For this alone, I'd buy four copies of Izzet vs Golgari..
Serev
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Does anyone else find it uneven that they would give the izzet access to two mythic rares in their deck when Golgari only gets one? I'm only saying this because, let's face it, a recent set made this a mythic. Either including it in FTV: Relica was a bogus pick, or this match-up is imba. Either way...I'm still buying four copies of this product, specifically for Life From The Loam.
Okuu-chan
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(7 votes)
One of the reasons I bought IVG. I wish they'd given it an Izzet-flavored artwork though.
orisiti
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
All FTV cards (except FTV Dragons) are printed as mythic rares. Also, i believe that they didn't use the FTV art because that is part of what made the FTV versino special. I feel that putting in life from the loam is a great balance for this.
DarthParallax
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Serev: I find it somewhat unfair that WoTC thought Izzet could face down Dredge, the only mechanic other than Affinity and Storm that has the distinction of Every Card that has it is Broken.
Just because Greater Mossdog is a lot LESS broken than Golgari Grave-Troll, doesn't mean the hound isn't broken too. Dredge is just sorta silly stupid that way :P Think about it like this: if Squadron Hawk didn't have flying, it'd be a lot worse than Squadron Hawk. But it would still be O.P. :P
I'm GLAD they didn't use the Vault Reprint. I think the Vault Sol Rings in Commander are giving some people false expectations. The VAULT special arts need to stay SPECIAL. The Duel Decks arts, like Fact or Fiction and Counterspell, ought to be reprinted where and when it makes sense to do so. But the Vault needs as many Prestige Points as it can get to recoup from the sadness that was Legends. Thankfully, Maze of Ith is fighting like a Champ to restore the Vault's reputation :D
RagingGoblinGrenade
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
hmm..... do I want to Snap up a creature every turn, or how about counterspell so I always have that answer? And that's just really quick off the top of my head in blue! There's tons of excellent 1 or 2 drop instants that would love to be thrown onto this baby and abused to your heart's content! 5/5 from me, and one of the main reasons I'm getting this dual deck today.
Doom_Lich
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
@Serev: Dryad Arbor is in FTV realms. FTV is for iconic cards, not overpowered ones. Today this would probably be a rare. Definitely not mythic. It's not over the top enough.
ninjabeans
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@Serev,
I saw your idea and was really rolling with it until I read the scepter further... Correct me if I am wrong but you cannot use this card to imprint, Life From the Loam ,since its a sorcery vs an instant.
@Serev: oh god, when will you guys realize that carss in FtV aren't automatically mythics? It's called promo, and it's here to not have set like that with fifteen cards with four different rarities.
TherealphatMatt
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
What's even crazier is that they put Fire/Ice in this deck! God I love this duel deck series.
the_sixth_degree
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
You let the Izzet have WHAT?
TheDanath
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
People who think this card is crap greatly underestimates its use. there are dozens of one and two cost instant cards out there that can stall people or just stop them in their tracks: Fog/Holy Day are great against heavy creature decks. Counterspell just to stop anything and everything being played and there are dozens of others to choose from.
And not to mention being able to get this out turn two possibly one if your lucky and you have a good start to keeping your opponent at bay for a while. yes there are ways to get rid of it but if you get it out early your usually good to go.
atemu1234
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
@timmyforever Shit comment, shit user. how appropriate.
Cygore
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is awesome fun with lightning bolt XD
Dankirk
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Exile target friendship.
Would be usable even with 7cmc or 4 activation cost.
RJDroid
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I put a Train of Thought on this once, and proceeded to win the game through sheer card advantage. What busted shenanigans, I said! I'm sorry for winning so hard!
After that game, I reread the card, and I felt bad.
Lyriq
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
My friend was playing an EDH game, and one of his opponents was playing monoblue control. First turn, this guy plays an Island, Sol RIng, this, imprinting Counterspell. It didn't get better after that.
funnynuts
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Infinite turns by turn 4 (T2 if you're running black). Isochron Scepter T2 (Exile Final Fortune), Sundial of the Infinite T3, T4 Start the fireworks. Then lose the game because you've just created an infinite loop :)
baronchris
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Is this legal in standard? Since its in the duel decks
Bah its back! To haunt table top magic everywhere! This thing is the definition of grieving effect.
Oh, your not playing counters? Do you have instant speed artifact removal??? Okay, then I win on turn two. From one artifact and a measly Silence. Your free to scoop whenever you want.
