Burning Oil MTG Card

Provides card advantage and disruption with its versatile flashback ability, creating dual usage from a single card. Instant speed allows for tactical responses, though its specific mana cost can be restrictive in deck creation. While useful, it faces competition from other cards with lower mana costs for similar damage effects.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Instant
Abilities	Flashback
Released	2012-02-03
Set symbol
Set name	Dark Ascension
Set code	DKA
Number	84
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Trevor Claxton

Text of card

Burning Oil deals 3 damage to target attacking or blocking creature. Flashback (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)

Every now and then, a devil's prank can give you a good idea.

Cards like Burning Oil

Burning Oil stands out in Magic: The Gathering’s roster of burn spells with its unique flashback ability. This feature is strongly reminiscent of cards like Searing Spear and Lightning Strike, both known for dealing 3 damage to any target for a low mana cost. However, Burning Oil’s flashback potential offers a second burst of damage later in the game, a utility absent in its counterparts.

Comparably, Incinerate represents a similar spell that deals 3 damage, but it includes the additional benefit of preventing regeneration, an edge in matchups against creature-heavy decks with regenerative capabilities. Faithless Looting is another example relevant for its flashback attribute, but as a card draw engine rather than a damage dealer. The act of drawing and discarding with flashback gives it a distinct role in strategic deck building and play.

Weighing the strategic applications, Burning Oil provides flexibility and repeated value with its dual castability, situating it competitively among its peers in the damage-dealing spell niche of Magic: The Gathering. Its blend of immediate impact and long-term potential shapes it as a card worthy of consideration for decks capitalizing on burn tactics.

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Decks using this card

MTG decks using Burning Oil. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

#	Name	Format	Archetype	Event
	Grixis Storm	Free form		Noble Spring Quarterly

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With the ability to flashback from the graveyard, Burning Oil provides an opportunity to utilize the same card twice, maximizing the value you get from a single card slot in your deck.

Resource Acceleration: Although Burning Oil does not directly accelerate resources, the efficient removal it provides can slow down an opponent’s development, allowing you to maintain pace and potentially overtake them in board presence.

Instant Speed: As an instant, Burning Oil can be played on an opponent’s turn, making it a flexible tool in your arsenal for disrupting your opponent’s strategy during crucial moments or in response to their threats.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing Burning Oil demands a card to be discarded, which can negatively impact your hand, particularly if you’re in a pinch for options or holding onto key cards.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires a detailed mana investment with a red and white to cast, which restricts its inclusion to decks that can consistently generate both colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost that sits at the upper end for its effects, Burning Oil may be overshadowed by other lower-cost spells that deal damage or offer removal abilities.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Burning Oil is a flexible addition to red and white decks, capable of acting as both a combat trick and a source of recurring damage from the graveyard. Its dual utility allows for proactive and reactive plays, fitting into a variety of strategies while keeping opponents on their toes.

Combo Potential: This card’s flashback ability offers unique interactions with other cards that benefit from instant and sorcery casts. Whether it’s fueling spell-based synergies or being recurred for repeated use, Burning Oil enhances decks centered around spell-slinging and graveyard manipulation.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where creature-based strategies are prevalent, Burning Oil serves as a cost-effective way to keep the board in check. Its ability to be used twice—once from hand and once from the graveyard—means it’s particularly adept at dealing with small to mid-sized creatures that dominate aggressive formats.

How to beat

Burning Oil is a unique card in Magic: The Gathering that offers a blend of damage potential and flexibility with its flashback ability. To effectively counter this card, players need to adapt their strategies. One method is to manage the battlefield by maintaining a low creature presence, thus limiting the targets for its initial cast. Additionally, leveraging instant-speed removal can disrupt the timing, making it less effective against your creatures.

Another approach to counteract Burning Oil is through the use of hexproof or indestructible creatures. By employing creatures with these abilities, you’re protecting your board from targeted spells. Instant spells that grant these protections for a turn can also be a timely response to this direct damage card. Similarly, cards that can counter noncreature spells are crucial to stopping Burning Oil from ever hitting the battlefield, preserving your creature’s health and your overall strategy.

Ultimately, understanding how to navigate around the potential damage of Burning Oil is key to overcoming it. Strategic creature management and a deck well-equipped with protective measures or counterspells can diminish the impact of Burning Oil and secure your position in the game.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Burning Oil MTG card by a specific set like Dark Ascension, 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 Burning Oil and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Burning Oil has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2021-03-19	A spell cast using flashback will always be exiled afterward, whether it resolves, is countered, or leaves the stack in some other way.
2021-03-19	If a card with flashback is put into your graveyard during your turn, you can cast it if it’s legal to do so before any other player can take any actions.
2021-03-19	To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost (such as a flashback cost) you’re paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2021-03-19	You can cast a spell using flashback even if it was somehow put into your graveyard without having been cast.
2021-03-19	You must still follow any timing restrictions and permissions, including those based on the card’s type. For instance, you can cast a sorcery using flashback only when you could normally cast a sorcery.
2021-03-19	“Flashback -ost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying -ost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.”