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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!


Image from Wizards.com

 Blast of Genius
- Dragon's Maze

Reviewed April 23, 2013

Constructed: 2.90
Casual: 3.75
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 2.85

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

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Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Blast of Genius

The comparisons to Sift are unescapable. That said, this is a six-mana spell that is both hand refill and removal. By the time you get to six mana, there's a good chance you'll have played out a good portion of your hand and be ready for a refill. There's also a very good chance that by that point, your opponent will have put something on the table that you want to kill.

The trouble is, we don't know how much damage this will actually do. It's not a random discard, so you can control it somewhat, especially if you already have a card you don't mind pitching in hand. But if you're waiting to see what you draw to decide what you'll pitch, well... I wouldn't, unless I was real desperate.
The problem here is that, at turn six, the card you're most likely to want to discard is an extra land. To get the most damage out of this, you'd have to pitch an expensive spell, just as you're getting in position to actually cast that spell (and more expensive spells tend to be worth more than their converted mana cost in damage). The real killer is that this is obviously intended to run in an Izzet deck, where most of the best instant and sorcery spells have Overload. That means they retain their relevance late into the game, even though their converted mana costs are low. But then, not every card in an Izzet deck is an Overload card. You may end up with an extra copy of Melek, or two copies of this card, after all.

I still think this could be worth it in an Izzet deck, especially if you've got a Goblin Electromancer or two out. If you've already got the card you intend to pitch and see a good target, so much the better, but personally I'd default to aiming it at my opponent, and focus on getting the cards I need. Any damage is a mere lagniappe.

Constructed- 1.5
Casual- 3
Limited- 3
Multiplayer- 2.5

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Blast of Genius
 
I suppose this is the easiest way to design multicolor cards, isn't it? Still, sometimes the simplest way works well, and this is probably one of those times. Traditional card-drawing or damage-dealing cards just perform their one function and don't affect anything else; doing multiple things in radically different categories is the kind of thing we usually go to cards like planeswalkers to do. In their case they give you spell-like and card-advantageous effects while attracting damage away from you; here you gain card advantage and quality advantage while removing a threat or damaging your opponent.
 
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Blast of Genius which is a six mana Blue and Red sorcery that has you draw three cards then discard a card to deal damage equal to that card's converted mana cost to target creature or player. Six mana is fairly high, though manageable in a Blue/Red control and burn build where this has the advantage of being draw and dealing damage. Managing higher cost spells to maximize this can be a problem that is lessened with library manipulation and even discarding another copy of this gains you cards and is efficient on damage alone as a six for six. Overall this will likely see some play in Izzet decks and Commander, but the fairly specialized nature keeps it from having more widespread appeal.

In Limited you may not have a six or higher mana card available to discard, but the draw three and discard one aspect almost gives you the value for your mana by itself. Add in the burn, here more likely used as removal, and you have a very strong uncommon that can warrant a first pick in a weak pack or when already running Izzet. In Sealed there is no reason not to include this in a deck with both colors and it is one of the few higher mana cards that is not negatively impacted by similar cost cards in the mana curve.

Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 4.0
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.0

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

Welcome to another preview of Dragon's Maze here at Pojo.com! Today's card is Blast of Genius. Blast of Genius is an uncommon sorcery that costs four generic, one red, and one blue mana. Blast of Genius says choose target creature or player. Draw three cards, then discard a card. Blast of Genius deals damage to the target creature or player equal to the discarded card's converted mana cost.
While not the best uncommon I have ever seen, I think that Blast of Genius will see some serious play in Modern, Vintage, and Casual formats. After all, there is nothing like discarding Emrakul, the Eons Torn for fifteen damage off of six mana. The main drawback would likely be the six mana cost associated in non-ramping colors. However, cards such as Arcane Melee and Goblin Electromancer sure do help you potentially get this cast for as little as two mana.
In Standard, there really aren't a lot of really high cast spells that would be beneficial to pitch to Blast of Genius. The highest probably being Skarrg Goliath. But, of course, that is a green card.

Limited: 3/5
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Multiplayer: 2/5


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