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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
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Image from Wizards.com |
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Library of Alexandria
Arabian Nights
Reviewed January 23, 2004
Constructed: 4.7
Casual: 4.4
Limited: 3.2
Ratings are
based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ...
average.
5 is the highest rating
Click here to see all
our
Card of the Day Reviews
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Chris
Gerhardt
*
game store owner in CA,
ShuffleAndCut.com |
I've said it
before, and I'll say it again... card draw wins
games. Library affectively keeps your hand
size up, and rewards you for doing so, and helps
you keep it that way. Library is awesome and
highly sought after. Often though of as the 10th
card of the Power 9 set, it can easily demand
prices of $100 and up, depending on condition.
And, oh yeah, Card Draw is good in casual too,
though I don't know how casual a $100 card is.
And if any of you
would like to sponsor me in an Arabian Nights
limited event, please feel free. ;) And
speaking of limited events... Take a peek at the
Darksteel Rares. The full spoiler is out and
circulating, and I had to set up my eBay auctions,
so feel free to check out the fun stuff.
There are some pretty fun casual cards, including
a huge 11/11, a counterspell that can't be
countered, a Dragon, an Angel, a savage beating, a
6/6 Golem that gets bigger every turn, and a 4/5
Legend that can turn any permanent into an
artifact and then steal it. Check the
Rare List here! But if you don't
want to know before Saturday, don't peek! ;)
Constructed:
5
Casual: 5
Limited: 4.8
Current Price: $Lotsa |
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Judge
Bill
*Level 2
MTG Judge
*game store employee
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A little story
before my review: When I get the cards for the
week, I go to the Card of the Day page to see if
they have already been reviewed. If they have,
I'll cut and paste the review, along with a
little touch-up if my opinion has changed for
some reason. (See Wednesday's review, which is a
repeat of a review we did on 25 Feb 03. That is
a little more new material than you'd typically
see, since it didn't come up the first time I
hit "Find.")
So I see we reviewed
this only 2 months ago, and click the link to
the review.
One problem: The
review was on a Monday.
Back during that
time, I got really lax on turning in my reviews
until Tuesday, with my first article of the
week. So I haven't reviewed this yet. Oh well,
time to start.
Lesse, as the 10th
card of the "Power 10," this really shines
during the early game. Drop it turn one using a
control deck, and it is like your own personal
Howling Mine. Not for use in every deck, of
course, but if you expect to have a full hand
most of the time, you'll want to play this.
I won't even bother
with casual or limited ratings. Hardly anyone
pays $100+ for a card for a casual deck, and I
doubt I ever get the chance to play Arabian
Nights limited.
Constructed - 4
Casual - N/A
Limited - N/A
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DeQuan
Watson
* game store owner (The Game Closet - Waco,TX)
* pro tour player
* Scrye writer since 2002 |
Library of
Alexandria
I know that some
people are going to send me hate mail, but I
can't rate this card any better than a four I
think. It's a good card. It's a staple in LOTS
of type one decks. But it is a bit situational,
and it doesn't generate a game winning effect on
its own. Good, but not great.
In casual play, this
card doesn't seem to have a whole lot of value
at all honestly. Of all the different ideas for
fun decks I can think of, I don't see The Great
Library making its way onto any of those
decklists.
In limited play, I
would play the card if my deck was slow, to help
me run through cards. But otherwise I
wouldn't. Truth be told though, it's from
Arabian Nights, so I don't think that drafting
with the library is going to be an issue any
time soon.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 1.3
Limited: 1.3
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Andy
Van Zandt |
Library of Alexandria
Right, uncounterable ways to draw cards with no
mana cost associated? Sign
me up.
Constructed 4.9
Casual 4.7
Limited 4.7
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Ray
"Monk"
Powers
* Level 3 DCI Judge
*DCI Tournament Organizer
*Game Store Owner (Gamer's Edge) |
Library of Alexandria
Ah, the mother of all
card draw engines. I know, Ancestral and Howling
Mine and such came first, but Library was the glue
that held the early control decks together,
keeping their hands filled with counters and ready
to smash the face of any agro player. A joy to
have in any game, its only loss of worth being in
limited only if you drew it late game.
Casual: 1
Constructed: 5
Limited: 4
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Jason
Matthews
* Level 1 DCI
Judge
*game store employee
* gaming for over 15 years |
Library of
Alexandria I was
really happy when I saw that we were going to
review a card that is as good as the Library but I
then I ran into a problem. When a card is as good
as this what can you really say that isn’t
painfully obvious. This card is on of the best
lands ever printed. It came to life in a time when
research and development was even close to what it
is today. Imagine if you can what it was like to
actually have the ability to have four of these in
a deck. I get chills just thinking of all the
cards you could draw with this. If you take away
the mana ability this card would still be awesome.
