Divine Verdict is expensive but it's also (eventually) a good removal spell.
Your opponent can only play around it for so long. It really shines when you have a stalled game in the air since they can only take 2-3 a turn before they HAVE to walk right into it with their Sentinel Spider.
No, it really doesn't shine in those cases, because there are only so many turns you can afford to leave up 4 mana before the guy with the Sentinel Spider also has three other creatures and breaks your stall, while all your cards are left in your hand. The real place where Verdict shines is when your opponent is mana screwed and can't develop his board anyway (and all of your cards are basically unconditionally awesome by virtue of being castable and not lands).
Don't make the mistake of thinking that crappy prerelease builds are going to be the typical kind of decks you're going to face in this format - you will not be able to afford to leave up 4 mana very often against a real deck, and if you try, a real deck will just completely out-develop you.
Wit's End is the PERFECT answer to your opponent's Monomania however.
Just hold on to your Wit's End when they Monomania, so you can Wit's End them on your next turn!!!
I think this is fairly reminiscent of the "Jace Battles" we have seen in past standards.. My guess is we will soon witness the great Monomania-Wit's End battles.
It's definitely better in sealed and way better if you have token generators. It also has no place in certain decks. Deck's with 13 good creatures for instance. It really matters more over what you playing than what they're playing.
It's a worse mind control, but if you can make tokens it can usually be close in power, or pass something they removed via enchantment(green guy that returns creaures to hand under pacifism would be hilarious).
I was playing a draft the second week up avacyn being out and i was constructing my deck when the guy across from me spilled his cherry kool-aid all over mine and his cards, he had a griselbrand and I had a cavern of souls.
I don't like this card at all. It's just too tricky. For it to work, you need to have a worse guy than they have. This is kind of the opposite of a "win more," instead, it's a card that's at its best when you're behind. Since that isn't a board state that you're actively looking for, this can get pretty awkward.
That is not an advantage. It's much, much worse. With this, you have to give them a creature every time. That's not somehow made better by the fact that you don't get blown out by a couple of random uncommons.
No, that is an advantage. But does that advantage make the card as good as mind control? No.
"I have no idea what it's like not to be a straight white male, and the experiences of others are irrelevant." -Conservative Motto
Calling someone a Commie is flaming and must be stopped, but turning the word Conservative into a loaded pejorative and using it over and over again is perfectly acceptable.
I am absolutely in love with this card. No, it's not as direct and blunt an object as Mind Control, but because it's so tricky and becomes much stronger with other cards, it's exactly the type of spell I adore playing in draft and sealed.
This thing with Archaeomancer is simply absurd, for example. Sure, just about any spell with Archaeomancer is absurd, but there's something extremely satisfying about making a trade, getting it back, then giving them the now middling 1/2 for something more threatening.
Hell, you can even Unsummon the 'mancer afterward and go to town again. Did I mention how insane I think Archaeomancer is?
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I am absolutely in love with this card. No, it's not as direct and blunt an object as Mind Control, but because it's so tricky and becomes much stronger with other cards, it's exactly the type of spell I adore playing in draft and sealed.
This thing with Archaeomancer is simply absurd, for example. Sure, just about any spell with Archaeomancer is absurd, but there's something extremely satisfying about making a trade, getting it back, then giving them the now middling 1/2 for something more threatening.
Hell, you can even Unsummon the 'mancer afterward and go to town again. Did I mention how insane I think Archaeomancer is?
YOU did, sadly pros have described it as a worse gravedigger and thats exactly what it is.
Lets look at what Arcaeomancer is at face value, a 4 mana(double blue) with a 1/2 body(already worse than gravedigger), it returns a sorcery/instant which is also worse than returning a creature like gravedigger does.
You can have those, Ill take my mind control and gravedigger.
