Hmm. New flavor text is pretty funny, but nothing will ever top the simplicity of "Catch!".
WateryMind
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Agreed.
The flavor text is better then M11, but they REALLY need to bring back "Catch!".
Frozenwings
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(18 votes)
After "catch", nothing is the same.
majinara
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
Awesome card. It deals nearly twice as much damage as lightning bolt! Well, to players only.... and at sorcery speed... and for five times the mana cost... ok it's crap.
AlicanC
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
I was looking for something worthy enough to copy with Chandra, the Firebrand's -2 and this is it.
Hitting 10 on turn 5 will be great.
Konrad0349
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(8 votes)
This is one of the worst cards ever created. It needed to go away along with the starter editions. 5 damage for 5 mana and you can't even use it on a creature!!! That's completely rediculous.
lorendorky
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
This card is not meant for controlling the board, it's meant to kill. Reverberate it.
Homelands
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
flavor text is better than M11's, but nothing can compare to "Catch!"
as already stated many a time :D
Zacklar
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Catch! =(
deth2munkies
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Nothing is worse than, in a draft, stabilizing at 10 life, dominating the board, then getting double lava axed.
The real problem is that it's only one point more efficient than any of the multitude of Blaze variants, but it can't hit creatures, it doesn't have the flexibility of X when you have more or less mana available, and it doesn't have any extra effect like everything but Blaze itself has (making it harder to counter or prevent, or being able to split it up, or shuffling back into your library, or whatever). The only value I can see is with things that let you cast spells without paying their mana cost, since X doesn't fare well there. But to use "without paying mana cost" effects, you really need to have a whole load of fixed-cost cards, and I'm really not sure that's a worthwhile tradeoff, compared to just using X spells.
JFM2796
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Jesus! This has had the same art for 13 years!
And yeah we need Catch back!
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Its a classic and a solid mid pick in a draft. very splashable to take 1/4 of their life out. I like the new flavor. A redwood is no joke and this slices threw that with ease. If i was a planeswalker i wouldnt want to take one of these to the face.
OmegaSerris
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I find it funny how the math works out. Run a playset, collect all four and you win the game. :-D How demoralizing would it be to lose to a deck that did nothing but turtle up and tutor out it's Lava Axes?
Norrinthewary
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(11 votes)
Fact: lava becomes more deadly when shaped like an axe (I'm a geologist i know these things)
Let's compare this to Lightning Bolt just for fun, shall we? Does 2 more damage for 4 more mana at a slower speed and can't target creatures. Vomit worthy.
b00neyman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm prefering Unstable Footing because it's an instant and the damage can't be prevented. @Dr_Fletchers If you play this combo, consider 2x Fire Servant + Lightning Bolt for a even more whopping 12 damage :) Plus another 12 damage for a single mana (Lightning Bolt again), no need to use Reverberate because Reverberate's costs = 2x Lightning Bolt's costs :)
cioskookycards
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
HMMM .... Not bad in the right situations ...Play it with Semblance Anvil ,choise sorcery and it will cost 3 . Play it in a deck with Seething song , and it will be funny . I dont have many standard cards because I stopped buying cards for a while and there is a tournement tomorrow , so i might just use this guy ..( and do a little better than last week with a 2 rounds out of 5 wins , but I used only 1 rare so I was pretty satisfied ...lol.
I used a BAD monored/artifact pauper deck at FnM and won 6 out of 14 matches or 2 out of 5 rounds . It had one rare in it : semblance anvil .
Binaro
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really love this card, even though I started out playing MTG hating it and how it seems to be less useful in limited as cards like Fire Servant or Chandra's Spitfire gets cycled out. Funny how I appreciate simple, starter deck cards like this one the more and more experienced I become.
Even without stuff like Reverberate or Fire Servant, however, I find this card to be quite powerful in starter-deck-like decks, even against decks full of almost nothing but rares. Often times, after my hand's empty and all my small creatures like Goblin Arsonist or Furnace Scamp are gone, and my opponent's about to finish me off with his/her Hero of Bladehold, it's often drawing this card that wins me the game. Even though now the new Brimstone Volley has proven quicker than this, I still feel a heartfelt bond with Lava Axe. 3.5/5
---
I hope that that last statement doesn't make me sound like I'm in love with this card...
theoneandonlyjoseph
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i am going to be blunt here, if you ever cast this card and ONLY do 5 damage with it, your doing it wrong. chandras -2, reverberate, fire servant, furnace of rath, quest for the pure flame, it dosent matter, just boost it.
once, i combinded this with a reverberte, a twincast, a leyline of lightning and a furnace of rath on the field. after it resolved my oppenent took 32 damage to the face.
Quentil
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's a simple and effective game ender. Especially with Fork or Reverberate. There might be better red burn out there, but this card works well alongside other said burn and will win you games.
KnexWiz
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
alternate flavor text:
If you manage to boost this you probably win, if you don't you should stop playing magic
"Catch!" is still beter though
Pigfish99
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like this flavor text better, truth be told. ^_^
DrJack
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This card is designed for borderline intellects who can't be bothered to stop and contemplate whether they should use their card and mana to damage an opponent, or one of his creatures, and also can't fathom the possibilties of using the card during times other than their turn, during their main phase.
