Lava Dart
Instant
Lava Dart deals 1 damage to any target.
Flashback—Sacrifice a Mountain. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Secret Lair Drop
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #6250
Lava Dart deals 1 damage for free, then does it again from the graveyard for one mana and a land — two spell triggers on one card. In any deck that rewards casting instants and sorceries repeatedly, especially Ral, Monsoon Mage builds, that flashback makes it worth a slot before most dedicated burn spells.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Ral, Monsoon Mage
Ral, Monsoon Mage flips on his third instant or sorcery cast, and Lava Dart counts twice — the initial cast and the flashback are two separate triggers stacking toward the transform threshold and fueling the storm-style payoffs on the back face.
Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might
Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might replaces any red source dealing less than his power with damage equal to his power instead, so Lava Dart's 1-damage ping becomes a 4-damage punch — and you get to do it twice for a single Mountain.
Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph
Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph adds 2 damage whenever a source deals exactly 1 damage to a creature or player, turning each Lava Dart cast into 3 damage total — and the flashback gives you a second proc on the same card.
Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot
Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot triggers whenever you deal exactly 1 damage, so Lava Dart generates two separate trigger windows — the original cast and the flashback — for whatever payoff Taii Wakeen is building toward.
Rionya, Fire Dancer
Lava Dart is one of the cheapest instants in red, which matters for Rionya, Fire Dancer because each instant or sorcery cast before combat increments the copy count on her trigger — the flashback gives an extra increment for a single land drop.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Lava Dart earns its slot exclusively in spellslinger or spell-count commanders — outside those shells it is too low-impact to bother. In Pauper it sees real play as a free-ish removal piece that dispatches mana elves and Faerie tokens while triggering prowess twice, making it a staple in Kiln Fiend and Storm lists. Legacy Dredge and Lands-adjacent decks have used Lava Dart as a flexible cantrip-adjacent spell that doubles as a sacrifice target for looting effects, though its presence there fluctuates with the meta. Vintage is legal but the card is never the point in that format. Pioneer and Standard have never seen it.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Lava Dart is a common with printings across multiple sets, which keeps copies widely available and cheap — expect to find it well under a dollar in most markets. It's an easy include on price alone; check your local game store's bulk commons bin before ordering online.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Ral, Monsoon Mage
- Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might
- Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph
- Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot
- Rionya, Fire Dancer
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.