Pointed Discussion

Sage Owl

I really like this guy! I throw him in as filler in every casual deck ever, and in Limited, he is amazing.

Epi is 1 cheeper than Sage Owl, and thus easier to fit in with your other plays for that turn and the mana you want to keep open for counterspells.

one of my favorite one drops

This guy's a lot better than the old Sage Owl, just by his cheaper cost. Now, if the owl was 1 for a 0/1 flyer, I'd take the owl, since it seems to me the point of using these guys over Index or something

When this guy came out I think I threw him into every blue deck I owned I was so excited.

It was soon after I started getting a little frustrated, as cool as his draw fix ability is he was taking up slots, as without a bounce/blink effect he is just a little chump blocker.

I still use him sparingly, though Halimar Depths has largely replaced him.

Everyone likes a good one drop though.

3.5/5

LOLZ. Better than Fugitive Wizard.

1/1s for 1 don't get much better than this. Eager Cadet went to school.

An expendable unit that lets you peek-a-boo at your library for only {U}? Cool!

I don't get why this guy is so highly rated. HE SUCKS! Seriously. Horrible card.

First: a 1/1 body is useless. It dies constantly, sucks for attacking and sucks for defending as well. A 1/1 body is only then acceptable, if the creature it is attached to has awesome abilities. Like birds of paradise, or weathered wayfarer. But once this guy is in play, he has no abilities whatsoever.
Second: his rearrange ability sucks, because you have to put those cards back on top of your library, and not on the bottom, for example. If the top four cards of your library are bad, then they will still be bad when you play this dork, because you will still draw all of them. If you search a certain combo piece, he won't help you, because if it's not among the top four cards, he won't make you get it quicker. He doesn't help you get better cards, or certain cards. And if the top four cards of your library are good, you wouldn't need him either.
Third: On turn one, he is... bad. But in the best case helps you avoid manascrew (and then I'd have rather played sapphire medallion or silver myr or whatever). But if you draw him late game? Oh god, he is not just bad, he is a nightmare. It's like the worst case scenario drawing him late game.
Fourth: he is simply not worth a card. If you want a one-mana spell to improve your card quality, play brainstorm. Or Ponder. Or Opt, or Portent. All of them are better. Why? Because they improve your card quality, AND replace themselves. You end up with the same number of cards as before playing them. This dude? You basically invest a card for horrible tiny effects that are only in the most rare cases of marginal use.

If you want a blue card for one mana, play one of those I mentioned. Or mystic remora. Or a one-mana counterspell. Or something that is good on defending, such as kraken hatchling. But this dude is outright horrible. I never played him, never will, and whenever I play a teamed game, where my teammate plays that guy, I will groan in pain and mentally prepare myself for carrying my teammate through the game. Or drag him behind me on his leg while slapping him with his 1/1 wizard dork. Understanding why this card sucks is a good step towards becoming a better player.

@Majinara; yeah, he's awful! I mean, I can wait three turns to play a Jitte and turn this guy into a moderate threat, can't I? :/
The point is that with Ponder and Brainstorm you replace your draw manipulation with a creature when you play this guy. A turn one creature in blue is pretty epic, I've seen Cursecatcher do some horrible things, and this guy is no different.
Also, Mask of the mimic.

A draw-fixing blocker that also happens to kick ass in Wizard tribal? Sign me up.

Not a terrible 1-drop. Probably won't see much use outside wizard tribal, but there it can really shine. Probably one of the top 1-drops alongside Cursecatcher and maybe Enclave Cryptologist, although leveling her up is likely to be a waste of mana once you get out Azami, Lady of Scrolls. You can cut out your Halimar Depths to speed up your mana slightly (if you want to) and increase your odds of having 3 wizards down at the end of turn 2 to go along with your turn 3 Patron Wizard, which of course you're much more likely to have if can re-arrange your library on turn 2 to have effectively dug down 9-10 cards between your hand, draws, and Sage.

Outside tribal, it can still be useful, but with Halimar Depths and some really solid blue 1-drops, there are probably better things to run. In most decks it's still not awful, but you can often find a better creature or spell for your 1-drop slot. 4/5 for tribal potential and some general usefulness.

Works wonders with Quest for Ula's temple. looking at the top 4 is usually enough to insure a trigger as early as possible.

Great card, that topdecking control cip/etb effect on him works wonders.

At first i just loved it as a decent one-drop for Wizard decks.
Even when you draw him later in the game he can still be decent, especially if you have fetchlands in your deck, this allows you to shuffle your library if you notice there's nothing on top you could need right now.

Also goes great with Coiling Oracle, as this usually ensures you can put a land into play (even a Misty Rainforest, in case you don't want the top cards.)
They also team up nicely with flicker and bounce effects. Try Trusted Advisor, or Otherworldly Journee (which is also useful against aggro).

Yeah, shuffle effects make this a lot better than "change the order in which you'll draw the same four cards".

