This guy seems to be the most one of (if not, the) most hyped cards in the set. For good reason too, it allows you to get double the use out of a sorcery or instant in your graveyard. It will be interesting to see how good he pays of to be.
Lyoncet
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This guys stands out in Innstrad for one very important reason: it's a card that decks (of his color) in every format want want to get their grubby paws on. Like, every single one. His low CMC and ability to pretty much let you respond to any threat ever with exactly what you need make him the most versatile card for standard in the set. Once the dust settles two years from now, he's probably going to be the one card that people think of when they think Innistrad.
Chamale
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(27 votes)
The date is September 22, 2011.
Within one year, Snapcaster Mage will be included in a deck that wins a major Vintage tournament.
Hanksingle
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(8 votes)
This is one of those cards they might regret printing when it's all said and done.
busdude
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(14 votes)
The most overpowered card of a set is blue, what a surprise!
greg2367
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
guys. guys. he isn't actually THAT insane in standard...
it's the things he could do in legacy that'll be interesting. edit: although the banning of Mental Misstep was actually a blow to his playability. I mean. getting to pay 1u for a 2/1 and misstepping someone AGAIN? that is just totally brutal.
Gaffy00
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(15 votes)
Overrated.
But still good, don't get me wrong.
RJDroid
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card will be in at least 4 of the top 8 decks at the next major tournament. I make this statement based upon absolutely nothing, but that doesn't mean it's not true!
Kryptnyt
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(15 votes)
Best Merfolk Piker ever! He's even got a Super Soaker. Pewpew
Asmodi0000
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(4 votes)
They should never use tournament winners as models for cards. Even letting them design a card is a pretty bad idea, but putting their faces on them has just never worked out right.
Revelation666
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I don't like this at all.. it just seems so "auto-include" if you're running any form of blue control. I imagine he will be almost as common as stoneforge mystic was before the ban.. why wouldn't you want a 2/1 flash for 2 that lets you reuse your spells?!
LlanowarEmissary
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This card is one of the best blue creatures ever printed and definitely will see play in every format. Not only that, I actually LIKE the card (the art, not so much).
Easy 5/5 for me.
2pcsofcandy
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I'd play this even if it were just an instant without a creature attached. So ridiculous.
auriscope
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(7 votes)
Sure is broken in here.
acemanner
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(5 votes)
how has no one made this reference in a horror theme?
HE IS A FREAKEN GHOSTBUSTER!
QuietK
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I don't think I'm the only one under the impression that if he didn't have flash, he'd be much less valuable. Sure, I can play it on my turn and Day of Judgment again. But why not play it on yours, and Negate you out of the graveyard?
And that's just the tip of the iceberg with this guy. Mark my words, Blue/White control, maybe even Esper control, will make you absolutely loathe this card.
After pulling one in prerelease, this guy is absurdly powerful. You'd be a fool not to pick this first in draft, just bringing back something like Rebuke can completely change the face of the game.
Just think what he'll do in Constructed. If you're going to pack a punch, may as well do it twice.
Amnesigenic
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Got one of these at the pre-release, and he is as good as everyone says. Won my last game by playing him at the end of my opponent's turn, flashing back Midnight Haunting, then on my turn dropping a land, playing and equipping an inquisitor's flail to a moon heron, popping selfless cathar and swinging for 14. Even with cards that already have flashback, he makes the flashback cheaper. Great card, now I only need 3 more...
Quibbleflux
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
If he doesn't get banned a card like this will get reprinted down the road with better art. Just look at Solemn Simulacrum.
thepillow
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(6 votes)
Thank you wizards, this is the most beautiful ghost buster I have ever seen.
Laguz
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(8 votes)
I thought this guy wouldn't be very useful in limited...boy, was I wrong. It was unfortunately the only decent card I opened, but man did he do some crazy stuff. I did this at the end of my opponent's turn: victim of night, snapcaster mage, flashback victim of night. Then swung for the win. Epic stuff...can't wait to see what he does in my vesper control deck.
scorpiolegend
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(5 votes)
WOOO!!! Pulled one of these from one of my prize packs from prerelease!! Should I sell it immediately, or keep it for a bit to see how the metagame shapes out?
PlanesMoyza
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(4 votes)
…they tried buy my snappy for 3 M12 boosters. No, thanks.
BuffJittePLZ
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(11 votes)
@Gaffy00: No, it is, and will prove itself to be, the best card printed from this set.
In fact, I am surprised at the 4.3 rating. The only reason it should be so low is people hating on the printing of such a powerful card.
Just with some cheap spells, like Spell Pierce, Path to Exile, Vampiric Tutor, even Lightning Bolt, this card is very efficient. Do not forget that it can come out as a surprise-blocker and basically trade for an opponent's creature, while adding another effect.
Expect to see a lot of these in decks, and very few in trade-binders.
Paladin85
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Looks like a built in Yawgmoth's Will for instants and sorceries, and you get a 2/1 body with a chance of reuse
roguepariah
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(19 votes)
If he lives up to the hype (currently $30 a pop) I have a feeling the only reprint we'll see is in a future "From the Vault: blue cards that empty your wallet" set. What a shame...
captainsoda
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(4 votes)
He looks exactly like the asain guy from the hangover....toot a loo mother f*cker.
Anyways, great card, did an outstanding job at draft tonight.
blunt_shark
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
so anyways... all previous comments aside, put this mutha in a mimic vat for some REAL fun. Snappy + Mimic Vat = TERROR. that is all
Axelle
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(16 votes)
OH SNAP
...caster Mage.
AlbinoSnowman
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(10 votes)
I'll never forgive myself for trading him for a Grimgrin, Corpse-Born...never ever... Yeah, it was my fault for being stupid, but I wasn't expecting him to be a $25+ at the time!
Now that I'm done sobbing, does anyone else think he looks like Mr. Chow from the Hangover?
Alienspider1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you want a red version, the closest I could find is Recoup, which trades the 2/1 body, instant speed, and the ability to flashback instants for an actual flashback cost.
Hayw00d0909
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(11 votes)
MISTA WISHY-WASHY GIVE YOUR CARD FLASHBACK FOR TWO MANA.
29.99 PLEASE. THANK YOU COME AGAIN.
Teh_Kitchen
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(11 votes)
He'd be good if he had flying, deathtouch and lifelink.
Okay, awesome card! Quick now I gotta go trade my buddy before he realizes what he's got lol he wants my mindshrieker for it, HAHAHA!!! I'm so evil...
axiobeta
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Time to get a box. Along with Lili, dual lands and a few mythics, Innistrad seems very profitable. And cracking boosters just seems more fun than with other sets :)
--Nate--
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Anyone care to explain why this isn't the top-rated card in Innistrad?
gtamaster503
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Considering, he isn't Legendary, most Flashback cost on spells that are worth it have on average about a 2CMC added to the original CMC so yeah. This card=insane.
God_Of_The_Smurfs
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I wish this guy had the artwork of Lord of the Unreal (minus the dragon) instead of his asian-guy-with-a-supersoaker cameo. Otherwise, this is an absolutely fantastic card. It's a ponder. It's a doom blade. It's a mana leak. It's a day of judgement. It's just about anything you want it to be, and for two mana, I couldn't be happier.
Polychromatic
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Yeah. Pretty bonkers card advantage, AND he swings for two. Mystical Teachings on legs.
Justice1337
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(6 votes)
This card is repugnantly overrated. He's no waste of paper, of course, but he's not something that's totally unparalelled for its cost like Goyf, Dark Confidant, Stoneforge, JTMS. Some of those cards released at a much lower price than this and are far better in that they're irreplaceable. Not every deck of such type will want to run this, and some will even want to run more specific ETB effects instead. Examples?
You literally have to go onto the banned/restricted list for cards like Demonic Tutor, Ancestral Recall and Vampiric Tutor for this card to be especially good at what it does. Mental Misstep is also banned in Legacy.
Of course, someone's going to come along and say, "But he gets to do ALL of these things! Versamatility, wtf pwnt!" Not really. Your use of this card is limited by what you've actually been able to first draw, then play already in this game. Yeah, it's only a Mystic Snake if you already played a Counterspell, bud. He's only going Keening Banshee with Dismember if you've already killed one of your opponent's creatures this game. He'll only Tidehollow Sculler for you as a second crack at someone's hand. What if you want a Mystic Snake but only have room for so many counterspells? You're better off just running the Mystic Snake. And what about if you want to add things like creature recursion or blink? It works with all of the above cards, but not with Snapcaster. And don't get me started on those absurd hands that your deck will sometimes give you, such as 3x one thing, 4x land. 3x Tidehollow Sculler, I have a quite playable hand. 3x Snapcaster, I have to mulligan.
