You control your opponents while they're searching their libraries.
While an opponent is searching their library, they exile each card they find. You may play those cards for as long as they remain exiled, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast them.
3/2
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A black hate bear. Sort of Shadow of Doubt on a body that steals their card instead of drawing 1.
What I like
The most common scenario will probably be to stop/steal Fetchlands or other type of ramp, which seems like a great tempo play. If you "gotcha" them, you effectively strip mine your opponent while gaining card advantage and putting a body on the board. With plenty of fetch lands, as well as tutors and ramp spells, the density of search effects in most cubes is pretty high.
The card is also a human, for those that support human tribal interactions.
What I don't like
Fairly low ceiling if the opponent plays no search effects, or slips them by when you don't have mana up. Shadow of Doubt goes in more reactive decks that gladly say draw-go and have no issue cycling the card on the opponents end-step. Opposition Agent however, looks better in more proactive decks, which might not be as glad not passing with mana up. For example, a typical WB aggro/hatebears style deck usually would be interested in curving out, not holding up mana. Of course, to be fair, the continious effect itself preventing searching might be good enough, even if you don't get to "gotcha" them.
The floor of a 3/2 body on a clogged board also isn't as good a safety valve as simply drawing a card was on Shadow of Doubt, and that card usually isn't seeing play anyways.
My initial verdict
While a cool design with a great ceiling, I think the floor is a bit too low to warrant inclusion in my 360 - but I definitely look forward to hearing how this plays out in testing.
I think its a decent card. I dobt think it nakes thebsmallest of cubes though. I think it could be playable around 450+ in cubes that support black aggro though. Often that deck just needs to slow an opponent down 1 or 2 turns to not allow the opponent to stabilize, and attacking that goal at a different angle might be worth while. I think this card is pretty cube and group design dependent though.
Most decks (in my cube at least) have about 1-2 ways to search their libraries, and a lot of those are fetches or 2cmc or less meaning they will often be played before this can come down. I think this will just be a 3/2 flash for 3 too much of the time.
I'm stoked for this card! Prison Archetypes have not really gotten anything new since Plague Engineer. I've been hoping for something new for so long and will definetly give this card a shot.
A friend reminded me that Winds of Abandon does not have a "may"-clause on the land-fetching, and even cards like Field of Ruin are getting interesting! Maybe I'll try to go a bit deeper on this by also including Leonin Arbiter. There are so many things that enable players to search their library that I'm quite positive the effect can turn out to be useful. If it is not overly useful in a passive way, there are ways to force it proactively, for example with the cards I mentioned. Cleansing Wildfire is another card that comes to my mind in this regard.
I have high hopes, but the concerns mentioned are reasonable.
Aven Mindcensor doesn't make a lot of cubes because it just doesn't come up enough to be consistent. This card is even MORE swingy, and will only occasionally be a complete backbreaker, while most of the time just not doing enough. I don't think that's a desirable effect.
This hits 44 cards in my 630 cube (plus 10 "may search"). I don't think that's enough, especially since as asmallcat noted, a lot of them are cheap/early effects. Some aren't, and will be absolute blowouts, but I'm not convinced they're enough.
For what it's worth, I do think this causing more of a swing makes this more compelling than Aven Mindcensor, but still won't make it. Unfortunately, it only applies when they're searching their own library - one of the more exciting plays I thought about was responding to Bribery with it, but since they're searching your library, there's no interaction.
That effect is pretty nuts! Even without flash it will render a number of cards useless, so indeed it's essentially a hate 'bear' (even if this is a 3-drop).
Personally I have no room for hate bears, and I don't think this will make the cut either. I need the slot for cards that are always useful or fill an important role in the cube.
I think this looks really cool, seems to specifically affect Blue, Green, and Black the most which is certainly a plus. Flash is such a powerful ability and this guy is even a decent planeswalker killer, just eats up JTMS, Narset, Xenagos, T3feri, etc. It's a creature too so its easy to tutor for it off of tutor effects themselves to grab it consistently, or even just to flash in EOT to sneak in with an equipment or a Fallen Shinobi. Maybe its just better in powered cubes since it lets you punish people with better decks than you, but I'm excited to play this card.
Card is obviously broken, but not sure how good it'll be in a traditional cube.
