[ORI] Artificer's Epiphany

[fsecco]

Artificer's Epiphany
2U
Instant
Draw two cards. If you control no artifacts, discard a card.

OMG IS THIS THING REAL? <3

[Sloth]

This card looks worse than Thirst for Knowledge, but it could come close to its power level and there aren't any other instants it can be compared to.

So my guess is that it's borderline playable, but i can't see it making an impact.

[fsecco]

3 mana is a lot today today right? But come on, this is the best Divination ever! It's an instant and can fit a lot like Night's Whisper was fitting right before Dig. I know Dig is waaaaay better than this, but as a card I find this very good. If Dig or Gush were ever restricted, I'd like the position of this card.

[Protoaddict]

Thirst is still usually better because it digs further and you always discard a card, so it is easy to plan around since most decks that want thirst want to discard to get rid of blightsteel.

That being said, these cards are similar enough that I wonder if this is a sign that Thirst may come off the restricted list at some point.

[gkraigher]

I don't know if any of these artificer spells in orgins are going to make the final cut, but I really appreciate Wizard's trying to press the limits.  

This card is a promising sign for future development.  It makes me wonder if another artifact set isn't on the way after Return to Zendikar.  

I like that the blue player now has choices.  Do you want to play a pure control deck in vintage, a quasi combo deck (oath), a pure combo deck (storm), or a creature based deck (mentor, pyromancer)?  This card could push control back to the top in vintage.  

[tito del monte]

I like this a lot - heck, it's instant speed blue draw. We don't treated to that all too often. I could certainly see this slotting into Night's Whispers role in the Dack Slaver decks (which may or may not be viable). Basically, it's good, clean, healthy fun. Nice printing - even it doesn't slot straight into a tier 1 deck right now.

[fsecco]

Yeah, exactly Tito. Of course Thirst is better, but it's restricted. And as I said, this probably won't be that relevant now that we have unrestricted Gush AND Dig. But we can't evaluate cards just on meta, but on what it might do in a world where Gush and/or Dig are restricted. I like it. 99,9% of the time it will just read "Draw 2 cards" anyway.

[diopter]

Blue instant speed draw-2 for 3 mana in Grixis control shells... This is the exact type of card design you really like to see for Vintage.

Don't know if this will be good enough BUT I know it's going to be hugely fun to try, the same way Dark Petition will be.

[xouman]

I think you are overestimating the amount of time you are going to have an artifact in play. Assuming 10 artifacts (more than the average probably) after few turns you have near 20% of chances not to have an artifact in play. Take in mind missteps, chalice and fayden and you will miss from time to time. Well, I miss more than I'd like with thist, and I play about 15 artifacts...

In a world with gushes, ancestral knowledge, thoughtcast, cruise (x1), dtt, standstill... and notions or spirit of the labyrith, this card is playable, but does not seem autoinclude.

[TheWhiteDragon]

Considering you want to PLAY your solomoxcrypt for mana, it is MUCH more likely you'll have an artifact in play than in your hand, making this a +1 where thirst will often be a plus 0 (though filtering 1 card deeper).

[xouman]

Well, considering you have to discard AFTER drawing and not before playing it, it's an advantage for thirst :p I get your point, but playing bomberman I don't have much troubles binding artifacts. Also playing dacks means often I keep unneeded artifacts in hand in case a dack arrives and loots them.

[Protoaddict]

Thirst is also better if your opponent responds with Hurkyls which seems relevant.

[TheWhiteDragon]

If you are playing blue (esp g 2/3), unless your kill is BSC, I doubt you'll run in to a hurks.  The bigger issue I think is in matches vs shops where a chalice @0 has your hand stuffed with useless bling.  I think the card plays situationally different enough to where it's worth running depending on your game plan.  in delver, it's most likely better here than thirst (but AR, BS, Ponder, Preordain, gush, TC and DTT are even better)

[Shax]

I don't think this card alone is enough to fully revive Control Slaver, but with recent reports Control Slaver apparently doesn't even really need another TFK engine.

This certainly does help Vintage as another cheap draw engine that can be Mana Drained into though.

[Space_Stormy]

I am not sure if a draw-2 is really this much to be excited about.

Night's Whisper is good becasue you can cast it off an off-color mox T1, Thirst was amazing because you played it in Goblin Welder decks and wanted to discard artifacts or get rid off excess moxes while digging 3 cards deep.  

I can see the need of wanting instant speed draw when  playing with Mana Drain but we can do better than this.  People are getting excited about this card becasue of the artifact clause but if they just made instant speed Counsel of the Sortami it wouldn't be getting this much buzz.  Keep in mind, if you need to discard an artifact you are not able to which I feel is important.

[tito del monte]

 
I can see the need of wanting instant speed draw when  playing with Mana Drain but we can do better than this.  People are getting excited about this card becasue of the artifact clause but if they just made instant speed Counsel of the Sortami it wouldn't be getting this much buzz.  Keep in mind, if you need to discard an artifact you are not able to which I feel is important.

I actually think the compatibility with Mana Drain is the main factor here and why this could aid a more big-blue oriented shell, where Gush can set back your development and where card quantity is needed to make Dack good. I don't think the lack of discard as per Thirst hurts the card much. Dack is so omnipresent now, that if you cast this end of turn, find a robot, you can loot it away on your main phase no problem.

The card might not seem outrageously powerful, but it does seem to fill a nice little niche right now. With this printing, I can't imagine Thirst getting unrestricted, so it will be interesting to see what it can do. Perhaps it's also the draw spell that helps bridge to Gifts - something that some people felt was missing in the new versions of that deck. 

[xouman]

I was just thinking about gifts. I understand the big difference between    and , but the difference between epiphany and gifts is enormous. And I think people is overestimating the amount of time they would have an artifact in play. Think about tinker and how often you haven't an artifact to sacrifice. Ok, not really often, but happens.