Pointed Discussion

Do cost reducing effects like the one seen on Goblin Electromancer reduce bot x's in the overload cost?

lorendorky: I'm afraid not. The reduction reduces the total spell cost by {1}: when you cast the spell, you specify X and it sets the mana cost to that. So if you specified X = 2, you'd be casting it for {4}{R}{R}, which would then reduce to {3}{R}{R}

My fiance totally wrecked me with this the other day. Used overload to wipe out the majority of my creatures, threw in a couple other spells to pick off the bigger ones, then swung with a powered up dragonnaut... Ouch...

Also, I am reveling in the lack of Lotsofpoopy in here! "Pros like him" make me want to push someone into a bonfire...

@LegoLeonidas

You should appreciate the wisdom that I am sharing with you all from my posts. It is not everyday that you get to see the insight and opinions of a pro like me.

@LegoLeonidas: Please don't feed the troll.

Unless you're going to feed him a knuckle sandwich, in which case, go ahead.

As for the card, the "Non-flying" clause kinda gets it for me. Neither the base nor overload cost are really impressive, especially with Bonfire of the Damned still in standard.

this seems too good at uncommon.

@ LegoLeonidas: Pros like me can appreciate the fine line between moronic trolling and witty sideswipes at smug know-it-alls. I find him hilarious. Even MOE can be funny sometimes, while some trolls just exist to needlessly complain about every card. And nobody's as bad as that guy who ran around calling "first!" on every card.

As far as the card itself, XX is a harsh enough cost that they didn't really need . At least then it would have been cheaper than Lavalanche in one instance.

Do I want to pay 2 more for an overloaded Electrickery or deal 2 less damage with an overloaded Mizzium Mortars? All with a non-flying clause as well. I'd say use it as spot removal, but even then it takes 4R to deal the same damage as Mizzium Mortars

I, for one, welcome our new Izzet overloads.

Maybe izzet tried to make an easier to get spell that's Bonfire of the Damned spliced with Earthquake.

Flavourfully, if you think like that, that's cool. Otherwise, it's only mediocre.

Dat art

Underrated, for sure.

So, if cast normally, it's a Heat Ray that can't hit flying creatures.
And if overloaded in 1v1, it's a slightly less efficient, instant-speed version of a hard-cast Bonfire of the Damned that can't hit flying creatures or players. Or is the better comparison a way-more-expensive-but-way-more-one-sided Magmaquake that doesn't hit planeswalkers?

However, as one card, it's your choice of either. Is that versatility enough?

Even once Bonfire rotates, Street Spasm will exist alongside Mizzium Mortars in Standard Constructed. The Mortars are solidly better unless the metagame shifts to focus on creatures with 5+ toughness or unless specifically instant-speed casting of a one-sided board-wipe becomes relevant. In the former case, Street Spasm will require at least or , and neither is an efficient use of mana. In the latter case, I can think of only three plausible situations:
(1) You need to stop an opponent's alpha swing, wipe his/her board, AND maintain your own board position for an alpha swing of your own next turn. Mizzium Mortars won't work due to the first clause; Fog and its variants won't work due to the second; and Magmaquake (perhaps it'll be reprinted after Bonfire rotates) won't work due to the third.
(2) You need to wipe your opponent's board before you attack, but you need all your mana on your turn to play creatures with haste to complement your current army, aiming for a next-turn alpha swing. Again, Magmaquake will disrupt your own board, while the Mortars will lock you out of .
(3) You need to pull off some combat shenanigans by damaging your opponents' creatures and not your own. Maybe an army of first strikers is involved? I dunno.

These situations don't seem particularly likely, and each would probably still need a huge mana commitment. Another possibility is that Spell Snare sees a popular reprint, causing Mizzium Mortars to fail like half the time.

The real strength of Street Spasm is that, as long as you have the mana, it is as big and as fast as you need it to be. The slower and more unpredictable the format, the better Street Spasm is.

So, this is going to be awesome in Limited, especially floating around at uncommon rarity (unlike the Mortars). It could also see play in EDH/Commander, which brings up the other advantage of Street Spasm over Bonfire of the Damned and Lavalanche: it hits ALL opponents, not just one. Thus, Street Spasm is more powerful with more players.

Add in some pretty cool art and flavor, and we've got ourselves a decent enough card as a whole.

3.5/5. Hard to get removal in RTR limited. A sideboard option in constructed against ground=based arggro.

How does the XX overload work?

While I never uprate them, I do find the lotsofpoopy comments entertaining. I quite like that there are no mods on these psuedo-forums; it's a more raw atmosphere and the fact you can only post once keeps it in check.

To the card? Meh. Severely meh. While it may have a place in block, I can imagine that almost any case where you'd use the XX you could instead just use comet storm to do the same thing except also include players. It's true that that's not a completely just comparison, but it is close enough to warrant looking at that card instead.

Also, bonfire of the damned is so ridiculously shamefully good that this poor guy just can't catch a break.

Firespout?

Shiny version looks like it's from some movie, fricken awesome art, really good late-game card

@Dakrum: If you pay 8 to cast this, it means that 2 (if they're red) go to the reds and the other 6 gets split evenly between the two Xs. Yea, it takes a lot of mana to make it that worthwhile, but when you do, this can really be a game-winner.