Gitaxian Probe

Sorcery

( can be paid with either or 2 life.)

Look at target player's hand.

Draw a card.

Discussion (43)

Mtg_Mega_Nerds on What Makes Phyrexian Mana More …

2 days 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 …

3 days 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.

Noire_Samhain on What Makes Phyrexian Mana More …

3 days ago

Because the only life that matters in many decks is the last one, and many decks are willing to pay that life to get good effects for cheaper or even for free ( Gitaxian Probe for example- that sucker's banned in many formats for a reason). And they actively allow decks to play with effects from a lot of colors with no real downsides, something WOTC doesn't generally like.

Hybrid lets you CHOOSE between two different kinds of mana, and while some can break the color pie in minor ways, they aren't cheaper or free when cast with your choice. For the most part. Its harder to get specific pips over generic costs, so cards like Beseech the Queen or Reaper King are oddballs but make sense with that ethos.

K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth was only printed because he's only really good for EDH (one of only two formats that CAN use him). And even then, he's really good in mono-Black/Black-heavy decks.

0rc on Cheapskate Talrand (Competitive, Budget $75)

1 week ago

JJ108x, thank you for your interest in Cheapskate Talrand, in the early stages of building and playtesting, I included Telepathy in the deck to evade threats to the Thoracle combo such as Force of Will .

I found that with multiple counterspells in hand, even a well-timed Force Spike was sufficient to protect the combo.

That said, the combo is still vulnerable to split-second spells such Angel's Grace and Trickbind . It is very nice to know when an opponent has these in hand.

In fact, it is always very nice to know what an opponent has in hand. The issue with Gitaxian Probe is cost—- it dials in at a whopping $1.10!!! Given the cost, to be included, it must be a bomb in the deck. Peek and Clairvoyance are both also good—-but Peek is better. If I included these effects I would choose Probe and Peek, or maybe just Probe.

I would cut cantrips to make room (there are many to choose from, depending on your play style), however I would not cut any cantrips that require/allow me to shuffle a card from my hand back in to my library as THOSE ARE CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT TO THE OPERATION OF THE DECK!!!

Does that make sense?

Do you plan on building this deck?

If so, please tag me in it so I can take a look. I’d be very interested to see what changes you make (especially if you keep the same $75 budget).

I’d also be interested to read about how the deck as is, or with your changes, performs in your meta.

Thanks again!

dritchie, thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoy the deck, I hope you build it, and keep me up to date as to how it performs!

<3 0rc

Coletrain69 on Grixis Spellslinger EDH

2 weeks ago

Ponder might not be a bad idea and I have a few of them, Gitaxian Probe is also decent for knowing when to save a counter spell and I think I have one of those as well. Three Wishes is a really interesting card that I think would be a lot more fun in commander; I have a couple. Frantic Search might also be decent if you don't like what's in your hand. Cyclonic Rift is also really good and despite it being expensive I'm pretty sure we own one. Talrand, Sky Summoner is also a classic for this kind of deck, and there's also Murmuring Mystic . One of my favs that I think would work really well is The Locust God . Jace's Archivist is really interesting as well and can help you if you're top decking and hurt everyone else, another great option for the same thing is Whispering Madness . Torrential Gearhulk might be slightly pricey but he matches well with what you're doing. Lim-Dul's Vault is also super handy and can be pretty zaney especially for it being cheap. Disallow is pretty crazy too for blocking activated abilities. Bolas's Citadel is also worth looking at. Cursed Totem is really expensive but would also be CRAZY in this deck. Also check out Propaganda .

As far as removal goes, Go for the Throat is always a good option.There's also Slaughter Pact and Force of Despair . Preemptive removal like Sadistic Sacrament would be a great idea as well. Decree of Pain is good but it's mana cost is kind of high; Life's Finale is an equally viable card. Unsommon is super cheap, Boomerang , Undo , Snap , do more or less the same thing.

