Pointed Discussion

with bolt, koth, lavamancer, and several other cards around, RDW in standard will be very deadly for the next few months.

RED. DECK. WINS.

Mr. Anderson, welcome back. We missed you...

This is why we don't get Lightning Bolt for at least another year. Enjoy the Red Summer while it lasts, though.

other colors really need another kor firewalker-like creature with reprint of lavamancer

Rate this comment 5 if you were happy to see Grim Lavamancer back.

*** yeah Lavamancer!

Perfect card for a speedy red deck. combos well with goblin grenade, seeing as that card puts 2 into the graveyard. If your looking for a quick win in red, this guy and a host of cheap damage speels will surley help you get there.

He drinks your milkshake.

If you rate this card poorly, you're either mixing it poorly with a lot of graveyard recursion or you have no idea how to play this game. 5/5 all day, every day

@Lyoncet

Actually the worst and probably most realistic thing he can do is find a way to send it to the graveyard while pulling the rest out of your hand and deck by using surgical extraction...

shoot. I don't even play red but I'm about to start.

This card very literally makes red decks win

Goblin Guide, Lavamancer, Koth, yes these are just some of the extremely powerful cards that Grim here can deal with. What's that? He works well with them, too? Well that's just dandy. Let's face it, he is good against the following: Those mentioned above, Squawk, Lotus Cobra, Mana Elves/Birds, any planeswalker, with Basilisk collar everything else, and players. Did you know he can squeeze the last few points out of a game? He can squeeze the last few points out of a game. Did you know that R/U/x decks use him, trinket mage and basilisk collar in legacy? Because they do and it rocks. Those cards are in type 2 for a bit, btw. Let's see what else Red has for the time being, shall we? Bolt, Incinerate, Searing Blaze, Burst Lightning, Red Shrine, Chandra's Phoenix, Goblin Guide, Stormblood Berserker, Pyroclasm, Slagstorm, Koth, Chandra the Firebrand, Staggershock, Flame Slash. That's 13 awesome cards off the top of my head, and I'm sure there are more. Also, fetches are here till rotation.

My reaction to hearing Grimmy was back;

"Grim Lavamancer in M12! SWEET! But with the Mike Sutfin art? FFFFFFUUUUU-"

Say you got 3 of these bad boys out and you got 4 mountains out.

Tab for 4 mana.

Sac 4 mountains for 2 Fireblast

Remove the mountains and Fireblast

Throw in a Bolt!

BAM! 17 damage!

If modern ever becomes a format this is the red card that going to make the merfolk and fearie players cry. Zoo just got one of it's staples back. It ruins legacy merfolk decks and would be the bane of them in modern. Get them before they get too expensive.

RDW? Serious? More like Standard Zoo

Quick! Use him before the fetchlands rotate out!

Really glad to see him back but...does anyone else prefer the old Grim Lavamancer art?

I use to cringe at the power behind this card. Now I just cringe at the new Art.

5/5 for power alone.

It's not often that you see a 1-drop creature that pretty much demands removal (against decks that have creatures, at least). Just in standard (pre-M11 rotation), this thing can threaten staples like Birds of Paradise, the whole M12 Mage cycle, Puresteel Paladin (assuming it's unequipped), Joraga Treespeaker, Goblin Chieftain, Bloodghast, Lotus Cobra, Oracle of Mul Daya, Goblin Guide, Hero of Oxid Ridge... the list just goes on. And it can keep planeswalkers like Jace Beleren honest by threatening if they come in using a minus ability. And of course it can give you those last few damage you need to win.

At the very worst, your opponent Doom Blades it. Savor it, folks; you just forced a kill card, got card parity and got mana advantage from playing your 1-drop.

Well, actually, at very worst your opponent Whipflares four of them, but then shame on your for overextending! :p


@Jesicani
"Actually the worst and probably most realistic thing he can do is find a way to send it to the graveyard while pulling the rest out of your hand and deck by using surgical extraction..."

Well, granted, yes. But that's sort of like saying "dies to removal," you're not saying anything about this card that doesn't apply to every other (nonland) card. Plus, I'd say that's less of a problem with Lavamancer than most other cards. Why's that? First, because if they're extracting your Lavamncers, they're not extracting your win cards or combo pieces (I'd usually rather lose them than, say, Shrine of Burning Rage or Inferno Titan). Second, at one mana, it's easier to dodge the graveyard to keep Extraction from going off. If you're going against Day of Judgment, hold them until they play Day; if you're going against Distress, play them ASAP (one may get Doom Bladed, so you'll want to make sure any in your hand don't get pulled by Extraction). It's a lot harder to do that with key cards that cost more, like, say, Tempered Steel or, again, a Titan.

