Let me ask you a simple question. For casual Magic, what was the best burn spell in Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited?

Is it Hurricane, Earthquake, Fireball, Drain Life, or Lightning Bolt?

I am not asking which was the most powerful for its day. Forget that—which is the best for a deck you would build today? Whether for multiplayer or duels, if you could only include one of these, which would you add?

What burn spell is the best?

Let’s assume that we pull off the mass-removal spells because they are of a different order, and Drain Life is too heavy on the black-mana requirement.

Which is better: Fireball or Lightning Bolt?

Each has things to support it. One is a cheap instant that can blast a lot of stuff early. The other is an expensive sorcery that requires mana but is flexible both in the number of targets it has as well as how much damage is dealt. Are you Team Fireball or Team Lightning Bolt?

The simple fact is that both are very strong, and we can’t easily say which is better. I might have an opinion (Bolt for duels, Fireball for multiplayer) but that’s just an opinion. How do you add burn to your decks? Which do you lead toward?

Welcome to the Burn Question

Yes, context matters. The deck concept obviously changes the requirement of the burn needed, and that removes questions about which is better, the Bolt or the Ball.

But for the vast unwashed masses of decks that would like some burn, the cards don’t obviously lean one way or the other. They suggest neither Firebolt nor Comet Storm.

Where do you go, and what do you hit up when you make it there?

Of course, you could dodge the question entirely. Instead of four of one or the other, you could add in two of each and call it. That’s not a bad plan generally, but it still skips the Burn Question. The Lady or the Tiger?

Now, the Revenge was the right card there, but any X spell would have enabled me to finish off one opponent and just focus on the other. It could have been Blaze! The point is that the X spell was the right card for that situation.

A while ago, I was playing multiplayer against four other people, and someone played an early Stigma Lasher. If you have forgotten this nasty 2-drop from a few years ago, take another look—it’s disgusting how good it is. Someone got it into his head to attack me—since I am the Best Player at the table. I tapped for one red mana and played the Dead half of Dead // Gone. The Stigma Lasher was answered, and I could keep gaining life later on. Of course, any instant cheap spell would have worked here, such as Lightning Bolt or even Searing Spear for that matter. The point is that I needed an early instant burn spell, and I had it.

Any argument that Titan's Revenge is better than Dead // Gone is missing the point. While Lightning Bolt can go to the head and kill a player and an X spell like Fanning the Flames can kill a creature, the use of these cards is very different. It’s like comparing Rampant Growth and Mana Flare or Swords to Plowshares and Wrath of God. Which is better for your deck?

Sure, they are both burn spells, but they have such different roles.

Today, I am going to give you a quick list of my favorite X burn spells and non-X burn spells and keep away from a Top 10 List that pits them against each other.

The X Burns

In order to keep from going too far off topic, I am just considering basic red X spells—not something like Death Grasp or Exsanguinate or Magmaquake. These are just Fireball and its variants.

Fanning the Flames – Because of the buyback potential, you can play it over and over again. Or you can just drop it as a slightly more expensive Blaze. Sure, the buyback is , but if you are just using it to blast a creature or, later in the game, to blast a player and then keep it for another go, it’s worth it. It’s much better in multiplayer than in duels unless you have a tight mana ramp deck. If you are scared off by the buyback and just want to notch a guaranteed second use from your spell, perhaps Devil's Play is more your style.

Clan Defiance – I love a burn spell that can kill more than one thing, and this can hit two creatures for death and smash someone’s face in for another smash. That sort of versatility is exactly what you want in many situations. Of course, it does cost as well, but considering that, it’s strong as all get out.

Aurelia's Fury – If you are playing the Boros colors and you own one of these, you need to run it. It’s easiest to understand as an instant Rolling Thunder. That alone is worth the price of admission. Then, add in that damaged creatures are tapped and damaged players can’t cast noncreatures, and the result is a potent spell with a lot of uses. If you ignore the mana requirements, it is the best of the X spells.

The fact that a card does not make this Top 5 list of mine does not mean that it sucks. Many cards, such as Red Sun's Zenith, Fireball, or the aforementioned Titan's Revenge have value as well. Play what you own, but if you are looking to upgrade your deck stocks, all of those cards are cheaper than you might think (even the Fury has dropped massively in price).

The Non-X Burns

When looking at a non-X burn spell, or what might be called a fixed-damage burn spell, there are several questions to ask. Do you want a flexible instant, like Lightning Bolt, or a flexible sorcery, like Forked Bolt? Which is better?

Here are some of my favorites.

Firebolt – The ability to drop it early on any threat is strong, and you can flash it back later to hit something else. Even later in the game, there is always something to smash, such as a Birds of Paradise, Soul Warden, or that 5/5 flyer you just dealt 3 to in combat. It’s like an expensive Seal of Fire after you’ve already played it once.

Lightning Bolt – I actually do think that Lightning Bolt remains among the best options for instant removal because it’s so cheap. From turn one, you can blow up all major early threats, whether it’s Wild Nacatl or Stigma Lasher. You can also take out all of the utility cards running around at this stage, such as Noble Hierarch and Weathered Wayfarer. Bolt zaps a Mother of Runes after it is played or in response to equipment or other effects. The Bolt is elegantly simple.

Magma Jet – Many creatures die to 2 or less damage, which is good, because then, you can tack on the scry 2 ability of Magma Jet. Red does not get a lot of card-draw, so card-sifting via scry is quite important. It’s just too good to pass up, really.

This list is interesting because all of them have been powerful in tournaments. All have been bedrocks of winning tournament decks in their days (or recently, in the case of Punishing Fire). Urza's Rage was once the consensus best card from Invasion and saw regular play in multiple archetypes, including Fires of Yavimaya decks. The Firebolt was the iconic removal spell of its day in various decks as well. Bolt has a long-established tournament pedigree, Punishing Fire is Grove of the Burnwillows’s best friend, and the Jet has been used in multiple formats in winning red decks. On the other hand, the X list includes some spells that never made a serious tournament impact.

What I hope you have enjoyed seeing today is the interaction between different types of burn spells, which I hope will lead to a better answer for The Burn Question for the next deck you look at. Don’t forget that both the Bolt and ’Ball have a lot of value for your next Magic night.

See you next week,

Abe Sargent