Volcanic Awakening MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Storm
Released	2006-10-06
Set symbol
Set name	Time Spiral
Set code	TSP
Number	186
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Dan Scott

Key Takeaways

Volcanic Awakening clears multiple board threats, offering a significant swing in control.
Its instant speed allows for tactical land destruction and gameplay flexibility.
Demands a card discard and specific mana, potentially hampering its use.

Text of card

Destroy target land. Storm (When you play this spell, copy it for each spell played before it this turn. You may choose new targets for the copies.)

With a great roar, the land opened like a titan's yawn, with teeth of blackened rock and a lolling tongue of magma.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Volcanic Awakening offers the potential to clear multiple threats on the board, effectively dealing with more than one card with a single spell. This exchange can shift the balance in your favor, enabling you to control the pace of the match.

Resource Acceleration: This card can destroy lands, which disrupts your opponent’s mana base. This temporarily sets back their resource acceleration while you continue to develop your board and mana resources, paving the way for a strategic advantage.

Instant Speed: The ability to play Volcanic Awakening at instant speed grants flexibility, allowing players to respond swiftly to the evolving game state. This tactical edge lets you better time your land destruction to disrupt your opponent’s plans during their turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Volcanic Awakening necessitates you to discard a card in addition to its mana cost. This could be a strategic setback, especially when your hand is already scant and every card holds significant value for your gameplay strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: The card’s mana cost includes red mana, which could limit its inclusion to decks that can produce this specific mana type consistently. If you’re running a multi-colored deck without a strong red mana base, slotting in Volcanic Awakening could be less than optimal.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a burning hole of four mana to unleash its effect, there are other spells in the same mana range that could potentially provide greater impact or versatility on the battlefield. For players looking for cost-effective ways to alter the game state, Volcanic Awakening may not always be the go-to card.

Reasons to Include Volcanic Awakening in Your Collection

Versatility: Volcanic Awakening provides a flexible option for decks that require land destruction or direct damage. Whether disrupting an opponent’s mana base or closing out a game with its damage capability, it adapts to various strategic needs.

Combo Potential: This card shines in combinations with spells that reward you for casting red spells or destroying lands. It can serve as a catalyst for powerful plays, particularly in decks designed around land interaction strategies.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that favors decks with intensive land-based strategies or those vulnerable to land destruction, Volcanic Awakening proves to be a valuable tool. It can level the playing field against decks that are heavily reliant on specific lands or mana acceleration.

How to beat

Confronting Volcanic Awakening on the battlefield can pose a significant challenge due to its potential to disrupt land-based strategies. This powerful spell is well-respected for its ability to destroy any land, dealing a critical blow to an opponent’s resources. Unlike other land destruction cards, Volcanic Awakening shines in its flexibility, given its Flashback ability that allows you to cast it again from the graveyard.

To counteract the advantages bestowed by Volcanic Awakening, one must consider incorporating cards that offer land protection or recoup lost resources efficiently. Cards like Terra Eternal or Sacred Ground provide a safety net for your lands, rendering them impervious to destruction attempts. Additionally, running spells that counter noncreature spells, such as Negate or Dovin’s Veto, can nullify Volcanic Awakening’s impact, ensuring your lands remain intact and your strategy unhampered.

Effective planning and strategic sideboarding can turn the tables against Volcanic Awakening, allowing you to fortify your lands and maintain a strong posture throughout the game. Adaptability and foresight in deckbuilding and gameplay are crucial to overcoming the fiery threat posed by this formidable card.

Cards like Volcanic Awakening

Volcanic Awakening stands out in the realm of land destruction cards in Magic: The Gathering. It bears a resemblance to spells like Roiling Terrain, which also demolishes a land and deals damage to the land’s controller. Yet, Volcanic Awakening’s Storm ability uniquely enables it to potentially destroy multiple lands in a single turn if you’ve played several spells beforehand. This contrasts with Roiling Terrain’s consistent damage but limited to a one-time effect.

Exploring further, we come across Seismic Spike, another card focusing on land removal. Seismic Spike distinguishes itself with its additional feature of generating two red mana, potentially fueling further plays in your turn. However, it doesn’t offer the scalability of Volcanic Awakening, which thrives in a deck designed to cast myriad spells in succession. Comparably, Craterize offers a straightforward approach to land destruction without the additional benefits provided by Volcanic Awakening or Seismic Spike.

Assessing these options reveals Volcanic Awakening’s strength within the category of land-decimating spells in Magic: The Gathering, especially for players looking to harness the power of casting multiple spells in a single turn for a devastating effect.

Cards similar to Volcanic Awakening by color, type and mana cost

Chaotic Transformation - MTG Card versions

Into the Maw of Hell - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Volcanic Awakening MTG card by a specific set like Time Spiral, 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 Volcanic Awakening and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Volcanic Awakening has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-06-07	A copy of a spell can be countered like any other spell, but it must be countered individually. Countering a spell with storm won’t affect the copies.
2013-06-07	Spells cast from zones other than a player’s hand and spells that were countered are counted by the storm ability.
2013-06-07	The copies are put directly onto the stack. They aren’t cast and won’t be counted by other spells with storm cast later in the turn.
2013-06-07	The triggered ability that creates the copies can itself be countered by anything that can counter a triggered ability. If it is countered, no copies will be put onto the stack.
2013-06-07	You may choose new targets for any of the copies. You can choose differently for each copy.