The Value of Card Draw?
Standard forum
Posted on Oct. 16, 2014, 12:13 p.m. by eatyourbabes
Lately I have been trying to figure out how important draw power and card advantage is in Magic. I think that having access to more cards is huge! I think that's one of the reasons why before the KtK rotation so many people ran Underworld Connections in their decks with black. I think people aren't afraid to pay some or even sac a creature for the extra cardboard.
What I'm getting at is what offers some good card advantage in standard right now for each color?
I also think that there is a difference between scrying, picking one card out of five that go to your graveyard, and straightforward draw 2 cards. I like to think of that as soft card advantage vs. hard card advantage. Literally having more cards vs. being able to say no i don't want this card or if I had to choose 3 I want this card. Personally, I believe in hard card advantage or draw power because I want all of the cards that are in my deck. I put them all there for a reason, thus I should want them! Being able to cardcycle through options is also very valuable as well, but from my standpoint I just want every card versus having to pick and choose.
So I ask you!- What are good card advantage spells in each color?- What do think about card advantage?- What cost is too great for card advantage?- Draw or Scry?
eatyourbabes says... #3
Personally I run 4x Dragon Mantle if I'm running cheap low mana cost red decks.
October 16, 2014 12:18 p.m.
Nigeltastic says... #4
Hard card advantage is good, but soft card advantage is not to be scoffed at. Drawing 3 is often worse than say look at 7, pick 2, due to the situational value of most cards in magic. I think it's somewhat safe to say soft card advantage is better late game when you need all draws to be live.
October 16, 2014 12:38 p.m.
Nigeltastic says... #5
Also I think that Dictate of Kruphix is an amazing draw engine as long as you can be confident your draws are going to be better than your opponent's (if you can filter them or are playing better answers)
October 16, 2014 12:39 p.m.
Generally speaking, paying life to draw cards (a trademark of black cards) is very potent. Necropotence and Phyrexian Arena are insanely good for those reasons.
What you're talking about in terms of picking and choosing what you draw is usually called card selection or card quality. Drawing a card and discarding a card is an example of that - while your net gain is 0, you could draw a spell and discard a land you no longer need. Same principle applies to looking at the top 5, choosing one and sending the rest to the bin. That's part of the reason why Dig Through Time is so good - you dig 7 cards deep, and choose the best 2 of them to keep. It's completely open to debate what is better, best 2 out of top 7 or simply draw 3. In some decks you'd rather pick and choose since cards can be situational; in others, you just wanna have as many cards as possible.
Draw vs. Scry - drawing is almost always better, but draw effects are more expensive than scry effects.
October 16, 2014 12:42 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #7
Red: Chandra, Pyromaster , Goblin Rabblemaster , Ashcloud Phoenix , and Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
Green: Courser of Kruphix , Hornet Queen , Genesis Hydra , See the Unwritten , and Eidolon of Blossoms
Black: Erebos, God of the Dead , Sign in Blood , Read the Bones , and Liliana Vess
Blue: Dig Through Time , Treasure Cruise , Jace's Ingenuity , Dictate of Kruphix , Divination , Master of the Waves, and Interpret the Signs
White: Elspeth, Sun's Champion , Brimaz, King of Oreskos , Raise the Alarm , End Hostilities , Fated Retribution , and Mass Calcify
Multicolor: Xenagos, the Reveler , Kiora, the Crashing Wave , Abzan Charm , Garruk, Apex Predator , and Duneblast
I'm a big fan of virtual card advantage as well as creatures and planeswalkers that force 2 for 1's.
October 16, 2014 12:55 p.m.
weisemanjohn says... #8
As a temur player, I am finding card draw incredibly valuable as I often fully extend for a quick beatdown rather than taking a slow conservative approach. I am actually finding Temur Ascendancy and See the Unwritten to be my biggest benefit cards, even better than Chord of Calling and Genesis Hydra as I am playing almost all creatures and anything that I need mid-late game will be able to trigger ascendancy. Often, the cards I lose from See the Unwritten are lands, mana dorks, or legendary creatures that I already have on the field and in high enough quantity to play my curve top of 6. I found that the ditched cards are actually of more use than the creatures I gain aswell as once I ditched 6 lands from a See the Unwritten all of which were my NEXT 6 DRAWS! I would've been in a dire situation had those stayed in place. Dig Through Time is a card I have my eyes on and keep wanting to try using it, but just can't find sape right now. but the combo of it with StU is great as you are guaranteed the 6 cards you need to delve it and you just essentially picked you favorite 4 cards of your next 15.
October 16, 2014 1:16 p.m.
Mediumrick says... #9
Grim Haruspex needs some love. In a deck full of creatures it can be an extra card per turn and then some!
October 16, 2014 2:10 p.m.
eatyourbabes says... #10
I think Grim Haruspex and Pain Seer are two sides of the same coin. They both do very well in black decks but they each trigger off of different things. Pain Seer will cost you life, but Grim Haruspex will cost you your creatures. If you're playing Bloodsoaked Champion then chances are that losing him every turn only to bring him back isn't a drawback for Grim Haruspex at all!
October 16, 2014 3:33 p.m.
TrystonSpencer says... #11
From a deck I have, Military Intelligence , Dictate of Kruphix , Ordeal of Thassa , and Chasm Skulker
OP_Magikarp says... #2
Idk if it counts as card draw but in green Genesis Hydra , See the Unwritten and Chord of Calling are huge card advantage. You get to look at a huge chunk of your library and put cards directly onto the battlefield all while keeping secret what is left in your hand. In two of these cases, all those other cards go right back into the library to use at a later time. This is a huge advantage and invaluable to green decks.
October 16, 2014 12:17 p.m.