If any uninitiated individual is wondering why this innocent looking land is broken beyond belief, the reason is because there are somewhere between 75 and 80 thousand ways to get infinite blue mana from it. No really, I counted.
lickthemoose
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(4 votes)
okay the only reason i see this card not getting a 5 is someone was sour they couldnt get their hands on any or got beat by it to many times 5 stars isnt enough for this
@go
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
too good!
BonerBob
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I love it :D
zplaya
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
broken beyond belief... and i love it!!!
jeff-heikkinen
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(13 votes)
(Random card review #81)
This is one I can't say much about that isn't already in the comments somewhere. I remember a couple years before this came out, desperately looking for ways to accelerate a blue deck; almost every other colour had some form of playable fast mana, but for blue there was little short of Mox Sapphire. I soon concluded that if blue were given playable fast mana it would be too good. Then High Tide came out and, though this will come as a surprise to some, didn't get played at first. I knew it was a seriously overpowered card just waiting for the right deck to come along, but apparently its initial lack of success made WotC overconfident enough to print this beast. At least, that's the only explanation I can think of. This card was so obviously broken that its dominance also inspired Extended players to dust off their High Tides and build broken decks around those, once Tolarian Academy's inevitable banning took place.
This is easily one of the best lands ever printed.
No side effect, just massive amounts of mana for an artifact deck.
Gaussgoat
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
HOLY.... wow. I've never seen this used, but fully intend to go get one now... yikes.
GradiustheFox
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(35 votes)
This has to be the holy grail of Lands. Especially compared to all the ones that demand you align the moons of Jupiter and wash your opponents car in order to get one mana more than a basic would give anyway. This just asks you politely to toss out some things you were probably playing a lot of anyway.
Jokergius
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(5 votes)
Okay, I can understand why they made this a legendary. So you can't put the same thing next turn. But taking into account all the blue artifacts available right now. Master of Etherium, Master Transmuter, The Sphinxes just to name a few??? It's crazy retarded, and when you add THIS with Minamo, School at Water's Edge. BUT Pros and Cons of this card would be:
PROS: ~INFINITE possibilities for artifact cards, and even cards with X in their CMCs. ~It's a legendary land, and can go well with said card above. ^^ ~Does not come into play tapped. ~BROKEN!!!! ~Can be fished out using Expedition Map and its ilk
CONS: ~BROKEN!!!! ~It's a legendary, so no duplication. ~Can be the target of land destruction, which awfully seems unlikely they would be expecting this and have land destruction.
And that's...pretty much it, I gues... :'D
A3Kitsune
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
@Resyx, the reason this card is broken is because there are 0-cost artifats, and a lot of them. Gaea's Cradle is broken because of token creatures, and the handful of 0-cost creatures that exist. There are no 0-cost enchantments, and so far only one card makes enchantment tokens, so Serra's Sanctum is unbroken.
uberschveinen
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
Wait, someone actually rated the Academy less than 5?
Really?
LordCapulet
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Strictly better than Island.
reapersaurus
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Wizards should be ashamed for printing cards such as these.
Malnourished_Student
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(4 votes)
I just bought one (yes, just one) for my casual Tinker deck and I feel dirty doing so. But I don't care, this is so full of awesome. I just thought, that I won't even want to sacrifice my Lotus Petal's for the free mana this thing generates off of them!
THE BEST CARD IN SAGA. must-have in most vintage decks, SO MANY infinite mana combos! Mind Over Matter being my personal fav. Tolaria West to fish it out of all-blue decks. the meat and bones of the best 5-minute-turns. combos with more restricted cards than any other. Frantic Search, Time Spiral, Rewind, the gift that keeps on giving. BLUE MANA ACCELERATION TO THE MAXXX! the vintage highlander (singleton?) deck's best friend. johnny's wet dream. best land since original dual lands, period. UNGH! if it weren't so valuable, i would make out with it. seriously.
Mindbend
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
it doesn't even come into play taped. not that that would stop it being ridiculas lol
Galgus
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
How on earth does it make sense that this gets banned in Legacy but Gaea's Cradle doesn't?
I mean, seriously, you don't even have to build a deck around Gaea's Cradle for it to be overpowered.
