Aggressive Mining

[Protoaddict]

In the situation you just listed, why is this card better than other draw cards this deck has access to? I realize they all have different ups and downs but lets take the assumption your on R/G/W Beats.

Sylvan library is probably a better over all card both for drawing and selection in the long run, but it does have a built in limitation where you don't want to get multiples of them, so I would assume you are using that first right?

If your objective is to just draw into new action at 4 mana, would Harmonize not be better at that point. You net cards as soon as you play it and since you do not have to sac your lands to do it, any new copies you draw would be castable. That being said its probabaly not playable at 4 mana.

What about Dangerous Wager? It is a risky card, but it is instant speed, and can be cast whenever you run out of juice, be it no cards or dead cards. It once again does not draw you cards for 2 turns straight and refill you hand, but you can also chain 2 of them on subsequent turns for the same cost as mining and still be able to play lands.

Wheel of fortune. You can draw 7 cards off this, without any land problems, for one less mana. Yes your opponent can get cards too, but you will probably still net way more.

Also, are you playing duals in this deck? it seems like with 3 colors you would want to, which just means that you probably are very vulnerable to strip and wasteland which further reduces the efficiency of this card, plus the no land clause means you probably are not playing your own.

Even in a mono red build, which realistically is the only home I think this card can have, I almost think that you have better options, assuming you need any. Hell depending on what your build is Chandra or past in flames could net you more gas.

[vaughnbros]

Agreed with the second post if you could either activate this multiple times a turn or keep playing lands as normal this might be playable. As is the card is awful.  I need mana to play the extra cards it gives me and this cuts off my mana supply.  It'll go down as another card that wizards made the drawback a little too high.

[ben_berry]

Maybe if you were forced to sac it when you had no more lands.

[Tha Gunslinga]

Skullclamp just called.  It wanted to remind you that it's still unrestricted, and infinitely better than this in that situation you described, and most others.  Also it sees pretty much zero play.

[fsecco]

Maybe this could work together with Prophetic Flamespeaker for uber drawing.

[evouga]

This card is unplayable, but because of the casting cost, not because of the effect.

Drawing four free extra cards per turn cycle is extremely explosive when you're trying to overwhelm a stabilized opponent with just a few more Lightning Bolts/Fireblasts in something like TMWA.

[Protoaddict]

Don't you think in TMWA wheel would be a better pull at that point, a card that does not see play in that list? 1 for 7 is a bargain when your opponent probably cannot play 5 of the cards they drew because of your hate.

[evouga]

Sure, if Wheel were unrestricted I would test it. As a 1-of it's rather useless since you won't draw it reliably when you need it (in the endgame when you are out of gas and the opponent is on the brink of stabilizing) and filling your opponent's graveyard and hand is far too risky at any other time.

A fixed Aggressive Mining (that costs 1R, say) would have none of these problems.

[Protoaddict]

Right but that does not exist. If your just looking for an end game card to help put the opponent away once they are on lockdown, I contend you would be better off playing something else even if this cost 2 mana. I mean you only would run what 2-3 of this card at most? Why wouldn't you just play:

1 Wheel of fortune
1-2 Reforge the soul (likely to be Miracled since you want to natural draw into it.)

There are honestly probably other cards not listed here that would also still be better. In TMWA wheel is particularly good since you empty your hand very early, lock out your opponent, and can float spirit guide mana. Likewise all these cards are playable to some extent in beltcher/storm, mining is not even remotely.

[Tha Gunslinga]

This card is unplayable, but because of the casting cost, not because of the effect.

Yeah, but the issue I have with this is that if it cost 2 then what?  You drop it with two lands in play, sac both, then what?  You don't have mana to cast stuff, you can't play any more lands, so you lose?

I think this is far more of a double-edged sword than people realize.  It's like a Dark Confidant where you lose three times as much life.  It kind of reminds me of another red card no one plays--Final Fortune.

[evouga]

If your just looking for an end game card to help put the opponent away once they are on lockdown, I contend you would be better off playing something else even if this cost 2 mana. I mean you only would run what 2-3 of this card at most? Why wouldn't you just play:

1 Wheel of fortune
1-2 Reforge the soul (likely to be Miracled since you want to natural draw into it.)

There are honestly probably other cards not listed here that would also still be better. In TMWA wheel is particularly good since you empty your hand very early, lock out your opponent, and can float spirit guide mana. Likewise all these cards are playable to some extent in beltcher/storm, mining is not even remotely.

