Locations
Welcome back! Today we're going to continue our list of cards with one of my favorite mechanics of all time: flashback! If you happened to miss the first part, be sure and check that one out first.
Today we'll be looking at the final eight cards and, as usual, these are going to be a combination of cards that are fan favorites, iconic staples, and competitive all-stars, so nothing is really off-limits.
Let's begin!
Lava Dart
Man, Lava Dart. What a piddly little card. One damage, huh? Wow. Impressive. What's that? You can deal another one damage, for the low cost of an entire Mountain?!
Jokes aside, who would have thought a card that does such little damage would have become such an all-star? In fact I just saw numerous Modern decks that are utilizing Lava Dart to this day! Which is somewhat ironic, considering that Lava Dart wasn't even initially legal in Modern until it was printed into the format in the first Modern Horizons set. Turns out one damage is all you need to kill a lot of creatures...and Lava Dart deals it twice.
Lingering Souls
I think a case can be made that Lingering Souls is the best card with flashback of all time. I'm not 100% sure that's true, but I think a very strong argument can be made for it. It's kind of funny to even have to describe or explain the card. It makes two guys for three mana. Then it makes another two guys for two mana. Sometimes people aren't even casting it for White mana; they just dump it in the grumper and cast it for Black mana. And that's good enough.
Momentary Blink
If I remember correctly, Momentary Blink was actually one of the first cards to just let you "blink" one of your creatures to either save them from removal, or take advantage of their battlefield abilities. I'd also put money on the fact that the term "blink" even came from Momentary Blink.
With that being the case, of course the flashback card that coined a popular Magic term would be included in the list. Later on, Ephemerate would be printed as an alternative option for Momentary Blink. While it lacks a lot of the control of Blink, where you get to choose when you cast it a second time, Ephemerate is significantly cheaper.
Moment's Peace
What's better than one Fog? Of course the answer is two Fogs! That's basically Moment's Peace in a nutshell, and people love that. In addition to being a staple in the Mirari's Wake decks of Standard back in 2003, Moment's Peace is huge in Pauper. While it's not the most exciting card with flashback, it has been around for over two decades and is still utilized today.
Mystical Teachings
Mystical Teachings is another card that basically defined an entire archetype. "Teachings" was not only a deck unto itself, it was also in nearly every Blue and Black control deck that could cast it, from decks with Dralnu, to Tron decks, to Quick 'n Toast and Pickles decks. If you don't know what those are, you should definitely look them up from the 2010 Standard format. Nowadays it sees consistent play in Pauper, and it's even Standard legal once again thanks to Foundations!
Roar of the Wurm
Roar of the Wurm is basically just Call of the Herd, if Call of the Herd made 6/6 Wurms instead of 3/3 Elephants, and if the front half of the card cost seven mana instead of three mana. But otherwise...exact same card! In all seriousness, Roar of the Wurm was a card very similar to Deep Analysis in that you weren't really relying on casting it for its mana value. You were more interested in getting it into the graveyard to get an effect for cheaper than you normally would thanks to flashback, while also fulfilling the criteria of discarding something for an ability.
Spider Spawning
While I don't think Spider Spawning ever managed to make it into any competitive formats, it still makes the list based on how iconic the card was in the Innistrad Limited format. It was a format-defining card that people were enthusiastic to build around, especially the legendary Brian David-Marshall, of which Spider Spawning was a favorite card. In fact, the card is so memorable that it has had eight printings despite having basically zero Constructed impact.
Think Twice
While five mana to draw two cards is nothing to write home about, what if you split it up over time? Totally reasonable then, right? Actually, yes! That's the entire premise of Think Twice and why it always sees play when it finds itself in a Standard format. (Actually, it's in Standard now, and I don't think it's seeing much play, but Standard is also pretty poop right now; I don't even think control decks exist.) Turns out that if you have a card drawing spell that lets you pick up a card or two when you have a few extra mana lying around, it can be pretty good.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