The question is how many instants/sorceries do you need to fit into a deck before the versatility of this card outweighs the inconsistency? How much will your deck be lacking in direction if a choice between a variety of spells is better for you than doing one thing all the time? Are you sure you're willing to forego creature recursion and blink in your ETB effects? Don't get me wrong, a lot of the time the answers to these questions will lead you to Snapcaster Mage. It's that a lot of the time they won't. This is a nice, flavorful card, but it's not strictly better than anything out there, and it's not irreplaceable like nearly every other rare that released at a $30 price tag.
Andromeiylochk
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(6 votes)
@Justice1337
"Of course, someone's going to come along and say, "But he gets to do ALL of these things! Versamatility, wtf pwnt!" Not really."
Your argument that Snapcaster Mage isn't versatile seems kind of weak to me. Yes, you are limited by the spells in your opening hand and what you draw into, but assuming you draw first, the game lasts for 5 turns, and you're running no additional card draw, you will have seen 1/5 of your deck by the end of the game. This is actually a pretty strict situation as most games last longer and most blue decks tend to run some form of card draw (usually in the form of instants and sorcery).
Also, Dismember actually gives a creature -5/-5, not -2/-2. So with a snapcaster mage it's actually more like a Morkrut Banshee on crack,
Surgical Extraction is a perfect counter for this card (or the card they want to Flashback).
hedronMatrix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I honestly am so happy he is about $30 a pop, I have pulled now 9 of these. No joke, Saturday after release, bought 9 packs, pulled 1, traded guy at the store for 9 more packs, pulled another, traded him again for 9 more packs, pulled another, and pulled my fourth, he traded me 9 last packs and I didnt pull any others until just recently when I pulled about 5 in the last 30 packs. This guy is all to common in my eyes
AjaniHouse
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
turn 2 Remove Soul. Turn 4 Snapcaster Mage with a Remove Soul. Turn 5 Familiars Ruse. Turn 6 Snapcaster Mage with another Familiars Ruse. And you still have it in ur hand after countering Skullbriar and other early spells a couple of times
Mattmedia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
He is pretty sweet, but usually if he is in your opening hand and you don't have a cheap spell, then he is just a flash bear, which is not all the great, once you get the ball rolling, he is pretty much the sickness.
I recommend running forbidden alchemy with this dude, and probably black or red, green could be pretty cool, but the only spell you'd really want to flash back is beast within, and that is 5 mana, and your getting a weak acidic slime.
I must admit though, he is great fun to play with, so damn oppressive, "ill cast x spell (knowing you have used all 4 mana leaks), Snapcaster for ...."
CJM2
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I hate the art on this card. He looks like a total dweeb. Otherwise...holy cow, Batman.
TwoHounds
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Doesn't the guy on the card look like Chang from the show Community? Anyone else think so?
The Snapcaster is a great card, but compared to the other ones it is not a real 2-drop. Whenever you play 'em you really want to benefit from it's ETB effect. In Turn 2 you really cannot use the ability due to none Snapcaster Magable spells in your graveyeard. Logically you can't use this before turn 3, unless you have any mana accelerators or free spells. The fact that it isn't a 2-drop let me say that it's 0.5 points worse than Tarmogoyf or Dark Confidant.
A real plus to this card is that you don't really have to build a deck around it (in opposite to Stoneforge Mystic or even Dark Confidant). Surely you need a deck with many good Instants and some Sorceries. The cards you flashback with it are great instant or sorceries and almost any deck uses them anyway. With 'em you can use the great cards twice per piece. Maybe this means, that you don't have to run 4 copies of each. It's no Stoneforge Mystic where you need some Equipments in your Deck and build your entirely Deck around it or Dark Confidant where you have to avoid playing some Cards which cost 3 Mana or more.
In Standard this dude will definitely make the run in blue Decks with 10+ Instants/Sorceries with CMC <=2 during the next 12 months.
In Extended you have some more targets (f.ex. Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile, Inquisition of Kozilek/Duress) and you could almost build an entire deck around him. Especially the discard theme is very interesting to me despite of being sorcery speed.
I Seriously am getting too many of this bad card. I somehow managed to trade this for several cards including a Giest of Saint Traft.
theratchet1215
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Holla! City of Nephalia! Just let me do one Bump in the Night, get my head straight.
Hangover references aside, this card A.) Still enters the battlefield, even if there is an opposing Curse of Death's Hold on you, and B.) Cannot let you cast the costless Time Spiral spells for free. Giving those spells flashback as per Snapcaster's ability will result in them having the ability Flashback , which is a nonexistent cost and therefore cannot be paid.
reapersaurus
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
What I don't get is - why did the designers make him a 2/1? Did testing (*guffaw*) really think he was underpowered at 1/1?
miro79
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Now we know what Grant from Mythbusters does in his spare time.
poprockmonster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Two words: Riptide Laboratory. I <3 Wizards :D (the type, not the company, although I <3 them as well)
qwertycrap
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I got sad when i saw the price of this card cos the guy next to me in the prerelease opened 3 of the expensive things
CuriousThing
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The quintessential example of a Johnny-Spike card. U/R burn in modern is looking pretty good with Lightning Bolt rotated out.
Yozuk
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
$20 for this thing? Jesus that is a lot for a rare. I really live cards that give extra value out of used spells. And this one is just great. But seeing that price tag on it I think I will try and open a few of these just so I can trade them.
AncientTimer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
A deliberately designed broken card just like Phyrexian Obliterator. At least not mythic. Power creep is too obvious here. Sad to see this kind of force feed sellers. 0,5/5
leomistico
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This needs Unearth so badly... No, seriously, with unearth the epicness of this card could have reached unseen levels... 5/5 no question at all...
LordRandomness
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
It might not be the best use for Snapcaster Mage, but use it to flashback Runic Repetition. Priceless.
AvatarofBro
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@efisxx Only one of the dark rituals gets flashback...
I want to see someone flashback a day of judgment with this guy and win.
mflanaga
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I have a question: Say I give a non-flashback spell flashback with this fella, cast it, and it gets exiled. May I then cast Runic Repetition on said spell as long as it's still the same turn?
GrimjawxRULES
★★★☆☆ (4.0/5.0)(10 votes)
FLASHBACK ALL THE SPELLS!! :D
This card is nothing short of amazing. It literally fits into every deck playing blue. Burn, milling, tutors, counterspells, spot removal. You name it; Snapcaster does it all, and gives you a 2/1 creature to boot! If this card doesn't scream utility, then I don't know what does, and I honestly don't know why this isn't rated at least +4.5/5. Complaining about the price tag and rating it down won't affect the secondary market price. What matters is whether or not people are using it at tournaments, and whether or not people are winning with this. If you're upset about it costing too much, complain to the store owners instead, and give this card the proper rating it deserves. (And no, I'm not saying this because I'm some rich smart-buttocks who can afford throwing +20 $ away for a piece of cardboard. Walletslayer contined to see play and be expensive even though people rated it below 4 out of spite: raging in Gatherer's comment section won't help.)
Oh yeah, and I'm happy that Wizards finally started to stick to their promises about the most powerful cards in a set not just being mythics.
TL;DR: This is a great utility card, and shouldn't be rated based on its secondary market value. 5/5
I havent read all 40 pages of comments. But, I'm very surprised its only $26 bucks. Just to start, think of the almighty P9 cards. The 3 P9 cards that have color are blue. And then all 3 are instants/sorceries. imagine playing Recall TWICE on turn 1... :D
OMG I traded mine away at the prerelease! I just got 2 more and WOW!
the_nonaffiliated
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
heartless summoning. it just needs to enter the battlefield, after all, it would just cost one blue mana
Dr.Pingas
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Not that my opinions count for much, but I tend to agree with Justice1337. People are ready to bend-over backwards and start dealing crack for this guy; but it's pretty plain to see, he is just another copy of a card... plus two mana. You really, really want to counter something? Avarage counter is two mana; who on EARTH is going to leave FOUR MANA open just to counter? I think, if I were on the other side of the table, I'd see that coming, and force your hand - since, after all, I may not be able to see your hand, but your Graveyard is fair play, so I can see everything you'll try before you do it - or, more simply put, you can't really do anything I haven't seen you do already, so I know to be ready for it in advance and can use that against you.
