Just like yesterday's card, this needs to exist
because the Gods of Theros exist and are
indestructible. Nothing in Magic: the Gathering
is without an answer-- not Gods, not
planeswalkers, not even Split Second. This one
is slightly more interesting because it puts its
target back into its owner's deck, where he or
she might draw it again at some point. But the
odds of that happening are sufficiently low
(even in a format with Scry) and the time it
would take to re-cast it significant enough that
this is as good as exiling it in most cases.
So this is basically the green version of
yesterday's card? In the same set? If I hadn't
made that comment about sets full of obvious
targets yesterday, I'd make it now. This one is
perhaps less powerful in the strictest sense of
the word, but let's be honest about it: we've
had years to play with these sorts of shuffle or
into-library effects, and how many times have
you really seen them re-draw the exact same
card? And that's even worse in singleton
formats!
Today's card of the day is Unravel the Aether
which is a two mana Green instant that shuffles
target artifact or enchantment into the owner's
library. Aside from rarity this is the
same as Deglamer and is a very powerful removal
option for Green as it works on Indestructible
making it useful as an alternative to
Naturalize. It will see play, particularly
in sidedecks and Commander, and may become a
frequent sight if enchantment creatures are
popular in Standard or Modern.
In Limited this is an obvious choice to include
when running Green as one of the few removal
options available and one that can dismiss a
god. In the format it is a bit more likely
to see the card played again when compared to
the larger decks in Constructed, but even
placing a card from play on top of the
opponent's deck is useful and this can
effectively remove something from the game.
A solid second or third pick in Booster and
automatic inclusion when running or splashing
Green in Sealed.
Today's card is very similar in effect to
yesterday's card (Revoke Existence) in that it
gets rid of artifacts and enchantments. Because
of that fact alone, it's going to be useful with
the plethora of enchantments out there. While
both of these cards are similar, let's look at
when you might want to use each one (aside from
the obvious issue of which colors are you
running).
Unravel the Aether is instant speed so you
can get rid of the problem permanent immediately
or at the end of your opponent's turn for
maximum efficiency. The problem is that you only
shuffled it into their library, meaning it could
rise to wreak havoc again. Unless you're playing
a long, drawn out game, the chances of this are
small, so it's usually a worthwhile drawback.
Revoke Existence is better if you are playing a
long game or your opponent has ways to search
their library and get their card back.
Seem similar to yesterday's card? Today we have
the other really good option in artifact and
enchantment removal.
Unravel the Ęther has a few pros and a few cons
over its competitors. Being an instant is great,
letting you use it as a combat trick or just
saving your mana for the end of your opponent's
turn. But instead of destroying or exiling, it
chooses a very different and somewhat
interesting plan of attack.
Sending something back into the library will
definitely get it off the field, that's for
sure. It's gone. But for how long? Could be one
turn. Could be the whole game! And therein lies
the uncertainty, it's a bit of a random roll of
the dice. Now statistically, they probably won't
get it back soon, if at all. But what's also
interesting is even if they do draw it again,
they've now wasted a draw for something they
already had already drawn before. Although
"wasted" may be a bit of a strong word; if
you're casting Unravel the Ęther on it, it's
probably something dangerous you wanted very
much to get rid of.
Exile is definitely better than shuffle into
library, no question. But is returning it to the
library better or worse than the standard
"destroy" you'd get from Naturalize? Well, even
with the risk of your opponent getting their
dangerous card back, Unravel the Ęther can get
rid of indestructible things, and Naturalize
can't.
And that's pretty much in a nutshell. If you
want the sure thing, but slightly slower, then
run Revoke Existence. If you want the speed and
combat trick potential, then run Naturalize. But
if you want something sort of in the middle,
which has the best of both worlds but with the
additional risk that it might not be a permanent
fix, then you run Unravel the Ęther. It all
depends on the following question: Do you like
to live... dangerously?
Thanks for reading my first week of card
reviews! I hope you've been enjoying what I have
to say, and I'm looking forward to bringing you
many more breakdowns of the pros and cons of all
sorts of Magic cards!
