ve evaluated in an experimental campaign comprising a handful of case studies over several years the use of the magneto-inertial fusion electric discharge system, MIFEDS for use as an external source of magnetic fields for use in high energy density laboratory astrophysics, HEDLA experiments on the high energy laser facility OMEGA. Our case studies are each an experimental analogue of a magnetized astrophysical phenomenon, most recently they include magnetic deflection of plasma flows analogous to the scenario of the solar wind's deflection around a planetary magnetosphere. We find that, although the influence of the MIFEDS field on the plasma flow topology may prove difficult to discern with optical instruments, proton imaging techniques that directly reveal the field topology show the underlying interfaces within the flow in sharp relief. Hence, we validate the MIFEDS as a source of magnetic fields that can act, when used together with proton imaging, as a penetrating tracer for assessing the topology of interfaces between high energy laser-driven flows.