Well it's certainly not as efficient as Wrath or Day of Judgement, but it's certainly a decent card nontheless.
And if it's not good by itself, Johnny can help making this card better in the right deck than the trusted white removal would be.
Dealing damage rather than just destroying them can be a great advantage - simply use creatures which have a triggered ability for getting hurt, since they will trigger for each creature on the battlefield when Chain Reaction resolves:
*Mogg Maniac, Spitemare and Stuffy Doll will deal damage - and the latter one will even survive.
*Ragged Veins - deals damage like the aforementioned cards, but unfortunately isn't a creature by itself. Yet it might be able to deal some damage before casting Chain Reaction.
*Broodhatch Nantuko, Saber Ants or Druid's Call will give you 1/1 tokens, wh... (see all)
Posted By:
Mode
(1/30/2010 7:54:28 AM)
Use it with Vigor for epic lulz.
Posted By:
surewhynot
(6/12/2010 1:26:26 PM)
@mutantman Mark Rosewater (along with Ken Nagle and Mike Turian) in the WorldWake DevChat pretty much said that they looked at it as a Chaotic Red Wrath. It's a chaotic wrath meaning that it may or may not wipe the board, but still has that potential. In the right deck, it will be.
Posted By:
Duranius
(2/26/2010 7:51:54 AM)
Some people have commented that this hoses ally decks, which is funny because I keep thinking of trying this IN an ally deck, along with Kabira Evangelist to give pro-red right before this comes down as a one-sided wrath.
If it looks likes like your opponent has a faster start (WW, elves, infect, etc.), you can hold out on playing your hand until after Chain Reaction resolves. Overall, a nice sexy design that is well balanced - thumbs up.
Posted By:
gelleetin
(11/1/2010 1:28:25 PM)
Throw in Safe Passage for one-sided wipe.
Posted By:
Ulzon
(12/22/2010 6:21:28 PM)
As others have rightly pointed out, it's not a red Wrath of God. It's no replacement for Pyroclasm. You don't sideboard it in against Ally decks.
But it is great in multiplayer.
I almost wonder whether one of the designers was a multiplayer fan and snuck it into the set. Every objection against using it in a duel is answered at a multiplayer table. There will always be enough creatures in play. These creatures will (almost) always be too big for Pyroclasm to deal with. Reaction is perhaps the best multiplayer burn spell ever printed. The only knocks against it are that it's a sorcery (point goes to Starstorm) and it's symmetrical (hello, Disaster Radius) but it combos so easily, and all the combos are amplified so much when there are 3-5 other players at the table. Broodhatch Nantuko + Reaction is just a cute trick in a duel. In multiplayer, it often reads "wipe th... (see all)
Posted By:
Veteripont
(5/6/2011 4:10:47 AM)
Repercussion says "LULZ"
Posted By:
Dreznin
(11/27/2011 12:34:02 PM)
Considering this is pretty much red's Wrath of God, you'd think it'd be higher rated.
It punishes Eldrazi Green, since they enjoy swarming the board with Ant Queen's insect tokens, Garruk Wildspeaker's beasts, Master of the Wild Hunt's (and his replacement, Wolfbriar Elemental's) wolves, and the stationary Nissa's Chosens, as well as the "it's there just to be there" Elvish Visionary.
White weenie and Boros Bushwhacker also suffer heavily from it, as a single Conqueror's Pledge can turn the board into a fireworks show for white weenie, and with Boros' highest toughness being 2, that goes without saying.
This card will be a sideboard option in all decks that run red. Perhaps even a maindeck option, but time will tell.
Posted By:
DonRoyale
(1/29/2010 12:58:19 PM)
Cmon use it with Everlasting Torment
Posted By:
Qazior
(1/30/2010 11:35:54 AM)
It's a Wrath in red, and I love it. Probably sideboard material, but for those of you questioning the comparison to Wrath of God and Day of Judgement, just stop and think: If they're not running lots of creatures, your other burn spells will probably take care of them in the first place. If they are, this is a Wrath.
Posted By:
Folesauce
(2/1/2010 8:11:47 PM)