I'm having trouble thinking of a card in recent memory that feels as...mini-game-y as this one. It's such a fun card. And, hey, it still puts the rest in your graveyard, which can be fairly relevant: definitely be an interesting card to roll out in Limited when an Instant would be the third card type in my graveyard, and I know I've still got cards that can hit that fourth type...or when I'm sitting on a Rise from the Tides in a spell-heavy deck and get to play a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" game that my opponent doesn't necessarily know they're playing. It might not be the kind of card that you want if you're playing competitively, but it's definitely the kind of card that can make for some fun stories.
"Strictly more fun Fact or Fiction" seems like a good way to describe it.
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"The true measure of all heroes is not what they achieve, but who they inspire." —Triumph of Gerrard
Very interesting. The uncertainty for your opponent will probably be worse than it is for you--they have to figure out what goes in the face-up pile and they may not know what you already have in your hand.
Let's see...suppose they look at the top 4 and they see card x, which falls into the category "that card hoses my deck (from your opponent's point of view)" or "I will lose if they play this card". Clearly, your opponent will put that into the face-down pile because if they put it in the face-up pile you will take those cards. Following that logic, in general we should expect the cards in the face-down pile to be better than the cards in the face-up pile, or at least not significantly worse than the face-up pile. Also, most instances of this card will result in 2 cards in each pile--putting 3 cards in a pile is logically equivalent to "instant speed U3 draw 3 cards"; for all practical purposes this card will in the same category as Comparative Analysis, Inspiration, or Weave Fate.
Seems like it would work better in a modern deck with snapcaster,lingering souls and delve cards though at that point I think thought scour is just a better option.
Exactly--the uncertainty referenced in the card's flavor text isn't your uncertainty but that of your opponent. Do they know your deck? Do they know whether or not card x will be a game winner if you choose it? That is what makes this card and its associated game strategy difficult to reconcile completely. Suppose they find Ulamog but you have only 6 mana available--do they put it in the face-up pile or the face-down pile? They could put it in the face-up pile to troll you...but what they don't know is that you have Ever After in hand, so you choose the face-down pile and then get the titan onto the battlefield, anyway, even though it is now also a black zombie.
That is why I said that in general a) the face-down cards will be better (if the face-up cards were better you would choose those) and b) the piles will generally be 2-2 (if the piles were 1-3 then most players would choose the pile of 3 because the value of 3 face-down cards will probably exceed that of one face-up card and no one will leave a game-winning card face-up). We can ignore scenarios of 0-4 because that will happen only when the opponent has been controlled.
Certainly a fun take on Fact or Fiction, but with the drawback to not seeing one of the piles you would think they wouldn't reduce the number of cards from 5 to 4.
It only nets you one card when that 1 card is something you really, really want. If I'm ambivalent about the one card face up, I'm taking the 3 face down.
As a fan of Liar's Pendulum and Master of Predicaments, I like the direction of this card when it comes to mind games, except you're no longer the one playing with the hidden information here, and instead it's your opponent. Normally, I would probably play Weave Fate or Comparative Analysis over this kind of effect but this might be better if you can reuse/profit from cards in your graveyard or if you really feel like you can outplay your opponent's second guessing
It's also really good in multiplayer formats, perhaps better than Fact or Fiction when it come to arranging deals since that opponent can put all the cards face-down, so whatever grim arrangements you made with them will remain hidden
This card can work really well with the new Lili or any recursion theme. Zombies, any of that stuff that benefits from being in the gy. In certain situations, like recursion, this might actually be better that FoF.
I'm having trouble thinking of a card in recent memory that feels as...mini-game-y as this one. It's such a fun card. And, hey, it still puts the rest in your graveyard, which can be fairly relevant: definitely be an interesting card to roll out in Limited when an Instant would be the third card type in my graveyard, and I know I've still got cards that can hit that fourth type...or when I'm sitting on a Rise from the Tides in a spell-heavy deck and get to play a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" game that my opponent doesn't necessarily know they're playing. It might not be the kind of card that you want if you're playing competitively, but it's definitely the kind of card that can make for some fun stories.
"Strictly more fun Fact or Fiction" seems like a good way to describe it.
Master of Predicaments SHOULD have been that mini-gamey but it was almost always right to just guess "high".
I'm having trouble thinking of a card in recent memory that feels as...mini-game-y as this one. It's such a fun card. And, hey, it still puts the rest in your graveyard, which can be fairly relevant: definitely be an interesting card to roll out in Limited when an Instant would be the third card type in my graveyard, and I know I've still got cards that can hit that fourth type...or when I'm sitting on a Rise from the Tides in a spell-heavy deck and get to play a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" game that my opponent doesn't necessarily know they're playing. It might not be the kind of card that you want if you're playing competitively, but it's definitely the kind of card that can make for some fun stories.
"Strictly more fun Fact or Fiction" seems like a good way to describe it.
Master of Predicaments SHOULD have been that mini-gamey but it was almost always right to just guess "high".
