City on Fire

{5}{R}{R}{R}
Enchantment

Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color.)

If a source you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals triple that damage instead.

Set March of the Machine
Rarity Rare

Why Play City on Fire

Triple damage sounds like a win-more effect, but convoke makes this surprisingly castable in aggressive red decks that can go wide early. The key is deploying this when you already have board presence and can immediately capitalize on the damage multiplier. Red burn spells like Lightning Bolt become devastating 9-damage finishers, while creature combat becomes nearly impossible for opponents to navigate profitably.

Format Notes

Commander sees the most play for City on Fire, where the multiplayer format gives you time to set up convoke enablers and the higher life totals make the triple damage actually necessary. Pioneer and Modern decks occasionally run it as a top-end threat in token strategies, though the eight mana cost remains prohibitive for most competitive builds. Historic has seen some experimentation in Goblin tribal decks that can reliably convoke it out ahead of schedule.

Combos & Synergies

Young Pyromancer and similar token generators provide both convoke fodder and immediate damage sources to benefit from the tripling effect. Torbran, Thane of Red Fell creates absurd damage numbers by adding two damage that then gets tripled, turning modest burn spells into game-ending threats. Purphoros, God of the Forge becomes a legitimate win condition when each creature entry deals triple damage to all opponents.

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Enchantment