!
Im not sure about Protection vs. this. How is Protection worded? does it prevent you from targeting the creatures, or does it simply prevent damage being dealt to them by the things it has protection from? If, indeed, you can legally target them (which I believe you can), then a NORMAL card would be stopped at this point by the damage prevention, but I do believe that, in fact, Progenitus and Emrakul CAN DIE TO LAVA BURST. correct me if I'm wrong. if this is true, then Lava Burst and any other 'damage cannot be prevented' spell are the most powerful 'Blaze-Plus' in the game.
JanusAurelius
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Protection effects protect from DEBT. Damage Enchanting and Equipping Blocking Targeting
Which means you couldn't kill either of them with this. (It's colored so it can't target Emrakul, and it can't target Progenitus because it has protection from everything.)
Salient
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Lava Burst was the first Fireball clone to suck.
No way, you say? Go look at the awesome array of damage prevention and redirection effects we had available in the Ice Age era. There was... Samite Healer! ...and... Healing Salve! (Note Lava Burst can't prevent you from using Healing Salve to just gain 3 life, and even Samite Healer could prevent 1 of the damage if the target was you rather than a creature.)
I think there were a couple other awful white creatures who prevented damage (that never even saw play in casual decks), but seriously, Lava Burst might as well have read "Effects which would plauphenate or transmorgify this damage can't take effect."
Still, "Overkill? This isn't a game of Kick-the-Ouphe!" is classic, and makes it all worthwhile. Sometimes I quote that when I manage to headshot a couple people in Counterstrike.
Paladin85
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Make the card "Kick the Ouphe" a reality please wizards!
Lava Burst is worse than Fireball? You need a time out and re read both cards
Fireball's only advantage is the ability to divide the damage to another target for 1 colourless per extra target, in this case you might as well use Comet Storm
This prevents Kor redirect abilities and prevent damage to this creature abilities like Cho-Manno, Revolutionary. I say this is a good alternative to Fireball, not worse or better
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"or dealt instead to another creature or player."
We need more clauses like this on {X} burn these days.
Lava Burst also gets around Circle of Protection: Red, which was a huge problem for red mages even back then.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you target a creature, this spell cant be shunt and gets through master healer. But protection from red would save the damage, because this spell targets and cannot target something with protection from red.
@foxdiuk Simple as that, giant growth and vines of vastwood would work perfectly fine. This seems like a case when people are too stubborn to find out the truth and assume that their wrong answer is correct.
hashtagyolo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
WTF is "Kick-the-Ouphe"?
MattLynn
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
FoxdieUK - yes, both Giant Growth and Vines of Vastwood could save your creature. Kira, Great Glass-Spinner would also work, as well as a few more things, I'm sure. Protection can't be targeted, sort of like color-hexproof and prevents Day of Judgement, unless the battlefield affecting spell is stated like this, unpreventable.
DarthParallax: To kill Emrakul, somebody must have Ghostly Flame, for example, in play. If course, one card alone to kill the spaghetti monster is Baleful Strix.
Comments (18)
This card is causing some arguments with my friend and me, basically, he's about to do 3 damage to my 1/1 creature. So i play, for example, giant growth on it. My argument is that im neither "preventing", or "re-directing" damage so the card should survive. His argument is that by playing Giant Growth i am playing an effect that is "preventing... damage.. to protect that creature".
Please help, game tonight and things get sour when this card hits the table.
Also, would Vines of Vastwood counter this card?
Also, yes, Vines of Vastwood would in essence prevent it from happening (though not exactly the same as countering. The spell still resolves, it just does nothing). It sounds like your friend might not entirely understand the rules either. The last thing to be played is the first thing that resolves. So using the Giant Growth scenario, your friend plays Lightning Bolt which would deal 3 damage to your 1/1. You cast Giant Growth in response. The Giant Growth takes effect first, making your creature 4/4. Then his lightning bolt does 3 damage, which is not quite enough to take your guy out.
Lava Burst slayer of gods!
Of course, like I said on the Emrakul page- if you're going to drop that much mana for an X spell you may as well just sling it at your opponents face.
Damage
Enchanting and Equipping
Blocking
Targeting
Which means you couldn't kill either of them with this. (It's colored so it can't target Emrakul, and it can't target Progenitus because it has protection from everything.)
No way, you say? Go look at the awesome array of damage prevention and redirection effects we had available in the Ice Age era. There was... Samite Healer! ...and... Healing Salve! (Note Lava Burst can't prevent you from using Healing Salve to just gain 3 life, and even Samite Healer could prevent 1 of the damage if the target was you rather than a creature.)
I think there were a couple other awful white creatures who prevented damage (that never even saw play in casual decks), but seriously, Lava Burst might as well have read "Effects which would plauphenate or transmorgify this damage can't take effect."
Still, "Overkill? This isn't a game of Kick-the-Ouphe!" is classic, and makes it all worthwhile. Sometimes I quote that when I manage to headshot a couple people in Counterstrike.
Lava Burst is worse than Fireball? You need a time out and re read both cards
Fireball's only advantage is the ability to divide the damage to another target for 1 colourless per extra target, in this case you might as well use Comet Storm
This prevents Kor redirect abilities and prevent damage to this creature abilities like Cho-Manno, Revolutionary. I say this is a good alternative to Fireball, not worse or better
We need more clauses like this on {X} burn these days.
Blood of the Martyr
Reverberation
Personal Incarnation
But some more came out later.
@foxdiuk
Simple as that, giant growth and vines of vastwood would work perfectly fine. This seems like a case when people are too stubborn to find out the truth and assume that their wrong answer is correct.
DarthParallax: To kill Emrakul, somebody must have Ghostly Flame, for example, in play. If course, one card alone to kill the spaghetti monster is Baleful Strix.