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Molten-Core Maestro

Creature — Goblin Bard

Menace
Opus — Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. If five or more mana was spent to cast that spell, add an amount of {R} equal to this creature's power.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{1}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
rare
Set
Secrets of Strixhaven
Price
$3.69
EDHREC rank
#12725
Buy on TCGplayer
Molten-Core Maestro card art
Molten-Core Maestro lets you copy an instant or sorcery for free every turn cycle — no mana, just damage — which is the kind of repeatable effect that warps games rather than winning a single exchange. The ceiling is high and the cost (losing life equal to the spell's mana value) is real but manageable; compare it to Reiterate, which costs mana each time, and Molten-Core Maestro wins on engine value even if it loses on flexibility.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Rootha, Mastering the Moment

Rootha, Mastering the Moment

31.7% of decks · synergy 0.25

Rootha, Mastering the Moment's entire identity is copying spells for free, so Molten-Core Maestro slots in as a redundant engine that keeps the machine running even when Rootha is answered — 31% inclusion rate reflects that it's a core piece, not a luxury.

02
Prismari, the Inspiration

Prismari, the Inspiration

18.9% of decks · synergy 0.12

Prismari, the Inspiration rewards casting expensive instants and sorceries, and Molten-Core Maestro turns each of those into two spells for the price of one, doubling both the damage output and the value triggers Prismari cares about.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Molten-Core Maestro does its best work — the free copy trigger accrues over a long game, and the life-loss cost is less punishing when you start at 40. In Modern and Pioneer, the three-mana body rarely survives to untap, and formats that fast punish setup cards without immediate impact. Legacy and Vintage have better free-spell infrastructure but also better answers, so Molten-Core Maestro's ceiling there depends heavily on what deck it's enabling. Standard is its most forgiving non-Commander home, where the card pool is smaller and a repeatable copy effect has fewer competitors.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

691 decks
Molten-Core MaestroReiterate

Molten-Core MaestroReiterate

Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature; Infinite copies of the casted instant or sorcery; Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite red mana; Infinite storm count

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$3.69 cheap tier

At $3.69, Molten-Core Maestro sits in the cheap tier — low enough to include without agonizing over the slot, high enough that it's not bulk. New card pricing means this figure will shift over the next few months, but it represents fair value for a unique effect with no direct functional reprint.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.