Dream Halls – MTG COTD – Throwback Thursday

This is a good example of a card where evaluations have changed quite a lot over the years. For people in 1998, unused to the kind of rules-bending effects we now see regularly in things like Conspiracy and the Commander supplements, it looked pretty useless at first reading. Then someone pointed out that the Mirage block, immediately preceding Tempest and Stronghold, contained the Squandered Resources-Prosperity combo, and so you might indeed have lots of cards in hand that share a color and a way to get lots more. It was considered actively broken for a long time after that, although its use in high-tier “unfair” decks has declined over time. It turns out a lot of people in those settings don’t like having to discard cards to get their effect, but Dream Halls is always worth building around. Apart from the obvious cool factor and the undeniable fact that all cost-reduction effects are dangerous, the alternate cost does send cards to your graveyard in decks hat care about that – and the symmetry means that it causes crazy and fun things to happen at multiplayer tables.

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 2/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
EDH/Commander: 4/5