TheSwarm
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
True, you don't have to build a deck around gaea's cradle to make it simply ok. I shouldnt say ok, to make it gooood, very good. But a deck built around The academy gets STUUUUUPID. Because artifact decks get artifact creatures, they get artifact lands, and just plain old artifacts, meaning the academy is getting mana from threeeee different sources whilst gaea's cradle only gets it from one. And with the affinity mechanic... Im not even going to get into it. This card could summon up just about any creature in an artifact deck turns 2-6 depending on luck and potency.
However surprisingly not strictly better than island. Strictly means in every situation, and on turn one when you don't have any artifacts this is not strictly better than island.
izzet_guild_mage
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(5 votes)
With this and 4 moxes, you can summon OUR GREAT LORD EGOTIST on turn one. If that isn't good, I don't know what is.
Tera_GX
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I would like to see a modern version of this. Something to make it less broken of course. Mana for each artifact; Perhaps a good consequence would be that it doesn't easily untap? "Untap when an opponent does damage to you"?
VoidedNote
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The moment i saw this thing... I checked the banned list, because this is BROKEN BEYOND BELIEF. This is just as powerful as the lotus!
Chrome_Coyote
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(5 votes)
So expensive, so broken, so awesome.
Sytos64
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This+a ton of artifacts+Stroke of Genius = Win for Drawing cards
annenoise
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
One of the best cards ever, a total powerhouse in any blue deck with artifact support - i.e. most of them.
I love this card it is like the "blood" of my artifact deck this Card + Mycosynth Lattice = so much mana it like heaven....
TheyDontKnowJack
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
This, Filigree Sages, and Mycosynth Lattice or Liquimetal coating with an additional artifact on the field for infinite mana. Make the academy an artifact and use Filigree Sages to continuously untap it.
Pontiac
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I remember seeing this card at the pre-release, I traded for 4 of them right away. even before artifact lands were in the picture this card was just broken with all the moxen, sol ring, Mana Crypt, Vault ext. it wasn't long till it was restricted. I could even tap Mishra's Factories for blue with this thing on the table. Snake Basket was even more wonderful when this card came out, until then we only thought of snake basket has a Mana Drain dumper.
ninjaman98
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Just throw in lots of 0 cost artifacts, like Ornithopters and Memnites. Four of each on you first turn; ring out the Wormcoil Engine!
Zacklar
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
this is BROKEN since Mirrodin...
C5r1a5z0y
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Ahh, my favorite card ever printed. And with the new Liquimetal Coating, Voltaic Key just became even better. Sure I just tapped for 12 mana, but I could really use 11 more...
Speaking of infinite mana, add Rings of Brighthearth to the above cards for infinite mana + infinite permanent untap.
Looks like they even looked at making it more broken: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/af2
Polychromatic
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Probably the greatest land of all time. I can't see much that could compete with this. It would be just as broken in Standard today with all the 0-drop artifacts.
Wormfang
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
ninja man, your starting hand apparently has 10 cards in it, explain how please (4xornithopter, 4xmemnite, 1 tolarian academy and 1 wurmcoil engine)
Lateralis0ne
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(17 votes)
If you play artifacts, and you don't play standard, invest in this. Take care of it. Tuck it in at night, give it some of your soda, take it to the movies. Buy it some nice jewelry. And it will take care of you in turn.
That's what happened to me, anyway. And now the two of us have a family and a nice life together.
WateryMind
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I read it. Then I read it again.
Then my mind exploded at how absurdly BROKEN this is!
In any artifact deck, then is insane! Say, this, Memnite , Signal Pest, Ornithopter, Wurmcoil Engine, Chimeric Mass and good ol' Inkwel as your starting hand, in a mono U artifact deck with more cheap artifacts and counter spells.
Turn one, this, Memnite, Ornithopter, tap for 2, Signal Pest. Turn 2, Land (hopefully), tap lands for 4 mana, Chimeric Mass for 4. Bash with your team for 3. Turn 3, Land/ 0 drop artifact, Tap for 6, Wurmcoil. Few turns later, Inkwell. Provided they survive the Engine that long.
AND THAT'S WITHOUT THE ARTIFACT LANDS!!!!
Shadoflaam
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Uggggggghhhhh... That is all.
