Okay, so you can't hit lands with it. Fine. And
you can't hit anything that costs more than 3?
Well, alright I guess. I mean, if I'm playing
this turn one, then my most immediate concern is
what my opponent plans to do on turn two or
three, right? And besides, some of the most
threatening spells in Magic aren't the enormous
creatures, but the support spells. Doom Blade.
Path to Exile. X spells. Pretty much every
counterspell worth playing has cost 3 or less,
with the exception of Rewind, Cryptic Command,
and Dismay. Pretty much every combat trick as
well-- once you start getting into Neck Snap
territory, you're broadcasting your intent by
leaving so much open, so all the tricks that see
the most play cost 3 or less. The utility
creatures, like Noble Hierarch, Enclave
Cryptologist, or Goblin Guide are all cheap, and
if you strip one of those out of your opponent's
hand fast enough, you can throw off their flow
and buy yourself a few extra turns to work your
magic.
My biggest complaint is that if you're going to
draw this card early enough for it to nab
something good, you need to run four in your
deck. But at the same time, it's a lousy topdeck
in the late game, and if you're running four,
you're almost guaranteed to see one after their
usefulness has waned. But the same could be
said, I suppose, for Birds of Paradise and Elite
Vanguard, and people love those.
This is a very interesting card. It looks very
appealing as a means to deal with creatures pre-emptively,
but some of the creatures you most need to deal
with pre-emptively are out of its range (Bloodbraid
Elf, Mulldrifter, Reveillark). Yesterday and
Tuesday's cards are fair game, though, as are
most of the popular anti-creature spells.
Inquisition of Kozilek doesn't replace Duress
entirely unless everyone else picks up Ancient
Ziggurat decks, but it certainly has a place,
even if only as a way to overload on this
effect.
Today's card of the day is Inquisition of Kozilek
which is similar to Duress as they are both one
mana discard effects that reveal the target's
hand, can't discard land, and have one other
limitation on what can't be discarded.
Duress can't discard creatures and Inquisition
can only be used on converted costs of three or
less. Both are good at what they do, but
Duress edges it out a bit by being able to get
rid of some of the bigger threats.
For Limited this is a great opening move, but
quickly loses power in the format as most low
cost cards will be played immediately after
being drawn. Can be played as a filler for
Sealed or drafted about halfway through in
Booster, but in either this makes a horrible
topdeck and only helps when an opponent is
holding removal or counters.
