How much would you pay to draw cards in Modern?
Modern forum
Posted on June 11, 2015, 1:35 p.m. by Arvail
It's a tad weird that the premiere options for card advantage in the format (Collected Company, Liliana of the Veil, Lingering Souls, etc.) tend not to be blue. That's not to say blue doesn't have access to advantage, just that very few of the available options are outstanding.
What would you consider to be balanced card advantage in blue for modern? How much would you pay to draw cards? Instant or sorcery speed? Conditional or not?
How balanced would something like this be?
Instant
Draw three cards
Or perhaps this:
Instant
Draw three cards. Then discard two cards unless you discard a nonland card.
How about for other colors? What do you think of existing card advantage options for the other colors or color combinations? How do you think granting blue access to greater card advantage would shape the format? Would that be enough to bring back traditional control into the format?
The first one isn't happening. It's strictly better than Jace's Ingenuity and Weave Fate. Remember, WotC hates efficient blue cards.
June 11, 2015 1:41 p.m.
RoarMaster says... #4
Blue has plenty of card advantage. The examples you gave also did not draw you cards(they offer a form of theoretical card advantage), while the custom cards you presented actually draw you cards, so its hard to compare the two really.
Now if you compared Harmonize with your custom cards.
Also, it really depends on how many cards you are drawing as to how much mana it is worth. If a card only draws you one card, its simply replacing itself and offering no CA, so i would pay less than one mana for it otherwise its not worth it. On the otherhand if Im drawing multiple cards off of it, I dont mind paying more than one mana per card, as it is providing me with an advantage, card advantage.
So really its abit more complex a question than it first seems.
June 11, 2015 1:46 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #5
Think Twice is the base for playability. Thirst for Knowledge is a bit better.
June 11, 2015 2:06 p.m.
Well I was paying back when Treasure Cruise was legal, but apparently that was too good.
June 11, 2015 2:15 p.m.
How about this for modern,
"Luxury Treasure Cruise"
Instant
Delve
Draw three cards
June 11, 2015 3:10 p.m. Edited.
I know how about 
, to draw three cards. Delve your entire deck for three cards. Seems balanced to me.
June 11, 2015 4:20 p.m.
Not to be a stickler, bigguy99, but it's not strictly better. It's much more saturated. A small detail, but if Cryptic Command was 
it would be... bad.
June 11, 2015 5:46 p.m.
Honestly, I don't think so. I doubt it would see any Modern play at all. 4 mana for 3 cards is a decent price, but with that much saturation and no other effects it's pretty lackluster. I'd rather get 2 cards and some kind of ability.
June 11, 2015 6:37 p.m.
It's the fact that it's instant speed. And, despite the fact that this is Modern, it'd be made in a set that's also for Standard and WotC does not want a four mana draw three at instant speed no matter the saturation (Treasure Cruise requires at least some investment and is sorcery speed). Honestly it'd just make Twin better.
June 11, 2015 6:45 p.m.
For standard it could be too good, sure. I still don't think Modern would like this though. I could be wrong, but it just seems like for 4 mana I want something more worthwhile. I get that you can hold up this and counterspells, and that is valuable, but then you see no results until turn 5 at the soonest, which seems like too much.
I'm not a huge control player, though, so maybe that's why this doesn't appeal to me much.
June 11, 2015 7:06 p.m.
Control can have very empty turns sometimes. It's good to be able to play this EOT instead of holding up counters that don't do shit sometimes. It's like have four mana for an EOT Restoration Angel - you didn't hold the mana specifically for the card, but you managed to have it so why not?
June 11, 2015 7:13 p.m.
If you're worried about power, what if it exiled itself upon resolution? No snappy abuse. Brings it down considerably.
June 11, 2015 7:17 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #18
You know what Modern control needs? : Draw two cards.
There problem solved. And before someone says, "3 mana for 2 cards?! OMG NO!" Need I remind you that Esper Charm exists and WotC has been pushing the envelope for years now. cough Siege Rhino!
June 11, 2015 11:27 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #21
How much would I pay to draw a card in modern? Well, I'll have to ask John Avon how much you would usually make per card, and then find a reasonable balance between paying to draw, and getting paid for drawing.
But really, I'd pay $300 instantly to get Trogdor the Burninator on a card. Bad artwork is hilarious.
June 12, 2015 12:20 p.m.
RoarMaster says... #23
FreddyFlash311 Ive always thought scarscale had potential, however coming in classic control colors, its not always a reliable bet that you will have a creature to put the counter on, and if you do its probably a weenie that would die to the negative counter. Might find some casual use with undying though, there is some cool synergy there.
June 12, 2015 1:54 p.m.
The thing about scarscale is it's not as much advantage as it seems. It's not really 1 card for 2. It's 2 cards for 2. No net advantage. If your creature doesn't die from the counter (i.e. isn't Snap, Clique, or Bob), it gives you a little bit of extra value, but the fact that without one of your 8, 10, 12 creatures it does nothing makes it particularly lackluster. Not to mention the fact that it encourages you to waste advantage by playing creatures early so you can draw cards.
A cool card, no doubt, but too narrow for Modern play.
addaff says... #2
Foresee
June 11, 2015 1:41 p.m.