Traumerei112
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(4 votes)
It makes me laugh that people are suggesting to use this with terrible cards like voltaic key, memnite, ornithoper, when this is really used with Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Ruby, Mox Emerald, Mox Pearl, Sol Ring and the like.
Cmon.
The_Stray
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It makes me sigh that you're forgetting more people at the time of printing had greater access to Ornithopter, Lotus Petal, and other cheap artifacts than the Power Nine, and STILL broke this card in half about two months after Urza's Saga came out. The temp advantage was just sick, no matter what you were playing.
Moses7365
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
What is the reality of the game these days? Traumerei112 is right this card was made famous for the great cards that were briefly legal during its time. It was mostly used as part of a early game Braingeyser basically forcing your opponent to draw out.
As far as the restricting/banning cards I think it just limits the game as a whole. I don't really think that if this card where legal for legacy it would make decks like affinity any faster from turn 0-5, but what it would do is spawn a whole bunch of artifact based decks that have nothing to do with affinity that would be competitive with decks like Faerie/control and so on.
But wizards has been legalizing cards that people thought would never come back like Timespiral so who knows what the future will hold.
SyntheticDreamer
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is simply ridiculous. I have seen it used in decks that win on the first turn...actually, I've been a victim of one of those decks! Absolutely ridiculous.
Bauer4Prez
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think that somehow the "legendary" status of this land may have led some to believe that its power was nipped a little bit (because you can't have 4 of them in play!!!) and therefore okay to print.
I remember great multiplayer games in dorm rooms where it was a race to see who could put their academy out or much more frequently it was the cradle. Back then once a legendary land hit someone else's side of the board you would have to hold yours indefinitely. I remember elf deck and token decks packing some very slight land destruction so that if they lost the race to put the cradle on the table first they could zap yours and run amok! That was one of those funny moments, to see the face of your opponent go from utter glee to disbelief when they put gaea's cradle in play only to have it end up in the graveyard by next turn!
Try4se
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Greatest land in the game of Magic.
TrueBloodWolf
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Definently broken in the right deck... I still wish it wasn't "give me $500 for one card"
WhiteWizard42
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A3Kitsune: "so far only one card makes enchantment tokens"
Which card would that be? I know of a few different things that can make enchantment creature tokens by copying Lucent Liminid (like Soul Foundry or Mimic Vat with one imprinted on), but are you saying there's something that makes tokens that are noncreature enchantments?
001010011100101110
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Last year, I traded a Gideon for a Tolarian. Best decision I've ever made.
drpvfx
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
How is it possible this is rated lower than Gaea's Cradle? The people calling this the best land ever know what's up.
I mean, the Cradle is awesome, but this card is insane in any deck that caters to it even slightly.
Call it broken all you want- I'm still using this awesome blessing of a land :-D
Purple_Shrimp
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
clearly in the top handful lands of all time, but I prefer Bazaar of Baghdad
SereneChaos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
There's a rumour that when the Academy was being designed, they originally had it add U for EVERY artifact, not just yours. They made it only count yours because the first version was "too powerful".
Thanks, WotC. Thanks.
Shannnnoonn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You know the scary part about this card... When you see it, you know Morphlings not far behind... 5/5...
Regent_of_Gaea
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I absolutely positively love this card. It can singlehandedly make a Chimney Imp deck work. Believe me, I've built one...
nope.avi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
C5r1a5z0y I was reading the artic le ended with one day they may look back and say what were they doing below was a poll on favorite mirrodin abilities lol
doombladez
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@lateralis0ne You two? How could anyone only use ONE of these?
adrian.malacoda
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@DarthParallax
It is reserved. A shame, too. IMHO the reserved list helps ensure that sets like FtV, which are ostensibly about reprinting memorable and significant cards in the history of the game, are more lackluster than they deserved to be.
It used to be that FtV and Premium Deck/Duel Deck Series were not bound by the reserved list, too. Hence why they got away with including phyrexian negator in the Phyrexia duel deck (although they really could have chosen a better card for the coalition deck, I think) and Karn, Silver Golem in FtV Relics. When the community raised its voice about the reserved list, Wizards addressed their concerns... by tightening up the policy even more.
