Skip to content
Moxonomy

Cathartic Pyre

Instant1 generic manaRed mana

Point it at their threat while their threat is on the board; cash it in for a rummage once the board is gone and your hand has clogged with lands and dead answers. Three damage to a creature or planeswalker is the removal red always wants at two mana, and the discard-then-draw half is the release valve for a game where that removal has no target. What makes the split work is that the two halves almost never want to fire at the same moment: the removal is an opening-turns tool, the loot a late-game one, so the mode that is dead in your hand right now is usually the mode you were not going to need. The rummage is not raw card advantage (you discard first, then draw the same number, one-for-one), but the sequencing feeds delve, flashback, and graveyard payoffs while it smooths your draws, so the "wasted" half rarely goes to waste. Red's usual answer when it wants both removal and card flow is two cards eating two slots; folding them into one instant is the entire pitch. The ceiling stays modest on purpose (three damage does not kill everything, and the loot never nets a card), and that modesty is the toll for a modal spell that almost never leaves you holding the wrong half.

Cathartic Pyre (ecc)
ECC · #90uncommon
Pricing
Normal: $0.22
Foil:
Oracle Text

Rules text

Choose one — • Cathartic Pyre deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker. • Discard up to two cards, then draw that many cards.
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
N/A
Pioneer
Legal
Modern
Legal
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
N/A
Brawl
Legal
Historic
Legal
Alchemy
N/A
Timeless
Legal
Standard Brawl
N/A
More formats
Old School
N/A
Premodern
N/A
PreDH
N/A
Pauper Commander
N/A
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
Legal
Penny Dreadful
N/A
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
Legal
TLR
Legal
Printings elsewhere

Other printings

2 sets
Quick navigation
move selectesc close