Pointed Discussion

If Venser could preordain, would he have died in QfK? Hmm.

I Like the use of yellow and red to contrast with the blue border. This is a phenomenal alternate art.

"Hmm, who's going to win the World Cup this year?"

My only complaint with this is that it looks so far off from Venser.. I mean, he's missing those chops!

I wish they'd make an all foil Duel Deck, just so we could get this in foil. Of course, that would probably double the price, so it's a double edged sword.

I don't know why people say a double-edged sword is bad. It's a sword. With two edges.

I really, really wish I didn't have to drop $20 just to get this and the emblem, but, good job Wizards, for making such a cool, flavorful duel-deck.

But is it really better than Ponder? Actually most of the time, the answer is yes. You gain access to fewer cards, but have complete and total control of those cards. Specifically, you can:

keep neither
keep the first
keep the second
keep them both

Ordering as you choose. On the other hand, Ponder allows

keep none
keep them all

All things considered, Preordain is more useful because it allows complete filtration - take exactly what you want when you want it - which is almost ubiquitously relevant. Typically when you Ponder, at least one of your three cards will be undesirable - so you're stuck with the "bad card," or forced to chuck the "good cards" on a shuffle gamble. In this regard, Preordain is more reliable, more consistent, gives you more control and is less volatile. There's no risk of keeping cards you don't want or losing cards you do.

There are certainly decks for which Ponder is a better option, but if you absolutely had to choose between these two awesome spells, most decks would be wiser to opt for Preordain.

@ bowlofgumbo:

Specifically, the camp that favors Ponder is also the same camp that also runs fetchlands because they desire the shuffle effect for their Brainstorms. When you have additional opportunities to shuffle, the three cards that Ponder allows you to see are the main attraction. However, in a vacuum, Preordain is a stronger card. In Modern, both are powerful enough to be on the ban list.

Jan 2013 please make this modern legal!

Feb 2013 Please make this modern legal! It's one of my favorite blue cards. So good without feeling broken, exemplary of blue in flavor and mechanics, and requires some understanding of the game to appreciate its power. BTW, I think this is better than Ponder, though both are good.

I get why brainstorm is a popular card. But I prefer the ability to take what I need and put the rest away. Early on, brainstorm can be the better setup, but mid-game, cards like this and Foresee shine by giving you more cards than mana. I'd honestly sooner pick ponder over brainstorm...

Maybe I just like how scry works.

This is my opinion on Ponder's power level vs Preordain's.

Preordain and Ponder are both powerful cards, but I prefer Preordain as I feel it is more versitile.
Ponder is good if 2 or 3 cards are good or if none are. Its not to great if only 1 card is because you either lose that good card, or you have to deal with the 2 bad ones right after it. Preordain is good no matter how many of the cards you see are good or bad. If both are good, decide which one you want most. If one is good, then just put the other on the bottom. If both are bad, then you put both on the bottom and have a higher chance of drawing the good stuff. So it is mostly preference, and the usefulness of Ponder vs. Preordain really just comes down to how well well either of them fit in your deck.

Hmmmmmm... If Wizards think this is too good, how about this:
Trickster's Luck, Sorcery, casting cost : Discard two cards: Scry 2, then draw two cards. With this you get filtration and lots of new options for one blue mana, but you come out -1 card and you have to do the sacrificing first. Blue has no issues getting more cards and this should be useful at any point in the game.
Wizards: Feel free to use the design ideas that I post.
I think this is one of those cards that seems bad, but is really quite good. It is pseudo-two-card-draw for one blue.

Why was this not reprinted in Theros? The entire set is supposed to be around Scry and devotion. This is probably one of the best Scry cards there is.

Brainstorm, Ponder, Preordain
Each card does something very similar, and very very useful.

Between the three cards though, I believe that Preordain is the most universally useful. That is to say, while each of the three cards shines in different decks for different reasons, I believe this card is the best choice for the most decks. It is very potent, and it's almost impossible to not be a great card. Ponder can be a problem if you find one great card and two useless cards, and brainstorm might not get you to your combo pieces any faster, but this card can't really have a result any worse than getting three useless cards off the top of your deck (while refilling your hand).

I would probably say Brainstorm has the most potential, as it's wording (saying you draw three cards) allows it to synergize with a crazy number of blue cards. Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind loves it the most, Thought Reflection loves it the most, Horizon Chimera loves it the most, and so on...

I would rate all three of those cards 5/5 though...

Strictly bluer than ponder. Knowledge even of the bottom card of your deck > shuffling.