Card is very good if you can live long enough to cast it, or madness out something that gives you more time.
I think it's more like a 2nd-4th pick then a 1st.
I think 3-mana Sift is great, but it's important to recognize that this is only 3 mana if you get to 5+ mana AND you have a use for the extra 2. (Or 3 or whatever.)
My main beef with blue this format is that it has all of these control discard outlets but not many things to actually discard. Just the wind is probably the only blue card that youll be able to reliably discard off of that, and even then its eh. Looking elsewhere, you have twins at 6 mana and fiery temper which are both solid, but require you to be in those decks. Pore over the pages is a very strong card in UR and UB if you can get the madness payoffs, but it being simply good in UG and UW makes me hesistant to windmill slam early on. I would still take fiery temper tier cards over this (and fiery temper is usually first pickable out of an average pack), so its more like a 3rd-5th pick for me.
Obviously sideboard only but I think this card is really good. The problem with naturalize effects is that artifacts/enchantments are usually the weakest cards in a limited deck. Naturalize just isn't worth it when you see one good target and a bunch of filler artifact creatures/equipment. Root Out is great in that situation though since even if they don't draw their bomb, you can still get a 2-for-1 from it. There's also a lot of good auras/equipment for you to target, as well as enchantment that enable mill/clue synergies.
Also has the corner-case of being able to "steal" a clue from your opponent when they are tapped.
I'm still not looking to maindeck this, but if I'm green I do put a really high priority on getting one for my sideboard now. It turns out that there are a lot of really troublesome enchantments in the format.
There are a lot of enchantments/artifacts at uncommon/rare that just grind over a game if not dealt with: ulvenwald mysteries, ongoing investigations, neglected heirloom, call the bloodline to some extent, tamiyos journal, slayers plate, etc. against those cards, i would windmill sideboard this card in against them. Common targets is really just limited to sleep paralysis, but its fine versus that as well. This is roughly equivalent to plummet in a normal set in terms of pick order: I will prioritize it above bad maindeckable cards, but not too much ahesd of that unless I already have a lot of playables.
Unlike other recent formats, there are tons of good targets for this. I always want one on my sideboard. You could probably mainboard it and not be screwed, as at the very least you can probably hit a clue when they are tapped out.
Actually, I do like it a lot, despite being a little on the expensive side when you first cast it. Normally flashback cards have similar effects to when they're first played, but this guy gets around it by having a different effect on it's "not-flashback flashback"
This card is so sweet. I've been on both sides of Rise from the Tides getting copied by it. I also just got demolished by a grixis control/spells deck that had two of these, as it helps them reach the late game then double-up their removal once they get there. Or in this case nuke me with Startled Awake doubled.
As a 4 mana Feral Invocation, this makes a reasonable 22-23 slot if you're in a werewolf deck and/or low on combat tricks and removal. Only good in decks that want to attack every turn, and not too impressive in Delirium decks either.
Fine for the combat trick slot. I'd rather have the 1-mana card that pumps and makes clues there, but this is ok too. I haven't mained it yet, but I did side it in yesterday against an opponent who had triple Puncturing Light, and sure enough I got the blowout with it.
I've maindecked this quite a bit and it always ends up fine, albeit unexciting. This is obviously bad in defensive delerium, but I would gladly play this in GW, GR, and GU. GB is a little iffy since that deck tends to just want to block all of the time, but all of the other decks generally want to attack, and this does fine in those cases. Most creatures are small in this format, so +2/+2 generally makes your creature the biggest thing on the board and a must answer. Also acts as a win condition in decks that lack late game.
Yeah, I think UG is the best deck for this card. Still, this will usually be a 3/3 that draws you a card when it comes into play, which is a fine card in it's own right.
It's probably just the luck of how my drafts have gone so far, but I have not been madness'ing out many cards at all compared to how frequent I thought that would be. Discard effects can be very good if you can get the benefit of that effect and then also the card advantage benefit of madness'ing out a relevant spell, but without madness occurring on a specific play I am finding that some of my opponents are often discarding to a big card disadvantage just to get a somewhat minor effect. I see this also in Twitch streams. It seems to be a trap if you can't draft enough madness cards, having a decent madness enabler but having to actually discard into the graveyard or else not use the ability or spell at all.
Macabre Waltz is clearly very good if you can madness out a relevant spell with it, and it is good if you have ways to mill good creatures into your graveyard, but without either of that it is mediocre in my view.
It seems hard to squeeze in unless you are exactly GB delirium. Maybe WB as well. RB and UB both which can have a heavy madness theme I find usually have more discard outlets than madness cards, and the madness cards tend to affect the board more.
What I don't like about MW is how terrible it is if you have <2 creature in the yard, or even 2 bad creatures (let's say you have 2 2/2s dead and your opponent has a board of 3/3s). But I have played GW decks that I wish could support it.
This card is fine in RB, which has lots of low toughness creatures that'll die in combat that you'd like to get back. It also makes getting 2-for-1'd with Dual Shot not feel as bad, and as such, I'd probably pick it over Tormenting Voice (probably the most similar madness outlet) given the option. It usually goes late, so you'll want to pick up the Madness cards first, then the premium discard outlets (Heir of Falkenrath, Call the Bloodline, Ravenous Bloodseeker, Sinister Concoction) before looking at picking it.
I don't have a ton of drafts under my belt but I never used it or saw someone use it, even among experienced players. I think it's the kind of card with too much "may" to be that good. You "may" have value if you can madness something, and you "may" have value if you self-mill. But generally I'll pay any other spell with a more tangible impact. I might be completely wrong though.
I think it's more like a 2nd-4th pick then a 1st.
Also has the corner-case of being able to "steal" a clue from your opponent when they are tapped.
This card is a real blast to play.
Actually, I do like it a lot, despite being a little on the expensive side when you first cast it. Normally flashback cards have similar effects to when they're first played, but this guy gets around it by having a different effect on it's "not-flashback flashback"
Counter spells are usually playable right? Everyone runs counter spells, especially when they are not blue.
A fine werewolf, but not the werewolf that I am looking for to make me want to be in werewolves. I prefer the old Huntmaster of the Fells.
I am not going to dance around my feelings for this card. I love it to death.
Macabre Waltz is clearly very good if you can madness out a relevant spell with it, and it is good if you have ways to mill good creatures into your graveyard, but without either of that it is mediocre in my view.
What I don't like about MW is how terrible it is if you have <2 creature in the yard, or even 2 bad creatures (let's say you have 2 2/2s dead and your opponent has a board of 3/3s). But I have played GW decks that I wish could support it.
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