Temple Bell

Despite costing more mana than Howling Mine, I think Temple Bell is better in the kinds of deck that want to let each player draw a card. For one, you get to time the draw so that it happens when you are best poised to take advantage of it. Rather than the age-old problem of letting your opponent draw first, you get the extra card the same time he does and will likely get to play yours first. You can also simply stop tapping the Bell once it has served its purpose. And in multiplayer, Temple Bell is an even stronger tool for playing politics. Tap the Bell in response to a spell that will wreck an opponent, and if that opponent draws an out, you've just earned an ally. Or offer to tap the Bell in exchange for diplomatic immunity, if you think the others will go for it. Just don't make that offer when you've got a Spiteful Visions on the table or otherwise.

Constructed- 2
Casual- 2.5
Limited- 1.5
Multiplayer- 3

Temple Bell
 
At first glance, this looks like a way to flood each player's hand with cards, but in a more fiddly way than older staples like Howling Mine or Font of Mythos. At first glance. When you realize that it gives you an opportunity to turn the numbers back in your favor with Liliana Vess' first ability, or exercise some control over what your opponent is getting with Jace the Mind Sculptor's first ability, it looks a little different. More importantly, it gives you a chance to play politics directly in games with more than two players ("What will you do if I activate it now?").
 
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 2/5
Multiplayer: 3/5

Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Temple Bell
 
Welcome back readers and today's card of the day is the replacement for Howling Mine in M11.  It costs just one more mana and can be tapped to allow you first dibs on the cards drawn. Voltiac Key being reprinted gives us the possibility of an engine. For some reason my gut loves howling mine I suspect there is more potential abuse for Temple bell. In standard any deck that utilized Howling Mine could make good use of this card and Howling Mine has always found a home I think this card will as well. In extended and eternal maybe some broken combo's could be achieved with this card otherwise its a slightly improved Howling Mine and will see as much play. In casual this card is ripe for abuse with Psychic Possession, Underworld Dreams and many more. Definitely a card that will see extensive casual play. In limited unless you build your deck around it, its too symmetrical to be of much use in limited. Overall an interesting take on fixing Howling Mine but in my opinion less flavorful, a Magic player cant have everything I suppose.
 
Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 2.5
Multiplayer: 3.5

Today's card of the day is Temple Bell which replaces Howling Mine in the core set as a card drawing engine for each player in a game.  There are some differences between the two including the higher cost of the Bell, but being able to activate it the turn it comes into play is a big improvement in tempo.  There is no direct way to prevent your opponent from getting a card by tapping the Bell like there was with Mine, but by having them draw on your turn you can play discard effects such as Liliana Vess to take away their gain.  Temple Bell can also be used defensively in the hopes of getting an instant spell that might help against a specific threat or be used to draw an arranged card from a Scry or similar effect.  Overall Temple Bell is a solid artifact that can find homes in Blue, Black, or other decks that want extra cards and either can handle or actively want the opponent to draw more cards as well.
 
For Limited card advantage is a big part of a winning strategy and this works well as far as gaining cards for yourself, but the options for dealing with the added cards your opponent gets are less common.  If the pool supports it this may be worthwhile, but you are paying three mana and the initial card played to increase the draw power of both sides which means the playing field has to be in your favor first.  A difficult first choice in Booster, but as an artifact easily placed into any deck created from later draws.  In Sealed this can be played in any deck or left in the sidedeck depending on your pool and your own personal style.  The timing of use is the biggest advantage you can gain here barring a lucky draft, but in the right builds this is a powerful resource.
 
Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 4.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 4.0