This is a strong card because ti gives you so
much for its cost. As a creature, its
power-to-CMC ratio is right where it needs to be
to be a force on the battlefield. The fact that
it generates additional creatures makes it even
stronger, as it can cover you with a steady
stream of cheap blockers, or build up extra
bodies on the field for that alpha strike. Or
both: cover you with cheap blockers so your
bigger creatures are free to swing more often.
And generating these extra tokens simply
requires you to cast instants or sorceries--
which most red players do anyway, in the form of
burn. And since you get the full effect of your
other spell, and don't have to pay any extra for
the token, you're generating more advantage with
every spell.
The next time somebody starts going "Why doesn't
Wizards of the Coast make combo cards any
more?!", I want you to pull a bunch of copies of
this card out of your pocket and throw them all
over the nearest flat surface. Creating a vast
herd of red tokens by casting a bunch of cheap
spells is reminiscent of powerful Legacy decks,
and Young Pyromancer interacts with Innistrad's
flashback cards and Eventide's retrace cards and
Rise of the Eldrazi's rebound cards and just
about everything in between. And if that fails,
he attacks for two damage.
Today's card of the day is Young Pyromancer
which is a two mana Red 2/1 that puts a 1/1 Red
elemental token into play whenever you cast an
instant or sorcery card. This is a
fantastic card with a low casting cost, decent
power for attacking when safe, and a very useful
effect to burn or other spell heavy designs.
The low toughness is the only notable weakness,
but otherwise this is a card that will not only
see aggressive play across formats it will
surely have entire decks built around it.
In Limited this is still a useful card, though
it is greatly benefited by a pool including
useful spells and combines extremely well with
Ogre Battledriver. There is no reason not
to include this whenever running Red in Sealed
as at worst it is a 2/1 for two, which is
playable, and even getting one token from the
effect adds card advantage. In Booster
this is a strong early pick, possibly first if
the rare is weak even if value drafting, that
can fit in well with nearly any build using Red.
Young Pyromancer continues red's tradition of
snarky flavor text and burning aggression.
This card's ability activities whenever you cast
an instant or sorcery of any color, not just red
spells.
Junior has a good future in aggressive red
decks. It adds a little bit of advantage to your
spells. Cast a shock. Get a 1/1 token. You're
up a creature and they're down a creature.
That's just math.
In limited this card has potential. When
drafting its a tricky balance to maintain a
healthy ratio of creatures to
instant/sorcery spells. YP helps solves this
problem by generating tokens when you cast your
instant/sorcery spells.
