be honest, who saw this and thought "lets just go with Relentless Rats"
TheManakinTransfer
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
That sunset... This card is a gift that keeps on giving, can effectively double burn and removal if you're lucky.
lorendorky
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
In a deck with Seek the Horizon, Explore and Search for Tomorrow we can be like Xavier Renegade Angel and just keep going on our spirit journey of self discovery... and lose :P
Firesplitter.
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(5 votes)
The 5 drop staple in Mental Magic.. Just saying.
Hobaley
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Not likely to work when it first comes to play due to high cost. With a disenchant or similar next round, you'd lose five cards for nothing as I assume the cards would remain in exile. Let's see if someone comes up with a good use for this one.
Goatllama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You get an extra turn for taking care of the bounties.
Trygon_Predator
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(8 votes)
For all the hoops it makes you jump through, it might as well have cost .
Steric
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(5 votes)
What some people seem to overlook is that, as a reward for jumping through the hoops, not only do you get an extra turn, but you effectively draw 5 cards.
Unfortunately it seems like you want to run mono-blue to play this (since a ***genized mana base will make activating the city easier) and in a multi-colored set, there just isn't enough support for mono-blue.
@Hobaley You don't really lose 5 cards as those 5 cards that are exiled are just 5 cards that you would have spent 5 draws getting. If anything it's more like self-milling 5 cards.
Asmodi0000
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'd be quite happy if those 5 cards were islands, assuming I had a 6th in my hand.
This can be abused in the hands of a pro like me since you can use lands as well.
Ike38
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great card. With 5 CMC, you get (1) Draw 5 cards + (2) Take an extra turn after this one. Isn't it good? You just need to follow some rules.
Mode
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The synergy with Relentless Rats makes even some sense flavorwise: A ratcatcher is likely to find lots of rats when he searches the city :D
Arachibutyrophobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
the archetypal johnny card: requires some work, rewards you along the way, and gives you a nice bonus at the end, but usually nothing too powerful.
Antares2
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
This seems to be a desperate top-down design like Coral Reef, except I don't know here what the heck it's trying to tell me.
SyntheticDreamer
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
That is a lot of trouble for an extra turn. Wouldn't you rather just win the game?
LordRandomness
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Hardcore combo with Mirror of Fate: Thin your library down horribly to a set of cards of (sort of) your choice, then take an extra turn with them. You still need to leave one card on Search the City so you can cast it and trigger the extra turn, unfortunately.
Totema
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Way too expensive and conditional for what it does, even with the possibility for library manipulation; which, I will add, does not seem to be in good supply in this block so far. Maybe the Dimir will help out that situation in the coming months?
Lotsofpoopy's vision for the perfect deck is... apparently every card in RTR and M13 (since they are all deadly in the hands of a "pro") along with what would amount to a truckload of one type of basic land. Good luck to you, sir, you will need it.
Blargenspargle
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(6 votes)
@LotsofPoopy Shut up already
The_Trendkill
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm not going to claim that my memory is fresh, but I cannot think of a worse card to get in limited in recent memory. Fun in casual, for sure. Everywhere else, no thanks.
Ferlord
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Unfortunately, it's useless in EDH, since you're going to pull up 5 cards that, Surprise!, you're not going to have (unless you somehow pull up 5 basic lands...)
Unfortunately, it's not useful enough in Standard, since, unlike a card like Time Warp, it takes a decent amount of upkeep to get that extra turn. Even casting Temporal Mastery for 7 would be less bothersome than this.
Unfortunately, it's not playable in Modern, since Time Warp exists and isn't banned (though, no one really plays Time Warp).
Unfortunately, playing it in Limited is as fruitless as playing it in EDH: Although you CAN get 2+ copies of certain cards, you can't count on that. Also, the chances that you're going to pull up that rare/mythic that'll win you the game that you have 1 of is going to happen too often.
It's perhaps the most playable in Legacy, since you can play cards like Preordain and Ponder, but if this is your strategy in Legacy, I'm sorry if I don't feel pity for you when I've resurrected a large creature on turn 2.
This is, in my opinion, the least playable spell in the game for the above reasons. The only place I can see it finding a home is in Relentless Rats, and with a cost, are you REALLY going to splash blue for this?
