At first, I looked at this and though, "Meh, too much like Lava Axe with a condition." And then I realized that Lava Axe doesn't suck because it deals five damage, it sucks because it deals five damage, costs 5, is a sorcery, and can only target creatures.
I don't see Morbid as too difficult to activate in burn decks, especially with plenty of weak utility creatures running around out there. Burn away one with a Geistflame or Chandra, the Firebrand or 2-for-1 with an Arc Trail, then drop 5 damage on your opponent's Steel Hellkite (or on their face). Probably not going to be a 4-of by any means, since it's competing with plenty of strong burn like Volt Charge, Arc Trail, and Shrine of Burning Rage, but in a creature-rich meta, this is huge value for a common.
infernox10
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
T1: Mountain, Furnace Scamp. T2: Mountain, swing and sac for 4. Goblin Arsonist Here's where you can play Goblin Grenade, or Infernal Plunge into this. And that's just a god hand. Point being: this card is nuts. 5 damage at instant speed is crazy. Morbid is simply in red.
Gabriel422
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Seems good but not too crazy. Red gets 4 damage for three mana all the time, so this is probably about right.
Gelzo
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(10 votes)
This and Goblin Grenade being Standard legal at the same time strikes me as an opportunity.
JU4
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
So many card's in this set rely on sacrificing, or otherwise putting your own creatures into your graveyard that there's a good chance that your opponent will set up the morbid condition for you, without you having to use any additional cards. It's very disappointing to sacrifice a creature to Stitcher's Apprentice in order to have a creature to exile for Stitched Drake just to have it destroyed by Brimstone Volley. At least I still had my Homunculus Token (I wish I could Auto-Card to it).
Kindulas
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
twice at the prerelease I cast this with the mana from an infernal plunge
luca_barelli
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
That's a lot of damage for 3 mana. I like it.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This could have been simply absurd with Eldrazi Spawn tokens. Oh well, goblins, spirits, and homonculi are still pretty expendable.
Nayban
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Chose to run it in my Molten-tail Masticore deck and discovered it to be a great card to keep in my hand until I ether burn a creature or decide to sac my Masticore. Think it will have a place in all my future burn decks after seeing how well it runs along creatures with an option to sac them.
MarilynMonroe
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Turn 1: Mountain, Goblin Fireslinger Turn 2: Mountain, Goblin Piker. Tap Fireslinger for one. (19) Turn 3: Mountain, Goblin Fireslinger. Swing Piker and tap Fireslinger for one.(16) Turn 4: Mountain, Swing Piker, Tap both Fireslingers. (12) Play Goblin Grenade, sacrificing Piker. (7) Play Brimstone Volley. (2) Turn 5: Tap Fireslingers (Problem?)
Does it check if a creature died during casting or resolution? As in this situation:
No creatures have died this turn yet. I'm attacking with my Chandra's Spitfire and cast this. In response to it, my opponent plays Doom Blade and kills my Spitfire.
Does it it deal 3 damage (as no creatures had died when it was cast) or 5 (as a creature had died when it resolved)?
...Not that it affects it playability much, I just thought of using it during a combat trick and I'm not sure how it would work out.
Still, seems pretty solid - 5 damage for 3 mana at instant speed is enough for me to bear a slight condition. Even without morbid it isn't useless. Reminds me of Cackling Flames, except generally better.
kiseki
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I killed someone at 10 life with a pair of these in a draft when they attacked me. I just put a couple of weak creatures in the way to get morbid. A very strong card.
Vandarringa
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Nothing quite like having Brimstone Volley, Goblin Grenade, and Reverberate all in your hand at once with a Goblin Fireslinger on the field. After chump blocking with another creature, I did 11 damage to my opponent on the end of his turn, and 6 on mine: exactly the 17 damage needed to kill him. He was... surprised.
badmalloc
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really like this card. It's a strong finisher. You attack with your team into whatever he has, for example, your Chandra's Phoenix and Stormblood Berserker hit for 5 but he blocks your Grim Lavamancer who dies. He thought he was going to be dropping to five, but the volley wins.
Being an instant adds versatility too as you can sneak in five damage out of nowhere after some combat or removal.
SkaerKrow
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is the kind of card that you'll be hearing about for a long time. Five damage wherever you need it for three mana (and an incredibly easy trigger) is an incredible value. Even if you can't get the Morbid trigger to go off when you need it, three damage is no slouch on its own.
Wild Cantor and this can make for many fun interactions in Modern.
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I run this in a deck with Quest for Pure Flame and multiple pinging creatures...(Cunning Sparkmage and the like), and I often find myself having the pingers ping themselves to death to trigger morbid. That 10 damage to the dome is just so tempting :p
Also, this + goblin grenade + an activated Quest = 20 damage right on the noggin.
TheJord01
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You don't want my Vexing Devil around? Ok take a total of 9 for 4 mana
blindloyalty
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great artwork and great flavor. An instant classic for Red burn. At a splashable {2}{R} mana cost, you're hitting your target for 3 damage — or 5 damage if cast at the right time.
Brimstone Volley is a great medium-cost spell for any Red burn deck. It even combos with other burn spells; picking off an opponent's creature with Gut Shot or Shock, for example, activates its morbid damage.
Comments (28)
I don't see Morbid as too difficult to activate in burn decks, especially with plenty of weak utility creatures running around out there. Burn away one with a Geistflame or Chandra, the Firebrand or 2-for-1 with an Arc Trail, then drop 5 damage on your opponent's Steel Hellkite (or on their face). Probably not going to be a 4-of by any means, since it's competing with plenty of strong burn like Volt Charge, Arc Trail, and Shrine of Burning Rage, but in a creature-rich meta, this is huge value for a common.
T2: Mountain, swing and sac for 4. Goblin Arsonist
Here's where you can play Goblin Grenade, or Infernal Plunge into this.
And that's just a god hand.
Point being: this card is nuts. 5 damage at instant speed is crazy. Morbid is simply in red.
Turn 2: Mountain, Goblin Piker. Tap Fireslinger for one. (19)
Turn 3: Mountain, Goblin Fireslinger. Swing Piker and tap Fireslinger for one.(16)
Turn 4: Mountain, Swing Piker, Tap both Fireslingers. (12) Play Goblin Grenade, sacrificing Piker. (7) Play Brimstone Volley. (2)
Turn 5: Tap Fireslingers (Problem?)
T2: Mountain, Goblin Arsonist, Swing for 1
T3: Mountain, Goblin Chieftan, Swing for 6
T4: Mountain, Swing for 6, Goblin Grenade and sac a Goblin Arsonist for another 6, and then Brimstone Volley for another 5 damage with a grand total of 17 damage on turn four.
This card is easily a 5/5
No creatures have died this turn yet. I'm attacking with my Chandra's Spitfire and cast this. In response to it, my opponent plays Doom Blade and kills my Spitfire.
Does it it deal 3 damage (as no creatures had died when it was cast) or 5 (as a creature had died when it resolved)?
...Not that it affects it playability much, I just thought of using it during a combat trick and I'm not sure how it would work out.
Still, seems pretty solid - 5 damage for 3 mana at instant speed is enough for me to bear a slight condition. Even without morbid it isn't useless. Reminds me of Cackling Flames, except generally better.
Being an instant adds versatility too as you can sneak in five damage out of nowhere after some combat or removal.
Also, this + goblin grenade + an activated Quest = 20 damage right on the noggin.
Brimstone Volley is a great medium-cost spell for any Red burn deck. It even combos with other burn spells; picking off an opponent's creature with Gut Shot or Shock, for example, activates its morbid damage.