Hype A Card Makes Does Not

[Space_Stormy]

-Twincast- Instant- UU
Copy target instant or sorcery spell. You may choose new targets for the copy


Fork in color.  Not that amazing when you think about it. This card has been hyped that it will destroy Vintage (T1) but I feel they are wrong.  UU for 3 cards (6 if it is your own Ancestral) is not that amazing when you think of where it will go in a deck.  Imagine even control decks like this control slaver variant:

"Goth Slaver"

5 Island
2 Flooded Strand
1 Library Of Alexandria
2 Polluted Delta
4 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring


1 Pentavus
1 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion
3 Goblin Welder
4 Accumulated Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
3 Cunning Wish
4 Force Of Will
2 Intuition
4 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Read The Runes
3 Thirst For Knowledge
3 Chalice Of The Void
1 Mindslaver
2 Deep Analysis
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker


Sideboard:
1 Jester's Cap
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Duplicant
2 Blood Moon
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fire / Ice
1 Gush
1 Misdirection
2 Rack And Ruin
1 Read The Runes
1 Rushing River
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Starstorm

That decklist is very tight.  Where would you find room for a card
that does nothing on its own?  I am not saying it is a bad card, I am
just warning that hype does not make the card playable.  (Remember
Forgotten Ancient?  I remember when they were worried about power
concerns and we had a choice of making it a 0/1 for 1GG or the 0/3 for
3G.  Not only is the previous better, it would have been able to be
played turn 2 most of the time, making it bring able to at least
attack for a little damage on turn 3.  Just goes to show you that
casual players really ruin the game for tournament players.  Before I
get back on topic, just remember that Glorious Anthem won over Crusade
in the 8th ed vote and all WW players died a little inside)

This is very limited and does not deserve the $15 price tag that SCG gives it.

-Pithing Needle- Artifact- 1
 As Pithing Needle comes into play, name a card.
Activated abilities of the named card can't be played unless they're mana abilities

Hoser?  Try super hoser x10 with a great cost and a crippling effect.  I feel that all formats will want to run at least 3-4 sideboarded easily.  It really deserves the $20 people will shell out for it.  Think of what it stops that are large problems is every format:

Vintage (Type 1): Goblin Welder, Wasteland, Strip Mine, Gorilla Shaman, Skullclamp and so many more


As you can see, this is the best card in the set.  So, for two sets in a row, the chase/best rare is an artifact.  Turns out they still haven’t gotten over Mirrodin.

Ideas Unbound- Sorcery-Arcane-UU:
Draw three cards. Discard three cards at end of turn.

Oh yeah, it’s awesome.  The only problem is the cost.  UU is hard for decks like Meandeck Tendrils and other combo decks that are struggling to find enough mana to keep going (basically, every Tendrils combo deck in Vintage)  But in other formats, it is awesome.  Madness is tempting, but once again, the UU is restrictive for a deck wanting 2G to play its most powerful card

-Sammy a.k.a. Flores in training, a.k.a. Aspiring Player/Writer, a.k.a. Scrub.

[Shade]

- Pithing Needle is amazing.  There's no denying that.  That doesn't mean that Twincast can't be amazing as well.
- Just because Twincast might not find a home in Goth Slaver, again, does not mean that it won't be used in any deck.  It could very well spawn it's own archetype.  Time will tell.
- A UU Ancestral would be a 4-of in EVERY deck in Vintage that even thinks about running blue.

[Revvik]

a) you gotta find the Ancestral first.
b) who in their right mind said Twincast would destroy Vintage?
c) and why would you run it in "Gothenburg" Slaver?

Pithing Needle seems to be a helluva strong piece of disruption, but like Meddling Mage, it'll take skill and knowledge of your opponent and his deck / strategy.

For example, Pithing Needle against Psychatog:
You: Pithing Needle naming Psychatog!
Opponent: Whatever, kid.  When I'm ready to win I'll remove it, until then you can have your $20 toy.

This goes for just about any control deck out there.  Naming Goblin Welder against Control Slaver?  "Tinker."  Name Mindslaver?  Pentavus is probably better than the aggro-control deck you're running, and since you didn't name Goblin Welder, he'll be back again and again and again.

The best application so far is to cut off the fetchlands, so long as you don't neuter your own.  Needle names Polluted Delta when your deck runs Flooded Strand = good, but not when your opponent runs Strands, or (as Severance Belcher usually does) 2 of each. 

Orlove's U/G fish variant can utilize this really well, since even if you have to call your own fetchlands, no card in his deck is ever really dead (+1/+1 to Mongrel is never really dead).
Strangely enough, I can also see Oath making some use out of this card, since all they have to do is stall for time until they get a couple swings in with their flyers.

[Jacob Orlove]

The best use of Pithing Needle seems to be not cutting off fetches, but wastes. Dragon likes keeping Bazaars on the table, for example.

[mr_rogers]

Regarding Twincast, I do believe the card is over-hyped.  The card will see play though because blue is the most played color and copying A. Recalls is fun for people.  I personally would rather misdirect the Recall, netting me the cards and cutting my opponent off.

