Crystal Ball or Sensei’s Divining Top?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on April 5, 2023, 8:32 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I have a copy of Crystal Ball in most of my EDH decks, but, for my Elsha of the Infinite deck, I am wondering if I should replace the ball with Sensei's Divining Top, as the top has clear synergy with Elsha.
What does everyone else say about this? Should I replace Crystal Ball with Sensei's Divining Top?
FormOverFunction says... #3
The only downside to top is that I use “who played top first” as one of my triggers for choosing which player to target with single-player torture cards like Cursed Rack.
April 6, 2023 9:43 a.m.
It should be noted, FormOverFunction’s expressing concern over Cursed Rack, a card that shows up in only 494 out of 2,362,993 decks on EDHREC (0.02%), is not a exactly a real concern. “Might someone target me with an inexorably rare form of punishment?” should not factor into your decision making - particularly when your decision is “Should I run a terrible card or should I run a good one?”
April 6, 2023 9:54 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #5
Caerwyn, I actually have found Crystal Ball to be very useful, as it is one of the few cards in the entire game that allows for repeatable scrying, and at a very low cost, but I am very glad that you reinforced my desire to put Sensei's Divining Top into my Elsha deck.
April 6, 2023 10:40 p.m.
This is from a guy that built Elsha day one she was released and played her as a spell slinger deck originally at the time I ran crystal ball and top and it is not even a contest top is that good.
Still run top but my Elsha later became my first cedh deck still have her as a cedh deck.
Caerwyn says... #2
Crystal Ball is a bad card. It is a three-drop (which is the point you really need to start generating real value) that does nothing helpful on its own (it helps you figure out what your next draw will be, but you need to either wait a turn or have card draw to profit off that miniscule value).
Top costs one mana, allows you to dig three deep with its "look at" skill, can both dig three deep and draw a card all on its own, can be used multiple times in a turn, and goes infinite with Elsha and something that reduces costs by .
There is no question--Top is a great card that outclasses the incredibly lackluster Crystal Ball in every significant way.
April 5, 2023 10:14 p.m. Edited.