The 30 Best Firebreathing Effects in Magic Ranked

Last updated on August 27, 2025

Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Illustration by Todd Lockwood

Dragons spewing flame from their maw and obliterating the countryside in a torrent of fire is one of the classic images associated with fantasy games. In Magic: The Gathering, many dragons’ fiery breath is represented in a common ability colloquially known as “firebreathing.” This effect has appeared on hundreds of Magic cards since Alpha, with varying degrees of playability. Firebreathing tends to have more use in Draft and Sealed formats rather than Constructed ones, where it’s best used to dump extra mana into bonus damage rather than a win condition in and of itself.

With firebreathing effects so common, and so many mid ones, how are we supposed to tell which ones are worthy to include in our libraries? Today, we’ll look at the 30 best firebreathing effects in Magic!

What Are Firebreathing Effects?

Inferno Titan | Illustration by Kev Walker

Firebreathing effects are any cards with the “(cost): (creature) gets +1/+0 until the end of the turn” effect. These cards either have this effect innately, grant it to another creature, or create a token with this effect.

Firebreathing sees the most play as the top end to aggro decks. Once they’re out of spells and creatures to cast from their hand, it helps to have a mana sink to use up your resources each turn.

Firebreathing is typically found on red cards, but a few entries’ color identities might surprise you! There are white cards, black cards, and green cards on this list, as well!

The best firebreathing effects offer the best mana-to-power rate. The effect rarely gets better than +1/+0 per mana spent, but there are some exceptions. The cards on this list will also either generate advantage that you can use to protect them, generate more mana to dump into their ability, or have some form of built-in evasion to guarantee that combat damage makes it through.

#30. Order of the Ebon Hand

Okay, this is mostly here for a laugh. Order of the Ebon Hand does, in fact, technically have firebreathing, and built-in protection from white means it can't be blocked by white creatures. The option to add first strike helps it threaten smaller blockers, so declaring an attack with Order of the Ebon Hand can create a complex balancing act for your opponent as they weigh their options.

#29. Firebreathing

The original Firebreathing from Alpha is the baseline for rating firebreathing effects, at least on auras. Firebreathing is as basic as you can get: a 1-mana aura that grants +1 power to the enchanted creature per each spent. It’s not amazing, but it gets firebreathing on the table as cheaply as possible.

#28. Dragon Mantle

Dragon Mantle is a straight upgrade to Firebreathing. This red enchantment does everything Firebreathing does, for the same cost, and draws you a card when it enters. Dragon Mantle came about during the original Theros block, where the heroic theme of that Magic set demanded more powerful auras so heroic creature decks could keep pace with the rest of the meta.

#27. Ghitu Firebreathing

Another general upgrade to Firebreathing is Ghitu Firebreathing. It does everything Firebreathing does, except it has flash, costs an extra generic mana, and can be returned to your hand for . This helps you keep your copy of Ghitu Firebreathing around after the creature it enchants is destroyed, but the extra mana you pay to cast it and the mana you need to keep up to save it drag down its performance in aggro decks.

#26. Capashen Knight

Woah! A mono-white firebreather? That’s right, Capashen Knight is a 1/1 with first strike with a firebreathing ability that costs to activate. While that’s twice as expensive as we usually spend on that effect, Capashen Knight’s first strike means it can trade up into much larger creatures, or at least threaten to when you attack and leave all your mana up. Honestly, one of my top ten favorite commons because of its interesting off-color design, its usefulness in Limited, and that badass Urza’s Destiny art.

#25. Balthor the Stout

Balthor the Stout is a barbarian lord that can breathe fire all over any barbarian, even itself. I won’t lie to you; I’ve never seen a barbarian typal deck with Balthor as its red commander, but I bet it’s the perfect firebreathing commander in case this effect has really grabbed your attention.

#24. Crown of Flames

Crown of Flames is just like Ghitu Firebreathing, except without flash! It’s cheaper, too, but it doesn’t draw you a card like Dragon Mantle, and you need to keep mana up to return it to your hand.