Apparently FtV reprints don't even affect the value of a card that much, since it's such a limited print run.
Justin133Nivmizzet1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This cost 20 bucks on tcgplayer and gaea's cradle cost 60 bucks on tcgplayer
Superllama12
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
This is just ridiculous. In Vintage, your deck consists of mostly artifacts and instants, and it is very easy to get this out quickly with all the tutoring. I guess the only thing that really gave them any incentive to print it was mana burn, as a sort of high-risk high-reward card. The only problem is that 90% of the time, you kill your opponent the turn you get this out. If you couldn't, your deck wasn't expensive enough
Trygon_Predator
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Broken as hell. At least Gaea's Cradle and Serra's Sanctum have the decency to count things that probably cost you mana to play. This plus any number of moxes and lotuses leads to insane mana acceleration.
swords_to_exile
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
THIS IS WHY BLUE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS!!!
MikeyT
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Jeez 5/5. Combo winter, nuff said.
DarthParallax
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Is this Reserved? If it's not Reserved, then it's about to get Reprinted:
EDIT: So, I just finished the two Artifacts Cycle books after they spoiled Karn Liberated, and this is what I've got to say:
WHAT. DA FUCGHK. URZA.?!?!?!!?
I mean, yeah I knew old Magic cards back then were broken, but.....jeez, it suddenly sounds MUCH safer to 'merely' attempt to play my little Black-Red Premium Deck Awesome: GraveBurn in a Legacy tournament and get completely slaughtered by all the peeps who actually know how to play Magic than it does to live in Dominaria....or anywhere else Urza Planeswalker happens to be o.O
You know how in Harry Potter the running gag is the safest place in the world is wherever Albus Dumbledore happens to be? Urza Planeswalker is the utter and complete blatant opposite of that. I **ALMOST** would believe the INNER CIRCLE, EIGHTH CIRCLE OF PHYREXIA is a safer place than wherever Urza Planeswalker happens to be!!!!!!! o.o
And Tolarian Academy is Urza's Hogwarts. No wonder it's banned. No freakin' wonder. x.X
Enelysios
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Gaea's Cradle doesn't cost more because it is better, the opposite actually, it costs more because it isn't restricted.
This is better than Gaea's Cradle simply because it makes blue mana, and because artifacts are better and easier to get onto the field than creatures. The cradle is great (Especially in token decks) but it doesn't do much first turn, and it is green mana acceleration, something I think we've all seen before. This card rewards you for playing the most powerful cards in the game, and accelerates blue (This and High Tide are the only halfway decent blue acceleration).
Blue isn't supposed to be fast for a reason, blue decks can answer anything in the game sans lands, and they can maintain card advantage with ease. Blue decks weakness has to be a lack of aggro and acceleration, because it is all they can't do. This card single handedly solves one of those problems.
My friend gave me his old collection, and it had one of these in it. I'm kind of in awe. This is one of the most infamously powerful cards in the game, and now I own one.
atemu1234
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(3 votes)
@lunaravenger And yet you did comment @thewrathofshane Don't haterate. Cards deserve to be rated based on how good they are, not how you (And common consensus) believe it to be broken. That means it should be rated HIGHLY, not .5 based on the fact you lost to it.
Granted, this card is broken, but it is also awesome. Stop B***HING about it and get used to the fact that some cards are powerful.
Now that Mirran cards have metalcraft, though, I'd like to see this Mirran Mines {T} add {U} to your mana pool Metalcraft- If you control three or more artifacts, add {U}{U} to your mana pool instead.
I like how this came out in the same block that they introduced the "Untap up to ____ lands" mechanic like Treachery, Palinchron, Time Spiral and all of those other goodies.
It was as if Wizards was just begging you to abuse everything you possibly can while Urza's block was legal.
talcumpowder0046
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Full of awesome! Though this has some severe synergy with the moxen, I like T1:Mishra's Workshop and Metalworker better
Cygore
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This awesome for an artifact deck
MassiveMassive
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Gaea's Cradle and Tolarian Academy both derseve the full five rating here. They're just for different decks. The Academy however, is the best land that ever saw the light of day. 5/5
Kurraga
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Tap: Add sh*t tons of mana to your mana pool, you win the game.
