After twelve years and three thousand Cards of
the Day, here we are: talking about one of the
first Magic cards, for the first time on this
section of the site. It was also one of the
first to be recognized as a "power" card; the
only thing that held it in check was that not
everyone owned one. Of course, the advent of
tournaments and the attendant scene changed
everything - take some time to think about that
when you're done reading this page.
From a pure math point of view, Ancestral
Recall's game text is amazing - consider that
your starting hand is seven cards. When you
start from using one card to draw half of a
starting hand and add the fact that it does it
for one mana, letting you cast things you drew
in the same turn, and that it's an instant and
can be snuck in at a time that's convenient for
you, it's clear why it's so coveted and
sometimes so dangerous. Like Time Walk, it's one
of the most-imitated and most-tweaked cards in
Magic, even to the present day - literally every
blue draw spell, including those that were less
than half the power level but still dominated
Standard scenes, owes its existence to Ancestral
Recall. Iconic, powerful, controversial, and
imitated: Ancestral Recall has done a great deal
to shape this game we call Magic.
Today's card of the day is Ancestral Recall
which is a one mana Blue instant that has target
player draw three cards. A one mana
instant that draws three cards with no in game
drawbacks is pretty much the definition of a
five star card and why it, along with the other
eight members of the power nine, last saw print
almost twenty years ago.
There are very few situations where having this
is not a benefit and the ease of casting
combined with the advantage given make it one of
the top cards ever printed.
This card still makes me shake my head every
time that I read it. The idea of drawing 3 cards
for one blue mana is just ridiculous! I find it
very hard to review Ancestral Recall because it
doesn’t feel like a real Magic card. Ancestral
Recall is obviously one of the greatest cards
ever printed, but it feels more like a
developmental mistake. Don’t get me wrong, I’m
super happy that they took some chances and made
mistakes because Magic the Gathering has become
the best CCG in the world. I’d love to have a
play set of Ancestral Recalls but that will
never happen because this card is too POWERFUL
to reprint. If this review has enticed you to go
out and buy Ancestral Recall, pick a few up for
me while you’re at it.
