The 24 Best Fling Effects in Magic Ranked - Draftsim (2024)

Last updated on March 14, 2024

Fling | Illustration by Lucas Graciano

Fling is such an evocative card, and there have been many variants of it across Magic's history. Fling effects are something that many players love, and the idea of yeeting one of your big beefers into your opponent’s face is very appealing to a certain type of person.

How many fling effects can you name in Magic? I bet you don’t know them all. But if you think you do, read through this list and prove me wrong when you’re done!

What Are Fling Cards in MTG?

Brion Stoutarm | Illustration by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

What better way to look at what fling effects are than looking at Fling itself?

Fling lets you sacrifice one of your creatures at instant speed to deal damage equal to its power to any target. It seems like a simple effect, but there’s some important points to note. For the purposes of this list, I’m going to be looking at effects where you can sacrifice one or more of your own creatures to deal damage equal to its power (usually) to a creature and/or your opponent. It may seem like a bit of a loose definition, but it’s a bit more of a vibe check on whether something is a fling effect or not. Note, I’m not going to include effects like Makeshift Munitions which always deal the same amount of damage no matter the sacrificed creature’s power/toughness.

Fling also provides us with some benchmarks to help us judge similar effects:

• It costs 2 mana. If an effect is more or less than this, it affects its ranking.
• It works at instant speed. This is important as you can sacrifice something after blocking. Sorcery speed effects will be judged lower.
• There’s no restriction on the types of creature that you can sacrifice.
• It can hit any target. Cards that are restricted here will be lower.
• It’s not repeatable. Repeatable effects are obviously better!

#24. Sword of the Ages

Starting off with a colorless version of fling, I can’t actually imagine a worse version than Sword of the Ages without just straight-up making it cost a billion mana or so. Yes, it’s colorless, but there are a number of drawbacks. It costs 6, you can’t activate it until your next turn as it enters tapped (even worse than a sorcery speed fling!), and you can only use it once because it exiles itself. Cards from this era of Magic were just built different.

#23. Freyalise Supplicant

The only green card on the list, Freyalise Supplicant has a number of drawbacks. For starters, you can only sacrifice red or white creatures, which severely limits its usefulness. It also only deals damage equal to half the creature’s power, which is also a bit of a bizarre restriction these days. It does allow you to fling something every turn though, so there’s that!

#22. Final Strike

Final Strike is starting to look more like the fling effects we’re used to. The wording is different, but at its heart, this is a 4-mana double-black Fling. It doesn’t hit creatures, so it’s just a way to get through that last bit of damage, but it’s still notably better to the previous entries.

#21. Tiger-Tribe Hunter

After a number of old cards, which are notably weaker because power creep is a thing, it’s strange to see a card as modern as Tiger-Tribe Hunter not break the top 20. It’s an uncommon, of course, but there’s just too many restrictions on it for me. You need to attack with it, and you need to attack with total power 6 or greater. After all that, you also can’t even hit face with it. It’s just awkward, even when stapled to a 4/4 trampler for 5 mana.

#20. Bloodshot Cyclops

Bloodshot Cyclops is pretty much the archetypal example of a fling on a stick. Repeatable, hits anything, and a decent body to boot. It’s a clean design, and maybe one that’s been outclassed by more recent entries, but I could still see this turning up at uncommon in a modern-day Limited format. Sometimes simple designs are the best.

Plus, the art has it flinging a creature. Bonus points there.

#19. Bloodfire Infusion

Bloodfire Infusion is one of the more unique designs for a fling. You could just see it as a version of the card, and that’s absolutely fine. It gives you the opportunity to delay the sacrifice, though, which can be really useful. Slightly better than it first looks, this still isn’t as good as the effect’s namesake.

#18. Rite of Consumption

Rite of Consumption is one of a subclass of flings that also gain you life. You can’t hit a creature with it, which takes something away, but it’s still a good effect, especially for 2 mana. This can really turn the game around, even if it doesn’t end it on the spot, and could see play in even more modern EDH decks with the right justification. Want to sacrifice your commander? This isn’t a bad way to do it.

#17. Starlit Sanctum

Fling on a land? Sign me up. Okay, there’s some drawbacks here. Mainly that it only works with clerics. But if you want to sac clerics, this is your card. You can even sacrifice your clerics with Starlit Sanctum to gain life. Not bad!