Anyone else kinda hope lotsofpoopy is actually a pro with a sense of humour?
NaJin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Try to use this in my landfall edh deck with Scouting trek... and it's work... with Azusa in play.
Farspeed
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It seems this relies on perfect luck. You can't have any "single" cards in your deck, thus it wont work in singleton formats. What if you have 2 of these in your deck instead of 1 (maybe to increase chances of drawing, because let's face it, if you play with this, you build around it) and you draw the other one in the 5 you exile? I only see this working well if you have a full playset of each card you play with, including 4 of these. An interesting and fun-looking card none-the-less.
RedAtrocitus
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(6 votes)
Woo, what a stinker. There is not a format that currently exist where this card is playable. Limited you can't count on having a multiple of the exile cards, Constructed you want a 5 drop that does something.
So it defaults to casual where it is most likely played turn 5 and may have a chance around 5 turns later to gain an extra turn if everything goes smoothly? Even in the most casual setting, your opponent probably has you beat by then (by playing a real card on turn 5) and if you beat them by then you essentially Time Walked yourself by wasting your turn 5 on this (though it may have helped draw a few cards along the way).
I just can't imagine wanting this in a deck -- ever. Worst rare in the set in my opinion.
"I’ve searched for a reason to play this, and came up empty." -LSV
LordZogar
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
In a casual, non-Commander game, you have lots of time, and you will probably draw 5 cards and take an extra turn before the game ends. Well worth it, I think.
In a faster-paced game, Search the City is effectively a 5 mana sorcery that slowly draws up to 5 cards with a very slim chance of giving you an extra turn. You just don't have the time to make it work, and the cards will probably come too late to save you. I think you'll usually be better off with Think Twice because the mana is easier to pay for AND you are guaranteed cards immediately. I can see Search the City working in a deck that's excessively good at stalling the game, but even then, I have my doubts.
yuyu63
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Who is waiting 5 turns after cast for this in any format? It is for a mono red burn deck wear all but 6 cards cost 1 red mana. thx 4 guild gates and 14 Mountains the 2 of these is beautiful thx alot for faithless looting WOTC and yes thats what FNM is about a off the wall deck that should cause so much pain.
Kura-san
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's an interesting mechanic and unique design. Just breaking it down: 5 CMC, nets you a 5-card draw and an extra turn. However, you have no idea when those will arrive. It's also pretty unreliable for the occasional 1-of's in your library. It'll probably be pretty fun for casual decks full of playsets, but I doubt it'll see any competitive play.
My embarrassing moment with this card: Exiling my only Isperia, Supreme Judge. Would have won me the game, but I got sent on a goose chase through the city.
Kurraga
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I dunno, Relentless Rats maybe? I mean draw five rats seems pretty good, but not really. This card is just bad.
MCC1701
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Take a burning vengeance deck like sweet revenge, take out 1-ofs or add more in, non-standard cards, the armored skaabs, and add some copies of the rare lands, and you have a standard deck that can use this card well. The extra turn and cards suit this deck well, and it is easy to activate. If you pull it early you can get it out easily, and if pulled too late to be good then just chuck it to the GY.
It would be a odd deck, but actually it could work in casual I think. Early on you have bounce (Snap) and some small creatures (Faeries). While you are staying alive you can try to get a the Search the City (Frantic Search). After getting a Search the City out you draw 5 and taking another turn within 1-3 turns when you draw right. Palinchron and Great Whale cost 7 mana each though so that could be a road block. Some real fun shenanigans could arise when you get more than one Search the City out.
HouseofLastWords
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I almost ate this card when I pulled it at the pre-release. Would have served me better in my stomach than in play.
Yusuke23
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Am I the only one who noticed Ral Zarek?
eak1801
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I agree that this card was created entirely for casual play. It's PURE flavor. It's interesting to run actually, it's like a mind game for you AND you opponent. It's similar to (eventually) drawing 5 cards, but the fact that everyone can see what you're searching for changes things. You're gunna be more likely to use that threat removal, or overextend that creature if you KNOW it's getting replaced. I agree that you'll need to run mono-blue with this though.
