In an article on Sideboard Online last week, a new card was revealed that has the whole Magic community talking. The artifact in question, a 2 mana artifact with ‘Imprint’ for Instants, introduces a whole new skill testing mechanic to the world of Magic: reading the card.

“We are really excited about this new set (Mirrodin),” proclaimed Rosewater Monday, “It not only brings back artifacts, which we all have such fond memories of from back in the Urza’s Block, but also introduces several new mechanics, the best of which has got to be ‘reading the card.’”

“With the new 8th Edition card face,” Buehler explained, “we noticed that players weren’t paying attention to the text box; all they seemed to care about were those big numbers for power and toughness. This new skill tester should punish people for not understanding what those strange symbols in the text box we call words are.”

It seems that Buehler’s prediction is grounded in truth, as the leak of this card has already caused much discussion in forums as to what exactly an ‘instant’ is. Not only that, but many players have revealed their inability to count to two. The following are examples from forums of exactly how much of a skill-tester this card is.

Phrost revealed his misunderstanding of Magic in general by not only suggesting illegal cards to imprint, but also cards that make no sense whatsoever in any format. Evidently Psychic Trance is just so good in his metagame that he’s incredibly anxious to get the opportunity to imprint it. His suggestions:

Annihilate
Beast Attack
Capsize
Congregate

This is Broken:

Cunning Wish
Decree of Savagery
Festival
Opportunity
Psychic Trance
Recoil
Searing Winds
Solfatra
SpellJack
Vitalizing Wind

For those counting at home, there is ONE legal imprint card listed, and it’s FESTIVAL.

Sodent was quick to point out illegal cards that others missed when he said, "Everyone forgot Hymn to Tourach & Sinkhole. Oh this card will be fun..."

Another Random Scrub on MTGnews was quick to point out an easy combo to pull off in T1 (if you cheat): Turn 1: lotus, land. Play this, imprint Time walk. Take infinite turns.

sexxysamurai stated, "You mean I can always have an unlimited amount of Pyroclasms?!?!"

Centuryaven accidentally revealed that his gauntlet of decks is full of tribal based decks that don’t play more than 4 creatures at a time, "It is plain amazing with chocking teathers, cmon that gives blue/white weenie free reign against tribal for about 6-8 turns."

rabidhamster made himself look like a complete fool by posting this utter nonsense, "Actually, the most likely use I can see for this would be to hurt any deck running Exalted Angel or Ravenous Baloth, although the Angel is the most likely target. The easiest way to do this is by using False Cure. It could be an effective sideboard combo which against Mono-White, could prove to be a deciding factor. White would have to use Oblation or splash in order to deal with this. Naturalize is also a likely possibility, but most people see that one happening already. Spy Network also has interesting potential."

Evidently BulldogCountry’s idea of ‘broken’ is gaining seven life per turn with this card, "Heck, even Healing Salve or Hero's Reunion! Hero's Reunion costs only two mana and gives you SEVEN life. So, you could gain SEVEN life per turn! Gross!"

Iceheart Omnis was quick to point out quite the illegal combo, "Has anybody realize the broken power of Rewind + Isochron Scepter? 2 mana, counter target spell plus untap 4 lands, so you may actually gain mana from countering a spell, this is as close to Mana Drain as Type II may get. I can only dream of the evils this card will unleash in Extended or Type I."

Trav demonstrated his utter lack of understanding of anything the card does when he made this statement, "You guys aren't reading the text properly. This card isn't so good. it allows you to COPY the imprinted card when it is played. Everyone is acting like you can imprint Counterspell, then have a free Counterspell every turn there-after. sorry, you are wrong. You imprint a card, say Boomerrang, when you play this. Then, whenever you or your opponent play Boomerang in the future, you may tap the scepter and pay 2 to make a copy. This card isn't so good unless your deck is focused around it or as a sideboard card for a mirror match involving low cost instants."

Yet ANOTHER Random Scrub from MTGnews revealed an interesting combo with the Scepter without paying any heed whatsoever to that little ‘2’ by the tap symbol, "imprint Twiddle on the Scepter. Tap the scepter - a copy of Twiddle is on the stack. When it resolves untap the scepter. Repeat N times. Play Brain Freeze. Target opponent has to draw Nx3 cards."

Thinking Man observed that the September banning of Entomb and the creation of this card may be linked. After all, entombing every turn for 2 is pretty unfair, "Could this be one of the reasons entomb was banned?"

Psymon insisted that this card is going to be absolutely broken when he imprints such heavy hitters as Reckless Charge and Wirewood Pride.

Finally, unhealthyhabits stated his disdain for the prospect of off-blue counterspelling while demonstrating his inability to type. In his defense, Squirrel’s Nest is so similar to a 2cc instant that I almost tried it, too:

can somoen send me the link they saw this at becouse this si just too broken its sickining. these so many more cards other than counterspell and lightinign bolt that thsi makes a uber broke combo with. you dont evben need to play blue to have infanate counterslpells in any deck.

lifeburst
giant groth
pyroclasm (gg elf,goblin,sombie,maby even white wheenie)
any card drawing.
diabolit edict.
squirrls nest

It seems that Wizards has finally listened to those players sick of losing luck based games against idiot opponents. They have not only come up with an interesting mechanic, but an interesting mechanic that will punish bad players by dq-ing them and their illegal attempts at ‘combos’ right out of the tournament. Gone are the days when one could ignore the text box and just play the fattest creature. Well, 8th Edition drafting still happens online, so scratch that.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

In an article on Sideboard Online last week, a new card was revealed that has the whole Magic community talking. The artifact in question, a 2 mana artifact with ‘Imprint’ for Instants, introduces a whole new skill testing mechanic to the world of Magic: reading the card.

