If it's in your draw hand it might hide future cards you'll draw, which is a drawback. If you draw into this card there is absolutely no drawback whatsoever. At the very least you can immediately replace it for free. That's free deck thinning. I can see why this should be in every red OR green deck.
Posted By:
Nathreet
(12/31/2010 8:51:31 PM)
@keikun332: It's not the only card of its kind. See also Time Spiral.
Posted By:
AvatarOfHOE
(1/27/2011 12:48:30 PM)
Actually is the Izzet combo infinite at all? You are copying the spell before it resolves, and you dont get the mana from the resolution. Its greeeat mana accel and card draw but not infinite.
Actually, when I think about it, this card is kind of broken. Its free and takes up no card advantage whatsoever
Posted By:
TheSwarm
(4/18/2011 8:00:29 PM)
It's essentially nothing-you get back the mana you spent, and you replace it! Amazing deck thinning, plus color fixing, and crazy combo potential, especially with Izzet Guildmage and Training Grounds...the epitome of a card that works for Johnny for his comboing needs, Timmy to play his fatties, and Spike because, well, it's freaking awesome!
5/5
Posted By:
Superllama12
(5/24/2011 6:05:24 PM)
@Cheesechimp: I have a one-of Elixir of Immortality in my Thopter Foundry+Sword of the Meek+Time Seive infinite turn combo. Infinite to the Elixir, and recycle. Though that takes 3 mana to activate, so you need at least two other card in the graveyard (some sort of free sac/spell drop like Ashnod's Coupon (heh), Black Lotus (yeah right) Lotus Petal (you'd only need one of these, not two cards) Dark Sphere, Delif's Cone, Shifting Wall, Phyrexian Maurader, Tormod's Crypt, Mishra's Urza's Bauble, any Pact) for the Manamorphose combo, or else you'll be losing one mana per cycle. A lot of options, and when you have your deck in your hand they should be easy t... (see all)
Posted By:
Tynansdtm
(5/25/2011 11:34:46 AM)
@cheesechimp - Not to call you out or anything, since you're not wrong, but I'd like to add that, while the combo to which you're referring (Manamorphose + Izzet Guildmage + Training Grounds) is not infinite from the standpoint of a built deck, as the deck has a determined side, and this cantrips, it is infinite from a potential standpoint, in that the potential size of a deck has no upper bound, so the possible amount of mana/card draw is also without an upper limit (not that it is at all advisable to make a thousand-card deck or so).
Also, @Fictionarious, this does have the (not insignificant) boon of being an instant.
Posted By:
Corey_bayoudragonfly
(7/26/2011 8:29:58 PM)
An absolutely beast card. Red decks choose not to run it only when they just honestly can't fit it in. All combo and storm decks consider if not auto-include it.
The only thing it could do to be better, besides more mana, is tutor instead of draw and at that point we're encroaching on power nine territory.
On top of all that: It's a wicked fun card to play with!
Posted By:
Nukeleo
(8/20/2011 7:34:54 PM)
Due to Innistrad Training Grounds, Izzet Guildmage, Manamorphose AND Laboratory Maniac you can win extremely easy. Oh and for those wonder where to find the Innistrad spoilers go here:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/innistrad/cig#
Laboratory Maniac is blue by the way .
Posted By:
__Silence__
(9/12/2011 7:14:51 PM)
I absolutely love this card. I have a deal with a local gamestore that stockpiles these for me whenever they get them, and I buy them. I put them in every red, green, or red/green deck I build. I've never been at a disadvantage when casting them, and the drawn card is almost always useful. I probably have close to 40 of these things running through my current decks right now.
Training Grounds + Izzet Guildmage + Manamorphose + Grapeshot has become the primary combo in my most recent Izzet deck. Also runs Banefire for staving off counterspell decks.
Edit: To see how the combo works, just look at the comments for Izzet Guildmage. Someone does a similar trick with Lava Spike and Desperate Ritual. Same concept, different cards.
Posted By:
endersblade
(11/10/2011 5:17:49 PM)
It's frightening when you can't stop this + Izzet Guildmage. They just respond to whatever you do with more mana and more card draw. Thank god for Sudden Spoiling.
Posted By:
igniteice
(12/16/2011 11:12:48 AM)