Pointed Discussion

Great burn that is tough to counter, although during the Weatherlight pre-release someone tapped out to hit me with this to end the game and I got them with a three mana Disrupt!

Tough to counter burn spell...Just be sure ur opponent is all tapped out or has very little mana for any counter spell and this will be a good way to burn your opponent to ashes...

Better than Blaze

Solid card that places between Blaze and Banefire in effectiveness. Good, solid card.

This probably won't be countered unless an opponent has open. Counters and redirection spells tend to have a cost of or .

Why do people like Blaze so much? There are so many better X spells...blaze is probably one of the worst...honestly.

worse than blaze if you run fork lol

Better than Blaze. This will almost always be uncounterable. Probably next to Banefire at the moment. I wished they'd reprint this instead of Fireball. But having "Kaervek" in its name will pose a certain issue when it comes to card flavor I guess. Another good X damage is Volcanic Geyser. As an instant, it is very mana-efficient.

I don't agree with the assumption that this is inferior to banefire. Misdirection can be used on banefire for no mana, but your opponent would still have to pay 2 mana to misdirect Kaervek's Torch. On the other hand, Fork is less effective with this card than with other blaze spells, so it all depends on the circumstances.

They could functionally reprint this with a new name. Probably Chandra if they went that route.
Or, they could stick to Blaze. why is Blaze so popular?

check out the art sometimes. thats not the only thing to judge a card by I know, but when comparing so many similar cards, (Red in particular and X spells especially have the 'similar card' issue), sometimes art is the best distinguisher, because people think 'really, when is that situation actually going to come up? its basically the same as Blaze'
being uncounterable is the only exception to this. that always gets noticed. but I mean UNcounterable, not 'hard to counter, but I can do it if I want to/need to'

Blaze is simple, and its got a guy throwing fire on it. it makes a difference when, instead of just the big ball/bolt of death, you can actually see the guy casting it. which is why I like newer Lightning Bolts so much more than old ones.

Hmm... Potentially better than Banefire when dealing with Mindbreak Trap?

Remember, this also prevents redirection spells from being cast easily, which Banefire does't have.

Better than Blaze by a long shot, but usually worse than Banefire and Fireball. Though it can be better as far as mana efficiency, X doesn't HAVE to equal 5 to be uncounterable (which this almost is unless they're using Spell Pierce or Mental Misstep, and even that's a stretch.

4.5

Before banefire, there was this. Banefire is the better choice, but this is better to take out an early creature (delver of secrets) without getting countered.

Also there is the odd situation verse maindeck swerve or mindbreak trap that this could be better.

How often is the blue mage going to think "I'd better leave two extra mana open on top of that in case he tries to soft-counter my counterspell?" Kaervek's Torch is a strong card.

The primary thing that makes this one of the best XR spells is that even using Force of Will's alternate cost requires spending 2. Blue players who are planning on relying on Force of Will are more likely to tap out on their own turns.

It would be better if it was uncounterable, but being a difficult to counter Fireball makes it pretty powerful.

4.5/5