It is the ONLY instant speed draw in extended for 2cmc that nets you +1 CA...yes i know that you have to flash it back a turn later but it's still 2 for 1.
Orim-s_Thunder
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
The more I play this, the more I become disillusioned with its power. It just doesn't cut it in the early game, but late it's amazing.
Nathreet
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(5 votes)
5 mana for a single card advantage is garbage. There are a handful of other colorless cards that will do the same... and they're also fairly poor. This is blue, you shouldn't need to resort to spending 5 mana for a 1 card advantage.
grimmah11
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
@ Nathreet:
how is it 5 mana for +1? it's 1U for the first cost, then you can flashback it later on for 2U for another card.
it's 5 mana for two cards which can be paid over two turns if needed. not too shabby.
Gabriel422
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Actually quite played back in the days. Like Mulldrifter, it was a card that I was almost always happy to see. It's a bonus if you can feed this to their discard spells.
Ranger12479
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
This actually combos quite well with the various looters essentially letting you draw 2 for 3 CMC at instant speed. I would have prefer to see something like this cost U for the initial casting cost and UU for the flashback cost. I don't believe UUU to draw two at instant speed is under cost when Divination and Counsel of the Soratami cost 2U for the same at sorcery speed. The rarity probably moves from common to uncommon in this case.
whiteshadw
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@grimmah11
By one card advantage he means one more card that he wouldnt have if he hadnt cast the spell. since you lose the card as you cast the spell you need to draw a second card to end up with more cards in hand then when you started.
Kryptnyt
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
It's better than Jace's Ingenuity and much better than Mysteries of the Deep because its ease of casting. Didn't need to cast Counterspell on turn 2? You have card draw on turn 2. Same on turn 3. It is also very nice in control matchups, where they would counter your card draw. It would be awesome in a deck built around Archmage Ascension.
Salient
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Fun to dump in a cheap Dredge deck; it's a budget Deep Analysis.
JaxsonBateman
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
From the current rating and the comments, this card seems to be very underrated. A 2 mana cycle is fine, and because it's instant speed you can save your mana for counter magic, then draw a card at EOT if you didn't need to.
Being able to then cycle it *again* for 3 mana is fantastic - same situation; you can easily leave counter mana up, then if you didn't need it, get your card advantage.
It's a 4/5 IMO. And I'm hoping to see it back in Innistrad.
DarthParallax
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(6 votes)
This won't be seeing strict reprint in Innistrad. But it might be functionally reprinted, or 'bent' a bit to match Innistrad's flavor better. New name for sure, possibly new effect. My two bits on the Flashback Draw we'll likely see is Deep Analysis. Fits the mad scientists very well, and it costs life, which is Innistrad-y
ICEFANG13
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Its being reprinted completely the same except perhaps the art and flavor text
Thrax7
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Being reprinted in Innistrad. :D
Lyoncet
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(6 votes)
So according to Gatherer community ratings, this card, which saw play in pretty much every competitive control deck of its day and wlll again in Innistrad, is worse than Personal Sanctuary.
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coyotemoon722
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Have no clue of why this is a good card. I've been playing for quite a while too. I mean it cantrips upon first casting, so that's a complete waste. Okay, you get ONE card for 3 at instant speed later in the game. Yes, it's 5 mana for a net of 1 card. I must be missing something.
EpitomeOfEvilness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
try divination. This card will let you devote 2 extra mana to get a card 1 turn earlier. it will take up 2nt and 3rd turns. no good. now if it was and , as ranger12479 suggested, then it would be playable.
Arachibutyrophobia
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
the card that IS a cantrip
leomistico
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I've played it a lot in those days in some Izzet deck. Casting the same spell twice is a huge advantage when you control cards like Gelectrode or Wee Dragonauts, and drawing cards made my Niv-Mizzet a serious threat, as if it need a help... The fact that it's an instant that costs 2CMC make it so playable at the end of your opponent's turn, while you kept two lands untapped to counter something with Remand, in case!
This card is so much win... Simple and powerful! 5/5
LeoKula
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card makes Deep Analysis look like Ancestral Recall lmao
Anybody who says that Divination is better does not understand draw-go control decks. Playing everything at instant speed at the end of your opponent's turn lets you keep mana up for counterspells and draw if they don't play anything threatening. Scrubs who don't understand this tap out turn 3 for Divination and get wrecked when their opponent plays a Geist of Saint Traft.
Comments (23)
how is it 5 mana for +1? it's 1U for the first cost, then you can flashback it later on for 2U for another card.
it's 5 mana for two cards which can be paid over two turns if needed. not too shabby.
By one card advantage he means one more card that he wouldnt have if he hadnt cast the spell. since you lose the card as you cast the spell you need to draw a second card to end up with more cards in hand then when you started.
It would be awesome in a deck built around Archmage Ascension.
Being able to then cycle it *again* for 3 mana is fantastic - same situation; you can easily leave counter mana up, then if you didn't need it, get your card advantage.
It's a 4/5 IMO. And I'm hoping to see it back in Innistrad.
:\
This card is so much win... Simple and powerful!
5/5
Think Twice
Desperate Ravings
Faithless Looting
Distortion Strike
Staggershock
Kiln Fiend
Gelectrode
Guttersnipe
Nivmagus Elemental
Skaab Ruinator
:D