Blazing Salvo
Instant
Blazing Salvo deals 3 damage to target creature unless that creature's controller has Blazing Salvo deal 5 damage to them.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Odyssey
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #17767
Blazing Salvo deals 3 damage to a creature — or 5 if the opponent chooses to take it themselves — for one red mana, but the catch is the catch: opponents almost always take the 5 to save a valuable creature, making this a burn spell that rarely kills what you aimed at. Skip it; real removal doesn't give the target a choice.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Blazing Salvo is too unreliable — opponents will happily absorb 5 life to protect a Consecrated Sphinx or a combo piece, and 40 life makes that trade trivial. Pauper is the one format where it sees occasional fringe play, since commons-only burn suites are thin and aggressive decks can sometimes exploit the forced choice, but even there it sits below Lightning Bolt and Fireblast in the pecking order. In Legacy and Vintage, the card simply doesn't compete — the formats demand unconditional interaction, and Blazing Salvo's opt-out clause disqualifies it entirely.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Blazing Salvo is deep bulk — the price reflects demand accurately. It won't lose value because there's essentially none to lose, and no competitive spike is coming to change that.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.