[Single Card Discussion] Read the Runes in Slaver

[Sytupal]

No matter what the build includes, this card seems solid.  Whether playing Smemnarch or Control Slaver this solid draw card gives you cards you may need along with a pitch of artifacts into the graveyard.

As a wish target or a maindeck draw card, does Read the Runes deserve some credit or at least some testing in these decks?  

I'm urging current players of any version of slaver to contribute along with anyone else who may have some useful input.

[Rico Suave]

It's worse than Thirst for Knowledge, draw-7's, FoF, Ancestral, and Brainstorm.  

There is no space.

[Machinus]

[EDIT: @Rico: You posted while I was composing my respose. Sorry if I seem slightly redundant.]

Read the Runes, Instant, XU

Draw X cards. For each card drawn this way, discard a card from your hand unless you sacrifice a permanent



How much mana are you planning on using this at? If you aren't playing workshop slaver, why are you worrying about card choices? And if you are, where are you going to get the mana to make this card effective in the early game? Even breakthrough is better than this card.



Careful Study, Sorcery, U

Draw two cards, then discard two cards from your hand.


Frantic Search, Instant, 2U, RESTRICTED

Draw two cards, then discard two cards from your hand. Untap up to three lands.


Windfall, Sorcery, 2U, RESTRICTED

Each player discards his or her hand, then draws cards equal to the greatest number a player discarded this way.


Wheel of Blue Card Drawing, 2R, Sorcery, RESTRICTED

Each player discards his or her hand and draws seven cards.


Thirst for Knowledge, Instant, 2U

Draw three cards. Then discard two cards from your hand unless you discard an artifact card from your hand.


Fact or Fiction, Instant, 3U, RESTRICTED

Reveal the top five cards of your library. An opponent separates those cards into two piles. Put one pile into your hand and the other into your graveyard.


Breakthrough, Sorcery, XU

Draw four cards, then choose X cards in your hand and discard the rest from it.


Bazaar of Baghdad, Land, Free, Uncounterable, (Possibly Reusable)

Draw two cards, then discard three cards from your hand.



How much draw does one magic player need? These should be in your deck before you think about runes, possibly with the exception of Bazaar making your deck auto-lose to wasteland.

[Justinsane]

i tested read the runes in control slaver a little bit.  It was a great card to throw your drain mana into, but it wasn't better then thirst or brainstorm.  I cut it for FoF.

[Meddling Mike]

The fact of the matter with read the runes is that slaver only has 4 artifacts that it prefers to have in the yard than in hand. So sure, if you happen to read the runes for a couple of cards and have the good fortune to have a few of those in hand, then you're golden, but there simply just isn't that many, and slaver isn't a deck that has an excess of useless permanents, maybe some lands or pentavite tokens in late game, but sacrificing artifacts often times just hurts the slaver lock. Read the Runes is AT BEST slightly better than a thirst, but I'd say probably 95% of the time thirst just gets the job done far better for far less mana. This list is already very tight as it stands, I can't think of anything that I'd want to cut in order to ship in a read the runes. TAL's list is so tightly packed that it doesn't even have a fourth brainstorm or a FoF, two cards I would gladly add before I would ever consider RTR.

[Rico Suave]

The fact of the matter with read the runes is that slaver only has 4 artifacts that it prefers to have in the yard than in hand.

3 Mindslaver
1 Memory Jar
1 Pentavus
1 Memnarch
1 Triskelion
3 Gilded Lotus

I count at least 10, not even counting things in the SB.

I think you're just shooting the idea in the foot with that one.

[Jacob Orlove]

The fact of the matter with read the runes is that slaver only has 4 artifacts that it prefers to have in the yard than in hand.

3 Mindslaver
1 Memory Jar
1 Pentavus
1 Memnarch
1 Triskelion
3 Gilded Lotus

I count at least 10, not even counting things in the SB.

I think you're just shooting the idea in the foot with that one.

Most of those cards are exclusive to wrokshop slaver, where you actually want them in your hand, so that you can play them off the shops.

[Meddling Mike]

I was also talking about control slaver, which typically only runs
2xMindslaver
1xMemory Jar
1xPentavus

So I count four, including the sb.

[Toad]

It's a bad card because a control deck can't afford to run card disadvantage stuff. I'd run Stroke of Genius over this everyday.