Sincerely I don't understand its intention. So if a player would draw a card instead he or she puts his of her library into his or her graveyard. And then?
madformedusa
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Wha?
exterion
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(9 votes)
Read the text on the card instead of the oracle text, it makes alot more sense. The oracle text only makes sense when... umm...
BambooNickel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
talk about lockdown. everyone's hand and library go into their graveyard but nobody gets decked - ever. best hope you can win with what youve already got.
Tilled
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(27 votes)
I would play this card, except if it was bad in testing, I would not play it instead. If I didn't play it, I would play a different card, but if I didn't play a different card, I would increase the number of a card I already had in the deck instead.
doolydooly
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(6 votes)
horrible oracle text
Fragskull
★★★★☆ (5.0/5.0)(11 votes)
I think the oracle text was written by Mephistopheles as some sort of demonic torture device... arrrrggg its working....
SentByHim
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
It just gets worse the second two of them are in play.
Ritius
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is such hardcore win in a milling deck. Drop chains second turn, drop whatever third turn, pass with land drop on fourth and then cast a Wheel and Deal after their draw. They have to discard their hand, and then they just mil for seven and have no cards in hand. Same with Wheel of Fortune, Wheel of Fate, (though these ones will hit you too) and Barbed Shocker, and on and on. Too bad the card is $70s a single.
This card is fantastic against most legacy blue decks.
Sidek
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Most confusing card I've seen so far. The Oracle text is actually far more confusing than the original.
Kartakass
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My perfect sideboard card in legacy. Take that Brainstorm!!! Die Solidarity!
littlebeast
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
the oracle text is WRONG. as it's worded, it says anytime you would draw a card that's not your normal draw, instead discard your hand and mill one card. It needs a qualifier that it doesn't effect card draws caused by this card.
Omenchild
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Haha i think they needa reprint. honestly though reprint it as another card, its actually pretty cool. if you draw extra, you dont get card advantage
vomitron6000
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(2 votes)
i think this card is pretty cool, if i understand it right. love the picture
mkniffen
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
basically reads: "draw spells have no effect"
bijart_dauth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
if you read the rulings, it basically says that 2 have no extra effect, because you will discard the entire hand and mill. it doesn't say that it doesn't count itself because it dose. if you would draw extra cards, you instead discard a card and draw, but you can't draw because it replaces its own draw with a discard, so if you don't get it, just read it; 'whenever a player draws a card outside of there first draw during their draw step, that player discards there hand and 1 card of the top of there library for each card they would have drawn.' this is because it says that it trigers for each card drawn, but you won't be able to discard any more because you have no cards in hand so you will mill. and achilleselbow, based on the oracle text it dosnt matter wether it is at randome or not because you discard EVERYTHING. of corce, i didn't read the printed text, but based on what every one is saying about the oracle being so diferent from printed and it is so expensive makes me think they mesed up, and it was saposed to basicle say ' if a player would draw and extra card, that player puts it into their graveyard ensted.' exept that you must discard a diferent card than you would have drawn. as for the oracle, i think that this is what the card actually dose, and there mistake is our fortune, and theres of corse, sens it costs some odd 70 dollers.
HzUnder20
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
It seems a lot of people have no idea how this card truly works. You can use it in a dicard/mill deck to force draw (and then subsequent milling) once their hand is empty. I choose to use it in a Megrim deck to take advantage of cards like Prosperity. If you couple this with cards like Howling Mine and Underworld Dreams , you can most often kill people during their draw phase or upkeep. Put that in your Memory Jar and smoke it!
shameless360
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
So, after your first draw in your draw phase, when you should draw, you need to discard for, then draw. if you can't discard, then you mill a card and don't get to draw. sounds right.
achilleselbow
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(8 votes)
The Oracle texts forgets to mention that you discard a card AT RANDOM.
