Brainstorm vs. Impulse
James S. Campbell
I'm sure this has came up before but I just can't decide... both have
good points...
Brainstorm: only U to cast, get to choose which two cards in my hand I
get to put back on the deck...
Impulse: More cards to choose from, get useless stuff to the bottom of
the deck, etc...
PLEASE HELP, I'M GOING CRAZY!!!!
Darren Gamble
James S. Campbell <jam...@earthlink.net> wrote in article
<34332679...@earthlink.net>...
> I'm sure this has came up before but I just can't decide... both have
> good points...
> Brainstorm: only U to cast, get to choose which two cards in my hand I
> get to put back on the deck...
> Impulse: More cards to choose from, get useless stuff to the bottom of
> the deck, etc...
Everyone feel free to disagree, but here's my opinion:
It's less to cast, yes, but a first turn Brainstorm (when people seem to
want to cast it) really doesn't do you much good. You don't lose a card,
but you'll be right back where you would have been in two turns
(particularily considering you can't do anything that turn). Brainstorming
later on is more helpful (you can cast the card you dug in your library
for) but by that time you may as well as had an Impulse. Impulse is almost
exclusively better unless you have a way to shuffle your library. Then,
Brainstorm becomes more helpful as you can put back ANY two cards (not just
the ones you drew) and then send them into the middle of your deck
someplace. Helpful to get rid of crap and replace it with good stuff;
something Impulse can't do.
Ingo Warnke
James S. Campbell (jam...@earthlink.net) wrote:
: I'm sure this has came up before but I just can't decide... both have
: good points...
: Brainstorm: only U to cast, get to choose which two cards in my hand I
: get to put back on the deck...
: Impulse: More cards to choose from, get useless stuff to the bottom of
: the deck, etc...
Brainstorm may have its uses against hand destruction etc. But it really is
'only' an extended one time Sylvan Library effect. If you are looking for
a specific card you can of course find it if you are lucky. But if you don't,
you are just one card nearer than before.
Say you just need a Wrath. If it is in the next 6 cards of your library, you
will get it in at most 2 turns if you use Impulse. If you use Brainstorm, you
will get it now if it is among the first three, but otherwise you will have to
wait at most 5 turns. That's why Dream Cache costs 2 more, it allows you to
really advance in your library for 3 cards if you want.
Ingo Warnke
Michael Rand
In article <34332679...@earthlink.net>
"James S. Campbell" <jam...@earthlink.net> writes:
> I'm sure this has came up before but I just can't decide... both have
> good points...
> Brainstorm: only U to cast, get to choose which two cards in my hand I
> get to put back on the deck...
> Impulse: More cards to choose from, get useless stuff to the bottom of
> the deck, etc...
>
> PLEASE HELP, I'M GOING CRAZY!!!!
It really depends based on your deck. I think that if you play a very
agressive deck with pro-active elements in it, and use them in a time
effecient manner, then Brainstorm is a bit better. Like if you draw 4
Land, 1 Shadow Guildmage, 1 Brainstorm, and a Man-)'-War, an early
brainstorm can put back some of those land to get like a Fallen Askari,
Black Knight, or Whatever, and still cast that 3rd turn Man-O'-War or
4th turn Nekrataal. If, on the other hand, you are playing a reactive
deck where certain reactive cards are better against some threats than
others, Impulse is better. Like, if I am playing my counterhammer
agaist a counterpost deck, when I impulse, I don't care about the
swords and the Disintegrate I see; I want my dwarven miner or Pillage.
Therefore, the fact that I see 4 cards instead of 3 and I don't see the
swords and the incinerate, er, disintegrate again makes Impulse that
much more attractive. It is really a touchy issue, but you will
probably see Impulse used before Brainstorm, only because blue is much
more often a reactive color. If you do build a beatdown deck, however,
I would look to Brainstorm or even Sage Owl for the library
manipulation you need.
Michael Rand
Dartmouth College Class of 2000
michael...@dartmouth.edu
"I ain't good looking but I'm someone's child"
Oasis
Unknown
"James S. Campbell" <jam...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>I'm sure this has came up before but I just can't decide... both have
>good points...
>Brainstorm: only U to cast, get to choose which two cards in my hand I
>get to put back on the deck...
>Impulse: More cards to choose from, get useless stuff to the bottom of
>the deck, etc...
Most of the advise given has been good, as long as you also remember
that you can use brainstorm to cheat on land. You can't use impulse
in this way.
Craig