A good effect, but a waste of constructed space most of the time. Why not just reprint reliquary tower and be done with it? Then you can reprint more 0 costing artifacts....
Demonic_Angel13
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Reliquary Tower is better. You get mana and the same abillity for the same cost
I personally like this better than reliquary tower. Reliquary tower prevents you from playing a land that gives you colored mana for that turn.
LivingFoul
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
awesome awesome card i have it in my straight red deck and my Spiraling Embers card damages a player in the amount equal to the card amount in your hand...if you can get it off at the right time..wow
ALONSO666
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
What can I say, it does what it has to do..
Weretarrasque
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Yes, it's been overshadowed by Reliquary Tower... but it wouldn't be bad in an artifact deck, right?
Roy1138
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Library or Leng is great. It's also harder to find. This will do in a pinch.
beefrocks
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Yes, of course Library of Leng is better, but it's also harder to find.
Reliquary Tower was made back when artifacts did not work when tapped, and who wants to tap for one colorless mana after your discard step but before your untap step? Not much point in that, so with that card you had a choice between one effect or the other, but not both.
The flavor text for this card is awesome, and the card is really great. Considering the liabilities of other cards with the same ability, 4.5/5 stars. A great card.
Cool combo trick: Play this card and collect basically your entire library into your hand. Then play Mox Lotus and use the infinite mana boost to play everything at once. This can be very risky, but works great when it works at all.
Lynor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Finally!!! MTG has a card that says I have no maximum hand size! AND FOR ZERO MANA!! WOOHOOO!
bagilis
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
use it with my 4 howling mines in my black vise deck
Arglypuff
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Reliquary Tower is STRICTLY BETTER than Spellbook.
annenoise
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Used to get a lot of play in my Academy deck. Low cost artifacts + Tolarian Academy + Stroke of Genius + Mind Over Matter == tons of reusable mana, draw and threats. Spellbook is perfect in such a scenario.
chinkeeyong
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
"Reliquary Tower was made back when artifacts did not work when tapped..."
I'm pretty sure Conflux came after the Fourth Edition rules changes.
ChaosFire
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@beefrocks: I agree with chinkeeyong.
And reliquary tower also isn't, well, an artifact. It's a land.
Did you even look at the card first?
infernox10
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Actually, Reliquary Tower would not always trump this.
I'm thinking Storm decks, artifact-manipulation decks, etc.
Sure, the Tower is a land, which protects it from most removal,
But you can't say to always pick the tower over this.
bijart_dauth
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I would use it over the tower in most decks. SImply because Reliquary Tower uses up my land drop. Though in most decks I would run this in desperately need to draw it, so i would probably run both.
And beefrocks, reliquary tower was made in conflux. Thats quite a bit after artifacts started working while tapped.
OpeeFomenom
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Even if Reliquary Tower was made back when artifacts didn't work while tapped, which is obviously wasn't just for the border it has by itself, it isn't an artifact. So it really wouldn't care.
The tower saves a card early game, at the cost of colored mana. That means while you'll sometimes get color screwed, you won't have to worry about losing cards. Land destruction is also a bit less common than artifact destruction.
This doesn't get you mana, but allows you to play a colored land. The disadvantage is that you'd use two cards in one turn, which makes your starting choices a bit smaller.
And the Libary gives you full discard protection, at the cost of one mana. If you're using a one drop deck, that might be a bit bad, since you'd lose a first turn creature, but that discard protection goes quite a long way, if you think about it.
Overall, 4/5 for all of them.
Gabriel422
★☆☆☆☆ (1.3/5.0)(3 votes)
One day, when max hand size is gone, this card will have the oracle text
Spellbook 0 Artifact
(Just to remind you that there is no such thing as a maximum hand size.)
Hey, we might even see this in M2013!
Ertai69
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@chinkeeyong: You mean after the SIXTH Edition rules changes (see http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/bb15). Some of us still tapped our 4th Edition Winter Orbs to great effect, thankyouverymuch.
Concerned_Bystander
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It may not be particularly useful, I have two in a deck that I don't think I've ever needed but hey, its a free artifact, it'll always be good in any deck that cares about how many artifacts you have on the table.
@ Arglypuff
How can the tower be strictly better when it's not even the same card type? Think about it, the tower doesn't count towards artifact numbers for Affinity, Metalcraft or anything else like that, this card does. This card will always be a better choice when you need lots of artifacts.
They really need to make a cantrip version of this, probably costing 2. Then again, in any deck where you'd be playing Spellbook, you'd probably be drawing enough cards to not make it matter a whole ton.
JaxsonBateman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Firstly, anyone commenting about this and Tolarian Academy - it's Tolarian Academy that's broken. The fact that it turns this into 'Mox Sapphire' is no reflection on the quality of Spellbook, but on the absurdity of Academy. Pretty much the same for Mind Over Matter - that card's pretty broken. It pretty much wins outright with a lowly Temple Bell. So saying that Spellbook plays an important role with that is like saying a skull sticker on a nuke is an important contributor to its destructive power.