So I've seen a bunch of people's early evaluations of M13 limited, and the apparent consensus is that blue is the set's worst colors. I have only played three events, mind you, but I consider myself a bit of a core set limited guru, and while I think it's a bit early to say that blue is the set's best color, I think it's significant;y more in the conversation than people are giving it credit for.
As I've posted elsewhere, Archaeomancer is my pick for the set's best common.
YOU did, sadly pros have described it as a worse gravedigger and thats exactly what it is.
Lets look at what Arcaeomancer is at face value, a 4 mana(double blue) with a 1/2 body(already worse than gravedigger), it returns a sorcery/instant which is also worse than returning a creature like gravedigger does.
You can have those, Ill take my mind control and gravedigger.
Then you will get DQed for playing cards that aren't in the format . We don't play in a vacuum.
While i don't think Archaeomancer is "insane" which for a common is like mist raven or doom blade. It is still a good card, returning spells often better then returning creatures mainly because good creatures tend not to die much in core set.
Also most pro are on the Archaeomancer is good bandwagon. For example LSV Review of the card
Limited: 3.0
As long as you have four or more decent to good targets, this is a sweet card, and once you start pushing 7+, it’s awesome. This being a common is great, and will lead to some pretty durdly draft decks — if I have my way.
"I have no idea what it's like not to be a straight white male, and the experiences of others are irrelevant." -Conservative Motto
Calling someone a Commie is flaming and must be stopped, but turning the word Conservative into a loaded pejorative and using it over and over again is perfectly acceptable.
Then you will get DQed for playing cards that aren't in the format . We don't play in a vacuum.
While i don't think Archaeomancer is "insane" which for a common is like mist raven or doom blade. It is still a good card, returning spells often better then returning creatures mainly because good creatures tend not to die much in core set.
Also most pro are on the Archaeomancer is good bandwagon. For example LSV Review of the card
So LSV is dead right 100% of the time? Conley woods gave it a 2.5 which is right where i think it should be.
So I've seen a bunch of people's early evaluations of M13 limited, and the apparent consensus is that blue is the set's worst colors. I have only played three events, mind you, but I consider myself a bit of a core set limited guru, and while I think it's a bit early to say that blue is the set's best color, I think it's significant;y more in the conversation than people are giving it credit for.
As I've posted elsewhere, Archaeomancer is my pick for the set's best common.
So LSV is dead right 100% of the time? Conley woods gave it a 2.5 which is right where i think it should be.
No one is right 100% of the time. Not LSV, not Conley Woods, not Semantics. But this isn't an exact science either, it's draft. There's a lot of variability that can cause you to forsake a card that is 'objectively' better for something 'objectively' worse if it makes your deck better and more consistent. If you just picked cards based on a numerical value scale you'd end up with a worse deck than one built with consideration.
As a common, you can build around Archaeomancer if you wanted to. It's not Gravedigger, but Gravedigger didn't always retrieve something as useful as a removal spell, Sleep, X burn spell, etc. Sometimes it didn't retrieve anything at all.
That being said, I think Switcheroo has some nifty interactions with several cards in this set, that despite it NOT being Mind Control it's a reasonable facsimile. It might be a 'better' card from the perspective that Mind Control by and large was ridiculously unfair most of the time, and this makes M13 overall a more balanced set.
I'm very open about my opinions, but you'll never see me write that I'm completely right about anything that isn't already common knowledge. Nobody can accurately evaluate this set right now, and while it's great fun to barnacle onto pros you like and regurgitate their ideas, it doesn't prove anything. I will continue to back up my assertions with reasoning and evidence, and if that isn't good enough for some, then whatever.
There aren't a ton of members here who care about resumes beyond applauding their peers' successes. Mine is below, if you really need it.
Magic discourse simply disgusts me sometimes.
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T1me, no offense intended, but there's no reason to hate on the card just because some pro doesn't like it. Anyone can clearly see the card is capable of blowouts, and it's completely possible that the environment allows for them to happen fairly often, if you build correctly. The fact that there's disagreement among pros is because the value of the card is completely format-dependent.