#23. Dragon Egg

Dragon Egg is a dragon egg that makes a 2/2 dragon with firebreathing when it dies. This is a cute reference to Furnace Whelp, a classic low-mana dragon with firebreathing. Dragon Egg is cheaper to cast than the dragon it’s imitating, but it’ll require some sort of sacrifice outlet if you really want to get value out of this red creature. You can’t count on your opponents destroying it on their turn to give you a 2/2 flying firebreather on yours.

#22. Dragon Whelp

Dragon Whelp is one of the original firebreathers, hailing from Alpha. Dragon Whelp has the potential to dump a ton of mana into its power, but it’ll sacrifice itself at the end of the turn if you pump it four or more times. Dragon Whelp has set the stage for all firebreathing effects that followed; while it’s not an amazing ability, its usefulness as an uncommon and game-defining balance can’t be understated.

#21. Shivan Dragon

The original big dragon, Shivan Dragon is the baseline for what a rare card could do in Alpha. A fairly-costed 6-mana 5/5 flier, Shivan Dragon was the top-end bomb of many a red deck for years in Magic’s early era. Nowadays, it pales in comparison to other 6-drops, but it still deserves some respect by virtue of being the progenitor of the big dragon cards.

#20. Shiv’s Embrace

I like to think of Shiv's Embrace as enchanting a creature with a Fledgling Dragon. It gets another 2 power and toughness, gains flying, and gains the firebreathing effect all for 4 mana. Granting both firebreathing and evasion is the best way to go about it, but the 4-mana casting cost and potential to be two-for-one’d make Shiv's Embrace a dangerous investment.

#19. Inferno Titan

A 6/6 for 6 mana is a fair rate, but Inferno Titan’s 3 free damage each turn and firebreathing effect are what pushes it into the big leagues. Inferno Titan is expensive for an aggro deck, so it’ll usually be the only 6-mana spell around, and after it's cast, you can sink the rest of your red mana into its power each turn anyways. Honestly, by turn 6, if you’re not set up to turn the ensuing 9 damage this giant can put down into a victory, you probably weren’t going to win.

#18. Demonspine Whip

Demonspine Whip takes the classic firebreathing ability and shortens it into one X-cost ability to give the creature however much power you need all at once. Doing this is a little worse because it can be Stifle’d, but if you're worried about that you can still just activate the ability 1 mana at a time. In most cases this should perform the same as a Firebreathing, albeit a little more expensive. At least it’ll stick around if your creature dies!

#17. Captive Flame + Ghitu War Cry

Captive Flame is one of the only non-aura enchantments that can grant firebreathing, an effect it shares with Ghitu War Cry. The generic option to choose any of your creatures helps prevent you from being “two-for-one’d” when your creature enchanted with Dragon Mantle dies.

#16. Dragonrage

Dragonrage is the only non-permanent spell that grants the firebreathing effect. Its ritual-like effect lets you instantly pump up creatures during the combat phase, either giving your attackers +1/+0 across the board, or letting you focus extra damage on certain attackers to push through extra damage. At uncommon, this red instant has got to be one of my favorite cards. This is a game-winner in Limited, and a surprisingly fun “gotcha!” in Constructed decks.

#15. Stillmoon Cavalier

Surprised to see an Orzhov card on this list? Stillmoon Cavalier is actually one of the better firebreathing creatures on the scene. It has protection built-in, giving it evasion versus two whole colors, plus the option to gain flying for 1 white or black hybrid mana, plus first strike for 1 white/black, plus (!!) A 2-mana firebreathing effect for dealing that much extra damage when it inevitably connects. Even though its firebreathing rate is worse than the kinds we see on red creatures, its built-in value and evasion make this zombie knight one of the better firebreathers!

#14. Nesting Dragon

How many levels of Dragon Egg are you on right now? Nesting Dragon cranks out a Dragon Egg token on a landfall trigger, which can then in turn become Furnace Whelpss. Really only playable in a Commander game that plans to go long, Nesting Dragon can be a consistent source of creature tokens to sacrifice with Goblin Bombardment or a source for dragon ETBs for Dragon Tempest.

