Card advantage is arguably the most important aspect to winning games of Magic. A great way to turn a 2 for 1 into a 3 for 1 is attacking with both Flamerush Rider and Mardu Heart-Piercer. When you attack, Flamerush’s ability triggers, and when it resolves, you place a copy of Heartpiercer on the board tapped and attacking. Since you have already attacked in order to put Flamerush’s ability on the stack, Raid has been satisfied and the Heart-Piercer’s ability will trigger and you’ll now have a Shock’s worth of damage to point where you choose. That’s 9 damage coming at your opponent including 2 of which you can point at any target. It would be wise to take out a potential blocker or just go straight to their face for a swift victory. This little trick works particularly well with Mardu Warshrieker for extra mana (though it must be used in the declare attackers step before blockers), Mardu Skullhunter for some hand hate, and Mardu Hordechief or Wingmate Roc for an extra token body that stays on the board, even after the copy leaves. Flamerush Rider gives Raid an extra boost of potency that just might be enough to turn a game around. See you tomorrow!

Side Note- Since the copy of Wingmate Roc is placed on the battlefield tapped and attacking and was never declared as an attacker, you will not trigger the token’s life gain ability. If you stack your triggers correctly, you may still gain life for the attacking Wingmate Roc copy (but not for the 3/4 token that isn’t attacking).

Today’s Rules Tip written by Daniel Clarke