Brimstone Mage MTG Card

As a level-up creature, Brimstone Mage transitions from simple to significant board presence over time. Instant-speed ability of Brimstone Mage offers strategic flexibility and on-demand damage potential. Requires careful mana investment, potentially slow in fast-paced settings and restrictive with specific mana.

Brimstone Mage - Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE)

Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE)
2010-04-23 - Number 137

Mystery Booster (MB1)
2019-11-07 - Number 874

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number ROE-137

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Human Shaman
Abilities	Level Up
Power	2
Toughness	2

Text of card

Level up (: Put a level counter on this. Level up only as a sorcery.) LEVEL 1-2 2/3 : Brimstone Mage deals 1 damage to target creature or player. LEVEL 3+ 2/4 : Brimstone Mage deals 3 damage to target creature or player.

Cards like Brimstone Mage

Brimstone Mage enters the arena of Magic: The Gathering as an intriguing creature with the potential to deal incremental damage over time. This creature bears comparison to elite pingers like Prodigal Pyromancer, who also wields the ability to tap for direct damage to any target. What sets the Brimstone Mage apart is its level up feature, allowing it to evolve and increase its damage output as the game progresses.

Among its peers, we also meet Gelectrode. Gelectrode offers a rapid ping ability each time you cast an instant or sorcery, potentially delivering multiple shocks in a single turn cycle. Unlike the Mage, it does not require additional mana investment to enhance its abilities. However, Brimstone Mage has the advantage of a potentially higher damage ceiling thanks to its leveling up potential. Another comparison is with Cunning Sparkmage, a card that provides an immediate pinging option upon entering the battlefield thanks to haste, although without the capability of upgrading its effect like Brimstone Mage.

Considering these comparisons, Brimstone Mage holds a unique position with its scalable damage output, marking it as a versatile card for players who favor long-term strategies and mana investment to command powerful, game-ending plays.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Brimstone Mage offers a level-up ability that can transition the card from a simple creature to one with the capacity to deal repeated damage, potentially providing recurring advantages over time.

Resource Acceleration: With its level-up mechanic, Brimstone Mage accelerates the potency of your playing field. Each investment of mana boosts its abilities, reflecting a growth in your board’s threat without the need for additional cards.

Instant Speed: The activated ability of Brimstone Mage can be utilized at instant speed, allowing you to respond to your opponent’s actions on their turn. This offers strategic flexibility, maintaining pressure even when it’s not your turn to play.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Brimstone Mage requires you to reach level 3 to unlock its damage-dealing ability. This progression can be a drawback as it demands a continuous mana investment which might be too slow in fast-paced games or when you’re on the back foot.

Specific Mana Cost: Activating Brimstone Mage’s ability requires not just one, but a specific combination of mana, including one red. This can be restrictive, particularly in multicolored decks that might struggle to consistently produce the necessary mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The initial and level up costs associated with Brimstone Mage are high, especially when compared to other creatures with immediate impact. Players may find it inefficient when the same amount of mana could be spent on strategies that yield a quicker return on investment.

Reasons to Include Brimstone Mage in Your Collection

Versatility: Brimstone Mage offers flexibility in deck building due to its ability to transition from a simple creature to a potent source of direct damage. This level-change mechanic can be valuable in both aggressive red decks and more nuanced strategies that seek to control the board.

Combo Potential: With its level up ability, this card can become the centerpiece of combos, especially in decks that revolve around untapping creatures or manipulating counters. As Brimstone Mage levels up, it becomes an increasingly threatening source of repeated damage.

Meta-Relevance: In metagames where long games are prevalent, Brimstone Mage shines by providing a scalable threat that grows more formidable as the match progresses. Its direct damage ability bypasses creatures, potentially overriding common defensive strategies.

How to beat

Brimstone Mage is a unique card that brings a specific set of challenges to the table. To successfully navigate a game against this card, understanding its mechanics is essential. Brimstone Mage comes with a level up ability, allowing it to grow stronger as the game progresses. Initially, it can seem like a minor threat, but given time, it can accumulate levels and start dealing significant direct damage, which can quickly turn the tide of the game.

Counteracting Brimstone Mage starts with preventing it from leveling up. This could be achieved through timely removal spells, countering the level up transactions themselves, or by deploying creature threats that must be dealt with immediately, diverting mana away from leveling up the Mage. Another effective strategy is to maintain a healthy life total to diminish the impact of its ping ability or play cards that can gain you life back to offset the damage. Direct damage or “burn” spells are also useful to dispatch the Mage before it becomes too powerful.

In summary, addressing Brimstone Mage’s presence immediately and efficiently can be key to maintaining dominance on the battlefield. Staying proactive and ready to disrupt its growth or absorbing its potential damage are both viable paths to overcoming this fiery adversary.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Brimstone Mage MTG card by a specific set like Rise of the Eldrazi and Mystery Booster, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Brimstone Mage and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Brimstone Mage Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2010-04-23 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Volkan Baǵa.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2010-04-23	Rise of the Eldrazi	ROE	137	2003	Leveler	Black	Volkan Baǵa
2	2019-11-07	Mystery Booster	MB1	874	2003	Leveler	Black	Volkan Baǵa
3	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST	ROE-137	2003	Leveler	Black	Volkan Baǵa

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Brimstone Mage has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Brimstone Mage card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2010-06-15	A creature’s level is based on how many level counters it has on it, not how many times its level up ability has been activated or has resolved. If a leveler gets level counters due to some other effect (such as Clockspinning) or loses level counters for some reason (such as Vampire Hexmage), its level is changed accordingly.
2010-06-15	Effects that modify a leveler’s power or toughness, such as the effects of Giant Growth or Glorious Anthem, will apply to it no matter when they started to take effect. The same is true for counters that change the creature’s power or toughness (such as +1/+1 counters) and effects that switch its power and toughness.
2010-06-15	Effects that set a leveler’s power or toughness to a specific value, including the effects from a level symbol’s ability, apply in timestamp order. The timestamp of each level symbol’s ability is the same as the timestamp of the leveler itself, regardless of when the most recent level counter was put on it.
2010-06-15	If another creature becomes a copy of a leveler, all of the leveler’s printed abilities — including those represented by level symbols — are copied. The current characteristics of the leveler, and the number of level counters on it, are not. The abilities, power, and toughness of the copy will be determined based on how many level counters are on the copy.
2010-06-15	The abilities a leveler grants to itself don’t overwrite any other abilities it may have. In particular, they don’t overwrite the creature’s level up ability; it always has that.