But I'm ok with it being an uncommon. It does not deserve more.
Totema
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
At least it's at proper rarity this time.
majinara
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(7 votes)
Mediocre card-draw since forever.
There has been worse card draw, there has been better. I normally avoid this. But it's fun to be able to play standard decks with beta cards.
ZEvilMustache
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(3 votes)
I wish ONE of those numbers was a three: the cost, the activation... the cards drawn...
General_Naga
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(3 votes)
As glad as I am this is no longer a rare, the sad reality is I'm gonna end up with more of these than I know what to do with if I start buying M13 boxes :/
CammyWhite
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(5 votes)
I know they don't want colorless card draw everywhere but c'mon. 2 cards would not have broke this card
bowlofgumbo
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Eh.
At least Wizards has stuck to their guns as far as printing the "card advantage: straight up" spells appropriately over-costed. We all know it's necessary for the sake of balance, but for some reason it's simultaneously still disappointing at each encounter, reprint or fresh. Don't get me wrong, Jace's Ingenuity is a fine spell, probably fair, but something about quintupling the mana cost just casts an aura of "blegh" all over it.
Ferlord
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(4 votes)
When I first saw this, I said to myself, "Ahh! Archivist! You're back!"
I kind of liked Archivist for it's really bland effect.
But nope: it's just a guy who's wearing the same clothes as her reading a giant book... for each turn.
Yikes!
arise_shine
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I like it. Of course it's very expensive for what it does, and it's probably not very good in Constructed. But I'd pretty much always play this in Limited, especially Sealed and/or slow durdly decks. Gum up the board, then draw an extra card every turn? Sounds good to me!
Azrael1911
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Funny how it's actually playable in draft at uncommon.
dberry02
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Haters can hate, but the fact that this first came out in Alpha means that it gets my "legacy" respect. I remember reading somewhere that it costs 12 mana to get any card advantage. You first have 4 mana for it's mana cost, 4 mana to draw and replace itself, then 4 mana for the actual card advantage.
I personally prefer Dreamstone Hedron for drawing. It's mana acceleration that can be recycled into three cards for a total of 9 mana.
DoragonShinzui
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(6 votes)
Repeatable, colorless card draw SHOULD NOT BE EFFICIENT. Ever. For any reason. If you want efficient, repeatable card drawing, play blue!
TheWrathofShane
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This is good for when your running out of steam. Can tap at instant speed and get some fuel back. I wish it would draw a card right when it came into play, that way its at least doing something. mana is a little steep for a card that has no immediate effect.
This card is especially useful in the late game. Colorless card advantage for the win!
Morgaledh
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Respect the old card. It is perfectly costed, do you really want cheap, multiple colorless card draws all over? Kids today. And the art is even flavorful -- this isn't a book you could just flip through quickly; if you want a spell, you'll have to work for it.
And even if you hate it, it deserves at least 3 stars for that ART!
Xycolian
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This card blows in any constructed format.
The only way I would possibly think about using this card is if it wasn't required to tap. Then I could run it in one of my cloudpost decks, or even some of my green mana ramping decks, but even if it didn't have to tap, there's still waaayy better card draw to choose from out there.
It's a 15c card. Grab a set and you'll always have some card draw to add to your next casual multiplayer decks. Nothing fancy.
skorpionrazor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I prefer the old art, but it's ok to me. A classic card for classic players :) By the way I'll try it in EDH
Vishlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@DoragonShinzui Everything is as it should be, he's wearing blue clothes!
talcumpowder0046
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
To understand this card's niche, it helps to understand card advantage. Just one extra draw per turn can quickly overwhelm the opposition. Whispers of the Muse, often two more mana and colored, was the core some tournament decks. This is a good article: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/rb63
Drewskithelegend
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card hasn't aged very well but was instrumental in shaping Magic strategy (and interestingly enough did contribute to other TCGs, among them Yugioh where CA is pretty much the only win condition) This was a cornerstone of "The Deck", an early (one of the earliest, in fact) deck in the competitive magic scene. The Deck sought to win by slowing down the opponent and simultaneously gaining card advantage however possible. To that end, this and Disrupting Scepter were the two favored repeatable card advantage engines that, while on the high end of mana-intensive spells, were repeatable and, therefore, became more valuable as the game progressed. Keep in mind that despite the presence of many infamous vintage-only cards, the game was not actually that quick at the time, and combo wasn't going to be a thing seriously until Prosbloom, so this was a viable strategy. Compare this to Phyrexian Arena,Underworld Connections or Erebos, God of the Dead today.
Comments (22)
I mean: :(
But I'm ok with it being an uncommon. It does not deserve more.
There has been worse card draw, there has been better. I normally avoid this. But it's fun to be able to play standard decks with beta cards.
At least Wizards has stuck to their guns as far as printing the "card advantage: straight up" spells appropriately over-costed. We all know it's necessary for the sake of balance, but for some reason it's simultaneously still disappointing at each encounter, reprint or fresh. Don't get me wrong, Jace's Ingenuity is a fine spell, probably fair, but something about quintupling the mana cost just casts an aura of "blegh" all over it.
I kind of liked Archivist for it's really bland effect.
But nope: it's just a guy who's wearing the same clothes as her reading a giant book... for
Yikes!
I personally prefer Dreamstone Hedron for drawing. It's mana acceleration that can be recycled into three cards for a total of 9 mana.
Staff of Nin outshines this card.
And even if you hate it, it deserves at least 3 stars for that ART!
The only way I would possibly think about using this card is if it wasn't required to tap. Then I could run it in one of my cloudpost decks, or even some of my green mana ramping decks, but even if it didn't have to tap, there's still waaayy better card draw to choose from out there.
.5/5
new art: cool 3/5
lower rarity: cool 3/5
overall rating: 3/5
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/rb63