This is usually 9/10ths or so of Tidings, which was a hallmark of control decks back in the tron era. If you play it for five, you get two cards and two life, which would generally ensure the third card drawn the following turn. Life gain is effectively card draw, in a way. Rest for the Weary is a better Sign in Blood against half of the decks in Modern, for instance.
Paying 5 mana for what is effectively 2.5 cards at instant speed is decent. Paying 6 for 3.75 cards at instant speed is exceedingly playable. Paying 7 for 4 cards and 4 life is outright game winning against most of the decks that are likely found in the Standard format.
If this isn't a 1 or 2-of in every major control deck in the coming format, color me stunned. This is as close to Cruel Ultimatum as we're ever getting. Too bad it won't work with Genesis Wave 2.
Comparing X spells to non-X spells for low values of X is terrible. It's the scalability that's good. If I'm on eight lands, drawing a Think Twice is far worse than drawing this.
Perhaps that is true, but I still would prefer to use Blightning over Rakdos' Return or Diabolic Tutor over Diabolic Revelation at least four times out of five, because they are more efficient in their ratio of cost-to-effect; for example, if diabolic revelation cost X1BB, it would be far better than its current form, because it would require only 4 mana to gain 1 card, which is the cost of diabolic tutor, but as it currently is, it costs six mana to draw one card! That is insane, in my mind, as I would rather spend six mana to use planar portal, which has the three-fold advantage of being colorless, usable at instant-speed, and (most importantly) repeatable. By that logic, a player would need to spend 4 or 5 mana on Rakdos' Return to achieve the same effect that blightning has, for only 3 mana, and six mana spent on sphinx's revelation would yield two cards and two life, compared to gaining seven life and two cards from Kiss of the Amesha, which also costs 6 mana, although, as I said above, the fact that sphinx's revelation is an instant could be a major advantage of KotA.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
Sphinx's Revelation looks awful. You can either pay 2WUU to draw 2 cards and gain 2 life all in one go, or you can pay 3UU in two installments via Think Twice to draw 2 cards. Also, while you can play the latter by paying 1U the first time, the bare minmum for the revelation you'll need to pay is 1WUU, and paying 4 mana to draw 1 card is awful. I'd rather run Forbidden Alchemy if I want to draw a lot of cards to be honest - get rid of excess lands, snapcaster the instants/sorceries and maybe run a few unburial rites in case I lose a big creature so that I can get it back.
I'm going to act like someone who just had his music critique and respond with you just don't get it. You don't run this as a 4-of, you run one or two max and draw into it late game, then use that to help you stabilize vs aggro decks AND letting you dig fairly deeply for a finisher to end the game. Blue Sun's Zenith was a good card (better than I had anticipated at first, honestly), and this iteration of it is no slacker.
Perhaps that is true, but I still would prefer to use Blightning over Rakdos' Return or Diabolic Tutor over Diabolic Revelation at least four times out of five, because they are more efficient in their ratio of cost-to-effect; for example, if diabolic revelation cost X1BB, it would be far better than its current form, because it would require only 4 mana to gain 1 card, which is the cost of diabolic tutor, but as it currently is, it costs six mana to draw one card! That is insane, in my mind, as I would rather spend six mana to use planar portal, which has the three-fold advantage of being colorless, usable at instant-speed, and (most importantly) repeatable. By that logic, a player would need to spend 4 or 5 mana on Rakdos' Return to achieve the same effect that blightning has, for only 3 mana, and six mana spent on sphinx's revelation would yield two cards and two life, compared to gaining seven life and two cards from Kiss of the Amesha, which also costs 6 mana, although, as I said above, the fact that sphinx's revelation is an instant could be a major advantage of KotA.
So instead of paying 8 mana to tutor 3 cards, you'd rather pay 12 to tutor 1. Awesome, dude. Thanks for your insight.
Also, thanks for continuing to compare X spells to similar non-X spells. This card is infinitely better than Kiss of the Amesha.
It's obvious which posters are FNM teenage scrubs and which are the ones who actually understand the game.
Sphinx's Revelation is great in a vacuum. That lifegain makes it better than USZ. The extra mana tacked on is irrelevant because you hold your counters and cast it EOT. Whether the format allows that remains to be seen.
also 6 mana on revelation would draw 3 not 2 cards, wich is about double the effect of 2 cards(being up 1 card compared to being up 2 cards).
I am sorry to contradict you, but spending 6 mana to cast diabolic revelationshall allow a player to search for only 1 card, as the fixed (non-variable) part of its casting cost is 3BB, which is a total of 5 mana, leaving only 1 mana to be spent on X.
One of the few cards with X in its mana cost of which I am fond is comet storm, because I find that card to be so completely awesome. As for sphinx's revelation, I shall need to use it in an actual game before I can decide its true value. At this present time, the fact that it is an instant is the only trait of its that I find to be appealing.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
I am sorry to contradict you, but spending 6 mana to cast diabolic revelationshall allow a player to search for only 1 card, as the fixed (non-variable) part of its casting cost is 3BB, which is a total of 5 mana, leaving only 1 mana to be spent on X.
It was pretty obvious he meant Sphinx's Revelation, not the unrelated card you keep bringing up.
It was pretty obvious he meant Sphinx's Revelation, not the unrelated card you keep bringing up.
Yes, I am very sorry about that, but since Annedebeurs did not specify to which card he was referring, I did not know, and chose diabolic revelation, as I had been discussing it, and the reason that I mentioned it is that I believe that it is an excellent card to use when comparing cards with variable costs to cards with fixed costs.
So instead of paying 8 mana to tutor 3 cards, you'd rather pay 12 to tutor 1. Awesome, dude. Thanks for your insight.
