MTG Salvation

Lots of competition in blue, but a solid beatstick with value!

I legitimately have no idea how to evaluate the power of this opening game effect
Seems like an interesting card in combo decks and maybe ramp decks.

Frequently in sneak/show/reanimator, Ill see an opening hand of say 2-3 reanimation spells, a duress and be unsure of what to do. Digging 3! to find that entomb or tutor is quite good. Though, I guess you are also partially "down a card" in your opener to get this effect.

Losing a card for that effect would be way too much, but a 4/4 flyer for 2UU that scrys 1 on upkeep is only moderately overcosted.

Curator of Mysteries under performed for me, and ultimately feel the hardcast mode of this was too weak for the format... But I'll probably test this sphinx to get a feel for how powerful the opening hand effect it. I expect it won't last long.

It is a cool effect, if my math is correct, you should have him in your opening hand about 17% of the time. So in a best of 3 you have a 50-50 shot of him being in an opening hand if you play all 3 games. in an 8 man cube playing 3 rounds, he will basically trigger is reveal ability from opening hand 1-2 times.

Sower and Glen Elendra aren't going anywhere. I think I also like Venser and Whirler Rogue more than this.

It is a sweet effect, though, and 4 flying power is huge in this format.

Looks like a good card in a stacked slot. I won't be trying it at 360, but in a larger cube I likely would.

Curator gets hardcast surprisingly often. A big blocker/PW threat/a way to end the game quickly after gaining control before being burned to death are the most common scenarios (plus a Moat deck). Still, I wouldn't play Curator without cycling. But this sphinx has a much better body while in play and a very good opening hand effect so I think it is the better card overall.

My gut feeling is that free Scry 3 in the first upkeep is very powerful and can change the course of a game dramatically.
The problem is the rest of the card. If you don't have it in your opening hand, then you will only get something very mediocre, especially with all the strong etb value alternatives at cmc4.

This looks solid enough to try out, for me. I'm still running Thassa at 720, which is often a card without a home, and I think this will provide an upgrade.

Think I'm going to cut Kira for this. 1 more mana for +2/+2 and repeated scry with the added opening hand bonus seems worth it. I also like the synergy of this with Thassa- all the filtering!

If they had a version of this card but with Surveil instead of Scry for both effects, I would windmill slam it into my cube.

I like this card, but I feel like almost no blue decks in my cube want something that's basically just an efficient beater. Maybe it's the way we draft, but I don't think this card makes the cut for me. If I was still running efreet, I would think about cutting it for this.

Quote from BlackWaltz3 »

If they had a version of this card but with Surveil instead of Scry for both effects, I would windmill slam it into my cube.

Manaless dredge would be appreciative of that effect

This seems basically equal to Curator. My cube has exactly one slot for a card like this. If I open this, I'll consider cutting Curator, but otherwise, I won't bat an eye.

Turn 0 scry 3 is powerful but conditional. I prefer Cycling U. However, Sphinx of Foresight has a much more reliable triggered ability. The cards are imminently comparable, and both are playable. However neither screams "play me in blue!!!"

The free scry 3 is way, way better than cycling. You get a card filtering effect beyond even Preordain or Ponder and you get to keep your 4/4 flying beatstick.

I think this could be the #5 4 drop in blue.

The top three are:
1) Glen Elendra Archmage
2) Sower of Temptation
3) Phyrexian Metamorph
4) Venser, Shaper Savant

However, I think this is probably better than:
Dungeon Geists
Whirler Rogue
Clever Impersonator

I think Whirler Rogue is WAY better than this. It's about on par with Curator of Mysteries. This card is good in your opening hand, and very mediocre the rest of the time.

I actually think it's one of the more underrated cube cards. There are a lot of people that don't play it, and it's a really strong creature. Used it to make my lethal Psychatog unblockable through an army of tokens the other day... felt good.

I agree with Whriler Rogue being better, and the two sphinxes being at around the same power level. But I also think Curator of Mysteries is underrated.

I think this card handily beats Curator, and I don't think close.

The chance of the free scry 3 is a lot higher than 17% due to mulligans.

Furthermore, I'm almost never mulliganing a hand with this in the opening- the free scry 3 let's you dig half as deep as a new hand without losing a card. Curator's cycling is nowhere close to as powerful.

On top of that, this card gives a free unconditional scry each turn. Curator, in contrast, is so conditional it may never happen.

Card is good but just can’t cut any of my current blue 4s for this.

Quote from wtwlf123 »

I actually think it's one of the more underrated cube cards. There are a lot of people that don't play it, and it's a really strong creature. Used it to make my lethal Psychatog unblockable through an army of tokens the other day... felt good.

I like it in decks with Winter Orb

Most definitely!