Cards that Draw More Cards
General forum
Posted on Feb. 8, 2013, 7:57 a.m. by capriom85
Ok, I have a thought that I think needs to be looked T from a new perspective. What is the real utility of cards that draw you more cards? I do not mean cards with serious utility like card:Blue Sun's Zenith or card:Sphinx's Revelation but cards like Think Twice . Yes you draw a card but wouldn't replacing that cards with whatever you were hoping to draw or more copies of it make for a more functional deck? Or am I missing the utility of drawing a card for a card?
If it were always 1 spell to only draw 1 card, then I would agree... but there aren't exactly a lot of those.
...None that I can think of...
The closest to that is Dredge or the Think Twice that you refer to, and even that is able to be cast from the grave, for a second card. That makes it great, against hand disruption, for Miracle cards, for getting an extra card at the end of an opponents turn (mana was otherwise saved for counter-spells, but none were cast).... etc.
Dredge (or card:Altar's Reap) is good for getting creatures into the grave, while gaining you a card (or 2).
Even if there were a card that were 1 CMC and simply said "Draw a card.", it would be used as an inexpensive way to trigger things that occur when you cast a spell, such as Guttersnipe or Talrand, Sky Summoner .
It also let's users effectively pay mana to have less cards in their deck. If you could find 3 cards that were 1 CMC and said "Draw a card.", you would effectively have 12 less spot in your deck, and thus be able to get to your win condition as though you had a 48 card deck instead of 60.... with a small price in mana per spot.
February 8, 2013 8:16 a.m.
doinitwrong says... #4
Cantrips help thin your deck out. Think Twice replaces itself with whatever you drew, except now your library is 1 card smaller. That may not seem like much, but it increases the likelihood that you will draw a good card later on.
February 8, 2013 8:33 a.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #5
A great example of a cycling card is Gitaxian Probe (not in standard anymore). It really does little but replace itself, but as it can cost nothing you can use it to effectively thin out your deck and get closer to the cards you need. Think Twice goes by a similar principle, though it is a card with different advantages.
February 8, 2013 9:10 a.m.
Let's say you have a win condition that requires 3 cards. So you put 4 of each in a deck. Let's say you also put 23 land into this deck. You now have a deck of 35 cards. Let's say you also add 15 cards that protect your win-con or disrupt your opponent. That puts you at 50 cards. What do you do with the other 10? If you could put placeholders in those spots that said pay X (where X would be U or 1B or something not overpriced) draw a card, why wouldn't you? You have effectively turned the required 60 card deck into a 50 card deck using just a small amount of mana.
February 8, 2013 11:30 a.m.
Thank you all for the clear vision. I'm understanding think twice in a while new light. Lov the flashback too
February 8, 2013 noon
Weston Ayarza says... #8
Cantrips give you deck velocity. like the first guy said, it thins your deck and increases the chance to draw everything because one card is removed from the deck. So an opening hand of 7 cards, land, pass. 53 cards in deck, x chance to draw what you want, play a probe, draw a card, 52 cards, increased chance to get what you want. Etc. The value of drawing a card is totally based on what you're doing with the deck. In aggro it means you always get the land you want to curve out, and in control it buys you turns, and sometimes card advantage.
ChiefBell says... #2
Two reasons -
The first is that you may have filled your deck up with things that you really want already and so to fill up the remaining spots you put in cheap draws to keep you cycling through. Reaching your good cards quickly by putting in draw is more effective than surrounding your good cards with mediocre cards that 'stall for time'.
The second is that think twice can be cast from the graveyard for a flashback cost which means later in the game, if you really need something, it can save you. It technically gives a card advantage because you have one card which can draw two more. You are physically drawing more than your opponent.
February 8, 2013 8:13 a.m.