  Regarding Pithing Needle, I agree the card is best used to hose Wasteland and Bazaars.  All the other cards I've really heard mentioned get hosed by Null Rod or Chalice of the Void.  I mean if I'm playing Fish or BS against Control Slaver I would much rather drop an early Null Rod than a Pithing Needle. Null Rod shuts down every artifact in that deck except Plat Angel, which the needle could not stop either. If I name Goblin Welder against CS then they Tinker out Pentivis or Mindslaver, I lose.  So as a defensive card in Dragon or against waste/strip/crucible lock I think Pithing Needle has great potential, but as a replacement for Null Rod or chalice in aggro decks I just can't see that really working too well.

[Ben Kossman]

Has anybody thought about what happens when you Twincast Ideas Unbound ? I think we'll see a resurgence in High Tide
or Mono-U Trix or even Replenish.

[KrA0nS]

a) you gotta find the Ancestral first.
b) who in their right mind said Twincast would destroy Vintage?
c) and why would you run it in "Gothenburg" Slaver?

Pithing Needle seems to be a helluva strong piece of disruption, but like Meddling Mage, it'll take skill and knowledge of your opponent and his deck / strategy.

For example, Pithing Needle against Psychatog:
You: Pithing Needle naming Psychatog!
Opponent: Whatever, kid.  When I'm ready to win I'll remove it, until then you can have your $20 toy.

This goes for just about any control deck out there.  Naming Goblin Welder against Control Slaver?  "Tinker."  Name Mindslaver?  Pentavus is probably better than the aggro-control deck you're running, and since you didn't name Goblin Welder, he'll be back again and again and again.

The best application so far is to cut off the fetchlands, so long as you don't neuter your own.  Needle names Polluted Delta when your deck runs Flooded Strand = good, but not when your opponent runs Strands, or (as Severance Belcher usually does) 2 of each. 

Orlove's U/G fish variant can utilize this really well, since even if you have to call your own fetchlands, no card in his deck is ever really dead (+1/+1 to Mongrel is never really dead).
Strangely enough, I can also see Oath making some use out of this card, since all they have to do is stall for time until they get a couple swings in with their flyers.

If you name ToG anytime before it comes out then may god have pity on your soul, make sure you have Counters and then play it when ToG is out.  Pithing Needle is only a toy in the hands of idiots, like someone naming Mox Emerald when they have 4 other Moxen out.  Pitihing Needle will see maindeck play in Fish most likly just because it can be an annoyence to most decks.

[Revvik]

"Activated abilities of the named card can't be played unless they are mana abilities."

...

So, anyone naming Mox Emerald would be making a bigger mistake than naming Psychatog (You did catch that, correct?  The whole point of my Psychatog example was to illlustrate an incorrect choice.  Just making sure you caught that  )

The whole point is to use the Needle to make sure their kill condition won't be possible before you can kill them.  Hence, naming fetchlands or something else detrimental to their speed.

[Space_Stormy]

Between Twincast, Ideas Unbound and the slowing down of the format.  I really think that High Tide could become viable.  But that is just wishful thinking.  The fact that the deck cannot go off turn 1 and struggles to go off turn 2 (with like, 5-7 high tides cast in one turn) really makes these cards nit worth it. 

Another point, do you think that frantic search needs to be restriced anymore?  The only reason why it was is that fect it could untap academy.  Now that the dark age of academy is long gone, many of the core cards are now unplayble and are now just chaff on the restricted list. (my case in point: http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/7699.htm)
l
Examples include:

Frantic Search
Mind Over Matter
Time Spiral
Crop Rotation (Fetching Strip Mine might be too good though)

(case #2: http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/8443.html)

That should be enough to go on.

[Methuselahn]

I'm not sure about unrestricting Crop Rotation, especially with Frantic Search.  You are just asking for the return of the academy 'dark ages.'  1cc tutors are dangerous unrestricted.

[Hidden-Leaf]

Bah, lol, Im just happy that Starter is gonna be legal  yes Grim tutor YES imperiral seal!!

[Revvik]

I'm not sure about unrestricting Crop Rotation, especially with Frantic Search.  You are just asking for the return of the academy 'dark ages.'  1cc tutors are dangerous unrestricted.

Worldly Tutor is dangerous as well.
But yeah, unrestricting Crop Rotation AND Frantic Search would be WotC's way of saying "we hate you."

[xrizzo]

But yeah, unrestricting Crop Rotation AND Frantic Search would be WotC's way of saying "we hate you."

Why so negative?  WotC has done an excellent job keeping the format balanced through all the crying and moaning on this website.  When trinisphere was restricted, everyone was screaming about combo summer.  Then people remembered that control beats combo...

Sure, unrestricting them both at the same time would make some people re-consider academy.dec, and maybe it would be broken.  Is there any hint this would happen?  Is there any reason to think WotC is looking for ways to say 'we hate you?'

Edit: I didn't take it that way Combo Dude, but after considering what you wrote, I see where he was coming from.

[combo_dude]

No, he's not saying that; Space_Stormy brought in something about unrestrictions (I'd say that it was roughly two weeks late, but maybe that's only me), Revvik said something that meant, in short, NO. Unrestricting broken cards = "We hate you" = "We've done a really good job with the format for the last few years since it got big, now we're going to wreck it for you again by making combo completely broken and, what's more, it'll be easier to play than Long". I don't think Revvik thinks it's going to happen, or else he wouldn't be disagreeing with Space_Stormy, would he?