Blizzard Specter or Thief of Sanity?
General forum
Posted on Nov. 7, 2018, 9:56 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I have a black/blue deck that has two copies of Blizzard Specter (it used to have four, but I removed two for Baleful Strix), but I am contemplating removing them in favor of Thief of Sanity, as that would lower the mana curve of the deck.
What does everyone else say about this? Should I keep blizzard specter in my deck, or remove it so that I may put thief of sanity in its place?
Both are equally susceptible to removal, Thief maybe a bit more so, but with that in mind you end up with faster play and a better overall ability in Thief. It isn't just about stealing your opponent's spells but the mill you get as well which may remove pieces of combos or land drops your opponent needs.
November 8, 2018 11:18 a.m.
It all depends on what you are playing agaibst.Thief of Sanity mills your opponent and does...whatever else the cards you steal does. It does not however deal with anything on the board or in your opponents hand. Its relies on the power of the cards it steals. Blizzard Specter deals with your opponents hand while bouncing threats. It has more consistant direct impact on the game, but it does come into play a turn later. Thief of Sanity can be better or worse, it entirely depends on the game and what you draw. It is better in the control matchup though.
November 8, 2018 3:46 p.m.
Blizzard Specter deals with your opponents hand or bounces threats. It doesn't do both. Thief of Sanity however can do both if you view keeping options out of an opponent's hand that way and depending on what you choose to play it can answer threats with a body, remove them, or possibly bounce them. For me I'll take the options Thief presents, but I won't begrudge anyone who'd like to play Specter.
November 8, 2018 4:28 p.m.
Blizzard Specter does not bounce threats as xhuggels and FSims81 suggested. It allows your opponent to pick their worst permanent to bounce. By the time you cast this on turn 4, that means they're just bouncing a land or an insignificant one drop.
I would argue Blizzard Specter is an all-around worse card than Hypnotic Specter. I would always rather have a creature that forces your opponent to discard a random card than one that allows them to discard their worst card. Yes, Blizzard Specter is more useful when your opponent's hand is empty, but I do not think that justifies the lack of randomness and additional mana.
Thief of Sanity, on the other hand, "draws" you a card whenever it deals combat damage. That's a much more powerful effect than "pick one of two mediocre options."
November 8, 2018 4:58 p.m.
Just to be clear, I didn't suggest it bounced threats. Just clarified it either causes discard or bounces, not both. I will say I wasn't as clear as cdkime on the bouncing that occurs. So thank you for the clarification.
November 8, 2018 5:01 p.m.
Chill guys i didnt actually go one way or the other. I just stated what the cards can do. They focus on different things. Now, it is a fact that both cards have the possibility of getting you absolutely nothing, but i agree with your assesment that Thief of Sanity has the better chance of doing something useful since its basically an Anticipate, but in your opponents library instead. I was just pointing out that thief is many things, but consistant is not one of them. You have no idea what you are getting, nor can you plan for it. Its a wild, fun card to play. Its kind of like critical strike in an rpg. If you get something good, it could win you the game, but you can also get something really useless in the shell of the rest of your deck. Thief doesnt touch your opponents hand and it doesnt touch their board, so it doesnt impair their means to play at all. Its power entirely depends on what you get, which is incredibly random since it doesnt draw from your deck. Blizzard Specter doesnt have great options in this department, but it can touch both the board and the hand, and it will definately touch 1 everytime it activates. Its effects might not be as good as thief, but it is more consistant.
November 8, 2018 6:36 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #9
Given that most of the users here have suggested that I use Thief of Sanity, I shall do so; thank you very much for your suggestions, everyone.
KillDatBUG says... #2
Play Thief instead. Its like 10x better than Spectre in almost every way.
November 7, 2018 11:48 p.m.