Why is this the ONLY GOOD one-drop for multicolor (mostly blue) wizard decks? ( . . .or wizard decks in general, I do know about that one white kithkin that prevents red damage, but she's sideboard-y, and as I mention later, requires DYING to be used effectively, which just is not playable for the tribe at large IMO)

Seriously, I've got tons of good ideas. How about . . .

Curious Mage U
When Curious Mage enters the battlefield, Scry 2.
Tap: Scry 2
0/2

Unruly Prodigy U
Unruly Prodigy cannot be the target of spells of abilities you control.
Tap: Choose a value of X no greater than 3. Counter target spell unless its controller pays X. Unruly Prodigy doesn't untap during your next X untap steps.
0/1

Bohemian Scholar U
Tap: Look at the top card of your library. If that card is a spell with converted mana cost 2 or less, you may cast it this turn as though it were in your hand. Use this ability only during your turn.
1/2

Scientific Renaissance U
Enchantment
Wizards you control have hexproof.
(U): Return target wizard you control to it's owner's hand
(6): Scry X, where X is the number of Wizards you control, then draw two cards.

Void Conjurer U
Flash
When Void Conjurer enters the battlefield, counter target spell, activated ability, or triggered ability unless it's controller pays (1).
1/1

(not wizard tribal, but fits with it)
Divination's Rebuttal U
Instant
Reveal the top card of your library. Counter target spell unless it's controller pays X, where X is the converted mana cost of the revealed card.


DON"T MAKE ME SAC MY ONE-DROP ala Martyr of Frost or Hapless Researcher or even the otherwise admirable Cursecatcher - It kills the tempo of anything a good wizard deck could possibly be trying to do, and it's not like Wizards is a dangerous tribe in terms of sheer speed of power anyway. They need their timing-based pay-extra-mana control and deck manipulation to stay and snowball over time if they don't want to be killed by one stray flier or shrouded beater that landed.

Anyway, not wanting to whine, just lamenting, and offering what I hope is constructed criticism. Let's see another one-drop wizard like this one who possesses an ability relevant to the tribe, that doesn't require dying as an activation cost.

I'm even going to be an activist for Wizard Tribal and ask you to vote this comment up if you agree, maybe someone at Wizards of the Coast will see and be inspired for the next set.

The ubiquity of fetch lands and tutors, allows this card to be playable in constructed... ETERNAL constructed!!!!!!!!!!

@Fictionarious: Insectile Aberration. That's why they don't print good one-drops in blue. When they do, it tears Legacy to pieces, which is what Insectile Aberration did.

Blue is supposed to have weak creatures. Each cycle, blue gets the fewest creatures (white, red, and especially green get the most.) Blue is supposed to rely on instants and sorceries a bit more.

You've put together some really interesting cards, though. I think most of them would be far too powerful as a 1 drop. If you compare some of them to other blue cards, you'll probably see what I mean.

Curious Mage is undoubtedly broken. They intentionally shy away from making easily repeatable scrying, because it's such a powerful ability. Compare your creature to Preordain, which is banned in some formats. For the same cost, this creature lets you do that scry every turn.

I like the design behind Unruly Prodigy a lot; he's very interesting. But again, at 1 mana I think he's just too fast. Even if you just use him once on turn 2, 3, 4 or 5 and then forget about him for the rest of the game, he's still WAY better than any other counterspell you can get for 1 mana.

Bohemian scholar is really interesting. I like it, and I think it would work.

Compare Scientific Renaissance to Lord of the Unreal. I think those are abilities that would fit better on a creature. That's stuff that needs to go on a lord. A powerful lord too, as those abilities basically make your Wizards unkillable machines capable of infinite blocking and reuse of come-into-play abilities. Honestly, that's probably what wizards need to make them a real tribe; a new, ridiculously powerful lord, preferably one can provide a path to victory rather than more card advantage.

Void Conjurer takes Force Spike, already a good card, and makes it into something far, far more powerful.

Wizard's Rebuttal looks like a lot of fun! Even you wouldn't know if your counterspell would work... unless, of course, you've played Sage of Epityr.

Nearly every card in Time Spiral was a throwback to at least one previously printed card.

This card references Sage Owl. Epityr was an settlement dedicated to learning and the study of artifacts during the events of Antiquities.

I like him with Melek, Izzet Paragon, Magus of the Future, and Supreme Inquisitor.

All in all, what's not to like about deciding what you draw from turn 1?

A classic example of a nice "build around" 1 drop. You can't just throw him in any deck. Sure, you will decide what you draw for the next 4 turns, but if you don't like what you see, you are still stuck with it. You need to be able to shuffle your library and fetchlands are the way to do it. And if you can't afford them, there's always terramorphic expanse and evolving wilds.

Then there are the cards that care about whats on the top of your library. Coiling oracle and Delver of Secrets come to mind.