You're right about Ember Shot ranking #1, and there are a ton of better one-drop burn spells indeed, yet there are a bunch of worse costy common burn spells. Check out Kamahl's Sledge for instance.
divine_exodus
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Why do they print cards like this if lightning bolt is around?
adinsx3
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
@divine_exodus:
They printed this in portal, which wasn't even tournament-legal when it was printed. And Lightning Bolt was also out of Standard at the time anyway (Shock was its replacement).
I understand that it's Portal, and Portal was a carefully constructed environment. Yet the hilarity remains. I can only imagine the kid that played this at somebody and got Bolted in response.
bfugitive
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Listen up, kids. GengilOrbios has properly used 'strictly worse.' Follow along:
Why? Because, Gut Shot provides the SAME EFFECT (1 damage to target creature or player) with MORE FLEXIBILITY (Instant vs. Sorcery, Phy mana vs Red only) at the SAME CMC and SAME COLOR.
A MUST FOR EVERY BURNING WISH SIDEBOARD Oh, and it's not strictly worse than anything, I propose. The defeat at the hands of this card is far more humiliating than the same defeat at the hands of Gut shot. It leaves them mouthing "why?" for the rest of the match, winning you additional games in advance. Also, an opponent with counterspells (and pride) may be forced to counter this card to prevent this card from gaining you any sort of advantage, where Gut Shot will be reacted to with nonchalance. There is more to the card than the printed text. The spirit of the cards determines the strength. Scorching Spears signed by Bea Arthur do five damage. I think I'm done here.
Comments (13)
They printed this in portal, which wasn't even tournament-legal when it was printed. And Lightning Bolt was also out of Standard at the time anyway (Shock was its replacement).
I understand that it's Portal, and Portal was a carefully constructed environment. Yet the hilarity remains. I can only imagine the kid that played this at somebody and got Bolted in response.
"strictly worse than gut shot"
Why? Because, Gut Shot provides the SAME EFFECT (1 damage to target creature or player) with MORE FLEXIBILITY (Instant vs. Sorcery, Phy mana vs Red only) at the SAME CMC and SAME COLOR.
It would be entirely wrong to call this strictly worse than Hornet Sting, however, this card is strictly worse than Shock, Lightning Bolt,Galvanic Blast, Burst Lightning, etc.
/soapbox
Oh, and it's not strictly worse than anything, I propose. The defeat at the hands of this card is far more humiliating than the same defeat at the hands of Gut shot. It leaves them mouthing "why?" for the rest of the match, winning you additional games in advance.
Also, an opponent with counterspells (and pride) may be forced to counter this card to prevent this card from gaining you any sort of advantage, where Gut Shot will be reacted to with nonchalance.
There is more to the card than the printed text. The spirit of the cards determines the strength. Scorching Spears signed by Bea Arthur do five damage. I think I'm done here.
I invite you all to try and find a card that's this broken.