Edit: why the hell did I write that? It doesn't say it anywhere on the card! I was seriously looking at this comment and thinking "what an idiot" and then I saw my name next to it! Was I drunk or something?
sendai45
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Unsurprisingly, I am confused. The second sentence instructs you to draw a card. Will this additional draw cause Chains of Mephistopheles to trigger anew? If so, the process will repeat until your hand is empty. This entire card could be rewritten as:
"If a player would draw a card except the first one he or she draws in his or her draw step each turn, that player discards his or her hand and he or she places the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard."
Further, specifying WHICH draw in a turn is exempt is less important than the fact you only get ONE card per turn.
"If a player would draw a card beyond his or her first each turn, he or she discards his or her hand and he or she places the top card of his or her library into their graveyard."
Remove the replacement effect and the card draw occurs. This eliminates the need for a mill effect, as the card would go to hand and then graveyard naturally.
"If a player draws a card beyond his or her first each turn, he or she discards his or her hand."
And finally, do away with all the "his or her" nonsense:
"If a player draws a card beyond their first each turn, they discard their hand."
Clean, simple, and still a draw hoser. And look! There is room for flavor text!
theis999
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
the original wording: "every time a player draws a card, that player must first discard a card from his or her hand. if there are no cards in player's hand, take top card from library and place it in the graveyard instead of drawing. this enchantment does not apply to the first card drawn by a player during the draw phase."
while this could be broken, i guess it can't replace the draw effect from itself.
it is however rather handy with Compulsive Research, Forget, Reckless schoolar, Vendilion Clique and witsfull thinking. using it as discard instead of just waiting for the opponent to draw two cards.
altheuser
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
If you want to know what this does and does not do:
It DOES prevent any sort of card advantage by ensuring that hand sizes increase only by drawing one card during each players draw step.
It DOES NOT force you to discard your hand and mill one.
If you think that Chains triggers itself you are wrong. The replacement effect happens once. I mean, do you think really believe that a Cunning Sparkmage causes infinite damage when you have a Furnace of Rath out? The effect on Chains is wordy, but it is treated just the same. You replace the card draw ONCE.
It's almost like each draw is replaced with a {0} cycling ability on any card in the players hand. If they have no cards in hand, a draw is replaced by a mill.
Kirbster
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(9 votes)
"If you would draw a card, discard a card. If you discarded a card, draw a card."
Have we achieved an infinite loop with just one card?
Luke_BPC
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The original text is clearer, strange as it might seem. The Oracle text tries to word it in the same standard as new cards, but by using the word draw a few too many times it ends up being more ambiguous than helpful. The rullings help. Replacement effects happen only once, but more than one may happen in succession. If you have two of these out, any card drawn beyond the first will cause a player to discard a card. If he does, then he'll have to discard another card, drawing one if he does, or milling one if he doesn't. If you keep tabs on your opponent's hand and own the board, you can cast a Howling Mine or similar to eat through your opponent's deck, or force him to draw and discard more. It gets pretty evil with a board with Bloodchief's Ascension, Lilliana's Caress and the Mine. Each draw step, your opponent will get a card. Then he'll discard a card, the Caress will hit for two, the Ascension will either get a counter or hit for two drain.
ravenrider92
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
playing with tow on the feild cause them to activate each other so two and any spell that forse your opponet to draw wins
it even eliminates the eldrazi titan in the deak to mess up mill ing my cauing them to mill until they quit because you mill their hand and deck then the titan hit the graveyard and the graveyard is shuffled in to the deck but they still have to draw and it starts all over again and all long as you don't nd your turn it will continue to happen forever or at least until your opponet get bored and quits
TopRomen
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So it basically shuts down enemy draw spells (forces them to discard for every extra card per turn) and mills if you use howling mines or something. Awesome; now that we got that cleared up, I would just like to point out that the Oracle does make ONE good clarification.
Instead of
"Every time your opponent draws... ... Oh by the way, it doesn't work the first time he draws in a turn."
