Sylvan Tutor
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Nov. 20, 2019, 11:41 a.m. by RubyDragon870
Why doesn’t sylvan tutor ever see any play?
What Synergy said. Not being able to play it instant speed on end steps also opens you up to be disrupted and lose your tutored creature. Creature combo heavy decks run both though.
November 20, 2019 12:07 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #6
For me, I don't like tutors that have inherent card disadvantage by tutoring to the top of the library instead of into the hand.
That said, you can persuade me to play such cards if they are instant speed 1 drops that are very nonspecific regarding what they can tutor.
Sylvan Tutor doesn't fit that quality.
November 20, 2019 12:50 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #7
MagicalHacker While I agree mostly, both Lim-Dul's Vault and Imperial Seal I believe are worth inclusions in many lists, additionally tutors that search for multiple things, even if they are to the top can often be viable, or downright busted, such as Doomsday .
November 20, 2019 1:47 p.m.
dingusdingo says... #8
Sylvan Tutor 's price is based almost entirely off scarcity. P3K was a small starter set released in the Asia market and not released in the North America market. It's a small and rare set from 20 years ago, so any even halfway decent effects are going to be extremely price dollar wise. Great effects that are cEDH playable are extremely expensive, Imperial Seal Three Visits Ravages of War Burning of Xinye Warrior's Oath
I think the effect is great. Most green decks could benefit from including it. It does lose a lot of utility being a sorcery though. You must give your opponent a full turn, with your opponent knowing that you have a selected card coming to you. Compare to instant speed Worldly Tutor . You play at your opponent's end step, and you get to untap and play your creature before your opponent gets to untap + draw. Also consider that with an instant speed tutor, if you need to do something else instead, like Counterspell , you have that option. And last but not least, instant speed tutor gives you potential for blowouts. If you Worldly Tutor to grab Alms Collector then crack Chromatic Star (or any other effect to draw 1 at instant speed) to get it into your hand, you can get huge plays against Wheel of Fortune type effects. The same is true for Aven Mindcensor against Protean Hulk , and so forth.
November 22, 2019 4:54 a.m.
RubyDragon870 says... #9
While I understand that it’s worse due the sorcery speed and price also being an issue I don’t understand why this card doesn’t fill a different role then worldy tutor with most commanders that would be playing this effect providing you the card advantage to immediately draw the tutored card and allowing you to cast it the turn it was tutored thus ignoring the downsides of casting it on your turn.
December 2, 2019 9:56 p.m.
dingusdingo says... #10
Simply put, too many other tutors that perform better that decks would rather run. If you need 8 slots for tutors, and Sylvan Tutor is the 10th tutor you would add, you're probably adding the others first. Given the small print size and its relative scarcity, its unlikely people will just have one laying around to toss in their casual mono G stompy anyways. You would also only acquire only for Vintage or Commander play, and most people probably don't even know the card exists. Also most decks would rather pay 1-2 mana more and get the card directly to hand. Tutors that give card disadvantage must have other aspects that offset the negative, namely searching for anything Imperial Seal or being instant speed Worldly Tutor Vampiric Tutor Enlightened Tutor Mystical Tutor . You'll also notice that the instant speed tutors are more flexible in what they can grab, as well as with timing.
SynergyBuild says... #2
It is a worse Worldly Tutor that is overpriced to heck and is just really slow.
November 20, 2019 11:42 a.m.