Notion Thief – MTG Card Review – COTD

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

This card amuses me, in a “wry shake of his head” sort of way. Is Consecrated Sphinx not crazy enough? It’s not enough to let yourself drown in card advantage in a blue mirror – we need to basically make Brainstorm and Jace’s Ingenuity have no game text whatsoever? On the other hand, this guy does make for a game-ending shift in momentum and card advantage each time you cast him, and make blue control mirrors oddly fair when both players get him, so we should take advantage of that.

I’m interested in combining Masters 25 cards with Unstable, and not just for the obvious reason that everything has a watermark (Stamp of Approval and Watermarket need even more stuff to do!). I feel like the Agents of S.N.E.A.K. and the Dimir might do some interesting things together . . . 

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 2/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

King Of
Hearts

Dragon’s Maze is arguably the worst set since I started playing so I was looking forward to which “best of the worst” cards would get reprinted. The cards that were chosen were Ruric Thar and today’s card, Notion Thief.

This guy can ruin a few control decks. Having Flash is the cherry on top as you can catch your opponents off guard. Although its hard to run four copies, Notion Thief if a good card to sideboard if you are worried about the control mirror match. I like playing this card in multiplayer because more players means more cards. But wait, how do you draw cards? Wouldn’t your opponents just not cast draw spells? Let me introduce you to my friends Temple Bell and Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, the later of which is also in M25.

If Azor built the maze, not Niv Mizzet, shouldn’t it be called Sphinx’s Maze?

Constructed: 2
Casual: 3
Limited: 2
Multiplayer: 4
Commander (EDH): 3

Notion Thief: also known as Brainstorm’s worst enemy.

Notion Thief is, frankly, not hugely impressive, a 3/1 for 4 mana. The effect, though, is very potent against other decks that want to do obscene things with card-draw spells like Brainstorm and Sylvan Library. This alone gives it a niche in Legacy and Vintage, as a way to stymie the really potent degenerate draw spells. Flash also makes it a better answer, since it’s less-telegraphed as a stop to those spells (even if four open mana suggests something is amiss). It’s a niche card, but it fills a powerful niche to try and make unfair decks play less unfairly.

Constructed: 3
Casual: 3
Limited: 2.5
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander: 4