Mission Briefing
Modern forum
Posted on April 19, 2022, 10:23 a.m. by Icbrgr
How does the community feel about Mission Briefing as a Budget alternative to Snapcaster Mage?
Am I mistaken by thinking this is a workable substitution? The loss of the 2/1 body for applying pressure/blocking is upsetting... and the casting cost of briefing may retult in a little bit more of awkward castings from the graveyard; but besides those two points I dont see why this card would be a BAD option.... but because of the price of briefing being around $1 currently im not even sure if this card is seeing play in Pioneer so im kinda wondering whats wrong with this card?
excellent points SynergyBuild well said... Im currently working with a control build and am looking for the snapcaster effect that isnt Torrential Gearhulk for synergy with my lower CMC spells... using Briefing with Lightning Helix/Counterspell seems like its strong on its face but it's definitely lacking the utility of flashing in a blocker and less synergy with delirium spells.
April 19, 2022 11:40 a.m.
Like SynergyBuild said; Snapcaster Mage forces 2 for 1 trades unfavorable to your opponent. In any game where tempo wins games, Mission Briefing falls extremely short of replacing the mage.
Then the mana cost does matter. You could lose games with Mission Briefing dead in your had waiting for a 2nd blue. What are the odds of having 2 islands on turn 2 versus having 1 island and any other mana source?
Mission Briefing is both too slow to set up and does not provide a blocker. And it can never pressure the opponent like the mage can if it resolves and sticks around. Though the last point is not as valuable as the speed and tempo facets.
April 19, 2022 1:30 p.m.
So for the sake of conversation... clearly Snapcaster Mage is a superior car in almost all scenarios... but is Mission Briefing a functional substitute for budget/availability reasons? Or does the added utility of snapcaster mage as a whole what makes it used in Modern.... or rather is casting spells from the graveyard simply not enough on its own to be playable?
April 19, 2022 1:47 p.m.
As was pointed out to me on my one mill deck and briefly touched on by SynergyBuild, there are niche scenarios where Mission Briefing may prove to be more useful. But on the whole, Snapcaster Mage is very much the superior card. If budget/availability is a limiting factor, you could reasonably emulate it with Mission Briefing in most instances, but not without being acutely aware of the drawback(s)—particularly the farther up the competitive ladder you’re trying to play. In the end it may boil down to a ’If you’re playing the types of decks Snapcaster Mage would be useful in, it’s probably a good idea to save up and acquire some instead of trying to shoehorn a workaround in’ kind of thing.
April 19, 2022 1:59 p.m.
GoldenAgeBatman says... #7
I agree with Balaam__
I use Mission Briefing in my mill deck to cast Archive Trap for 0 CMC after my opponent has searched their deck due to the way the card is worded.
April 19, 2022 2:01 p.m.
I would say that Mission Briefing can replace Snapcaster Mage given the following (basically summarizing other comments):
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the deck is nearly or entirely mono-blue, or has an strong mana base
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you expect to be facing mostly decks at the same budget level
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the deck takes measures to prevent free attacks
With those in mind, I think this swap could work. If you're looking at this for competitive, then there really isn't room for budget swaps. If you want a solid deck to break out during a lunch break, it should be fine.
April 19, 2022 2:03 p.m.
xtechnetia says... #9
There is no budget alternative to Snapcaster. Briefing is NOT a "budget Snap", it is an entirely different (and generally much less usable) card.
The real value of Snapcaster, as has been pointed out, is the flexibility and versatility - it isn't just for flashbacking a spell, but also to provide a body for trading, blocking, just straight beating down on an empty board (very important in combo matchups where you need a clock), and more. It is whatever you need it to be in the moment, and THAT is its real power.
If you really desperately need a "budget alternative", the answer will depend on what your deck wants to do. For a control deck, I typically suggest Wall of Omens in that slot.
But you're going to suffer for it. Be warned.
April 19, 2022 3:08 p.m.
wallisface says... #10
As others have mentioned, Briefing does have some limited upsides over Snappy (mainly in casting cards for their alternate costs, like Archive Trap - something snappy can’t do. Always pick Briefing over Snappy in mill!).
Snappy does more than just cast a spell - it’s also presenting a blocker in a push, or ideally a clock to slowly smack your opponent to death with. Briefing on the other hand can only ever represent a spell - there’s no other added value.
April 19, 2022 4:20 p.m.
wallisface says... #11
I’d second what xtechnetia said, in that Wall of Omens feels closer to Snappy than Briefing does.
Personally if I were looking to replace snappy for something cheaper, i’d be Ice-Fang Coatl, or possibly just Opt.
April 19, 2022 4:43 p.m.
Mission briefing is different from snapcaster.
Mission briefing can be better if you run a lot of alternative cost cards, like evokes etc since you can still use the alternative cost from your graveyard, which you can’t do with flashback. It is also decent at finding an option you don’t have yet or filling your graveyard for delirium or goyf-type effects.
Other than those niche uses, snapcaster is way better because of the tempo value it provides.
If you want to run multiple copies of snapcaster for something like gifts ungiven, it is a functional option as well.
SynergyBuild says... #2
Double blue isn't my issue. Snapcaster is great because it can be an Ambush Viper on turn two, it can save you from two lethal attackers by chumping one and Unholy Heating another. Its a significantly powerful effect.
That being said you can use Briefing as a card in some lists from mill to control variants, but you'd be amiss to think it really compares favorably at all, and for tempo lists that use snap it'd be better to find a wholly different axis to gain an advantage.
April 19, 2022 11:25 a.m.