#13. Rakdos Pit Dragon

Hellbent mention! Rakdos Pit Dragon is a 4-mana 3/3 with the option to give it flying and a firebreathing ability. Where it gets really good is when you become hellbent – having no cards in your hand – and it gains double strike. This turns each mana you dump into its activated ability into two times as much damage if it connects, greatly speeding up the clock on your opponents if you can manage to get and stay hellbent.

#12. Draconic Destiny

Draconic Destiny answers the question: “How strong can we actually print Firebreathing?” Turns out, very strong! This 3-mana aura gives the enchanted creature flying and haste, and activating the firebreathing effect costs generic mana. On top of all that, it’s coming right back into your hand when the enchanted creature dies. This makes it a very consistent source of fire breathing and lets it play well in multicolor decks where you’re not always guaranteed a ton of red mana specifically.

#11. Dragon Breath

Dragon Breath hails from a cycle of auras that return to the battlefield from the graveyard whenever you get a creature with mana value 6 or greater. Dragon Breath gives both the typical firebreathing ability plus haste. This is deceptively one of the best ways to slap haste on a big creature for free – Dragon Breath can be discarded early before you cast your Darksteel Colossus, only to have the Colossus gain firebreathing and swing in for damage immediately after it resolves!

#10. Goblin Fireleaper

A common tactic for aggro decks with firebreathing abilities is to pump all but 2 mana into their creature, attack for a lot of damage, and then Fling that creature at their opponents for another big hit. Goblin Fireleaper takes all that and compresses it down to one card for you! It gets even better when you fling it yourself to prompt the death trigger, and you’re looking at twice as much damage as you pumped into it!

#9. Mana-Charged Dragon

Mana-Charged Dragon is one of the best firebreathing dragons in Commander. No other dragon has a join forces ability, and Mana-Charged Dragon’s option to take any amount of any color mana and turn it into power is amazing. Best used as a political threat, you can send your dragon at the archenemy of the table and call upon everyone else to turn it into a huge one-shot kill.

#8. Akroma, Angel of Fury

The Planar Chaos color-shifted Akroma, Angel of Fury has a keyword soup of abilities, can’t be countered, and has the basic one-for-one firebreathing effect. With flying, trample, and protection from its enemy colors, there’s almost no reason Akroma won’t connect with an opponent for at least 6 damage, even more if you can dump into its activated ability.

At 8 mana to cast, Akroma’s vulnerable to removal and can, in fact, be countered if you try to cast it early as a morph. You could technically flip Akroma earlier than you would’ve cast it, but the setup of playing and then flipping an expensive morph card just doesn’t cut it in 2024 Magic.

#7. Dragon Tyrant

My first EDH deck had a real “Seto Kaiba” complex and was based around using Scion of the Ur-Dragon to copy Dragon Tyrant, swing in for 11 double-strike damage, and win because the now-Tyranticized Scion was still counted as my commander. Dragon Tyrant is one of the only naturally double-striking firebreathers in the game, and its huge mana cost and 4-mana upkeep cost should indicate how valuable that is. Already a 6/6, Dragon Tyrant needs a lousy 4 more mana before it swings in for 20 damage, most of which should get through thanks to its flying and trample. Truly one of the most horrific dragons to stare down, your only hope is to just shoot it with literally any removal spell.

#6. Steel Hellkite

A classic control finisher, Steel Hellkite is a colorless creature and can therefore slot into any deck that wants a top-end firebreather to wrap up their game. Though its rate for firebreathing power is two-to-one, the generic activation cost means Steel Hellkite can use any mana to buff itself. On top of that, it has a one-sided board wipe it can use after it connects with an opponent, blowing up all their permanents of a certain MV. That makes this artifact creature both a powerful removal tool and excellent mana dump once you’ve successfully removed your opponents’ threats.