This is a gem in the right deck, and attaching effects to lands is super powerful. If this worked with any creature, it would be pretty heavily played.

#16. Catapult Fodder

Some might argue that Catapult Fodder isn’t technically a fling, but I think it passes the “sniff test” of fling spells. Yes, it doesn’t care about power, but it does work pretty much the same way for toughness. If I could find a Fling spell that cared about something like mana value, I’d include this on the list too.

It doesn’t hit creatures either, but it also makes your opponent lose life rather than take damage, which helps in a pinch. It’s got a big butt of its own, and definitely deserves a place on the list.

#15. Barrage Tyrant

Barrage Tyrant comes with a major drawback in that you can only sacrifice colorless creatures. The reason it’s this high on the list is that it’s the first example we have where it’s repeatable without a tap cost. This is huge in the right situation, and you could theoretically sacrifice your entire board to take out your opponents. Without this repeatability, it would be pretty poor, but it’s still a great card in the right situation.

#14. Blood-Chin Fanatic

Similar to but better than Barrage Tyrant, Blood-Chin Fanatic is restricted by only being able to fling your warriors, but it also gains you life and is cheaper to activate than Barrage Tyrant. If you’re playing warriors, this isn’t the worst card you could include to get that last bit of damage through.

#13. Surtland Flinger

We’re on a bit of a streak of fling effects that are conditional in what they can sacrifice. Not intentional, honest! And this one is only kind of conditional….

Surtland Flinger would be fairly unremarkable if it weren’t for the last line on its rules text. What’s better than yeeting your biggest creature to punch your opponent in the face directly? Doing it for double damage, of course! I wouldn’t include this unless I was doing giant things, but if I’m feeling gigantic, I’m feeling Surtland Flinger!

#12. Pyrrhic Blast

This article is aimed at the type of Magic player that wants to chuck their beefers at their opponents faces. There is, of course, another type of player who would prefer to just draw cards. If they were to have a kid, that kid might enjoy Pyrrhic Blast. Fling plus draw a card, at “only” 2 extra mana. 4 mana is a lot of mana for a Fling, but this ticks all the other boxes.

#11. Heart-Piercer Manticore

There’s a few ETBs that fling creatures, but Heart-Piercer Manticore lets you do it twice! It’s got to die first, but you can just use another fling for that. The stick that this fling is attached to isn’t bad either; a 4-mana 4/3 (6 mana to embalm) is pretty good. Still, it can’t sac after blockers, which is a big drawback, and is still 4 mana.

#10. Grab the Reins

What’s better than lobbing one of your creatures into your opponent’s face? That’s right, lobbing one of their own creatures at them instead. That’s just what Grab the Reins does. It’s expensive to get both parts, but it’s worth it. They’ve got a beefy creature that’s giving you a headache? Get rid of it while thunking them in the head at the same time. Happy days! Well, maybe not for them.

#9. Kazuul’s Fury

The Zendikar Rising MDFC lands are known for being better than they first look. Kazuul's Fury is Fling for 1 more mana, one that can also double as a land in a pinch. We’re getting close to the not-quite-OG Fling now, but still not quite there yet!

#8. Thud

One of the things I love about Fling is the name. It’s so evocative, and when Thud was spoiled I loved it for the same reason. I almost expected it to have an exclamation point at the end of the name. A true and worthy sequel to the awesome Fling.

Only 1 mana, but sorcery speed. This has a place in some more competitive decks, such as Hammer Time decks where you attack with a 10-power creature on turn 2 and then sacrifice it to Thud when you can’t get through. Situationally more powerful than Fling, I don’t think it’s quite there, myself.

#7. Soulblast

Enjoy flinging your creatures, but find it arduous to do it one by one? Well, it sounds like you want Soulblast. Better in decks that go wide rather than tall, you can hit your opponent for a lot with this one. It does have a bit of a drawback in that you can only hit a single target with it, so it’s less good in multiplayer. It’s super fun, though.

