Breath of Fire
Instant
Breath of Fire deals 2 damage to target creature.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Global Series Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #25971
Breath of Fire deals damage equal to the number of cards in target player's hand — punishing card-advantage engines and full grips alike — for a single red mana at instant speed. It's a niche tool that earns its slot only in dedicated hand-size or burn strategies; everywhere else it's too conditional to bother.
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, Breath of Fire scales with the format's natural card-draw density — opponents regularly hold seven or more cards, so the ceiling is real, but you're spending a card and mana to deal damage that doesn't close games on its own. It fits tightest in wheels-and-burn shells where opponents' hands spike before being emptied. In Pauper, the common card pool keeps hand sizes modest and life totals the same 20 as other formats, so Breath of Fire is too inconsistent to slot over direct burn. Legacy and Vintage are the only other legal homes, and neither wants a conditional sorcery-speed-adjacent effect when Lightning Bolt exists.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, Breath of Fire is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not demand. That price is stable by default: there's no competitive breakout scenario that would move it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.