We have
"Every time after the first time they draw in a turn... "
Ragamander
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I sense fun with Temple Bell and the Madness mechanic! Oh, and Anvil of Bogardan...oh, wait, no, that's just an UTTER DRAW HOSER, except with Madness, of course.
Superllama12
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Very good and concise wording...much better than the wording of today!!!
Wanderer25
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Art is based on Albrecht Durer's engraving "Knight, Death, and the Devil"... (See this detail: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1f8qaegCiyU/S9Q8PE4u7iI/AAAAAAAABlA/wFZIQ-qDaK4/s400/KD%26D_detail_02.jpg )
stmcallister
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"If a player would draw a card, discard a card. If that player discarded a card, they draw a card"
Because the player would draw a card for discarding, this is again substituted with another discard.
So, a player who draws extra cards would discard their whole hand and then mill one card.
Pontiac
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Anvil of Bogardan, Megrim, and Chains was an old school combo, it was not popular with opponents but it usaully happened by turn 4 at the latest. once you've got that lock it's over.
supershawn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
hey did anybody else notice that if you do what the oracle text says it makes you discard your whole hand and then put a card from the top of your library into your graveyard, but if you do what the card says, it makes you discard 1 card before you draw as normal?
according to the oracle text it stops the first draw, makes you discard and starts a new draw whcih would be stoped and you would have to discard again.
but on the card it just makes you discard before you draw....
dragonking987
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
wait am I reading this right so if you can make your appoint draw one extra card they mill then self's? O OK good gatherers card text is just messed up.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wow, I finally understand how this card works. Basically it shuts down decks that draw more cards by turning every further card draw into mill. . . I think.
BattleFish
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card isn't that good for mill. If you play enough howling mine effects, your opponent would be discarding anyway, so theres no point for this card.
jfre81
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Usually Oracle better clarifies those old fine-print rules text cards like this. In this case it's utterly confusing. If I was a Magic newbie and came across that I'd have no idea in hell what this card does.
This is a combo card. Works well with reanimation (discard your huge-CMC beatstick then cheat it out for five with Rise From The Grave) and the various types of Lhurgoyfs. Both can provide offense for a discard deck. I never thought of this as a mill card, then again, "mill decks" as we know them now hardly existed in Chains' day.
Check out the awesome errata text: "Here's what happens when Chains of Mephistopheles replaces a player's draw" is as close as Wizards will ever come to admitting "our Oracle text is awful and we're sorry." :)
For those who are curious about the "one card infinite loop" -- nope. For the same reason that Mox Diamond actually will come into play after you discard one land, Chains of Mephistopheles actually will let you draw a card after you've discarded exactly one card. Replacement effects like this are static abilities, not triggered abilities -- they describe a change to how the game is played, rather than an ability which triggers or resolves. (This also means you can't respond to the replacement effect with an activated ability or an instant or even a mana ability. It's a bit weird. I was asking about this on Wizards' Q&A a while ago; I'll edit this comment to link to that Q&A thread sometime later.)
In the case of Mox Diamond, the change-in-gameplay only matters once, at the time when Mox Diamond first attempts to enter play. In the case of Chains of Satan, the change-in-gameplay matters whenever a player is drawing an extra card.
Hope this helps...
ookiecookie
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
The text box should just have a picture of Trollface.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
hmm....the hell with it. Throw the rules text, and only the rules text, into a Knowledge Pool. But keep the card as a permanent on the table.
To accomplish this, you have to use the most powerful combo that will ever be printed:
Richard Garfield, PhD+R&D's Secret Lair+Look at Me, I'm the DCI+Gleemax. (This still doesn't actually literally give you 'do whatever the fraking heck you want, apple' but it's close enough that if you have those cards out, you will probably get away with it.)
(R&D's Secret Lair doesn't autocard correctly- just copy/paste the name into the search bar and you'll find it.)
Turns drawing into million or filtering. Pretty neat.
Calwin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You could be a little annoying with U/B using this Underworld Dreams and brain geyser and ancestral recall (some people wonder why you would ever force your opponent to draw 3 cards, lol, insult to injury using it that way.) also fun to mindtwist or some other discard before this.
