I am torn on evaluating this card, as it seems most people are...
- I have been in the spoiler thread for Snapcaster Mage, Torrential Gearhulk, and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. In every thread, people claimed the cards were bad because "paying extra" for your spells to gain flashback was HORRIBLE; WHY wouldn't you just play more removal/counters/draw instead of paying a tax to reuse it? Those people were all wrong - Snappy is a legend and a major player in every format in which it is legal, Jace still sees fringe play and was at one point an $80 standard-defining card, and Gearhulk defined standard as well. People absolutely underestimate how powerful flexibility is, and also absolutely underestimate how powerful it is to effectively run 8, say, Kolaghan's Commands or Force of Wills instead of running 4 Kologhan and then having to settle for some other spell.
- Mission Briefing is, in some ways, BETTER than Snappy and Gearhulk and comparable to Jace, because it feeds itself with Surveil. "Surveil 2" is almost "Draw a card" which is about as good as a random 2/1 body. Comparing it to Flood of Recollection is silly - I bet that if Flood was an instant that didn't exile itself and Scryed/Surveiled 2, it would actually see play. Also, full-on casting the card opens up some tricks (such as being able to alt-cast Force of Will, play Sphinx's Revelation and Secure the Wastes again, or cheat out Ancestral Vision with As Foretold) that Snappy and Gearhulk can't do.
- On the other hand, this is the first time we've seen this effect on a non-creature. How relevant IS the body? It depends; for stuff like Legacy Stoneblade, and Modern Jeskai or Grixis control that body is huge, and Snapcaster is likely better. For a deck like Delver, Briefing is likely better since it increases your hit rate and manipulates your library.
On balance, I think the hype here is warranted. As a rare I don't know if it'll ever hit the insane Snappy prices, but I absolutely see it being a 15$+ card for its tenure in Standard.
I think people are missing the difference of casting cost between this and old snappy. Snappy isn't just good because he is a creature: He is good because he costs 1U, which makes him infinitely easier to cast. For example, lets say someone is trying to do a mid game play with some spell that costs UU in the graveyard using Snapcaster Mage turn 4. He has a Steam Vents, an island, a mountain, and a Hallowed Fountain. With Snapcaster Mage, he can cast that double blue spell out of the yard turn 4, but if he is using Mission Briefing he would not be able to do so because he only has three blue sources. This same problem can happen turn 5 or 6, but it is far less likely. Basically, Mission Briefing is better at mid to late game spell slinging, where Snapcaster Mage is better in aggressive or mid-range strategies. He just happens to also be good late game in control shells to reuse spells. Imo, I think that Torrential Gearhulk has stolen some of Snapcaster Mages thunder in that regard since it gives a good body along with a spell when it comes to late game. On turn 6 I'd still have to spend the same total resources on a snappy and Cryptic Command as I would casting Torrential Gearhulk and Cryptic Command.
I think that Snapcaster mage also has another hidden benefit to control decks in that they usually lack bodies to swing in for damage. Since control decks depend a lot on their finishers, it's always possible to shut down a control deck through clever plays simply by killing the win conditions. Not saying that is an easy task to do, but it is possible. Snapcaster Mage can get in for those last few points of damage in those scenarios that go down to the wire. Jeskai can get around this through Lightning Bolt, though, so it depends on build.
Also, some comments on price for this card on pre-order: It's going for about 10 dollars right now and I would rank this among the top five pickups from the set outside of lands. The price will probably settle around the same price as Assassin's Trophy in the long run due to both having very good effects that players clamor for.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
The whole reason snappy is so good is that he is a creature with flashback stapled on. He's super easy to cast, recur and can be a win con on his own. This card is jank.
I have tested this card in my jeskai delver deck over the past couple of days and it definitely performs very well. It's not game breaking like snapcaster mage, but it adds additional instant speed filtering which gives more consistency. I actually think it may work out really well as a 1 or 2 of in a control
or midrange style deck. Mission's Briefing is really powerful in the mid/late game and is playable in the early game (just not as effective). As others have stated, the costing cost is likely the biggest draw back. If you want to play mission briefing into opt you have to have UUU which can be tough to get early in a three color deck. Other than that the card has been great so far. If you play a delver deck it helps set up delver flips as well. I know very few people actually do play delver in modern, but it's still a nice pro for the card. After testing, I think a lot of different blue decks will play this as a 1 or 2 of regularly in the mainboard with decks like UR TITI and UR Moon playing possibly more copies.
I do think this is a great buy at $10 and I would pay $15 for them after a small bit of testing. I do have to say that my sample size for testing has been very small, but so far the card has been very good.
It's a control player's wet dream in a two color deck, I wouldn't think of playing it in a 3 color build. This is a good mid to late game card and can shine if the deck plays some serious instants or sorceries.
Also it's the second card in this set that lets you play a sorcery at instant speed.
