Pointed Discussion

Thoughtseize. It goes to Thoughtseize hands down.

Split 5-0, confuse opponent, always get the 5.

An inverse Fact or Fiction. And it's still playable?

Not sure if just Good or if Very Good. :/

Should be called Truth or Dare. :P

Really good with Spellheart Chimera.

This seems like it will be a VERY fun card for both players. Easily one of my favorite cards in the set, even if I don't see myself playing it.

And the award for most Modern-playable new Theros card goes to... (smartass Kurraga)

I took one look at this card and almost dropped my laptop. "Good Lord," I thought to myself, "It's Fact or Fiction. Wizards reprinted Fact or Fiction." Then I re-read it and realized it was more like an reversed FoF and still got a little worried.

The thing I like about this as opposed to Fact or Fiction is that this allows you to initiate the mindgames, not your opponent. I'm not sure how, but I feel that has some potential to be an advantage. Not that that makes it better, just more interesting.

An elegant weapon from more civilized age of deck design. Sent through time to help the island-tapping master race fight the endless hordes of dirty 36-hyperefficientcreatures-4-domri-20-land peasants.


4.5/5 since it isn't win-win 100% of the time.

I'll play Read the Bones over this in Grixis Conrrol but still pretty cool

Cards with this concept normally let an opponent choose: Gifts Ungiven, Fact or Fiction, and the ability on theArchitect of Thought. I'm not sure whether this difference makes it better or worse. I think the benefit differs in different situations depending on how many good hits you get. I really love the card and like to see this concept being brought back to standard. I really wonder if this will see play.

<3
Into Melek EDH (and probably a number of other decks) with you!

Splash blue and red in your dredge deck.

Obviously, there's better ways to mill yourself for 5 (commune with the Gods). But there's certainly no more cost efficient way to see your opponent make that face they make when they actually consider letting you draw 5 cards as the better option.

I suddenly want to Mindslaver someone and force them to give me all 5. Because I'm greedy and am addicted to stylish win-mores in EDH.

Well, for card draw, it's ok these days.
Fact or Fiction though is far superior, plays in a totally different league.

End of turn, Steam Augury, you lose

I have a feeling that too many people are underestimating this card (at least in my LGS).
Is it FoF?
No.
However, despite this, I believe this card is still close in power level, and will outright surprise many people.

The main difference between this card and Fact of Fiction is that - forget about all those mind tricks and only focus on an abstract idea of how many cards' worth of power you're getting - you get a maximum of 2.5 cards from this card while a minimum of 2.5 cards from FoF. Whoever seperates the piles (you in Steam Augury, your opponent in FoF) will generally try to make the two piles as even as possible (hence "2.5 cards".) The point is that you get the worse pile (at most 2.5 cards) with Steam Augury, but the better pile (at least 2.5 cards) with FoF.

This of course says almost nothing about Steam Augury, since FoF itself would have been insanely broken for Standard. A good comparison would be Inspiration, which is slightly subpar and just need a little bit extra on it to see play. Going from 2 to 2.5 cards makes a big difference. However, this card does suffer from a number of issues. The instant speed matters less today since counterspells are in general less reliable now, leaving sorcery speed card draws like Jace, Architect of Thought and Read the Bones as serious contenders. It also comes in at four mana, and at the time we really have no lack of fours (Jace, Ral Zalek, Supreme Verdict, Warleader's Helix, Desecration Demon) However, the biggest issue in my opinion is... for people who follow the path of Brian Weissman and do not want to play more than two Aetherlings as their win condition, this card can render quite some games unwinnable for you.

Seems good in a deck with a fair amount of redundancy and/or recursion. For control decks where more precision is required, I prefer Thoughtflare.

...I tried to, several times even, but I just can't feel this one. What it boils down to for me is that the opponent has the final say for which cards you get. Card advantage is card advantage, of course, but I don't like even the remote possibility of getting screwed over. Yes, with a lot of deck redundancy it won't matter much, and yes, it might be fun for mind tricks and graveyard recursion, and even yes, it will play well when you've made an ally in big multiplayer games, but all in all, I'd rather just have FoF.

Turns out that inverted Fact or Fiction is much worse...

Fict or Faction?

Fact or Fiction will mostly be a better card, but this is no slouch. Will give instant speed card advantage, and stocks up the graveyard for decks that care about it.

Also worth noting that this might be the best card draw spell that is usable with Sunforger shenanigans.

Steam Augury revealing 4 instants/sorceries and Spellheart Chimera. Chimera in 1 pile, instants/sorceries in another. This is the best use I've found for this card.

It's like Fact or Fiction and Truth or Tale had a baby!
...
But if the parents are both mono-blue, then why is the baby red-blue?
...
OH MY GOD, FACT OR FICTION IS CHEATING!
...
Wait, why am I surprised? "Fact or Fiction is cheating" has always felt true to me.

What I find most advantageous about this is that you can easily see what you're opponent is worried about. You're making me lose my bounce spells and giving me those creatures? I'll make sure to keep Cyclonic Rift in my hand for when you do something particularly nasty.

Fiction or Fact.

I have a question about this card. I ran into an impasse with a friend while playing it concerning the reveal cards part. The card reads "Reveal the top five cards of your library and separate them into two piles." So dose that mean that the opponent knows which cards are in which pile or just which cards he is choosing from. To try and clarify for example if i pulled 4 lands and some card lets say teysa, envoy of ghosts i have to reveal them to the opponent but then do i get to sort the piles without him knowing which cards in in which pile? for example i put 2 lands in one pile and 2 lands + teysa in the other. dose the opponent know im putting teysa in the pile with three cards or is it a complete blind pick as to which pile?

He also referenced an older card (which i cant remember the name right now i apologise) that exiles the top five cards face up into two piles. I understand how that card works because it is specific but this card doesn’t specifically say face up or face down.

LORD KERANOS HAS STRUCK ME WITH A PROPHECY OF HIS LIKENESS!

"My name is Keranos, God of Epiphany,

Compared to me you mortals are wee

My power shall be 7 and toughness 5,

But if your life is low, it'll be hard to stay alive,

for if you win the coin flip, you may draw, after scrying 3

but you lose, its 3 damage at random, you see.

For me to come to you, you must use,

1 red, 1 blue and 2 of any color you choose

of course, if your devotion to my colors doesn't exceed 7

I'll just be an enchantment in my Nyx Heaven"

I was shocked (literally) that he told me this, because I did not help the company that reveals him to the world. But after reviewing his word, I realized he had left hints of what he would be like. For example, on the card above this prophecy, he gives punishments as often as he gives prophecy, so he must deal damage. Since his bolt, the bolt of Keranos, deals 3 damage, and scrys (clearly seen as fortune telling in this plane) it will definitely be three damage that he uses to punish you. his fellow red gods all have 5 toughness, so he must be like them. His power is right because all gods that make there creatures stronger don't need an extra point of power, but since Keranos doesn't boost his allies, he need that extra power.

Strictly worse than Fact or Fiction and not worth playing, in my opinion. With the opponent choosing you WON'T get the card you want/need (unless said opponent is rather dumb), you don't get to play mind games which, let's face it, make a difference.

Another big, BIG, BIIIIIG advantage of FoF: One blue and 3. There were no real color limitations to the card. It was splashable! This one isn't. Though, with all the double-colored lands running around compared to the Invasion block, it MIGHT not be such a big deal.

Anywho. No doubt, switching the splitting and choosing roles around ruined the card. Well, no not RUINED, that's a little extreme, but it's not without valid substitutes. I mean, Read the Bones let's you dig up to four cards deep for the one card you need a turn before this one.