Creatures and removals are the two most stable types of spells in limited environments. Unsurprisingly, they usually account for the greater chunk of the deck―between 80%–90% of the spells are creatures and removals. However, other types of spells―ֿfinishers, combat tricks, life gainers and mana accelerators―are important too. The difference is that they are much more situational and therefore we should be cautious not to include an excessive number of them in the deck. In the right kind of deck and in the right amount, they can be very useful.    

This group of cards is designed to take the last chunk out of the opponent’s life points for winning the game. There are two types of typical finishers:

1. Spells aimed at the opponent’s ‘head’, meaning extracting a chunk of her life points, such as Lava Axe. A variant of this kind are spells that ‘pump’ a creature’s power at a sorcery speed.
2. Spells that temporarily neutralize the opponent’s line of defense and allow attacking creatures to finish off the opponent. For example: Ray of Indifference.

Sensitivity to mana cost

As we already saw in one of the previous chapters, finishers are the group of spells that are least sensitive to mana cost. The reason for this is that it is preferable to use these spells only when they can be used to achieve victory (that is, to reduce the opponent’s life amount to 0), and this situation only exists in the relatively late stages of the game, when in any case the player has at his disposal many means of producing mana. Why is it not worthwhile using finishers early in the game? Can’t I use, for example, Lava Axe even before the opponent is down to 5 life or less? Of course, I can. However, usually in this situation the card will not have much effect because it will not change the situation on the battlefield. If the opponent controls the battlefield and I drop his life point score from 6 to 1, I have gained nothing except putting her on alert. In doing so, I lost the element of surprise, which is the most important element in this type of card.

The same applies to finishers of the second type. Effective use of cards such as Ray of Influence requires control of several creatures capable of reducing the opponent’s life to 0 in one attack. Using this type of card too soon will aggravate my situation―I attacked with all creatures; I did not overcome the opponent; I am now completely exposed to a counterattack.

MTG Finishers cost in cards

One of the prominent characteristics of this group of spells is that their use changes the balance of cards to the detriment of the player since their effect does not force the opponent to give up a card. If such a spell is in a player’s hand, she is actually playing with one less card until the moment comes when it can be used to speed up victory. This is a serious limitation and reduces the amount of spells from this group that we would like to include in a deck (a MTG pro-player once said that when she was able to put together a good deck, she never found a place in it for such a card).

MTG Finishers under the stability test

The finishers as a group are situational cards in terms of the frequency of their ultimate use: they are only effective when the game can be decided using them (when the opponent’s life quota is low, when I have enough creatures for a decisive attack, etc.). Sometimes, finishers benefit from a certain flexibility that makes them more stable.

For example, when the player is on the defensive and needs time to stabilize the board, they may also use spells that tap all the opponent’s creatures, thereby preventing them from blocking.

A specialty situational finisher is sorceries: these inflict the extra damage by ‘pumping’ a creature. The reason is that you not only need to lower the opponent’s life points to the required level but also require a creature with an open path. These liabilities make this kind of spell unplayable most of the time.

Effective modes: attack, race, standstill. Less effective: defensive.

Summary Table: Finishers

Aspect	Description
Definition	Cards used to deliver the final blow, reducing opponent’s life to zero.
Main Types	1. Direct damage to opponent (e.g., Lava Axe). 2. Temporarily neutralize blockers to enable a final attack (e.g., Ray of Indifference).
Mana Cost Sensitivity	Low sensitivity – intended for late game use when mana is abundant. Using them early gives little advantage and often loses surprise value.
Card Cost	High – usually doesn’t affect the board or force a trade with opponent’s cards. Keeping it in hand reduces effective card count until it’s usable.
Stability	Situational – only effective when opponent is near defeat or player has a clear path to win. Some have added flexibility (e.g., tapping opponent’s creatures to stabilize defense).
Typical Use Modes	Effective in: – Attacking – Racing – Standstills Less effective in: – Defensive situations