It's not so bad if you have drawing power and a couple mana to burn, but otherwise, you're losing a lot of tempo just to tutor game finishers (which could be removed from the game if someone destroyed the tome).
Alternately, you could use it to thin your deck of lands... or to DRAW lands should the need arise.
XTwistedsoulX
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Disenchant MAGNET
EvilCleavage
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Ya this is actually pretty good for drawing lands if you need them bad. But once you get to five mana, your getting to the point where you don't really need them anymore. Eh, it's an alright card. Has potential but just isn't that exciting.
Shyeeah...boomerang magnet....tempt them to use it again. That being said. w/ shroud it's real nice to be able to get to 5 power cards (or lands if you need 'em) real fast.
Shadoflaam
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Anagram for "Anagram"
jfre81
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Hanna's Custody can give it shroud and make it more difficult to destroy.
Flexible card but can hurt you if not careful. Working great in my Commander deck. Usually try to get Privileged Position and Sterling Grove in play before playing the 'tome'
Biggles
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
10/4/2004 If there are no cards left, you can still use the ability to turn a draw into a "do nothing".
Well that's one way to beat a mill deck.
Max_Glycine
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I love this card for it's flavor. You're writing a spellbook, and actually putting spells in it. This card becomes the "cover," with the cards you go get becoming pages that you can read to learn the spell.
Power-level wise, it's pretty good for an artifact compare to Jayamdae Tome, the baseline for repeatable artifact draw. 4 mana to cast and 4 to activate. This card costs one more to cast, and creates a separate pile, giving you the option to draw from your library if you need something not under the tome. The fact that it replaces a draw instead of gives you one is a drawback, but you basically get to pick what you're drawing, so I feel it makes up for that. It's still a little bit too expensive to be playable, but I think if this were reprinted in today's Standard at a slightly lower cost it would see some play.
This card has actually become an integral piece of my Kemba, Kha Regent EDH deck. I try to make sure my Indomitable Archangel is up and running before I cast it, but it's solid tutoring for when you're using colors that are weak in that area.
Technetium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's weird that this card sits there doing nothing after you've gotten all 5 cards out of it. Most cards like this would go to the graveyard after expending their usefulness.
Earthdawn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Search for five, but fail to find all but one card. 7 mana tutor for any color? Seems... like you should just use Planar Portal instead.
casual_melvin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
When you search for a card with particular characteristics , such as type, subtype, converted mana cost etc. in a hidden zone like the library, you have to reveal those cards before moving them to a hidden zone such as your hand or a specific location in your library like the top. If you don't find anything then you don't have to show your opponent your library to verify. Because it's a hidden zone your opponent doesn't know if you failed to find because you didn't want to find a relevant care or if it wasn't there to find.
While the name and order of cards in your library and hand are hidden, the *number* of cards in hidden zones is public information all players are entitled to know at all times. As such if an effect allows you to search for cards without any ,limiting characteristic, like this one does, then you have to find as many cards as are specified if they are there to find, and as many as possible if not enough are there.
If you have at least 5 cards in your library you have to find 5 cards with this effect. If you have fewer you find all of them.
Comments (16)
Alternately, you could use it to thin your deck of lands... or to DRAW lands should the need arise.
Against a mill deck, I could see using Enlightened Tutor to find this, and then play it to get five essential cards out to (relative) safety. Maybe one of them can be an Elixir of Immortality so you can replenish your library. Into The Core can get rid of that nasty Grindstone/Painter's Servant combo.
Well that's one way to beat a mill deck.
Power-level wise, it's pretty good for an artifact compare to Jayamdae Tome, the baseline for repeatable artifact draw. 4 mana to cast and 4 to activate. This card costs one more to cast, and creates a separate pile, giving you the option to draw from your library if you need something not under the tome. The fact that it replaces a draw instead of gives you one is a drawback, but you basically get to pick what you're drawing, so I feel it makes up for that. It's still a little bit too expensive to be playable, but I think if this were reprinted in today's Standard at a slightly lower cost it would see some play.
While the name and order of cards in your library and hand are hidden, the *number* of cards in hidden zones is public information all players are entitled to know at all times. As such if an effect allows you to search for cards without any ,limiting characteristic, like this one does, then you have to find as many cards as are specified if they are there to find, and as many as possible if not enough are there.
If you have at least 5 cards in your library you have to find 5 cards with this effect. If you have fewer you find all of them.