Also (slightly more offense intended) the fact that you think it's bad is probably a good reason to like it. I have yet to see you be right on these forums.
Wit's End is the PERFECT answer to your opponent's Monomania however.
Just hold on to your Wit's End when they Monomania, so you can Wit's End them on your next turn!!!
I think this is fairly reminiscent of the "Jace Battles" we have seen in past standards.. My guess is we will soon witness the great Monomania-Wit's End battles.
T1me, no offense intended, but there's no reason to hate on the card just because some pro doesn't like it. Anyone can clearly see the card is capable of blowouts, and it's completely possible that the environment allows for them to happen fairly often, if you build correctly. The fact that there's disagreement among pros is because the value of the card is completely format-dependent.
Also (slightly more offense intended) the fact that you think it's bad is probably a good reason to like it. I have yet to see you be right on these forums.
If i took advise from people like you and Semantics that call archaeomancer "the best common in the set" and get excited over Switcheroo I'd be a worse player. Thank god i don't blindly follow the moronic opinion of someone who claims a worse gravedigger is the best common in the set.
Disagreeing with others' opinions is fine.
Calling those opinions moronic is not.
Flaming infraction issued.
—meg
So I've seen a bunch of people's early evaluations of M13 limited, and the apparent consensus is that blue is the set's worst colors. I have only played three events, mind you, but I consider myself a bit of a core set limited guru, and while I think it's a bit early to say that blue is the set's best color, I think it's significant;y more in the conversation than people are giving it credit for.
As I've posted elsewhere, Archaeomancer is my pick for the set's best common.
So LSV is dead right 100% of the time? Conley woods gave it a 2.5 which is right where i think it should be.
No, But you where trying to give the impression that pros are saying it was a bad card. Which is just not factually accurate. Worse then gravedigger? Yeah, maybe that is one pros opinion. But i noticed you care about the "pros" opinion that sides with you and not with the "pros" doesn't. If your going to use the whole pros are saying this as a point you can't just cherry pick the ones you like and ignore what other pros are saying. You need to say something more like here is Pro "x" opinion and i agree, here is why.
"I have no idea what it's like not to be a straight white male, and the experiences of others are irrelevant." -Conservative Motto
Calling someone a Commie is flaming and must be stopped, but turning the word Conservative into a loaded pejorative and using it over and over again is perfectly acceptable.
If i took advise from people like you and Semantics that call archaeomancer "the best common in the set" and get excited over Switcheroo I'd be a worse player. Thank god i don't blindly follow the moronic opinion of someone who claims a worse gravedigger is the best common in the set.
I'm inclined to say that dismissing a card out of hand because you have a vendetta against someone who holds a differing opinion on another card is what's actually making you a worse player. Putting aside your senseless crusade against Semantics, I see no "blind" behavior in this thread - everyone else is grappling with the variables of a complex question in a civil manner.
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Just to clarify, won't Switcheroo try to resolve as much as it can, meaning it would still work if they killed your creature in response? Or are you talking about killing their creature in response so they get a free creature?
That is not an advantage. It's much, much worse. With this, you have to give them a creature every time. That's not somehow made better by the fact that you don't get blown out by a couple of random uncommons.
Ummm, how is that not an advantage? People acidic sliming my mind control usually makes me a sad panda, same with war priest of thune or any enchantment removal for that matter. With switcheroo they cannot use removal on anything but the creature, and that's fine with me. Sure, mind control is generally better but in all honesty mind control was in the top 2 uncommons in core sets it was printed in in terms of power level when it comes to limited. The other being overrun. Notice how both aren't in this set due to power level? I'd be quite surprised if I saw a mind control variant at uncommon in the near future, same with overrun. Heck, they printed a worse overrun at rare in this set. So comparing the new card isn't really fair.