I'm going to stress - this does nothing if you have 7 or less cards. Which pretty much makes it card disadvantage. Technically it's not as it gets to sit on the battlefield looking pretty, but your opponent isn't likely to touch it with a 10 foot clown pole - he doesn't care if you have an artifact out not doing diddily squat.
As anyone who has played with a card draw machine like Consecrated Sphinx or Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur will tell you, drawing heaps of cards and then filtering down to your best seven is, in most cases, just peachy. Sure, not having to choose can be even peachier - but lets put it this way. A Spellbook is going to impede your ability to get that much draw power in the first place, as it's going to take the place of another card that can help you get out your draw aficionado and not help at all. If you then still manage to get out that draw power - yes, it'll be handy - but far from necessary. If you were keen to keep your whole hand, that's where Reliquary Tower comes in. Sure, not having access to colored mana from it is a drawback, but has that stopped people running other utility lands like Wasteland? Of course not. You don't include too many of the utility lands in your deck, but 1 or 2 won't cause a problem.
If you really think Spellbook is warranted even in the most draw heavy decks, go and ask anyone who has made a half decent Jin-Gitaxias deck what they would prefer - a Spellbook to keep their massive hand, or another card to actually help get him out and keep him out.
danialjames
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I use this in my Damia, Sage of Stone edh deck along with venser's journal and lifegain. Sickening dreams is my win condition
Comments (29)
Why not just reprint reliquary tower and be done with it?
Then you can reprint more 0 costing artifacts....
Reliquary Tower was made back when artifacts did not work when tapped, and who wants to tap for one colorless mana after your discard step but before your untap step? Not much point in that, so with that card you had a choice between one effect or the other, but not both.
The flavor text for this card is awesome, and the card is really great. Considering the liabilities of other cards with the same ability, 4.5/5 stars. A great card.
Cool combo trick: Play this card and collect basically your entire library into your hand. Then play Mox Lotus and use the infinite mana boost to play everything at once. This can be very risky, but works great when it works at all.
I'm pretty sure Conflux came after the Fourth Edition rules changes.
And reliquary tower also isn't, well, an artifact. It's a land.
Did you even look at the card first?
I'm thinking Storm decks, artifact-manipulation decks, etc.
Sure, the Tower is a land, which protects it from most removal,
But you can't say to always pick the tower over this.
And beefrocks, reliquary tower was made in conflux. Thats quite a bit after artifacts started working while tapped.
The tower saves a card early game, at the cost of colored mana. That means while you'll sometimes get color screwed, you won't have to worry about losing cards. Land destruction is also a bit less common than artifact destruction.
This doesn't get you mana, but allows you to play a colored land. The disadvantage is that you'd use two cards in one turn, which makes your starting choices a bit smaller.
And the Libary gives you full discard protection, at the cost of one mana. If you're using a one drop deck, that might be a bit bad, since you'd lose a first turn creature, but that discard protection goes quite a long way, if you think about it.
Overall, 4/5 for all of them.
Spellbook 0 Artifact
(Just to remind you that there is no such thing as a maximum hand size.)
Hey, we might even see this in M2013!
@ Arglypuff
How can the tower be strictly better when it's not even the same card type? Think about it, the tower doesn't count towards artifact numbers for Affinity, Metalcraft or anything else like that, this card does. This card will always be a better choice when you need lots of artifacts.
I'm going to stress - this does nothing if you have 7 or less cards. Which pretty much makes it card disadvantage. Technically it's not as it gets to sit on the battlefield looking pretty, but your opponent isn't likely to touch it with a 10 foot clown pole - he doesn't care if you have an artifact out not doing diddily squat.
As anyone who has played with a card draw machine like Consecrated Sphinx or Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur will tell you, drawing heaps of cards and then filtering down to your best seven is, in most cases, just peachy. Sure, not having to choose can be even peachier - but lets put it this way. A Spellbook is going to impede your ability to get that much draw power in the first place, as it's going to take the place of another card that can help you get out your draw aficionado and not help at all. If you then still manage to get out that draw power - yes, it'll be handy - but far from necessary. If you were keen to keep your whole hand, that's where Reliquary Tower comes in. Sure, not having access to colored mana from it is a drawback, but has that stopped people running other utility lands like Wasteland? Of course not. You don't include too many of the utility lands in your deck, but 1 or 2 won't cause a problem.
If you really think Spellbook is warranted even in the most draw heavy decks, go and ask anyone who has made a half decent Jin-Gitaxias deck what they would prefer - a Spellbook to keep their massive hand, or another card to actually help get him out and keep him out.
...d'oh!