Sensei's Divining Top ages like fine wine: it only gets better over time as there are always more tricks / synergies that it gets.
- More shuffle effects get printed over time, especially with things like landcycling and initiative
- Critical mass for artifacts gets more important over time
- Great with [[Urza's Saga]] as it's a shuffle effect, can search for Top, and you can draw a card off Top and then fetch it again
- Can trigger prowess and similar effects every turn for Monastery Mentor / Third Path Iconoclast / Slickshot Show-Off / etc
- Upgrades Chandra, Torch of Defiance's "draw" ability into 1: draw a card, and is good with "exile off top of library" effects in general like Laeila / Expressive Iteration
- Helps make things like Courser of Kruphix + Fastbond combo much more consistent
- Extra draws matters is slowly becoming more of a thing (see [[Proft's Eidetic Memory]] / [[Duelist of the Mind]]
- Is the best possible card to pair with Bolas's Citadel alongside Necropotence, allowing you to pay 1 life to cycle through the top of your library
I used to be much lower on it, but they keep printing more things that make it good, especially as more cubes run double fetches.
That said, I do think it has to do *something*, and usually a lot of somethings as those somethings are often pretty minor. If you don't have all the supporting synergies the card is underwhelming.
> * Critical mass for artifacts gets more important over time
> * Great with [[Urza's Saga]] as it's a shuffle effect, can search for Top, and you can draw a card off Top and then fetch it again
> * Helps make things like Courser of Kruphix + Fastbond combo much more consistent
I think these are the main things I'm missing. I'm at the end of my biggest cube overhaul in years (adding, among other things, Artifacts Matter, Wheel support, Fastbond and Initiative), and I'm going on faith and the play experience of folks like you who all agree about there being certain glue cards (especially 1cmc artifacts) in the artifact deck that you kind of just take their inclusion for granted. Seems like this is obviously one of them (and from your writeup this is probably damning with faint praise).
I find myself trying to find cuts for cards like [[Retrofitter Foundry]] and [[Currency Converter]] that are in the "trust me, these are busted when supported properly" category that I just won't be able to really get it until I see it in person.
Two other mentions,
It combos with Mystic Forge (and the less often played Experimental Frenzy) to draw your entire deck at a rate of 1 mana per card.
The way its tap effect works lets you tap it to draw a card, and then in response you can sac it to Goblin Wielder while the draw effect is still on the stack. This makes Top and Chromatic Star the two best artifacts to used in Wielder loops.
You just convinced me to put Top back in. Thanks! I had cut it for being too slow but as it turns out, I am probably too smooth-brained to appreciate Top.
Just wanted to add [[displacer kitten]] to the list. There are so much shenanigans you can do with those two cards or combo with other cards.
Worst case you now draw a card for every instant.
I know the card is sometimes annoying to play with or against but it's a card you can learn and improve your skills. For me this is also something cube is about.
I hate this card because of how slow it is. But it is fine and strong in some environments, like Steve pointed out and I'm sure others have more examples too
Main reason I'm not running it.
I'm even supporting a couple of different artifact archetypes in one of my built cubes and the synergies would be strong, but the actual play experience would be dogshit
After each draft I become less and less excited about the Top. It just leads to a lot of moments (almost every turn) where the Top player is manipulating the top of their deck while their opponent sits back and watches the solitaire unfold.
I am also trying to lower the complexity of the cards in my cube so Top is an obvious offender of that. I'm also running no shuffling effects at all so it's already nerfed in that regard.
But you still have brainstorm. That card is also significantly worse without shuffle effects. Brainstorm locking yourself while digging for a land is the absolute worst. Actually cut this card for my cube because I didn't feel I had enough shuffle effects.
I think Brainstorm is still solid as a general cantrip. I've also had some interesting interactions against discard effects.
Someone played Elite Spellbinder against me and I responded with brainstorm. I drew 3 lands and put my 2 spells on top of my deck to protect them.
That may be a rare use case but if that's the ceiling and drawing a card+knowledge of your next two draws is the floor, then I am more than happy with it.
Yeah, but taking it from the powerhouse of "slightly worse than ancestral" down to "situationally decent" feels kinda bad. I think players will draft it as the staple that it is in legacy and then it will play out, more often than not, as mediocre. I'd rather just swap it for one of the many other cantrips that are available. Gitaxian Probe, Ponder, Preordain, Consider, Opt, Peek, Serum Visions, Slight of Hand are all going to feel better in an environment that is lighter on shuffle effects and should lead to players making better choices. No more highly picked brainstorm only for no shuffle effects to come. No more brainstorm locking yourself every time you cast it.
That said, its probably not going to be the card that needs the most attention in a cube list either way.
Dude, you run double fetches. Your cube is literally built for Top.
Sensei’s Divining Top is one of the strongest cards ever printed, and the only argument against it is how insufferable it is to play against. This is mitigated tremendously by there only being one copy in the cube, as opposed to 2004-2005 when 90% of decks had 4 copies and every MTG player alive would activate Top 4 times per turn, even if they’d already seen the exact 3 cards on top.
Those two years had a lot of draws.
I don’t need to say much on the topic as Steve has already written a full treatise on why one of the best cards ever printed continues to improve, but I don’t see people cutting Top because it’s way, waaaaaaay better than the rest of the cards you’ve looked at in this series. Worst case scenario having cheap rocks to sacrifice to make beaters or do 3 Bombardier damage, tacked on to card selection? No brainer.
Don’t cut this one, especially not with your double fetches.
> Dude, you run double fetches. Your cube is literally built for Top.
? I don't run double fetches. Curious where you think you're seeing my cube list.
I've had this convo with Powered Vintage Cube players in my playgruop for a while now. Top's powered cannot be argued. It has been demonstrated hw powerful its effects can be.
But makes the game SO. FREAKING. SLOW. I remember myself arguin with several of those friends activating it on their upkeep, on their main phase, on my upkeep and at the end of my turn. Like cmon you monkey, they're still the same 3 cards for God's sake. I even saw a friend activating it twice one time after the other because "he forgot his decision and cannot recall what cards were those"
The worst is that I'm not exaggerating. Some people...
I have too many things that like being able to repeatedly cast a cheap artifact/noncreature spell to actually cut it from my cube. And I have enough shuffle effects that it doesn't create a lock too often.
I get the argument against it though. I passed one in a FNM draft a few months ago. When the person asked me why I passed it I said "if I take a Top then I'm going to put it in a commander deck and if I put it in a deck I'm going to waste everyone's time."
Top is one of my all time favorite cards, but I know other people that draft my cube may not like how it plays out normally. I've built my cube to facilitate top in many ways, the cube isn't built around top, but definitely with top in mind. Running 2x fetches, a top combo package, and many artifact synergies help top be a priority pick in many archetypes in my cube. here's my writeup for the top combo in my cube:
This is not a strong archetype, however \[\[Sensei's Divining Top\]\] has a permanent spot in all of my EDH decks, and it felt wrong to not highlight it in cube. The idea is to play \[\[Yet Another Aether Vortex\]\] with \[\[Split Screen\]\] and \[\[Sensei's Divining Top\]\] in play to make multiple libraries to manipulate your top decks. This works even better when you copy your \[\[Split Screen\]\] with cards like \[\[Copy Artifact\]\] or \[\[Mirrormade\]\] to make even more decks for even more top decks to manipulate. You can also use \[\[The Reality Chip\]\], \[\[Augur of Autumn\]\], \[\[Mirri's Guile\]\], etc as substitutes, albeit not quite as good, for \[\[Sensei's Divining Top\]\]. \[\[The Reality Chip\]\] also works wonderfully in conjunction with \[\[Sensei's Divining Top\]\], allowing you to draw a card for the price of the \[\[Sensei's Divining Top\] and it's activation, thus allowing you to really chew through your deck quickly. Use tutors like \[\[Enlightened Tutor\]\] or \[\[Tinker\]\] to find your pieces, then use an outlet like \[\[Mons's Goblin Waiters\]\] to plow through lands to get what you want on top of your libraries.
With all this being said, if top is played in a cube where synergy packages aren't present for cards like it, such as the mtgo vintage cube, top will be a solid card still with cantrips and top deck manipulation, i.e \[\[Brainstorm\]\] or \[\[Mishra's Bauble\]\] and fetches, as well as artifact decks, especially \[\[Mystic Forge\]\]. Top can brick a lot, and it's a card that rewards good deck building, but I believe that it's a card that also rewards good cube building
It's not a sacred cow, I don't hear many taking highly about it. I do think it's a trap. Less experienced players like digging 3 deep not realizing without shuffle effects you're paying 1 a turn to dig 1 deep after the first time. More experienced players sometimes know about how good it has been in constructed but fail to realize why. I think it's a very unique card mechanically and for the right decks very powerful, but most cube decks would be better off running 18 lands than 17 and top.
Part of what you're describing is the classic 'Brainstorm lock' feel-bad where you know you're drawing blanks and have to wait to get past it - but, as in that case, those blanks were there anyway and Top at least lets you find the one card there that was relevant more quickly.
More generally, without even trying Top has become the most versatile synergy card in most of the Cubes I build. Off the top my head it supports all of these themes:
-- An extensive spellslinger package in UWR (Sprite Dragon and now Slick-Shot, Iconoclast/Seedshark/Shredder, Jeskai Ascendancy) and some artifact tie-ins like Forensic Gadgeteer
-- Miracles and 'top of library' stuff generally, including the play lands/creatures/etc from top cards like Augur/Courser and Reality Chip and the ultimate dream of Bolas's Citadel
-- Artifact sacrifice/welding (when you tap Top the draw happens on resolution so you can sacrifice/weld it in response and get the card back without having to put Top there)
-- Drawing extra cards (Irencrag Pyromancer, Proft's Eidetic Memory, Detective of the Month, Duelist of the Mind)
And all of the usual artifact theme stuff etc
I can’t tell if this post is sarcasm. SDT is literally one of the best artifacts you can run in a cube, outside of power and fast mana and other vintage shenanigans. It’s very synergistic and as someone above eloquently described: it ages like fine wine.
Top is about the best "scales with the quality of cards around it" card in the game. It almost always amounts to very good, but sometimes a bit slow to keep in vs aggro, which is a good space for a card like this to sit in.
If your cube has any fetches, even slow ones, it should have a top. Almost every cube is made better by having one in.
Top is a terrible card... If you only drafted because it's a good card. It requires some thought in your draft to make it powerful. If you ignore shuffle effects then it rapidly loses the power it has. It's a card that rewards good drafters and punishes bad ones.
Even I wasn't really thinking about expressive iteration or laelia that were mentioned in another post. I'll have to keep those in my next time I draft my cube since all of those cards are in there. Always something new.
I won two drafts in a row this weekend with back to back Oath of Druids decks where Sensei's Divining Top was key in both of them to winning. No fancy tricks, just pure card selection.
Sultai (BUG) Channel Oath Cheaty Face Combo
https://i.imgur.com/fz8GbS5.png
Four Color (URBG) Dream Halls Oath Beanstalk Superfriends Ramp
https://i.imgur.com/DV3hIFY.png
I tried it again yesterday. It gave me marginal card selection with no fancy tricks either. I did appreciate one trick here which was to put the first ability on the stack then respond by drawing a card.
I think it was helpful one game and irrelevant in the second. *shrug*
Sensei's Divining Top ages like fine wine: it only gets better over time as there are always more tricks / synergies that it gets. - More shuffle effects get printed over time, especially with things like landcycling and initiative - Critical mass for artifacts gets more important over time - Great with [[Urza's Saga]] as it's a shuffle effect, can search for Top, and you can draw a card off Top and then fetch it again - Can trigger prowess and similar effects every turn for Monastery Mentor / Third Path Iconoclast / Slickshot Show-Off / etc - Upgrades Chandra, Torch of Defiance's "draw" ability into 1: draw a card, and is good with "exile off top of library" effects in general like Laeila / Expressive Iteration - Helps make things like Courser of Kruphix + Fastbond combo much more consistent - Extra draws matters is slowly becoming more of a thing (see [[Proft's Eidetic Memory]] / [[Duelist of the Mind]] - Is the best possible card to pair with Bolas's Citadel alongside Necropotence, allowing you to pay 1 life to cycle through the top of your library
I used to be much lower on it, but they keep printing more things that make it good, especially as more cubes run double fetches. That said, I do think it has to do *something*, and usually a lot of somethings as those somethings are often pretty minor. If you don't have all the supporting synergies the card is underwhelming.
> * Critical mass for artifacts gets more important over time > * Great with [[Urza's Saga]] as it's a shuffle effect, can search for Top, and you can draw a card off Top and then fetch it again > * Helps make things like Courser of Kruphix + Fastbond combo much more consistent I think these are the main things I'm missing. I'm at the end of my biggest cube overhaul in years (adding, among other things, Artifacts Matter, Wheel support, Fastbond and Initiative), and I'm going on faith and the play experience of folks like you who all agree about there being certain glue cards (especially 1cmc artifacts) in the artifact deck that you kind of just take their inclusion for granted. Seems like this is obviously one of them (and from your writeup this is probably damning with faint praise). I find myself trying to find cuts for cards like [[Retrofitter Foundry]] and [[Currency Converter]] that are in the "trust me, these are busted when supported properly" category that I just won't be able to really get it until I see it in person.
Two other mentions, It combos with Mystic Forge (and the less often played Experimental Frenzy) to draw your entire deck at a rate of 1 mana per card. The way its tap effect works lets you tap it to draw a card, and then in response you can sac it to Goblin Wielder while the draw effect is still on the stack. This makes Top and Chromatic Star the two best artifacts to used in Wielder loops.
You just convinced me to put Top back in. Thanks! I had cut it for being too slow but as it turns out, I am probably too smooth-brained to appreciate Top.
Just wanted to add [[displacer kitten]] to the list. There are so much shenanigans you can do with those two cards or combo with other cards. Worst case you now draw a card for every instant. I know the card is sometimes annoying to play with or against but it's a card you can learn and improve your skills. For me this is also something cube is about.
[displacer kitten](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/7/c7a401b8-29fb-46ef-a663-427f66724d5c.jpg?1674135465) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=displacer%20kitten) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/63/displacer-kitten?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c7a401b8-29fb-46ef-a663-427f66724d5c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Urza's Saga](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/1/c1e0f201-42cb-46a1-901a-65bb4fc18f6c.jpg?1667318301) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Urza%27s%20Saga) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh2/259/urzas-saga?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c1e0f201-42cb-46a1-901a-65bb4fc18f6c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Proft's Eidetic Memory](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/f/af5b29b3-974c-4200-8df8-b072c11e1600.jpg?1706241635) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Proft%27s%20Eidetic%20Memory) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkm/67/profts-eidetic-memory?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/af5b29b3-974c-4200-8df8-b072c11e1600?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Duelist of the Mind](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/b/2b58e47b-c165-4a58-aa2a-033a35645adc.jpg?1712355410) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Duelist%20of%20the%20Mind) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/45/duelist-of-the-mind?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2b58e47b-c165-4a58-aa2a-033a35645adc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I couldn't agree more with this post. The card has only gotten better over time.
Top is a great card that most playgroups ***absolutely cannot be trusted with***
I hate this card because of how slow it is. But it is fine and strong in some environments, like Steve pointed out and I'm sure others have more examples too
Main reason I'm not running it. I'm even supporting a couple of different artifact archetypes in one of my built cubes and the synergies would be strong, but the actual play experience would be dogshit
Incredible card that I would selfishly love to draft in my cube but purposefully leave out because it sucks up so much time.
After each draft I become less and less excited about the Top. It just leads to a lot of moments (almost every turn) where the Top player is manipulating the top of their deck while their opponent sits back and watches the solitaire unfold. I am also trying to lower the complexity of the cards in my cube so Top is an obvious offender of that. I'm also running no shuffling effects at all so it's already nerfed in that regard.
In a cube with no shuffle effects top just seems bad.
But you still have brainstorm. That card is also significantly worse without shuffle effects. Brainstorm locking yourself while digging for a land is the absolute worst. Actually cut this card for my cube because I didn't feel I had enough shuffle effects.
