MTG players really wanted to see a Snapcaster Mage reprint in the Foundations set. A certain hint from MTG designer Mark Rosewater suggested that this would be a possibility. With the information we have now, this hint was probably alluding to the reprint of Solemn Simulacrum appearing in MTG Foundations.
That said, Snapcaster Mage fans won’t be disappointed with one of the many new cards in the upcoming set. Control players everywhere will be trying this card, but how useful is the new Sphinx of Forgotten Lore really?
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore certainly isn’t as powerful as Snapcaster Mage, but it’s also not trying to play the exact same role. It is trying to do something incredibly similar to the iconic creature from Innistrad, but all of Snapcaster Mage’s versatility is not within the Sphinx’s range.
Snapcaster Mage’s cheap mana value allows it to be a jack of all trades, provided that you’ve cast a series of cheap instants and sorceries in your early turns. The creature can either become a threat with attached removal in the form of Lightning Bolt or can be a four-mana counterspell with a creature attached.
That second mode of Snapcaster Mage is not something that Sphinx of Forgotten Lore is capable of. Instead of Flashing back instants and sorceries on entry, this creature does so when it attacks. This changes the role of Sphinx of Forgotten Lore somewhat.
Instead of this card being a utility card with a body attached, Sphinx of Forgotten Lore is an instant speed threat. You want this card to survive to provide value. If it does survive, it’s really easy to pull ahead in a game. Flashing back multiple spells will bury your opponent in advantage.
Sadly, this also means that Sphinx of Forgotten Lore synergizes poorly with counterspells. The spells you need to Flashback will have to be proactive instead of reactive since you cannot Flash back in response to another spell. If counterspell-focused control decks continue to be powerful, Sphinx of Forgotten Lore may have trouble fitting in.
That said, Sphinx of Forgotten Lore seems like an easy fit in any Commander decks that run a lot of instants and sorceries of this nature. It also fits decently well in a Standard deck that already exists.
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore in Azorius Oculus?
Azorius Oculus is one of the best decks in the Standard format right now. Eli Kassis placed 11th in the World Championships with the strategy, and it was a well-known quantity before the event.
The deck’s strategy revolves around milling Abhorrent Oculus with various effects and reanimating the card with Helping Hand. Abhorrent Oculus is an absurd amount of value for just one mana. The card is so powerful that it even sees Modern play.
While the primary gameplan is very powerful, there are a lot of wheel-spinning cards like Moment of Truth and Founding the Third Path that attempt to get the Abhorent Oculus into the graveyard. Between that and trying to get Helping Hand into your hand, the deck can sometimes be a bit one-dimensional.
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore adds an instant-speed threat to this deck that also gets more powerful as your graveyard fills up. If you manage to mill both an Abhorrent Oculus and a Helping Hand, Sphinx of Forgotten Lore can attack and Flashback the Helping Hand.
Most of the time, the Sphinx will help you dig even deeper into your deck. The card having Flash will also give opponents less time to react to it.
Will This Card Be Popular?
Sphinx of Forgotten Lore has five years of Standard ahead of it. I would be shocked if the card never sees play during that time. It may not be quite good enough to see play immediately, but this card will likely be good at some point.
Otherwise, some Commander decks are interested in a card like this. You don’t need to work too hard to make Sphinx of Forgotten Lore work, and the card lets you hold up other interaction alongside it. The card does not seem broken by any means and is leagues worse than Snapcaster Mage, but the relation is clear.