Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash MTG Card

Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeInstant — Adventure

Key Takeaways

  1. Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash gives players versatile utility, combining both creature and instant advantages.
  2. Consider the cost of discarding and specific mana needs when integrating this card into your MTG strategy.
  3. The card’s adaptability makes it a promising addition to decks poised for shifting gameplay and metas.

Text of card

Heartflame Slash deals 3 damage to any target. (Then exile this card. You may cast the creature later from exile.)

"The fire of Embereth will never be doused!"

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The double-sided nature of Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash ensures you have multiple options within a single card, optimizing the utility and flexibility in your hand.

Resource Acceleration: Heartflame Slash can potentially remove a blocker or a threat, speeding up your game plan and clearing the path for your creatures to apply pressure.

Instant Speed: The instant speed of Heartflame Slash allows for strategic play, giving you the chance to react to your opponent’s moves during their turn, potentially disrupting their strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One notable downside of Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash is the need to discard a card to unleash its potential. In the heat of the game, having to part with a valuable card from your hand can be a strategic setback, especially if your hand is already running thin on options.

Specific Mana Cost: The card’s activation cost is locked into a specific color combination. Requiring both red and other mana to play, it may not seamlessly fit into every deck, particularly those running a broader color palette or strictly avoiding red.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When considering the investment needed to bring Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash into action, the mana cost may seem steep. For such a mana commitment, players often expect a more significant impact on the game state, potentially making other cards more appealing for inclusion in your deck.

Reasons to Include Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash in Your Collection

Versatility: Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash offers flexible options in deck building. This card transitions smoothly from an early game blocker to a late-game offensive spell, suitable for a variety of strategies that value adaptive gameplay.

Combo Potential: The Duelist side provides a solid creature for synergies with combat tricks, while Heartflame Slash can be a key component in spell-based combos, especially in decks that capitalize on instants and sorceries.

Meta-Relevance: Given its capability to act both as a creature and as a burn spell, this card can adapt to shifting metas, either applying pressure to control decks or disrupting aggressive strategies effectively.

How to beat

Heartflame Duelist presents players with a unique challenge in Magic: The Gathering. This creature card not only allows for a strong offensive play with its formidable ability to deal damage to the player or planeswalker it’s attacking but also presents a defensive challenge with its potential to block an additional attacker each combat. To effectively counter Heartflame Duelist, ensure you have cards that can remove creatures either through direct removal spells or by utilizing combat tricks to overpower it during battle. Relying on instant-speed interactions can also catch your opponent off guard and neutralize the Duelist before it becomes a significant threat.

One could consider spells like Shock or Lightning Bolt, efficient removal tools that can dispatch the Duelist with minimal mana investment. Additionally, combat-based strategies can also include cards with deathtouch to effortlessly take it down, or flying creatures to circumvent its blocking capability. Notably, prevention effects such as protection from red spells or enchantments can also render Heartflame Duelist’s impact negligible. Keeping these tactics at hand will ensure you’re well-equipped against a Duelist on the offense.

Heartflame Slash operates on the flip side of this same card, offering direct damage to any target. The key to beating Heartflame Slash lies in prioritizing the protection of your key creatures and strategic assets. Counterspells can stop the Slash before it strikes, and having creatures with toughness exceeding 4 makes them less vulnerable to this direct attack. Building your play defensively against red spells can save your key pieces from being burned away and maintain control of the game pace against aggressive red strategies.

Cards like Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash

Heartflame Duelist is a noteworthy card for enthusiasts looking to enhance their MTG gameplay. It stands tall among cards that balance aggressive strategies with combat tricks. When we explore other options like Fencing Ace, the similarities become apparent, as both creatures possess double strike. Yet, Heartflame Duelist’s capacity to prevent a creature from blocking this turn provides a tactical advantage, setting it apart from Fencing Ace, which doesn’t offer this combative utility.

Pursuing a comparable line of cards, Swiftblade Vindicator comes into focus, with abilities mirroring Heartflame Duelist’s double strike prowess. However, the Vindicator brings additional keywords, such as vigilance and trample, to the table. Even so, those looking for direct and immediate impact on the battlefield will appreciate the Duelist’s direct ability to control combat dynamics with its built-in combat trick.

