"Incendiary Command" is a red sorcery spell printed as a rare for the Magic the Gathering expansion set known as "Lorwyn." This is one of the five special "Command" spells printed in Lorwyn. For the price of one spell, you can play two different types of spells. In the case of Incendiary Command, you want to play this primarily in a red shock and burn deck. However, Incendiary Command does have potential in a black and red deck.

The converted mana cost for Incendiary Command is five. You would need two red mana and three colorless mana to play Incendiary Command. For what Incendiary Command can do, the casting cost seems to be well worth it. Keep in mind that Incendiary Command is a sorcery spell and can only be played during your turn.

What does Incendiary Command to in the first place?

You get to choose two out of four different effects. The first ability lets you deal four points of damage to a target player. In this respect, you do not necessarily have to hit the player. If there are planeswalkers on the battlefield, you can use this ability to knock away at their loyalty counters. Should your opponents have planeswalkers on the battlefield, you would want to use this ability. It is a good way from keeping opponents from being able to use most of the planeswalkers' abilities.

The second effect deals two points of damage to each creature. In this respect, you can take out a bunch of small creatures in one big swoop. However, you can follow up with spells such as "Volcanic Fallout" to take out slightly tougher creatures. If you can take out a bunch of creatures, you can combine this with "Vicious Shadows" provided you are playing mono-red. Vicious Shadows deals damage to a target player equal to the number of cards in his/her hand whenever a creature gets sent to the graveyard from the battlefield.

Also, you can use "Repercussion" from "Urza's Destiny." Whenever damage is dealt to a creature, its controller suffers that much damage as well.

The third effect lets you destroy a target nonbasic land. In this respect, it is a built-in "Wasteland."

The fourth effect causes each player to discard his/her hand. Each player draws that many cards. If one player had four cards, s/he would draw four cards. If another player had six cards, s/he would draw six cards. This is one of the few red spells that allow you to draw cards. In a red and black deck, this can be combined with "Megrim," "Underworld Dreams," and "Wound Reflection."

Megrim would deal two points of damage to your opponents whenever they discard their cards. Underworld Dreams causes your opponents to suffer one point of damage whenever they draw cards. Using the example above, Opponent A would suffer twelve points of damage via Megrim and Underworld Dreams for discarding the hand and drawing that many cards. Opponent B would suffer eighteen points of damage. Wound Reflection doubles the amount of life points lost this turn by opponents. At the end, Opponent A would lose thirty-two points of life while Opponent B would lose thirty-six points of life. Remember, damage does equal loss of life points but not the other way around.

Overall, Incendiary Command is a rather impressive card for the most part. You get to do two things with one spell. For any shock and burn deck, Incendiary Command seems to be a great card to have.

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