Until you hit them with dat free Down//Dirty and they start to respect your lows. It's basically analogous to overheads in fighting games which in most cases don't lead to such high damage combos as low starters, their value is that they don't expect them. I think that's analogous to this card; your opponent might think making you choose between a face-up Planeswalker and 3 face-down cards will be difficult for you, but when you have a Nahiri's Wrath or a Collective Defiance sitting in the sidelines, that choice is hardly relevant
I just feel that this should have been 5 cards, to make the decison harder. As it is, in most cases the opponent will make 2 piles of 2, and try to randomly trick you, but without the "extra card" incentive, the player will go for the facedown pile unless the face up pile has a card he really needs.
Obviously should have been more than 4 cards. This is really bad.
I have to ask. Are you just here to call every card crap? Because I don't think I've seen you say one positive thing about any card spoiled over the last few sets.
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"I hope to have such a death... lying in triumph atop the broken bodies of those who slew me..."
You don't call "dying to removal" if the removal is more expensive in resources than the creature. If you have to spend BG (Abrupt Decay), or W + basic land (PtE) to remove a 1G, that is not "dying to removal". Strictly speaking Goyf dies to removal, but actually your removal is dying to Goyf.
As much as it'd be super sweet if this showed up in decks, i think 4 cards instead of 5 kills it. it doesn't even give you card selection so it'll just end being a more interesting Inspiration most of the time, 4 mana for an instant draw 2.
If this said 5 cards instead of 4 it would be excellent, very playable and very strong. As it stands, the opponent should almost always make 2 piles of 2 cards (of course there will be situations where this isn't correct) and you will have a 4 mana spell that draws only 2. That does not cut it, unfortunately. Maybe the fact that the cards go to the yard afterwards can help make this card standard playable.
Good design, wish they had pushed it a little bit more.
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If your opponent puts three crappy cards in your face up pile 1. You built a crappy deck 2. You should still take the crappy pile because it's drawing three cards for four mana. You really can't lose on that.
I'm having trouble thinking of a card in recent memory that feels as...mini-game-y as this one. It's such a fun card. And, hey, it still puts the rest in your graveyard, which can be fairly relevant: definitely be an interesting card to roll out in Limited when an Instant would be the third card type in my graveyard, and I know I've still got cards that can hit that fourth type...or when I'm sitting on a Rise from the Tides in a spell-heavy deck and get to play a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" game that my opponent doesn't necessarily know they're playing. It might not be the kind of card that you want if you're playing competitively, but it's definitely the kind of card that can make for some fun stories.
"Strictly more fun Fact or Fiction" seems like a good way to describe it.
Let's see...suppose they look at the top 4 and they see card x, which falls into the category "that card hoses my deck (from your opponent's point of view)" or "I will lose if they play this card". Clearly, your opponent will put that into the face-down pile because if they put it in the face-up pile you will take those cards. Following that logic, in general we should expect the cards in the face-down pile to be better than the cards in the face-up pile, or at least not significantly worse than the face-up pile. Also, most instances of this card will result in 2 cards in each pile--putting 3 cards in a pile is logically equivalent to "instant speed U3 draw 3 cards"; for all practical purposes this card will in the same category as Comparative Analysis, Inspiration, or Weave Fate.
That is why I said that in general a) the face-down cards will be better (if the face-up cards were better you would choose those) and b) the piles will generally be 2-2 (if the piles were 1-3 then most players would choose the pile of 3 because the value of 3 face-down cards will probably exceed that of one face-up card and no one will leave a game-winning card face-up). We can ignore scenarios of 0-4 because that will happen only when the opponent has been controlled.
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It only nets you one card when that 1 card is something you really, really want. If I'm ambivalent about the one card face up, I'm taking the 3 face down.
Probably my fav card of the set.
If FoF was fun for you, Fortune's Favor is fun for both you and your opponent.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
It's also really good in multiplayer formats, perhaps better than Fact or Fiction when it come to arranging deals since that opponent can put all the cards face-down, so whatever grim arrangements you made with them will remain hidden
Master of Predicaments SHOULD have been that mini-gamey but it was almost always right to just guess "high".
Until you hit them with dat free Down//Dirty and they start to respect your lows. It's basically analogous to overheads in fighting games which in most cases don't lead to such high damage combos as low starters, their value is that they don't expect them. I think that's analogous to this card; your opponent might think making you choose between a face-up Planeswalker and 3 face-down cards will be difficult for you, but when you have a Nahiri's Wrath or a Collective Defiance sitting in the sidelines, that choice is hardly relevant
With Steam Augury you always lose.
This seems to be what was intended in the first place, a challenge for both players.
Standard will definitely be more interesting when this hits.
I have to ask. Are you just here to call every card crap? Because I don't think I've seen you say one positive thing about any card spoiled over the last few sets.
"I hope to have such a death... lying in triumph atop the broken bodies of those who slew me..."
Good design, wish they had pushed it a little bit more.
Read my other stories as well (some ongoing):
Reaper King (a horror story), Kaalia of the Vast (an origin story), Sequels for Innistrad (Alternative sequels for Inn), Grey Areas (Odric's fanfic), Royal Succession (goblins),The Tracker's Message (eldrazi on Innistrad) and Ugin and his Eye (the end of OGW).
Why would this ney you one card? If you're picking the one card pile, aren't you getting what you wanted?