Assessing the broader spectrum of creatures with similar functions, Heartflame Duelist presents a unique choice for players who value flexibility during combat phases. Its dual nature offers both an offensive unit and a tactical advantage, positioning it as a versatile pick in decks aiming to outmaneuver opponents during key combat interactions.

Fencing Ace - MTG Card versions
Swiftblade Vindicator - MTG Card versions
Fencing Ace - MTG Card versions
Swiftblade Vindicator - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash MTG card by a specific set like Wilds of Eldraine Promos and Wilds of Eldraine Promos, 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 Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Printings

The Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2023-09-08 and 2023-09-08. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12023-09-08Wilds of Eldraine PromosPWOE 228s2015AdventureBlackJustyna Dura
22023-09-08Wilds of Eldraine PromosPWOE 228p2015AdventureBlackJustyna Dura
32023-09-08Wilds of EldraineWOE 2282015AdventureBlackJustyna Dura
42023-09-08Wilds of EldraineWOE 2902015AdventureBlackAllen Williams

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Heartflame Duelist // Heartflame Slash has restrictions

FormatLegality
StandardLegal
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
AlchemyLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
FutureLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2023-09-01 An adventurer card is a permanent card in every zone except the stack, as well as while on the stack if not cast as an Adventure. Ignore its alternative characteristics in those cases. For example, while it's in your graveyard, Questing Druid is a green creature card whose mana value is 2. It can't be the target of Tenacious Tomeseeker's triggered ability ("return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand").
2023-09-01 An effect may refer to a card, spell, or permanent that "has an Adventure." This refers to a card, spell, or permanent that has an adventurer card's set of alternative characteristics, even if they're not being used and even if that card was never cast as an Adventure.
2023-09-01 Casting a card as an Adventure isn't casting it for an alternative cost. Effects that allow you to cast a spell for an alternative cost or without paying its mana cost may allow you to apply those to the Adventure.
2023-09-01 If a spell is cast as an Adventure, its controller exiles it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard as it resolves. For as long as it remains exiled, that player may cast it as a permanent spell. If an Adventure spell leaves the stack in any way other than resolving (most likely by being countered or by failing to resolve because its targets have all become illegal), that card won't be exiled and the spell's controller won't be able to cast it as a permanent later.
2023-09-01 If an adventurer card ends up in exile for any other reason than by exiling itself while resolving, it won't give you permission to cast it as a permanent spell.
2023-09-01 If an effect copies an Adventure spell, that copy is exiled as it resolves. It ceases to exist as a state-based action; it's not possible to cast the copy as a permanent.
2023-09-01 If an effect instructs you to choose a card name, you may choose the alternative Adventure name. Consider only the alternative characteristics to determine whether that is an appropriate name to choose.
2023-09-01 If an effect refers to a card, spell, or permanent that has an Adventure, it won't find an instant or sorcery spell on the stack that's been cast as an Adventure.
2023-09-01 If an instant or sorcery spell you control with lifelink deals damage to you, you gain and lose that much life simultaneously. In this case, your life total doesn't change. (Your life total may increase if the spell also deals damage to other permanents and/or players, however.)
2023-09-01 If an object becomes a copy of an object that has an Adventure, the copy also has an Adventure. If it changes zones, it will either cease to exist (if it's a token) or cease to be a copy (if it's a nontoken permanent), and so you won't be able to cast it as an Adventure.
2023-09-01 If you cast an adventurer card as an Adventure, use only its alternative characteristics to determine whether it's legal to cast that spell. For example, if you control Johann, Apprentice Sorcerer ("Once each turn, you may cast an instant or sorcery spell from the top of your library.") and Questing Druid is on top of your library, you can cast Seek the Beast, but not Questing Druid.
2023-09-01 Some instant and sorcery spells instruct other things to deal damage rather than deal damage themselves. In these cases, you won't gain life for that damage (unless the other things also have lifelink). Notably, a spell that instructs a creature you control to fight won't cause you to gain life.
2023-09-01 When casting a spell as an Adventure, use the alternative characteristics and ignore all of the card's normal characteristics. The spell's color, mana cost, mana value, and so on are determined by only those alternative characteristics. If the spell leaves the stack, it immediately resumes using its normal characteristics.
2023-09-01 You must still follow any timing restrictions and permissions for the permanent spell you cast from exile. Normally, you'll be able to cast it only during your main phase while the stack is empty.