Please, Not the Top 6!

Number 95, that means there's only 5 left!

Demonic Consultation really doesn’t get enough love. It’s quite clearly a broken card. One that could potentially make UB Fish insane, along with numerous other decks.

It costs one mana, which is cheaper than Demonic Tutor, which is cheaper than Grim Tutor, which are the only two viable Vintage tutors that put cards directly into your hand. Otherwise, the best thing one mana can get for you is a card on the top of your library. It costs no life. And, most importantly, it gets you what you need when you need it, right now.

People always whine about it being a huge risk because if the card you’re looking for is a singleton and its in the top six of your library, you lose instantly. Really, though, it’s not that bad. Check this out.

If you don’t care whether it’s the last card in your library—i.e. getting it will win you the game right away, your chances are almost certainly better than 80%, as shown below:

If we assume that you don't care whether the card is the last card (i.e., if you get it you will win this turn), the odds that you find a 1-of that you Consult for are:
50 cards remaining in library: 22/25 = 88%
45 cards: 13/15 = 86.67%
40 cards: 17/20 = 85%
35 cards: 29/35 = 82.85%

If you're casting it at the end of your opponent's turn and plan on winning on your next mainphase, the odds that you still have a card in your library left during your draw step are:
50 cards: 13/15 - 1/50 = 43/50 = 86%
45 cards: 17/20 - 1/45 = 38/45 = 84.44%
40 cards: 33/40 - 1/40 = 33/40 = 82.5%
35 cards: 29/35 - 1/35 = 4/5 = 80%

As you might imagine, the odds improve dramatically when you have even two copies in your library. Redoing the example that you don't care whether its the last card in your library or not:
50 cards: 242/245 = 98.77%
45 cards: 65/66 = 98.48%
40 cards: 51/52 = 98.07%
35 cards: 116/119 = 97.47%

Those numbers are from a July 20, 2005 post made on the Star City Games forums by Justin “JDizzle” Droba.

I personally never realized they were quite that good (nor would I have been able to do the math without going back to my probabilities class—hooray, for English majors). I’m just bringing Demonic Consultation up as a possible card to go in more decks. It’s quite strong, and if your deck is redundant or you don’t care about removing certain cards from the game, its success is almost a sure thing.

Remember that the next time you’re going for Black Lotus with a Grim Tutor: the Demonic Consultation might just do it that much better.