I love how no matter what you reveal this card gives you a benefit. Putting a land directly into play seems easily the best outcome though. I'm sure there's better cards for that sort of thing, but the satchel's pretty damn flavorful.
Keino
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(6 votes)
Sack o' Card Advantage!
WateryMind
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Wow.
That's all I have to say.
Cyberium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Like what Sir Malkin said, this card benefits your no matter what you get on top of the library. For creature deck you get more creatures, control deck you often get more life, and any deck benefits from more lands in play.
Life gain and ramp in a mono red control deck? Yes Please.
Doom_Lich
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(4 votes)
@Sonorhc:
Wow I actually missed that interaction. Nice catch.
caldur06
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(6 votes)
lorendorky has the right of it. this isn't confined to green guys, this is lifegain and creature-spawn in blue, black, white, and all the colors in-between. it's actually pretty amazing for all it pulls for just 2 mana a turn.
Goatllama
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
It has squirrel face. Chit chit chit chit chit!
MockTurtles
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(5 votes)
Wow, m12 is one of my favorite sets in years because of cards like this.
Wprundv
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
@ AngelPheonix
That would actually be 5 mana because you have to pay the satchels activation cost each time you use it.
I'm from New Zealand. The face looks, to me, like the traditional carvings my country's natives, the Maori, use to decorate their traditional meeting places with. I love that.
Mike-C
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
It's cool.. But does it deserve a place in your deck?? Will it HELP you win games? Will it BE that card that strikes fear into your opponents eyes upon sight? No.. Probably not.. We all love the contraption at our genius friends house that you drop the ball in, it slides down a twisty windy chute, knocks down the domino that then knocks down other dominos that then bumps the gijoe action figure into the air only to lead to more meaningless but entertaining wastes of time.. But would you take your invention to war with you, or just leave it home to show your pals when you want a conversation starter??? Exactly ;)
AngelPhoenix
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Been said already, but it bears repeating. This is one of th best ways you can spend two mana at the end of your opponent's turn. Bonus no matter what you pull.
Oh, and Voltaic Key (of course) and double the bonus every turn! Two 1/1's, 4 life, or even a land or TWO, for 5 mana (thanks Wprundv XD). Fabulous.
pTw3LL
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
This card is actually pretty awesome in Limited.
Fordin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This thing made me win a few games on the release, it's gonna be a sure pick in limited!
I'm not sure how good it is, I'm just sure that it's very fun.
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
As I`ve already mentioned in another post, I`m away from home (and from my box of cards) so I bought an intro pack and a couple boosters to play. This came in the 2nd pack, I`ve added it to my deck and here are my impressions so far:
Much better when played in a deck made mostly of creatures and lands. The token and the land are great, but the 2 life isn`t very impressive.
Also, saves your skin late game when you`re topdecking. Those lands are much better being put into play than being drawn by you.
chewbacha
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card fits so great in my Fungus/spore/saproling deck. Its like it was made specifically for it
Dragon_Bloodthirsty
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
The powerful effects are the ones that key off creatures and lands. Putting the land into play is even better than drawing it (most of the time), and getting a 1/1 for 2 is nothing to sneeze at. Gaining 2 life for 2 mana is weak and pretty bad, because if that's all you're managing to do with your mana, then eventually your opponent will overwhelm you -- although as a consolation prize, 2 life isn't too bad if it doesn't happen too often.
Dune_Echo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The bag also resembles the design of the bag that the character Jen carried around in The Dark Crystal: http://www.yourfantasycostume.com/sites/yourfantasycostume.com/files/imagecache/width-200/images/the_world_of_the_dark_crystal_07.jpg.
Cheza
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A nice card.
However, I would have designed it as a cmc2 card with an activation cost of 3. If the top card of your library is a creature card, it would be similar to: Jade Mage. If it's a land card, the effect is similar to a Journeyer's Kite. (And since it's duidic, it's ok that the land part outstands te other ones.)
For the non-land, non-creature part, I wouldn't insist on lifegain. In addition, I think R&D doesn't seem to know how to calculate the gain of life. Lifegain should be always better than dealing damage, since gaining life doesn't win you a game.
So for an activation cost of 3, I believe it would be best to gain life equal to the casting cost of the revealed card. Instead of life, I could imagine other effects, like tapping/untapping a permanent, put the revealed card at te bottom of your library for an additional bonus.
Nonetheless, this card is one of the best creations from R&D. This is a wonderful form of green intuition since this card combines randomness with some sort of control, since you've chosen the cards in your library.
RickT
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
If you're set on playing with the satchel, keep in mind it also gives you a peek at the top card of your library. When you don't get a land, it has some synergy with cards like Conundrum Sphinx. There are certainly better cards if that is your goal, but its a side-effect worth keeping in mind.
