Flame Burst
Instant
Flame Burst deals X damage to any target, where X is 2 plus the number of cards named Flame Burst in all graveyards.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Odyssey
- Price
- $0.10
- EDHREC rank
- #30636
Flame Burst deals a baseline 2 damage that scales up by 1 for each other Flame Burst in any graveyard — redundancy turns every copy into a faster clock. Outside of dedicated Flame Burst stacking strategies, the ceiling is hard to reach and the floor is just a worse Lightning Bolt.
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 |
Pauper is where Flame Burst has historically had the most traction, since the common card pool makes scaling burn spells more competitive and graveyard recursion is accessible. In Commander, the singleton rule guts the scaling mechanic entirely — one Flame Burst in a 99-card deck almost never sees another copy in any graveyard, making it a 2-damage spell for 2 mana, which is unacceptably inefficient at a 40-life table. Legacy and Vintage have access to far more powerful burn options, so Flame Burst doesn't make the cut in those formats either. Oathbreaker operates on 20 life, which is slightly more forgiving, but the singleton constraint still applies unless your group is running multiples.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.10 bulk tier
At $0.10, Flame Burst is pure bulk — you're not paying for power, you're paying for the concept. There's no financial upside here; it holds bulk value and nothing more.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.