.5/5 for balancing and development.
HoboColin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Ruleings ; "You do pay any additional costs for that spell. You can't use any alternative costs." What about kicker? into the roill? im shure the ruleings used to mention it, but im unsure now wether ive bin a cheatyface. in my defense, i onley started useing 'roill after the first game with terorr. that was horible for my oponent AND myself. bounce seemed fairer (said a suspected cheatyface). im shure theres been a revision, thogh im not shure if 'roill still works. " you DO pay aditional costs"? sounds almost like it forces you to pay kicker. thats unlikely. any help here would be very much apriciated, thanks.
TzarChasm
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
It kills me that this isn't sorcery compatible, because it would be a juggernaut if you stamped Hymn to Tourach onto it.
GideonJura2
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Why? Why? Why did they print this as an uncommon and then as a mythic rare?
So, when playing with the cipher effects in Paranoid Delusions and Hands of Binding, does that mean you can imprint the spell again after you cast the copy?
Ogonomany
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like that imprinting Manamorphose essentially turns this into a Staff of Nin, except it fixes mana and only costs 2.
It's fun to have to of these out. One Boomerang, one Couterspell or Memory Lapse. The boomerang is also fun with Phyrexian Infiltrator. It's kinda mana reliant, but really annoying. ^_^
It's an awesome card, both powerful and fun, but people do sometimes overrate it. Its big weakness is that you have to imprint something on it out of your hand, which leads to two more weaknesses in turn:
1. It's very vulnerable to removal. If it gets naturalized the moment it hits play, that's an automatic -1. (You can sometimes avoid this by using it immediately to at least get the benefit of the imprinted card once, but many popular imprints aren't useful like that.)
2. You need to have the other card ready to imprint on it, or it's just deadweight in your hand. This is the real reason you never really saw it dominating at tournaments -- isochron scepter is unbelievably powerful when it works, but it's not enough to just have an idea for a strong imprint on it. To really use it well, you need a deck that naturally contains a large number of 2-mana instants and is still strong even if it takes you a long time to draw your scepters. There aren't very many decks like that.
(Don't get me wrong, it's still one of the strongest artifacts ever printed. But it's not completely gamebreaking the way it looks at first -- or the way it sometimes feels when you do manage to get it out with a really strong spell on it.)
Winhert
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Put a fog on it. Put a fog that prevents burn damage on another. Watch people go mad as they cannot defeat your turbofog deck. 4.5/5
Tower_Mazer
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Questions how does this work with split cards and fuse splits?
1st, split cards with fuse I can't find a ruling. I know on split cards you can cast only 1 side without paying it's mana cost. I'm only assuming you can't fuse the spells because it would be like paying a kicker or similar? Answer I found - If you’re casting a split card with fuse from any zone other than your hand, you can’t cast both halves. You’ll only be able to cast one half or the other.
2nd, I need confirmation on this ruling: "If the copied card is a split card, you may choose to cast either side of the split card, but not both. The split cards Fire/Ice, Illusion/Reality, Night/Day, Stand/Deliver, and Wax/Wane all have at least one side with converted mana cost 2 or less."
To me you can choose what side you are casting upon activation not that you are only coping one side and can only cast that side since it doesn't say copy only cast in the ruling. I have a judge telling me I can only copy 1 side. I disagree considering this is a game on manipulating text to your advantage.
3rd, since you are not paying the cmc of the exiled spell, can play the say 3 casting cost side of Far/Away? Far meets the needs of the cmc 2 or less requirement as stated in the above quoted ruling.
Thanks
adrian.malacoda
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(4 votes)
@Toquinha1977: You can only Cipher the spell card itself, not a copy, as the rules for Cipher specifically state that you may exile "this spell card". A spell cast through Isochron Scepter (or, for that matter, through Cipher itself) is not a card, so you cannot Cipher it.
@HoboColin: "Alternative cost" means something like Force of Will where you do something else instead of pay its usual cost. You can't do that with scepter. "Additional cost" is something like Fling where you have to do something else in addition to its usual cost. You CAN put Fling on this but you'd have to sac a creature every time you use it. Kicker is an optional additional cost. You are never forced to pay the Kicker, but you have the option to. If you choose to Kick the spell then you have to pay the kicker cost.
