Smashing Success MTG Card


Smashing Success - Kaldheim
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityCommon
TypeInstant
Abilities Treasure
Released2021-02-05
Set symbol
Set nameKaldheim
Set codeKHM
Number151
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred bySlawomir Maniak

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides card advantage by neutralizing opponents’ artifacts or lands and offsets tempo.
  2. Generates a Treasure token, offering a subtle yet strategic mana ramp.
  3. Castable at instant speed, granting game-decisive reactive flexibility.

Text of card

Destroy target artifact or land. If an artifact is destroyed this way, create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with ", Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.")

"Who said there's no profit in destruction?" —Magda, brazen outlaw


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Smashing Success provides a clear pathway to card superiority by allowing you to remove a key artifact or land from the board. Not only does it diminish your opponent’s resources, but it can also disrupt their strategy and slow down their game progression. This disruption can pivot the game in your favor, maintaining dominance in hand and on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: Beyond its primary function, Smashing Success offers an added bonus of creating a Treasure token. This token can be sacrificed for an extra mana, providing you with a slight but potentially crucial boost in resource acceleration. Whether it’s summoning a critical creature a turn early or enabling a game-changing combo, this additional mana source can be the stepping stone to victory.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of casting Smashing Success at instant speed cannot be understated. This allows you to navigate the game with more finesse, saving your mana for a timely response rather than committing to a play prematurely. React to your opponent’s moves, surprise them with a calculated disruption, or simply use your mana efficiently by casting it at the end of their turn if no immediate threat arises.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Champions of strategic hand management might find the discard cost for activating Smashing Success a hurdle. While dismantling an opponent’s artifact or land can be gratifying, the loss of another potentially useful card from your grip could place you at a resource disadvantage, particularly if your deck relies on card synergy and you’re short on draw mechanics.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring both general and red mana, Smashing Success demands a specific mana setup, making it somewhat less flexible. Players running multicolor decks may struggle to consistently meet the red mana requirement, limiting the card’s universal appeal and its place in decks that don’t mainly focus on red mana sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an asking price of four mana, Smashing Success may arrive too late against fast artifact or land ramp strategies. In a game where speed can be crucial, waiting until the fourth turn to respond, potentially losing tempo, can be detrimental. Additionally, within this mana range, players could cast spells that offer broader control options or even more impactful board presence.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Smashing Success offers utility in sideboards as an efficient answer to popular artifacts and enchantments, making it a flexible choice for a variety of decks looking to handle diverse threats.

Combo Potential: This card’s ability to destroy an opponent’s key piece can be combined with land destruction strategies or recursion tactics to gain an upper hand, making it a strategic piece in disruptive combos.

Meta-Relevance: With the constant evolution of the meta, Smashing Success can become increasingly pertinent as it targets frequently used mana rocks and utility enchantments, ensuring your deck remains competitive.


How to beat

Smashing Success has cemented itself as a versatile tool in the arsenal of red mages. It serves as an efficient solution for artifact and enchantment removal, a common hurdle in many matchups. Being able to obliterate key components of an opponent’s strategy and potentially land-ramping you if the spell is kicked, provides a significant tempo swing in favor of the caster. However, to get the upper hand against Smashing Success, it is paramount to smartly gauge the timing of your plays.

One effective strategy is to bait out the removal with less critical artifacts or enchantments, preserving your high-value targets. You can also rely on cards that offer hexproof or shroud to your assets, shielding them from such direct removal spells. Furthermore, playing around Smashing Success by not overextending your board with multiple artifacts or enchantments at once can force your opponent to hold onto their removal spell without a worthy target, thus disrupting their tempo.

Ultimately, adapting your strategy to anticipate removal like Smashing Success is key. Balancing the deployment of your threats and protecting valuable assets can effectively nullify the impact of this robust interaction, maintaining the integrity of your game plan.


Cards like Smashing Success

Smashing Success finds its niche within the realm of artifact and land destruction in Magic: The Gathering. It can be compared to staple cards like Demolish, which similarly enables players to destroy target artifact or land. Nonetheless, Smashing Success offers an added perk—the potential to create a treasure token if the permanent is an artifact, providing a subtle resource gain.

Another analogue within MTG is Reclamation Sage, though primarily focusing on creatures with an enter the battlefield trigger that also destroys artifacts or enchantments. While not targeting lands and lacking the treasure token reward, it compensates by leaving a body on the board. In contrast, Shatterstorm clears the field of all artifacts without the single-target precision or additional treasure tokens, but it can be a sweeping reset against artifact-heavy strategies.

Assessing these alternatives highlights Smashing Success’s strategic advantage for players who want to dismantle key pieces while potentially ramping their mana. It holds its own in a category filled with various approaches to disruption and resource control.

Demolish - MTG Card versions
Reclamation Sage - MTG Card versions
Shatterstorm - MTG Card versions
Demolish - Odyssey (ODY)
Reclamation Sage - Magic 2015 Promos (PM15)
Shatterstorm - Antiquities (ATQ)

Cards similar to Smashing Success by color, type and mana cost

Blind Fury - MTG Card versions
Lightning Blast - MTG Card versions
Boil - MTG Card versions
Blood Oath - MTG Card versions
Magma Burst - MTG Card versions
Sudden Impact - MTG Card versions
Stoke the Flames - MTG Card versions
Fated Conflagration - MTG Card versions
Solar Blast - MTG Card versions
Grab the Reins - MTG Card versions
Tears of Rage - MTG Card versions
Blind with Anger - MTG Card versions
Ire of Kaminari - MTG Card versions
Torrent of Stone - MTG Card versions
Hidetsugu's Second Rite - MTG Card versions
Gaze of Adamaro - MTG Card versions
Dogpile - MTG Card versions
Parallectric Feedback - MTG Card versions
Cackling Flames - MTG Card versions
Sulfurous Blast - MTG Card versions
Blind Fury - Mirage (MIR)
Lightning Blast - Tempest Remastered (TPR)
Boil - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Blood Oath - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Magma Burst - Planeshift (PLS)
Sudden Impact - Premium Deck Series: Fire and Lightning (PD2)
Stoke the Flames - March of the Machine (MOM)
Fated Conflagration - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Solar Blast - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Grab the Reins - Mirrodin (MRD)
Tears of Rage - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Blind with Anger - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Ire of Kaminari - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Torrent of Stone - Modern Masters (MMA)
Hidetsugu's Second Rite - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Gaze of Adamaro - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Dogpile - Ravnica Remastered (RVR)
Parallectric Feedback - Guildpact (GPT)
Cackling Flames - Dissension (DIS)
Sulfurous Blast - Mystery Booster (MB1)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Smashing Success MTG card by a specific set like Kaldheim, 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 Smashing Success and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Smashing Success has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
TimelessLegal

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