The TMWA lock is not hard, not even hard-ish. The strategy is to choke off colored mana early, then beat down while your opponent is flat footed. If the game goes too long, your opponent draws outs (typically basic lands) and you lose the advantage. Cards like Wheel of Fortune that give you gas in exchange for *many* chances of your opponent drawing outs are counterproductive, unless they end the game immediately.

Imagine a typical scenario: you are playing against RUG Delver (a very bad matchup, incidentally, and one reason why TMWA does not survive in the current meta), and you managed to stick a Magus of the Moon T1 and Null Rod a few turns later. Your opponent had no basic lands and is down to 10; your opponent eventually Bolted your Magus but a redundant Blood Moon averted complete disaster.

You now have 6 Mountains and a Simian Spirit Guide in play, and no gas in hand. On his turn, your opponent finally finds and plays a basic Island, and passes the turn. With a sinking feeling you untap and draw Wheel of Fortune.

Playing it is unlikely to go well for you. Your opponent could draw
 - Another basic Island, turning on Vendillion Clique and Gush,
 - A basic Forest, turning on Tarmogoyf and Nature's Claim,
 - A blue cantrip to dig for the above,
at which point the game is likely over. I'm not sure what you can hope to draw in your own 7 that will end the game with your remaining three mana. Double Fireblast, or lots of Lightning Bolts, I suppose.

Compare to a hypothetical 2-cost Aggressive Mining. You play it and sacrifice a tapped land. You now have 4 mana and +2 cards, hopefully enough to keep up the pressure on the opponent, and more importantly, you did *not* give him 7 opportunities to draw a second basic land. Your second tapped land will turn into another 2 cards on your opponent's turn, and finally you can float and sac on your next turn. You'll have seen 7 new cards by then -- same as for Wheel -- while having access to more than twice as much mana to play those cards, and denying your opponent 6 free cards.

[MaximumCDawg]

I agree with evouga.

Look, the reason why I started this thread is not that this card is the second coming of Necropotence -- it's not -- but it does something very unique and potentially very powerful at a reasonable mana cost and in a color that basically never gets access to asymmetrical "draw a card" effects.  If you are playing a red deck without access to black and blue, for whatever reason, then this effect is a premium.  I don't know if such a deck will emerge, but this card seems at least worthy of consideration if it does.

I also disagree about the casting cost being restrictive.  Even in TMWA, you're not going to be vomiting this out on turn 1 or 2.  You would play this because, as a topdeck, it supercharges your late game.  That's why costing 4 instead of 2 isn't a huge deal.  It's like Wizards telling you when you're supposed to play this card for maximum effect.

[Protoaddict]

There are tons of novel and unique cards out there that don't see any play. Being unique is not a prerequisite or a qualifier at being playable.

If you want to sacrifice lands and draw cards in a monocolor hatebear deck in vintage, i recommend you go ahead and put together a mono white list that runs Land Tax, Mox diamonds, and Zuran Orb instead of trying to shove this thing into TMWA, because I think it will be more likely to see play than this.

[xouman]

I have played lots of times TMWA and reading I realize how good can be this card in the late game. The problem is TMWA still wants mana to play spells, not being able to play lands is REALLY BAD. This card should be able to destroy itself for a card If the best scenario is to play it when having > 5 lands and use it a couple of times (I'd like to have at least 3 mana sources, but I'd prefer 4), it's poor.

In kitchen tables it will be fun to play it with seismic assault.

[gkraigher]

I do have doubts about this card's place is in vintage, but in modern and legacy burn lists I can see some good applications for this card.  Has anyone tried a straight red burn deck in vintage? 

[evouga]

I do have doubts about this card's place is in vintage, but in modern and legacy burn lists I can see some good applications for this card.  Has anyone tried a straight red burn deck in vintage?

You need some control elements to avoid auto-losing to Shops, dredge, and storm combo, after which your shell starts looking more like TMWA.

A reliable red draw engine would go a long way towards helping the archetype, but this card unfortunately is not quite it.

[vaughnbros]

A reliable red draw engine would go a long way towards helping the archetype, but this card unfortunately is not quite it.

Flamespeaker and Chandra are both recent printings that are reliable draw engines for TMWA.  As Xouman stated aggressive mining has no place in the deck since you usually want at least 4 lands in play at all times.