Brainstorm

Today's post is discussing this blog's namesake card, Brainstorm. Most commonly played in Legacy as well as other formats, Brainstorm is a very powerful card in it's ability to draw cards, protect hands, organise decks, and fix draws, all for the price of one blue mana.

Back when it was first printed, brainstorm was a terrible card, not even worth playing in mediocre decks. The reason was because for one blue, even though you drew 3 cards, you had to put two card from your hand on top of your library. The reason why this was bad was because it did not technically sort your next draw, but set you back two draws with cards that were usually not what you needed. Another way to explain this is the card technically said “Draw a card, but put two useless cards on top of your library”. This was known as being brainstorm-locked.

The power level of this card completely changed with the printing of the fetchlands. The reason was because of the fetchlands, you were able to shuffle your deck for one life. This meant that brainstorm read “ at any time, for one blue mana and one life, draw three cards, and put two bad cards in your hand into your deck and then shuffle”. This helped stop brainstorm from locking the top of the player's deck for two turns when it played. Because of this, most decks that run brainstorm also run eight or more fetchlands for shuffle effects. Although many players still lock their deck from lacking the ability to shuffle their deck at the point they cast brainstorm, hoping to draw a shuffle effect.

Another reason why brainstorm is so powerful is because it replaces itself. Most instant and sorceries in Magic once used do not replace themselves, so you are usually down one card in your hand. Brainstorm lets you draw three, one to replace itself and two to replace what you put back on top of your library.

The final reason why brainstorm is so powerful is because it is an instant, meaning it can be played at
any time in a turn. Because of this, brainstorm can fight discard. The best discard spells in Magic are all sorcery speed, so if someone casts thoughtseize to get rid of one of your best cards, you can respond with brainstorm at instant speed to draw three cards, and put the two best cards on top of your deck, safe from the opponent's discard spell. This helps a lot for decks that need pieces for a combo to win or game-changing spell. It also helps being an instant to find an answer to an opponent's threat, such as a counterspell.

Here is a link to a video with more information on Brainstorm from Gathering Magic.

Until next time, keep brainstorming Magic.