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Moxonomy

Raphael's Technique

Instant4 generic manaRed manaRed mana
Format takes

How this card plays

7 reviews

The symmetric wheel is the problem the multiplayer table makes worse. At six mana cast normally, this hands three opponents seven fresh cards each, which is not a price most decks can afford to pay. So the entire Commander case rests on Sneak, and Sneak rests on a commander that wants to be attacking with a recurring unblocked threat anyway.

That points at Krenko, Mob Boss in the goblin shells, where a hasted or evasive token connects and bounces back to hand for cheap. The cleaner fit is a go-wide red aggro commander like Zada, Hedron Grinder, where you are swinging with a crowd and a single unblocked attacker is trivial to supply. You attack, get through, bounce the attacker at declare-blockers, wheel for three, and rebuild a hand mid-combat while the board is still moving. That is a real tempo line, not just a refuel.

The trouble is the four-player wheel. You also refill three opponents, two of whom are not under pressure from your swing. In a Bracket 3-4 red aggro deck that can actually kill from the refreshed hand, that is acceptable; in Bracket 2 it usually just rebuilds the table against you and draws threat assessment you do not want. This is a Bracket 3 aggro card, not a generically good wheel.

As a draw piece it competes with Wheel of Fortune and Magus of the Wheel for the symmetric-wheel slot, and loses on raw rate while winning on the instant-speed combat angle those cannot replicate. New enough that the secondary price is unsettled; budget either way. Invisible in any red deck that is not built to attack on schedule, which is most of them.

Raphael's Technique (tmt)
TMT · #105rare
Pricing
Normal: $0.32
Foil: $0.47
Oracle Text

Rules text

Sneak 2 generic manaRed mana (You may cast this spell for 2 generic manaRed mana if you also return an unblocked attacker you control to hand during the declare blockers step.) Each player may discard their hand and draw seven cards.
Legalities

Format Status

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