It actually gets better the smaller the cube is, because it thrives with high tutor/fetchland density.
What's particularly nasty, is it not only can mind control a fetchland at instant speed, it shuts down opposing fetchlands for the entirety of time it's on the battlefield.
I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Well, I already run Grenzo, Robber of the Rich, Gonti, Lord of Luxury, and Fallen Shinobi--and all have proven to be totally sweet in our games--so this will probably have to get tried out at some point. This card seems absolutely GREAT. I love a little chaos without going to coin-flips/dice-rolling, but I wouldn't expect all cubes would want to run it.
I think this card is sweet. The floor of being a 3/2 flash or a pseudo removal spell for 3 mana is acceptable when you consider the ceiling on the card of being a savage, disruptive 3-for-1. Plus, it still disrupts all the opponent's tutoring while it's sitting on the battlefield; not just the turn it's flashed into play. They'll have to remove it before they can fetch/tutor again. I'll likely be testing this.
At 540 I have 48 cards that contain the phrase "Search your library". With 4 of them being planeswalker ultimates, the density seems borderline at best. I do think this card is strong: the effect is amazing and Lutri has been showing me that a 3/2 flash is a decent floor on its own. I do like the idea of Grixis thieves as a theme, and this fits nicely into that. Definitely warrants a test at least.
I think the one thing that has not been discussed in evaluating this card, it's not the density of the search library cards in cube, but also the main deck rate of those cards. Cards Like Imperial Seal, Demonic Tutor, and most of the fetch lands almost always make the main decks they get drafted in.
I think the one thing that has not been discussed in evaluating this card, it's not the density of the search library cards in cube, but also the main deck rate of those cards. Cards Like Imperial Seal, Demonic Tutor, and most of the fetch lands almost always make the main decks they get drafted in.
Agreed, and most of the tutors and fetches are super powerful. I'm more inclined to include cards that are strong against a narrower range of effects if those effects are powerful. Including a card that's a bullet for Demonic Tutor feels better than including a card that's a windmill slam against Jackal Pup.
When folks are mentioning path to exile & other 'may' search effects, opponent can choose not to search, correct? The opponent isn't controlled until the point that they're actually searching, is that right? Still sweet that in the PtE example they wouldn't get the land, but wanted to confirm that any 'may' wording would result in you not getting the card.
When folks are mentioning path to exile & other 'may' search effects, opponent can choose not to search, correct? The opponent isn't controlled until the point that they're actually searching, is that right? Still sweet that in the PtE example they wouldn't get the land, but wanted to confirm that any 'may' wording would result in you not getting the card.
Correct - they can just decline to search in this case.
This card is really interesting. turning off any top decks fetch lands and hating on tutors is pretty cool.
Might consider testing. Worried about it feeling too much like a hoser and leading to non games with the fetch interaction which may make it too unfun for my tastes.
When folks are mentioning path to exile & other 'may' search effects, opponent can choose not to search, correct? The opponent isn't controlled until the point that they're actually searching, is that right? Still sweet that in the PtE example they wouldn't get the land, but wanted to confirm that any 'may' wording would result in you not getting the card.
Correct - they can just decline to search in this case.
Been hearing this everywhere. That made me wonder though...
Scenario: You patiently wait (this in hand) and they go find their card and pull it out and begin to shuffle their library. You play it then. Is that right? At that point, a card has been tutored. Can they still fail to find and shuffle it back in?
No. You would have to play this before the search effect is executed. While the spell (or ability) is on the stack. Once they're already in the middle of executing the search, you don't have priority to cast this, so it won't be in play when they're searching.
No. You would have to play this before the search effect is executed. While the spell (or ability) is on the stack. Once they're already in the middle of executing the search, you don't have priority to cast this, so it won't be in play when they're searching.
Okay thanks. I had a feeling that was the case or others would obviously have pointed out my idea. That does take somea lot of the fun out of this card, honestly but maybe it's still worth it. A splashable 3/4 Flash for 3 does have a decent floor in most cube decks I can imagine no matter what happens...
One additional bonus to consider is that if you catch your opponent searching with this card, you not only get the 3 for 1. You also get to see their hand and all facedown permanents they can see.
