Talk about fluctuating power levels. A five-star monster in vintage, powerful but highly situational in some casual formats, and barely playable in others. If it came back in standard and extended it'd still be very good but I suspect a lot of people would be somewhat disappointed...
Hydrogoose
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(6 votes)
i wonder what would happen if the guy on force of will burnt this down.
Guest57443454
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
This card is control's best friend, and is the most powerful land ever printed...card draw is a mechanic that is powerful in its own right, and to have it uncounterable!!!
SirDoom
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
I love that it still gives you colorless mana, too. Most lands that have funky abilities don't give you anything. It's nice to be able to play this and not "waste" your land drop. Obviously the draw mechanic far outshadows this, but you get my meaning I'm sure...
Restricted for very good reason :D
LuckyMonkey2367
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(4 votes)
alright, ya gotta forgive me here, but how exactly is this THAT good? After the first couple turns, how are you supposed to get seven cards in hand again?
gasimakos1
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(11 votes)
@stygimoloch: turn 1: play library, 'go' (6 cards). turn 2: draw (7 cards), tap library (8 cards), play land, cast spell, 'go' (6 cards). turn 3: draw (7 cards), tap library (8 cards), play land, cast spell, 'go' (6 cards)... and so on. it's a hugely overpowered card-drawing engine that basically allows control players to keep their hand full (or nearly full) for the entire game. it works well because once the card is drawn, every turn from then on is played with the intention of maximizing its card-drawing power. it's not that hard to refrain from casting a ton of spells during your turn if you're using mostly counterspells, disenchant, and swords to plowshares.
GainsBanding
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Saw something on the internets recently about someone trying to lead a charge to get this unrestricted.
Mode
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(7 votes)
Strangely the most powerful land ever printed is Uncommon. Does this tell us Wizards didn't quite know what they were doing when designing this card back then?
Yes, i think so :D
Locohead
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(6 votes)
I love this card, and I love playing it in Duels of the Planeswalkers. This is my favorite "P9" card and it isn't even in the "P9". However, with the advent of type 1 ("vintage") becoming an increasingly broken environment of turn 1 wins, it's not as good as it used to be.
Kartakass
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
This card is in a peculiar situation right now; too slow for vintage and banned in every other format. The library doesn't see a lot of play, which is a shame because it's my all time favorite card.
murder100
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Hey, can someone explain to me why this card's so great?
SlackWareWolf
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(8 votes)
This is the 10th card in the Power 9. I dont' know why some people think this isn't great, even Richard Garfield himself said that this was the most broken card they ever made. A Land that can't be countered and can draw you cards? Amazing.
Long Live the Cheating Device!
Just a heads up:
The reason this is Un-common, is because Arabian Nights has no Rares. I saw someone point out how it's an un-common and thought it was interesting, but there is a reason. There just simply are no Rares in that set. I remember buying my first Arabian Nights booster thinking "That's odd, no Rares at all" but that's how they did it.
If you want something REALLY interesting, Ancesral Recall, and Time Walk, were both Commons before Alpha was released. The set "Gamma" which was a playtest version, had Ancestral Recall and Time Walk as a common, and THAT is the version of Time Walk that says "Opponent Loses next turn". Just a clarify :)
goliath_cobalt
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(5 votes)
@slackwarewolf Arabian Nights cards are identified as rares: Aladdin's Lamp
markarmor
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Use with Ivory Tower to gain 4 life and 2 cards every turn right out of the gate. Probably my favorite card.
Kirbster
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(6 votes)
The long-lost brother to the Power 9.
Zak Dolan accredited this, alongside its buddy Ivory Tower, to his victory in the first Pro Tour.
Mattmedia
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
@Radagast: I would not think so, i would assume that almost every deck (Aggro, Control, Combo) would play 4 of this card, and you would be far behind if you did not, as gasimako1 pointed out, only on turn one (if you play first) would you not be able to play a spell, even if on the 5th turn you decide to bombard the board and empty your hand you would of still drawn 4 cards for 4 mana, thats not bad at all. There is a reason the card is Banned in Legacy and Restricted in Vintage.
Although in saying that, they would NEVER reprint this card, because of the fact that it would go in EVERY deck in Extended and Standard, making it ridiculously expensive, and making the formats unfun.
