This card is absurd in limited, it's essentially, I draw a million cards, ok? And then I play shadow slice and kill you.
Posted By:
Ligerman30
(2/17/2013 8:50:27 AM)
I strongly take issue with the naming of this card.
Good name...for a card it makes more sense on. Something with finality, not repeatability.
Posted By:
LordOfTheFlies87
(1/24/2013 7:35:59 AM)
Key differences between this an Curiosity is that this is 'casted' again, allowing you to activate Extort in response (for example). This also is not an enchantment, which basically halves the effective removal options for the Encoded card (Naturalize and the like are not relevant). Finally, you could cast this and then attack, meaning it was used twice for the price of one (a reason for the higher than average CMC of Cipher cards).
There; three reasons for the 
extra cost.
Posted By:
Existential
(1/25/2013 3:48:11 PM)
Pretty apparent the commenters here don't play much limited. Any decent cipher card is bonkers in a deck with a decent density of evasion creatures, but cipher card that gives you cards?! You cast it and draw a card, cipher, and look expectantly at your opponent for removal, and if they do spend removal, they just got two-for-oned. If they don't spend removal, you have a card-drawing machine. And this card is a common. This card is not just reasonable, it's exciting at four mana.
Posted By:
metalevolence
(1/27/2013 11:58:09 AM)
You can't Naturalize a Ciphered card. You can Naturalize Curiosity.
That, and this cantrips when you cast it.
Tell me you would pay at least three mana for a cantripped Curiosity.
Posted By:
NoobOfLore
(1/26/2013 6:18:39 PM)
"Curiosity has a cmc of 1. Is it really worth just for an added cantrip?"
Whenever people discuss this card, they seem to conveniently forget that its a sorcery. How is the price fair?
1. It gets you one card upon resolving from your hand.
2. It gets you a second card the turn it is cast if you hit with a ciphered creature, and a third one if that creature has double strike.
3. It gets you many more cards if you can keep getting through with the ciphered creature on subsequent turns.
It's actually more like Divination than Curiosity. You can easily nab two cards the turns you cast it for just 1 over Divination. You'd have to be in a very tight spot to cast this when you can't benefit from cipher, otherwise you're daft and you probably deserve to lose the game for not knowing how to take good advantage of a card.
The card is well balanced: card draw is very powerful, and y... (see all)
Posted By:
RickyBo
(1/23/2013 4:23:52 PM)
Curiosity has a cmc of 1. Is it really worth just for an added cantrip?
Posted By:
ThePinkBaron
(1/22/2013 6:51:58 PM)
Now, this card replaces itself, but even on the ideal Invisible Stalker it is a 6 cmc one-sided howling mine. Or a turn four one-sided howling mine. Both Tandem Lookout and Curiosity set that up turn three at the cost of fragility. But, the thing is, turn four is the turn that Stalker becomes fragile. Any control deck is going to field wipe him first chance they get, especially if he is card advantage plus whatever you dropped on him turn three. If both decks are hitting their ideal curve, this card nets you the same amount of cards as either Tandem or Curiosity. The main difference is that its cmc puts it into a much more counterable range.
So, at three cmc, it would have maybe been playable in a tournament level constructed format as a most of the time better curiosity. It would still compete with third turn plays like Geist in its color. That doesn't seem broken to me, especially not in the current standard.
Posted By:
Taudisban
(1/28/2013 2:24:49 PM)
@ThePinkBaron: Curiosity is a permanent and can be removed separately, and it can't do anything to a shrouded creature. But yeah, it is pretty damn expensive for just a card every turn.
Posted By:
Totema
(1/22/2013 7:25:16 PM)
For the people who are complaining that its overcosted at 4, they should realize something, WoTC tests all their cards before printing. If you think they didn't initially test it at 3 mana, then you are new to this game. Obviously they tested at 3 mana and found that it was too good for a common.
With the cipher mechanic you are customizing your creatures to be better. The cipher cards encode themselves to the creature and give a saboteur ability. IF you were to lose the creature then you only lost 1 card, but if the creature hits you get a free spell. I would play this card in limited, not in extended.
To say that this card is jank is absurd, it only demonstrates how naive you are as a player.
Posted By:
vantha
(1/31/2013 10:51:36 AM)