When you present that scenario, I find that it is more difficult to disagree with you, but I shall again reiterate planar portal's advantages, state that it is possible to get it onto the battlefield without paying its mana cost or by reducing its initial mana cost, and that its ability to be used repeatedly more than repays its initial cost over time, compared with diabolic revelation. And I also do not appreciate you sarcasm; I find it to be completely unnecessary.
Also, thanks for continuing to compare X spells to similar non-X spells. This card is infinitely better than Kiss of the Amesha.
Is there anything wrong with "comparing X spells to non-X spells?" I find that to be a perfectly acceptable action to take when determining the value of a card. And as for comparing sphinx's revelation to kiss of the Amesha, I shall agree that SR is better, but more for its ability to be cast at instant speed, rather for its scalability.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
and six mana spent on sphinx's revelation would yield two cards and two life, compared to gaining seven life and two cards from Kiss of the Amesha, which also costs 6 mana, although, as I said above, the fact that sphinx's revelation is an instant could be a major advantage of KotA.
It's obvious which posters are FNM teenage scrubs and which are the ones who actually understand the game.
Sphinx's Revelation is great in a vacuum. That lifegain makes it better than USZ. The extra mana tacked on is irrelevant because you hold your counters and cast it EOT. Whether the format allows that remains to be seen.
It's very obvious which is which come spoiler time, it never fails.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“My abusive words are filled with forty grams of copper, twenty five grams of zinc, fifteen grams of nickel, five grams of embarrassment and ninety seven kilograms of spite.”
After reading Sphinx's Revelation more thoroughly, I realize that it is completely superior to Kiss of the Amesha, as it costs only 5 mana to draw 2 cards with that spell, as opposed to the 6 mana that KotA costs, and 6 mana spent on SR would yield 3 cards drawn, so I do regret some of my words earlier.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Paying 5 mana for what is effectively 2.5 cards at instant speed is decent. Paying 6 for 3.75 cards at instant speed is exceedingly playable. Paying 7 for 4 cards and 4 life is outright game winning against most of the decks that are likely found in the Standard format.
If this isn't a 1 or 2-of in every major control deck in the coming format, color me stunned. This is as close to Cruel Ultimatum as we're ever getting. Too bad it won't work with Genesis Wave 2.
Perhaps that is true, but I still would prefer to use Blightning over Rakdos' Return or Diabolic Tutor over Diabolic Revelation at least four times out of five, because they are more efficient in their ratio of cost-to-effect; for example, if diabolic revelation cost X1BB, it would be far better than its current form, because it would require only 4 mana to gain 1 card, which is the cost of diabolic tutor, but as it currently is, it costs six mana to draw one card! That is insane, in my mind, as I would rather spend six mana to use planar portal, which has the three-fold advantage of being colorless, usable at instant-speed, and (most importantly) repeatable. By that logic, a player would need to spend 4 or 5 mana on Rakdos' Return to achieve the same effect that blightning has, for only 3 mana, and six mana spent on sphinx's revelation would yield two cards and two life, compared to gaining seven life and two cards from Kiss of the Amesha, which also costs 6 mana, although, as I said above, the fact that sphinx's revelation is an instant could be a major advantage of KotA.
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
I'm going to act like someone who just had his music critique and respond with you just don't get it. You don't run this as a 4-of, you run one or two max and draw into it late game, then use that to help you stabilize vs aggro decks AND letting you dig fairly deeply for a finisher to end the game. Blue Sun's Zenith was a good card (better than I had anticipated at first, honestly), and this iteration of it is no slacker.
So instead of paying 8 mana to tutor 3 cards, you'd rather pay 12 to tutor 1. Awesome, dude. Thanks for your insight.
Also, thanks for continuing to compare X spells to similar non-X spells. This card is infinitely better than Kiss of the Amesha.
Standard: W/R Aggro
Sphinx's Revelation is great in a vacuum. That lifegain makes it better than USZ. The extra mana tacked on is irrelevant because you hold your counters and cast it EOT. Whether the format allows that remains to be seen.
I am sorry to contradict you, but spending 6 mana to cast diabolic revelation shall allow a player to search for only 1 card, as the fixed (non-variable) part of its casting cost is 3BB, which is a total of 5 mana, leaving only 1 mana to be spent on X.
One of the few cards with X in its mana cost of which I am fond is comet storm, because I find that card to be so completely awesome. As for sphinx's revelation, I shall need to use it in an actual game before I can decide its true value. At this present time, the fact that it is an instant is the only trait of its that I find to be appealing.
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
It was pretty obvious he meant Sphinx's Revelation, not the unrelated card you keep bringing up.
Standard: W/R Aggro
Yes, I am very sorry about that, but since Annedebeurs did not specify to which card he was referring, I did not know, and chose diabolic revelation, as I had been discussing it, and the reason that I mentioned it is that I believe that it is an excellent card to use when comparing cards with variable costs to cards with fixed costs.
When you present that scenario, I find that it is more difficult to disagree with you, but I shall again reiterate planar portal's advantages, state that it is possible to get it onto the battlefield without paying its mana cost or by reducing its initial mana cost, and that its ability to be used repeatedly more than repays its initial cost over time, compared with diabolic revelation. And I also do not appreciate you sarcasm; I find it to be completely unnecessary.
Is there anything wrong with "comparing X spells to non-X spells?" I find that to be a perfectly acceptable action to take when determining the value of a card. And as for comparing sphinx's revelation to kiss of the Amesha, I shall agree that SR is better, but more for its ability to be cast at instant speed, rather for its scalability.
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
It is.
It's very obvious which is which come spoiler time, it never fails.
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt