I’m back!  It took longer than I would have liked, but I just couldn’t find the time to do this over Thanksgiving break.  That, or I was so bloated that I couldn’t even move my fingers to type.  I’m not sure I remember too clearly; I believe I blacked out somewhere in the second day of leftovers.  Anyway, I want to re-kick-off my Card of the Day series with a bang, and I couldn’t think of a better way to do it than with one of my favorite blue cards ever!

Now, this may not seem like much of a “bang” to you at first, but this unassuming little one-drop is, in my opinion, the very best early-game library manipulation card in the history of Magic, and one of the best blue one-drops in the game, period.  If you think that’s a lofty claim that needs proven, go ahead and use some in your next deck (or swap some into one of your current ones).  You’ll soon see what I saw back when my fingers were first given the privelege of holding it.

This card was originally printed in the Lorwyn expansion, and it got reprinted in Magic 2010 so it could stay in Standard because it is SO FREAKING GOOD.  For a paltry one blue mana, you get to look at your next three turns’ worth of cards.  Being able to see the future is always a good thing, but this particular good thing gets better.  If you don’t like what the future holds, you can change it (by shuffling your library) and go from there; if you’re pleased with what you see, you can arrange your next three draws to get exactly what you’ll need in the order in which you’ll need it.  At the end of it all, you’ll get to draw a card, jumping a turn ahead of your opponent.

It’s no wonder that they printed this card in M10; it’s the perfect combination of simplicity and awesome, face-melting utility that can teach new players the finer nuances of the game without making them do anything particularly confounding.  They’ll catch onto the concept very quickly, and if they decide to venture into deckbuilding and choose blue as one of their colors (or their only color), they will know right away how well this card works to set up the early game for them.  The ability to remember cards like this is the spark that lights the fire under new players and turns them into full-fledged Magic devotees.  That ability comes from the strength of the card, no matter how subtle it may seem at first glance, and this card has the kind of strength to not only attract new players but to also renew veterans’ faith in the MTG design team’s ability to keep making great new cards that work well no matter where you stick them.

A quick note:  I have heard arguments from some friends that there is a better card than Ponder in the form of Brainstorm.

The basis of the argument has something to do with the fact that you get to fine-tune your hand at the start of the game; you can put any two cards back on top of your library, not just the ones you drew, which allows you to slightly alter the state of your hand in your favor, depending on what you draw.  It’s that last part that gets me, though; if you don’t like what you draw, you’re stuck with it, and you’ll be stuck with cards that you didn’t need right away anyways for the next two turns.  Ponder allows you to shuffle your library instead of settling for crap and gain card advantage as well, which is exactly what makes it so damn good.

I hope to see this card printed over and over again in the years to come; I can’t think of a blue deck that I have where I couldn’t use it.  I would recommend using a minimum of two of these in any blue deck you own (as long as it’s feasible to do so); the card advantage you get from Ponder is worth a wealth of other cards that could take up its slot.  See you next time!