Pem’s Tech Blog

Augury Owl.  When Augury Owl enters the battlefield, scry 3.

Game Play Comments:

When October 1 of 2010 hits, the standard constructed format (my opinion at the time of writing this is – by far the best and most important constructed format) will be only 5 sets (Zendikar, Worldwake, Rise of the Eldrazi, Magic 2011, and Scars of Mirrodin).  Based on the most recent releases (2010 Jul 17, 2010 Oct 2, 2011 Feb 5, 2011 Apr 23, 2011 Jul 16, 2011 Oct 1), there are 5 sets released per year (between Oct 1 to the next Oct 1), and the oldest sets get rotated out (in this case, Magic 2010 and the 3 prior sets) once a year on Oct 1.  I ran into Augury Owl in a standard constructed deck, since it’s in the Magic 2011 set, and I really liked the flavor / feel of the card.

As for actually using Augury Owl, for a converted mana cost of 2, the scry 3 is good, and fly is good.  However, I tend to compare Augury Owl to Wall of Omens.  In general, I don’t like 1/1 attack as much as as Wall of Omen’s 0/4.  In general, I like draw 1 better than scry 3.  Another comparison would be Preordain, which lets you scry 3 and draw 1.  That said, Augury Owl may work better in a certain kind of deck, where the scry 3 and/or fly are particularly useful.  Or in addition to Preordain and/or Wall of Omen.

Augury
1. the art or practice of an augur; divination.
2. the rite or ceremony of an augur.
3. an omen, token, or indication.

Augur
–noun
1. one of a group of ancient Roman officials charged with observing and interpreting omens for guidance in public affairs.
2. soothsayer; prophet.

–verb (used with object)
3. to divine or predict, as from omens; prognosticate.
4. to serve as an omen or promise of; foreshadow; betoken: Mounting sales augur a profitable year.

–verb (used without object)
5. to conjecture from signs or omens; predict.
6. to be a sign; bode: The movement of troops augurs ill for the peace of the area.

Scry
to divine, esp by crystal gazing

Descry:
1. to see (something unclear or distant) by looking carefully; discern; espy: The lookout descried land.
2. to discover; perceive; detect.

Vocabulary Comments:

I like the Augury Owl because he/she is wise and can see the future.  I like to think of the Augury Owl staring closely at my deck, like a crystal ball, to see the top 3 cards (or to fly ahead to descry what’s coming).  The Augury Owl is an augur, and he/she can augur what the next cards will be.

However, the Augury Owl doesn’t just see the future, he/she affects the future (since you can rearrange the 3 cards on the top or bottom of your deck).  In this way, the Augury Owl is an augury of me drawing the cards I need for the current game scenario (and of me using these cards in the near future of the current game).

I’ve seen scry called short for descry, but scry also has the connotation of looking into a crystal ball.  While the connotation to descry is more general, looking carefully to discern and perceive.

Pem (Admin) :: Aug.29.2010 :: Games, magic vocab, tcg :: No Comments »

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