Research the Deep MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Clash
Released	2008-02-01
Set symbol
Set name	Morningtide
Set code	MOR
Number	46
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Eric Fortune

Key Takeaways

Provides continuous card advantage and strategic adaptability, crucial for maintaining hand options.
Ensures land fetching at instant speed, vital for mana base expansion and curve management.
Tactical flexibility to act on opponents’ turns enhances its potential as a strategic asset.

Text of card

Draw a card. Clash with an opponent. If you win, return Research the Deep to its owner's hand. (Each clashing player reveals the top card of his or her library, then puts that card on the top or bottom. A player wins if his or her card had a higher converted mana cost.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Research the Deep excels at giving players the upper hand by replenishing their hand with options. It can potentially draw multiple cards over several turns, keeping your resources fresh and your strategy adaptable.

Resource Acceleration: This card dives into your deck to fetch any type of land, ensuring that your mana base grows quickly and you stay ahead of the curve. Its ability to search for the exact land you need can facilitate powerful plays and accelerate your game plan.

Instant Speed: The swift nature of Research the Deep allows players to operate on the opponent’s turn, offering the flexibility to react to threats or opportunities as they arise. This adaptability makes the card a tactical asset in many situations.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of Research the Deep is its discard condition. Playing this card requires you to part with another card from your hand, which can be quite the sacrifice, especially if your hand size is dwindling. This can put you at a disadvantage, as you decrease your available resources to fuel future plays.

Specific Mana Cost: Research the Deep demands a strictly blue mana investment to cast. This specific mana cost means that it fits primarily in mono-blue or blue-centric decks, potentially restricting its inclusion in more diverse or multicolored deck strategies where mana flexibility is crucial.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that demands three blue mana, Research the Deep can be challenging to play early in the game. When considering the pace of play and available resources, this card’s mana requirement might seem steep compared to other options that offer similar benefits at a lower cost or provide additional flexibility.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Research the Deep offers considerable flexibility, adapting well to different styles of play, and is particularly favorable in decks that need card advantage and exploration of potential strategic plays.

Combo Potential: This card’s ability to look at the top four cards and potentially draw one offers synergy with library manipulation and graveyard mechanics, giving it a place among decks that thrive on these interactions.

Meta-Relevance: Given its proficiency in offering deck insight and ensuring that you’re not caught off guard, in a meta rich with control or combo decks, Research the Deep provides the knowledge required to outplay your opponents effectively.

How to beat

Research the Deep, a blue sorcery card in Magic: The Gathering, nudges players to delve into their libraries for strategic advantages. Its ability to shuffle an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard into your library is particularly valuable mid-game when resources are running low. Comparable cards, such as Flood of Recollection, also retrieve spells from your graveyard, but Research the Deep’s shuffle mechanism uniquely mitigates the chance of drawing into an unwanted card soon afterwards.

When facing an opponent utilizing Research the Deep, think about leveraging graveyard disruption. Cards like Tormod’s Crypt can exile an opponent’s graveyard, effectively negating the benefits of Research the Deep. Moreover, instant-speed counterspells, such as Negate or Dispel, can efficiently stop Research the Deep from resolving, preserving your tactical position. It’s also worth considering the timing aspect. Applying pressure early in the game can force your opponent to use their mana on defense rather than investing in the setup Research the Deep requires for optimal use.

Overall, when tackling Research the Deep, a combination of proactive strategy, graveyard manipulation, and well-timed counters can invalidate this card’s potential and keep you ahead in the duel.

Cards like Research the Deep

Research the Deep plunges into the depths of Magic: The Gathering lore with its unique scrying ability. Likened to cards such as Preordain, Research the Deep allows players to manipulate the top cards of their library. Preordain, a mainstay in decks valuing card selection, permits players to scry two cards and then draw one. While Research the Deep offers a less immediate effect, it compensates with its rebound potential, granting a repeated use without spending more mana.

Another card to consider is Serum Visions, which simplifies the process: draw one card, then scry two. However, it lacks the return visit provided by Research the Deep’s rebound. Telling Time stands as a comparable spell, providing a mix of drawing and scrying and offering a slight advantage by putting a card in hand immediately. Yet, the one-time effect makes it less attractive than the extended impact from rebound.

Assessing the versatility and strategic depth these cards bring to a player’s arsenal, Research the Deep holds its place among MTG’s intriguing scrying spells. The advantage of setting up not just one, but two future turns, potentially sculpting the perfect draw, makes it a noteworthy tool for carefully calibrated decks.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Research the Deep MTG card by a specific set like Morningtide, 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 Research the Deep and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Research the Deep has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2008-04-01	If the spell is countered or doesn’t resolve for any reason (for example, if all its targets become illegal), none of its effects happen. There is no clash, and the spell card won’t be returned to your hand.
2008-04-01	If you win the clash, the spell moves from the stack to your hand as part of its resolution. It never hits the graveyard. If you don’t win the clash, the spell is put into the graveyard from the stack as normal.