When i came upon this card it gave me some inspiration. Most Type 2 players and drafters automatically marked this card as useless tutor. Well as HL/EDH player i have of course completely different view on the card.
1. "An opponent may put it onto your hand, if no one does..."
Lets stop right where we are. Any opponent may do so. Consider that in multiplayer situation with co-players.
2. You exile card or your card gets countered.
First mistake which has been done is that everyone automatically expects this card to be tutor. Its not. Thats only half of the card. I dont believe there is better or worse side of this card. If you wish to draw three cards or get single card you must be sure that one specific card is worth as three random cards. If the tutored card is worth more than these 3 random cards you are doing it wrong.
The play of this card is much more tricky as for Gifts ungiven/Intuition. People realized that they can offer to opponent card which they require in grave for reanimating, or choose cards with same or similar effects. Cards like Recall, Recollect easily fixed possible situation when player dont get what he wants.
Distant memories can have similar picks, but you have to remember, that the point of card is not to search and play cards.
3. Obvious and not obvious picks
Lets say we have just cast Distant memories. And we have to pick something.
Obvious
Train of Thoughts - ok, you have 4 mana. if you keep the card you can draw 2 cards in next turn, or draw 3 cards right now.
Keep the card: I would cast it in later game, possibly burn infinite mana. Cards with replicate are hard to counter.
Draw 3 cards: Ok, no problem
Its obvious that I wanted to draw cards. 3 Now, or infinite later. Each pick will do what i want, the difference is just that first pick wil help me in later game, second pick will help me in next turn.
Basic land, Ravnica Bounceland - you have manascrew?
Keep the card: Ok, my color/mana is fixed for the next play
Draw 3 cards: There is a chance that you will not draw a land card
Lands cannot be countered... Its obvious that the pick was chosen to draw another cards or provide additional mana. Again cards which may improve your tempo. If such action will provoke opponent to destroy that land in attempt to cause manascrew it could be something you can expect.
Banefire - how much mana you have?
Keep the card: Ok, but you are risking being burned by card which cannot be countered
Draw 3 cards: Well i play red deck with blue splash. Aint it as evil as Browbeat?
Again card hard to counter, however in deck which counts with this card you can get X damage or 3 cards which may cause more destruction as the single Banefire. The opponent will most like decide on fact how much mana you currently have.
Not so obvious
Wind Zendikon - What?
Keep the card: I am not scared of attacking 2/2 flyier
Draw 3 cards: I know your combo...
There is a combo in blue when you can enchant a land which can produce 2 mana per tap (one of which is blue) and later being enchanted with Freed from the real which allows it to untap for 1 blue mana. As a result there is infinite mana. Depending on situation if the player knows your tactics you have to decide if you expect to get the card because the player is unaware of your combo its OK, also he knows your combos well he might let you draw. If so you can use this pick for drawing, or if he give you the card you might be able to use it as decoy or if you are able to control your opponent you maybe cast the Zendikon successfully.
Emrakul/progenitus - You are giving me possibility to exile it?
Keep the card: there is still possibility to cast it fast, lets say with Show and Tell
Draw 3 card: This is what I expected, at all casting them is too hard.
this depends on intent of the caster if he wish to play such card, or rather draw. It depends much on what cards you currently have on hand and if opponent knows what you are playing.
4. Impossible picks
Any tutor. This is something that will surely damage your tempo and play.
The card say that you have to pay four mana, exile card now and draw, or sacrifice it later as decoy. When it comes to manacost 2uu its certain it reflects both Concentrate and Diabolic tutor. I dont like the discussion about "instants vs sorceries" or about mana cost. Any comparation with broken cards (such as Gifts ungiven) is just not equal.
It's important to compare cards to "broken" cards, though, because that's why they get played. There's a reason people play Lightning Bolt over Shock ;)
The problem with these 'punisher' cards, where you're leaving the choice in the hands of the opponent, is that eventually you will get dicked. You'll be casting your Distant Memories to try to save your ass from a bad situation, and target opponent will let you go ahead and draw 3 now that you've removed one of your answers from your library.
I mean consider a card like Fact or Fiction - that card used to be a beast. That was one of the good cards that let your opponent Choose your Destiny, and now look at it. It's easier to cast than Distant Memories, it's Instant, and ultimately you get to pick the best of five cards + 1 or 2 depending.
A blue Diabolic Tutor would have been cool, however you will never be able to fetch a card that wins the game. You'll instead be drawing 3 cards for 2UU, which is just as bad as playing concentrate. Except it's worse, because if you ever need 3 random cards (say to discard to Solitary Confinement), your opponent will let you keep the one which helps you the least.
If you are in a situation where a tutor or 3 random draws wins the game, you better off playing FoF or something else.
I have compared fact or fiction with other draw engines some months ago. 4 mana, and you get approx 2.5 card per this cost. Also i put some credit into Instant speed of a spell.
Distant memories gives also 2.5 card per 4 mana, however at sorcery speed from which I know its not as good card. However the choice by the opponnent is an illusion if you choose from your library specific cards. Both cards do this illusionary effect somehow at different points of resolution, one decision by the caster, other by the opponent.
Fact or Fiction and Distant memories have same goal, just to fill hand with certain choices between quality and quantity. If someone plays it as tutor did mistake at deckbuilding i think.
I dont say that any card is good or bad, thats just too vague. I just want to mention more possibilities (since usually i got dissaponted from some comments on gatherer)
From my experience the Distant memories could be fine in blue-red EDH with Niv-Mizzet as general. That makes the choice bit different :). However i dont plan to play this card in my monoblue currently. to archieve better "hand quality" i can use cards with CMC less than three. Due same reason i would not play Fact or Fiction, because at four mana I expect to have hand already filtered and ready to do some damage.