RedArcher
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I just realized that this card seems like crystal ball's big brother and the two actually work together really well. Scry a land to the top of your library then use the satchel to get an extra land-drop every turn.
CrowJonSnow
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
limited: yes booster draft: yes
regular 60 card deck, without limitations: i don't know
the saproling is nice, but it isn't a game changer unless you're already running a a token deck. the life gain is just a staller, and not even that good at that. the land, however, is what really makes me consider putting this card in somewhere. an untapped land for 2 mana is insanely good, considering rampant growth will get it tapped. it definitely seems to fit more in a deck that ISN'T built around mana ramp, since most mana ramp cards get them out of your deck. cards like oracle of mul-daya or vampire nocturnus can help predict what's on top, and one of my friends would usually use it at the end of my turn, then after he untapped it (before he drew), if he had a creature on top, to grab two saprolings.
again, really, really good in limited/booster draft, but not only a bit better than average anywhere else.
There is no "point" to this card. No crazy combo to be had (Barring you're really going for it with Crystal Ball like effect). Its a random effect generator. And good for the casual diversity Timmys.
"The appeal is, sometimes I get a Snake, sometimes I get a land! Wheeee! Things!" -Aaron Forscythe
Hey magic needs some cards that just say, 'This is crazy game sometimes.'
Dr.Pingas
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I love this card; it's interesting without being OMGBROKENLETSBUY20. I notice a lot of people complaining about the 'gain 2 life' part though. To those people, I can really only say, be happy you're getting anything. This card could easily have said "if creature, get token; if land, put into play". The fact that the land you could get is not even tapped, nor must it be basic, greatly outweighs the fact that, even if you don't get card advantage, it's still nice enough to reward you with something at all. And if you're really that worried about gaining 2 life instead of a single 1/1, run a Top
Ideatog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Bears a shocking resemblance to Medicine Bag from Exodus.
languill
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I use this in my beast deck with Garruk's Horde, so while I'm playing with mana on top I get to put it straight in, and then I can cast a creature. The deck only has 11 non creatures so if I get enough mana I do have to worry about not milling myself...
Vandarringa
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sack o' card advantage indeed. The fact that this has seen play in Standard at this point is a testament to the raw power of card advantage. There is not much of a combo to be had here, but it's great for control decks, which always want lots of land down for countermagic, and can often use lifegain and chump blockers against aggro decks when there's spare mana at the end of a turn.
Hackworthy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Some cards are good, some are just fun. This one is both.
skjenolc
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's a silly image, but these satchels look pretty jiving with their straps draped over the shoulder of a Galvanoth. Peek at your first card at the beginning of your upkeep, cast it for free if it's a sorcery or instant appropriate for the board situation, then get it out for a net cost of one mana if it's a land. You can get the benefits of drawing and playing a land while saving your draw for what will hopefully be a spell, and you can still play a land during your main phase. Works just as nicely with Delver of Secrets. To my eye, the only reason this doesn't see much play in Standard is that current Delver decks don't need much land on the table to function.
Cast the satchel. Cast Ponder. Put the card you want on top of your deck for when you draw. Put any land cards SECOND from the top. Now, you can pay the satchel's activation cost and get a free land drop!
This is probably one of the best methods for mana ramp in decks that do not run green. Traveler's Amulet is another one, but this one puts the land onto the battlefield ready for use. If you run Ponder, run this too. You won't regret it.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Mike-C: If more wars were fought with stuff that looked like this-
a) there'd be less wars
b) wars would be more fun
Let's ban everything more powerful than this card, just for a day. For teh lulz :3
sunshinesan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I absolutely adore this card. I dunno why. It's not good enough to be played. But it doesn't suck the least. One of the joys of Magic is to tap this thing, and getting a (mild/good) surprise every turn.
majinara
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
It's cute but, let's be frank, sucks. The reasons for that are as follows: - it's unreliable. Need mana acceleration? You might waste a ton of mana during the next few turns to get none of that. Need a token for your skullclamp? Maybe you will get one, maybe you won't. Need life? Oh, there's a land. - the life part is highly inefficient. Two life for two mana are horrible. Lifegain is only good if you can either combo it with something, or gain such ungodly amounts that it is making you basically immune to damage. Lifegift or grim feast can gain you masses of life in a multiplayer game for three mana. When you paid three mana for this, you didn't get anything yet, but just put the card in play. It's just super inefficient. - the ramp part is efficient, but has another huge problem. When do you need to ramp and get lands into play the most? When you are short on lands and mana. When do you certainly not want to spend lots of mana for random effects that might not help you solve your mana problem? When you are short on lands. This card basically does the opposite of what you want it to, when you need mana. - the token is cute, but by itself not noteworthy, unless you can combo it with something. But then again the combo will be highly unreliable, because you can't be sure to get a token from this card.
