Traditional magnesia-carbon bricks made with synthetic tar binders according to the cold mixing process harden and acquire the necessary strength during tar damage, thus forming isotropic glassy carbon. This carbon exhibits no thermoplasticity, which in time relieves substantial stress during liner baking or handling. The magnesia-carbon brick produced with pitch binder has high high temperature plasticity due to the formation of anisotropic graphitized coke structure during the carbonization of pitch.