Seems like it will be very good as it is an Instant, lets you dig deep for the card you need, and then throws all of your flashback cards and other stuff in your graveyard and pumps Wreath of Geists and Boneyard Wurm.
Oh, and it has flashback.
Gelzo
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(6 votes)
The card is good without it, but the seven mana flashback seems pretty steep. I'm sure some decks won't even try to pay it.
I'm hoping this will be good for the U/R combo decks in Modern. Losing Preordain and Ponder was sort of unfortunate for them.
Hayw00d0909
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
And Blue/Black control is back.
Gaffy00
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Wizards is REALLY pushing this card to be played. They ban Preordain and Ponder in many formats and make it an Instant etc; Wow
Neural_Blaze
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Pyromancer Ascension in Modern probably wants this. Great card in general, fuels a lot of different strategies and great synergy with other flashback cards, reanimation spells, combination of the two in Unburial Rites.
Cyberium
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
A little more expensive than Impulse, but puts cards into graveyard is a great plus compare to Impulse' at bottom of library.
.Blaze.
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(11 votes)
Instant Speed + Card Draw + Grave Setup + Flashback = Amazing card. And really, the flashback is just icing on the cake.
A0602
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I have been waiting so long for a card like this to be usable...
DarthParallax
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: From that fateful day when stinking bits of slime first crawled from the sea and shouted to the cold stars, "I am man.", our greatest dread has always been the knowledge of our mortality. But tonight, we shall hurl the gauntlet of science into the frightful face of death itself. Tonight, we shall ascend into the heavens. We shall mock the earthquake. We shall command the thunders, and penetrate into the very womb of impervious nature herself. LIFE! DO YOU HEAR ME? GIVE MY CREATION... LIFE!
Lord_of_Tresserhorn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
At the moment this common is the highest ranked card in Innistrad, with 4.917!
I love this card for Mimeoplasm Commander. So perfect, get a reanimation card into my hand and throw reanimation targets, dredgers, flashbackers, and other cards that call the grave home.
TheDonMega
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Best card in Innistrad PERIOD.
iDrunky
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Love this card, I randomly flashback it with shimmering grotto in my white blue deck.
OmegaSerris
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.9/5.0)(4 votes)
WHY ? I don't get that. The is fine, but to flashback? Really? Once you get there, in a self-mill, you'll probably kill yourself with this. Moan of the Unhallowed makes some sense. If they lowered that flashback, it would be four 2/2s over two turns, not overpowered really but I understand. But I don't see how it is justified in this case.
Though, Snapcaster Mage just breaks the hell out of this. Pull another Snapper and give him up to three more targets in the graveyard.
Villainous1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy is obviously researching human transmutation...
NuckChorris
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
If the Flashback was more than 7 cmc it would be getting close to broken. This card would still see tons of play without Flashback, so stop complaining about it. In the late game when both players are basically out of cards, would you rather be topdecking or spending that unused mana on this? It's hard for Flashback costs to be too much, as it is another use of a single card, an option that does not take up hand space. Flasback is only "bad" when the card the flashback is less than useful itself.
Modern is going to have some fun with this, I think. Vengevine, anyone? And I guess Tarmogoyf is just going to keep getting better and better. :P
It's interesting to compare this to older cards, like Impulse and Intuition, as well as Thirst for Knowledge and Compulsive Research. They all seem to have their different uses, and those rare occasions when Forbidden Alchemycan be flashed-back make the advantages and disadvantages all the more nuanced.
Philosophy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Snapcaster's best friend. I don't like pay 7 so I'll pay 3 again!
Saikuba
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Even without flashback, this would be a fine card. The effect is better in most cases than Impulse, because its easier to mess with your graveyard than the bottom of your library (especially in a set with flashback). Impulse is a pretty good card, so being able to pay 1 more for a slightly better effect is certainly usable.
The flashback is like the flashback on Firebolt. Yeah it's expensive, but it's more like icing on the case for when you have nothing better to spend your mana on rather than the main draw of the card.
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I got a foil of this and traded it for The Mimeoplasm. I thought I'd done well, but the guy at the game store said I'd been ripped off. When I got home, I saw a foil of this is, for wathever reason I can't begin to understand, worth around US$10 on the internet. Meh.
Asmodi0000
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I played against someone who was addicted to this card. He just kept casting it, digging and digging, over and over again. He would sometimes even just dig for another Forbidden Alchemy, just so he could dig again. Then, once he was done casting it normally, he started flashbacking them, either through its own cost or with snapcaster mage.
I feel a little sorry for him. I don't think he ever found what he was looking for, because he ended up milling himself to death.
It was an odd game.
AngelicOverthrow
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
why hasn't anyone noticed this for a Splinterfright deck? Use this to grab another and chuck some creatures in the grave while your at it.. boneyard warm + splinter fright + maybe a couple Mulch's or Mindshriekers and you've got yourself a WC..
j_mindfingerpainter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ .Blaze.: Completely. My favorite standard common by far.