It's also savage to compare it directly to FoF because most people if they're doing it right will never, ever give you a split that isn't 3-2. That's the trick there, too; if they think they're putting a critical card in the small pile - a card you already have - then clearly you take the 3 card pile (unless they know you have it, but then we get into a downward spiral of "unless he KNOWS they know he knows".....heh).
Distant Memories can never do that for you. All it can do is make your draws probably worse at Sorcery speed; unless you're constantly tutoring for some stupid ass card that looks great, but isn't, and they keep letting you draw 3. But then it's probably still worse than Fact or Fiction, because it's harder to cast and it's a Sorcery. I kind of wish that the old rules still worked, because if you could still Wish for exiled cards then Distant Memories would say "Make your Cunning Wish better, draw 3". But it totally doesn't.
This is never going to be better than a draw 3 for 2uu if you have a competent opponent but will sometimes be worse. Concentrate is better, but still sucks
Concentrate is better and unplayable.
to TsumiBand:
You explained FoF quite well, but really, the pick of the card you exile with the memories do similar job in decision of your opponent. Its another spiral in "he knows, or he does not" and so on. If you are good player, and you understand blue well you will always know what to pick and your opponnent could only guess what is your plan. Bringing obviously combo card such as Mind Over Matter is useful only in situation when you know that you will not be able to start combo with it, but to start a combo right now all you need is 2+ (any) cards on hand.
Ok, I have re-think some things about this card.
Lets separate it into two effects (as most people actually did):
Pay 2UU, Exile card, draw three cards.
Comparing to Concentrate, it has one side effect that you have to exile a card. Is that a negative "additional cost"? Clearly Yes.
(also I know that Ancestral Recall is much better that Concentrate, but mostly banned, so lets compare it also to Harmonize which is considered for a really really nice drawing engine)
Pay 2UU, Reveal Card, Put it into your hand
Comparing to Diabolic tutor you have to reveal the card, which is also considered as a negative effect on this mana level.
Today I have made a decision to add this card into deck. Its important what card was replaced, but first there is something that has to be considered.
Lets say I have Mind over matter on hand. I will search for Azami, Lady of Scrolls. Now... if you give me the card on hand I have combo ready. If you dont, you will give me +2 cards on hand in addition. There is but one IF. If I sucessfully cast Mind Over Matter I can start combo, or radically boost my mana by discarding those cards i recently draw, or start the combo with completely different card, but not Azami.
but there is another IF. What if I bluff, and such nice card as Azami is just a decoy, or just backup plan? Still i can search for a "replacement" card which has exactly same effect as one I already have on hand. if you give me that card you will most probably counter or destroy it on first occassion. But if you let me draw instead you will most probably give me 3 other random cards which can mix up the game further.
If you exile the Azami, there is also possibility that I will play Archivist via some speeding effect and in next turn the MOM will still hit the ground.
Its unfair to compare Distant memories with Diabolic tutor and Concentrate. There is too much "what If" behind the effect.
And to card which I have replaced - for better consistency I used Ethereal usher. From my own point of view its a terrible tutoring. It has ability to find only 3 cards in my deck and it was used as the fourth one to improve statistical probability to start MOM+Arcanis combo. Honestly it worked only in situations when the game was locked and won long before I decided transmute it and everytime i used it i have revealed my plan in advance.
With Distant memories i can have much more possibilities. At first instead of searching Arcanis and only Arcanis I can search for Azami or Archivist if I wish. Also this form of tutoring works also with other possibilities to start the combo, not based on MOM but on Pemmins aura instead.
And at least both effects, no matter how opponent makes his decision are desired. 3 completely new cards from freshly shuffled library are at least worth it. More lands, more decoys, more control but to remind - 3 cards from reshuffled deck. Thats something that Concentrate cannot do and thats something most people did not understand. There are many situations when Senseis top, or Scroll Rack hinted me that next cards on top of library are not fitting to the play. Distant memories are then not too distant.
Be fun for EDH, but EDH is the saving grace of all cards that will never see tournament play. Kind of like this one.
I don't see this card doing anything. Fact or Fiction is insanely weak compared to Jace, and Distant Memories is just worse than FoF.
Strictly worse concentrate is being discussed, seriously? I dunno about other formats, but this is legacy, this can't won't ever be played as long as FoF is around. And FoF see scarce play.
Originally Posted by Offler
Please don't take this personally or too negatively but there's your problem right there. You're playing with horrible cards for the legacy format. When you start playing tournament competitive decks, our reasons will become more sensible to you. If you remain at the kitchen table then by all means try this card out-it won't matter nearly as much what you use.
to complete information I added it into EDH-highlander deck, so sorry for some confusion.
Thats true, and thats reason why I like singletons :D
to Bruizar and Gheizen64:
In legacy... FOF has also "What if" in its effect and thats makes the card bit overrated, but the instant speed gives to it some rightful credit. Currently the Jace-mania is in charge everywhere so I dont believe this card can make any difference in non-singleton formats.
But I have to disagree that its weaker Concentrate. Even when the opponent decides to always remove the card its more like...
2uu
Look at the cards in your library
Shuffle your library
Draw 3 cards
Have seen decks which use STD with a lot of fetches. The point was not to fetch a land, but to shuffle as many times as possible. Dont know if there are similar "russian roulette" methods in legacy, but they can be pretty effective in 100+ card singletons.
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