Spoiler Highlight: Cast into the Fire in Pauper

In Today's Article, we are going to look at a new card from the upcoming Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth (LOTR) set. Cast into the Fire is a new common that is being printed and we will be reviewing it and see where it will most likely find play.

LOTR spoiler season started 30th May and in the Weekly MTG stream Cast into the Fire was spoiled.

Cast into the Fire has real potential to be a staple in the format for the next few years. Modal cards in Pauper like with most formats are great. Being able to have different abilities against all sorts of decks is a sure fire way to make sure it see's play.

Let's take a look at a maindeck and sideboard staple Smash to Dust to iterate it. It has three modes: Destroy Target Artifact, Deal 1 damage to Opponents Creatures and Destroy a creature with Defender. This is a sorcery and there are Instant speed Versions of each mode, Shatter and Electrickery. However, due to it being one card within your Maindeck or Sideboard, it is worth having access to the one with more options, as it is a lot more versatile.

Taking that logic and looking at Cast into the Fire the card is already doing better than Smash to Dust as it is instant speed.

Exiling an artifact opens up a whole new level of options in Pauper. Due to the Modern Horizons Bridges, like Drossforge Bridge are seeing so much play in all sorts of different archetypes, so you can now look at casting Sinkhole on your opponent from their first land drop.

Cast into the Fire's second mode dealing one damage to each up to two target creatures is another very strong ability. Similar to Fire, which has proven to be a strong card over the years. Killing a Spellstutter Sprite and a Faerie Seer whilst they are trying to counter one of your spells is a real problem for Faeries.

Noting its slight differences with Fire that it can't kill a 2 toughness creature like Monastery Swiftspear is still a problem.

Mono Red

Where I believe this card will be played is in a few different places, but the easiest place is a straight replacement of Shattering Blow which is currently seeing play in Mono Red builds. Replacing that will also give more answers than just Lava Dart and End the Festivities against Faeries.

This is how I think that will look:

Jeskai decks

Another use is in the Jeskai Gates decks, or the Jeskai Ephemerate decks. These decks have become very clean and streamlined. Smash to Dust has been featured as a One or a Two-ofs in most of their Maindecks. I believe Cast into the Fire will most likely replace that as it fills a similar role.

An example of how it will look;

One key Difference I'd like to note here as replacing Smash to Dust. Cast into the Fire isn't a clean cut upgrade like it is with Shattering Blow.

However, it does fill a similar role, but the key difference is, Smash to Dust is better at dealing with non-enchanted Slippery Bogles or decks that go wider with one toughness creatures like Elves. But overall, I do feel like Cast Into the Fire is a much better card than Smash to Dust in the current meta, pre-Tales of Middle-Earth.

Gruul Ponza

My final consideration for this is replacing Deglamer effects in the Gruul Ponza decks. The main use of Deglamer is when Thermokarst effects don't work against bridges. Cast into the Fire still having that ability whilst also helping against the flying army of Squadron Hawks or Spellstutter Sprites is an added bonus as it is a real weak point for the deck.

My overall analysis of this card is that it is strong. Cast into the Fire has some immediate homes and is overall more impactful than the cards it is replacing. I have no concerns about the playability of it. I know it is early, but Cast into the Fire is a contender to be one of the best additions for pauper out of the new set.