Arachibutyrophobia
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
the oracle text is an abomination. just read the original card.
WarioMan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
looking at the rulings, I think the next errata'd version (and every other confusing card effect) should begin with "Here's what happens" on the card.
Laguz
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Unfortunately, it's cards like this that made wizards think that we're too dumb for cards like this.
We're not dumb! Your wording is dumb! Your wording! Start printing cool cards again please!
GrimjawxRULES
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
The oracle seems like it could need a bit of rewriting to make it easier to understand:
"If you would draw a card other than the first card you draw during your draw step, you discard a card first before drawing. If you can't, you skip the draw and put the top card of your library into your graveyard."
There, that's better. It's still the correct mechanic, I just attempted to clarify it.
Basically, this completely hoses spells and abilities that causes players to draw cards by causing them to discard a card before each time they get to draw. In case they have no cards in hand to discard, they get milled 1 card instead and don't get to draw. As it is, it hoses blue pretty efficiently with the exception of cards such as Fact or Fiction which doesn't use the draw mechanic, but just puts the cards into your hand.
Unique, cheap, hoses draw spells and combos pretty well with Forced Fruition and force-draw decks (Howling Mine for example). 4.5/5
Tiggurix
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Reminds me of Animate Artifact with its counter-intuitive Oracle text.
Androx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Poster boy for being crit by a wall of text
Werewolf-
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The key thing to remember about this card is that it doesn't apply to the first card each player draws during his draw step. It ONLY applies to drawing extra cards each turn, and it only really hurts when the player has an empty hand, because otherwise he'll just discard the useless crap and keep the stuff he needs. And it has to be cards "drawn," too--the wording on Fact or Fiction and Necropotence, for example, says "put into your hand," which evades this enchantment's effects. Lastly, it applies to you, too, not just your opponent.
All in all, it's unique and flavorful (as most cards from Legends block are), but it's only useful in pretty strict situations.
punxskywalker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So very good with dark confidant and Top to grease the wheel's in an unfair way, when building around ultra low C.M.M. such a strong card played the Ewit. and Volrath's Stronghold! I Have also found this works best with 2 not 3 in play at the same time V.S. draw cards... best against brain storm or with sign in blood. I play Leyline of the Void with helm in the same deck.
high_tide_niv
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
does this work with tamiyo's emblem
Seeking_Alpha
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
OMG. How have I not heard of this card before? Its insane. Once they have no cards... they never ever get another. Period. End of story. For 2 mana. OMG.
SprinkKnoT
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@seeking_alpha They get to draw each upkeep without this effect.
Aquillion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You can combine two of these with a howling mine to prevent either player from ever getting new cards (but remember, it affects you, too, so you might be better off combining them with something that only forces your opponent to draw a card, ideally during their draw phase or at the start of their upkeep.)
Of course, there are better three-card combos out there, but it's still fun.
supafly13
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
WOULD EVERYONE PLEASE STOP THINKING/IMPLYING THAT THIS CAN PREVENT A PERSON FROM *EVER DRAWING* A CARD???!!! That is absolutely wreckless thinking. If a card did that it would be among, if not THE, most powerful card EVER. It DOES NOT affect players'draw phase***** READ THAT AGAIN*** It does NOT affect the draw phase. Smh Read the card.
RuscoJames
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@GrimjawxRULES Unfortunately your rewording of the card doesn't use proper templating. For the oracle to make better sense, templating rules would have to change which would probably make many of the more modern cards confusing and would likely lead to a significant amount of ambiguity. Given an understanding of the rules regarding replacement effects, the current wording offers no room for misinterpretation.
Also, for anybody actually playing with the card, they will have the original text to reference, which gives a fairly clear, if improperly templated and grammatically incorrect, de***ion of what the card does, with the main piece of ambiguity being the second sentence not being clear about when it is checking whether or not the hand is empty.