Comments (38)
That's all I have to say.
Wow I actually missed that interaction. Nice catch.
That would actually be 5 mana because you have to pay the satchels activation cost each time you use it.
Combo this with Rings of Brighthearth
Oh, and Voltaic Key (of course) and double the bonus every turn! Two 1/1's, 4 life, or even a land or TWO, for 5 mana (thanks Wprundv XD). Fabulous.
Much better when played in a deck made mostly of creatures and lands. The token and the land are great, but the 2 life isn`t very impressive.
Also, saves your skin late game when you`re topdecking. Those lands are much better being put into play than being drawn by you.
However, I would have designed it as a cmc2 card with an activation cost of 3.
If the top card of your library is a creature card, it would be similar to: Jade Mage.
If it's a land card, the effect is similar to a Journeyer's Kite.
(And since it's duidic, it's ok that the land part outstands te other ones.)
For the non-land, non-creature part, I wouldn't insist on lifegain. In addition, I think R&D doesn't seem to know how to calculate the gain of life. Lifegain should be always better than dealing damage, since gaining life doesn't win you a game.
So for an activation cost of 3, I believe it would be best to gain life equal to the casting cost of the revealed card. Instead of life, I could imagine other effects, like tapping/untapping a permanent, put the revealed card at te bottom of your library for an additional bonus.
Nonetheless, this card is one of the best creations from R&D. This is a wonderful form of green intuition since this card combines randomness with some sort of control, since you've chosen the cards in your library.
booster draft: yes
regular 60 card deck, without limitations: i don't know
the saproling is nice, but it isn't a game changer unless you're already running a a token deck. the life gain is just a staller, and not even that good at that.
the land, however, is what really makes me consider putting this card in somewhere. an untapped land for 2 mana is insanely good, considering rampant growth will get it tapped.
it definitely seems to fit more in a deck that ISN'T built around mana ramp, since most mana ramp cards get them out of your deck. cards like oracle of mul-daya or vampire nocturnus can help predict what's on top, and one of my friends would usually use it at the end of my turn, then after he untapped it (before he drew), if he had a creature on top, to grab two saprolings.
again, really, really good in limited/booster draft, but not only a bit better than average anywhere else.
3.5/5
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/ld/157
There is no "point" to this card. No crazy combo to be had (Barring you're really going for it with Crystal Ball like effect). Its a random effect generator. And good for the casual diversity Timmys.
"The appeal is, sometimes I get a Snake, sometimes I get a land! Wheeee! Things!"
-Aaron Forscythe
Hey magic needs some cards that just say, 'This is crazy game sometimes.'
I notice a lot of people complaining about the 'gain 2 life' part though. To those people, I can really only say, be happy you're getting anything. This card could easily have said "if creature, get token; if land, put into play". The fact that the land you could get is not even tapped, nor must it be basic, greatly outweighs the fact that, even if you don't get card advantage, it's still nice enough to reward you with something at all.
And if you're really that worried about gaining 2 life instead of a single 1/1, run a Top
Cast the satchel. Cast Ponder. Put the card you want on top of your deck for when you draw. Put any land cards SECOND from the top. Now, you can pay the satchel's activation cost and get a free land drop!
This is probably one of the best methods for mana ramp in decks that do not run green. Traveler's Amulet is another one, but this one puts the land onto the battlefield ready for use. If you run Ponder, run this too. You won't regret it.
a) there'd be less wars
b) wars would be more fun
Let's ban everything more powerful than this card, just for a day. For teh lulz :3
- it's unreliable. Need mana acceleration? You might waste a ton of mana during the next few turns to get none of that. Need a token for your skullclamp? Maybe you will get one, maybe you won't. Need life? Oh, there's a land.
- the life part is highly inefficient. Two life for two mana are horrible. Lifegain is only good if you can either combo it with something, or gain such ungodly amounts that it is making you basically immune to damage. Lifegift or grim feast can gain you masses of life in a multiplayer game for three mana. When you paid three mana for this, you didn't get anything yet, but just put the card in play. It's just super inefficient.
- the ramp part is efficient, but has another huge problem. When do you need to ramp and get lands into play the most? When you are short on lands and mana. When do you certainly not want to spend lots of mana for random effects that might not help you solve your mana problem? When you are short on lands. This card basically does the opposite of what you want it to, when you need mana.
- the token is cute, but by itself not noteworthy, unless you can combo it with something. But then again the combo will be highly unreliable, because you can't be sure to get a token from this card.
In short: it's unreliable and expensive.
March of the Machines
Mana Echoes