It isn't an awful card. It can be combined well with Psychosis Crawler giving your opponent a choice between 1) sparing some damage and card advantage but allowing the tutor 2) taking damage and allowing card advantage but stopping your tutor effect.
Should it be rare? No. Do I kinda get ***ed when I see it in a booster I just spent $4 on? Yes. Is it a bad card? No.
Posted By:
Kalasia
(4/18/2011 1:33:14 PM)
pulled this and the blightsteel colossus in the same day. i amlost want to make a deck with both so when they pick the 12 costed beast i have no way to cheat out they will feel like they really dicked up my strategy lol
Posted By:
krauser-gogetthegirl
(4/26/2011 12:55:13 AM)
Let's see what this card does... point A DIabolic Tutor. same cost. tutors for anything you want. Your catch being that your opponent knows what card you're getting. point B your opponent can choose wether you can have the card you want/need. his/her catch being a large card advantage if you don't get what you want. unfortunately, like Diabolic Tutor, its a sorcery :P . I dont see much problem with playing fair. Besides, blue isnt about being straightforward, it burns alot more when your opponent realises a single mistake cost them the game
Posted By:
Gheridarigaaz
(2/7/2012 12:55:34 PM)
Became a little more usable because of Runic Repetition. You go search for a card with Flashback. Either you get that or you get three cards and use the previously mentioned Repetition to get the flashback card back.
Edit: You now have Misthollow Griffin to search out. Which makes this card slightly more playable.
Posted By:
ninjaboy05
(7/13/2012 10:51:56 AM)
Fun for mind-games.
Functionally worse than Concentrate, but the drawback isn't too hefty, considering.
Sometimes it's nice to play a card that is technically worse than another card, but lets you play mind games with your opponent.
Posted By:
NoobOfLore
(9/5/2012 11:54:37 PM)
When used right, it is a tutor and a draw three. Forces you to splash white, and/or black though.
1.Distant Memories
2.Pull from Eternity
3.Raise Dead or Call to Mind
Better yet, Cloudshift your Archaeomancer in a blue/white as a 6 mana tutor, +draw 3.
Posted By:
Memitim
(1/16/2013 3:19:24 AM)
If you're playing multiplayer and not dominating the board, this should become diabolic tutor in blue.
In one on one, this is strictly worse than Concentrate - if it's more advantageous as a Concentrate than as a tutor, you won't get that effect.
Posted By:
djflo
(1/25/2013 12:47:11 AM)
It's not a great card but I feel I should at least add that it's unfair to compare it to Diabolic Tutor seeing as how black gets more powerful tutor effects.
Posted By:
TPmanW
(4/29/2013 8:48:46 PM)
Kinda like Library of Lat-Nam. Also, just stumbled upon an interesting usage. I have a Bruna, Light of Alabaster EDH deck, and it has issues with getting the general tucked (obviously). This card can go grab her for 2UU and shove her in the general zone (use the replacement effect when this card exiles her, since otherwise she will be exiled permanently when someone inevitably lets you draw 3).
Posted By:
auriscope
(6/13/2013 9:46:32 AM)
This is probably the best protection against tuck cards in EDH that blue can run. I use it in My Ixidor deck, even though he isn't a huge target usually, my group runs a lot of tuck. (I am the only person without white in my main deck)
Either your opponent lets you search for your commander and drop it into your hand (usually what happens) or they make you throw it to command zone and draw 3. It seems insane to do the later, but it might be worth it if that player has played their commander a bunch and wouldn't be able to afford it from command I guess.
Outside of commander its a fun twist on concentrate, but probably not worth playing if you are a spike kind of player. At 3CMC it would have been a good card, but I don't think this was ever intended to be a really strong card. Just add it to the growing pool of punisher cards though and make a UBR deck around it.
Posted By:
Enelysios
(11/29/2013 11:00:28 PM)