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Moxonomy

Imperial Seal

SorceryBlack mana

Vampiric Tutor's sorcery-speed twin, and the comparison is the entire design conversation. Both fetch any card to the top of your library, cost two life, and put you down a card from hand in the process; the only thing that changes is the timing window. Vampiric Tutor resolves at instant speed, so you can wait until your opponent's end step to see what you actually need, then draw the tutored card on your next turn with no information leaked early. This one binds you to your own main phase: you have already drawn for the turn, you must commit to the plan before anyone else acts, and you lock in your line a full turn ahead of when you can use the card you found. That rigidity, not any difference in card economy, is why it stays a curiosity rather than a staple in formats where both are legal. The card advantage is identical; the flexibility is not, and flexibility is what tutors are bought for. Where it earns its slot is in the most single-minded combo shells, the decks that know on turn one which card wins and want it stacked for next turn regardless of what the opponent does. For those builds the reactive option was never the point, so the sorcery clause costs nothing real. For everyone else, the telegraphed turn and the two life are a steep tax on an effect a more patient card already provides.

Imperial Seal (j16)
J16 · #6rare
Pricing
Normal:
Foil: $359.09
Oracle Text

Rules text

Search your library for a card, then shuffle and put that card on top. You lose 2 life.
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
N/A
Pioneer
N/A
Modern
N/A
Legacy
Banned
Vintage
Restricted
Commander
Legal
Pauper
N/A
Brawl
N/A
Historic
N/A
Alchemy
N/A
Timeless
N/A
Standard Brawl
N/A
More formats
Old School
N/A
Premodern
N/A
PreDH
Legal
Pauper Commander
N/A
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
N/A
Penny Dreadful
N/A
Duel Commander
Banned
Future Standard
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
N/A
TLR
Banned
Printings elsewhere

Other printings

6 sets
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