Don't get me wrong, he's a pretty cool guy, but he makes blue way too easy to predict - which is never, ever something that works out in it's favor in the long-run.
ApotheosisCM
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@mflanaga It would appear not. I checked the ruling for Runic Repetition.
An effect that gives flashback to an instant or sorcery card in your graveyard stops applying once that card has left the stack. The card won't have flashback while exiled and can't be the target of Runic Repetition (unless it naturally has flashback).
OmegaReborn
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Yeah, I was looking at this card the wrong way. I was thinking along the lines of "Oh hey, I can pay three for a one mana instant, this is crap".
Then when I play an FNM and see 5 straight B/U control decks Snapping back their Mana Leaks and Go for the Throat, I notice how awesome it is to recur some kill or counters. Even if they're just Snapping a Ponder, it still sets them up for a severely smooth game.
Freaking blue being broken all day long.
Shadoflaam
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Well, I got my playset. And then they previewed Grafdigger's Cage. FML.
Shard_Fenix
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Snapcaster's flavor text should be "Thank you, sir. May I have another?"
DarthParallax
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(6 votes)
In a world where Pitchforks, Torches, and steaknives are considered top-notch anti-Evil security.....
HEEZA FIRIN IZ LAAAAZAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Seriously people- that is a laser gun on a Magic card. Do NOT underestimate this. o.O
If you get two of these on the stack at the same time, with the intention of targeting the same card, they don't actually enter the battlefield. Instead, the beams get crossed and the Stay Pufft Marshmallow Man (13/13 Flying Hexproof Indestructible Trample Legendary Creature- Marshmallow Zombie Spirit Demon) comes in and kills the crap out of everyone.)
Edit: Wizards? I WAS JOKING WIZARDS! I WAS JOKING!!!!!! :O
hm. Withengar Unbound huh? that's...new. and evil -.- Looks like we have our Stay Pufft Marshmallow Demon after all.....now the question is how to combine him Ghostbuster Mage and Ghostbuster's Rig....
deadeye1387
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Apparently, a snappy haircut and a really big water gun can get a man far in this world...... Which just gave me an idea.
Salient
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Look at all the cool spells in your collection. Imagine them with "Flashback + casting cost. When you flash back this card, put a 2/1 blue Wizard into play."
Now imagine giving that to all of your cards. Vintage decks are winning by pairing Snapcaster with Mana Drain. I wouldn't pay U} for Mana Drains 1 through 4. But I'm happy to pay to have Mana Drains five through eight. And that's the beauty of Snapcaster: he's copies five through eight of your most powerful spell.
swords_to_exile
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Combos with spells
Paleopaladin
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
1. Who didn't rate this a 5?
2. Why?
This dude was a three-of in a LEGACY CHAMP deck for cryin' out loud!
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
He's sort of reminds me of Bloodbraid Elf back when Alara was still standard. This into Mana Leak is very similar to Bloodbraid into Blightning to my eyes. Main difference, of course, is that the elf was an uncommon that costed 1/10th of Snapcaster's price.
Wisdomseyes
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
"Anyone care to explain why this isn't the top-rated card in Innistrad?"
Because noobs are aloud to rate any number of stars they want and be counted toward the average.
It's hard to convince a new player or non-competitive player for that matter, the significant of card advantage. Then they ask me why I am using Remand, not Cancel and I try to explain. They don't believe me, but wonder still why they don't win.
howdyho
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Had to make an account just to downvote this most overrated card ever
matunos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Combo with Shahrazad, and a Twix.
Settsue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Hangover references aside, this card A.) Still enters the battlefield, even if there is an opposing Curse of Death's Hold on you, and B.) Cannot let you cast the costless Time Spiral spells for free. Giving those spells flashback as per Snapcaster's ability will result in them having the ability Flashback , which is a nonexistent cost and therefore cannot be paid. Report Abuse Posted By: theratchet1215 (11/3/2011 6:04:37 AM) ....................................................................................................................................... !Wrong! ....................................................................................................................................... If you couldn't cast the costless Time Spiral spells for free for the reasons you claim the how can you cast them in the first place? The mechanic flashback alone gives you the ability to play that card from your graveyard. it does not say that it has to have a converted mana cost of 1 or greater. it says that " target instant or sorcery in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn. (period) the flashback cost is equal to its CONVERTED MANA COST. Cards like Pact of Negation have a converted mana cost of (0) that does not mean the do not have a converted mana cost.
So. don't be angry because someone out there figured this out and is using it to their advantage. You'll just have to learn to play around it.
adrian.malacoda
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Settsue
It doesn't say "converted mana cost," just "mana cost." The Time Spiral suspend cards don't have a mana cost. Their converted mana cost is 0, but their mana cost isn't 0, it's just nonexistent. theratchet1215 is correct; you can't flashback cards that have no mana cost. See the ruling for Ancestral Vision: "This has no mana cost, which means it can't be cast with the Replicate ability of Djinn Illuminatus or by somehow giving it Flashback."
kbx00bm
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Best blue creature ever printed, gives you card advantage, ranges from good to "complete blowout" if you play him most of the time. Legacy staple and instant classic. How could anyone NOT give this 5/5?
wstonefi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Nate: It isn't the top-rated people in Innistrad because noobs don't understand its power, or because people are just hating on it for being too powerful. (The latter is also the reason why Jace, the Mind Sculptor has a 4.07 instead of a 5.0.
MrFluffyThing
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@mflanaga
If you give a spell flashback using Señor Snappy, it loses flashback when it leaves the stack (is cast, then exiled), so you cannot use Runic Repetition unless the card has Flashback printed on the card. The ruling is here:
An effect that gives flashback to an instant or sorcery card in your graveyard stops applying once that card has left the stack. The card won't have flashback while exiled and can't be the target of Runic Repetition (unless it naturally has flashback).
ArKive
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Anyone know how this card interracts with 'Buyback'? I will be using Snapcaster Mage in my Azami EDH deck when I get my grubby little hands on one, but am wondering how it would interract with cards like Capsize
EDIT: I just noticed that snapcaster is banned in EDH. Great... Now I wont be putting my grubby little hands anywhere near one.
3-7-15-1-292
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Dear Settsue,
You said "If you couldn't cast the costless Time Spiral spells for free for the reasons you claim the how can you cast them in the first place? The mechanic flashback alone gives you the ability to play that card from your graveyard. it does not say that it has to have a converted mana cost of 1 or greater. it says that " target instant or sorcery in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn. (period) the flashback cost is equal to its CONVERTED MANA COST. Cards like Pact of Negation have a converted mana cost of (0) that does not mean the do not have a converted mana cost.
So. don't be angry because someone out there figured this out and is using it to their advantage. You'll just have to learn to play around it."
Unfortunately, you have misunderstood the text of this card. Snapcaster Mage says "The flashback cost is equal to its mana cost." It does not say converted mana cost, as you assumed. Converted mana cost is a number, while mana cost is the series of symbols. While Pact of Negation and Hypergenesis both have a CONVERTED mana cost of 0, Pact has a MANA COST of (0), while Hypergenesis has no mana cost at all. However, Hypergenesis can be cast through the suspend mechanic because suspend says "When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost." In fact, as the rulings on Hypergenesis specifically mention, "This has no mana cost, which means it can't be cast with the Replicate ability of Djinn Illuminatus or by somehow giving it Flashback." In conclusion, Settsue, you are completely and utterly wrong, Flashback cannot be used to cast cards if they have uncastable mana costs, and you should really read the cards and their rulings more carefully.
josearcadio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Crappy art, way overpowered, and flavor not fitting the set in general. This is a terrible card in Innistrad :(
zeeehmtee
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Sigh, no offense but anyone with a brain/anyone that knows anything about magic shouldn't be voting under 4.5/5 for this creature. I voted 5/5 because he deserves 10/5.
TravisBlanchard
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
hes the only asian dude in innistrad and clearly their technology is far superior to white humans
GlassJoetheChamp
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I can't wait for Return to Ravnica to come out. Who knows what Izzet will cook up for this guy to use.
MechaKraken
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
This guy is just one more reminder of why most worlds finals decks run blue. You want to win? Run blue. Because blue has stuff like this guy.
Travis44
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Somebody explain to me how this isn't broken.
atemu1234
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I love this card, but he looks too much like a Borg to take seriously. I mean, my opponent used this to bounce and bolt me to death and I was to busy laughing because the card looked like a Scotty impersonator stepped out of a Star Trek convention for a smoke.
