Now here's a card that is so good, it's challenging to look for any reason not to include it when equipment is of any reasonable importance to you, and you have access to the THAUMATURGY discipline. I mean, just look at it! How good it must be for other forms of cards to also enjoy what Magic of the Smith offers?
First off, it allows you to find exactly what you need in your deck, whenever you need it. Need a .44 to deter those DOM bleeders, and don't have one in hand? Magic it. Need a Bowl of Convergence to look for all those stealthy Nosferatus? Magic it. Need an Index Finger to point the Rotschreck some other way? Magic it. Need that Soul Gem? Well, I think you get the point.
For decks that plays a good number of one per deck unique equipment, especially meta-equipment (or key themed equipment, such as the Soul Gem or the Sargon Fragment), this card is a god-send. It allows you to find the equipment quickly without the need of including too many multiple copies of it that would've clot up your deck space. It also allows you to find some other equipment when you already have what you need and could spare the time to go shop for something else. It is rarely a card that needs to be discarded.
But it has much more to offer than that. At superior THA, it is a +3 Stealth action. +3! It will take a good intercept deck to be able to even attempt to intercept such an action - even so, it is not always easy for them to do so. To be honest, with a single Seduction in hand, you almost have a 99% chance of getting what you want.
Another great benefit it has, is the protection it offers for your equipment against denial cards such as Direct Intervention. If you directly attempt to equip a Soul Gem, for example, you open yourself to opponent's Direct Interventions - and players (especially if they're your predator or prey) will do so if they know anything about how it feels like to sit below an effective Soul Gem deck. But with Magic of the Smith, they can only DI the Magic, and leave your Soul Gem intact for another attempt later - it is almost guaranteed that there will be less DI in play than there are Magic of the Smith in your deck.
So any down side to this card? (besides being an expensive card in real $ sense)
Well, even at inferior THA, this card is good to have, but it truly shines at superior THA, since it makes blocking it quite a feat. It costs a measly one blood that THA Vampires generally won't care less, especially with Perfectionist and stuff like that nowadays. The only other reasonable comparison to it is probably the obscure Muricia's Call that duplicates the search function on retainers and The Summoning who does it to allies - and these cards have restrictions and limitations that Magic will just scoff at. That's how good Magic is.
If you have THA, and plays equipment to a certain extent, Magic of the Smith is pure intoxicating magic. Don't leave home without it.
(o.o)y
3 comments:
A downside I have found is when you are trying to get unique equipments that you only included in the deck once and happen to get on your hand before the MotS. Since you are only allowed to search your library, not the hand, you can't cycle both cards and you don't get the 3 stealth on the equip action and you open yourself up to the DI.
If a unique equipment is really crucial, you might want to include 2 even if you plan on getting it with MotS.
The other disadvantage is when the desired equipment is already in your hand already and you can't risk a +1 stealth action to equip it normally.
Put a Pier 13, Port of Baltimore in your deck to avoid this. Magic out a Pier 13 first and then you can play the card from your hand.
Agreed 100%
And good decks who relies on crucial equipment will almost definitely have at least 2 copies.
Soul Gem decks for example, rarely only has 1 copy of Soul Gem. That is simply too risky. And very often they have ways to get those cards back too.
Pier 13 is a great idea!
(o.o)y
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