The Flame of Keld MTG Card

Dominaria (DOM)
2018-04-27 - Number 123

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number DOM-123

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Enchantment — Saga

Key Takeaways

The card can refill your hand and amplify damage, key for aggressive red decks seeking to maintain pressure.
Demands careful play, with timing critical due to its hand discard requirement and potential to backfire.
Proven to be a meta-relevant card, providing a significant edge in fast-paced, damage-forward matches.

Text of card

(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.) I — Discard your hand. II — Draw two cards. III — If a red source you control would deal damage to a permanent or player this turn, it deals that much damage plus 2 to that permanent or player instead.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: In its second chapter, The Flame of Keld allows a significant draw boost, offering the chance to refill your hand with two additional cards. This can tip the scales in your favor, especially in a deck that’s all about rapid card deployment.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly generating mana or treasure, The Flame of Keld indirectly accelerates resources by empowering each red source you control to deal an additional damage. This can quickly escalate the pressure on your opponent, with each damage source inching you closer to victory at an accelerated pace.

Instant Speed: While The Flame of Keld itself is a sorcery, the boost it provides to red instants and other spells with flash can be a game-changer. Casting spells at instant speed with the added damage bonus during your opponent’s turn can effectively disrupt their strategy and turn the tide of the game.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Flame of Keld necessitates emptying your hand on play, which could backfire if valuable cards are still in your grip. It’s imperative to time this card right, or you risk losing key elements critical for your game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: Being locked into a red mana cost, this card demands a dedicated red or a red-centric deck build. This can be restrictive, especially for players who favor a more versatile or diverse mana base for their strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For the initial payoff of discarding your hand, two mana might feel steep. In the early stages of a match, where resources are precious, investing in The Flame of Keld’s saga could mean forfeiting tempo for future gains, a trade-off that must be cautiously weighed against other alternatives in your arsenal that could provide immediate benefits.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: The Flame of Keld is not just another card to fling on the battlefield. It shines in decks that cycle through their hand quickly and can capitalize on the second and third lore counters for a powerful damage boost. Its flexibility to support aggressive red strategies makes it a potent addition to your collection.

Combo Potential: This saga card escalates the threat level when combined with low-cost creatures and burn spells. As you work through the chapters, The Flame of Keld sets up devastating plays that can turn the tide of the game by bolstering your damage output significantly in a single explosive turn.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where speed and efficiency are crucial, The Flame of Keld can give red decks that critical edge. It harmonizes with the pace of quick matches and has proven to be a game-changer against a range of opponents with its distinct ability to amplify every point of damage dealt.

How to beat

The Flame of Keld is a distinctive saga card that can bolster a player’s offensive in Magic: The Gathering. What makes this card intriguing is its ability to both discard the player’s hand and subsequently supercharge drawn cards with additional damage. This can turn even the most insignificant spell into a lethal threat. Yet, understanding how it operates provides clues to counter it effectively.

To succeed against The Flame of Keld, maintaining instant-speed removal or counter spells to address key threats as they arise is crucial. Since the third lore counter’s effect enhances red source damage, it’s advantageous to neutralize threats before this stage. This might involve sacrificing tempo early to ensure that when The Flame of Keld’s final chapter unfolds, the opposing board is already controlled. Additionally, hand disruption plays like Thoughtseize can strip this saga from the opponent’s grip before it ever hits the board. Another strategy can include life gain effects or damage prevention to mitigate the impact of the enhanced damage turn. Paying attention to the saga’s progression and timing your responses aptly can extinguish The Flame of Keld before it engulfs your chances of victory.

Overall, while The Flame of Keld can command an impressive presence in the right deck, a prepared opponent can strategically outmaneuver its potential impact, showcasing the depth and strategic layers that make Magic: The Gathering a constantly engaging experience.

Cards like The Flame of Keld

The Flame of Keld finds its niche within the pantheon of red saga cards in MTG. Its closest relative is arguably the card Light Up the Stage, which also possesses the potential to draw multiple cards. However, Light Up the Stage lets players exile two cards and play them for an additional turn, whereas The Flame of Keld discards the player’s hand first, then draws two new cards in its second chapter, offering a different kind of risk and reward.

Another card with some similarity is Experimental Frenzy. This enchantment allows players to look at the top card of their library and play it, a seemingly endless stream of potential plays. However, it doesn’t have the explosive third chapter that The Flame of Keld has, which can increase the damage dealt to opponents during the critical turn. Additionally, Risk Factor can be seen as another counterpart, featuring the “draw cards or deal damage” decision for opponents, but it lacks the raw draw power and subsequent damage boost provided by The Flame of Keld’s saga chapters.

In essence, The Flame of Keld is unique in its category, boasting a powerful final stage that can turn the tide of a game, setting it apart from other card-draw or damage-oriented red spells in the MTG universe.

Cards similar to The Flame of Keld by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase The Flame of Keld MTG card by a specific set like Dominaria and The List, 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 The Flame of Keld and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The The Flame of Keld Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-04-27 and 2018-04-27. Illustrated by Lake Hurwitz.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2018-04-27	Dominaria	DOM		123	2015	Saga	Black	Lake Hurwitz
2	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST		DOM-123	2015	Saga	Black	Lake Hurwitz

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where The Flame of Keld has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Commander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2018-04-27	A chapter ability doesn’t trigger if a lore counter is put on a Saga that already had a number of lore counters greater than or equal to that chapter’s number. For example, the third lore counter put on a Saga causes the III chapter ability to trigger, but I and II won’t trigger again.
2018-04-27	As a Saga enters the battlefield, its controller puts a lore counter on it. As your precombat main phase begins (immediately after your draw step), you put another lore counter on each Saga you control. Putting a lore counter on a Saga in either of these ways doesn’t use the stack.
2018-04-27	Each symbol on the left of a Saga’s text box represents a chapter ability. A chapter ability is a triggered ability that triggers when a lore counter that is put on the Saga causes the number of lore counters on the Saga to become equal to or greater than the ability’s chapter number. Chapter abilities are put onto the stack and may be responded to.
2018-04-27	If counters are removed from a Saga, the appropriate chapter abilities will trigger again when the Saga receives lore counters. Removing lore counters won’t cause a previous chapter ability to trigger.
2018-04-27	If damage dealt by a source you control is being divided or assigned among multiple permanents an opponent controls or among an opponent and one or more permanents they control simultaneously, divide the original amount before adding 2. For example, if you attack with a 5/5 red creature with trample and your opponent blocks with a 2/2 creature, you can assign 2 damage to the blocker and 3 damage to the defending player. These amounts are then modified to 4 and 5, respectively.
2018-04-27	If multiple chapter abilities trigger at the same time, their controller puts them on the stack in any order. If any of them require targets, those targets are chosen as you put the abilities on the stack, before any of those abilities resolve.
2018-04-27	If multiple replacement effects would modify how damage would be dealt, the player being dealt damage (or the controller of the permanent being dealt damage) chooses the order in which to apply those effects.
2018-04-27	Once a chapter ability has triggered, the ability on the stack won’t be affected if the Saga gains or loses counters, or if it leaves the battlefield.
2018-04-27	Once the number of lore counters on a Saga is greater than or equal to the greatest number among its chapter abilities—in the Dominaria set, this is always three—the Saga’s controller sacrifices it as soon as its chapter ability has left the stack, most likely by resolving or being countered. This state-based action doesn’t use the stack.