So, instead, I'm coming back to analyze another preview card. Today I'm going to leer at Whispering Madness.
I REALLY like Cipher. I hope Dimir moves in the direction I think it is moving so that I can play with this at the Gatecrash pre-release.
If this card was printed in an earlier, more wordy time in Magic's past, it'd probably be in tiny font and read something like:
Whspering Madness 2UB
Enchantment-Aura GTC R
-Enchant target creature you control
-When Whispering Madness enters the battlefield, Each player discards his or her hand, then draws cards equal to the greatest number of cards a player discarded this way.
-Whenever Enchanted creature deals combat damage to a player, each player discards his or her hand, then draws cards equal to the greatest number of cards a player discarded this way.
-If Whispering Madness would be sent to the graveyard, exile it instead
Three ideas formed in my mind as I worked to analyze this card:
-First, the spell effect has seen print before, as Windfall
-Second, this really reminds me of the old Ravnica cycle of enchantments that had ETB effects.
-Third, Dimir still has a mill endgame? This...I don't think so... :/
DEMURE?
Mark Gottlieb already said he moved the Dimir away from being heavily mill oriented, so this addresses the third thought.
Back in Urza's saga, a little card called Windfall was printed.
So, the value of cipher, in this card, is a single {B}
Looking at the ratings for Windfall in Urza's Saga and it's two reprintings, the average community score for it was about a 4.6
Most popular comment:
"Were they drunk when they made this block? They printed a near equivalent to time twister[sic] at uncommon, then ended up banning it."
More about WIndfall:
"...it's a great way to get rid of a hand of cards you don't need. And you might even do the opposite to your opponents, who have been stockpiling kill spells or fatties."
"God. This is so powerful. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the cost."
The general idea is that the card becomes broken when you play cheap spells alongside fast mana. Your hand gets smaller quicker than your opponent's. When you cast windfall you draw more cards than your opponent does as you both balance your hands. The hope is too that you cause your opponent to lose cards they were counting on immediately later.
This is not windfall again, though. The primary reason being that the access to fast mana that existed during windfall's time does not existent in Standard, now. The idea behind the use of the card is sound, and can still be applied, but it can't be applied as quickly as before.
This card has a closer resemblence to M12 rare, Jace's Archivist.
At least, now, you get the effect before the body gets removed! :D
This card rated at 3.7/5
Some choice quotes:
"'Lets be bros.'-Mind Over Matter"
"Yikes, Liliana's Caress and a non-restricted Windfall coming soon to casual tables near you!"
"This card combo's[sic] well with any bounce effect really."
When people talked about this card, it was always "Jace's Archivist + <Card Name>! FTW!" I was looking over MTG Salvation's forum about this card being spoiled, and it kind of reads the same way. "Whispering Madness on an Invisible stalker! FTW!" Lordy do I hate reading those kind of assessments for cards! The chance of this happening by turn 4 is 4%. It is 5% on the draw!
I'm probably in no real position to say definitively if this is a great card or not. In the time of Urza's Block there was a lot of fast mana available to blue that does not exist, now. This card will probably have to be played a little bit more fairly, in standard. In a BUG deck I could see it hitting the board on turn 3. I also see this being played a lot more without being ciphered. It still has a powerful effect, but it probably does not need to be repeatable.
When talking about Jace's Archivist, there are a few comments that caution to remember the context of the day of Windfall. Given what Cipher does I can see Gatecrash UB having a fair amount of creatures that you'd want to play Cipher spells to encode onto. In Innistrad UB had a zombies tribal theme. Blue zombies either milled your deck (Armored Skaab) to fill your graveyard or had zombies (Skaab Ruinator) that needed bodies in the graveyard to be cast. There were also two zombies (Gravecrawler, and Skaab Ruinator) that could be cast out of the graveyard. In Innistrad, UG operated with more of a self mill strategy.
I do not know if this a ripe environment for a 4 mana fair windfall. I should probably dissect a windfall deck tomorrow!
My second thought I'll address at a later date.
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