“We are really excited about this new set (Mirrodin),” proclaimed Rosewater Monday, “It not only brings back artifacts, which we all have such fond memories of from back in the Urza’s Block, but also introduces several new mechanics, the best of which has got to be ‘reading the card.’”

“With the new 8th Edition card face,” Buehler explained, “we noticed that players weren’t paying attention to the text box; all they seemed to care about were those big numbers for power and toughness. This new skill tester should punish people for not understanding what those strange symbols in the text box we call words are.”

It seems that Buehler’s prediction is grounded in truth, as the leak of this card has already caused much discussion in forums as to what exactly an ‘instant’ is. Not only that, but many players have revealed their inability to count to two. The following are examples from forums of exactly how much of a skill-tester this card is.

Phrost revealed his misunderstanding of Magic in general by not only suggesting illegal cards to imprint, but also cards that make no sense whatsoever in any format. Evidently Psychic Trance is just so good in his metagame that he’s incredibly anxious to get the opportunity to imprint it. His suggestions:

Annihilate
Beast Attack
Capsize
Congregate

This is Broken:

Cunning Wish
Decree of Savagery
Festival
Opportunity
Psychic Trance
Recoil
Searing Winds
Solfatra
SpellJack
Vitalizing Wind

For those counting at home, there is ONE legal imprint card listed, and it’s FESTIVAL.

Sodent was quick to point out illegal cards that others missed when he said, "Everyone forgot Hymn to Tourach & Sinkhole. Oh this card will be fun..."

Another Random Scrub on MTGnews was quick to point out an easy combo to pull off in T1 (if you cheat): Turn 1: lotus, land. Play this, imprint Time walk. Take infinite turns.

sexxysamurai stated, "You mean I can always have an unlimited amount of Pyroclasms?!?!"

Centuryaven accidentally revealed that his gauntlet of decks is full of tribal based decks that don’t play more than 4 creatures at a time, "It is plain amazing with chocking teathers, cmon that gives blue/white weenie free reign against tribal for about 6-8 turns."

rabidhamster made himself look like a complete fool by posting this utter nonsense, "Actually, the most likely use I can see for this would be to hurt any deck running Exalted Angel or Ravenous Baloth, although the Angel is the most likely target. The easiest way to do this is by using False Cure. It could be an effective sideboard combo which against Mono-White, could prove to be a deciding factor. White would have to use Oblation or splash in order to deal with this. Naturalize is also a likely possibility, but most people see that one happening already. Spy Network also has interesting potential."

Evidently BulldogCountry’s idea of ‘broken’ is gaining seven life per turn with this card, "Heck, even Healing Salve or Hero's Reunion! Hero's Reunion costs only two mana and gives you SEVEN life. So, you could gain SEVEN life per turn! Gross!"

Iceheart Omnis was quick to point out quite the illegal combo, "Has anybody realize the broken power of Rewind + Isochron Scepter? 2 mana, counter target spell plus untap 4 lands, so you may actually gain mana from countering a spell, this is as close to Mana Drain as Type II may get. I can only dream of the evils this card will unleash in Extended or Type I."

Trav demonstrated his utter lack of understanding of anything the card does when he made this statement, "You guys aren't reading the text properly. This card isn't so good. it allows you to COPY the imprinted card when it is played. Everyone is acting like you can imprint Counterspell, then have a free Counterspell every turn there-after. sorry, you are wrong. You imprint a card, say Boomerrang, when you play this. Then, whenever you or your opponent play Boomerang in the future, you may tap the scepter and pay 2 to make a copy. This card isn't so good unless your deck is focused around it or as a sideboard card for a mirror match involving low cost instants."

Yet ANOTHER Random Scrub from MTGnews revealed an interesting combo with the Scepter without paying any heed whatsoever to that little ‘2’ by the tap symbol, "imprint Twiddle on the Scepter. Tap the scepter - a copy of Twiddle is on the stack. When it resolves untap the scepter. Repeat N times. Play Brain Freeze. Target opponent has to draw Nx3 cards."

Thinking Man observed that the September banning of Entomb and the creation of this card may be linked. After all, entombing every turn for 2 is pretty unfair, "Could this be one of the reasons entomb was banned?"

Psymon insisted that this card is going to be absolutely broken when he imprints such heavy hitters as Reckless Charge and Wirewood Pride.

Finally, unhealthyhabits stated his disdain for the prospect of off-blue counterspelling while demonstrating his inability to type. In his defense, Squirrel’s Nest is so similar to a 2cc instant that I almost tried it, too:

can somoen send me the link they saw this at becouse this si just too broken its sickining. these so many more cards other than counterspell and lightinign bolt that thsi makes a uber broke combo with. you dont evben need to play blue to have infanate counterslpells in any deck.

lifeburst
giant groth
pyroclasm (gg elf,goblin,sombie,maby even white wheenie)
any card drawing.
diabolit edict.
squirrls nest

It seems that Wizards has finally listened to those players sick of losing luck based games against idiot opponents. They have not only come up with an interesting mechanic, but an interesting mechanic that will punish bad players by dq-ing them and their illegal attempts at ‘combos’ right out of the tournament. Gone are the days when one could ignore the text box and just play the fattest creature. Well, 8th Edition drafting still happens online, so scratch that.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!