I can attest to archaeomancer being good FYI. I just had 2 in my UR splashing B for public execution control deck in draft tonight, and getting back instants and sorceries is insane value. Sure, the card is basically a worse snapcaster for 2UU. However, untapping after resolving an archaeomancer is typically GG.
On switcheroo. I like the card, it is definitely a solid playable blue card. Better than talrand's invocation? No. And sleep is still the better card by far, but that's because sleep is a total bomb usually. As for situations where the card is 'bad' because you're ahead on board, why do you care? If you're ahead on board aren't you winning anyways? If not, then you're not ahead on board. And if your opponent drops a bomb onto the board, then you're in the drivers seat because you just stole it with switcheroo the following turn. The argument that the card isn't 'always' good doesn't outweight the fact that when you swap your welkin tern for the opponents bomb you're very likely going to win that game assuming your opponent lacks an answer.
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Ummm, how is that not an advantage? People acidic sliming my mind control usually makes me a sad panda, same with war priest of thune or any enchantment removal for that matter. With switcheroo they cannot use removal on anything but the creature, and that's fine with me. Sure, mind control is generally better but in all honesty mind control was in the top 2 uncommons in core sets it was printed in in terms of power level when it comes to limited. The other being overrun. Notice how both aren't in this set due to power level? I'd be quite surprised if I saw a mind control variant at uncommon in the near future, same with overrun. Heck, they printed a worse overrun at rare in this set. So comparing the new card isn't really fair.
I can attest to archaeomancer being good FYI. I just had 2 in my UR splashing B for public execution control deck in draft tonight, and getting back instants and sorceries is insane value. Sure, the card is basically a worse snapcaster for 2UU. However, untapping after resolving an archaeomancer is typically GG.
On switcheroo. I like the card, it is definitely a solid playable blue card. Better than talrand's invocation? No. And sleep is still the better card by far, but that's because sleep is a total bomb usually. As for situations where the card is 'bad' because you're ahead on board, why do you care? If you're ahead on board aren't you winning anyways? If not, then you're not ahead on board. And if your opponent drops a bomb onto the board, then you're in the drivers seat because you just stole it with switcheroo the following turn. The argument that the card isn't 'always' good doesn't outweight the fact that when you swap your welkin tern for the opponents bomb you're very likely going to win that game assuming your opponent lacks an answer.
I drafted two of these today and then died before they did anything, so I have no idea how good they are. Other than that, I have no idea what you're talking about. And no, sleep is not a "total bomb." But I will try to figure out what you're saying and respond to that.
As far as the "Acidic slime/mind control" argument thing goes, a card isn't made worse because a random value uncommon happens to answer it once in a while.
I never claimed the card was really bad, I just said that it's a pretty enormous step down from mind control. However, mind control is extremely overpowered, so it's not a surprise that they would do this. No - cards that are at their best when you're ahead are problematic. You don't want to overvalue those types of effects (sleep is that type of effect, by the way).
Also, we can't analyze cards in their best possible situation, like when you trade welkin tern for a dragon or whatever. To be fair, you can't look at worse case all the time either -- the point is, switcheroo is a good card, probably a high pick and does some good things. But it's definitely no mind control, and its built in disadvantage is more significant than people seem to understand.
To put it in perspective, mind control was a card I have picked over planeswalkers. I would probably take murder (a common) over switcheroo.
As far as the "Acidic slime/mind control" argument thing goes, a card isn't made worse because a random value uncommon happens to answer it once in a while.
Umm, of course it is? Mind Control would have pretty obviously been a stronger effect in the format if the most commonly maindecked answer to it hadn't existed. Also MC would have had to deal with War Priest in this set, too, which is a random value common.
To put it in perspective, mind control was a card I have picked over planeswalkers. I would probably take murder (a common) over switcheroo.
Well, the point of this thread wasn't actually to compare Switcheroo to a bomb uncommon from a different set. It was to evaluate the quality of the effect in this format. No sane person ever thought Mind Control was the worse card, but the comparison was never all that relevant.
