Harness the Storm MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeEnchantment

Key Takeaways

  1. Allows casting spells from the graveyard, potentially doubling the effect of instants and sorceries.
  2. Ideal for decks with abundant cheap spells, it accelerates combos and maximizes resource use.
  3. Its instant-speed synergy adds strategic depth, outmaneuvering opponents and elevating gameplay.

Text of card

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell from your hand, you may cast target card with the same name as that spell from your graveyard. (You still pay its costs.)

"There is no place like a rooftop laboratory in a lightning storm. It's where genius strikes." —Renna, Selhoff alchemist


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Harness the Storm offers a unique repeatable effect that can essentially duplicate spells, substantially increasing your hand’s effectiveness. By allowing you to cast copies of spells from your graveyard whenever a spell with the same name is cast from your hand, it can potentially double the impact of your instants and sorceries, keeping you ahead in resources.

Resource Acceleration: This card becomes a powerhouse in decks heavily loaded with cheap instants and sorceries. Each cast from the graveyard serves as additional fuel for spells, accelerating your game plan and enabling complex combos that can overwhelm opponents with a flurry of spellcasting.

Instant Speed: While Harness the Storm itself is an enchantment, it synergizes with instant-speed spells, allowing strategic players to capitalize on the stack. This adds a layer of depth to your plays, making it tougher for opponents to anticipate and counter your moves.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Harness the Storm’s reliance on previously played spells means that maintaining a sufficient graveyard can be tricky. If your graveyard is empty or lacks instants and sorceries, the card’s benefits plummet, turning it into a dead draw when you’re devoid of resources to discard.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires a red mana commitment, potentially restricting its integration into multi-color decks that might not always have the necessary red mana available or decks focusing on a different color strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, including two that are color-specific, Harness the Storm comes with a higher cost compared to other enablers or engines that might be more efficient. This can slow down your game, particularly in fast-paced matches where efficiency is key to outpacing your opponent.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Harness the Storm is a unique enchantment that can seamlessly integrate into spell-focused decks, especially those aiming to cast multiple instances of the same card. Its ability to retrieve spells from the graveyard ensures a constant pool of resources for various gameplay situations.

Combo Potential: This card has a high synergy with decks that cast a lot of instants and sorceries, enabling powerful combinations by reutilizing spells. It excels in setups that aim to get extra mileage out of each card played, potentially leading to game-winning turns.

Meta-Relevance: Harness the Storm continues to show relevance in formats where the meta-game includes strategies that rely heavily on spell casting. In such environments, being able to reuse spells can provide a decisive edge, and this card helps maintain that crucial momentum.


How to beat

Harness the Storm is a card that, quite aptly, can create a storm of spells when used effectively in MTG. Its strength lies in its ability to get extra value from casting spells from your graveyard, meaning every instant or sorcery has the potential to be a double threat. To dismantle this strategy, focusing on graveyard disruption is key. Cards like Scavenging Ooze or Tormod’s Crypt can prevent the repeated casting of spells by exiling them. Alternatively, countering the card directly with Negate or Disallow can nip the problem in the bud, preventing the card from ever taking effect and shutting down the engine before it starts.

Additionally, employing instant-speed removal allows you to react swiftly to your opponent’s plays, potentially disrupting their game plan mid-combo. Cards like Bedevil or Abrupt Decay offer flexibility and precision when dealing with threats on the board. It’s important to monitor your own hand as well, keeping counterspells or interaction spells ready for when your opponent attempts to capitalize on Harness the Storm. Ultimately, keeping the graveyard clear and staying one step ahead with reactive measures can ensure dominance over this potentially powerful card.


Cards like Harness the Storm

Harness the Storm is a unique card in Magic: The Gathering, offering players the ability to capitalize on spells located in their graveyard. When examining cards of a similar ilk, we observe that Past in Flames is a notable contender. Much like Harness the Storm, Past in Flames grants your sorceries and instants in the graveyard flashback until the end of the turn. However, it doesn’t have the recurring potential that Harness the Storm possesses, instead providing a one-time burst of graveyard casting.