Kinda strange that people only rate on power-level, and don't factor in balance. Me personally, I rate the developers, and how they let this broken monstrosity out of day 1 play-testing is beyond me.
To everyone who developed urza's block, .5/5... I know you guys were understaffed at the time but still! Turns Spellbook into a Mox Sapphire for freaks sake!
TheKazu
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Everybody that rated this lower than 5 needs to change their rating. Like nao.
Lifegainwithbite
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(2 votes)
A card that just screams BREAK ME NOW.
Demonic_Professor
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Effectively turns every artifact you control into a Mox. This card is easily power 9 quality.
Bulhakas
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Nice balanced land.
Noobian
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Tolarian Academy Land Cards in your hand have affinity for artifacts.
Only slightly better because it can reduce cost by {U} not just {1}.
Goatllama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"So what do they teach there?" "Not much, they're just a humble group of artificers......."
EGarrett01
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the most ridiculously broken cards ever printed. Fortunately they were sorry enough not to put it in From the Vault.
Demonic_Math_Tutor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Doesn't even enter the battlefield tapped.....
WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?
J.RobertOppenheimer
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Borken, land is borken.
Kontrah
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
As if being restricted in Vintage makes any amount of difference considering the good decks that run this will have plenty of ways to tutor for it.
Majora_13
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So glad this will never get a chance to interact with the new legend rule due to being restricted. The amount of mana generated in one turn would be insane...
SeriouslyFacetious
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I got one for an EDH deck in an order from StarCity... Just before the package arrived I had a thought and checked the Commander banlist... I was a sad panda after that...
car2n
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
How the heck am I gonna use this useless thing?
JarieSuicune
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Should be reprinted in a From the Vault: BROKEN OUT, along with cards such as Black Lotus, Time Walk, Moxes, and friends. If only just so some people can have them WITHOUT having to practically throw their life away (though this one still isn't TOO pricey, being under $20). Really, not reprinting them in a set that can't be used in regular decks ANYWAY would be fine. Bunch of jerks that start screaming about Value and Special and all that crap, just because they have it (or actually worship a piece of cardboard they'll never own... or do).
Hunter06
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is amazing, even the flavor text is epic, Hope to pick one up some day
5/5 Stars
BreakfastElemental
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
It's nuts that Tolarian Academy is cheaper than Sensei's Divining Top in 2014.
Arachnos
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
"Why? Just... why? Why did they think this was an okay card to print?"
URZA POWER!
Raibys
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
All things considered, time ran out for the Academy quite quickly after it was printed.
Belgarath123
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Gradiusthefox
You forgot, you have to wash his car on the aligned moons of jupiter
LunarAvenger
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The person who created this monstrosity had never seen a mox or a lotus and never understood the power of Artifacts in MAGIC. Don't worry WOTC, we all make mistakes.
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is one fucked-up card. I don't know how they could have possibly thought printing this was a good idea, even with a significant lack of playtesting. Thankfully it's banned/restricted in everything, but... too little too late, methinks. This card should never have seen the light of day. 5/5 rating on power in Urza block alone; if I were TheWrathOfShane I'd probably give it a 0.5/5, but then again, that would be ridiculous.
dakkon_moxerson
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The third best card ever made. Black Lotus. Moxes. This.
Supremely broken and I don't know why they made it in the first place. Maybe beacause Urza's saga sucked so bad that they included one ultra m*#&%(@ing card that would eclipse everything else just to make people buy that set. Or maybe they forgot how to play magic. Whatever the reason is, they made it and it is unf*@%ing real.
Comments (106)
This is one I can't say much about that isn't already in the comments somewhere. I remember a couple years before this came out, desperately looking for ways to accelerate a blue deck; almost every other colour had some form of playable fast mana, but for blue there was little short of Mox Sapphire. I soon concluded that if blue were given playable fast mana it would be too good. Then High Tide came out and, though this will come as a surprise to some, didn't get played at first. I knew it was a seriously overpowered card just waiting for the right deck to come along, but apparently its initial lack of success made WotC overconfident enough to print this beast. At least, that's the only explanation I can think of. This card was so obviously broken that its dominance also inspired Extended players to dust off their High Tides and build broken decks around those, once Tolarian Academy's inevitable banning took place.