Wit's End is the PERFECT answer to your opponent's Monomania however.
Just hold on to your Wit's End when they Monomania, so you can Wit's End them on your next turn!!!
I think this is fairly reminiscent of the "Jace Battles" we have seen in past standards.. My guess is we will soon witness the great Monomania-Wit's End battles.
Umm, of course it is? Mind Control would have pretty obviously been a stronger effect in the format if the most commonly maindecked answer to it hadn't existed. Also MC would have had to deal with War Priest in this set, too, which is a random value common.
Well, the point of this thread wasn't actually to compare Switcheroo to a bomb uncommon from a different set. It was to evaluate the quality of the effect in this format. No sane person ever thought Mind Control was the worse card, but the comparison was never all that relevant.
War priest is an uncommon, buddy. If it were common, it would make every enchantment save rancor borderline unplayable.
Mind Control removes a blocker, Switcheroo does not. That alone makes it a much worse card.
In most games, you can probably find some kind of trade to make for your advantage. Less likely though is you finding a trade that's going to be worth five mana. Yeah, everyone dreams of trading Archaeomancer for Nefarox. But in reality most of the time the best available trade is going to be something blah like my Pillarfield Ox for your Sentinel Spider.
I think this card is making my deck most of the time, but I'm not picking it over anything of note. I'd probably take Unsummon over this depending on where my deck is at the moment.
But in reality most of the time the best available trade is going to be something blah like my Pillarfield Ox for your Sentinel Spider.
While I can't fault you for arguing this, I can tell you from experience that a blue deck in M13 is going to be able to post much more favorable Switcheroos on a very regular basis. Augur of Bolas, Archaeomancers, and Watercourser are all cards that a Blue deck would be very happy to play, even in multiples, but they're much better than "blah" even when traded for something as common as a Sentinel Spider, unless your opponent is also playing blue, of course, in which case disregard the Watercourser.
Outside of Magical Christmasland where your blue deck is running the best cards, you also have the possibility of swapping a Hatchling or a Merfolk. A lot of Blue's best color combinations (Green and White, in my opinion) offer similarly excellent trade opportunities - Elvish Visionary, Soldier Tokens, Beast Tracker - all cards you're going to have with regularly and relatively high frequency in your deck, but whose value is essentially nil if you're not the one casting them or if you didn't get the token as part of a package deal with your Captain's Call or Captain of the Watch or Attended Knight.
Personally, I think most Switcheroos should be heavily lopsided in most of your games.
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That being said, it looks pretty good.
No, it really doesn't shine in those cases, because there are only so many turns you can afford to leave up 4 mana before the guy with the Sentinel Spider also has three other creatures and breaks your stall, while all your cards are left in your hand. The real place where Verdict shines is when your opponent is mana screwed and can't develop his board anyway (and all of your cards are basically unconditionally awesome by virtue of being castable and not lands).
Don't make the mistake of thinking that crappy prerelease builds are going to be the typical kind of decks you're going to face in this format - you will not be able to afford to leave up 4 mana very often against a real deck, and if you try, a real deck will just completely out-develop you.
Highest DCI Limited Rating: 2022
Couldn't you say that about Day of Judgement?
No, that is an advantage. But does that advantage make the card as good as mind control? No.
Flame infraction. - Blinking Spirit
Calling someone a Commie is flaming and must be stopped, but turning the word Conservative into a loaded pejorative and using it over and over again is perfectly acceptable.
This thing with Archaeomancer is simply absurd, for example. Sure, just about any spell with Archaeomancer is absurd, but there's something extremely satisfying about making a trade, getting it back, then giving them the now middling 1/2 for something more threatening.
Hell, you can even Unsummon the 'mancer afterward and go to town again. Did I mention how insane I think Archaeomancer is?
:dance:Fact or Fiction of the [Limited] Clan:dance:
YOU did, sadly pros have described it as a worse gravedigger and thats exactly what it is.
