Tome Scour MTG Card

Magic 2010 (M10)
2009-07-17 - Number 76

Magic 2011 (M11)
2010-07-16 - Number 76

Magic 2014 (M14)
2013-07-19 - Number 75

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Mill

Key Takeaways

Enables graveyard-based strategies by quickly stocking up on cards for synergistic plays.
Instant speed offers strategic flexibility and optimal mana use in MTG decks.
Ideal for blue-focused or mill-centric decks, increasing their competitive edge.

Text of card

Target player puts the top five cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.

Genius is overrated, especially when it's someone else's.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: While Tome Scour doesn’t let you draw, it offers a strategic advantage by milling the top five cards of your opponent’s library. This can deplete their resources and disrupt their game plan, indirectly contributing to your card superiority.

Resource Acceleration: Tome Scour fits nicely into decks that revolve around graveyard and spell casting strategies. By filling your own graveyard quickly, it accelerates your access to cards that become more potent with a stocked graveyard, such as delve or threshold cards, setting up for powerful plays down the line.

Instant Speed: Casting Tome Scour is not restricted to your main phase, granting you the flexibility to use your mana efficiently. You can pass the turn with untapped lands, ready to respond to your opponent’s actions, and use Tome Scour when the moment is most opportune, such as at the end of their turn or in response to a shuffle effect.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Tome Scour itself doesn’t necessitate discarding, it may propel players closer to depleting their deck, an aspect you should weigh carefully in non-mill strategies. Running out of cards can swiftly turn the tide against you.

Specific Mana Cost: Tome Scour’s blue mana requirement means it fits primarily into blue or blue-inclusive decks. This can restrict its versatility across the myriad of deck types and styles available to players.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At a single blue mana, the card is affordable but can be deceptive in value. For players seeking to optimize mana efficiency, allocating resources to mill five cards might not always align with your game plan compared to other cards that advance board state or hand advantage.

Reasons to Include Tome Scour in Your Collection

Versatility: Tome Scour is a simple and efficient way to fuel graveyard-based strategies, making it a useful addition to any deck that capitalizes on spell casting or milling as a path to victory.

Combo Potential: Milling five cards from a single blue mana cost, this card synergizes well with mechanics like Delve, Dredge, or Threshold, effectively enabling a range of combo plays that can turn the tide of a game.

Meta-Relevance: In MTG formats where games are drawn out or in metas where graveyard interaction is key, Tome Scour can play an essential role, subtly depleting an opponent’s library while empowering your own graveyard strategies.

How to beat

Tome Scour in Magic: The Gathering represents an integral piece in mill strategies, efficiently placed to manipulate opponent’s libraries. As a spell that sends the top five cards of a player’s library straight to their graveyard, its main utility is clear – depleting an opponent’s potential resources and bringing them closer to losing the game through decking out. Despite its potency, its strength lies in its singular focus. Any strategy to overcome Tome Scour hinges on diversifying one’s threats and maintaining a robust library.

One approach involves implementing graveyard recursion. By utilizing cards that allow you to retrieve important spells or creatures from your graveyard, the value of Tome Scour is significantly dampened. Additionally, incorporating shuffle effects with cards like Eldrazi Titans can thwart mill strategies by reshuffling the graveyard back into the library whenever they’re put into a graveyard from anywhere. Cards that offer hexproof to your library, such as Gaea’s Blessing or cards like Kozilek, the Great Distortion, can also serve as safeguards against mill tactics.

To summarize, while Tome Scour can be a nightmare for unprepared decks, its impact diminishes greatly against strategies equipped to either exploit the graveyard or protect their library, turning what could be a powerful offensive into little more than a mild annoyance.

Cards like Tome Scour

Tome Scour holds a unique position within Magic: The Gathering as an efficient one-mana spell that targets players to mill five cards. This positions it as a cornerstone in mill decks, stacks that focus on depleting the opponent’s library. When looking at counterparts, Memory Sluice is often cited, milling four cards for one mana, but it requires a bit of synergy with other spells to be cast for free. Into the story, despite its higher mana cost, can be a powerhouse when milling is the core strategy, dealing seven cards if an opponent has seven or more cards in their graveyard.

Merfolk Secretkeeper offers versatility as a creature with an adventure that mills four cards. Although it doesn’t mill as many as Tome Scour, the presence of a body on the board adds strategic depth. Additionally, Glimpse the Unthinkable instantly comes to mind, promising a heavy hit to your opponent’s library, milling ten cards with only two mana. The balance between the cost and the effect is less efficient than Tome Scour, but the impact is significant.

Ultimately, within the milling archetype, Tome Scour stands out for its cost-effective approach, offering players a direct and immediate way to attack the core of an opponent’s deck for a minimal investment.

Glimpse the Unthinkable - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Tome Scour by color, type and mana cost

Drafna's Restoration - MTG Card versions

Merfolk Secretkeeper // Venture Deeper - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Tome Scour MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2010 and Magic 2011, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Tome Scour and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Tome Scour Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2009-07-17 and 2013-07-19. Illustrated by Steven Belledin.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2009-07-17	Magic 2010	M10	76	2003	Normal	Black	Steven Belledin
2	2010-07-16	Magic 2011	M11	76	2003	Normal	Black	Steven Belledin
3	2013-07-19	Magic 2014	M14	75	2003	Normal	Black	Steven Belledin

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Tome Scour has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Pioneer	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Tome Scour card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2009-10-01	If there are fewer than five cards in the targeted player’s library, that player puts all the cards from their library into their graveyard.