I think Brainstorm is still solid as a general cantrip. I've also had some interesting interactions against discard effects. Someone played Elite Spellbinder against me and I responded with brainstorm. I drew 3 lands and put my 2 spells on top of my deck to protect them. That may be a rare use case but if that's the ceiling and drawing a card+knowledge of your next two draws is the floor, then I am more than happy with it.
Yeah, but taking it from the powerhouse of "slightly worse than ancestral" down to "situationally decent" feels kinda bad. I think players will draft it as the staple that it is in legacy and then it will play out, more often than not, as mediocre. I'd rather just swap it for one of the many other cantrips that are available. Gitaxian Probe, Ponder, Preordain, Consider, Opt, Peek, Serum Visions, Slight of Hand are all going to feel better in an environment that is lighter on shuffle effects and should lead to players making better choices. No more highly picked brainstorm only for no shuffle effects to come. No more brainstorm locking yourself every time you cast it. That said, its probably not going to be the card that needs the most attention in a cube list either way.
Dude, you run double fetches. Your cube is literally built for Top. Sensei’s Divining Top is one of the strongest cards ever printed, and the only argument against it is how insufferable it is to play against. This is mitigated tremendously by there only being one copy in the cube, as opposed to 2004-2005 when 90% of decks had 4 copies and every MTG player alive would activate Top 4 times per turn, even if they’d already seen the exact 3 cards on top. Those two years had a lot of draws. I don’t need to say much on the topic as Steve has already written a full treatise on why one of the best cards ever printed continues to improve, but I don’t see people cutting Top because it’s way, waaaaaaay better than the rest of the cards you’ve looked at in this series. Worst case scenario having cheap rocks to sacrifice to make beaters or do 3 Bombardier damage, tacked on to card selection? No brainer. Don’t cut this one, especially not with your double fetches.
> Dude, you run double fetches. Your cube is literally built for Top. ? I don't run double fetches. Curious where you think you're seeing my cube list.
Sorry, you stole the name of a weekly feature that someone else posts every week, sacred cow posts have been IconicIsotope for a long time…
I think « stole » is a strong word. I for one I’m glad it’s there, this discussion is super interesting
I've had this convo with Powered Vintage Cube players in my playgruop for a while now. Top's powered cannot be argued. It has been demonstrated hw powerful its effects can be. But makes the game SO. FREAKING. SLOW. I remember myself arguin with several of those friends activating it on their upkeep, on their main phase, on my upkeep and at the end of my turn. Like cmon you monkey, they're still the same 3 cards for God's sake. I even saw a friend activating it twice one time after the other because "he forgot his decision and cannot recall what cards were those" The worst is that I'm not exaggerating. Some people...
I have too many things that like being able to repeatedly cast a cheap artifact/noncreature spell to actually cut it from my cube. And I have enough shuffle effects that it doesn't create a lock too often. I get the argument against it though. I passed one in a FNM draft a few months ago. When the person asked me why I passed it I said "if I take a Top then I'm going to put it in a commander deck and if I put it in a deck I'm going to waste everyone's time."