Superllama12
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
How about this with Havengul Lich? You get to pay three extra mana to flashback a spell, and a recurring 2/1 with flash! Add in Heartless Summoning or a sacrifice outlet and you have quite a fun deck!
CthulhuCult
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
this bro is lulzy
TastetheJace
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
This card is the apex of Blue's power: seemingly innocuous on the surface, but when dug a little deeper, and in the right hands of a true adept at Magic, it's a force more virulent than you can endure. Trust me.
Telltalereaper
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(3 votes)
This guy did what Jace couldn't do. He dodged the banhammer.
Khampa
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
justice 1337 nailed this one.
Ligerman30
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Combos with spells.
Jeikobu
★☆☆☆☆ (1.9/5.0)(5 votes)
Jackie Chan?
ParallaxtheRevan
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(7 votes)
basically Chinese Jace. :P
yousquiddinme
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Why isn't he red? :( He's such a red card.
Red would have a lot more viability if it had Snapcaster.
Blue didn't even need snapcaster, it already has delver and a bunch of other ridiculousness. Plus counterspells. Blue didn't need any help getting better!
001010011100101110
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(7 votes)
The power of asians never disappoints.
sarroth
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
Tiago Chan designed this as a Blue card; I wonder if R&D had asked if they could make it Red what he would have said. Mark Rosewater said it would have been Red had R&D designed it (http://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/s6iw9/ama_with_mark_rosewater_head_designer_of_magic/c4bygsd?context=3). I think I would have preferred this guy as Red. Flashback is primary in Red according to Rosewater (see link), probably because it fits Red's impulsive, aggressive mentality; plus I know needing at least Blue/Red in Commander to flashback, say, already annoying extra turn spells would make it played less, and thus seen less, and thus less annoying for most people, including myself. If only. As is, it should have been a 1/2 or 1/1. I get that Blue can have decent creatures on occasion, but high-profile cards like this one (and did anyone in R&D not think that the last Invitational card would be high-profile) should stick to the color pie just as much as commons must.
dcole
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Fun to play with brutal to play against 5/5
SkyknightXi
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(6 votes)
@JimmyNoobPlayer: I do wonder why people would LIKE format-warpers of such a magnitude. There's a chance of them having to face off against them, and the RNG denying them their own format-warpers...Of course, this is coming from someone who doesn't acknowledge the reality of "coolness".
You were right, Chamal. 3 Snapcaster in Marc Lanigra's Grixis Control deck, which won 1st in GenCon Vintage 2012.
Gcrudaplaneswalker
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(9 votes)
Probably #1 on Ravnica's most wanted... I mean, the whole set was pretty much made against him.
aliz_com
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
They say all blue decks arent real decks if they dont have a Force of Will in them, Well Snap Dog fits in that category now.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Its a regrowth at instant speed with a 2/1 body... with a slight catch.
.5/5 someone dropped the ball on this one. Ive seen more snapcasters on mtgo to feed a hungry African village for months.
Kura-san
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm still sad that you can't pay Overload costs with Snappy targeting such cards in your graveyard. Think of the possibilities!
CronenMorley
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hilarious. By the current rating, Snapcaster is the 9th best card in Innistrad. After tournament staples such as Mindshrieker and Bloodgift Demon.
FFS this is played in Vintage.
MisterAction
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
@Grimjaw: I don't think people are 1-starring this card in an attempt to lower its secondary market price so that they can buy a set cheaply after tricking retailers into thinking nobody likes it. That would be silly of them. Rather, I think the low ratings come from the belief that this card is so powerful that it's not fun.
Not being a tournament player, I've never seen Snapcaster in use, so I'm abstaining from rating him. However, I agree with the general sentiment. Magic will be the most fun the more viable ways there are to win, and so when one card shows up in the majority of all winning decks, people get tired of seeing it.
Community ratings aren't about whether a card is good, they're about whether you personally like the card. Normally those two go hand in hand, but in cases like this, people have every right to give 1 star to a card they wish didn't exist, no matter how powerful it is. In any case, if you like Snapcaster Mage, you already know how good it is and aren't really misled by the fact that it only has a 4-star rating, so they're not hurting anyone.
steinburger1109
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
*** you, Snapcaster Mage...
Zylo-
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card plays very nicely in a lot of blue control decks. This card really shows it's true power when you have a graveyard full of cards and a way to bounce him once or twice.. Bonus points if Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is on the table.
DacenOctavio
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
What do you call it when you have a playset of Tiago Chan's card Snapcaster Mage? 4-Chan.
Oppa Flashback Style
Kaleidostorm
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Awesome card, but seems out-of-place with the flavor of Innistrad. I'll admit he's got the cool gavony style paldrons and a zappy gun that appears to be powered by geists, however his expression is of distant longing. He pines for the wonderful plane of Ravnica where he can share his knowledge of flashback mechanics with the Izzet guild and get in heated, sexually tense arguments with Ash Zealot
Nothing would make him happier than to look downward and see the little golden Ravnica symbol at his feet, but with a sigh he soldiers on, reluctantly helping the foolish townsfolk stave off the vile creatures that dwell in the dark plane of Innistrad.
shamurai7
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
it's an eternal witness with flash. not quite worth its pricetag, but still very good!
bowlofgumbo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is absolutely disgusting. I can't tell if I'm more bitter about how ridiculously overpowered this chump is, or the fact that I opened two boxes of Innistrad and didn't rip a single one :(
FaceClaimer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
this guy + glimpse the unthinkable = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavMtUWDBTM
Hunter06
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Ahh good ol' Snappy, this guy is way too good for standard :/ 5/5 Stars
ThinkOriginal
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Oh Snapcaster. You...you are one of those cards that I hated from the moment you were released...until the moment I first cast you. I will never look back.
DaybreakRanger
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Pair this with Roaring Primadox....
Smoke_Stack
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Type your comment here.
Pipikako
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
GANGAM STYLE !
JimmyNoobPlayer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Typical Snapcaster Mage comment: "This will warp every format for years, forcing everyone to play around it. Cool, eh?"
Typical Cavern of Souls comment: "IT'LL HURT MY COUNTERSPELLS! BAN BAN BAAAAAAAAAAN!"
Edit: I've read through more comments, and I may have been hasty. There are many complaints for Snappy. What irks me is that players who favor blue and counterspells seem to think they are superior to other players. They make snap judgments (ha ha!) that countering spells are okay and weakening counters is always bad.
Isn't versatility the true mark of expertise? Shouldn't an expert learn to play well with all colors?
Lifegainwithbite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
@strider24seven: Not quite. This is much more narrow than Eternal Witness. You can throw Eternal Witness in almost any green deck and it will net you card advantage. This is only good for blue decks that are built around it. This is probably the better card in general but Eternal Witness is still an amazing card.
SpaceMagic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
How much snap could a snapcaster cast if a snapcaster could cast snap? We all know the answer to this one. That said, I'm hoping for either a Rapcaster or Sasscaster Mage in the next Un-Set. Reusing old jokes almost as little fun as flashbacking mana leaks.
strider24seven
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@Lifegainwithbite I never said that Eternal Witness wasn't a good card- it's a fantastic card. I was only saying that Snapcaster is better for most decks, which you apparently agree with: "This is only good for blue decks that are built around it."
Rancid_Raptor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ sargatanas_1979
A sorcery with flashback is still a sorcery. Sorcerys can only be cast on your turn. Flashback is an alternitive CASTing cost. So.. your CASTing it, and you can only CAST Socerys on your turn...
So no, you can't flashback a Socery on an opponets turn.
sargatanas_1979
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Rancid_Raptor
Thanks! That makes complete sense. It's funny, as much as I think I know the rules in just about every scenario, I always find myself clarifying specifics like this.
Thanks again.
ojchahine6
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Is there a certain spell that you have that you have that your deck is built around? Why have 4 when you can have 8!
I bought 2 of these for 12 dollars at a time where the minimum price everywhere else was 20 dollars. I pulled my first one from one of the first booster packs I ever bought. I decided I had to complete my playset and bought my fourth one for 20 bucks.
Now someone please go win a vintage tournament with this bad boy so I can see a nice return on my investment.
I think it's great that Blue finally gets good creatures. Snapcaster does what Blue's already doing; casting spells. Cards like Delver of Secrets on the other hand don't feel very blue at all.
