It's expensive, sure, but there are many ways to drop enchantments into play for free, such as Lost Auramancers, Gate to the Æther, Show and Tell, etc.. Consider this: If you play a Show and Tell on turn 3 with a Spellbook in play, you essentially have four cards every upkeep. Put a Bulwark, Cowed by Wisdom, and/or Solitary Confinement and you're on your way to a fairly fun discard/draw combo deck. Don't forget the Reminisces and you're doing well.
All cards have value, even the ones that are just awful. Card advantage is often much more valuable than it first seems.
Zee101
★☆☆☆☆ (1.3/5.0)(6 votes)
Quick question, what would happen if you have two of the said enchantments in play. would you draw three cards for each card drawn, still only draw two, or would you create an infinite draw loop?
The infinite loop im thinking is when you draw a card, the first cards ability goes on the stack with the second, then when you draw the second card for the first enchanments ability, you would draw an additional card for the second enchanments ablity, then when you draw a card for the second enchanments ability, the first would go on the stack again, etc etc etc. Am i thinking this right or am i missing something?
Nizz-mizet any one?
Qazior
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(6 votes)
You draw 4 cards zee
Silverware
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Good card, if you have a plan for playing it cheap. Otherwise not really worthwhile.
Mode
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(5 votes)
I think you're also wrong, Qazior. This is a replacement effect, therefore if you have two of these in play, due to layer rules, the latest permanent played which replaces drawing cards for something different would take effect, so you would still end up drawing two cards.
Vinifera7
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(4 votes)
@Zee101: It's a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. Therefore it never goes on the stack. You would only draw one extra card, no matter how many Thought Reflections you have.
Rainyday2012
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
Multiple Thought Reflections are cumulative, each will double the amount of cards drawn. Thus, if you cast Divination with one of these in play, you draw four cards. If you have two Thoyght Reflections you would draw eight. Each replacement effect only modifies an action once, but they do it in sequence if there are more than one.
In the official rulings for this card (under the "Details" tag) it says this is the case.
redcap04
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
5/1/2008 The effects of multiple Thought Reflections are cumulative. For example, if you have three Thought Reflections on the battlefield, you'll draw eight times the original number of cards.
Hope this helps.
SleetFox
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Less fun than Doubling Season, more expensive and harder to build a deck around. This is a fun card, but too expensive for what it has. By the time you can play this, you should already be well established; card advantage will only get you so far.
I hope they reprint this with Affinity for Artifacts. That way it would only cost three in an artifact heavy deck, which this would go in to. One thing you have to remember is card advantage is a HUGE advantage. Having one of of these out for eight turns makes it "fair." Having one out for ten turns makes it amazing. Having three out for even five turns makes it better than four Ancestral Recall. This card is expensive on purpose. If this was any less than five it would be broken, and possibly banned, if not restricted.
Wizard-of-the-Toast
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Try this with Teferi's Puzzle Box and a Spellbook effect. Your hand size doubles and adds 2 every draw step. Combine it with Jace's Erasure for very effective milling or try any other "when you draw a card" effect. You can mill yourself with this combo so once your hand size is half your deck return one of the combo pieces to your hand or destroy it (preferably Thought Reflections).
Atali
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@Request
Niv-Mizzet + Curiosity is an infinite loop combo, adding this to the mix gives you another infinite loop combo that is much harder to control, and thus much more likely to inadvertently kill yourself by milling.
The only benefit is if you want to unload a large amount of Niv-Mizzet's damage onto creatures, though when you have an infinite loop damaging your opponent, you'll probably just want to kill them outright.
Jacewalker
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The ruling is self-conflicting. It states that the effect us multiple Thought Reflections in play is cumulative, which means additive, or that that for each card you draw, instead you draw 2+2+2... 2 for each Thought Reflection =6 not 8. The example in the ruling says that you would draw 8 derived from 2x2x2 which is multiplicative not cumulative. When in play, if you are challenged, which part of the ruling holds, the definition which would mean the function is additive/cumulative (6), or the example which would imply the function is multiplicative?