Happymaster19 on A Quest for Power: Unrestricting …

2 weeks ago

I don’t see what’s wrong with Bargain. How are you gonna ensure your Outcome is always getting that? You need redundancy of big card draw effects. Is your that you always start with a handful of Mox and a PO? 1) I literally took that idea off someone else (as happens when communally brainstorming), 2) What would you replace it with?

With no Street Wraith or Gitaxian Probe you should be able to dump 16-18 life into a huge draw. The kind of draw that either leaves you with enough counters to make another turn, or to go off for the win. Hence I double down with Necropotence .

azja on Yuriko (Optimized) Primer

1 month ago

Hey @Snake57! It's great to hear from ya!

I haven't been able to play too many games with the new cards that I'm testing, but this is what I think so far:

• Darkwater Catacombs is great for paying for Yuriko's ninjutsu, but is awkward for casting 1 mana spells. Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip is an improvement and it plays very similarly to Sea Gate Restoration  ^Flip.

• Walker of Secret Ways was helpful because I got to look at my opponents' hands and adjust my plan accordingly. But it got easily shut down by Yawgmoth, Thran Physician and Engineered Plague . In these scenarios, Azra Smokeshaper would have been practically unaffected, so I'm unsure about this swap.

• Commandeer countered a game-winning Victimize when I was tapped out, and hits hard when you flip it with Yuriko. Exiling 2 blue cards is a steep cost, but it's more helpful than Commit / Memory , which is pretty difficult to cast.

• As expected, Snuff Out is a lot less powerful in my playgroup since black is our most played colour. Even so, it can usually hit one creature on the battlefield, which clears the way for Yuriko. The card that I had to cut to make room was Cover of Darkness . It tends to be a win-more card, in that it's good when my board state is good, but bad when my board state is bad. So far I think that snuff out deserves the spot more.

• I haven't drawn Cyclonic Rift or Liliana's Triumph , so their reviews will have to be postponed :')

There are also a few cards that I plan on trying out later on:

• Gingerbrute is a card I've always been on the fence about, but I've heard nothing but good things from other Yuriko players.

• Merfolk Windrobber is a classic 1/1 flyer for 1, and can replace itself in the late game.

• Street Wraith deals 5 damage when you flip it with Yuriko, then you can immediately cycle it for another card that's more useful. It fills the graveyard for delve spells like Temporal Trespass and Dig Through Time too.

• Gitaxian Probe is a cedh staple, and banned in both modern and legacy. For only 2 life, you get to look at your opponents hand and it replaces itself. It also fills the graveyard for delve spells.

• Dismember is a 1 mana removal spell that kills most creatures, and hits for 3 damage with Yuriko.

I hope that all made sense! Let me know if you have any questions, or if you've found any hidden gems for Yuriko!

Flooremoji on PDH Crackling Drake Control

1 month ago

Hypothesizzle , Rolling Thunder , Grixis Panorama , Wayfarer's Bauble and Warped Landscape are all pretty bad.

I'd reccomend Fire Prophecy , Compulsive Research , Snow-Covered Island and Volatile Fjord in their place.

I also wouldn't be playing Desert in a deck with so many color requirements, it could probably be replaced with another snow land.

Most of your colorless rocks also don't seem that great with nothing to accelerate into, I'd probably cut at least Thought Vessel , Ur-Golem's Eye , and Sisay's Ring since you have so few cards that actually require 2 or more generic mana, and extra hand size is irrelevant most games. Mind Stone would be better, but I still don't know if it would be very good anyway.

You could use many more pieces to make your combo more consistent, including but not limited to: Displace , Izzet Chronarch , Mnemonic Wall , Scrivener , and Salvager of Secrets . Maybe not all of them though.

You are still missing some of the better cantrips, ( Gitaxian Probe , Brainstorm , etc.) so if you end up with more room I'd reccomend adding those.

Good luck with your boring deck! :P