Hello and happiest of days to each of you! Back in the time of the broken Mirrodin block, I played in some tournaments with stuff like Mono-White Control. But once that broken Block arrived, I sort of gave up on it since I also played tons of casual formats from Five-Color the format to Type Four, to Peasant and such. I just embraced those more. This was the first example of an artifacts-matter set and it was rough.

At that time, there were some powerful cards for most Constructed and Casual formats, like Skullclamp that's amazing card draw or Sword of Fire and Ice, and one-time Standard and Casual all-star Solemn Simulacrum. Mind's Eye was a great card draw powerhouse for multiplayer, which isn't getting the play it deserves today in formats like Commander. But there was one card, in Fifth Dawn, that was amazing in every casual deck, from Five Color to multiplayer - Vedalken Orrery, the 4-drop colorless artifact that gives all of our spells flash!

Vedalken Orrery changed the way we played the game! Once it's in play, there's no need to cast stuff on your turn; you can wait to see what your opponents are doing before dropping your stuff. You can cast a sweeper at instant speed, like Damnation or Supreme Verdict, when someone swings your way with lethal damage, or at your planeswalkers. You can also flash out a Nevinyrral's Disk tapped EOT and then untap and have it ready to use. Think about flashing out ramp spells like Cultivate or Explosive Vegetation. Time Warp?

You can flash out blockers no one was expecting, like a Dragon to kill them on the back swing or a surprise Reach creature like Silklash Spider. My favorite trick is to flash out an ETB dork kill like Flametongue Kavu or Ravenous Chupacabra, kill one thing and then block and trade with another. You can draw two with a Mulldrifter and chump, drop an Eternal Witness or cast Regrowth, and then cast what you grabbed, all at Instant speed! You can drop Karmic Guide or Sun Titan for recursion or Primeval Titan to get lands. The list goes on!

Waiting until the end of your opponents' turns to cast your spells is a gamechanger because it gives you the flexibility to wait and see if you need a counterspell or if you're free to cast generic card draw like Fact or Fiction, Tidings, or Deep Analysis. When you have a Flash Engine in play, all your mana untapped, and a hand full of cards it will often force folks to look elsewhere for their attacks and targets since they just don't know what you're capable of.

Of course, not all flash engines are created equal. Some just allow you to cast certain card types at Instant Speed (like the Artifacts only Shimmer Myr)! But that hasn't stopped them from dominating Constructed Magic. So? Let's dive in to get ready for good ones!

What Kind of Flash Engine Should I Play?

Sorcery Speed-Up

Let's start with some fun Izzet-colored dorks that give our sorceries flash, from X-cost Burn spells to card draw. Hypersonic Dragon is a great option since it has a sizeable body, flying and haste! Najal, the Storm Runner does something similar, but it can be your Commander, then when he swings you can pay two mana to copy your next spell. There's also Whirling Stormbrood that lets you cast sorceries and Dragons at Instants speed, and Wizards of Thay.

Kindred

There are also flash engines for beloved creature types like Quick Sliver for Slivers. Singer of Swift Rivers can flash for 3/2 and then hands out a Shield counter and then our Merfolk flash. Renari, Merchant of Marvels lets you choose a background and casts Dragons and artifacts at Instant speed. Then we have a couple of ways to give our Spirits flash, like Rattlechains. We also have the enchantment called Breath of the Sleepless that gives you a nice bit of tempo when it arrives.

When They are Good for Commander

Now let's turn to flash enablers that are good when at the helm of a Commander deck. Sally Sparrow gives all your critters flash. Not bad! And when you do lose one of your creatures, you can make a Clue token (once per turn). She's great at dropping dorks with precision, and she's from a beloved Time Travel episode of Dr. Who called "Blink"... so that makes sense! Yeva, Nature's Herald has Flash and gives all of your Green dorks Flash.

Elsha of the Infinite lets you cast spells from the top of your library if they are a non-creatures and gives them flash too! Combining Vedalken Orrery and Future Sight is a winning combo. Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage gives that sweet Flash to all historic spells so all artifacts, Sagas, and legendary spells.

When They are Good for Multiplayer

These two dorks are just amazingly good in multiplayer and I take every chance I can to talk about them. Tidal Barracuda gives Flash to all players' spells, which is great for making friends, right? Yup! The trick is, your foes cannot cast things on your turn. Prophet of Kruphix is so good it was banned in Commander, but you can run it in other formats! It's got a smaller 2/3 body and it gives your creatures flash. Oh, and it's a Seedborn Muse that untaps your creatures and lands during each untap step, which is just kind all kinds of broken for a Flash Engine.

When They are Good for Your Casual Brew

Now let's start with things that are great for more specific builds. Sigarda's Aid gives your Auras and Equipment flash! It also lets you auto-equip your Equipment on arrival. It's the ideal first turn drop for Auras, Equipment and Voltron brews. We also have an Aura flasher in Rootwater Shaman! That's nasty with Control Magic or Rootwater Matriarch. Vivien, Champion of the Wilds lets you cast your dorks with flash. Then you can +1 her and then give your dork two keywords to swing and block with reach and vigilance. You can also -2 her to dig for and exile a creature to cast later. I often toss her in my creature-based brews!

One of the most flexible flash cast potentials is non-creature spells. Valley Floodcaller gives Flash to all of your non-creature spells, and I adore how they won't know it's coming until you cast this on their turn. It also serves as a viable engine and threat since it can pump some of your creatures and then untap them for a surprise block out of nowhere.

Skittering Cicada gives all of your colorless spells Flash, and has a cast trigger that gives it +X/+X and trample, where X is equal to the cast spell's mana value. Finally, Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter can be a Commander or support piece for artifacts and colorless spells, all on a 3-drop flash machine. I have written about its value as a colorless and artifact Commander and built around it too right here!

When They are Free-to-Add Lands

Because lands don't take up a traditional slot in your deck, they can be added in a little more freely. Winding Canyons is colorless and costs colorless mana to use, giving creature spells you cast this turn flash. But its on the Reserved List! Alchemist's Refuge does something very similar, but requires to tap as a tradeoff for giving all of your spells Flash for the turn, not just creatures. Emergence Zone, gives all of your spells Flash this turn for one colorless mana, but you also have to sacrifice your land.

Great Flash Engines

As you can see, save for Alchemist's Refuge, Emergence Zone, and then Vedalken Orrery, most of these engines give Flash to a subset of cards. This final batch, before we talk about some controversial stuff, gives everything Flash! High Fae Trickster was printed more recently but gives you Flash on a 4/2 flying body. Then we have Leyline of Anticipation, harder to cast but harder to answer than a creature, and can start in play for free if you drew it in your opening hand, which and is just bonkers when it happens.

When They Broke Other Formats

And now we have some flash and flash-adjacent cards that dominated formats and you may want to steer clear of in your more casual games (or not, totally up to your preference). Aluren is top of its class, and lets all players drop a cheap creature at flash speed. People like that since it helps them out too, but it's also a combo engine that wins the game with the right set up. Luckily it's on the Reserved List and costly. Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir dominated Standard when legal since he gives all of your creatures flash, but shuts down your foes from casting stuff on your turn or even at Instant speed on their own turn. So, that's a bit of a feel bad. Teferi, Time Raveler forces your opponents to play at sorcery speed, which no one wants, and then +1s to give your sorceries Flash and then -3s to bounce and draw.

And there we are! I hope that you enjoyed this fun deep dive into giving your spells Flash, and I hope you were inspired to slot a Flash Engine into your next Casual brew!