Wiretapping (SNC)

Wiretapping
Casting Cost: {4}{U}
Card Type: Enchantment
Card Text:
Hideaway 5 (When this enchantment enters the battlefield, look at the top five cards of your library, exile one face down, then put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)
Whenever you draw your first card during each of your draw steps, draw a card. Then if you have nine or more cards in hand, you may play the exiled card without paying its mana cost.
Artist: Jason A. Engle

Card Strengths and Weaknesses:

• Strengths:
  • Provides card advantage by allowing an extra card draw each turn.
  • Can cheat out high-cost cards if you manage to have nine or more cards in hand.
  • Synergizes with strategies that aim for large hand sizes.
• Weaknesses:
  • High casting cost for an enchantment that doesn't impact the board immediately.
  • Requires a condition (nine or more cards in hand) to maximize the Hideaway effect.

Deck Utility:

• Control Decks: This card can fit well into control decks that like to draw and hold cards for options, making it easier to meet the nine-card hand size condition.

• Draw-Engine Decks: If you have multiple ways to draw cards, this card becomes significantly stronger.

• Combo Decks: Can be used to dig for combo pieces, especially if you can maintain a large hand size to play the exiled card for free.

Interactions and Combos:

• Reliquary Tower/Thought Vessel: Cards that allow you to have no maximum hand size could be useful to fulfill the condition of nine cards in hand.

• Wheel Effects: Cards that let you draw a large number of cards can quickly fulfill the condition to play the exiled card for free.

• Hideaway Synergy: Could work well in a deck that uses other Hideaway cards or effects that play off of exiled cards.

Flavor and Lore:
The card seems to depict the act of wiretapping in a magical setting, gathering information without the opponent knowing. The Hideaway mechanic represents finding something valuable, and the conditions to use it imply that it takes careful planning and a full "hand" of information to utilize the gathered intel.

Overall Impression:
"Wiretapping" is a high-risk, high-reward card that can provide a great deal of value if its conditions are met. It can serve as a powerful draw engine and a way to cheat out high-cost spells, making it a tempting inclusion for decks that can afford to play a longer game.