Staff of the Flame Magus MTG Card
2013-07-19 - Number 220
2014-07-18 - Number 233
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Artifact |
Key Takeaways
- Staff of the Flame Magus promotes life sustainability through red spell synergies, helping to weather aggressive tactics.
- While useful in red-centric decks, the staff’s specificity and mana cost may limit deck flexibility and speed.
- Its life gain effect can be pivotal in multiplayer where red spells and damage-based strategies are prevalent.
Text of card
Whenever you cast a red spell or a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control, you gain 1 life.
A symbol of passion in indifferent times.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While the Staff of the Flame Magus doesn’t directly add cards to your hand, its ability to gain life with each red spell you cast can help you sustain your resources and maintain presence in the game. It turns your red spells into mini-cantrips for life gain, keeping you stable against aggressive strategies.
Resource Acceleration: Although not a traditional mana accelerator, this artifact’s synergy with red spells effectively cascades into an advantage over time. Each red spell you cast incrementally nudges your life total higher, allowing you to make more impactful plays with a cushion of life to back up riskier decisions on the battlefield.
Instant Speed: The Staff of the Flame Magus works passively and rewards you at instant speed whenever you cast a red spell during either player’s turn. This constant readiness means you could be gaining life on your turn with sorceries and creatures or during an opponent’s turn with an instant, enhancing your resilience throughout each phase of the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: The Staff of the Flame Magus demands a certain deck build focused around red spells, which might dictate the rest of your deck composition and reduce flexibility.
Specific Mana Cost: With its red mana specific activation, this artifact ties you down to red mana sources, which could complicate your mana base in multicolored decks.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the Staff of the Flame Magus can provide incremental life gain, it does so at a cost of three mana which is a significant investment for an effect that is often seen as secondary in many competitive formats.
Reasons to Include Staff of the Flame Magus in Your Collection
Versatility: Staff of the Flame Magus is a flexible tool in any red-oriented deck, aiding in incremental life gain. Its color-specific trigger can continually bolster your life total, particularly in mono-red or red-heavy multiplayer games.
Combo Potential: This artifact shines when combined with decks that cast numerous red spells each turn or utilize mechanics like storm. Its ability to gain you life can be a piece of a larger strategy, supporting your endurance in the game.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where red decks are prevalent, Staff of the Flame Magus can provide an edge by negating some of the damage dealt by common red direct damage spells, contributing to your long-term survival on the battlefield.
How to beat
The Staff of the Flame Magus is an intriguing life gain artifact in Magic: The Gathering. This card subtly enhances your survivability every time you play a red spell or a mountain enters the battlefield under your control. However, overcoming Staff of the Flame Magus requires a proactive approach.
One strategy is to prioritize artifact removal from your deck. Incorporate cards like Naturalize or Abrade that can specifically target artifacts, ensuring the staff’s life gain effect is short-lived. Another tactic is to apply constant pressure, not giving the opponent the luxury of time to benefit from the incremental life gains. Aggressive decks can outpace the life advantage provided by the staff, rendering it less effective.
Finally, it’s important to recognize that life gain alone doesn’t guarantee victory. Focus on advancing your board state and winning conditions. By maintaining control or rapidly swinging with heavy damage, the Staff of the Flame Magus’s impact becomes negligible. In essence, direct your resources efficiently and the Staff can be rendered just a minor nuisance in the grander scheme of your winning strategy.
Cards like Staff of the Flame Magus
Staff of the Flame Magus is a unique artifact that has its place in Magic: The Gathering’s array of life-gaining cards. When compared to its counterparts within the staff cycle, such as Staff of the Death Magus and Staff of the Mind Magus, they all share the similar ability to gain life whenever you cast a spell of a certain color. However, Staff of the Flame Magus is dedicated to red spells, making it a cozy fit for players running a red-dominated deck.
Another card worth mentioning is Pristine Talisman. It also grants you life, albeit one at a time, with the added benefit of providing mana. While it doesn’t discriminate based on spell color, it doesn’t offer the consistent life gain tied to playing red spells as the Staff does. Diamond Mare is another similar artifact, which gains you life when you cast a spell of a chosen color. Unlike the Staff, Diamond Mare allows you to choose the color upon entering the battlefield, offering versatility.
Evaluating Staff of the Flame Magus alongside these alternatives, it emerges as a strategic choice for mono-red decks seeking life gain, exhibiting a reliable synergy unique to its color allegiance.
Cards similar to Staff of the Flame Magus by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Staff of the Flame Magus MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2014 and Magic 2015, 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 Staff of the Flame Magus and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Staff of the Flame Magus Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2013-07-19 and 2014-07-18. Illustrated by Daniel Ljunggren.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2013-07-19 | Magic 2014 | M14 | 220 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Daniel Ljunggren | |
| 2 | 2014-07-18 | Magic 2015 | M15 | 233 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Daniel Ljunggren |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Staff of the Flame Magus has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Staff of the Flame Magus card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2014-07-18 | Each of these artifacts cares about any land with the appropriate basic land type. For example, Staff of the Sun Magus’s ability triggers when any land with the subtype Plains enters the battlefield under your control, not just lands named Plains. |
| 2014-07-18 | If you cast a copy of a card that’s a certain color, the appropriate Staff’s ability will trigger. However, if you copy a spell on the stack without casting that copy, it will not. |
| 2014-07-18 | Most nonbasic lands don’t have basic land types, even if they produce colored mana. For example, Caves of Koilos is neither a Plains nor a Swamp. Having one enter the battlefield under your control won’t cause Staff of the Sun Magus’s ability to trigger. |
