Balefire DragonHow it works & interactions with other cards

What it Does

Balefire Dragon is a 6/6 creature with Flying and a powerful triggered ability. When it deals combat damage to a player, it triggers an effect that deals an equal amount of damage to each creature that player controls. Effectively, if you hit your opponent for 6, every creature they own also takes 6 damage, which is usually enough to clear their entire board.

Resolving the Trigger Step by Step

First, Balefire Dragon must successfully deal combat damage to a player during the combat damage step. Once that damage is dealt, the ability is put onto the stack. When the ability resolves, it checks how much combat damage was actually dealt to the player. Finally, the Dragon deals that amount of damage to every creature that player controls. Note that this secondary damage is not combat damage itself, so abilities that specifically trigger on combat damage won't trigger again from the board wipe.

Common Mistakes

A common misconception is that the damage dealt to the creatures is combat damage. According to official rulings, the damage dealt by the triggered ability is non-combat damage. This means if the Dragon has Lifelink, you will gain life from the ability's damage, but it will not trigger effects like 'Whenever a creature deals combat damage to a player' a second time.

When to Play It

Balefire Dragon is best played when your opponent relies on a wide board of creatures to defend themselves. Since it has Flying, it can often bypass ground blockers to trigger its ability. It is particularly effective in 'Dragon Tribal' decks or decks that can give it Haste, ensuring the opponent has little time to find a removal spell before their army is incinerated.

Interaction examples

Double the Dragon Trouble

Ancient Copper Dragon

If you attack with both Dragons and both deal combat damage to the same player, two separate abilities will trigger. First, you will roll a d20 to create Treasures with Ancient Copper Dragon. Then, Balefire Dragon's ability will resolve, dealing damage to all of that player's creatures based on the damage it dealt. Even if Ancient Copper Dragon dealt damage first, Balefire Dragon's ability only cares about the damage it specifically dealt.

Attacking with a Primal Storm

Etali, Primal Storm

When you attack with both, Etali, Primal Storm triggers immediately upon declaring attackers, potentially letting you cast spells for free. If you use Etali to cast a spell that increases Balefire Dragon's power before the combat damage step, the Dragon will deal even more damage to the player and, subsequently, even more damage to each of their creatures when its own ability triggers.

Solo Flight Damage

If Balefire Dragon attacks a player with no flying blockers and deals its 6 combat damage, its ability triggers. Upon resolution, it deals 6 damage to every creature that player controls. If the player had ten 1/1 tokens, all ten are destroyed simultaneously by the Dragon's fire.