Lets look at what Arcaeomancer is at face value, a 4 mana(double blue) with a 1/2 body(already worse than gravedigger), it returns a sorcery/instant which is also worse than returning a creature like gravedigger does.
You can have those, Ill take my mind control and gravedigger.
Then you will get DQed for playing cards that aren't in the format . We don't play in a vacuum.
While i don't think Archaeomancer is "insane" which for a common is like mist raven or doom blade. It is still a good card, returning spells often better then returning creatures mainly because good creatures tend not to die much in core set.
Also most pro are on the Archaeomancer is good bandwagon. For example LSV Review of the card
Flame infraction. - Blinking Spirit
Calling someone a Commie is flaming and must be stopped, but turning the word Conservative into a loaded pejorative and using it over and over again is perfectly acceptable.
So LSV is dead right 100% of the time? Conley woods gave it a 2.5 which is right where i think it should be.
No one is right 100% of the time. Not LSV, not Conley Woods, not Semantics. But this isn't an exact science either, it's draft. There's a lot of variability that can cause you to forsake a card that is 'objectively' better for something 'objectively' worse if it makes your deck better and more consistent. If you just picked cards based on a numerical value scale you'd end up with a worse deck than one built with consideration.
As a common, you can build around Archaeomancer if you wanted to. It's not Gravedigger, but Gravedigger didn't always retrieve something as useful as a removal spell, Sleep, X burn spell, etc. Sometimes it didn't retrieve anything at all.
That being said, I think Switcheroo has some nifty interactions with several cards in this set, that despite it NOT being Mind Control it's a reasonable facsimile. It might be a 'better' card from the perspective that Mind Control by and large was ridiculously unfair most of the time, and this makes M13 overall a more balanced set.
There aren't a ton of members here who care about resumes beyond applauding their peers' successes. Mine is below, if you really need it.
Magic discourse simply disgusts me sometimes.
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Also (slightly more offense intended) the fact that you think it's bad is probably a good reason to like it. I have yet to see you be right on these forums.
If i took advise from people like you and Semantics that call archaeomancer "the best common in the set" and get excited over Switcheroo I'd be a worse player. Thank god i don't blindly follow the moronic opinion of someone who claims a worse gravedigger is the best common in the set.
Disagreeing with others' opinions is fine.
Calling those opinions moronic is not.
Flaming infraction issued.
—meg
No, But you where trying to give the impression that pros are saying it was a bad card. Which is just not factually accurate. Worse then gravedigger? Yeah, maybe that is one pros opinion. But i noticed you care about the "pros" opinion that sides with you and not with the "pros" doesn't. If your going to use the whole pros are saying this as a point you can't just cherry pick the ones you like and ignore what other pros are saying. You need to say something more like here is Pro "x" opinion and i agree, here is why.
Flame infraction. - Blinking Spirit
Calling someone a Commie is flaming and must be stopped, but turning the word Conservative into a loaded pejorative and using it over and over again is perfectly acceptable.
I'm inclined to say that dismissing a card out of hand because you have a vendetta against someone who holds a differing opinion on another card is what's actually making you a worse player. Putting aside your senseless crusade against Semantics, I see no "blind" behavior in this thread - everyone else is grappling with the variables of a complex question in a civil manner.
Sleep>Invocation>Switcheroo=Welkin Tern>Farie Invaders>WindDrake
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Ummm, how is that not an advantage? People acidic sliming my mind control usually makes me a sad panda, same with war priest of thune or any enchantment removal for that matter. With switcheroo they cannot use removal on anything but the creature, and that's fine with me. Sure, mind control is generally better but in all honesty mind control was in the top 2 uncommons in core sets it was printed in in terms of power level when it comes to limited. The other being overrun. Notice how both aren't in this set due to power level? I'd be quite surprised if I saw a mind control variant at uncommon in the near future, same with overrun. Heck, they printed a worse overrun at rare in this set. So comparing the new card isn't really fair.