#5. Moltensteel Dragon

Moltensteel Dragon takes that firebreathing effect and says: “Hey, what if this was free instead?” The option to pay Phyrexian mana for every red mana you’d spend on those flames makes Moltensteel Dragon one of the best in the game. Sticking this red 4/4 flier should spell the end for your opponent if you’ve got more life than them; you’ll simply pay all your mana and as much life as you need to bring them down to 0.

#4. Moonveil Dragon

Moonveil Dragon has a firebreathing anthem that mass-pumps your entire field of creatures. At a one-to-one rate, this ability scales as you play more creatures. Even with just two other creatures on the board, you’re putting out 3 additional power for each 1 mana you spend on Moonveil Dragon – quite an aggressive going rate. With a little massive token generation like Tempt with Vengeance, you’re looking at a huge attack where all your 1/1s are dealing double or even triple the amount of damage they normally would.

#3. Inferno of the Star Mounts

The legendary Inferno of the Star Mounts can’t be countered and hits the field flying at your opponent for a minimum of 6 damage. It has the same firebreathing effect as many dragons, except that if its power becomes 20 as part of the activation, it deals 20 direct damage to any target. That’s crazy! And there’s no reason you need to spend 14 red mana to achieve this; Inferno can easily be buffed with any number of dragon lords or equipment like Colossus Hammer.

#2. Purphoros, God of the Forge

Unfortunately, one of the best firebreathers isn’t even a dragon, and it isn’t even the best because of its firebreathing ability. Instead, Purphoros, God of the Forge rocks because it’s a 2-damage Impact Tremors on an indestructible 6/5 god that can spit flame all over your board for 3 mana. It’s no wonder the original Purphoros has maintained a $10+ value since its release; it's an essential enchantment creature for any creature-heavy mono-red deck.

#1. Prossh, Skyraider of Kher

Part of some of Jund's best combos, Prossh, Skyraider of Kher is also the best firebreathing creature, period. The reason is simple: It’s free to activate. All you need is some creatures to sacrifice and, oh, look here! Prossh has made six 0/1 Kobolds for you to gobble up as you cast it. I’ve seen so many Prossh decks that can end the game immediately once it hits the field; it's easy enough to grant it haste in red (and in Commander generally), and you can fill your board with cheap creatures to eat with no problem in the four or five turns before you cast it.

Just to reiterate: As a Jund commander, Prossh’s ability requiring no mana to activate means there are hundreds of combos that can result in a quick and easy 21 commander damage. I mean, it just requires a single Food Chain to go infinite with its own Kobolds, and as a great aristocrat commander, imagine what you can do once you add all of the typical sacrifice outlet combo pieces like Ashnod's Altar and Blood Artist.

Best Firebreathing Effect Payoffs

Most of the firebreathing effects require red mana to activate. The more red mana you have available, the more damage you can sink into one of your firebreathers. As such, combos that can generate infinite red mana for you are some of the best ways to capitalize on your fire breath.

There are a few ways to generate infinite mana using only red cards. Using Mana Geyser and Reiterate over and over again can result in infinite mana, so long as you generate at least 7 mana to buyback your Reiterate and recast it.

Another, more esoteric infinite mana combo includes the Grinning Ignus + Birgi, God of Storytelling interaction. With the Ignus on the field, you can pay to return it to your hand. If you have Ruby Medallion on the field, you can recast it using just , netting you . Then, Birgi generates a red mana for you, which you can use to return the Ignus and start the whole process over again. This isn't colored mana though, so unless you want to use it on a Steel Hellkite or Dragon Engine, you’ll need an Energy Refractor of some kind.

Wrap Up

Moonveil Dragon | Illustration by Todd Lockwood

Firebreathing has fallen off in recent years, generally outpaced by other aggro tactics and locked onto creatures and enchantments that are too expensive for red decks to bother casting. It is, however, one of the more flavorfully designed effects in the game, and I’m sad to see it on the way out.

What are your favorite firebreathing cards? What would a playable rare card with firebreathing look like in today’s day and age? Let me know in the comments, or over on Draftsim's Twitter/X.

Thanks for reading! Remember to wear some mitts before taking these cards out of the oven!