@Tower_Mazer: First, you can't use Fuse with Isochron Scepter. Fuse is an alternative cost, like buyback. Second, in every case where you imprint a split card onto Scepter, you may only cast one side of it. The imprint ability calls for an "instant card with CMC 2 or less." The way mana cost works with split cards is tricky - technically speaking, the CMC of Far/Away is 2 and 3 at the same time (not 5). Therefore, it meets the criteria for imprint. The activated ability of Scepter always costs {2}, regardless of the CMC of the card you are casting. The activated ability of Scepter doesn't check the CMC of the spell you are casting, so you are indeed free to cast Away off the Scepter for {2}.
@Everyone suggesting sorceries for use with Isochron Scepter: It works with instants only.
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Give 'im the stick!
thisisthedave1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
And Here come the Orim's Chant or use 2 with a angel's grace and a final fortune, one imprinted onto the other
Traius
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Surprised no one mentioned the most obvious win combo ever. Turn 1: Any land + sol ring (or some other way to ramp to an extra 2). Cast Isochron and exile timewalk before your opponent could possibly counter it. Turn 2: Get a free turn. Free turn: Get a free turn Free Turn: Get a free turn .........
EDIT: Forgot force of will to counter, of course. But I also failed to include other dream draws. Black lotus or 2 moxen and you can start getting infinite turns on turn 1.....
Hunted0Lesser
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Damn it. I was gonna make a joke about my Boomstick...
Guys. Guys guys guys guys guys. This, High Tide, Echo Mage, 2 Call to Mind or others, and Turnabout. I've finally found an infinite combo that hasn't before been posted!
SacroSan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I use this in an inifinte mana combo Iso Specter with High Tide, comboed with Turnabout. Ahhh nothing but screaming and then silence.
Chiky911
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
silence is f***ing anoying
Meteora888
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I can't wait until this card rotates out of Modern. Oh, wait...
BrianTumah
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
how about Memory Lapse+ this in a discard deck = annoying lockdown?
Hussalo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Far/Away on this is just sick and mean... I love it.
NuclearRainboom
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I'm amazed that everyone has overlooked this, but it says "may" for paying the cost of the spell, which means its possible to cast (X) spells from this.
At first is sounds useless, but in a green deck with a lot of ramp, I wouldn't mind replaying Serene Sunset, Molder, or even Untamed Might.
OverfiendSurprise
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
with all the fun / broken spells they ban in modern you'd think this would be one of them. i'm breaking into the modern scene from legacy and i came across these in my trade book. thought to myself, 'there is no way Wiz would let this fly in modern.' *picks jaw off floor* time to start deck building :D
DrJack
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This one's a contender for the most broken Magic card ever printed. No, seriously. Have you tried it out? It's power is beyond words. To be fair, if it had a higher casting cost it might be in the realm of sanity. A balanced (even if very strong) version of Isochron Scepter would be a lot of fun. Upping the casting cost from 2 to 4, and keeping everything else the same might be enough... however, allowing repeatable counterspells on the "stick" is still extremely dangerous. Maybe if they made a new version of Isochron Scepter that only allowed instants, and not interrupts...
Whoops!! That's impossible, because the Wizards, in their infinite wisdom, rewrote history and eliminated interrupts from the game. Guess they're hosed now. See kids, interrupts existed as a separate entity from instants for a reason.
EnterTheDojo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this with a final fortune under it and sundial of the infinite. tap stick for an extra turn then use sundial to end said turn before final fortune makes you lose
TheKazu
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Its most fun to imprint counterspells on this card, specifically Memory Lapse. That way, if they try to play a spell to kill scepter, you can always just counter that.
tavaritz
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
A little game evolution fact. Check for example Throne of Bone's wording between 5th edition and 6th. Then check all versions of this.
Now try to find all articles from net that tells you why "cast" was bad word and was changed to "play" and then why "play" was bad word and was changed back to "cast".
I'm getting the feeling that Wizards no longer know what they are doing.
P.S. This is uncommon in Mirrodin, which means that every booster pack has certain probabilty to contain this, the probability being smaller than for any given rare but larger than for any given common in Mirrodin. But now, if you buy FTV: Relics or DD: Izzet vs. Golgari you get this card automatically, so you cannot talk about any probability based rarity of it in those sets at all.
P.P.S. Of course the basic lands were left out in all the previous.
ColdTroller
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This and voltaic key are in competition to see who is the most annoying combo artifact ever.
Quake5master
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This makes all guild charms overpowered as hell... I'm going to make all my permanents indestructible, wait... wait... I'll just have you take 4 to the face... No, no no! I'll just attack with everything and give whatever gets through double strike. Now, imagine having those options every turn?