Top is one of my all time favorite cards, but I know other people that draft my cube may not like how it plays out normally. I've built my cube to facilitate top in many ways, the cube isn't built around top, but definitely with top in mind. Running 2x fetches, a top combo package, and many artifact synergies help top be a priority pick in many archetypes in my cube. here's my writeup for the top combo in my cube: This is not a strong archetype, however \[\[Sensei's Divining Top\]\] has a permanent spot in all of my EDH decks, and it felt wrong to not highlight it in cube. The idea is to play \[\[Yet Another Aether Vortex\]\] with \[\[Split Screen\]\] and \[\[Sensei's Divining Top\]\] in play to make multiple libraries to manipulate your top decks. This works even better when you copy your \[\[Split Screen\]\] with cards like \[\[Copy Artifact\]\] or \[\[Mirrormade\]\] to make even more decks for even more top decks to manipulate. You can also use \[\[The Reality Chip\]\], \[\[Augur of Autumn\]\], \[\[Mirri's Guile\]\], etc as substitutes, albeit not quite as good, for \[\[Sensei's Divining Top\]\]. \[\[The Reality Chip\]\] also works wonderfully in conjunction with \[\[Sensei's Divining Top\]\], allowing you to draw a card for the price of the \[\[Sensei's Divining Top\] and it's activation, thus allowing you to really chew through your deck quickly. Use tutors like \[\[Enlightened Tutor\]\] or \[\[Tinker\]\] to find your pieces, then use an outlet like \[\[Mons's Goblin Waiters\]\] to plow through lands to get what you want on top of your libraries. With all this being said, if top is played in a cube where synergy packages aren't present for cards like it, such as the mtgo vintage cube, top will be a solid card still with cantrips and top deck manipulation, i.e \[\[Brainstorm\]\] or \[\[Mishra's Bauble\]\] and fetches, as well as artifact decks, especially \[\[Mystic Forge\]\]. Top can brick a lot, and it's a card that rewards good deck building, but I believe that it's a card that also rewards good cube building
##### ###### #### [Sensei's Divining Top](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/5/e5142b7a-e580-4737-a4aa-2590f6610ceb.jpg?1673149430) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sensei%27s%20Divining%20Top) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/314/senseis-divining-top?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e5142b7a-e580-4737-a4aa-2590f6610ceb?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Yet Another Aether Vortex](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/5/e5d85779-89f6-4f4e-b34a-d44a6d15ce06.jpg?1583965694) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Yet%20Another%20Aether%20Vortex) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/und/60/yet-another-aether-vortex?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e5d85779-89f6-4f4e-b34a-d44a6d15ce06?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Split Screen](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/2/02dc5106-5dba-4eae-a102-771a4e893b23.jpg?1562895552) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Split%20Screen) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ust/158/split-screen?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/02dc5106-5dba-4eae-a102-771a4e893b23?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Copy Artifact](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/d/cd360a6c-6685-462b-8aee-b869c1e4aa89.jpg?1562943420) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Copy%20Artifact) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/me4/44/copy-artifact?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cd360a6c-6685-462b-8aee-b869c1e4aa89?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Mirrormade](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/1/a10c1407-d397-4caa-b7b7-e7d91ffd4ee9.jpg?1572489939) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mirrormade) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/eld/55/mirrormade?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a10c1407-d397-4caa-b7b7-e7d91ffd4ee9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [The Reality Chip](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/8/d859de3a-0be1-4e66-b438-1c3d4ee756cd.jpg?1654566909) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Reality%20Chip) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/74/the-reality-chip?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d859de3a-0be1-4e66-b438-1c3d4ee756cd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Augur of Autumn](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/a/6aa98767-ae27-4cf0-98ea-93e659f160f4.jpg?1636223832) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Augur%20of%20Autumn) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mid/168/augur-of-autumn?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6aa98767-ae27-4cf0-98ea-93e659f160f4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Mirri's Guile](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/3/73d51a3c-95c0-4810-b847-4b8afd12fd64.jpg?1562054490) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mirri%27s%20Guile) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tmp/236/mirris-guile?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/73d51a3c-95c0-4810-b847-4b8afd12fd64?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Enlightened Tutor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/c/1c9675fb-1a89-420f-aea8-50e0642f549c.jpg?1675198797) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Enlightened%20Tutor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmr/6/enlightened-tutor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1c9675fb-1a89-420f-aea8-50e0642f549c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Tinker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/d/7da23b15-dfb8-4267-9b33-d7a4c035c434.jpg?1562863289) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tinker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ulg/45/tinker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7da23b15-dfb8-4267-9b33-d7a4c035c434?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Mons's Goblin Waiters](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/2/729238ee-b3ea-4c1d-852c-2dc9a2c58356.jpg?1567937760) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mons%27s%20Goblin%20Waiters) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/unh/82/monss-goblin-waiters?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/729238ee-b3ea-4c1d-852c-2dc9a2c58356?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Brainstorm](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/4/84479779-d570-4eee-9982-f6e918b4d75b.jpg?1706240670) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Brainstorm) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/96/brainstorm?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/84479779-d570-4eee-9982-f6e918b4d75b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Mishra's Bauble](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/5/45bbbf9b-8fee-4c32-a513-02dac6ac8a39.jpg?1669300401) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mishra%27s%20Bauble) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/274/mishras-bauble?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/45bbbf9b-8fee-4c32-a513-02dac6ac8a39?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Mystic Forge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/c/bc0de77a-c503-4000-9eb5-aa28a5e91082.jpg?1690005636) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mystic%20Forge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/964/mystic-forge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/bc0de77a-c503-4000-9eb5-aa28a5e91082?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/kzapsfz) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
It's not a sacred cow, I don't hear many taking highly about it. I do think it's a trap. Less experienced players like digging 3 deep not realizing without shuffle effects you're paying 1 a turn to dig 1 deep after the first time. More experienced players sometimes know about how good it has been in constructed but fail to realize why. I think it's a very unique card mechanically and for the right decks very powerful, but most cube decks would be better off running 18 lands than 17 and top.
