Pyrohemia MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeEnchantment

Key Takeaways

  1. Pyrohemia is a board control tool that can lead to significant card advantage in the right deck.
  2. Flexible, instant-speed activation fits various MTG strategies, potentially altering game outcomes.
  3. Care must be taken with its upkeep requirement and specific mana cost, which can limit deck options.

Text of card

At end of turn, if no creatures are in play, sacrifice Pyrohemia. : Pyrohemia deals 1 damage to each creature and each player.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Pyrohemia provides an efficient way to control the board and wipe out swarms of smaller creatures, potentially leading to a card advantage as you reduce your opponent’s presence while maintaining your own.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing mana or card draws, Pyrohemia can pave the way for aggressive strategies, swiftly clearing the path for your impactful creatures to deal damage and put you ahead in the race.

Instant Speed: The ability to activate Pyrohemia at instant speed offers tremendous flexibility, allowing players to respond to opponents’ moves during their turn, especially to disrupt combat or in response to creature spells before they can impact the board.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Despite its potential to clear multiple creatures off the board, Pyrohemia demands a constant presence of creatures on your side to maintain its existence on the battlefield. This can become a liability, especially in creature-light decks or in situations where board wipes have been used, potentially leading to involuntary discard of this enchantment.

Specific Mana Cost: Pyrohemia is not just color-specific but also requires a double commitment to red mana in its casting cost. This can restrict its integration primarily to mono-red or red-heavy multicolor decks, stifling versatility in deck construction and possibly affecting mana base consistency.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an activation cost that also requires red mana, Pyrohemia may be seen as having a steep investment for the damage it deals. Considering alternative cards in the red pool could offer the same or higher damage output without the ongoing mana demand, Pyrohemia’s comparative resource intensity could deter players from including it in their decks.


Reasons to Include Pyrohemia in Your Collection

Versatility: Pyrohemia is a dynamic card that can be utilized in various deck archetypes. As it allows for board wide damage on demand, it can fit comfortably into control strategies seeking to clear the field, or in combination with creatures that thrive from damage triggers.

Combo Potential: This card can interact positively with strategies that capitalize on dealing damage to creatures. Whether it’s enabling enrage mechanics or synergizing with damage-resistant creatures, Pyrohemia serves as a catalyst for numerous powerful combos.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state dominated by creature-heavy decks, Pyrohemia becomes a powerhouse, controlling the board and deterring swarming tactics. Its presence alone can shift the dynamics of play, making it a crucial element for decks that can harness and mitigate its symmetrical damage output.


How to beat

Pyrohemia is a potent red enchantment in Magic: The Gathering, known for its ability to control the board and deal damage to each creature and player at will. This means creatures with lower toughness are at constant risk, and so creating a strategy to overcome Pyrohemia is crucial. A key approach is to focus on cards that either prevent damage or have creatures with high toughness that can withstand the incremental damage.

Including creatures with indestructible or protection from red can nullify Pyrohemia’s effect. Another viable strategy is to capitalize on life gain cards, which can help outpace the damage dealt by Pyrohemia, keeping you in the game longer. Spells that destroy enchantments are also direct answers, removing Pyrohemia before its controller can establish dominance. Additionally, playing instant-speed creatures at the end of your opponent’s turn minimizes the window Pyrohemia has to affect your board presence. Careful management of your own life total and board state is essential when facing down this fiery enchantment.

By utilizing these tactics and keeping a keen eye on your resources, you can formulate a plan to extinguish the threat of Pyrohemia, ensuring your creatures survive and you remain a contender in the fiery landscape of the game.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG requires an in-depth understanding of each card’s strengths and suitable strategies. With Pyrohemia, the power to dictate the pace of the game is at your fingertips, offering both a defensive and offensive board control tool. To leverage this card’s full potential, we suggest incorporating it into decks that can continuously fuel its activation cost and support its mechanics. For more insights on deck-building strategies, card synergies, and tips to optimize your gameplay against various meta decks, browse through our resources. Let us guide your journey to becoming a formidable player with Pyrohemia as your wild card.


Cards like Pyrohemia

Within the array of red enchantments in Magic: The Gathering, Pyrohemia stands out for its potential for continuous board impact. Cards with similar functionality include Pestilence, which also allows a player to deal damage to each creature and each player for one black mana. However, Pestilence requires a creature on the board under your control to stay active, whereas Pyrohemia remains as long as you have red mana to fuel it.

Another comparable card is Earthquake – both deal damage to each creature without flying and each player. Pyrohemia has the advantage of being repeatable as an enchantment, allowing strategic damage allocation over time unlike the one-time use of Earthquake. Then there’s Anger of the Gods, offering a direct way to deal 3 damage to each creature with the added benefit of exiling those that are destroyed, circumventing graveyard strategies.

Assessing their strengths, Pyrohemia fulfills a unique role. It’s not only effective in controlling the state of the board but also versatile in its ability to respond multiple times as long as your mana pool allows, offering a consistent threat that can shape the flow of the game.

Pestilence - MTG Card versions
Earthquake - MTG Card versions
Anger of the Gods - MTG Card versions
Pestilence - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Earthquake - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Anger of the Gods - Theros (THS)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Pyrohemia MTG card by a specific set like Planar Chaos and Commander 2011, 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 Pyrohemia and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Pyrohemia Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2007-02-02 and 2017-06-09. Illustrated by Stephen Tappin.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12007-02-02Planar ChaosPLC 1192003normalblackStephen Tappin
22011-06-17Commander 2011CMD 1322003normalblackStephen Tappin
32017-06-09Commander AnthologyCMA 862015normalblackStephen Tappin

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Pyrohemia has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2004-10-04 Each activation is considered a new damage effect. An activation can only be 1 point of damage.
2011-06-01 It will stay on the battlefield if there is a creature that is put into the graveyard during the end step. This is because this ability will not trigger at all if there is at least one creature on the battlefield as the end step begins.
2011-06-01 Note that “until end of turn” effects wear off after “at the beginning of the end step” triggered abilities, so an artifact that animates until end of turn can keep this on the battlefield.

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