Anyone remember Manamorphose? Well, a free card every turn wouldn't hurt either.
K34
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Seems like there should be an infinite mana combo in this thing somewhere... Perhaps involving voltaic key and cabal ritual... I'll figure it out.
AeroSigma
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Gatherer Challenge!
Think of a situation in which you'd willingly use the 'may' clause of the second ability.
Go!
Bonus points for coming up with a different situation for each of the 'may's.
Theevbomb
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One word: fog
SlymanVII
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
one word..... fog
casualhorror
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Definitely a hilarious sideboard card on the cheap. Feels like siding into theGiftsPackage but it is a little worse than that. It eats removal like all hungry little artifacts do, with Abrupt Decay feeling especially bad and it sometimes doesn't get paired with the right instant in your deck to lock your opponent completely. But then there are games where you have imprinted something like Lightning Bolt or even better Lightning Helix and they don't have a creature with toughness more than 3. The best is win you don't side it in and they keep their blanked artifact removal. But yeah, not going to win a Modern tournament any time soon. If everyone's seven artifact destruction slots got used better elsewhere (which would require Arcbound Ravager being banned) maybe it'd be pretty nice. Until then the downsides of getting it answered and the fact everyone has to have an answer in sideboard to play Modern is just too backbreaking for our little Isochron.
Tempted_Johnny
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Aquillion: Thank you. Your comment is spot-on!
In Modern format, you'd have a lot to contend with if you're hoping to profit from Scepter. First, you need both Scepter and a desirable card to imprint in hand, making it especially weak to Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek.
That being said, there are a couple rules to follow when playing scepter:
1. Treat Isochron Scepter as if it costs , not (Ignore this rule pre-sideboarding against straight aggro).
2. Cantrips are a must. Not only do they help prevent Scepter from being dead by keeping a fuller hand, but they're among the best cards to imprint. Manamorphose and Remand are probably the best main-board options. Shadow of Doubt and Squelch are great sideboard options.
Reishyn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I don't know how I never noticed it before but this card can shut down the game on turn 2 with Memory Lapse. Unless your opponent has a ridiculous aggressive opening hand that can win the game by itself (even with the first spell being countered every turn) it's basically game over. And guess what card just got reprinted in Jace vs Vraska....
wpnmstr22
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I run three in my UB mill, and can usually have it out turn one or two with either dimir charm or lim-dul's vault imprinted. perfect since my playgroup uses mainly aggro decks.
Ok, so they cast March of the Machines. They lightning bolt Lich. You tap the scepter, not lightning bolting Lich, your only target. The winds deal one damage to you, you sac the blood artist because of the lich, then deal the one damage to win.
The card of a million and one uses, Isochron Scepter's latest use is its ability to completely break certain cards with Strive, since this gets by the mana cost entirely. Best part is, Heroic still triggers, allowing for nasty setups using Sage of Hours.
KJinator
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This + One with Nothing + Hive Mind = makes opponents discard their hands after they draw!! Add Unwinding Clock and artifact lands to spend all mana on your turn and make them discard.
OlvynChuru
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Personally, I don't mind it when my opponent counters my spells, since that's one less counterspell for them to use on my other spells. However, when my opponent puts a counter on THIS... ugh...
Comments (87)
I was hoping for either that or the FNM art, however the darker grey colour used for artifacts now makes this art look a little better.
For this alone, I'd buy four copies of Izzet vs Golgari..
Just because Greater Mossdog is a lot LESS broken than Golgari Grave-Troll, doesn't mean the hound isn't broken too. Dredge is just sorta silly stupid that way :P Think about it like this: if Squadron Hawk didn't have flying, it'd be a lot worse than Squadron Hawk. But it would still be O.P. :P
I'm GLAD they didn't use the Vault Reprint. I think the Vault Sol Rings in Commander are giving some people false expectations. The VAULT special arts need to stay SPECIAL. The Duel Decks arts, like Fact or Fiction and Counterspell, ought to be reprinted where and when it makes sense to do so. But the Vault needs as many Prestige Points as it can get to recoup from the sadness that was Legends. Thankfully, Maze of Ith is fighting like a Champ to restore the Vault's reputation :D
I saw your idea and was really rolling with it until I read the scepter further... Correct me if I am wrong but you cannot use this card to imprint, Life From the Loam ,since its a sorcery vs an instant.