No side effect, just massive amounts of mana for an artifact deck.
But taking into account all the blue artifacts available right now.
Master of Etherium, Master Transmuter, The Sphinxes just to name a few???
It's crazy retarded, and when you add THIS with Minamo, School at Water's Edge.
BUT Pros and Cons of this card would be:
PROS:
~INFINITE possibilities for artifact cards, and even cards with X in their CMCs.
~It's a legendary land, and can go well with said card above. ^^
~Does not come into play tapped.
~BROKEN!!!!
~Can be fished out using Expedition Map and its ilk
CONS:
~BROKEN!!!!
~It's a legendary, so no duplication.
~Can be the target of land destruction, which awfully seems unlikely they would be expecting this and have land destruction.
And that's...pretty much it, I gues...
:'D
Really?
Just... I've nothing else to say.
This is crazed. Make a deck with cheap cards like Metallic Sliver, Arcbound Worker, Ornithopter, Spellbook and Mishra's Bauble etc. and then Darksteel Colossus and some Eldrazi. : )
I mean, seriously, you don't even have to build a deck around Gaea's Cradle for it to be overpowered.
However surprisingly not strictly better than island. Strictly means in every situation, and on turn one when you don't have any artifacts this is not strictly better than island.
Mana for each artifact; Perhaps a good consequence would be that it doesn't easily untap? "Untap when an opponent does damage to you"?
Speaking of infinite mana, add Rings of Brighthearth to the above cards for infinite mana + infinite permanent untap.
Looks like they even looked at making it more broken: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/af2
That's what happened to me, anyway. And now the two of us have a family and a nice life together.
Then my mind exploded at how absurdly BROKEN this is!
In any artifact deck, then is insane! Say, this, Memnite , Signal Pest, Ornithopter, Wurmcoil Engine, Chimeric Mass and good ol' Inkwel as your starting hand, in a mono U artifact deck with more cheap artifacts and counter spells.
Turn one, this, Memnite, Ornithopter, tap for 2, Signal Pest.
Turn 2, Land (hopefully), tap lands for 4 mana, Chimeric Mass for 4. Bash with your team for 3.
Turn 3, Land/ 0 drop artifact, Tap for 6, Wurmcoil.
Few turns later, Inkwell. Provided they survive the Engine that long.
AND THAT'S WITHOUT THE ARTIFACT LANDS!!!!
That is all.
Cmon.
As far as the restricting/banning cards I think it just limits the game as a whole. I don't really think that if this card where legal for legacy it would make decks like affinity any faster from turn 0-5, but what it would do is spawn a whole bunch of artifact based decks that have nothing to do with affinity that would be competitive with decks like Faerie/control and so on.
But wizards has been legalizing cards that people thought would never come back like Timespiral so who knows what the future will hold.
I remember great multiplayer games in dorm rooms where it was a race to see who could put their academy out or much more frequently it was the cradle. Back then once a legendary land hit someone else's side of the board you would have to hold yours indefinitely. I remember elf deck and token decks packing some very slight land destruction so that if they lost the race to put the cradle on the table first they could zap yours and run amok! That was one of those funny moments, to see the face of your opponent go from utter glee to disbelief when they put gaea's cradle in play only to have it end up in the graveyard by next turn!
I still wish it wasn't "give me $500 for one card"
Which card would that be? I know of a few different things that can make enchantment creature tokens by copying Lucent Liminid (like Soul Foundry or Mimic Vat with one imprinted on), but are you saying there's something that makes tokens that are noncreature enchantments?
The people calling this the best land ever know what's up.
I mean, the Cradle is awesome, but this card is insane in any deck that caters to it even slightly.
It's not hard to pump this bad boy up with Moxen, and lands like Seat of the Synod and Darksteel Citadel.
Lotus + say, 2 Moxen + Mana Vault + Academy = 11 mana round one.
That is true power.
If my other two cards are Panoptic Mirror and Time Walk,
or if I get a Demonic Tutor,
you lose.
Call it broken all you want- I'm still using this awesome blessing of a land :-D
Thanks, WotC. Thanks.