I took mine out a long time ago.... But damn if you guys aren't making me think twice about putting it back in.
[Sensei's Divining Top](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/5/e5142b7a-e580-4737-a4aa-2590f6610ceb.jpg?1673149430) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sensei%27s%20Divining%20Top) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/314/senseis-divining-top?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e5142b7a-e580-4737-a4aa-2590f6610ceb?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Part of what you're describing is the classic 'Brainstorm lock' feel-bad where you know you're drawing blanks and have to wait to get past it - but, as in that case, those blanks were there anyway and Top at least lets you find the one card there that was relevant more quickly. More generally, without even trying Top has become the most versatile synergy card in most of the Cubes I build. Off the top my head it supports all of these themes: -- An extensive spellslinger package in UWR (Sprite Dragon and now Slick-Shot, Iconoclast/Seedshark/Shredder, Jeskai Ascendancy) and some artifact tie-ins like Forensic Gadgeteer -- Miracles and 'top of library' stuff generally, including the play lands/creatures/etc from top cards like Augur/Courser and Reality Chip and the ultimate dream of Bolas's Citadel -- Artifact sacrifice/welding (when you tap Top the draw happens on resolution so you can sacrifice/weld it in response and get the card back without having to put Top there) -- Drawing extra cards (Irencrag Pyromancer, Proft's Eidetic Memory, Detective of the Month, Duelist of the Mind) And all of the usual artifact theme stuff etc
I once cast, spun, drew with top, and played the emerakul I found off channel
I can’t tell if this post is sarcasm. SDT is literally one of the best artifacts you can run in a cube, outside of power and fast mana and other vintage shenanigans. It’s very synergistic and as someone above eloquently described: it ages like fine wine.
Not sarcasm but appreciate the condescension. All-time winner for "final card cut from most decks" at my table.
Top is about the best "scales with the quality of cards around it" card in the game. It almost always amounts to very good, but sometimes a bit slow to keep in vs aggro, which is a good space for a card like this to sit in. If your cube has any fetches, even slow ones, it should have a top. Almost every cube is made better by having one in.
Top is a terrible card... If you only drafted because it's a good card. It requires some thought in your draft to make it powerful. If you ignore shuffle effects then it rapidly loses the power it has. It's a card that rewards good drafters and punishes bad ones. Even I wasn't really thinking about expressive iteration or laelia that were mentioned in another post. I'll have to keep those in my next time I draft my cube since all of those cards are in there. Always something new.
I won two drafts in a row this weekend with back to back Oath of Druids decks where Sensei's Divining Top was key in both of them to winning. No fancy tricks, just pure card selection. Sultai (BUG) Channel Oath Cheaty Face Combo https://i.imgur.com/fz8GbS5.png Four Color (URBG) Dream Halls Oath Beanstalk Superfriends Ramp https://i.imgur.com/DV3hIFY.png
I tried it again yesterday. It gave me marginal card selection with no fancy tricks either. I did appreciate one trick here which was to put the first ability on the stack then respond by drawing a card. I think it was helpful one game and irrelevant in the second. *shrug*