Boomflinger MTG Card


Boomflinger - Unstable
RarityCommon
TypeArtifact — Contraption
Released2017-12-08
Set symbol
Set nameUnstable
Set codeUST
Number172
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderborderless
Illustred bySteve Prescott
Un-set :-)This card is part of an Un-set

Key Takeaways

  1. Boomflinger provides card advantage by setting up graveyard synergies and dealing damage to opponents.
  2. Instant-speed spell synergy turns used spells in your graveyard into an arsenal for damage.
  3. The mana-intensive casting cost and specific mana requirement limit Boomflinger’s deck compatibility.

Text of card

Whenever you crank Boomflinger, roll two six-sided dice. Boomflinger deals damage to target player equal to the difference between those results.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Boomflinger enables players to potentially discard multiple cards, ideal for setting up graveyard synergies while simultaneously dealing damage to opponents. This can swiftly create a card advantage that pressures the adversary.

Resource Acceleration: Within certain deck archetypes, Boomflinger can act as a resource accelerator. As it helps cycle through your deck, it enables you to reach your crucial resources more quickly, making it a strategic addition to decks that thrive on casting numerous spells in a single turn.

Instant Speed: Although Boomflinger itself is not an instant, it capitalizes on instant-speed spells flung into the graveyard, allowing you to make the most out of your instant cards even after they’ve been used, effectively turning your graveyard into an arsenal.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Boomflinger necessitates discarding a card as part of its activation cost. This can hinder your hand size and leave you at a strategic disadvantage, especially if the card you’re forced to throw away could be crucial for later stages of the game.

Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost to cast Boomflinger is rigid, needing both red and green mana. This specificity can restrict its inclusion to only those decks that can reliably produce both types of mana, potentially narrowing its applicability across various deck builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Granted the unique effect that Boomflinger provides, the cost to unleash it is on the higher side. With a mana value that can be steep in the early game, players might find other cards that offer cheaper alternatives for damage output or board presence.


Reasons to Include Boomflinger in Your Collection

Versatility: Boomflinger slots into multiple deck archetypes due to its ability to turn lands or spells you might discard into direct damage for your opponents, making it an asset in both aggro and control strategies.

Combo Potential: With the right setup, this card synergizes well with strategies that involve discarding cards for value, potentially leading to game-ending combos when paired with other cards that enable and benefit from discarding.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that’s heavy on creature-based strategies, Boomflinger can continuously clear small creatures off the board or finish opponents with direct damage, maintaining its relevance across various metagames.


How to beat

Confronting the Boomflinger card in Magic: The Gathering can pose a unique challenge. This particular card relies heavily on chance due to its coin-flipping mechanic, which can both work for and against the player wielding it. However, one effective strategy to counter its unpredictability is through cards that prevent or restrict creature abilities, thus nullifying Boomflinger’s potential to deal damage.

Moreover, direct removal spells are a reliable way to handle problematic permanents like Boomflinger. Destroying it before its controller can create a situation to use its ability, typically by amassing a significant number of permanents to sacrifice, can mitigate its impact on the game. Another tactic involves countering the spells that aim to exploit Boomflinger’s ability, limiting the number of opportunities a player has to leverage it, and thus keeping the board state under control.

Decisive action and strategic foresight are crucial when dismantling threats Boomflinger can present. Disrupting combos and maintaining a stable defense while applying pressure can certainly tilt the scale in your favor, ensuring that this element of chaos is kept at bay in your MTG matches.


Cards like Boomflinger

Boomflinger joins the array of MTG artifacts designed with a penchant for chaotic and potentially devastating effects. In essence, Boomflinger’s utility can be juxtaposed with cards like Goblin Bombardment, which also allows players to sacrifice a creature for the opportunity to deal damage directly to any target. However, Boomflinger offers a distinctive spin by incorporating chance into the equation through its dice-rolling mechanic, thus introducing an element of unpredictability.

Another parallel can be drawn with Krark’s Other Thumb, which, while not directly causing damage, magnifies the effect of chance by modifying the outcome of dice rolls. It underlines a strategy based on probability manipulation, akin to Boomflinger’s gamble. Yet, unlike Krark’s Other Thumb, Boomflinger enables direct interaction with the opponent’s life total or their battlefield. Additionally, the comparison isn’t complete without mentioning cards such as Fling, which also harnesses the concept of throwing creatures at opponents, albeit in a more controlled and predictable manner, sacrificing the creature for a guaranteed amount of damage rather than rolling the dice.

Ultimately, MTG players who enjoy a mix of strategy and randomness may find Boomflinger an engaging addition to their arsenal, particularly in formats where such tactics can turn the tide of a match.

Goblin Bombardment - MTG Card versions
Krark's Other Thumb - MTG Card versions
Fling - MTG Card versions
Goblin Bombardment - Tempest (TMP)
Krark's Other Thumb - Unstable (UST)
Fling - Stronghold (STH)

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Boomflinger MTG card by a specific set like Unstable, 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 Boomflinger and other MTG cards:

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Rules and information

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

DateText
2018-01-19 Any Contraption that’s on the battlefield and wasn’t assembled immediately heads to the scrapyard. However, if it’s a not an actual Contraption card (like Copy Artifact isn’t), it goes to your graveyard as normal. Non-Contraption cards can’t be in the scrapyard.
2018-01-19 At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control any Contraptions, move the CRANK! counter to the next sprocket. You may then crank any number of Contraptions on that sprocket, causing their abilities to trigger. Cranking a Contraption is always optional.
2018-01-19 Contraptions are artifacts. Anything that interacts with artifacts will interact with Contraptions.
2018-01-19 Contraptions aren’t put into your main deck. They go into a separate deck called the Contraption deck.
2018-01-19 If a Contraption would leave the battlefield and go to any zone other than exile, it instead goes to the scrapyard, the Contraption deck’s version of the graveyard. Things that affect the graveyard do not affect the scrapyard. You can exile Contraptions just fine.
2018-01-19 If you crank multiple Contraptions, their abilities can be put onto the stack in any order. The ability put onto the stack will resolve first.
2018-01-19 If you or a permanent you control are instructed to assemble a Contraption, reveal the top card of your Contraption deck. Put it onto the battlefield on one of the three sprockets.
2018-01-19 If you or a permanent you control assembles a Contraption and your Contraption deck is empty, nothing happens. You don’t lose the game.
2018-01-19 In Constructed formats, a Contraption deck must have at least fifteen different Contraption cards and no more than one of each.
2018-01-19 In Limited formats, a Contraption deck may include any number of Contraption cards in your card pool. You don’t have to include every Contraption card you draft or open in sealed deck. In those formats, your Contraption deck may include duplicates.
2018-01-19 In silver-bordered games using Contraptions, you have three sprockets, illustrated on the back of Contraption cards. At the start of the game, put a CRANK! counter on sprocket 3.
2018-01-19 While Contraptions you control are on the battlefield, the Contraption deck is not, even if you are using it to signify the three sprockets.

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