Scalding Salamander MTG Card


Scalding Salamander - Exodus
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Salamander
Released1998-06-15
Set symbol
Set nameExodus
Set codeEXO
Power 2
Toughness 1
Number100
Frame1997
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byTerese Nielsen

Key Takeaways

  1. Offers board control by threatening multiple creatures, thus altering opponents’ combat decisions and tactics.
  2. Best suited for mono-red or damage-focused decks, due to its specific mana cost and synergistic potential.
  3. Demands strategic play around its higher mana value and trigger conditions for optimal utility in matches.

Text of card

: Scalding Salamander deals 1 damage to each creature without flying defending player controls. Play this ability only if Scalding Salamander is attacking and only once each turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Scalding Salamander provides a strategic advantage during gameplay by offering potential damage to multiple creatures. This can lead to card advantage by efficiently dealing with a swarm of smaller enemy creatures, thereby preserving your hand and board presence.

Resource Acceleration: While this particular card does not directly accelerate resources, its ability to control the board can save you resources. By requiring opponents to play more conservatively or invest resources into protecting their creatures, you indirectly maintain the pace of resource usage in your favor.

Instant Speed: Scalding Salamander operates at sorcery speed, yet it synergizes well with instant speed spells that can manipulate its ability. It can work in conjunction with instants that grant it additional power, remove blockers, or provide deathtouch, to maximize its potential impact during your turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Scalding Salamander requires players to meet specific trigger conditions to make the most of its ability, which can pose a challenge if the board state doesn’t match these requirements.

Specific Mana Cost: With its red mana cost, Scalding Salamander is tailored for red-centered decks, potentially limiting its inclusion in multicolor or non-red strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value that might be deemed steep for its ability impact, Scalding Salamander faces competition from other cards that achieve similar results or provide greater board presence for the same or lower cost.


Reasons to Include Scalding Salamander in Your Collection

Versatility: Scalding Salamander offers unique flexibility in games, adept at disrupting opponent’s strategies by punishing wide boards of smaller creatures. It thrives in red decks focusing on direct damage and creature control.

Combo Potential: This reptile’s damage-trigger ability to potentially hit multiple creatures enables various synergies, particularly with cards that capitalize on creatures being dealt damage, such as “Stuffy Doll” or “Repercussion”.

Meta-Relevance: Given a meta where creature-based aggro decks are prevalent, Scalding Salamander acts as a deterrent, serving as both a board control element and a potential threat that demands an answer from adversaries.


How to Beat Scalding Salamander

Scalding Salamander may not often be the center of attention in a Magic: The Gathering match, but its ability to potentially deal damage to multiple creatures can make it a thorn in the side of decks built around creature swarms. One effective method to handle this pesky lizard is to reduce its opportunities to engage. By limiting the number of creatures you control that can be targeted or by using creature abilities and spells to tap it, Scalding Salamander’s impact can be mitigated. A card’s utility like Frost Lynx, which enters the battlefield and taps a target creature, can be instrumental in neutralizing the threat.

Moreover, leveraging instant-speed removal spells allows you to respond to the activation of Scalding Salamander’s ability by removing it before it deals damage. This ensures your smaller creatures aren’t put at unnecessary risk. Lastly, incorporating creatures with toughness greater than Scalding Salamander’s damage output ensures that your essential creatures can withstand its triggered ability, helping maintain your presence on the battlefield. Strategically, it comes down to managing resources efficiently to eliminate the Salamander or render it irrelevant in the course of the game.


Cards like Scalding Salamander

Scalding Salamander offers a unique angle on board interaction for MTG enthusiasts. It bears a certain resemblance to Pyroclasm and Volcanic Fallout in its ability to deal damage to multiple creatures. Where it diverges is in its requirement for attacking; Scalding Salamander must engage in combat to unleash its damage potential, whereas Pyroclasm and Volcanic Fallout are both sorceries that can clear the field without the need for combat.

Daggerdrome Imp provides an interesting contrast with its lifelink ability, although it lacks the same area of effect damage. The Imp’s strength lies in individual combat and longevity in the game, gaining you life with each connect to an opponent. Unlike the Salamander it concentrates on player advantage over board presence.

Scalding Salamander’s closest analog may be Goblin Sharpshooter because of its creature-based damage potential. The Sharpshooter, however, doesn’t need to attack to deal damage and can take down several creatures in a single turn iteration. This can give players a strategic advantage in controlling the board that the Salamander doesn’t quite offer in the same way.

In evaluating these cards, Scalding Salamander undoubtedly holds its own as a combat-focused creature that can shape how attacks and blocks play out on the battlefield.

Pyroclasm - MTG Card versions
Volcanic Fallout - MTG Card versions
Daggerdrome Imp - MTG Card versions
Goblin Sharpshooter - MTG Card versions
Pyroclasm - Ice Age (ICE)
Volcanic Fallout - Conflux (CON)
Daggerdrome Imp - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Goblin Sharpshooter - Onslaught (ONS)

Cards similar to Scalding Salamander by color, type and mana cost

Dwarven Warriors - MTG Card versions
Raging Bull - MTG Card versions
Wall of Lava - MTG Card versions
Brassclaw Orcs - MTG Card versions
Sabretooth Tiger - MTG Card versions
Imperial Recruiter - MTG Card versions
Uthden Troll - MTG Card versions
Hobgoblin Bandit Lord - MTG Card versions
Goblin Rabblemaster - MTG Card versions
Nosy Goblin - MTG Card versions
Goblin Sky Raider - MTG Card versions
Skirk Commando - MTG Card versions
Cosmic Larva - MTG Card versions
Mannichi, the Fevered Dream - MTG Card versions
Cunning Bandit // Azamuki, Treachery Incarnate - MTG Card versions
Ghost-Lit Raider - MTG Card versions
Goblin Chariot - MTG Card versions
Balduvian Barbarians - MTG Card versions
Shinen of Fury's Fire - MTG Card versions
Basalt Gargoyle - MTG Card versions
Dwarven Warriors - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Raging Bull - Legends (LEG)
Wall of Lava - Ice Age (ICE)
Brassclaw Orcs - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Sabretooth Tiger - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Imperial Recruiter - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Uthden Troll - Battle Royale Box Set (BRB)
Hobgoblin Bandit Lord - Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Promos (PAFR)
Goblin Rabblemaster - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Nosy Goblin - Onslaught (ONS)
Goblin Sky Raider - Onslaught (ONS)
Skirk Commando - Archenemy (ARC)
Cosmic Larva - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Mannichi, the Fevered Dream - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Cunning Bandit // Azamuki, Treachery Incarnate - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Ghost-Lit Raider - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Goblin Chariot - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Balduvian Barbarians - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Shinen of Fury's Fire - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Basalt Gargoyle - Time Spiral Remastered (TSR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Scalding Salamander MTG card by a specific set like Exodus, 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 Scalding Salamander and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Scalding Salamander has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Scalding Salamander 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 The ability triggers on the declaration of attackers and will resolve before blockers are declared.

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