I can attest to archaeomancer being good FYI. I just had 2 in my UR splashing B for public execution control deck in draft tonight, and getting back instants and sorceries is insane value. Sure, the card is basically a worse snapcaster for 2UU. However, untapping after resolving an archaeomancer is typically GG.
On switcheroo. I like the card, it is definitely a solid playable blue card. Better than talrand's invocation? No. And sleep is still the better card by far, but that's because sleep is a total bomb usually. As for situations where the card is 'bad' because you're ahead on board, why do you care? If you're ahead on board aren't you winning anyways? If not, then you're not ahead on board. And if your opponent drops a bomb onto the board, then you're in the drivers seat because you just stole it with switcheroo the following turn. The argument that the card isn't 'always' good doesn't outweight the fact that when you swap your welkin tern for the opponents bomb you're very likely going to win that game assuming your opponent lacks an answer.
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I drafted two of these today and then died before they did anything, so I have no idea how good they are. Other than that, I have no idea what you're talking about. And no, sleep is not a "total bomb." But I will try to figure out what you're saying and respond to that.
As far as the "Acidic slime/mind control" argument thing goes, a card isn't made worse because a random value uncommon happens to answer it once in a while.
I never claimed the card was really bad, I just said that it's a pretty enormous step down from mind control. However, mind control is extremely overpowered, so it's not a surprise that they would do this. No - cards that are at their best when you're ahead are problematic. You don't want to overvalue those types of effects (sleep is that type of effect, by the way).
Also, we can't analyze cards in their best possible situation, like when you trade welkin tern for a dragon or whatever. To be fair, you can't look at worse case all the time either -- the point is, switcheroo is a good card, probably a high pick and does some good things. But it's definitely no mind control, and its built in disadvantage is more significant than people seem to understand.
To put it in perspective, mind control was a card I have picked over planeswalkers. I would probably take murder (a common) over switcheroo.
*DCI Rules Advisor*
Umm, of course it is? Mind Control would have pretty obviously been a stronger effect in the format if the most commonly maindecked answer to it hadn't existed. Also MC would have had to deal with War Priest in this set, too, which is a random value common.
Well, the point of this thread wasn't actually to compare Switcheroo to a bomb uncommon from a different set. It was to evaluate the quality of the effect in this format. No sane person ever thought Mind Control was the worse card, but the comparison was never all that relevant.
War priest is an uncommon, buddy. If it were common, it would make every enchantment save rancor borderline unplayable.
*DCI Rules Advisor*
In most games, you can probably find some kind of trade to make for your advantage. Less likely though is you finding a trade that's going to be worth five mana. Yeah, everyone dreams of trading Archaeomancer for Nefarox. But in reality most of the time the best available trade is going to be something blah like my Pillarfield Ox for your Sentinel Spider.
I think this card is making my deck most of the time, but I'm not picking it over anything of note. I'd probably take Unsummon over this depending on where my deck is at the moment.
While I can't fault you for arguing this, I can tell you from experience that a blue deck in M13 is going to be able to post much more favorable Switcheroos on a very regular basis. Augur of Bolas, Archaeomancers, and Watercourser are all cards that a Blue deck would be very happy to play, even in multiples, but they're much better than "blah" even when traded for something as common as a Sentinel Spider, unless your opponent is also playing blue, of course, in which case disregard the Watercourser.
Outside of Magical Christmasland where your blue deck is running the best cards, you also have the possibility of swapping a Hatchling or a Merfolk. A lot of Blue's best color combinations (Green and White, in my opinion) offer similarly excellent trade opportunities - Elvish Visionary, Soldier Tokens, Beast Tracker - all cards you're going to have with regularly and relatively high frequency in your deck, but whose value is essentially nil if you're not the one casting them or if you didn't get the token as part of a package deal with your Captain's Call or Captain of the Watch or Attended Knight.
Personally, I think most Switcheroos should be heavily lopsided in most of your games.