Arachnos
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Venser. Frickin Venser.
EmperorAkira
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Venser the sojourner + Snapcaster mage...
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeew!!!
j_mindfingerpainter
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The epitome of flashy.
MrSunso
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card and Doomblade are fun. "Kill all the non-black things!"
Buenomars
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Looks a little like Chow Yun-fat!
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Fun Fact: The Russian name for Snapcaster Mage (Маг Молниеносных Заклинаний) means "Mage Spells Blazing Speed".
FlashCaster
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Anyone who voted this card less than 5/5 either doesn't understand its power, or is hate rating it.
This is the best creature in all of Magic, no card could deserve the rating more.
There may come a day when it is proven that Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is better, but that just hasn't happened yet. Vintage Champs 2013 is next month, and we will have to see what happens. You better believe that Snapcaster will be in at least some of the Top 8 decks again though.
The reason this guy is so good, is because it gets more powerful the better the instants/sorceries you are working with are (closer to Vintage). For 3 mana this atom bomb of a card can flashback an Ancestral Recall and give you a 2/1 beater and 3 card draw (again since you already cast it). When you are drawing things like the Moxen, Tinker, Time Vault, Time Walk, etc. then it starts to become clear why this is such a powerful move.
The only creature that really comes close to this is Dark Confidant, and while it is close Bob needs to be built around to work best, and is thus just less versatile. Also Bob can die to a removal and not do anything at all, where Snapcaster will still give you the flashback regardless of if he gets removed right away.
This card was a 3x in Marc Lanigra's 2012 Vintage Champs winning deck, and Dark Confidant was 4x. That does not mean that Bob is a better card though, and Bob has been used in top Vintage decks for quite a while now so it's natural to keep using what works. Keep in mind that Snapcaster would be a lot better to play in a deck carrying 3 or more of the big Eldrazi compared to Bob, so you wouldn't oneshot yourself with a bad luck draw.
Snapcaster isn't just the #1 blue creature, it's the best creature in Magic for the time being. Someone prove me wrong and win Vintage Champs with Emrakul, I truly hope you can. Just be ready to deal with this guy flashing back counters to stop however you plan on cheating the big guy in.
Khazpar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wizards, did you really need to give this guy 2 power? He still would have seen a ton of play with a power of 0, I think a power of 1 would have been fine.
MizziumSculptor444
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Khazpar: Because having 1/2 stats would make it even easier to break with combos.
Fermidirac
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Instant-speed Regrowth in blue? I'll take four. Ironic that Regrowth is restricted in vintage while Snapcaster Mage and Burning Wish are not.
Continue
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
A super-powerful card that likely shouldn't have been printed in its current form. Ironically, this remains legal in Modern while the card meant to answer it was recently banned.
Goatllama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Really should have been red. Giving temporary flashback is NOT a blue ability. Even in block we have the example of Past in Flames, and as a further way of throwing it in Red's face, reprinting Recoup in Sorin vs. Tibalt. Give us a damn break and stop favoring Blue so damn much.
FlingIt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Everyone's getting all mad at wizards for printing this. "Should have been red," say some. "Shouldn't have been a creature," say others.
But it wasn't wizards' fault. Tiago Chan designed this card.
Enelysios
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
EDIT: @Hypa_dude: Its not banned because Modern needs it. If the modern format loses any of its powerful control pieces, Zoo and Jund decks are going to turn the format into something too fast and unplayable. Snapcaster is in some ways the Force of Will of Modern. Without powerful control cards, the eternal formats degenerate into the first player to go winning.
Cyclonic rift may be one of the best EDH removal cards, but its not the best removal in the game, that's a joke. Jund colors are where destruction is at in modern. Abrupt Decay and lightning bolt specifically. Green gets the best creatures in terms of bodies. The 2/1 body is nice, but its not why people are running snappy. Wild Nacatl is an example of one of green's beastly creatures. At the time I am writing this control is not faring overly well in modern, its all birthing pod decks and a bit of Naya Zoo. Snapcaster is in every control deck, but those decks don't have the other tools for dominance right now.
END EDIT
This is the best card in Innistrad. This is certainly in the top five blue creatures of all time, I would argue for the number one spot. I know he seems innocuous, but he is remarkable. As Wisdomseyes said, Remand is better than Cancel, even though most new players can't see it. Think twice is another. Dark Confidant too. For similar reasons, Snapcaster is a beast.
People who say that R&D hates blue just can't see how these pieces fit together.
The weakest part of any excellent card you own is that only four (Or, heaven forbid, one!) can go in your deck. Having a snapcaster in your hand is like cheating in another copy.
If you need more proof go look at the pre-release articles for Avacyn restored, even the devs admit this card is too good.
Five years from now, this is the card from innistrad that people will know.
Drewskithelegend
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Just a fantastic card. Rating this below 4.5 is either due to saltiness or lack of understanding
Consider the following This+ Twiddle= Deceiver Exarch This+ Thoughtseize is very much like a Vendillion Clique effectively you pay 2 life to deny the draw, power is reduced and doesn't have flying. This+Any 2 mana counterspell is like Mystic Snake This+Cruel Ultimatum is roughly Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur... Well ok, it's not really equivalent, but that's the sort of craziness this card is capable of And that's just comparing it to successful creatures with flash and ETB effects. Note that the portion of the power 9 that aren't artifacts all have obscenely low costs. So do Lightning BoltReanimateSwords to PlowsharesMana DrainRemand and for that matter pretty much any spell that has an alternate cost that can make it "free" Gitaxian Probe for instance.
Absolutely stunning- powerful and yet tactical at the same time. Not "Hurrdurr Bloodbraid Elf duuuuuh win" powerful, more like Dark Confidant powerful.
Redrust
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Maybe it's just me, but he shares an uncanny resemblance to Ken Jeong, the actor who plays señor Chang, in community.
danagelh
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@ hypa_dude
I disagree with everything you say. Snapcaster is exactly what modern blue decks need. This isn't the blue of vintage and legacy. Modern blue is nothing close to being as oppressive. Sure he's in every deck that can run him, but without him, blue is a sad color in modern. He is actually enabling so many different archetypes by making blue worth playing. And what blue creatures are better than Tarmogoyf? What blue removal is as efficient and versatile as Path to Exile? What blue sweepers are better than Wrath of God and Damnation?
hypa_dude
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
EDIT: @danagelh
Thank you for the easy questions.
blue creature(s) better than Tarmogoyf: Delver of Secrets (an evasive 3/2 for 1? with no drawback? in blue no less? pfffftt), Snapcaster Mage, Pestermite, Vendilion Clique
blue removal as efficient and versatile as Path to Exile: Vapor Snag, which counters abrupt decay, or end-step bounces your opponents creature, followed by the inevitable counter. Also lets you reuse ETB creatures like Snapcaster Mage and Vendilion Clique. Plus, it has a bonus red-like ping, and no drawback like path to exile. Yep, efficient and versatile.
blue sweepers that are better than Wrath of God and Damnation: Cyclonic Rift, which, granted, costs more, but is one-sided, flexible, and splashable. I have never seen anyone lose after playing cyclonic rift, even if they are extremely far behind. Steals games where it shouldn't. While WOG and Damnation equalize a board, Cyclonic Rift Resets your opponents difficult-to-develop board to nothing while keeping your undercosted blue beaters on the board.
I'm not sure why this card has not yet been banned in Modern. Every single competitive deck with blue (even if it is just a splash) runs 3-4X of these, which seriously limits the meta. Makes playing against blue miserable, since it destroys the rules of probability that everyone who doesn't run this card has to follow. It's not just card advantage (which it is, since it is a reverse 2-for-1), it lets you effectively double the number of each of the best cards in your deck and effectively doubles (or more) your hand size since you're able to add your graveyard to your hand. Takes absolutely no skill or strategy to use, just put in your blue deck and start winning. This is reason that cards with a casting cost >4 are unplayable in Modern, because if you can't get it in under snapcaster->mana leak, you're just giving your opponent an effective time walk with a bonus 2/1, while you lose a card. If there was any card to hate rate, it's this one, for the extremely unbalanced and format-warping design.