Pontiac
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(6 votes)
It pays to read!
scumbling1
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(4 votes)
"It pays to read!"
In Alexandria, you have to pay dearly to read. Presently, somewhere around $160.
Salient
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I like the italicized or.
murder100: If an uncounterable ": draw a card" on a land doesn't appeal to you, I'm not sure we can explain it. Card advantage is awesome, and playing only one card a turn is normal for Blue control (and lots of other strategies).
If it wasn't restricted to one per deck, imagine drawing up to four cards a turn (someday someone might pair this with Vesuva to amazing effect, but for the time being it's too unreliable).
I wish they would try unbanning this in Legacy, but after that Time Vault debacle, it'll never happen.
Kikke
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
the best drawing machine ever existed! Try it out in MWS and just watch!
Radagast
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Despite the card's obvious power, I sort of suspect if it were reprinted today it would see only limited use in Standard and probably only in decks that didn't really need it to win, but instead tossed it in as a tribute to the past. Admittedly, it does provide colorless mana, so it won't mess up mulligans, so there's no good reason not to play... I'd still like to see this mechanic revisited in a non-broken way.
Card of the Day, December 18, 2012 Library of Alexandria was one of those cards named after real things, like many cards in Arabian Nights. In real life, the Library was supposedly the most significant library of the ancient world, but it is believed that Julius Caesar unfortunately burned it down by accident. This card reflects the awesomeness of such a library, giving you free cards. Unfortunately as well, free cards are kind of broken. And so, just like in real life, the Library of Alexandria had to be burned down, and it is now restricted or banned in every format. Oh and by the way, this was an uncommon. Yeah...
emetz1
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
What about breaking library of alexandia even more by copying it with vesuva and thespian's stage?
JovianHomarid
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The round-by-round summary of the 1994 World's finals really demonstrate the power of this card very well.
On the first round, Lestree was able to race Zak Dolan's slower control deck, but on games 2 and 3, the massive card advantage gained by a first turn library really shows.
Comments (29)
Restricted for very good reason :D
Does this tell us Wizards didn't quite know what they were doing when designing this card back then?
Yes, i think so :D
Long Live the Cheating Device!
Just a heads up:
The reason this is Un-common, is because Arabian Nights has no Rares. I saw someone point out how it's an un-common and thought it was interesting, but there is a reason. There just simply are no Rares in that set. I remember buying my first Arabian Nights booster thinking "That's odd, no Rares at all" but that's how they did it.
If you want something REALLY interesting, Ancesral Recall, and Time Walk, were both Commons before Alpha was released. The set "Gamma" which was a playtest version, had Ancestral Recall and Time Walk as a common, and THAT is the version of Time Walk that says "Opponent Loses next turn". Just a clarify :)
Zak Dolan accredited this, alongside its buddy Ivory Tower, to his victory in the first Pro Tour.
Although in saying that, they would NEVER reprint this card, because of the fact that it would go in EVERY deck in Extended and Standard, making it ridiculously expensive, and making the formats unfun.
In Alexandria, you have to pay dearly to read. Presently, somewhere around $160.
murder100: If an uncounterable "
If it wasn't restricted to one per deck, imagine drawing up to four cards a turn (someday someone might pair this with Vesuva to amazing effect, but for the time being it's too unreliable).
I wish they would try unbanning this in Legacy, but after that Time Vault debacle, it'll never happen.
Laboratory Maniac
7 in hand at start of turn.
Yeah.
Library of Alexandria was one of those cards named after real things, like many cards in Arabian Nights. In real life, the Library was supposedly the most significant library of the ancient world, but it is believed that Julius Caesar unfortunately burned it down by accident.
This card reflects the awesomeness of such a library, giving you free cards. Unfortunately as well, free cards are kind of broken. And so, just like in real life, the Library of Alexandria had to be burned down, and it is now restricted or banned in every format.
Oh and by the way, this was an uncommon. Yeah...
On the first round, Lestree was able to race Zak Dolan's slower control deck, but on games 2 and 3, the massive card advantage gained by a first turn library really shows.
https://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/feature/226zakdiary
The card itself is insane, and I wish I knew how to get one without a loan
5/5 Stars
.5/5 for being broken.