Insanely expensive, but it'd be fun to use, once you got it powered and going. 4 Locus or the Urza Lands would set this up nicely.
PEVE_O
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Possible Eldrazi Fetcher?
Aaron_Forsythe
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(19 votes)
Aaron's Random Card Comment of the Day #29, 11/4/10
The structure of this card is based on that of the oft-reprinted original card advantage machine Jayemdae Tome. Replace the ’s with ’s and change “draw” to “tutor” and there you have it.
As I designer, I like this card about a tenth as much as I like Jayemdae Tome. As designers, we strive to make sure the game has the right amount of variance in it; variance leads to replayability and it keeps the outcomes of individual games in doubt longer. Players, at least those whose primary goal is winning, strive to reduce the variance in the game as much as possible. Things like tutors, scry, and card drawing are used to make sure the same spells come up in essentially the same order--or at the very least at close to the right time--game after game. If a deck can consistently assemble a game-winning combo on turn two, players will do that over and over and over. Games like that get really boring really fast, so we need to fight back against that. The mystery of the draw is a vital part of the game.
Tutoring every single turn has the potential to remove all the variance from at least one player’s part of the game. Once Planar Portal is up and running, assuming its controller isn’t under significant pressure, the outcome of the game is a foregone conclusion.
Not only does Planar Portal eliminate variance, it adds shuffling, which is another way to make a game consistently less fun.
The only thing that makes the card printable are the high costs associated with using it; you have to spend 12 mana to get the first benefit out of it. The mere act of surviving long enough to activate it is a feat in itself. It’s okay for us to print cards like this that do powerful-but-bad things at high costs once in a while, but personally I’d rather focus our efforts on powerful-and-fun.
Guest1101497866
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Knew a guy who made a U/W Highlander deck (60 cards, non-EDH, no proxies, no power) that included this card and Beacon Of Tomorrows for infinite turns. Got the mana for it with Tolarian Academy.
InternetNinjacy
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Okay, I get it. Colorless tutoring is strong. But dang, just splash some black already and get one of the six black ones. 5 of which cost less than . And that search is for cards that literally had "Tutor" in the name.
I love using this in response to whatever they throw at me (you need lots of mana) but nothing is cooler than ending your turn and waiting for them to cast a spell (look for a counter) attack me (look for a bounce) do nothing (search for my cool creature) it's not very feesable, but when you get it going it gets hilarious.
Paladin85
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Urzatron decks make this card an absolute powerhouse by turn 4 allowing you to fetch combo pieces or creatures
Both the CC and usage cost are high, which limits the decks it can be used in
3/5
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I remember this card. I owned it and put it in my beast deck back in the day. It has won me so many casual games.
And Aaron, this was a lot of fun to play with in my group. Our games were much slower then tournament games, because we were just starting out. And I only had 1 copy of this in my deck, but man was it my favorite card :D
Comments (8)
The structure of this card is based on that of the oft-reprinted original card advantage machine Jayemdae Tome. Replace the
As I designer, I like this card about a tenth as much as I like Jayemdae Tome. As designers, we strive to make sure the game has the right amount of variance in it; variance leads to replayability and it keeps the outcomes of individual games in doubt longer. Players, at least those whose primary goal is winning, strive to reduce the variance in the game as much as possible. Things like tutors, scry, and card drawing are used to make sure the same spells come up in essentially the same order--or at the very least at close to the right time--game after game. If a deck can consistently assemble a game-winning combo on turn two, players will do that over and over and over. Games like that get really boring really fast, so we need to fight back against that. The mystery of the draw is a vital part of the game.
Tutoring every single turn has the potential to remove all the variance from at least one player’s part of the game. Once Planar Portal is up and running, assuming its controller isn’t under significant pressure, the outcome of the game is a foregone conclusion.
Not only does Planar Portal eliminate variance, it adds shuffling, which is another way to make a game consistently less fun.
The only thing that makes the card printable are the high costs associated with using it; you have to spend 12 mana to get the first benefit out of it. The mere act of surviving long enough to activate it is a feat in itself. It’s okay for us to print cards like this that do powerful-but-bad things at high costs once in a while, but personally I’d rather focus our efforts on powerful-and-fun.
Otherwise you could start counting Maralen of the Mornsong and her ilk.
Both the CC and usage cost are high, which limits the decks it can be used in
3/5
And Aaron, this was a lot of fun to play with in my group. Our games were much slower then tournament games, because we were just starting out. And I only had 1 copy of this in my deck, but man was it my favorite card :D