Haziad
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I'm glad several people clarified the function of this card... I admit, upon first reading it all I saw was this...
If you would draw a card (other than your first card) instead discard a card.... When you discard said card you then draw a card...
Naturally in my mind I thought... but then you would have drawn another card which would instead force you to discard.
So the conclusion I came to was that an opponent having this in play could sign in blood you to discard your entire hand and then have you mill one...
Yeah... thanks for the clarification. I'll still likely never use this, but I at least don't hate the card now.
MRK1
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM! Nobody gains card advantage on my watch.
does that mean "whenever a player draws a card that isnt the first this turn. that player loses the game from milling"? (does that mean draw then discard then draw then discard... infinitive?)
thisisthedave1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
heres one for yah.. Copy Enchantment Nough said.. with 4 copys in a deck.. then wheel and deal, figure that one out,
its like playing timesifter with copy artifact. .. screw dat
thexmanlight
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
After reading that oracle text, I am now convinced that "draw" is not an actual word.
neonillusionist
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
if you get this card out with teferi's puzzel box then its game over for your opponents unless they can get rid of one of them before their turn. game ender in a few turns
Moxxy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The way the oracle text is worded makes it seem like it would create an infinite loop. Since it activates the effect every time a player draws a card but the card later makes you draw a card. There's no exception written on the oracle ruling that prevents the draw from its effect from activating its own effect again.
EDIT: Oh, I guess it is still part of the replacement effect. The oracle text is so horrible.
Kuro_Ageha
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"If a player would draw a card except for the first card he or she draws at the beginning of draw step, he or she puts the top card of his or her library into his or her library instead unless he or she discards a card."
Why they couldn't just let it not affect the first card drawn each turn will forever remain a mystery.
Comments (68)
So if a player would draw a card instead he or she puts his of her library into his or her graveyard.
And then?
The oracle text only makes sense when... umm...
It needs a qualifier that it doesn't effect card draws caused by this card.
Edit: why the hell did I write that? It doesn't say it anywhere on the card! I was seriously looking at this comment and thinking "what an idiot" and then I saw my name next to it! Was I drunk or something?
"If a player would draw a card except the first one he or she draws in his or her draw step each turn, that player discards his or her hand and he or she places the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard."
Further, specifying WHICH draw in a turn is exempt is less important than the fact you only get ONE card per turn.
"If a player would draw a card beyond his or her first each turn, he or she discards his or her hand and he or she places the top card of his or her library into their graveyard."
Remove the replacement effect and the card draw occurs. This eliminates the need for a mill effect, as the card would go to hand and then graveyard naturally.
"If a player draws a card beyond his or her first each turn, he or she discards his or her hand."
And finally, do away with all the "his or her" nonsense:
"If a player draws a card beyond their first each turn, they discard their hand."
Clean, simple, and still a draw hoser. And look! There is room for flavor text!
while this could be broken, i guess it can't replace the draw effect from itself.
it is however rather handy with Compulsive Research, Forget, Reckless schoolar, Vendilion Clique and witsfull thinking. using it as discard instead of just waiting for the opponent to draw two cards.
It DOES prevent any sort of card advantage by ensuring that hand sizes increase only by drawing one card during each players draw step.
It DOES NOT force you to discard your hand and mill one.
If you think that Chains triggers itself you are wrong. The replacement effect happens once. I mean, do you think really believe that a Cunning Sparkmage causes infinite damage when you have a Furnace of Rath out? The effect on Chains is wordy, but it is treated just the same. You replace the card draw ONCE.
It's almost like each draw is replaced with a {0} cycling ability on any card in the players hand. If they have no cards in hand, a draw is replaced by a mill.
Have we achieved an infinite loop with just one card?
it even eliminates the eldrazi titan in the deak to mess up mill ing my cauing them to mill until they quit because you mill their hand and deck then the titan hit the graveyard and the graveyard is shuffled in to the deck but they still have to draw and it starts all over again and all long as you don't nd your turn it will continue to happen forever or at least until your opponet get bored and quits
Instead of
"Every time your opponent draws... ... Oh by the way, it doesn't work the first time he draws in a turn."