No. You would have to play this before the search effect is executed. While the spell (or ability) is on the stack. Once they're already in the middle of executing the search, you don't have priority to cast this, so it won't be in play when they're searching.
Okay thanks. I had a feeling that was the case or others would obviously have pointed out my idea. That does take somea lot of the fun out of this card, honestly but maybe it's still worth it. A splashable 3/4 Flash for 3 does have a decent floor in most cube decks I can imagine no matter what happens...
Opposition Agent 2B
Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Flash
You control your opponents while they're searching their libraries.
While an opponent is searching their library, they exile each card they find. You may play those cards for as long as they remain exiled, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast them.
3/2
-------
A black hate bear. Sort of Shadow of Doubt on a body that steals their card instead of drawing 1.
What I like
The most common scenario will probably be to stop/steal Fetchlands or other type of ramp, which seems like a great tempo play. If you "gotcha" them, you effectively strip mine your opponent while gaining card advantage and putting a body on the board. With plenty of fetch lands, as well as tutors and ramp spells, the density of search effects in most cubes is pretty high.
The card is also a human, for those that support human tribal interactions.
What I don't like
Fairly low ceiling if the opponent plays no search effects, or slips them by when you don't have mana up. Shadow of Doubt goes in more reactive decks that gladly say draw-go and have no issue cycling the card on the opponents end-step. Opposition Agent however, looks better in more proactive decks, which might not be as glad not passing with mana up. For example, a typical WB aggro/hatebears style deck usually would be interested in curving out, not holding up mana. Of course, to be fair, the continious effect itself preventing searching might be good enough, even if you don't get to "gotcha" them.
The floor of a 3/2 body on a clogged board also isn't as good a safety valve as simply drawing a card was on Shadow of Doubt, and that card usually isn't seeing play anyways.
My initial verdict
While a cool design with a great ceiling, I think the floor is a bit too low to warrant inclusion in my 360 - but I definitely look forward to hearing how this plays out in testing.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
A friend reminded me that Winds of Abandon does not have a "may"-clause on the land-fetching, and even cards like Field of Ruin are getting interesting! Maybe I'll try to go a bit deeper on this by also including Leonin Arbiter. There are so many things that enable players to search their library that I'm quite positive the effect can turn out to be useful. If it is not overly useful in a passive way, there are ways to force it proactively, for example with the cards I mentioned. Cleansing Wildfire is another card that comes to my mind in this regard.
I have high hopes, but the concerns mentioned are reasonable.
For what it's worth, I do think this causing more of a swing makes this more compelling than Aven Mindcensor, but still won't make it. Unfortunately, it only applies when they're searching their own library - one of the more exciting plays I thought about was responding to Bribery with it, but since they're searching your library, there's no interaction.
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Personally I have no room for hate bears, and I don't think this will make the cut either. I need the slot for cards that are always useful or fill an important role in the cube.
Seems like a premier black 3 drop in cube imo and I can't wait to test this guy, especially alongside cards like Path to Exile, Winds of Abandon, and most notably Assassin's Trophy.
It actually gets better the smaller the cube is, because it thrives with high tutor/fetchland density.
What's particularly nasty, is it not only can mind control a fetchland at instant speed, it shuts down opposing fetchlands for the entirety of time it's on the battlefield.
Should be a legacy staple
Last Updated 02/07/24
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This is a wait and see for me.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Agreed, and most of the tutors and fetches are super powerful. I'm more inclined to include cards that are strong against a narrower range of effects if those effects are powerful. Including a card that's a bullet for Demonic Tutor feels better than including a card that's a windmill slam against Jackal Pup.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
Might consider testing. Worried about it feeling too much like a hoser and leading to non games with the fetch interaction which may make it too unfun for my tastes.
Been hearing this everywhere. That made me wonder though...
Scenario: You patiently wait (this in hand) and they go find their card and pull it out and begin to shuffle their library. You play it then. Is that right? At that point, a card has been tutored. Can they still fail to find and shuffle it back in?
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Okay thanks. I had a feeling that was the case or others would obviously have pointed out my idea. That does take
somea lot of the fun out of this card, honestly but maybe it's still worth it. A splashable 3/4 Flash for 3 does have a decent floor in most cube decks I can imagine no matter what happens...Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!
It's a 3/2