Smiting Helix MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Flashback

Key Takeaways

  1. Smiting Helix grants card advantage with damage plus life gain, pivotal for turning games in your favor.
  2. Flashback from the graveyard gives Smiting Helix extra value, offering strategic plays across different turns.
  3. Instant speed casting ensures flexibility for reactive strategies, making it a formidable weapon in any match.

Text of card

Smiting Helix deals 3 damage to any target and you gain 3 life. Flashback (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)

Malice is appropriate when vengeance is called for.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Smiting Helix provides a dual benefit that can often lead to increased card advantage. By dealing damage while also giving you life, it effectively counters an opponent’s previous turn or sets up for a stronger fight on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: Though not directly a tool for acceleration, the Flashback ability of Smiting Helix can serve as an unforeseen resource. Casting it from the graveyard utilizes mana in later turns invisibly, acting as a form of post-tempo acceleration.

Instant Speed: The versatility of Smiting Helix being cast at instant speed cannot be overstated. It allows for reactive play to opponents’ creatures or end-of-turn strategies, fitting seamlessly into your game plan without disrupting mana availability for other spells during your turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Smiting Helix necessitates discarding another card to unlock its flashback potential. This can deplete your hand, hindering your ability to maintain card advantage or respond to opponents’ moves.

Specific Mana Cost: With a strict casting cost that includes both black and red mana, Smiting Helix limits deck versatility. Decks not tailored to this color combination might find it challenging to cast the spell when needed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Featuring a total cost of four mana, Smiting Helix may not always be the most mana-efficient removal or life-gaining option available. Players often weigh its cost against other spells that could provide a similar impact for less mana.


Reasons to Include Smiting Helix in Your Collection

Versatility: Smiting Helix is a flexible card, able to remove creatures or directly damage opponents while also providing life gain. Its dual nature as both removal and life gain makes it well-suited for multiple deck archetypes, especially in control and midrange decks that value sustainability.

Combo Potential: As a card with flashback, Smiting Helix can be cast from the graveyard, offering extra utility and synergy with graveyard strategies. When combined with cards that enable graveyard recursion or spells that reduce casting cost, Smiting Helix becomes a persistent threat that can be used twice for strategic advantage.

Meta-Relevance: Given its ability to deal with creatures and finish off opponents, Smiting Helix can be particularly useful in a meta dense with aggressive strategies. Its ability to sway the game’s momentum and offer additional reach against opponents makes it a relevant choice for any player looking to contend within the current competitive landscape.


How to beat

Smiting Helix, while powerful in its potential for damage and life gain, can be overcome with strategic play. As with many spell cards, timing your counterspells is crucial. Holding a Negate or Dovin’s Veto can nullify the impact of Smiting Helix altogether. Cards that exile from the graveyard, like Scavenging Ooze, can remove Smiting Helix and stop its flashback ability, which is a pivotal aspect of its value. In addition, since Smiting Helix costs a significant amount of mana to cast from the hand, pressure your opponent early in the game so they don’t have the leisure to spend four mana on a single spell without sacrificing board presence or defense.

Utilize enchantments or artifacts that restrict casting from the graveyard, such as Grafdigger’s Cage, to shut down the flashback feature. This approach also mitigates the card’s versatility, rendering your opponent’s plan less effective. Finally, consider including spells that prevent life gain, such as Tibalt, Rakish Instigator, to counteract the secondary benefit of Smiting Helix. Through these methods, you can dampen the impact of Smiting Helix and maintain control over the duel.


Cards like Smiting Helix

Smiting Helix stands out in Magic: The Gathering’s pool of life gain and damage spells. Its similarity to other spells like Lightning Helix is evident as both cards can deal damage while giving you life. However, Smiting Helix offers flexibility with its flashback ability, allowing you to cast it from the graveyard. This gives players an additional chance to impact the game after the card has been used.

Comparatively, Sorin’s Thirst is another card that deals damage and provides life gain, yet it targets only creatures and lacks the versatility of being cast from the graveyard. Smiting Helix’s ability to target any opponent or planeswalker elevates its utility in various game situations. Also, Alms of the Vein comes to mind as a spell with a similar function, although exclusively at sorcery speed and without the direct damage component that makes Smiting Helix so versatile.

Overall, Smiting Helix offers a dynamic blend of offensive and defensive capabilities, making it a robust choice for decks focusing on life manipulation and burn strategies within the Magic: The Gathering universe, delivering both immediate impact and extended value over the course of a game.

Lightning Helix - MTG Card versions
Sorin's Thirst - MTG Card versions
Alms of the Vein - MTG Card versions
Lightning Helix - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Sorin's Thirst - Magic 2012 (M12)
Alms of the Vein - Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)

Cards similar to Smiting Helix by color, type and mana cost

Mythos of Snapdax - MTG Card versions
Mythos of Snapdax - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (IKO)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Smiting Helix MTG card by a specific set like Modern Horizons and Mystery Booster, 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 Smiting Helix and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Smiting Helix Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2019-06-14 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Evan Shipard.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-06-14Modern HorizonsMH1 1092015normalblackEvan Shipard
22019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 7772015normalblackEvan Shipard
32020-09-26The ListPLST MH1-1092015normalblackEvan Shipard

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Smiting Helix has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2019-06-14 If the chosen target is an illegal target by the time Smiting Helix tries to resolve, the spell doesn’t resolve. You won’t gain 3 life.
2019-06-14 Smiting Helix is always a black spell. It’s not red and white if you cast it for its flashback cost.
2021-03-19 A spell cast using flashback will always be exiled afterward, whether it resolves, is countered, or leaves the stack in some other way.
2021-03-19 If a card with flashback is put into your graveyard during your turn, you can cast it if it’s legal to do so before any other player can take any actions.
2021-03-19 To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost (such as a flashback cost) you’re paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2021-03-19 You can cast a spell using flashback even if it was somehow put into your graveyard without having been cast.
2021-03-19 You must still follow any timing restrictions and permissions, including those based on the card’s type. For instance, you can cast a sorcery using flashback only when you could normally cast a sorcery.
2021-03-19Flashback
-ost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying
-ost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.”

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