We have
"Every time after the first time they draw in a turn...
Because the player would draw a card for discarding, this is again substituted with another discard.
So, a player who draws extra cards would discard their whole hand and then mill one card.
according to the oracle text it stops the first draw, makes you discard and starts a new draw whcih would be stoped and you would have to discard again.
but on the card it just makes you discard before you draw....
This is a combo card. Works well with reanimation (discard your huge-CMC beatstick then cheat it out for five with Rise From The Grave) and the various types of Lhurgoyfs. Both can provide offense for a discard deck. I never thought of this as a mill card, then again, "mill decks" as we know them now hardly existed in Chains' day.
For those who are curious about the "one card infinite loop" -- nope. For the same reason that Mox Diamond actually will come into play after you discard one land, Chains of Mephistopheles actually will let you draw a card after you've discarded exactly one card. Replacement effects like this are static abilities, not triggered abilities -- they describe a change to how the game is played, rather than an ability which triggers or resolves. (This also means you can't respond to the replacement effect with an activated ability or an instant or even a mana ability. It's a bit weird. I was asking about this on Wizards' Q&A a while ago; I'll edit this comment to link to that Q&A thread sometime later.)
In the case of Mox Diamond, the change-in-gameplay only matters once, at the time when Mox Diamond first attempts to enter play. In the case of Chains of Satan, the change-in-gameplay matters whenever a player is drawing an extra card.
Hope this helps...
To accomplish this, you have to use the most powerful combo that will ever be printed:
Richard Garfield, PhD+R&D's Secret Lair+Look at Me, I'm the DCI+Gleemax. (This still doesn't actually literally give you 'do whatever the fraking heck you want, apple' but it's close enough that if you have those cards out, you will probably get away with it.)
(R&D's Secret Lair doesn't autocard correctly- just copy/paste the name into the search bar and you'll find it.)
We're not dumb! Your wording is dumb! Your wording! Start printing cool cards again please!
"If you would draw a card other than the first card you draw during your draw step, you discard a card first before drawing. If you can't, you skip the draw and put the top card of your library into your graveyard."
There, that's better. It's still the correct mechanic, I just attempted to clarify it.
Basically, this completely hoses spells and abilities that causes players to draw cards by causing them to discard a card before each time they get to draw. In case they have no cards in hand to discard, they get milled 1 card instead and don't get to draw. As it is, it hoses blue pretty efficiently with the exception of cards such as Fact or Fiction which doesn't use the draw mechanic, but just puts the cards into your hand.
Unique, cheap, hoses draw spells and combos pretty well with Forced Fruition and force-draw decks (Howling Mine for example).
4.5/5
All in all, it's unique and flavorful (as most cards from Legends block are), but it's only useful in pretty strict situations.
They get to draw each upkeep without this effect.
Of course, there are better three-card combos out there, but it's still fun.
Also, for anybody actually playing with the card, they will have the original text to reference, which gives a fairly clear, if improperly templated and grammatically incorrect, de***ion of what the card does, with the main piece of ambiguity being the second sentence not being clear about when it is checking whether or not the hand is empty.
If you would draw a card (other than your first card) instead discard a card....
When you discard said card you then draw a card...
Naturally in my mind I thought... but then you would have drawn another card which would instead force you to discard.
So the conclusion I came to was that an opponent having this in play could sign in blood you to discard your entire hand and then have you mill one...
Yeah... thanks for the clarification. I'll still likely never use this, but I at least don't hate the card now.
Unless your using Necropotence...
its like playing timesifter with copy artifact. .. screw dat
EDIT: Oh, I guess it is still part of the replacement effect. The oracle text is so horrible.
Why they couldn't just let it not affect the first card drawn each turn will forever remain a mystery.
"Wait...What?"
*reads Oracle text*
*Flips table*