From the FAQ: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

[arcane]

nice card
gives u a lot of advantage, "mortify for 4","i mana leak it for 1"
nice

[Falkor]

I don't care if he is a guy, he is format defining. When you put two Medallions and Sphere of Resistance on a 2/3 body, that's a format-defining creature. So, do you think that UW Control would be stupid enough to put him in play without counter backup? Are you kidding? How easy will he be to kill if I leave 1 mana open for Mana Leak/Remand, or two mana open for any decent counterspell in the format? Not too easy.

Look, I can't overstate this enough, lotsa decks are going to have a very, very difficult time getting through this guy, Condemn, Devouring Light, Wrath of God, and counters for a victory. This guy singlehandedly allows UG Aggro-Control to be a deck archetype, since UG was going to get run over by aggro without this in the format. There are a TON of options for UW Control to both gain life and conserve resources. This card gives you the time to set up your win condition, and move on from there.

This card does not stop aggro like Meloku, it's a different card, but with the removal available in the format, this card does not have to stop aggro, leave that job to Condemn, D-Light, Wrath, and Faith's Fetters (or Repeal or other bounce spell).

He helps to define the format.

[Rocky]

Won't be played that much, here's why...

Can it win the game like Meloku? Nope.
Is it better control than a Wrath of God? Nope.
Would you rather have Mana Leaks in this spot? Probably.

In theory, he'd work great in a UW aggro deck that needs to accelerate, but in that case, why waste the turn to drop him instead of dropping aggro?

Good? Yes. Fun? Yes. Format defining? Heck no!

I would be suprised if you see this in two top 8 deck lists in the entire country come regionals.

Sorry to be such a downer. Flame away if you feel the need.

[Kird_Ape]

nice card reminds me of stormscape familiar cept its UW instead of BW

[Jeff062401]

A quick question for the more knowledgeable...

The spells costing less applies to instants and sorceries obviously. But what about creatures (they are spells on the stack but not before they get there, so I'm assuming no)? Enchantments? I'm guessing yes but would like an definitive answer. Do blue and white spells cost 2 less like the bonus Tsolmir gives out to green and white creatures? And is a spell say Spell Snare only costs U to begin with, is it free?

Someone please explain, thanks.

[Flaming ninja]

All your counterspells cheaper, yes! It means remand cost only , mana leak , rewind , repeal also cost less.

But what about creatures (they are spells on the stack but not before they get there, so I'm assuming no)? Enchantments? I'm guessing yes but would like an definitive answer. Do blue and white spells cost 2 less like the bonus Tsolmir gives out to green and white creatures? And is a spell say Spell Snare only costs U to begin with, is it free?

Enchantments and creatures counts as spells too. This means that Faith's fetters is cheaper, Meloku is cheaper, Wrath of god is cheaper and so is Ghostaway. And all this while your opponents' spells cost 1 more to play, even better! As this effect only reduce blue and white spell you play by , so spell snare is not free and so is isamaru.

Won't be played that much, here's why...

Can it win the game like Meloku? Nope.

Of course, you will not play this alone, play this with meloku next turn. A cheaper meloku means more flying tokens. lol.

[Xujhan]

I think this card has real potential. No, it doesn't make your opponent die in two turns. But then, Meloku doesn't help you gain tempo advantage over other control decks. I'm inclined to think that this card will shine against other control decks. Against aggro, a three-point butt is about 1 point too fragile. On the other hand, if he comes down and sticks in the late mid-game, turns 7 or 8 he pretty ensures that you're winning whatever game is left, if you just don't plain run out of good spells to play.

Against decks packing tons of removal, he can give you a massive tempo advantage. Fetters for 5 getting Remanded for 1 really sucks for them. Also, he makes it much, much easier to play a real win condition with counter mana open. Basically, he's almost a win condition himself: if your opponent can't deal with him, you probably win.

[GenericKen]

The UW control decks I've been playing against have been having tempo issues, so I've been thinking about Confiscate, maybe ghostly prison. Razia's purification seems a bit much, though.

[Risky]

I was looking at the Spelltithe Elephant the other day wishing it cost one less. Now is does and lowers the cost of my spells. This has huge potential.