I was reading the artic le ended with one day they may look back and say what were they doing
below was a poll on favorite mirrodin abilities lol
It is reserved. A shame, too. IMHO the reserved list helps ensure that sets like FtV, which are ostensibly about reprinting memorable and significant cards in the history of the game, are more lackluster than they deserved to be.
It used to be that FtV and Premium Deck/Duel Deck Series were not bound by the reserved list, too. Hence why they got away with including phyrexian negator in the Phyrexia duel deck (although they really could have chosen a better card for the coalition deck, I think) and Karn, Silver Golem in FtV Relics. When the community raised its voice about the reserved list, Wizards addressed their concerns... by tightening up the policy even more.
Apparently FtV reprints don't even affect the value of a card that much, since it's such a limited print run.
http://www.gatheringmagic.com/adamstyborski-02292012-from-the-vault-realms-announced/
Order ASAP folks.
EDIT: So, I just finished the two Artifacts Cycle books after they spoiled Karn Liberated, and this is what I've got to say:
WHAT. DA FUCGHK. URZA. ?!?!?!!?
I mean, yeah I knew old Magic cards back then were broken, but.....jeez, it suddenly sounds MUCH safer to 'merely' attempt to play my little Black-Red Premium Deck Awesome: GraveBurn in a Legacy tournament and get completely slaughtered by all the peeps who actually know how to play Magic than it does to live in Dominaria....or anywhere else Urza Planeswalker happens to be o.O
You know how in Harry Potter the running gag is the safest place in the world is wherever Albus Dumbledore happens to be? Urza Planeswalker is the utter and complete blatant opposite of that. I **ALMOST** would believe the INNER CIRCLE, EIGHTH CIRCLE OF PHYREXIA is a safer place than wherever Urza Planeswalker happens to be!!!!!!! o.o
And Tolarian Academy is Urza's Hogwarts. No wonder it's banned. No freakin' wonder. x.X
This is better than Gaea's Cradle simply because it makes blue mana, and because artifacts are better and easier to get onto the field than creatures. The cradle is great (Especially in token decks) but it doesn't do much first turn, and it is green mana acceleration, something I think we've all seen before. This card rewards you for playing the most powerful cards in the game, and accelerates blue (This and High Tide are the only halfway decent blue acceleration).
Blue isn't supposed to be fast for a reason, blue decks can answer anything in the game sans lands, and they can maintain card advantage with ease. Blue decks weakness has to be a lack of aggro and acceleration, because it is all they can't do. This card single handedly solves one of those problems.
Combos with Cloud of fairies, Sol Ring, Hurkyl's Recall, Brain Freeze and any other good card.
@thewrathofshane Don't haterate. Cards deserve to be rated based on how good they are, not how you (And common consensus) believe it to be broken. That means it should be rated HIGHLY, not .5 based on the fact you lost to it.
Granted, this card is broken, but it is also awesome. Stop B***HING about it and get used to the fact that some cards are powerful.
Now that Mirran cards have metalcraft, though, I'd like to see this
Mirran Mines
{T} add {U} to your mana pool
Metalcraft- If you control three or more artifacts, add {U}{U} to your mana pool instead.
This: 4.834
Cradle: 4.842
It was as if Wizards was just begging you to abuse everything you possibly can while Urza's block was legal.
5/5
To everyone who developed urza's block, .5/5... I know you guys were understaffed at the time but still!
Turns Spellbook into a Mox Sapphire for freaks sake!
This card is easily power 9 quality.
Land
Cards in your hand have affinity for artifacts.
Only slightly better because it can reduce cost by {U} not just {1}.
"Not much, they're just a humble group of artificers......."
WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?
Really, not reprinting them in a set that can't be used in regular decks ANYWAY would be fine.
Bunch of jerks that start screaming about Value and Special and all that crap, just because they have it (or actually worship a piece of cardboard they'll never own... or do).
5/5 Stars
URZA POWER!
You forgot, you have to wash his car on the aligned moons of jupiter
Supremely broken and I don't know why they made it in the first place. Maybe beacause Urza's saga sucked so bad that they included one ultra m*#&%(@ing card that would eclipse everything else just to make people buy that set. Or maybe they forgot how to play magic. Whatever the reason is, they made it and it is unf*@%ing real.