Aside from ante-hate, there's no reason for this card to be rated so low. It's a one-sided "draw to seven" for B. The ante effect doesn't really matter since you'll rarely lose with this sort of card advantage.
This card is a staple in any format where it's allowed for a reason.
Posted By:
VampireCat
(1/18/2011 8:29:22 AM)
This basically means "win a game in which you're playing ante."
Posted By:
Radagast
(11/6/2011 7:56:01 AM)
I'll say it right now. Strongest pound-for-pound card in Magic. Inspiration for Necropotence, along with Greed
Posted By:
Kryptnyt
(12/21/2011 12:35:10 AM)
Best draw card ever!
Posted By:
Mortisss
(6/3/2009 6:40:17 AM)
Some one rate this less than 4.5? O_O The only reason I see people dislike it is ante, and that's not even a drawback when you can draw 7 cards with one mana.
Posted By:
Cyberium
(5/19/2010 5:38:23 PM)
Nothing to prevent you using a Wish to put this into your hand from outside the game.
Posted By:
A3Kitsune
(3/16/2010 7:00:23 AM)
Only useful if you have friends still willing to play ante.
Posted By:
Ibn_Shisha
(6/10/2013 9:27:19 AM)
Sad to say, this card earns little more than a 0.5 out of 5 because you can only use it in about 0.002% of Magic games. When's the last time any of you played for ante? That's what I thought. :-)
The last time I played for ante was 18 years ago as of this writing. We used sealed decks of Ice Age. Unfortunately, there was no Contract from Below in that set, only Amulet of Quoz. Heh.
Posted By:
DrJack
(9/24/2013 11:15:15 AM)