The draw a card effect means you are replacing the card that you needed to trigger the effect. The cost allows it to be played in any deck to get the quanta type required to play your out of element card. Weakness is you have to draw this card to convert the quanta over to what you need and the quanta generation won't hang around to fuel future turns.
Would it not be better to just use Quantum Towers / Supernova? (To get your out-of-element card)
The fact is, with this card being a spell (ie. a once off usage), and it's effect being: lose a card, gain a card, gain a little quanta... It isn't exactly that appealing now is it?
Sure, I am all for a card which allows people to generate more useful quanta. But this card costs 4 and 3 (random quanta) to play. This means that in some situations, you are only going to gain +2 or even +1 (if extremely unlucky) to your 'needed' quanta type.
Take this example.
I have
2
20
1
1: air
I play a Lively Flash (unupgraded). So, now I am going to lose 4 random quanta. I do not know the mechanics but I would imagine, that the probability of me losing 1
is as much as me losing 1
. Seeing as it is randomly chosen.
So, now I will suggest possible ways to (in my mind) make this card a little more appealing.
Option a) Make it a creature. Call it something like Quantum Sage for Life, or Quantum Thaumaterge for Fire, or Quantum Tempest for Air etc...
Cost: Debatable
Stats: 0/3
Ability: 4 (any quanta) / 3 (any quanta) - Gain 3 (specific quanta) and draw a card. This creature takes 2 damage.
Reasoning: This way it is a two-use card. So, 6 of these in your deck will now give you 12 usages of Lively/Timely/Atmospheric Flash.
A further note: Ideally, we would want a further layer of User-Interface... Make 1 card... Quantum Entity - play it, choose its respective element. Instead of making 12 cards... but I suppose this is a pipe-dream
Option b) Change the way it works. Keep it as a spell, but buff it a little. A spell is a once off use card, no-one is going to carry 6 of them in their deck unless they absolutely needed to (or absolutely chose to).
Make it transfer quanta from your most abundant, into your chosen type. From the above example we had:
2
20
1
1
If this card was to be played now:
Cost would still be 4 (any - but most abundant). So I would lose 4
and gain 3
Reasoning: There are many circumstances in which you find one of your Quanta types overflowing. This is usually because of a deck which favors 1 too many pillar - or you are not using high enough cost cards to that relevant quanta. Or, your mark is just pumping it up and you have no further use for it. Then, this card would be favourable. Instead of totally randomly removing your quanta to give you 3 specific new ones.
Anyways, hope I didn't ramble to long