Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar set feels like a breath of fresh air, and not just because of all the cards with Airbending. This set has had a genuine impact across every MTG format, bringing new decks into play and giving existing ones a second wind. It has also managed to blow the dust off a number of hidden gems, once lost to time, now back in the fray. One such gem is Invoke Calamity, an explosive MTG instant from the fiery depths of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.
Despite its flashy nature, this card never really caught fire as many had hoped back in 2022. Now, however, thanks to a strong showing in a recent Commander Clash video, it’s back on the collective radar. Turns out it’s not only an ideal piece for Avatar’s new Firebending decks, but also a fantastic option for any red-heavy Spellslinger strategy.
Invoke Calamity MTG
Invoke Calamity is an MTG card with an awful lot going on. For five mana, it lets you cast up to two spells, with total mana value 6 or less, for free. These spells can come from your hand, graveyard, or both, giving the card a ton of flexibility right out of the gate.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Invoke Calamity, however, is the way it lets you get around timing restrictions. Since the free spells are cast as part of its resolution, you can cast them at instant speed even if they’re sorceries. This opens up a lot of different avenues, with effects you can’t normally surprise your opponents with.
Board wipes are a big one here, as outside of a few exceptions, the vast majority of board wipes come at sorcery speed. This makes it hard to really catch players out with them, but Invoke Calamity, however, lets you drop everything from Damnation to Farewell at instant speed. You can do this to clear the way before your turn starts, or to counter a player who just deployed a lethal board of Hasty tokens.
Invoke Calamity is also great with “no mana cost” Suspend spells, like Living End. These potent spells are valid targets for Calamity, meaning you can use it to easily cheat them out of your hand or ‘yard. On top of that, they won’t add anything to the “total mana value six or less” count, meaning you can also get an additional big spell on top of your Suspend spell.
A Firebender’s Dream
Despite all this potential, Invoke Calamity has failed to make much of an impact in any MTG format so far. With the advent of Firebending in Avatar, however, that could well change soon.
At a base level, Firebending just makes Invoke Calamity much easier to cast. One of the biggest hurdles to overcome with the card is the huge quadruple red in its mana cost. Since Firebending easily produces multiple red pips, however, this takes the cost here from tricky to trivial. This is especially true if you’re running a Firebender in the command zone.
Speaking of, Invoke Calamity is quickly gathering steam as a new staple in Fire Lord Azula Commander decks. The synergy here is absolutely off the charts. Azula makes the card just 1RR to cast, and also copies it on resolution if you cast it during combat. This means you can cast up to four spells for free from your hand or graveyard, which Azula will, in turn, copy, giving you eight spells cast in total.
The possibilities for absurd plays here are endless. Even just copying a handful of Lightning Bolt variants will give you 24 damage to throw around, for instance. Alternatively, you can leverage your used draw spells to build your own Ad Nauseum, or fetch up an entire combo by doubling a couple of sorcery-speed tutors.
Players have quickly cottoned on to how good Invoke Calamity is in Azula. In addition to its callout on Commander Clash, the card is also being run in 18% of Azula decks right now, according to EDHREC. I could easily see this figure going higher soon, too, considering Invoke Calamity remains a $0.30 card for the time being.
Slingin’ Spells And Raisin’ Hell
Even if you’re not on the Fire Lord Azula bandwagon, Invoke Calamity has plenty to offer in the MTG Commander format. Despite how narrow it looks at first glance, this is actually a card with a wide range of applications.
For starters, pretty much every Mono-Red deck can likely find a home for this somewhere, since they circumvent the card’s tricky casting cost problem. It’s particularly good in aggressive red decks, like Torbran, Thane of Red Fell, due to its explosive potential, but as long as you’re playing a decent number of instants and sorceries there’s little reason not to run it.
Invoke Calamity is also fantastic in Spellslinger decks. Commanders like Ashling, Flame Dancer, which care about how often you cast spells, get three triggers in one from this card. Ashling is a particularly good example, actually, since its abilities essentially make the card one mana to cast, as well as giving you three instances of looting and some mass burn. Decks like these also typically run a deep pool of spells, which maximizes the options Invoke Calamity offers.
If you’re feeling a bit less aggressive, Invoke Calamity also adds a lot to big spell decks. Commanders like Velomachus Lorehold really appreciate the card’s timing-shifting powers, since it allows them to cast their chunky sorceries whenever they like.
Overall, Invoke Calamity is a hidden gem well worth revisiting in 2025, and not just for Azula players. With how quickly this Commander is moving the markets, however, I’d get in quickly before it sees a spike of its own.
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