School Daze

The modal choice is where this card earns its rate, because neither half is a bargain on its own. Five mana for three cards trails what a dedicated draw spell should cost, and a counter-plus-cantrip at five sits well above the going price for interdiction stapled to a replacement draw. What you are actually buying is the right to defer the decision to the last possible instant. Leave five up, watch what the opponent commits to, and let the stack tell you which mode the turn needs: if nothing worth answering resolves, slam Do Homework at their end step and refill; if a real threat lands, Fight Crime handles it and still replaces itself. That deferred choice is the payment for the inflated cost. You are not purchasing the best draw or the best counter, you are purchasing the option to hold both open until the game reveals which one matters. It is a familiar blue tension (reactive insurance against proactive card flow) collapsed onto a single instant-speed mana slot, and the flavor pun does the emotional lifting the numbers cannot.