Risky Research

In Commander, Risky Research is an easy include in any blue deck that either generates disposable creatures or wants something specific in the graveyard — four cards at instant speed for two mana is a rate that demands a reason not to run it. In competitive 1v1 formats like Modern and Legacy, the opponent-chooses clause is a serious liability since they'll always take your most important piece, making it a liability in anything other than a token shell or a reanimator shell that wants the creature dead anyway. Pauper is where it gets genuinely interesting at common, since card draw at that rate is rare and token strategies have real support at the format's power level. Standard and Pioneer players can leverage it in sacrifice synergy decks, though the four-mana floor of losing a creature plus two mana can be punishing in faster metas.