Lava Axe:
Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap - Derpy Derp, you take 5 damage! Derp Derpy Derp Derp
Superllama12
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
First of all, this is a pretty bad card. Second of all, it really annoys me that they took out the awesome flavor text, not only because it was awesome, but because of the redwoods reference in this one. R&D has stated that they don't like referencing real world, and I completely agree with them (I didn't like Portal: Three Kingdoms). "Redwood" is an unambiguous reference to the Earth, and I feel that they should keep those out of Magic; instead, they could reference a Yavimaya tree. I understand that they don't want to make newbies feel "out of touch" because they don't get old references, but come on, is there really anyone who's going to quit because they don't know what Dominaria is?
@Hackworthy: Not that I disagree with you, but to be fair if you use Lightning Bolt as your measuring stick then practically every burn spell printed is going to seem fairly naff.
OverlordSmurf
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think this card gets too much flack. Hackworthy compares it to Lightning Bolt, and it, of course, looks like crap by comparison. But I think it's important to note that burn spells across the board have diminishing returns in terms of damage dealt and mana invested.
Look at Flame Rift: it also hits only players and is a sorcery (like Lava Axe), but also deals 4 damage to yourself! For just one more damage to the opponent than Lightning Bolt! But Flame Rift is still an excellent card, and I don't think many would deny that. For the damage curve to work the way Hackworthy's comment suggested, Lava Axe would need to deal 15 damage, and Incinerate would deal 6... and burn would reign supreme of all decktypes in almost all formats -_-
For what it does, Lava Axe is perfectly effective - it deals 5 damage for 5 mana, which is better than any of the X damage burn spells (Fireball and co.) can say. It is a bit underpowered - it could have stood to also hit creatures, or at least to have been an Instant - but it is also a core set common, to be fair. Although if you're looking for a "better" version, there's Unstable Footing, which is an Instant and also its damage can't be prevented.
Lifegainwithbite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hmm so to fix this card:
-Make it instant speed. -Reduce it's cost to 4. -Have it deal damage to creatures as well.
Now let's compare to Warleader's Helix. It's still not as good as Warleader's Helix but it's still very much playable so I think that's fair enough.
O0oze
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
its a great card in the right deck, but its harder to use right than it seems.
Comments (33)
The flavor text is better then M11, but they REALLY need to bring back "Catch!".
Hitting 10 on turn 5 will be great.
as already stated many a time :D
I...hate...this...card.
And yeah we need Catch back!
@Dr_Fletchers
If you play this combo, consider 2x Fire Servant + Lightning Bolt for a even more whopping 12 damage :)
Plus another 12 damage for a single mana (Lightning Bolt again), no need to use Reverberate because Reverberate's costs = 2x Lightning Bolt's costs :)
I used a BAD monored/artifact pauper deck at FnM and won 6 out of 14 matches or 2 out of 5 rounds . It had one rare in it : semblance anvil .
Even without stuff like Reverberate or Fire Servant, however, I find this card to be quite powerful in starter-deck-like decks, even against decks full of almost nothing but rares. Often times, after my hand's empty and all my small creatures like Goblin Arsonist or Furnace Scamp are gone, and my opponent's about to finish me off with his/her Hero of Bladehold, it's often drawing this card that wins me the game. Even though now the new Brimstone Volley has proven quicker than this, I still feel a heartfelt bond with Lava Axe. 3.5/5
---
I hope that that last statement doesn't make me sound like I'm in love with this card...
once, i combinded this with a reverberte, a twincast, a leyline of lightning and a furnace of rath on the field. after it resolved my oppenent took 32 damage to the face.
If you manage to boost this you probably win, if you don't you should stop playing magic
"Catch!" is still beter though
Lava Axe:
Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap - Derpy Derp, you take 5 damage! Derp Derpy Derp Derp
WHY CAN'T IT?! WHY?! WHY!!!!!!!!
☐———. ☐— ☐—— ☐—— ☐——— ☐— ☐
☐———. ☐☐☐—— ☐—— ☐——— ☐☐☐
☐———. ☐— ☐—— ☐—— ☐——— ☐— ☐
☐☐☐—☐— ☐—— ☐—— ☐☐☐—☐— ☐
Look at Flame Rift: it also hits only players and is a sorcery (like Lava Axe), but also deals 4 damage to yourself! For just one more damage to the opponent than Lightning Bolt! But Flame Rift is still an excellent card, and I don't think many would deny that. For the damage curve to work the way Hackworthy's comment suggested, Lava Axe would need to deal 15 damage, and Incinerate would deal 6... and burn would reign supreme of all decktypes in almost all formats -_-
For what it does, Lava Axe is perfectly effective - it deals 5 damage for 5 mana, which is better than any of the X damage burn spells (Fireball and co.) can say. It is a bit underpowered - it could have stood to also hit creatures, or at least to have been an Instant - but it is also a core set common, to be fair. Although if you're looking for a "better" version, there's Unstable Footing, which is an Instant and also its damage can't be prevented.
-Make it instant speed.
-Reduce it's cost to 4.
-Have it deal damage to creatures as well.
Now let's compare to Warleader's Helix. It's still not as good as Warleader's Helix but it's still very much playable so I think that's fair enough.