If it came into play tapped and you lost a life
every time you tapped it, yes it would still be
awesome. If you can get it for your deck, you just
have to play it. Pro Tour player Mike Long once
said it best when he used the phrase “SUM GOOD”
andaths this card in a nut shell.
Constructed 5
Casual 5
Limited 5 |
Jonathan
Pechon
2 Grand
Prix Top 8's
Multiple Pro Tour
appearances |
Library of Alexandria
If you don’t know
that this card is good in any non-aggressive deck,
you haven’t been playing Magic long enough. “Tap
one land, draw one card,” without any sort of real
expenditure of a card is so far above the modern
power-curve that it’s ridiculous. Being able to do
it over and over again in this way is just broken.
We’ll probably never see a card of this power
again.
I’ve never played
this card in limited; I don’t think there are many
that have, unless you count Mental Magic or draft
from a Big Box (ask about those if you don’t know
what they are and are interested). Staying at
seven cards after the early game isn’t terribly
easy, and can lead you to falling too far behind
to be able to survive. Get it active, though, and
it shouldn’t be possible to lose.
See my above
remarks regarding constructed for casual play.
They still apply here.
Constructed: 5.0
Limited: 4.0
Casual: 5.0 |
Jeff Zandi
4 Time Pro Tour
Veteran
Level 2 Judge |
Library of Alexandria
It feels funny to review one of the most amazing
cards of Magic's past. This
card is a lock for the Magic: The Gathering Hall
of Fame. This card is so
broken, that even though I've been playing Magic
from the VERY START, I
don't even remember a time when this card was not
restricted. This card is
so good it belongs in every deck in every format
where it is allowed. Of
course, that's only Type I/Classic. Just for you
guys that never got to
enjoy this card in a deck of your very own, here's
how it goes: You drop
this land on turn one. If you have seven cards in
hand, tap it to draw a
card, then play one of your zero casting cost
cards. This is Type I, trust
me, you have some of these! If not, wait until
your opponent's turn and then
tap the Library and get your card. If you have six
cards, wait until you
draw a seventh card, then, before you play a land
or another card, you tap
the Library and get another card. It's just
endless. It was always fun to
figure when you were ready to STOP using the
card's effect because you were
drawing TOO MANY cards or because you needed to
empty your hand. I'm
babbling a little because reviewing Library of
Alexandria, to me, is like J
Lo asking you to get something out of the back
pocket of her shorts.
CONSTRUCTED: 5.0
LIMITED: 4.5
CASUAL: 4.5 |
Jason
Chapman |
Library of Alexandria
is one of the strongest cards ever made although
abusing it is not always apparent. Control decks
or other decks with strong card drawing potential
make it very dangerous. Before being banned in PEZ
this card was critical to the success of Wall
decks that included Quicksilver Dagger.
Constructed - A very
powerful card in the right deck - 4.35
Limited - Not open
to abuse here - 2.00
Casual - Can be a
lot of fun if used in unforseen ways - 4.00 |
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Chase |
Library of Alexandria
Here’s a lesson that I
learned when I played with this card: whenever I
had LoA in my opening hand, I won the game. Ta dah!
In Casual, it’s
good but I wouldn’t want to pay $100 for a card
that I probably won’t use.
In Limited…… ya
know, I just came back from an AN draft……. I’m
broke.
Constructed:
9999999999999
Casual: 1 (just because of availability)
Limited: does it really matter? |
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Spooks |
Library of Alexander
Once mroe, let me
point out to you that I am a n00b. I havent
understood this card, despite the fac that I
have known about it even longer than I have
played magic! (I owned the microprose computer
game since it came out). Sure, its card
drawing, but , you can't use the cards if you
wanna keep on using the ability! So I don't get
it. Don't worry, once again, I am sure my
fellow reviewers will save face for me again by
explaining to everyone how it works!
Constructed rating -
? No clue.
Limited rating -
100. Pick it. It's worth a lot!
Much hype over silly
card rating - 100
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Danny Tatro |
Library of
Alexandria
If the power 9
was to have another slot added to it to make it
the power 10, this would most likely be the 10th
part of the power. A great card all in all, you
can't ask for a much better land. This thing has
seen a ton of constructed play in type 1.
In limited this
probably wouldn't be as good, since you dont
keep 7 cards in hand constantly. However if
drafting "keep what you pick style" I'd
definetly celebrate opening this thing, and take
it windmill slam style.
Constructed: 5
Casual: 5
Limited: 1.5
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