Though this card has long gone out of style
Its effect is especially vile
As you play the intruder
to pre-empt their tutor
With proactive resource denial
When something like this is in tandem
with other mill cards that aren't random
Your opponents lose hope
as you reduce the scope
Of their bombs and their chances to land 'em.
Though at four and two mana to use it,
You must think if you're going to choose it,
If it's not in a deck
built around such effects
then it's dead weight and you ought to lose it.
I've always held an appreciation for Jester's
Cap. The first one I ever encountered was the
Ice Age version, and in a casual environment
where people often didn't own more than one or
two of their best cards, it was not only
devastating but rather transgressive. (Much
later, I learned that competitive decks of that
era were actually often the same - even Brian
Weissman only played two Serra Angels and a
Fireball to go with all his Moxes and
Counterspells!) Nowadays, people sometimes say
that six mana is a lot to pay for a card that
doesn't do your laundry when it comes into play,
but don't be fooled - depriving your opponent
of the three best cards in their deck at the
right time of a game can be the difference
between staying on top and getting thrown down.
I must also say, even in a period of my hobby
when I've been reading up on Abe Sargent's
Commander 95 variant, and those crazy but
awesome Swedish guys who invented the 93/94
Constructed format, this card got better art in
the Ninth Edition than in Ice Age. The guy with
the hat is iconic, but the card's high impact
and looming menace are better illustrated by
that grinning offspring of Harley Quinn and
Kefka Palazzo.
Today's card of the day is Jester's Cap which
is a four mana artifact that for two is tapped
and sacrificed to search target player's library
and exile three cards. The cost is a
little high for the faster formats, but it is
excellent at both learning and disrupting an
opponent's strategy by removing key components.
It works well in the sidedeck against combo
designs and overall is a decent manipulation
card that still sees some play in Modern and
Commander.
In a Limited format where this is available it
can be a serious threat that can pre-remove most
of an opponents best cards that remain in their
deck. In particular it can exile the outs
that would be the draws needed to handle your
own threat, such as removal or a creature that
can block evasive. The potential to be
used in response to the current board state and
colorless nature makes this a very strong
addition to any Sealed deck and top choice in
Booster.