Henrietta
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I don't know why you think cumulative means additive. The effects stack on top of each other, thus cumulative. If you would draw 1 card, instead draw 2 cards. Since you're drawing 2 cards with 1 TR out, the second TR would make you draw a second card for each of those 2 cards, meaning you'd draw 4. With a third TR out, you'd draw a second card for each of those 4 cards, making you draw 8. Cumulative has nothing to do with being additive or multiplicative here - if it was not cumulative, it would mean that the most you could draw would be 2 cards per draw step, even with 4 TR out. The ruling makes perfect sense.
Mana-intensive fun with Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. One of these days I'll put a Jin Commander deck together with this in it. It'll be fun.
DarthParallax
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
actualy greyhour, having 3 out for....let me think...ONE TURN would be better than four Ancestral Recalls. :p
4 Recalls= 12 cards
3 of this = Draw a card on your turn; x2 =2; x2=4; x2 =8.
Ok, fine, so 4 Recalls, vs. 3 of this for one turn is ONLY 12 cards to 8.
Still. You can't do math. This thing scales FAST. REALLY FREAKING FAST. With Affinity for Artifact?!?! Are you planning to use this shit with SKULLCLAMP or something?!?!!?? Shut. Up. Just shut, go home.
DESIGN all the cards you want, but you will never ever make a Development team. Ever. Anything you'd make would have to cost a billion mana.
Goatllama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Mmm, faeries. My thoughts would be reflected about those 2 (4, 6, 8) as well.
Stinga
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Dat flavor text...now, time to study for my English exam tomorrow!
JunkHarvester
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why has noone commented on the art? Therese Nielsen AND Ron Spencer?!?!?!?!? Great flavour text too.
Cool card, new EDH tech thanks to random card. woot.
RowanKeltizar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Thought Reflection is best used with handcycling effects like Wheel of Fortune, Time Reversal, and Winds of Change. With Mindmoil you have "Whenever you cast a spell, double your handsize." You should win the game shortly after dropping this.
Comments (24)
All cards have value, even the ones that are just awful. Card advantage is often much more valuable than it first seems.
The infinite loop im thinking is when you draw a card, the first cards ability goes on the stack with the second, then when you draw the second card for the first enchanments ability, you would draw an additional card for the second enchanments ablity, then when you draw a card for the second enchanments ability, the first would go on the stack again, etc etc etc. Am i thinking this right or am i missing something?
Nizz-mizet any one?
It's a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. Therefore it never goes on the stack. You would only draw one extra card, no matter how many Thought Reflections you have.
In the official rulings for this card (under the "Details" tag) it says this is the case.
Hope this helps.
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind, Curiosity, and this.
One thing you have to remember is card advantage is a HUGE advantage. Having one of of these out for eight turns makes it "fair." Having one out for ten turns makes it amazing. Having three out for even five turns makes it better than four Ancestral Recall.
This card is expensive on purpose. If this was any less than five it would be broken, and possibly banned, if not restricted.
Niv-Mizzet + Curiosity is an infinite loop combo, adding this to the mix gives you another infinite loop combo that is much harder to control, and thus much more likely to inadvertently kill yourself by milling.
draw 1, doubled, 2 damage, draw 2, doubled, 4 damage, draw 4, doubled, 8 damage, draw 8, doubled, 16 damage, draw 16, doubled, 32 damage, draw 32, doubled, 64 damage, draw 64...
The only benefit is if you want to unload a large amount of Niv-Mizzet's damage onto creatures, though when you have an infinite loop damaging your opponent, you'll probably just want to kill them outright.
4 Recalls= 12 cards
3 of this = Draw a card on your turn; x2 =2; x2=4; x2 =8.
Ok, fine, so 4 Recalls, vs. 3 of this for one turn is ONLY 12 cards to 8.
Still. You can't do math. This thing scales FAST. REALLY FREAKING FAST. With Affinity for Artifact?!?!
Are you planning to use this shit with SKULLCLAMP or something?!?!!?? Shut. Up. Just shut, go home.
DESIGN all the cards you want, but you will never ever make a Development team. Ever. Anything you'd make would have to cost a billion mana.
Cool card, new EDH tech thanks to random card. woot.
4.5/5