I don't know, I appreciate WoTC making cards for casual players. It's not the most potent card, but it's nowhere near as bad as people think.
Purplerooster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Okay, a lot of people are saying that you'll have to wait five turns for the time walk effect, but this is not necessarily the case. At turn five it is still possible that you have a few cards in your hand and since Search the City begs for mono blue, you'll have the draw support to play multiple spells in one turn. Unsummon will work wonders in this deck, as you'll be able to unsummon a creature you have exiled from the battlefield in order to play it. My idea so far is: 4 Merfolk of the Pearl Trident 4 Unsummon 4 Master of the Pearl Trident 4 Think Twice 4 Scroll Thief 4 Encrust 4 Misthollow Griffin 4 Search the City 4 Voidwielder
24 Islands.
C1455
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Relentless rats deck is made for this.
Moxxy
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I'll admit, if it wasn't for the comments on this card I wouldn't have realized it can basically draw 5 cards for you on top of being a time warp.
When I see a card like I wonder how different its rating would be if only people who had this explained to them had rated it. I bet more than half the people who rated this missed out on the same thing me and many others did.
Radagast
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
An agonizing mess of a card. Yes, it can be 5 cards + a Time Warp, but it is slow, clunky, and unreliable to the point of being nearly unplayable outside of narrow combos (Relentless Rats.) I've never liked cards like this - ones that are basically useless without a key combo - especially when the mechanics are rather clunky on top of it. Blah...
Salient
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Casual delight -- cards like this are fun for "mission impossible" Magic (where you play against a new player, and even the odds by using some unusual cards, giving yourself additional specific goals to fulfill before the game ends).
Seems remarkably unplayable in EDH... until you see it hits basic lands, and plays well with topdeck manipulation (including Scroll Rack). Pop four or five Islands by searching the city, and never miss a late-game Island drop again! Granted, this requires a lot of setup, compared to Journeyer's Kite. But even just as Island recursion, this is an intriguing weaker Endless Horizons for blue.
It's a bit too costly to try in a Merfolk deck, but a control-oriented deck could try this to pop a few extra counterspells, or double Delver.
sonorhC
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
It's bad card design, in that it rewards something that shouldn't need rewarding. To make this work, you'd really want all of the cards in your deck to be 4-offs, but everyone who can afford to buy singleton cards pretty much already does that. I'd much rather see something that rewarded you for playing a bunch of different cards, to promote creativity in deck-building.
busdude
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
The thing I hate most about Wizards is them printing rares like this in every set. Not every rare is going to be a winner but at least stop printing ones that are so bad and make no sense.
Unplayable in every single format including limited and EDH, and the vast majority of casuals are not going to care for it.
0.5/5
brunsbr103
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I use this in my Islands Only EDH
MisterAction
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
yuyu63, one of us doesn't know what "mono-red" means :P
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
EDH staple. Run it in all of your decks. srsly
Drewskithelegend
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like this card but it's really strange. It doesn't work very well in EDH (for obvious reasons) and is rather expensive for other formats (it will likely occupy an entire turn by itself) and the cost rather contradicts how it would be best played: stacking a bunch of lands and then using it as a land tutor. Since it costs 5 to play, it likely won't contribute to helping a player with mana issues all that much. Still I like the idea of a card that essentially duplicates certain spells for no additional cost.I give it 3.75/5 because of how esoteric it is, despite its logical and strategical shortcomings.
FlipFlopWerewolf
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
There's a reason me and all of my friends have renamed this card "Search the ***"
TheJord01
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Incoming enabler - Shadowborn Apostle
Kamishini
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This isn't useless in EDH, in the right deck, actually. Just uber situational, so much so only crazy Johnnies will do it because they can say they did it! lol
All cards that are exiled, unless stated otherwise, are exiled face up so everyone can see them. Of course, I don't know where in the rules it say this, but I've gathered this much from observation of tons of cards. So anyone correct me if I'm wrong, of course.
