It's a 4/4 flyer for four. Blue doesn't usually
get those without drawbacks. And if you know the
top card of your library, like with Scry, Jace
the Mind Sculptor, or Sphinx of Jwar Isle, it's
a 4/4 for four that draws you a card whenever it
attacks. That's not a downside, that's an
upside! Sure, it could also let your opponent
draw some extra cards, maybe, but you're the guy
playing blue! You've got all the Scry cards!
The other guy won't draw as often as you will,
and you're not taking 4 damage every time you
do, now are you?
I've mentioned before how I like Sphinxes and
how I like the attempts to implement their
fondness for riddles in their rules text. I like
that Conundrum Sphinx has an idea for the second
point that hasn't been done before, per se. It
also seems like an amazingly powerful ability to
give a card, especially when you consider that
this card is only a couple of expansions away
from Jace the Mind Sculptor and in the same set
as all those card with scry.
Today's card of the day is Conundrum Sphinx
which as a four mana 4/4 with Flying for Blue is
surprisingly efficient though the effect has a
potential drawback. For Blue it should be
relatively easy to arrange the top cards of your
own library to know what is coming and add the
extra card to your hand fairly often. Your
opponent may not be so fortunate which will
likely give you an added advantage beyond just
having a four mana 4/4 with Flying. With
the support Blue has available this is a very
solid card that will be seeing play as part of
library manipulation themes next to Augury Owl,
Preordain, Skill Borrower, or Sphinx of Jwar
Isle.
For Limited the effect is a bit weakened by the
nature of the format producing fewer duplicates
and less opportunities to see your library, but
is strengthened by the overall power of just
being a 4/4 with Flying. The odds of your
opponent correctly guessing the top card of
their own library are drastically reduced
minimizing the biggest potential drawback.
There is little reason not to play this card
were it to be in your Sealed pool especially if
the aforementioned Augury Owl and Preordain are
present as well. In Booster this is a very
solid first pick and can be supported with
additional Flying and Scry cards being drafted
with higher priority.
One of the more interesting Blue cards from M11.
It'll see a fair amount of play in some
competitive decks and more in Casual decks or
Sphinx related decks. All around decent effect
and price. Though I personally would not play
it, I'm sure some people will. I'd like to see
this hit hard in more decks but that's more than
likely wishful thinking. Cool late game
Draft/Sealed
