Fiery Temper and the Return of the Madness Mechanic in Shadows Over Innistrad (Magic the Gathering)

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Older Magic the Gathering players probably remember Madness as a powerful way to cast cards for considerably less than their regular casting costs. Madness is a card mechanic that was first introduced in the Torment set. It hasn't been seen since the Future Sight set. A card with Madness has an alternate casting cost if end up discarding the card from your hand. This way, you still get the effect of a card, but at a lessened cost. You do have to exile it if you choose to use its Madness cost, however. In Shadows Over Innistrad, Madness makes a return.

This common instant speed spell is a perfect example of one of the Madness cards in Shadows Over Innistrad. In fact, it's actually a reprint from the Torment set. On its surface, Fiery Temper is just an overcosted Lightning Bolt, 1RR to deal 3 damage to a target creature or player. But with its Madness cost, you may pay a single Red mana and exile it to essentially get Lightning Bolt.

In Limited, this is going to be a very strong burn spell. In a deck built around the Madness mechanic, this is almost as good as the classic Lightning Bolt. You can't ask much more from this fiery common.

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