Tribal Flames MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 6 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Domain

Key Takeaways

  1. Scale damage with diverse land types, optimizing mana use by holding other removals.
  2. Requires varied mana base, potentially limiting its use in mono or two-colored decks.
  3. Highly effective in multi-colored, domain-focused decks, providing scalable, direct damage.

Text of card

Tribal Flames deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of basic land types among lands you control.

"Fire is the universal language." —Jhoira, master artificer


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Tribal Flames becomes a potent tool for creating card quality advantage by precisely targeting and removing key threats on the board. With the ability to scale its damage, it allows you to conserve other removal spells and resources for larger threats that may emerge later in the game.

Resource Acceleration: This spell doesn’t directly accelerate resources, but it can be considered a form of indirect acceleration. By effectively managing threats with Tribal Flames, you ensure your mana and other resources can be allocated to furthering your board state and strategy without being diverted to address enemy creatures.

Instant Speed: While Tribal Flames is a sorcery, it benefits from being played at the precise moment you have maximized the number of basic land types under your control, thus delivering optimal damage to the target. Its flexible nature allows for efficient planning during your turn to maximize the impact of your available mana.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Tribal Flames demands a diverse mana base to maximize its damage output. This requisite can be restrictive, especially for mono-colored or two-colored decks, limiting its utility in less varied decks.

Specific Mana Cost: While this card’s mana cost is set at one red, achieving optimal damage requires a spectrum of mana symbols in play. This can clash with a player’s strategy to maintain a stable mana curve throughout the game.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Tribal Flames has the potential for extensive damage, the condition to have a domain of all five basic land types can make its casting cost effectively higher. This spatial requirement often means delaying other plays and can be competitively inefficient compared to other direct damage spells with a lower or more flexible cost.


Reasons to Include Tribal Flames in Your Collection

Versatility: Tribal Flames is a powerful addition to multicolored decks, with the potential to deal significant direct damage to opponents. It fits well in decks that capitalize on domain mechanics, where the number of basic land types you control increases the spell’s damage output.

Combo Potential: This spell’s scalability makes it an ideal choice for combos with cards that manipulate the number of basic land types under your control, or with those that allow you to search for the myriad of land types quickly to maximize the damage dealt.

Meta-Relevance: In a game that often shifts towards aggressive strategies, Tribal Flames shines by offering up a swift and decisive way to finish games. Given the diversified mana bases in contemporary MTG formats, this card becomes an asset that adapts well to the evolving gameplay and can be a game-changer in the right deck.


How to Beat Tribal Flames

Tribal Flames is a notable card that harnesses the power of domain, dealing damage equal to the number of basic land types among lands you control. This mechanic can lead to substantial damage in a multi-colored deck and can be quite the finisher. To effectively counter this card, it helps to limit the variety of land types in play or reduce your life total’s vulnerability to a sudden burst of damage.

One strategy is to utilize land hate cards that can alter the land types on the battlefield or exile lands from the game, thus diminishing the domain’s potency. Cards with damage prevention or life gain can also provide a cushion against the impact of Tribal Flames, allowing you strategic leeway to push forward in the game despite the threat it presents.

Understanding the decks that commonly incorporate Tribal Flames is also key. Such decks often rely on a colorful mana base; therefore, nonbasic land disruption could impair their performance significantly. It’s about creating an environment where Tribal Flames loses its edge and becomes less of a game-changer. By adjusting your playstyle and including specific measures, Tribal Flames becomes far less daunting to face across the table.


Cards like Tribal Flames

Tribal Flames takes its rightful place in the roster of damage-dealing spells in the world of Magic: The Gathering. This spell is often juxtaposed with Lightning Bolt, an iconic option known for its cost-efficiency, dealing 3 damage for just one red mana. Tribal Flames, though, boasts potential for greater damage output, as it solely relies on the diversity of your lands’ basic land types for its might.

The likes of Incinerate also find themselves in comparison to Tribal Flames. Incinerate delivers 3 damage to any target and prevents regeneration, just like Lightning Bolt, but does so at two mana instead. What sets Tribal Flames apart is its scalability, which can surpass the damage threshold of Incinerate, contingent on a well-structured mana base.

Lastly, there’s Skred, a spell that also scales with the game but instead through the number of snow-covered lands you control. Its potential damage increases over time, yet Tribal Flames can immediately impact the game given a diverse land spread from the get-go. Evaluating these cards, it’s clear that Tribal Flames offers a unique flexibility and power level that can rival or even exceed similar spells in Magic: The Gathering when leveraged effectively.

Lightning Bolt - MTG Card versions
Incinerate - MTG Card versions
Skred - MTG Card versions
Lightning Bolt - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Incinerate - Ice Age (ICE)
Skred - Coldsnap (CSP)

Cards similar to Tribal Flames by color, type and mana cost

Scent of Cinder - MTG Card versions
Spitting Earth - MTG Card versions
Volcanic Hammer - MTG Card versions
Fanning the Flames - MTG Card versions
Strategy, Schmategy - MTG Card versions
Disorder - MTG Card versions
Warrior's Oath - MTG Card versions
Breath of Darigaaz - MTG Card versions
Incendiary Flow - MTG Card versions
Embereth Shieldbreaker // Battle Display - MTG Card versions
Nahiri's Lithoforming - MTG Card versions
Mizzium Mortars - MTG Card versions
Pyroclasm - MTG Card versions
Burning Wish - MTG Card versions
Mana Seism - MTG Card versions
Yamabushi's Storm - MTG Card versions
Face to Face - MTG Card versions
Goblin Sleigh Ride - MTG Card versions
Molten Disaster - MTG Card versions
Hurly-Burly - MTG Card versions
Scent of Cinder - Media Inserts (PMEI)
Spitting Earth - Duel Decks: Knights vs. Dragons (DDG)
Volcanic Hammer - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Fanning the Flames - Stronghold (STH)
Strategy, Schmategy - Unglued (UGL)
Disorder - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Warrior's Oath - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Breath of Darigaaz - Commander 2015 (C15)
Incendiary Flow - Friday Night Magic 2017 (F17)
Embereth Shieldbreaker // Battle Display - Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate (CLB)
Nahiri's Lithoforming - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Mizzium Mortars - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Pyroclasm - Duel Decks: Sorin vs. Tibalt (DDK)
Burning Wish - Vintage Masters (VMA)
Mana Seism - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Yamabushi's Storm - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Face to Face - Unhinged (UNH)
Goblin Sleigh Ride - Happy Holidays (HHO)
Molten Disaster - Future Sight (FUT)
Hurly-Burly - Lorwyn (LRW)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Tribal Flames MTG card by a specific set like Invasion and Time Spiral Timeshifted, 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 Tribal Flames and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Tribal Flames Magic the Gathering card was released in 6 different sets between 2000-10-02 and 2023-07-18. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12000-10-02InvasionINV 1761997normalblackTony Szczudlo
22006-10-06Time Spiral TimeshiftedTSB 701997normalblackTony Szczudlo
32010-03-19Duel Decks: Phyrexia vs. the CoalitionDDE 512003normalblackTony Szczudlo
42013-06-07Modern MastersMMA 1382003normalblackZack Stella
52015-05-22Modern Masters 2015MM2 1322015normalblackZack Stella
62023-07-18Historic Anthology 7HA7 112015normalblackZack Stella

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Tribal Flames has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-06-18 Domain abilities count the number of basic land types among lands you control, not how many lands you control or how many of any type.
2021-06-18 The basic land types are Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. Land types other than basic land types (such as Desert) don’t contribute to domain abilities.

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