I like this. I always liked Compulsive Research, but being a sorcery kept it from inclusion for me. Now comes the difficult part of trying to find a cut for a blue 3.
I'm going to cut Compulsive Research for Thirst for Discovery. Instant speed is a huge deal in blue, and I'm trying to shift toward more instants and flash permanents to support a Draw-Go style of U/X deck.
Most Cube draft decks end up with 2-5 nonbasic lands and 12-16 basic lands, so the basic land restriction isn't a big disadvantage for most blue decks. The exception is the 5-color goodstuff soup drafter whose strategy is to pick every fixing land they see in pack one. I don't particularly want to support a 5-color archetype, so it's fine for a powerful single pip draw spell like Thirst for Discovery to have a basic land drawback because it helps the card reach the blue drafter(s).
Another microscopic downgrade from Compulsive Research is that Thirst for Discovery can't target your opponent to mill their last 1-3 cards. I try to support mill as a blue control archetype, so it's a little sad that the niche functionality of targeting your opponent has been lost (presumably to decrease the number of clicks, and occasional soul-crushing misclicks, on Arena). That said, it's not a big deal because in my cube if the blue mill deck has their opponent down to their last few cards that's probably because they have one or moreTutelages active, so targeting yourself with draw spells still advances the mill gameplan.
I am very excited to try this. I had just been talking about wanting a burst card draw instant in blue and this feels right up the alley of what I was after. Basics only is a big drawback but I'm still going to give it a shot.
Cube is still a limited format, and most decks have 12+ basics. I will definitely find a spot for this. This is so easily the best of the "thirst for" cards in any normal cube.
Considering cutting Chart a Course for this. It costs 1 more mana, but I think it's the cleanest cut for me. I don't run any 3-mana draw spells right now, but this seems pretty great.
Cuts are hard, especially for pure value spells and not archetype defining things. I really like Chart a Course, so my cut will either be Search for Azcanta, Impulse or a 3 CMC card I can't decide on yet.
Blue cuts are always absurdly hard but I'm looking at a non filter/draw spell because I want to increase my card draw density. Thinking it might finally be time for Inkwell to no longer be a tinker target.
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A Thirst for Knowledge for basic lands instead of artifacts, or an instant speed Compulsive Research that only works with basics.
I play Thirst for Knowledge and discarding lands is much better than artifacts, so this will certainly find a spot.
[180 classic cube]
Most Cube draft decks end up with 2-5 nonbasic lands and 12-16 basic lands, so the basic land restriction isn't a big disadvantage for most blue decks. The exception is the 5-color goodstuff soup drafter whose strategy is to pick every fixing land they see in pack one. I don't particularly want to support a 5-color archetype, so it's fine for a powerful single pip draw spell like Thirst for Discovery to have a basic land drawback because it helps the card reach the blue drafter(s).
Another microscopic downgrade from Compulsive Research is that Thirst for Discovery can't target your opponent to mill their last 1-3 cards. I try to support mill as a blue control archetype, so it's a little sad that the niche functionality of targeting your opponent has been lost (presumably to decrease the number of clicks, and occasional soul-crushing misclicks, on Arena). That said, it's not a big deal because in my cube if the blue mill deck has their opponent down to their last few cards that's probably because they have one or more Tutelages active, so targeting yourself with draw spells still advances the mill gameplan.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Draft my cube! (630 cards)