Also, don't forget that if you're really worried about Surgical Extraction, a Grim Lavamancer can actually completely nullify it. "I cast Surgical Extraction and choose Grim Lavamancer." "OK, well in response, I tap my Grim Lavamancer and {R}, exile the Lavamancer you chose and my Inferno Titan, and kill your Birds of Paradise."

Note that even if they Doom Blade your Lavamancer in response to this, the Surgical Extraction still misfires. The exile is a cost, which can't be responded to, so you still exile the cards. And even though your Lavamancer goes to the GY before Extraction resolves, the card they chose isn't there, so it fizzles (even though there's a different card with the same name there). Or if they won't fall for it, just exile the cards as soon as you have a good opportunity. You don't make their Extraction misfire, but you still keep the juicy targets out of your graveyard.

I usually don't play red, so when I see this guy on the battlefield across from me, I want him gone. Now. Seriously bad news.

really good one-drop but later I prefer Cinder Pyromancer.

So. . . This is why we didn't get an uncommon pinger or Lightning Bolt in M12? Heck, you can keep Prodigal Pyromancer for all I care WotC. And as for Bolt. . . we still have Galvanic Blast.

Dies to Hornet Sting. 0/5

You just have to love extra burn source, especially from a 1-drop.

I just pulled this from a Magic 2012 pack. I don't see the appeal. For the additional limitation of using cards from my graveyard, I should get 3 damage or not use mana. This must be for Standard or something. But tcgplayer says they're selling for $3.00 or so, so well, I guess it's worth it.

A darn good way to make use of those burn spells you've already burned through.

Nice card. But not my type. 4/5

A 1 drop like this comes along very rarely every once in a great while. It's a staple and a truly fantastic red creature. Reprint this in a core set again soon please!

He's a permanent resident of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle hotel btw.

One of the few creatures I, as a Vorthos-Over-Spike when it comes to playing Red, am willing and happy to play when trying to make Red my main color. (Exception: Jundish and Zooish decks. and Big Dragons and stuff :D)

I don't normally like Goblins decks, or Red creatures like Hero of Oxidd Ridge. Oh I understand well why they are good. Hero of Destiny was my least favorite card in Premium Deck Series: Baked or Fried. I just prefer Firey Red to Earthy Red. :)

My Vorthos side is alway appreciative, though, when a card that just so happens to suit his palate also ends up being a card Spikes agree is "Yeah, bonkers. We like how many games we win when we play this. :) "

If you are considering playing Grim Lavamancer at all, then you are most probably either doing it for Flavor reasons or you are using him Stragically, in which case your Deck Builds itself after you've picked this card. The lowest costing, fastest-tempo, highest damage spells in the format of your choice. Evaluate all the Red and Red-hybrid spells you have access to, and start listing 4-ofs. Play Fetches, even if the only ones you have access to are Terramorphic Expanse or Evolving Wilds.

For formats like Standard, you probably won't be in Mono-Red, because you'll want the best one-and-two drops, which is very likely to contain either/or a Green and a Black card.

If you have no plans on replaying your spells via Snapcaster Mages or other means, this is the safest option, especially since it also neutralizes the minute danger of your opponent playing cards out of your grave.

Long story short, if you're not going to replay spent cards or return to hand things, then this will make mill decks think twice because every card in the grave is a potential burn spell.

Just think - 2 lightning bolts deal 6 damage for 2 mana, throw in this guy's ability and now you're doing 8 for 3. And all in the early game too.

@LocoLarue
WTF are you serious? If this did 3 damage that would be stupid. Cards in your graveyard in a deck that would use this are FREE. You run lots of burn spells like lightning bolt and searing spear. You burn out your hand by spamming these low-cost spells that don't have too much of a permanent effect on the game (you mostly use them to zap your opponent's face - which only matters when they are dead).

What do you do when you run out of cards in your hand? Oh, just dump your graveyard into these guys and finish off your opponent. You want 3 damage for the mana, but 3 damage for 1 mana at NO CARDS LOST would be stupid.

Picture it like this:
Epic Lightning Bolts That Ruins MTG
R
instant
Deals 3 damage to target creature or player. Draw a card.

That's basically what you want off this guy. That would be an absolutely stupid card.

I run him in a strange deck, R/B Control. A lot of my burn is card advantage style, and most of it is used to keep the board clear for swinging (unless I see the win in sight.) This guy helps out in that early on I can start burning off creatures without using cards.

It's also effective in Legacy and Modern, similar to Deathrite Shaman, as she shrinks Tarmogoyf. When you have up-to-8 1-drops that control the goyf main-deck while propelling you towards a win condition, you're in great shape.


They also make your deck about $400 cheaper by not running the goyf yourself..

I like the Torment art better.

5/5 Best Red one drop around, sorry Goblin Guide, but it's true. This either draws out removal or does a lot of damage and board control. Card advantage and or reuseable burn on a stick. Not sure why he wears Blue robes though? :/ Favorite card in my Red Legacy deck.