EDIT: @Enelysios
Look at mtgoacademy's Deck Tech section. Blue/white/red control is in the 4-0's almost every single day. So is Twin-mite and Faries. All of these run 4X Snapcaster Mage. Jund shows up too, but with the loss of Deathrite Shaman, the only 4-of is Liliana (which in my opinion, should also be banned). Dark confidant is up there, but requires your deck be specifically built to use it. Otherwise, Jund has incredibly diverse deck lists, and so does Birthing Pod for that matter, while control is almost guaranteed to have at least 12-20 cards in common with last year's world champion deck. Zoo is almost never represented in the 4-0 or even 3-1's of the dailies. You see Zoo in pro events, but it's competitiveness at these events has more to do with the skill of the player than the ability to look up decks on the internet, otherwise, it would be more represented in dailies.
Abrupt decay is ok, but it is specifically designed to combat control decks, against any other deck, it's effect is almost insignificant. Very often, it's simply a dead card in hand and is therefore a very frequent sideboard switch, which is why you see very few decks run more than 2. Cylonic rift, on the other hand, almost always wins you the game if you play the overload cost, no matter how far behind you are. When used for bounce, it is a very significant setback, especially against 3- and 4-drops. There is not a single card in any other color, except maybe Tooth and Nail (which costs 2 more to cast and can ironically be completely undone by cyclonic rift) wins the game with that consistency, especially those that have added flexibility.
END EDIT
A comparable card in green, Eternal Witness, costs {1}{G}{G} to cast and doesn't have flash. Isn't green supposed to have the best creatures?
An now blue has cyclonic rift, the single best removal in the game. Isn't black supposed to have the best removal?
The fact that blue has the best card advantage, the best creatures, the best removal, the only playable countermagic, the best sweepers, and the even best lands (celestial colonade) is a problem.
Comments (168)
Within one year, Snapcaster Mage will be included in a deck that wins a major Vintage tournament.
it's the things he could do in legacy that'll be interesting.
edit: although the banning of Mental Misstep was actually a blow to his playability. I mean. getting to pay 1u for a 2/1 and misstepping someone AGAIN? that is just totally brutal.
But still good, don't get me wrong.
Easy 5/5 for me.
HE IS A FREAKEN GHOSTBUSTER!
And that's just the tip of the iceberg with this guy. Mark my words, Blue/White control, maybe even Esper control, will make you absolutely loathe this card.
Why?
Venser, the Sojourner
Just think what he'll do in Constructed. If you're going to pack a punch, may as well do it twice.
In fact, I am surprised at the 4.3 rating. The only reason it should be so low is people hating on the printing of such a powerful card.
Just with some cheap spells, like Spell Pierce, Path to Exile, Vampiric Tutor, even Lightning Bolt, this card is very efficient. Do not forget that it can come out as a surprise-blocker and basically trade for an opponent's creature, while adding another effect.
Expect to see a lot of these in decks, and very few in trade-binders.
What a shame...
Anyways, great card, did an outstanding job at draft tonight.
...caster Mage.
Yeah, it was my fault for being stupid, but I wasn't expecting him to be a $25+ at the time!
Now that I'm done sobbing, does anyone else think he looks like Mr. Chow from the Hangover?
29.99 PLEASE. THANK YOU COME AGAIN.
Flashback Doom Blade? Seen it before - Nekrataal.
Flashback Counterspell? Hello, Mystic Snake.
Shock? Yeah, Fire Imp is cool, I guess.
Innocent Blood/Edict? Fleshbag Marauder and Gatekeeper of Malakir saw play, didn't they?
Thoughtseize? I suppose it's nice to have some permanency in my Tidehollow Sculler, though I do have to pay a mana for it.
Ponder? At least I can play Court Hussar in mono-blue now.
Regrowth? Nah, I'll just play Eternal Witness, thanks.
Mental Misstep? I guess 1 power is a fair exchange for flying on my Spellstutter Sprite.
You literally have to go onto the banned/restricted list for cards like Demonic Tutor, Ancestral Recall and Vampiric Tutor for this card to be especially good at what it does. Mental Misstep is also banned in Legacy.
Of course, someone's going to come along and say, "But he gets to do ALL of these things! Versamatility, wtf pwnt!" Not really. Your use of this card is limited by what you've actually been able to first draw, then play already in this game. Yeah, it's only a Mystic Snake if you already played a Counterspell, bud. He's only going Keening Banshee with Dismember if you've already killed one of your opponent's creatures this game. He'll only Tidehollow Sculler for you as a second crack at someone's hand. What if you want a Mystic Snake but only have room for so many counterspells? You're better off just running the Mystic Snake. And what about if you want to add things like creature recursion or blink? It works with all of the above cards, but not with Snapcaster. And don't get me started on those absurd hands that your deck will sometimes give you, such as 3x one thing, 4x land. 3x Tidehollow Sculler, I have a quite playable hand. 3x Snapcaster, I have to mulligan.
The question is how many instants/sorceries do you need to fit into a deck before the versatility of this card outweighs the inconsistency? How much will your deck be lacking in direction if a choice between a variety of spells is better for you than doing one thing all the time? Are you sure you're willing to forego creature recursion and blink in your ETB effects? Don't get me wrong, a lot of the time the answers to these questions will lead you to Snapcaster Mage. It's that a lot of the time they won't. This is a nice, flavorful card, but it's not strictly better than anything out there, and it's not irreplaceable like nearly every other rare that released at a $30 price tag.
"Of course, someone's going to come along and say, "But he gets to do ALL of these things! Versamatility, wtf pwnt!" Not really."
Your argument that Snapcaster Mage isn't versatile seems kind of weak to me. Yes, you are limited by the spells in your opening hand and what you draw into, but assuming you draw first, the game lasts for 5 turns, and you're running no additional card draw, you will have seen 1/5 of your deck by the end of the game. This is actually a pretty strict situation as most games last longer and most blue decks tend to run some form of card draw (usually in the form of instants and sorcery).
Also, Dismember actually gives a creature -5/-5, not -2/-2. So with a snapcaster mage it's actually more like a Morkrut Banshee on crack,
If Wizards ever reprints that card, which I think is pretty likely, than Snapcaster's price will probably go down a bit.
Metagaming!
EDIT: Worst case scenario has actually popped up in EDH.
Sun Titan recurring our friend Snappy here and flashing back a planar cleansing
I recommend running forbidden alchemy with this dude, and probably black or red, green could be pretty cool, but the only spell you'd really want to flash back is beast within, and that is 5 mana, and your getting a weak acidic slime.
I must admit though, he is great fun to play with, so damn oppressive, "ill cast x spell (knowing you have used all 4 mana leaks), Snapcaster for ...."
Anyone else think so?
the Snapcaster (Tiago) is obviously a great card. Many people compare it to other nice 2-drops like Tarmogoyf, Stoneforge Mystic and Dark Confidant.
I'll give him a 4.5. Now I explain why:
The Snapcaster is a great card, but compared to the other ones it is not a real 2-drop. Whenever you play 'em you really want to benefit from it's ETB effect. In Turn 2 you really cannot use the ability due to none Snapcaster Magable spells in your graveyeard. Logically you can't use this before turn 3, unless you have any mana accelerators or free spells. The fact that it isn't a 2-drop let me say that it's 0.5 points worse than Tarmogoyf or Dark Confidant.
A real plus to this card is that you don't really have to build a deck around it (in opposite to Stoneforge Mystic or even Dark Confidant). Surely you need a deck with many good Instants and some Sorceries. The cards you flashback with it are great instant or sorceries and almost any deck uses them anyway. With 'em you can use the great cards twice per piece. Maybe this means, that you don't have to run 4 copies of each. It's no Stoneforge Mystic where you need some Equipments in your Deck and build your entirely Deck around it or Dark Confidant where you have to avoid playing some Cards which cost 3 Mana or more.
In Standard this dude will definitely make the run in blue Decks with 10+ Instants/Sorceries with CMC <=2 during the next 12 months.
In Extended you have some more targets (f.ex. Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile, Inquisition of Kozilek/Duress) and you could almost build an entire deck around him. Especially the discard theme is very interesting to me despite of being sorcery speed.
In Legacy there are such a huge amount of targets (Spell Snare, Brainstorm, Ponder, Swords to Plowshares, Enlightened Tutor, Thoughtseize, Hymn to Tourach, Blue Elemental Blast etc..) which could be replayed. I think we will see this on the Grand Prix in Amsterdam this weekend.
Hangover references aside, this card A.) Still enters the battlefield, even if there is an opposing Curse of Death's Hold on you, and B.) Cannot let you cast the costless Time Spiral spells for free. Giving those spells flashback as per Snapcaster's ability will result in them having the ability Flashback , which is a nonexistent cost and therefore cannot be paid.