So, to make this playable in EDH, first you need to Pull from Eternity. Because the cards are exiled face up, you can send the exiled card to your graveyard, which isn't such a big deal in EDH, even sometimes preferable
Then, use any combo to repeated recur PfE. Simplest would be to use Tamiyo's bomb, then an infinite mana combo, to get your whole deck into your hand, or most of it at least, and extra turns, quite a few of them, to win you the game. Though you should probably win that turn if you're a Johnnie and winning through a combo, as you now have your deck in your and with infinite mana... so.. yeah, lol.
Liima
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
As a casual player, this is one of my favorite cards. Here is a list I'm using it for called "There is a season, Turn, Turn, Turn"
24x Island 4x Augur of Bolas 4x Thieving Magpie 4x Hands of Binding 4x Temporal Mastery 4x Walk the Aeons 4x Time Warp 4x Serum Visions 4x Search the City 4x Counterspell
krauser-gogetthegirl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Lets take a serious look at this card. First, as many have pointed out, its not for EDH, because you can only play singletons. Kudos for you who noticed its pretty bad in limited. Check and check. Nobodys gonna play this in modern. Unless they really wanted too. So all that leaves (baring odd or eternal formats, cube etc.) Is casual and standard. Or block. Its really good, just in its niche. If ur playing blue u want some card draw. Theres a awesome bluewhite instant draw spell, redblue has fact or fiction. Or fiction or fact if your a cup half empty kinda person.(I personally don't like my opp messin up my piles. I'll do that thank you). But UG? UB? Play inspiration or the UB Coerced Confession, which is crap against esper. Or try your luck at an extra turn. I want to tap out for this on turn six with 5 lands, exile a island, play an island and put the exiled one into my hand. If your imagicination is sparked, try throwing 1 into a deck with lots of multiples. I have a feeling this started at CMC3 or 4 and there's a reason its CMC 5.
If you draw your deck (enter the infinite - or just a lot of card draw and control) and then play this card with one card in your library you will immediately get your extra turn by playing that one card. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/patience-2/
Pass turn to yourself and repeat. :D
-The Vorthos in me really likes that uncovered clues works well with this.
chenjesummrhnmhrm
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@LordRandomness: Actually, you might be able to get all five cards back, and then play one of the cards that was exiled with Search the City to activate the ability. It depends whether Search the City checks the names of the cards that are currently exiled, or the names of the cards that were exiled when Search the City became active.
Comments (55)
Unfortunately it seems like you want to run mono-blue to play this (since a ***genized mana base will make activating the city easier) and in a multi-colored set, there just isn't enough support for mono-blue.
@Hobaley You don't really lose 5 cards as those 5 cards that are exiled are just 5 cards that you would have spent 5 draws getting. If anything it's more like self-milling 5 cards.
Maybe I should go on a Scouting Trek?
A ratcatcher is likely to find lots of rats when he searches the city :D
Lotsofpoopy's vision for the perfect deck is... apparently every card in RTR and M13 (since they are all deadly in the hands of a "pro") along with what would amount to a truckload of one type of basic land. Good luck to you, sir, you will need it.
Unfortunately, it's not useful enough in Standard, since, unlike a card like Time Warp, it takes a decent amount of upkeep to get that extra turn. Even casting Temporal Mastery for 7 would be less bothersome than this.
Unfortunately, it's not playable in Modern, since Time Warp exists and isn't banned (though, no one really plays Time Warp).
Unfortunately, playing it in Limited is as fruitless as playing it in EDH: Although you CAN get 2+ copies of certain cards, you can't count on that. Also, the chances that you're going to pull up that rare/mythic that'll win you the game that you have 1 of is going to happen too often.
It's perhaps the most playable in Legacy, since you can play cards like Preordain and Ponder, but if this is your strategy in Legacy, I'm sorry if I don't feel pity for you when I've resurrected a large creature on turn 2.
This is, in my opinion, the least playable spell in the game for the above reasons. The only place I can see it finding a home is in Relentless Rats, and with a
Guys, this is time warp + draw 5 cards, just got to wait at least 5 turns.
So it defaults to casual where it is most likely played turn 5 and may have a chance around 5 turns later to gain an extra turn if everything goes smoothly? Even in the most casual setting, your opponent probably has you beat by then (by playing a real card on turn 5) and if you beat them by then you essentially Time Walked yourself by wasting your turn 5 on this (though it may have helped draw a few cards along the way).