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It's a control player's wet dream in a two color deck, I wouldn't think of playing it in a 3 color build. This is a good mid to late game card and can shine if the deck plays some serious instants or sorceries.
Also it's the second card in this set that lets you play a sorcery at instant speed.
Cast a sorcery at instant speed? Briefing only allows you to cast the card this turn. It doesn't have you cast the card as part of it's resolution, and it doesn't specify you can cast it at instant speed, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't let you cheat on speeds.
It's a control player's wet dream in a two color deck, I wouldn't think of playing it in a 3 color build. This is a good mid to late game card and can shine if the deck plays some serious instants or sorceries.
Also it's the second card in this set that lets you play a sorcery at instant speed.
Cast a sorcery at instant speed? Briefing only allows you to cast the card this turn. It doesn't have you cast the card as part of it's resolution, and it doesn't specify you can cast it at instant speed, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't let you cheat on speeds.
Yeah, you are right, I misread it, it says may, so it won't allow you to cast sorceries as instants, in that case it has a lot less value.
Kind of a t. Gearhulk but 4 mana cheaper, but no body.
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- I have been in the spoiler thread for Snapcaster Mage, Torrential Gearhulk, and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. In every thread, people claimed the cards were bad because "paying extra" for your spells to gain flashback was HORRIBLE; WHY wouldn't you just play more removal/counters/draw instead of paying a tax to reuse it? Those people were all wrong - Snappy is a legend and a major player in every format in which it is legal, Jace still sees fringe play and was at one point an $80 standard-defining card, and Gearhulk defined standard as well. People absolutely underestimate how powerful flexibility is, and also absolutely underestimate how powerful it is to effectively run 8, say, Kolaghan's Commands or Force of Wills instead of running 4 Kologhan and then having to settle for some other spell.
- Mission Briefing is, in some ways, BETTER than Snappy and Gearhulk and comparable to Jace, because it feeds itself with Surveil. "Surveil 2" is almost "Draw a card" which is about as good as a random 2/1 body. Comparing it to Flood of Recollection is silly - I bet that if Flood was an instant that didn't exile itself and Scryed/Surveiled 2, it would actually see play. Also, full-on casting the card opens up some tricks (such as being able to alt-cast Force of Will, play Sphinx's Revelation and Secure the Wastes again, or cheat out Ancestral Vision with As Foretold) that Snappy and Gearhulk can't do.
- On the other hand, this is the first time we've seen this effect on a non-creature. How relevant IS the body? It depends; for stuff like Legacy Stoneblade, and Modern Jeskai or Grixis control that body is huge, and Snapcaster is likely better. For a deck like Delver, Briefing is likely better since it increases your hit rate and manipulates your library.
On balance, I think the hype here is warranted. As a rare I don't know if it'll ever hit the insane Snappy prices, but I absolutely see it being a 15$+ card for its tenure in Standard.
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will try to get a few copies or a playset if possible. ^^
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
I think that Snapcaster mage also has another hidden benefit to control decks in that they usually lack bodies to swing in for damage. Since control decks depend a lot on their finishers, it's always possible to shut down a control deck through clever plays simply by killing the win conditions. Not saying that is an easy task to do, but it is possible. Snapcaster Mage can get in for those last few points of damage in those scenarios that go down to the wire. Jeskai can get around this through Lightning Bolt, though, so it depends on build.
Also, some comments on price for this card on pre-order: It's going for about 10 dollars right now and I would rank this among the top five pickups from the set outside of lands. The price will probably settle around the same price as Assassin's Trophy in the long run due to both having very good effects that players clamor for.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
or midrange style deck. Mission's Briefing is really powerful in the mid/late game and is playable in the early game (just not as effective). As others have stated, the costing cost is likely the biggest draw back. If you want to play mission briefing into opt you have to have UUU which can be tough to get early in a three color deck. Other than that the card has been great so far. If you play a delver deck it helps set up delver flips as well. I know very few people actually do play delver in modern, but it's still a nice pro for the card. After testing, I think a lot of different blue decks will play this as a 1 or 2 of regularly in the mainboard with decks like UR TITI and UR Moon playing possibly more copies.
I do think this is a great buy at $10 and I would pay $15 for them after a small bit of testing. I do have to say that my sample size for testing has been very small, but so far the card has been very good.
Also it's the second card in this set that lets you play a sorcery at instant speed.
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Cast a sorcery at instant speed? Briefing only allows you to cast the card this turn. It doesn't have you cast the card as part of it's resolution, and it doesn't specify you can cast it at instant speed, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't let you cheat on speeds.
Yeah, you are right, I misread it, it says may, so it won't allow you to cast sorceries as instants, in that case it has a lot less value.
Kind of a t. Gearhulk but 4 mana cheaper, but no body.
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remotely playable in Delver, As Foretold decks
putting two cards into graveyard for 2 mana is not an effect you will like
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