Did testing (*guffaw*) really think he was underpowered at 1/1?
5/5 no question at all...
Only one of the dark rituals gets flashback...
This card is nothing short of amazing. It literally fits into every deck playing blue. Burn, milling, tutors, counterspells, spot removal. You name it; Snapcaster does it all, and gives you a 2/1 creature to boot! If this card doesn't scream utility, then I don't know what does, and I honestly don't know why this isn't rated at least +4.5/5.
Complaining about the price tag and rating it down won't affect the secondary market price. What matters is whether or not people are using it at tournaments, and whether or not people are winning with this. If you're upset about it costing too much, complain to the store owners instead, and give this card the proper rating it deserves. (And no, I'm not saying this because I'm some rich smart-buttocks who can afford throwing +20 $ away for a piece of cardboard. Walletslayer contined to see play and be expensive even though people rated it below 4 out of spite: raging in Gatherer's comment section won't help.)
Oh yeah, and I'm happy that Wizards finally started to stick to their promises about the most powerful cards in a set not just being mythics.
TL;DR: This is a great utility card, and shouldn't be rated based on its secondary market value. 5/5
Don't get me wrong, he's a pretty cool guy, but he makes blue way too easy to predict - which is never, ever something that works out in it's favor in the long-run.
An effect that gives flashback to an instant or sorcery card in your graveyard stops applying once that card has left the stack. The card won't have flashback while exiled and can't be the target of Runic Repetition (unless it naturally has flashback).
Then when I play an FNM and see 5 straight B/U control decks Snapping back their Mana Leaks and Go for the Throat, I notice how awesome it is to recur some kill or counters. Even if they're just Snapping a Ponder, it still sets them up for a severely smooth game.
Freaking blue being broken all day long.
"Thank you, sir. May I have another?"
HEEZA FIRIN IZ LAAAAZAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Seriously people- that is a laser gun on a Magic card. Do NOT underestimate this. o.O
If you get two of these on the stack at the same time, with the intention of targeting the same card, they don't actually enter the battlefield. Instead, the beams get crossed and the Stay Pufft Marshmallow Man (13/13 Flying Hexproof Indestructible Trample Legendary Creature- Marshmallow Zombie Spirit Demon)
comes in and kills the crap out of everyone.)
Edit: Wizards? I WAS JOKING WIZARDS! I WAS JOKING!!!!!! :O
hm. Withengar Unbound huh? that's...new. and evil -.-
Looks like we have our Stay Pufft Marshmallow Demon after all.....now the question is how to combine him Ghostbuster Mage and Ghostbuster's Rig....
Now imagine giving that to all of your cards. Vintage decks are winning by pairing Snapcaster with Mana Drain. I wouldn't pay
2. Why?
This dude was a three-of in a LEGACY CHAMP deck for cryin' out loud!
Main difference, of course, is that the elf was an uncommon that costed 1/10th of Snapcaster's price.
Because noobs are aloud to rate any number of stars they want and be counted toward the average.
It's hard to convince a new player or non-competitive player for that matter, the significant of card advantage. Then they ask me why I am using Remand, not Cancel and I try to explain. They don't believe me, but wonder still why they don't win.
Report Abuse Posted By: theratchet1215 (11/3/2011 6:04:37 AM)
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!Wrong!
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If you couldn't cast the costless Time Spiral spells for free for the reasons you claim the how can you cast them in the first place? The mechanic flashback alone gives you the ability to play that card from your graveyard. it does not say that it has to have a converted mana cost of 1 or greater. it says that " target instant or sorcery in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn. (period) the flashback cost is equal to its CONVERTED MANA COST. Cards like Pact of Negation have a converted mana cost of (0) that does not mean the do not have a converted mana cost.
So. don't be angry because someone out there figured this out and is using it to their advantage. You'll just have to learn to play around it.
It doesn't say "converted mana cost," just "mana cost." The Time Spiral suspend cards don't have a mana cost. Their converted mana cost is 0, but their mana cost isn't 0, it's just nonexistent. theratchet1215 is correct; you can't flashback cards that have no mana cost. See the ruling for Ancestral Vision: "This has no mana cost, which means it can't be cast with the Replicate ability of Djinn Illuminatus or by somehow giving it Flashback."
If you give a spell flashback using Señor Snappy, it loses flashback when it leaves the stack (is cast, then exiled), so you cannot use Runic Repetition unless the card has Flashback printed on the card. The ruling is here:
An effect that gives flashback to an instant or sorcery card in your graveyard stops applying once that card has left the stack. The card won't have flashback while exiled and can't be the target of Runic Repetition (unless it naturally has flashback).
I will be using Snapcaster Mage in my Azami EDH deck when I get my grubby little hands on one, but am wondering how it would interract with cards like Capsize
EDIT: I just noticed that snapcaster is banned in EDH. Great... Now I wont be putting my grubby little hands anywhere near one.
You said
"If you couldn't cast the costless Time Spiral spells for free for the reasons you claim the how can you cast them in the first place? The mechanic flashback alone gives you the ability to play that card from your graveyard. it does not say that it has to have a converted mana cost of 1 or greater. it says that " target instant or sorcery in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn. (period) the flashback cost is equal to its CONVERTED MANA COST. Cards like Pact of Negation have a converted mana cost of (0) that does not mean the do not have a converted mana cost.
So. don't be angry because someone out there figured this out and is using it to their advantage. You'll just have to learn to play around it."
Unfortunately, you have misunderstood the text of this card. Snapcaster Mage says "The flashback cost is equal to its mana cost." It does not say converted mana cost, as you assumed. Converted mana cost is a number, while mana cost is the series of symbols. While Pact of Negation and Hypergenesis both have a CONVERTED mana cost of 0, Pact has a MANA COST of (0), while Hypergenesis has no mana cost at all. However, Hypergenesis can be cast through the suspend mechanic because suspend says "When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost." In fact, as the rulings on Hypergenesis specifically mention, "This has no mana cost, which means it can't be cast with the Replicate ability of Djinn Illuminatus or by somehow giving it Flashback."
In conclusion, Settsue, you are completely and utterly wrong, Flashback cannot be used to cast cards if they have uncastable mana costs, and you should really read the cards and their rulings more carefully.
Red would have a lot more viability if it had Snapcaster.
Blue didn't even need snapcaster, it already has delver and a bunch of other ridiculousness. Plus counterspells. Blue didn't need any help getting better!
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gencon12/welcome
You were right, Chamal. 3 Snapcaster in Marc Lanigra's Grixis Control deck, which won 1st in GenCon Vintage 2012.
.5/5 someone dropped the ball on this one. Ive seen more snapcasters on mtgo to feed a hungry African village for months.
FFS this is played in Vintage.
Not being a tournament player, I've never seen Snapcaster in use, so I'm abstaining from rating him. However, I agree with the general sentiment. Magic will be the most fun the more viable ways there are to win, and so when one card shows up in the majority of all winning decks, people get tired of seeing it.
Community ratings aren't about whether a card is good, they're about whether you personally like the card. Normally those two go hand in hand, but in cases like this, people have every right to give 1 star to a card they wish didn't exist, no matter how powerful it is. In any case, if you like Snapcaster Mage, you already know how good it is and aren't really misled by the fact that it only has a 4-star rating, so they're not hurting anyone.
Oppa Flashback Style
He pines for the wonderful plane of Ravnica where he can share his knowledge of flashback mechanics with the Izzet guild and get in heated, sexually tense arguments with Ash Zealot
Nothing would make him happier than to look downward and see the little golden Ravnica symbol at his feet, but with a sigh he soldiers on, reluctantly helping the foolish townsfolk stave off the vile creatures that dwell in the dark plane of Innistrad.
5/5 Stars
Typical Cavern of Souls comment: "IT'LL HURT MY COUNTERSPELLS! BAN BAN BAAAAAAAAAAN!"
Edit: I've read through more comments, and I may have been hasty. There are many complaints for Snappy. What irks me is that players who favor blue and counterspells seem to think they are superior to other players. They make snap judgments (ha ha!) that countering spells are okay and weakening counters is always bad.
Isn't versatility the true mark of expertise? Shouldn't an expert learn to play well with all colors?
I never said that Eternal Witness wasn't a good card- it's a fantastic card.
I was only saying that Snapcaster is better for most decks, which you apparently agree with:
"This is only good for blue decks that are built around it."