I just can't imagine wanting this in a deck -- ever. Worst rare in the set in my opinion.
"I’ve searched for a reason to play this, and came up empty." -LSV
In a faster-paced game, Search the City is effectively a 5 mana sorcery that slowly draws up to 5 cards with a very slim chance of giving you an extra turn. You just don't have the time to make it work, and the cards will probably come too late to save you. I think you'll usually be better off with Think Twice because the mana is easier to pay for AND you are guaranteed cards immediately. I can see Search the City working in a deck that's excessively good at stalling the game, but even then, I have my doubts.
My embarrassing moment with this card: Exiling my only Isperia, Supreme Judge. Would have won me the game, but I got sent on a goose chase through the city.
Could be fun with 4 each of this card, Snap, Cloud of Faeries, Frantic Search, Peregrine Drake, Great Whale, Palinchron, and Treachery. Last couple are kind of expensive for a stupid deck though haha. Also needs 24 Island any 4 other cards, maybe Preordain or Misthollow Griffin.
It would be a odd deck, but actually it could work in casual I think. Early on you have bounce (Snap) and some small creatures (Faeries). While you are staying alive you can try to get a the Search the City (Frantic Search). After getting a Search the City out you draw 5 and taking another turn within 1-3 turns when you draw right. Palinchron and Great Whale cost 7 mana each though so that could be a road block. Some real fun shenanigans could arise when you get more than one Search the City out.
I don't know, I appreciate WoTC making cards for casual players. It's not the most potent card, but it's nowhere near as bad as people think.
My idea so far is:
4 Merfolk of the Pearl Trident 4 Unsummon
4 Master of the Pearl Trident 4 Think Twice
4 Scroll Thief 4 Encrust
4 Misthollow Griffin 4 Search the City
4 Voidwielder
24 Islands.
When I see a card like I wonder how different its rating would be if only people who had this explained to them had rated it. I bet more than half the people who rated this missed out on the same thing me and many others did.
Seems remarkably unplayable in EDH... until you see it hits basic lands, and plays well with topdeck manipulation (including Scroll Rack). Pop four or five Islands by searching the city, and never miss a late-game Island drop again! Granted, this requires a lot of setup, compared to Journeyer's Kite. But even just as Island recursion, this is an intriguing weaker Endless Horizons for blue.
It's a bit too costly to try in a Merfolk deck, but a control-oriented deck could try this to pop a few extra counterspells, or double Delver.
Unplayable in every single format including limited and EDH, and the vast majority of casuals are not going to care for it.
0.5/5
All cards that are exiled, unless stated otherwise, are exiled face up so everyone can see them. Of course, I don't know where in the rules it say this, but I've gathered this much from observation of tons of cards. So anyone correct me if I'm wrong, of course.
So, to make this playable in EDH, first you need to Pull from Eternity. Because the cards are exiled face up, you can send the exiled card to your graveyard, which isn't such a big deal in EDH, even sometimes preferable
Then, use any combo to repeated recur PfE. Simplest would be to use Tamiyo's bomb, then an infinite mana combo, to get your whole deck into your hand, or most of it at least, and extra turns, quite a few of them, to win you the game. Though you should probably win that turn if you're a Johnnie and winning through a combo, as you now have your deck in your and with infinite mana... so.. yeah, lol.
24x Island
4x Augur of Bolas
4x Thieving Magpie
4x Hands of Binding
4x Temporal Mastery
4x Walk the Aeons
4x Time Warp
4x Serum Visions
4x Search the City
4x Counterspell
What a time to be alive.
If you draw your deck (enter the infinite - or just a lot of card draw and control) and then play this card with one card in your library you will immediately get your extra turn by playing that one card. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/patience-2/
Pass turn to yourself and repeat. :D
-The Vorthos in me really likes that uncovered clues works well with this.
Actually, you might be able to get all five cards back, and then play one of the cards that was exiled with Search the City to activate the ability. It depends whether Search the City checks the names of the cards that are currently exiled, or the names of the cards that were exiled when Search the City became active.