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Mastering Burn Matchups with Unfriendly Fire
Burn mirrors are the heartbeat of red-based strategy, and step into any game where life totals burn at the speed of a tachyon-powered goblin. Unfriendly Fire, a red instant from Ixalan, isn’t your everyday burn spell—it’s a versatile tool packed with nuanced value for sideboard deployments. With a mana cost of {4}{R} and the precise text “Unfriendly Fire deals 4 damage to any target.”, this common instant offers the flexibility to answer a threatening creature, finish off a stubborn opponent, or pressure a planeswalker when every point counts. In the right metagame, this five-mana blow is a strategic asset in the postboard landscape 🧙♂️🔥💎.
Why the sideboard loves a five-mana blast
Most red burn lines lean on cheaper options—Lightning Bolt variants, skewer-style removals, and direct face damage. Unfriendly Fire carves out a distinct niche in slower, post-board games where you’ve stabilized the early turns and need a clean answer to midrange threats or a追加 finisher against control plans. In those games, you’re not trying to cast a five-mana finisher with perfect timing every match; you’re sequencing a set of cards that bends the opponent’s game plan. The spell’s broad targeting is especially valuable when your opponent’s board is riddled with as many bodies as a pirate-filled harbor on Ixalan 🌊🏴☠️.
In practice, the card’s red versatility shines in two main contexts:
- Creature removal on a flexible axis: 4 damage hits most early-to-mid threats, many with 3 or less power, and it also bypasses things like an opposingToken swarm or a single-elixir blocker that’s clogging your race to the finish. This is especially useful after you’ve traded one-for-one with cheaper burn and want a bigger swing on the following turn.
- Player burn with teeth: When the battlefield stabilizes and your opponent is primed to stabilize at, say, 8–12 life, lighting a path to victory with precise 4-damage bursts can be the difference between a topdeck win and a long, grinding slog. The ability to choose the target—creature or player—gives you more tools in a single card than many standard burn spells offer.
Disputes within the Brazen Coalition can escalate from insult to broadside in the blink of an eye.
That flavor text from Ixalan isn’t just flavor; it speaks to a broader narrative about quick, decisive actions in heated exchanges—perfect metaphor for a spell that ends a stalemate with a single, well-timed blast. The card’s red mana color identity and flavor align with a faction that thrives on bold decisions and unexpected outcomes 🧡⚔️🎨.
Sideboard playbook: when to bring Unfriendly Fire in
In a world where your main deck is tuned for speed, the sideboard is where you adapt to your opponent’s plan. Here’s a pragmatic approach to including Unfriendly Fire in your postboard strategy:
- Against midrange and control: swap in Unfriendly Fire alongside other 4–5 mana removal or disruption. In longer games, you’ll appreciate its flexibility to remove a top-end threat or close out a stalled race after your cheaper blasts have run dry.
- Versus wide board states: if an opposing player floods the board with nearly equal threats, Unfriendly Fire can clear a path for your follow-up burn or forged finisher. The ability to target an opponent directly is a critical option when you’re trying to push through last points of damage.
- Against problematic fatties: in some formats, big blockers or midrange beaters require more than edge-case removal. Unfriendly Fire’s 4 damage may not kill a gigantic creature, but it can soften the board and set up your other removal spells or an alpha strike on the next turn.
- Tempo-powered pivot: when your curve is faced with a delayed or clunkier mana base, drawing Unfriendly Fire in the sideboard gives you a reliable, high-impact play that doesn’t rely on instant-speed reach alone.
In the end, the decision to mainboard or sideboard Unfriendly Fire hinges on your local metagame and your deck’s resilience against multi-turn races. For some red shells, it’s a patently excellent pivot, while for others it’s a situational tool to pull out when the stars align and the opponent overextends into a perfect 4-damage moment 🧙♂️🎲.
Where Unfriendly Fire fits in your deckbuilding philosophy
Ixalan’s Unfriendly Fire sits in the common rarity tier, making it a budget-friendly option in many red builds. Its low foil resilience and the typical price in casual play make it an attractive option for budget-minded players who still want robust sideboard coverage. The set, Ixalan, is known for its vibrant vampire-pirate-crocodile flavor and a landscape where speed and playmaking are valued as highly as raw power. Even if you’re not chasing a top-tier vintage meta, the card’s flexibility and historical context make it a compelling inclusion for retro-themed decks or kitchen-table experiments 🎨💎.
From a collector’s perspective, Unfriendly Fire isn’t a red-hot chase card, but it stands as a practical staple in many Ixalan-era decks. If you’re curious about current market pricing or potential routes to upgrade your collection, you can check price trends and community lists via the card’s Gatherer/TCGPlayer footprints and EDHREC references. It’s not a slam dunk purchase, but it’s a dependable, well-rounded sideboard piece that earns its keep in the right matchups.
Practical tips for using Unfriendly Fire in a modern burn-forward shell
- Keep track of your postboard curve. You’re trading a cheap, fast plan for a heavier option that can close games; you want to ensure you’re not flooding your hand with six-mana spells when your opponent is already at single-digit life.
- Pair with other red disruption. Unfriendly Fire shines when supported by cheaper burn or removal that keeps pressure on opponents as you re-deploy threats. The synergy comes from the flow of damage from multiple sources in a single game plan 🧙♂️🔥.
- Don’t underestimate the versatility. If you’re up against a plan that demands removal on-curve, use Unfriendly Fire to clear a blocker and push through a high-impact burn that finishes the game on the same turn.
As you fine-tune your sideboard, remember that every metagame offers a story. Unfriendly Fire is your flexible narrator—a spell that can flip the script when your opponent overcommits on the battlefield or when you need a clean finisher in the late game. The Ixalan era reminds us that bold moves often come in unexpected packages—and in this case, a five-mana flash of red can be exactly what you need to seal the match 🔥🧡.