And not to mention being able to get this out turn two possibly one if your lucky and you have a good start to keeping your opponent at bay for a while. yes there are ways to get rid of it but if you get it out early your usually good to go.
Would be usable even with 7cmc or 4 activation cost.
After that game, I reread the card, and I felt bad.
This thing is the definition of grieving effect.
Oh, your not playing counters? Do you have instant speed artifact removal???
Okay, then I win on turn two. From one artifact and a measly Silence. Your free to scoop whenever you want.
.5/5 for balancing and development.
What about kicker? into the roill? im shure the ruleings used to mention it, but im unsure now wether ive bin a cheatyface. in my defense, i onley started useing 'roill after the first game with terorr. that was horible for my oponent AND myself. bounce seemed fairer (said a suspected cheatyface). im shure theres been a revision, thogh im not shure if 'roill still works. " you DO pay aditional costs"? sounds almost like it forces you to pay kicker. thats unlikely. any help here would be very much apriciated, thanks.
-Final words of Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Grand Architect to make it free.
@OrangeAir: Niv-Mizzet himself is actually relatively expensive and your fun fact may not be so factual.
every turn Protean Hulk with a Paleoloth I feel dirty-er
1. It's very vulnerable to removal. If it gets naturalized the moment it hits play, that's an automatic -1. (You can sometimes avoid this by using it immediately to at least get the benefit of the imprinted card once, but many popular imprints aren't useful like that.)
2. You need to have the other card ready to imprint on it, or it's just deadweight in your hand. This is the real reason you never really saw it dominating at tournaments -- isochron scepter is unbelievably powerful when it works, but it's not enough to just have an idea for a strong imprint on it. To really use it well, you need a deck that naturally contains a large number of 2-mana instants and is still strong even if it takes you a long time to draw your scepters. There aren't very many decks like that.
(Don't get me wrong, it's still one of the strongest artifacts ever printed. But it's not completely gamebreaking the way it looks at first -- or the way it sometimes feels when you do manage to get it out with a really strong spell on it.)
Put a fog that prevents burn damage on another.
Watch people go mad as they cannot defeat your turbofog deck.
4.5/5
1st, split cards with fuse I can't find a ruling. I know on split cards you can cast only 1 side without paying it's mana cost. I'm only assuming you can't fuse the spells because it would be like paying a kicker or similar?
Answer I found - If you’re casting a split card with fuse from any zone other than your hand, you can’t cast both halves. You’ll only be able to cast one half or the other.
2nd, I need confirmation on this ruling: "If the copied card is a split card, you may choose to cast either side of the split card, but not both. The split cards Fire/Ice, Illusion/Reality, Night/Day, Stand/Deliver, and Wax/Wane all have at least one side with converted mana cost 2 or less."
To me you can choose what side you are casting upon activation not that you are only coping one side and can only cast that side since it doesn't say copy only cast in the ruling. I have a judge telling me I can only copy 1 side. I disagree considering this is a game on manipulating text to your advantage.
3rd, since you are not paying the cmc of the exiled spell, can play the say 3 casting cost side of Far/Away? Far meets the needs of the cmc 2 or less requirement as stated in the above quoted ruling.
Thanks
@HoboColin: "Alternative cost" means something like Force of Will where you do something else instead of pay its usual cost. You can't do that with scepter. "Additional cost" is something like Fling where you have to do something else in addition to its usual cost. You CAN put Fling on this but you'd have to sac a creature every time you use it. Kicker is an optional additional cost. You are never forced to pay the Kicker, but you have the option to. If you choose to Kick the spell then you have to pay the kicker cost.
@Tower_Mazer: First, you can't use Fuse with Isochron Scepter. Fuse is an alternative cost, like buyback. Second, in every case where you imprint a split card onto Scepter, you may only cast one side of it. The imprint ability calls for an "instant card with CMC 2 or less." The way mana cost works with split cards is tricky - technically speaking, the CMC of Far/Away is 2 and 3 at the same time (not 5). Therefore, it meets the criteria for imprint. The activated ability of Scepter always costs {2}, regardless of the CMC of the card you are casting. The activated ability of Scepter doesn't check the CMC of the spell you are casting, so you are indeed free to cast Away off the Scepter for {2}.
@Everyone suggesting sorceries for use with Isochron Scepter: It works with instants only.
Turn 1: Any land + sol ring (or some other way to ramp to an extra 2). Cast Isochron and exile timewalk before your opponent could possibly counter it.