Another card that echoes parts of Harness the Storm’s strategy is Snapcaster Mage. This creature grants a single instant or sorcery in your graveyard flashback when it enters the battlefield. The effect is more immediate and selective, contrasting with Harness the Storm’s broader ongoing effect. Lastly, we can look to Mizzix’s Mastery, which excels in situations where a sweeping effect is desired, allowing for the casting of multiple spells from the graveyard in a single, powerful turn.

Evaluating these cards, Harness the Storm fits snugly into a deck aimed at leveraging the same spells multiple times, with a strategy that differs significantly from its counterparts due to its focus on long-term value generation of already played spells within MTG’s broad strategic tapestry.

Past in Flames - MTG Card versions
Snapcaster Mage - MTG Card versions
Mizzix's Mastery - MTG Card versions
Past in Flames - Innistrad (ISD)
Snapcaster Mage - Innistrad (ISD)
Mizzix's Mastery - Commander 2015 (C15)

Cards similar to Harness the Storm by color, type and mana cost

Mana Flare - MTG Card versions
Gravity Sphere - MTG Card versions
Goblin War Drums - MTG Card versions
Aggression - MTG Card versions
Heat Wave - MTG Card versions
Goblin Warrens - MTG Card versions
Heat Stroke - MTG Card versions
Hand to Hand - MTG Card versions
Seismic Assault - MTG Card versions
Torch Song - MTG Card versions
Ghitu War Cry - MTG Card versions
Fervor - MTG Card versions
Spellshock - MTG Card versions
Mana Cache - MTG Card versions
Citadel of Pain - MTG Card versions
Insolence - MTG Card versions
Granite Grip - MTG Card versions
Raka Sanctuary - MTG Card versions
Steam Vines - MTG Card versions
Magma Vein - MTG Card versions
Mana Flare - Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales (WOT)
Gravity Sphere - Legends (LEG)
Goblin War Drums - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Aggression - Ice Age (ICE)
Heat Wave - Visions (VIS)
Goblin Warrens - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Heat Stroke - Weatherlight (WTH)
Hand to Hand - Tempest (TMP)
Seismic Assault - Ultimate Masters (UMA)
Torch Song - Urza's Saga (USG)
Ghitu War Cry - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Fervor - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Spellshock - World Championship Decks 1999 (WC99)
Mana Cache - Nemesis (NEM)
Citadel of Pain - Prophecy (PCY)
Insolence - Planeshift (PLS)
Granite Grip - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Raka Sanctuary - Apocalypse (APC)
Steam Vines - Odyssey (ODY)
Magma Vein - Odyssey (ODY)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Harness the Storm MTG card by a specific set like Shadows over Innistrad Promos and Shadows over Innistrad, 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 Harness the Storm and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Harness the Storm Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2016-04-08 and 2016-04-08. Illustrated by Raymond Swanland.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-04-08Shadows over Innistrad PromosPSOI 163s2015normalblackRaymond Swanland
22016-04-08Shadows over InnistradSOI 1632015normalblackRaymond Swanland

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Harness the Storm has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2016-04-08 Because you’re paying the spell’s costs, you can pay alternative costs, such as awaken costs and surge costs from the Battle for Zendikar block. You can also pay additional costs, such as kicker costs. If the card has a mandatory additional cost, like Lightning Axe, you must pay it to cast the card.
2016-04-08 If the spell you cast from your hand is countered in response to Harness the Storm’s triggered ability, you can still cast the target card while the ability is resolving.
2016-04-08 The spell you cast from your graveyard can target the spell you cast from your hand.
2016-04-08 The spell you cast from your graveyard resolves before the spell you cast from your hand. It’s put into your graveyard as it resolves.
2016-04-08 You choose whether to cast the targeted card as the ability resolves. You can’t wait to cast it later, and there’s no way for your opponents to set up a situation where you have to cast the card but don’t want to.
2016-04-08 You must choose a target for Harness the Storm’s ability (if one exists) immediately after you’ve cast an instant or sorcery spell. There’s no way for that spell to be countered and then targeted by Harness the Storm once it’s in the graveyard.

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