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Tempo Dominance through the Fuse of Profit and Loss
When you’re crafting a Dimir-flavored control plan, the name of the game is tempo: the subtle art of bending the momentum of a game so your decisions outpace your opponent’s. Profit // Loss, a two-faced fuse spell from Dragon's Maze, is a rare little tool for players who enjoy micro-battles on the battlefield. It’s a rare blend of offense and defense wrapped in a single card, with the Orzhov watermark reminding us that debt and opportunity go hand in hand in the Multiverse. 🧙🔥💎
Both halves of the card are instant-speed plays, and the fuse mechanic lets you cast one or both halves from your hand in the same turn. That means you can bolt into a tempo swing with a single decision—cast Profit to pump your team and then drop Loss to maul your opponent’s board, or do both in one grand sweep to wrench control from the table. The synergy isn’t purely about power; it’s about timing, targeting, and the narrative of the game as you shape the tempo. ⚔️
The Two Halves, One Strategy
- Profit — {1}{W}. Instant. Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
- Loss — {2}{B}. Instant. Creatures your opponents control get -1/-1 until end of turn.
- Fuse — You may cast one or both halves from your hand.
In practical terms, Profit gives you a temporary spike: a small, immediate payoff that can push through extra damage or strengthening of your board. Loss, the opposite side of the coin, temporarily weakens your foe’s army, shrinking their threat while you hold the line. The beauty of fuse is that you don’t have to choose one path; you can synchronize both lines in a single turn. If you’re staring down a board that’s about to run you over, a well-timed Profit can rescue a combat, and a timely Loss can derail an expected attack. The tempo math pays dividends when you can squeeze two impactful effects into a single sequence. 🎲
In a Dimir control framework, you’re often playing with counters, removal, and fearless momentum denial. Profit // Loss offers a different lever: it compresses a lot of micro-decisions into one moment. You’re not just trading creatures; you’re trading tempo. When your opponent taps out to deploy a blocker or a big attacker, you can unleash both halves and swing the game state in your favor with surgical precision. The result is a smoother glide path toward card advantage and inevitability—an essential tempo edge in any blue-black shell. 🎨
Lore, Theme, and Card Design in Context
The Dragon's Maze era is famous for its guild-crossing experiments, and Profit // Loss embodies that spirit. The Orzhov watermark hints at a world where debt and obligation shape outcomes as much as raw power does. The art, courtesy of Kev Walker, showcases a balance between gleaming opportunity and looming consequences—two sides of the same coin that mirror the decision to fuse profitable gains with strategic reductions on the opponent’s battlefield. For collectors and lore hounds alike, the card is a tactile reminder that magic isn’t just about creature counts; it’s about the stories you tell with each play. 🧙🔥
“Sometimes the strongest move is not how big your spell is, but how wisely you time its echoes.”
From a pure design perspective, the fuse mechanic on a two-face spell is a clever nod to how players often think in terms of trade-offs. Profit // Loss invites you to weigh the immediate board state, the life totals, and the pace of the game. In multiplayer formats and in most EDH shells, a well-timed fuse swing can define a turn and set a tempo that your opponents struggle to answer. It’s a reminder that in MTG, tempo isn’t a single stat—it’s a rhythm you cultivate with every decision you make at the table. 🪄
Building Around Tempo with Dimir Control in Mind
Even though Profit // Loss carries an Orzhov watermark, the ideas behind it are transferable to a Dimir-control mindset. Here are practical approaches you can borrow, whether you’re piloting a true Dimir list or experimenting with cross-color synergy for a twist on tempo control:
- Timing is everything: Use Profit to preemptively boost your battle lines just before you plan to swing with blockers or attackers. The +1/+1 can turn a trade into a favorable exchange, buying you a crucial tempo window.
- Board clarity on demand: Loss helps you clear critical blockers or slow down a compressed opponent board. It’s particularly potent when you anticipate a surge of small but numerous threats.
- Two-for-one planning: Fuse lets you plan around two distinct outcomes in one turn. Think of it as a deliberate, budget-friendly way to execute a “board wipe with benefits” moment without expending multiple cards.
- Mana efficiency and tempo pacing: In a control shell, you’ll want to maximize use of your mana across the turn. Profit // Loss fits neatly into tempo curves, turning simple spells into leverage for the late game. 🧙♂️
For players who chase the thrill of the late game, these tactics aren’t about brute force; they’re about control through calculated, tempo-forward plays. You’ll notice the real win condition isn’t “more damage” or “more removal”—it’s shaping the pace so your opponent is forced to respond to your rhythms rather than the other way around. That is the essence of a true tempo strategy, distilled into a two-faced spell with a lot of character. ⚔️
Value, Rarity, and the Collectors’ Moment
As an uncommon multiface spell from Dragon's Maze, Profit // Loss sits at a particular intersection of availability and nostalgic value. In Scryfall's data, you’ll find a modest price point for the non-foil print, with foils carrying a premium. For collectors exploring the Orzhov-themed ripple effects across Ravnica’s guilds, this card is a compact capsule of set-design exploration and a reminder of the era when multi-part spells challenged players to think in new ways. Whether you’re chasing a minty foil or a budget nonfoil, the card offers more than just its face value—it’s a talking point about how fuse design can shape competitive play and casual fun alike. 💎
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