#6. Voldaren Thrillseeker

One of the more recent entries on the list, Voldaren Thrillseeker is a Fling that can also add a couple of other points of damage on. In the March of the Machine Limited format, the dream (at least for some… like me) was to use this with Yargle and Multani to dome your opponent for 20 damage in a single shot. Was it competitive? No. Was it hilarious? Absolutely.

Another good thing here is that after using it with the backup ability, you can still Fling your Thrillseeker itself. Raise its power up then just sac itself!

#5. Ziatora, the Incinerator

Ziatora, the Incinerator is a big card with a big attitude. As a fling, it’s not blowing anything out of the water, but the value you get around that is second to none. Big flier, Treasures, and multiple Flings? There are worse creatures to head up a Fling-flavored deck.

#4. Callous Sell-Sword

Callous Sell-Sword or, more accurately the Burn Together adventure, is next. Not quite the traditional Fling effect (here your opponent can remove the sacrificed creature in response to casting the spell), but it has upsides in that the creature itself deals damage to the target, so deathtouch or lifelink will work (as will abilities that trigger when the creature deals the damage).

On top of all this, you also get the ability to just cast a 2-mana 2/2 or 3/3 afterwards? Pretty good, if you ask me!

#3. Fling

Into the top 3, and we have the card you’ve all been waiting for. The one, the only Fling! It was never going to get the top spot, but for a card that was originally printed in 1998, this has held up well over the years.

It’s easy to see why this is the card we think of when we see these effects, even if it wasn’t the first. It’s so clean and right on the edge of being competitive from time to time. Who knows how many newbies (and veterans!) this card has inspired over the years? I still love seeing it crop up in Limited formats to this day.

#2. Brion Stoutarm

So, what can be better than Fling itself? Well, Fling isn’t repeatable, and it doesn’t allow you to gain life. While Fling itself has some advantages over Brion Stoutarm, the benefits are also pretty clear. Fling something every turn and gain life? It’s pretty good. Your opponent will want to deal with this one quickly.

#1. Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes

This is a card that’s played in Legacy and a powerful card outside of the Fling effect, but that same effect is an integral part of the card’s power. Invading MTG from the Baldur’s Gate universe of D&D, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes snuck up on plenty of players and found a place in the most powerful MTG formats. It’s just so efficient in a format not designed to deal with creatures well, and it provides a huge amount of value. Plus, if you’re going to fling anything, you probably want to fling a dwarf giant hamster….

Best Fling Payoffs

When using these Fling effects, you’ll always be sacrificing things. This means that effects that trigger off sacrificing creatures or even just creature deaths work pretty well with Fling!

For example, Juri, Master of the Revue grows when sacrificing other things, but it also essentially gives you an extra Fling when you sacrifice it. Korvold, Fae-Cursed King also grows in a similar way, but it draws you cards when you sacrifice things, which helps to replace the resources spent by sacrificing all your stuff!

Speaking of drawing cards, Morbid Opportunist is another great way to keep your hand stocked as you’re throwing all your creatures at your opponent!

Can You Copy Fling?

You can copy Fling, and it works exactly how you’d like it to! Because sacrificing a creature is an additional cost, when it’s copied you’ve already paid the cost of the copy, so you don’t need to sacrifice anything else. Not bad at all!

How Does Fling Work with Kalamax?

Kalamax, the Stormsire has a bit of a unique interaction with the traditional Fling effects. Because a spell is only cast after all costs are paid (and with Fling, sacrificing Kalamax would be one of those costs), you never have the opportunity to copy the spell. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. An effect like the adventure side of Callous Sell-Sword doesn’t sacrifice the creature until the end of the effect (it’s not a cost) so you could copy it with Kalamax.

Does Fling Count as Commander Damage?

Fling doesn’t count as commander damage. Only combat damage counts towards commander damage.

Wrap Up

Thud | Illustration by Kev Walker

You’ve made it this far. Did you spot any Flings that you didn’t expect? It’s clearly a much-loved card that’s been repeated, but rarely bettered, over the years. Sometimes a card design just gets the mechanics, art, name, and flavor just right, and I think Fling definitely deserves to tick all of those boxes.

What’s your fondest memory of casting a Fling? Has it won you a pre-release? Have you run it at competitive events? I’d love to hear your Fling-tacular stories in the comments down below or over in the official Draftsim Discord!

Until next time, may all your flings be instant speed and hit any target!