A sorcery with flashback is still a sorcery. Sorcerys can only be cast on your turn. Flashback is an alternitive CASTing cost. So.. your CASTing it, and you can only CAST Socerys on your turn...
So no, you can't flashback a Socery on an opponets turn.
Thanks! That makes complete sense. It's funny, as much as I think I know the rules in just about every scenario, I always find myself clarifying specifics like this.
Thanks again.
I bought 2 of these for 12 dollars at a time where the minimum price everywhere else was 20 dollars. I pulled my first one from one of the first booster packs I ever bought. I decided I had to complete my playset and bought my fourth one for 20 bucks.
Now someone please go win a vintage tournament with this bad boy so I can see a nice return on my investment.
Funniest comment ever
+
Snapcaster mage...
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeew!!!
This is the best creature in all of Magic, no card could deserve the rating more.
There may come a day when it is proven that Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is better, but that just hasn't happened yet. Vintage Champs 2013 is next month, and we will have to see what happens. You better believe that Snapcaster will be in at least some of the Top 8 decks again though.
The reason this guy is so good, is because it gets more powerful the better the instants/sorceries you are working with are (closer to Vintage). For 3 mana this atom bomb of a card can flashback an Ancestral Recall and give you a 2/1 beater and 3 card draw (again since you already cast it). When you are drawing things like the Moxen, Tinker, Time Vault, Time Walk, etc. then it starts to become clear why this is such a powerful move.
The only creature that really comes close to this is Dark Confidant, and while it is close Bob needs to be built around to work best, and is thus just less versatile. Also Bob can die to a removal and not do anything at all, where Snapcaster will still give you the flashback regardless of if he gets removed right away.
This card was a 3x in Marc Lanigra's 2012 Vintage Champs winning deck, and Dark Confidant was 4x. That does not mean that Bob is a better card though, and Bob has been used in top Vintage decks for quite a while now so it's natural to keep using what works. Keep in mind that Snapcaster would be a lot better to play in a deck carrying 3 or more of the big Eldrazi compared to Bob, so you wouldn't oneshot yourself with a bad luck draw.
Snapcaster isn't just the #1 blue creature, it's the best creature in Magic for the time being. Someone prove me wrong and win Vintage Champs with Emrakul, I truly hope you can. Just be ready to deal with this guy flashing back counters to stop however you plan on cheating the big guy in.
But it wasn't wizards' fault. Tiago Chan designed this card.
Cyclonic rift may be one of the best EDH removal cards, but its not the best removal in the game, that's a joke. Jund colors are where destruction is at in modern. Abrupt Decay and lightning bolt specifically. Green gets the best creatures in terms of bodies. The 2/1 body is nice, but its not why people are running snappy. Wild Nacatl is an example of one of green's beastly creatures. At the time I am writing this control is not faring overly well in modern, its all birthing pod decks and a bit of Naya Zoo. Snapcaster is in every control deck, but those decks don't have the other tools for dominance right now.
END EDIT
This is the best card in Innistrad. This is certainly in the top five blue creatures of all time, I would argue for the number one spot. I know he seems innocuous, but he is remarkable. As Wisdomseyes said, Remand is better than Cancel, even though most new players can't see it. Think twice is another. Dark Confidant too. For similar reasons, Snapcaster is a beast.
People who say that R&D hates blue just can't see how these pieces fit together.
The weakest part of any excellent card you own is that only four (Or, heaven forbid, one!) can go in your deck. Having a snapcaster in your hand is like cheating in another copy.
If you need more proof go look at the pre-release articles for Avacyn restored, even the devs admit this card is too good.
Five years from now, this is the card from innistrad that people will know.
Consider the following
This+ Twiddle= Deceiver Exarch
This+ Thoughtseize is very much like a Vendillion Clique effectively you pay 2 life to deny the draw, power is reduced and doesn't have flying.
This+Any 2 mana counterspell is like Mystic Snake
This+Cruel Ultimatum is roughly Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur... Well ok, it's not really equivalent, but that's the sort of craziness this card is capable of
And that's just comparing it to successful creatures with flash and ETB effects. Note that the portion of the power 9 that aren't artifacts all have obscenely low costs. So do Lightning BoltReanimateSwords to PlowsharesMana DrainRemand and for that matter pretty much any spell that has an alternate cost that can make it "free" Gitaxian Probe for instance.
Absolutely stunning- powerful and yet tactical at the same time. Not "Hurrdurr Bloodbraid Elf duuuuuh win" powerful, more like Dark Confidant powerful.
I disagree with everything you say. Snapcaster is exactly what modern blue decks need. This isn't the blue of vintage and legacy. Modern blue is nothing close to being as oppressive. Sure he's in every deck that can run him, but without him, blue is a sad color in modern. He is actually enabling so many different archetypes by making blue worth playing. And what blue creatures are better than Tarmogoyf? What blue removal is as efficient and versatile as Path to Exile? What blue sweepers are better than Wrath of God and Damnation?
Thank you for the easy questions.
blue creature(s) better than Tarmogoyf: Delver of Secrets (an evasive 3/2 for 1? with no drawback? in blue no less? pfffftt), Snapcaster Mage, Pestermite, Vendilion Clique
blue removal as efficient and versatile as Path to Exile: Vapor Snag, which counters abrupt decay, or end-step bounces your opponents creature, followed by the inevitable counter. Also lets you reuse ETB creatures like Snapcaster Mage and Vendilion Clique. Plus, it has a bonus red-like ping, and no drawback like path to exile. Yep, efficient and versatile.
blue sweepers that are better than Wrath of God and Damnation: Cyclonic Rift, which, granted, costs more, but is one-sided, flexible, and splashable. I have never seen anyone lose after playing cyclonic rift, even if they are extremely far behind. Steals games where it shouldn't. While WOG and Damnation equalize a board, Cyclonic Rift Resets your opponents difficult-to-develop board to nothing while keeping your undercosted blue beaters on the board.
I'm not sure why this card has not yet been banned in Modern. Every single competitive deck with blue (even if it is just a splash) runs 3-4X of these, which seriously limits the meta. Makes playing against blue miserable, since it destroys the rules of probability that everyone who doesn't run this card has to follow. It's not just card advantage (which it is, since it is a reverse 2-for-1), it lets you effectively double the number of each of the best cards in your deck and effectively doubles (or more) your hand size since you're able to add your graveyard to your hand. Takes absolutely no skill or strategy to use, just put in your blue deck and start winning. This is reason that cards with a casting cost >4 are unplayable in Modern, because if you can't get it in under snapcaster->mana leak, you're just giving your opponent an effective time walk with a bonus 2/1, while you lose a card. If there was any card to hate rate, it's this one, for the extremely unbalanced and format-warping design.
EDIT: @Enelysios
Look at mtgoacademy's Deck Tech section. Blue/white/red control is in the 4-0's almost every single day. So is Twin-mite and Faries. All of these run 4X Snapcaster Mage. Jund shows up too, but with the loss of Deathrite Shaman, the only 4-of is Liliana (which in my opinion, should also be banned). Dark confidant is up there, but requires your deck be specifically built to use it. Otherwise, Jund has incredibly diverse deck lists, and so does Birthing Pod for that matter, while control is almost guaranteed to have at least 12-20 cards in common with last year's world champion deck. Zoo is almost never represented in the 4-0 or even 3-1's of the dailies. You see Zoo in pro events, but it's competitiveness at these events has more to do with the skill of the player than the ability to look up decks on the internet, otherwise, it would be more represented in dailies.
Abrupt decay is ok, but it is specifically designed to combat control decks, against any other deck, it's effect is almost insignificant. Very often, it's simply a dead card in hand and is therefore a very frequent sideboard switch, which is why you see very few decks run more than 2. Cylonic rift, on the other hand, almost always wins you the game if you play the overload cost, no matter how far behind you are. When used for bounce, it is a very significant setback, especially against 3- and 4-drops. There is not a single card in any other color, except maybe Tooth and Nail (which costs 2 more to cast and can ironically be completely undone by cyclonic rift) wins the game with that consistency, especially those that have added flexibility.
END EDIT
A comparable card in green, Eternal Witness, costs {1}{G}{G} to cast and doesn't have flash. Isn't green supposed to have the best creatures?
An now blue has cyclonic rift, the single best removal in the game. Isn't black supposed to have the best removal?
The fact that blue has the best card advantage, the best creatures, the best removal, the only playable countermagic, the best sweepers, and the even best lands (celestial colonade) is a problem.