Turn 2: Get a free turn.
Free turn: Get a free turn
Free Turn: Get a free turn
.........
EDIT: Forgot force of will to counter, of course. But I also failed to include other dream draws. Black lotus or 2 moxen and you can start getting infinite turns on turn 1.....
And damn you people too. Time Walk is a sorcery.
It's an extremely powerful card, though.
5/5
"No more lands for you."
This, High Tide, Echo Mage, 2 Call to Mind or others, and Turnabout.
I've finally found an infinite combo that hasn't before been posted!
At first is sounds useless, but in a green deck with a lot of ramp, I wouldn't mind replaying Serene Sunset, Molder, or even Untamed Might.
*picks jaw off floor* time to start deck building :D
Whoops!! That's impossible, because the Wizards, in their infinite wisdom, rewrote history and eliminated interrupts from the game. Guess they're hosed now. See kids, interrupts existed as a separate entity from instants for a reason.
tap stick for an extra turn then use sundial to end said turn before final fortune makes you lose
Now try to find all articles from net that tells you why "cast" was bad word and was changed to "play" and then why "play" was bad word and was changed back to "cast".
I'm getting the feeling that Wizards no longer know what they are doing.
P.S. This is uncommon in Mirrodin, which means that every booster pack has certain probabilty to contain this, the probability being smaller than for any given rare but larger than for any given common in Mirrodin. But now, if you buy FTV: Relics or DD: Izzet vs. Golgari you get this card automatically, so you cannot talk about any probability based rarity of it in those sets at all.
In fact the FTV: Relics version is as rare as any other card in FTV: Relics and the DD: Izzet vs. Golgari version is as rare as most of the other cards in that set, the exception being that there is nine cards (Elves of Deep Shadow, Golgari Rot Farm, Golgari Rotwurm, Izzet Boilerworks, Kiln Fiend, Putrefy, Pyromatics, Shrewd Hatchling and Wee Dragonauts) that are twice as likely to exist as DD: Izzet vs. Golgari versions, as one gets two of them in every set.
P.P.S. Of course the basic lands were left out in all the previous.
I'm going to make all my permanents indestructible, wait... wait... I'll just have you take 4 to the face... No, no no! I'll just attack with everything and give whatever gets through double strike. Now, imagine having those options every turn?
Anyone remember Manamorphose? Well, a free card every turn wouldn't hurt either.
Think of a situation in which you'd willingly use the 'may' clause of the second ability.
Go!
Bonus points for coming up with a different situation for each of the 'may's.
It eats removal like all hungry little artifacts do, with Abrupt Decay feeling especially bad and it sometimes doesn't get paired with the right instant in your deck to lock your opponent completely. But then there are games where you have imprinted something like Lightning Bolt or even better Lightning Helix and they don't have a creature with toughness more than 3. The best is win you don't side it in and they keep their blanked artifact removal.
But yeah, not going to win a Modern tournament any time soon. If everyone's seven artifact destruction slots got used better elsewhere (which would require Arcbound Ravager being banned) maybe it'd be pretty nice. Until then the downsides of getting it answered and the fact everyone has to have an answer in sideboard to play Modern is just too backbreaking for our little Isochron.
In Modern format, you'd have a lot to contend with if you're hoping to profit from Scepter. First, you need both Scepter and a desirable card to imprint in hand, making it especially weak to Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek.
Then, you should avoid being two-for-oned. Abrupt Decay, Maelstrom Pulse, Qasali Pridemage, Beast Within, and Karn Liberated are some obstacles in this category.
That being said, there are a couple rules to follow when playing scepter:
1. Treat Isochron Scepter as if it costs
2. Cantrips are a must. Not only do they help prevent Scepter from being dead by keeping a fuller hand, but they're among the best cards to imprint. Manamorphose and Remand are probably the best main-board options. Shadow of Doubt and Squelch are great sideboard options.
Your life: Any number.
Your Opponents Life: 1
Your Board: This, with a lightning bolt on it, blood artist with a rancor on it, haunting winds, true believer with a rancor on it, and greater auramancy. Lich that has been Liqimetal Coatinged.
Your Opponent's Board: True Believer, Liquimetal Coating, and Asceticism.
Ok, so they cast March of the Machines.
They lightning bolt Lich.
You tap the scepter, not lightning bolting Lich, your only target. The winds deal one damage to you, you sac the blood artist because of the lich, then deal the one damage to win.