Crimson-Arcanum
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Love this card in UB Zombies. Instant speed draw is always good, and setting up the grave for a next turn Unbreathing Horde is just awesome.
Even if you don't want to put cards into your graveyard, this card is an instant speed Draw 4 Cards, Discard 3 Cards. That's fantastic, as it allows you to keep mana open, and allows you to dig deep into your library (well, relatively deep -- in my 350 card deck, it's not so deep, but you get the point). It's a Foresee that sacrifices the extra draw for costing 1 less mana and being instant. Lat-Nam's Legacy and See Beyond still have their place though ;-)
Mattmedia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is great in U/B Control, and usually the games end up going for so long that you can use the flash back, and seal off the game by finding that extra land or bomb.
Megapossum
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So, the card that has sparked many-a-standard deck and adds such a ridiculous amount of consistency to blue, isn't even a 4.0.... what???
MechaKraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This thing gets more powerful as your library becomes more diminished. This concept was what gave a previous opponent the chance to turn a game around that I was winning.
First he used Forbidden Alchemy, picking up another forbidden alchemy, then used that and picked up a ponder, then used that and FINALLY came up with something able to deal with my Grimgrin, Corpse-born (who by this time had become a 2,000,000,000,000,000/2,000,000,000,000,000 thanks to Rooftop Storm/Gravecrawler combo) - Phantasmal Image. In total he drew 11 cards for 7 mana(!) and kept 3 of them, all of which allowed him to get what he needed =/.
The point is that this thing enables you to draw four cards and keep one of them, and when your library has become significantly smaller, the chance you have more to work with increases. It can become broken beyond broken, especially since the cards you don't keep do not go to the graveyard, saving you from milling yourself.
This is my favorite card in the whole block. No, not Tamiyo, not Avacyn, not Huntmaster, not even Alchemy's best friend, Unburial Rites. You can't do a good UB deck in standard without this card.
MICKEY.KNOX
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hey MechaKraken. Read that card again. Its not draw and the cards you don't keep DO go the GY... You contradicted yourself a bit in that last paragraph... unless I'm mistaken somehow...
iHARBiNG3R
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
People seem to be confused by this card so let me just say it. This is NOT card draw. If your deck doesn't use the graveyard then you are doing it wrong.
Secksee
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Nobody has made a FullMetal Alchemist reference! o: Thought I'd see one.
CogMonocle
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
appreciate this card while it exists. I'm going to miss this card. In M14 we get Glimpse the Future at uncommon - same CMC, sorcery, no flashback, and only digs 3 cards deep.
DaLucaray
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Careful there buddy, you could lose an arm or a leg doing that. Or even your whole body!
Comments (36)
Oh, and it has flashback.
I'm hoping this will be good for the U/R combo decks in Modern. Losing Preordain and Ponder was sort of unfortunate for them.
Extremely versatile.
I will also note you do not draw the card, which may be important in some cases (such as vs. Consecrated Sphinx or Underworld Dreams).
turn 4: cast rites from the yard and pick Jin.
draw 7 cards then smile. :)
Though, Snapcaster Mage just breaks the hell out of this. Pull another Snapper and give him up to three more targets in the graveyard.
Modern is going to have some fun with this, I think. Vengevine, anyone? And I guess Tarmogoyf is just going to keep getting better and better. :P
It's interesting to compare this to older cards, like Impulse and Intuition, as well as Thirst for Knowledge and Compulsive Research. They all seem to have their different uses, and those rare occasions when Forbidden Alchemy can be flashed-back make the advantages and disadvantages all the more nuanced.
The flashback is like the flashback on Firebolt. Yeah it's expensive, but it's more like icing on the case for when you have nothing better to spend your mana on rather than the main draw of the card.
I feel a little sorry for him. I don't think he ever found what he was looking for, because he ended up milling himself to death.
It was an odd game.
Plus does wonders with Ghoulcaller's Chant.
First he used Forbidden Alchemy, picking up another forbidden alchemy, then used that and picked up a ponder, then used that and FINALLY came up with something able to deal with my Grimgrin, Corpse-born (who by this time had become a 2,000,000,000,000,000/2,000,000,000,000,000 thanks to Rooftop Storm/Gravecrawler combo) - Phantasmal Image. In total he drew 11 cards for 7 mana(!) and kept 3 of them, all of which allowed him to get what he needed =/.
The point is that this thing enables you to draw four cards and keep one of them, and when your library has become significantly smaller, the chance you have more to work with increases. It can become broken beyond broken, especially since the cards you don't keep do not go to the graveyard, saving you from milling yourself.
You contradicted yourself a bit in that last paragraph... unless I'm mistaken somehow...