Gitaxian Probe

Sorcery

( can be paid with either or 2 life.)

Look at target player's hand.

Draw a card.

Discussion (46)

plakjekaas on Verdant Ritual

1 week ago

Dark Ritual is not modern legal because it was never printed in a modern legal set. It's not banned. It's legal in legacy and vintage. It was banned in Extended, in the year 2000. And in Historic, with the Strixhaven Mystical Archives version. But nowhere else.

However, it is a crazy good card that can skip you two turns ahead if you use it well, and there's no need for more of those effects, in different colors, that would be able to make vastly different uses out of 3 mana on turn 1. Generally, I'd say it's a bad idea for colors that can cast Manamorphose . Silly solitaire decks will ensue, going off on turn 1 with both mana and cards to keep going, stuff like that is why Gitaxian Probe is banned or restricted everywhere.

Hardhitta7 on Help Me find a lost …

3 weeks ago

All I can think of are old Legacy storm lists that ran Cabal Therapy and Gitaxian Probe .

It could theoretically win on turn 1 I think, but not because of Therapy + Probe.

It’s called “Ant” I believe, it stands for Ad Nauseam tendrils ( Tendrils of Agony .

TriusMalarky on Veyran, Voice of Duality [Centurion]

4 weeks ago

Gitaxian Probe and Lava Dart will be really good here, Mental Misstep is probably solid too but you lose the targets of Sol Ring, Mystical and Vampiric Tutor, Top, Seal, Entomb and Tide, but there's tons of great 1 drops anyways that I'd still run it. 2 life to counter a mana dork, Brainstorm, Gamble, Wordly or Enlightened Tutor? Seems great.

Also, Storm. Grapeshot after a couple cheap or free spells can not only deal a solid chunk of damage, but it also can give you a lot of Magecraft triggers(and you can kill a commander with it).

Since this is a 1-on-1 format, I'd recommend Daze as well. 0 mana Force Spike is pretty good.

Isochron is best when paired with Dramatic Reversal , and Breach wants something like Brainstorm to combo off with.

You could definitely cut a couple of the higher CMC cards as they'll clog up your gameplan a bit -- run a few more cantrips and interaction such as Preordain , Serum Visions , Faithless Looting , Lightning Bolt , Spell Pierce and Miscast .

Also, a couple rituals -- Rite of Flame is the best one here, but Simian Spirit Guide also works. Pyretic Ritual and Desperate Ritual are also okay, but they don't help you cast Veyran so they're last in line for those slots.

I_Want_To_PlayAllTheDecks on Izzet BurnDelverControl

1 month ago

Cool deck, but Gitaxian Probe is banned in modern.

arquistar on Octavia Unblockable Cantrips

1 month ago

I've been brewing a similar deck. I think cards with delve (although typically awesome) are a bit of a trap for Octavia (ref: Treasure Cruise , Dig Through Time ) as it can really hamper your graveyard spell count. Also I'd look in to lowering your mana curve, big spicy spells are nice but sometimes having a Gitaxian Probe is nice. I'd also cut out 3-4 creatures and work on putting in some more instants. Keep in mind Octavia's ability transforms any creatures in to 8/8's not just yours so be sure to politic a bit and turn somebody's Solemn Simulacrum or Aven Mindcensor in to a Quilled Slagwurm to make for bad blocks or random swings in life totals.

zAzen7977 on

1 month ago

I like that you try to sneak in doublestrike with non-artifacts and that you are running very few reactive spells to focus on voltron. However, the only reactive spell I really recommend is Deflecting Swat . It’s free when you have a commander out and it is almost guaranteed to save you in a pinch. You can always redirect a spell or ability to Kediss if necessary. I started running it recently in my Kaalia deck and it’s extremely useful.

I recommend dropping the triome and two snow dual lands and replace them with Fiery Islet and Sunbaked Canyon since the former enter tapped, and plus you could always use more card draw. Forbidden Orchard would work well in this deck too, since the spirit token would easily be blocked.

The cards you are running for draw are expensive mana-wise. I would drop Zedruu for Brainstorm , he’s too expensive and seems out of place. Ponder and Rhystic Study are good options too. Also Gitaxian Probe for free draw.

The only land I recommend which enters play tapped is Hall of the Bandit Lord , for Ishai.

You are running relatively few one-drops. The tutors and mana ramp artifacts will help ensure your first turn isn’t wasted. Your removal is expensive too and you run several board wipes. Instead you could run Swords to Plowshares or Council's Judgment . Also you could use more artifact or enchantment removal like Wear / Tear . I would try to bring down your average CMC overall.

Another option is Land Tax or Tithe to help ensure you have enough lands.

Also, I know you said you didn’t want to run any Swords, and that’s totally valid, but I would recommend only running Sword of Feast and Famine , since it’s arguably the best sword, regardless of color protection. It doubles your mana after every attack, which is always good. Plus the discard effect would affect every opponent with Kediss.

Also, you may want to run Cavern of Souls , just for Ishai, depending on your meta.

Hope you find my suggestions useful! :)

Mtg_Mega_Nerds on What Makes Phyrexian Mana More …

2 months ago

It's fairly simple. A card with only phyrexian mana can be cast for no mana ( Gitaxian Probe ) while a card with only two-brid mana can't. ( Beseech the Queen )

TriusMalarky on What Makes Phyrexian Mana More …

2 months ago

Two-brid mana is inherently balanced. It takes work and building around it to be able to pay instead of , but it also takes work to be able to pay . The two-brid cards available are pretty bad outside of mono color(and even then, it tends to be Spectral Procession in Modern and Beseech the Queen in EDH that are the only ones that see play) for that reason. However, if new cards were printed, there would be no real problem outside of some annoying people complaining about color pie breaks online.

For example, Lightning Bolt but twobrid. Giving ALL colors access to Lightning Strike isn't broken at all. Does it help decks like Tron or Monoblue who typically have problems removing creatures? Yep. But will it break any format? Most definitely not. Well, it will make Modern Burn and Pioneer Red Aggro lists a lot better in this specific case.

Compare this to . You are almost always paying life instead of the mana cost. You will only ever not pay life in very specific situations. In fact, if you pay mana for it when you have enough life, people question you. They wonder what the hell you are doing in your deck. Phyrexian mana is like having a multicolored Simian Spirit Guide in your hand at all times, except it costs 2 life. It's raw, unfettered mana advantage, which quickly and easily turns into advantage in the action economy.

Also, take a look at the banned Phyrexian mana cards. And the playable ones. Gitaxian Probe is Peek , which is basically unplayable. Mental Misstep would be unplayable if it cost instead of . Gut Shot , Postmortem Lunge , Mutagenic Growth , Dismember are all horrible if they didn't have the Phyrexian mana attached. It's the fact that they cost the generic cost only that makes them good. Dismember is a 1-mana spell, that costs a bit more later on if you have mana to spare but not the life. All the 1 mana Phyrexian Mana cards are actually zero mana.