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Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day


Image from Wizards.com

Snapback
Time Spiral


Reviewed October 24, 2006

Constructed: 2.51
Casual: 2.21
Limited: 2.66

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating

Click here to see all our 
Card of the Day Reviews 


Jeff Zandi

 5 Time Pro Tour
 Veteran

Snapback
For some reason, every time I play this card, my opponent always seems to need to look at the card carefully. I’m starting to wonder if I’m the only one playing this card in Time Spiral booster draft. While not necessarily a high pick, Snapback is a perfectly credible creature bounce spell that probably makes the cut for virtually every limited deck in which blue is more than just a splash color. I’ve played this card many times, but not once by removing a blue card in my hand from the game instead of paying the mana cost. It is nice that this card has a no-mana alternate casting cost, but it is a feature that is probably more useful in constructed Magic than in limited. Snapback could be a good sideboard card for mono blue control decks that need a way to bounce a creature they are unable to counter.
CONSTRUCTED: 3.0
CASUAL: 3.0
LIMITED: 3.5
 


DeQuan
Watson

* Game Store Owner

Snapback

I'm not a huge fan of "bounce" spells. If you are though, this one has to be the best one. This one lets you use it for free possibly. That's a huge bonus. Lots of neat things can come from this card.

Constructed: 3
Casual: 3
Limited: 3
 

BMoor

Snapback

It's Unsummon for one more mana. Or you can pitch a blue card to it. The alternate mana cost is really helpful if you need to tap out and still retain a level of control, but really two mana isn't too much to ask for to bounce a creature. Not very interesting, but solid.

Constructed- 3.5
Casual- 2.5
Limited- 3
 


Jordan Kronick

Snapback

Unsummon has had nearly as many variations on it as Lightning Bolt over the years. This card is a reference to the Urza's Legacy card Snap. Snap, like it's other land-untapping bretheren, was an unfortunate experiment that produced more powerful combinations than nearly any other mechanic in history. The intention was to produce a 0-cost Unsummon effect. And that's what we have in Snapback. Less powerful than Snap, certainly. But far more reasonable as well. And, most often, you're not going to need to remove a card. But it's a nice option to have for an emergency situation (or just one where your opponent thinks you don't have an answer). It's not a card to build a deck around, but it's always useful.

Constructed Rating - 2.6
Casual Rating - 2.3
Limited Rating - 2.5
 

Nick Tan

Magus of the Scroll

Sorry, but this Magus’ predecessor, the original Cursed Scroll, was way better than this Scroll-on-a-stick. The main problem with this one is that it’s a creature. And a 1/1 at that. That means almost anything can get rid of it. The ability is still random, and if you really want red burn, I will kindly point you in the direction of far better cards like Rift Bolt and Jaya Ballard, the REAL reusable burn. And she’s a hottie, while Magus resembles Doctor Doom- come on, the choice is obvious!

Constructed: 2
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 2
 

KC MetroGnome

Snapback

Anything that can be done for "free" in Magic deserves a good, hard look. It can make a great trick when you're tapped out, as long as you can handle the card disadvantage (or use it to create some disadvantage by putting damage on the stack then returning your blocker). It probably won't make the cut in constructed, where Unsummon has never really been that big, and a free unsommon that costs you 2 cards probably won't be much more popular. In limited, again, this could be a nice trick, but I wouldn't go out of my way to play this. You can find better cards to fill this slot. In casual there are so many bounce spells available with so many special abilities attached that it doesn't really make sense to run this and take the card hit.

Constructed - 2
Casual - 1
Limited - 3
PEZ - 1
 

Aethereal

Snapback

The latest Unsummon variant, and the variant of choice right now in Standard because Unsummon wasn't printed in Ninth. It's significantly worse than previous variants on this ability, though, but it's not that bad. The alternate cost is not worth it in my opinion, as Snapback is a tempo card, and you don't want to be blowing your hand on using it. Stick to Boomerang first, then take a look at this if you need more bounce.

In casual, just play the better versions of this.

In limited, it is a fairly versatile card, and at its worst, it can slow your opponent's bomb creature for a turn. I'd play it if I got it, but I wouldn't pick it that high.

Constructed - 2
Casual - 1
Limited - 2.5
 
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