Greetings, wizards. The mighty Lord Magnus has bestowed upon us, the humble Tundra Wolves community, the privilege of releasing one VERY EXCITING Scryings spoiler to the World. But, well before, there’s one other MASSIVELY EXCITING thing that we’d like to take the opportunity and share with the World: the TUNDRA WOLVES CHALLENGE 3 is coming! It will be MEAN, and held on march 7th, 2020 in Montréal! Come get savage.
And now, on to the Scryings spoiler! The card we have for you today is…
2,T: Sacrifice Grinning Totem: Search target opponent’s library for a card and exile it. Then that player shuffles their library. Until the beginning of your next upkeep, you may play that card. At the beginning of your next upkeep, if you haven’t played it, put it into its owner’s graveyard.
I literally didn’t know this card existed before Magnus showed it to me. My first impression is that it’s a really FUN card. Who doesn’t love using their opponent’s stuff against them? Think Control Magic or Word of Command… but admitedly this resembles more
But is it playable in a competitive sense? Here are some things to think about:
- Grinning Totem is best in a multicolored deck because you need to be able to cast your opponent’s spells. City of Brass, Birds of Paradise but also Fellwar Stone go a long way towards maximizing the value you get out of it.
- The card’s effect will be quite variable from game to game, sometimes being comparable to Demonic Tutor in its effect while others the most exciting thing to get will be Chaos Orb.
- There is some value in taking your opponent’s better cards out of their deck: if you cast their Ancestral it means they can’t draw it or tutor for it while you can still draw/tutor yours.
- The totem is super clunky. For instance, casting your opponent’s Ancestral Recall will cost you a hefty 7 mana. Moreover, if you don’t crack it right away your opponent will get a shot at disenchanting it.
- The totem’s power lies in its versatility. For examples, if you’re ahead you can sit on it and let it represent countermagic. If the board state is equal and you’re both topdecking you can use their Demonic Tutor to find your Braingeyser and pull ahead. If you’re behind you can get their Balance/Removal.
Some decks where I could see fitting a copy of the totem are Kalle Nord’s N00bcon X deck
or Paul DeSilva’s 5c goodstuff
At the very least I know I am throwing a copy in my Brother’s Highlander deck! 😉
Tales from la Tundra 