The main reason people play Gitaxian Probe is
the same reason I'm so vocal in my deck garage
about running 4x copies of the cards that are
important to you. You need to draw the right
cards as soon as possible, and anything that
helps you filter through your deck faster is
worth playing. Gitaxian Probe's "look at their
hand" ability is a cute way to try and
anticipate what an opponent will throw at you in
the next few turns, but the real draw here is...
the draw. Anyone who remembers Street Wraith
will remember how that card saw play in all
manner of decks, none of which pretended for a
second that they had any intention of actually
casting the 3/4 with Swampwalk. They played it
because it could cycle for no mana, letting them
effectively play a 54-card deck and increasing
the odds of drawing the cards they actually
wanted to draw. Gitaxian Probe does the same--
for any deck that knows what it wants to draw,
padding a deck out to the minimum 60 is nothing
but a crutch, and Gitaxian Probe offers the
possibility of skimming off some of that crutch.
I know newer players will likely balk at the
idea-- even I have a bit of trouble admitting
that Gitaxian Probe is as good as it is-- but
Magic is a game of statistics and you can never
tilt the odds to far in your favor.
I think I've said it before in this place, but
it bears saying again: New Phyrexia is really,
really scary. It's a good thing that Gitaxian
Probe's art is usually upside-down when it's
being played against you, because I'd probably
vomit if I saw this thing coming at me in normal
view. Nonetheless, I can recommend it to many
combo decks, decks with Kiln Fiend and/or
Quirion Dryad, and to anybody who needs to know
whether that mono-green infect opponent is going
to be able to kill them on the first turn (if
they can't, you basically lose nothing from its
alternate cost). I can't help but feel this card
was sort of inspired by Street Wraith from
Future Sight (anybody remember that card),
except somehow it's even scarier - maybe the
next set with Phyrexians needs to be rated M?
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Gitaxian
Probe
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is a
card that has seen a lot of competitive play in
formats being able to see an opponent’s hand
will make sure you know if you can set your
combo off and you will be able to play around
counterspells, just knowing the contents of an
opponents hand allows you to play differently.
In standard this card has seen an expensive
amount of play in combo decks and the cantrip
effect and the ability to possibly go into any
deck make it a powerful option for players. In
extended and modern more combo decks are present
such as Pyromancers Ascension and Splinter Twin
being able to draw your pieces and see any hate
cards in the opponents hand is pivotal. In
eternal and legacy this card is decent
cantripping and providing even more fuel for
instant and sorcery fueled decks as well as
possibly combo decks. In casual and multiplayer
seeing only one players hand is kind of bad as
you may be facing down many more making this
somewhat of a poor choice for multiplayer. In
limited it’s a solid card that allows you to
possibly see key components of your opponent’s
deck and to sideboard or play around those
cards. Overall a powerful cantrip that allows
you to more consistently fight against an
opponents’ strategy as well as providing drawing
power.
Today's card of the day is Gitaxian Probe which
costs one Blue or two life to look at target
player's hand and then draw a card. For
one or especially no mana this card replaces
itself, causing no loss in tempo and gives you
the advantage of seeing the opponent's hand.
This is a solid advantage for minimal cost in a
control or hand disruption theme and makes this
a very popular tool in those decks.
For Limited this thins the deck a bit, but the
payment of life and slightly less critical
nature of seeing an opponent's hand combined
with likely not having four copies of Probe
weakens it dramatically. It is still
useful in Blue decks and should be run in Sealed
when Blue mana is in your build, but playing it
out of color is not always required. For
Booster this can be drafted after removal and
large creatures when using Blue, as a deck
thinner if nothing else, but can be passed over
for other cards if they are more directly
useful.
Welcome to the
Pojo.com card of the day! We are looking at
Gitaxian Probe from New Phyrexia today. Gitaxian
Probe is a common blue instant that costs one
blue phyrexian mana and lets you look at target
player’s hand, and then draw a card.
Gitaxian Probe doesn’t look like much, but very quickly
soared up the ranks in both popularity, and
expense. For just a common, Gitaxian Probe
became a very sought after card, and for good
reason. In many tournament player’s decks, even
now, there lies at least one Probe. And they
likely aren’t even running blue. Paying two life
for an opportunity to take a peek at what lurks
in your opponents hand is nice, but that is not
the real reason. Sure, being able to think about
your next move more carefully with good tactical
intelligence is nice and all, but the true worth
of the Gitaxian Probe is in the second ability.
The draw card is crucial, just ask any player.
Sure, each color has ways of going about
drawing, or looking, but they cost mana, and
sometimes, aren’t even a straight draw, it’s
look at and select, or draw/discard. We just
want card draw. And that is what the Probe does.
And what’s best, you can do it while conserving
your mana. Two life to draw a card in red is
worth it. You’ll likely be trading off with
Lightning Bolt or Shock anyways. In green, you
could very well pull a Giant Growth. The point
is, it is worth it.
