The added ability is unnecessary and complicated, but countering a spell and leaving the caster with a creature is interesting.

To respond to all of you:
No, yes, right, okay, I was worried about that myself, perhaps, I refuse to accept that, I disagree.

So I really just liked the name, and I couldn't think of anything more fitting for the ability.  Peace Talks alone is enough reason to close this.  The name can be saved for later.  I remember the story in Sandman, but if the quote matches that's a coincidence.  And the card isn't Orpheus, it's his song, after he's failed and before he's torn to pieces.  If you think he should be white or red, that's one thing, but I think this is okay, although it could be white too.  But that's irrelevant anyway.  This is too similar to Peace Talks so it either changes or goes, and I can't think of a good change.

Song of Orpheus
{1}{B}{B}
Sorcery
Until the end of your next turn, creatures cannot attack, and players cannot play spells or activated abilities.
"As he sang these tender strains, Tantalus stopped for a moment his efforts for water; Ixion's wheel stood still; and Sisyphus sat on his rock to listen.  Then for the first time, it is said, the cheeks of the Furies were wet with tears."

Clearly, this is based off the myth of Orpheus.  The ability might be a bit out of color for Black (more White, really), but Black and White have a kind of twisted unity where, flavor permitting (and I think it does, here), their domains sometimes overlap.  And unlike Orim's Chant, this wipes out the opponent's turn and then your turn again.  Which might just make it useless.  It could be, "until the beginning of your next turn" or something like that, maybe with "you can only play ~this~ during your pre-combat main phase."  But that's too many words.  Meh.  I just thought it would be a cool card.

Current Wording:

Song of Orpheus
{1}{B}{B}
Sorcery
Until the end of your next turn, creatures cannot attack, and players cannot play spells or activated abilities.
"As he sang these tender strains, Tantalus stopped for a moment his efforts for water; Ixion's wheel stood still; and Sisyphus sat on his rock to listen.  Then for the first time, it is said, the cheeks of the Furies were wet with tears."

Elemental's ability is also redundant, whereas, with no limit on Spirit's, you can give it protection from everything if you have those cards in hand.  Of course, you will then be revealing multiple cards from your hand, which is a crippling drawback.

Not that I'm complaining.  I think all these cards are fine.

But consider that you're countering any spell/effect that you use to fill the stack.  In order for this to act like an uncounterable counterspell/effect (which is very powerful), you have to be able to cast two additional spells (whatever mana plus two cards), two abilities (which could cost mana and oftentimes will be that ability's use for the turn), or some combination, which effectively adds to the casting cost.  Of course, there's always the en-Kor guys with the cost abilities, but that automatically means playing two colors and having that ability out to cast a spell with {U}{U} in its mana cost.

This is clearly a defensive/support card, so you can't build a deck around it, and, as my example of the en-Kor above, all your examples of supplementary abilies except Puppeteer require playing two colors, which this card does not encourage.  So consider that too.

Don't worry about it.  Now we know for future cards.

My last clock was interrupted, so here it is again:

24-HOUR CLOCK

Great, thanks.  I'll change the wording back.

I know.  I was just being dismissive.

To Kowal's concern, I agree, but if you read the earlier comments, there was a rules concern about who "you/yourself" is when the player activating the ability is different from the controller of the card.

If the player using the ability is "you" (which makes logistical sense, but might not work in the rules), then I will change it back so that the poison counter removal is the effect.

Why yes, yes it is.

Will change to Orlove's wording.  Kinda weird, but it works.  Can you really sacrifice poison counters?

Maybe if your opponent got to search for a creature card in your hand...

I would prefer that each player can only remove counters from him/herself.  Can I get a second opinion on whether this wording works?

Wasn't it Stanton who recently wrote an article about how White sucks so much because it's too creature-oriented, and its tricks are all combat-oriented?  Red and Blue, he pointed out, have strong creatures, because their utility, unlike White's, isn't just combat tricks.  Looking at the Red and Blue Formations you have here just made me think of that.

As in, this is White's domain, yet Red and Blue, by nature of having effects that extend outside of combat, seem to be getting the greatest benefit.

Eh...

24-HOUR CLOCK

Wow.  My apologies.

Er...

The whole card feels contrived.  It feels very "bottom-up" without a strong foundation.  The name and abilities give me no sense of flavour.  They give me no sense of what this card is; there's no "magic" in it.

Time Stop was a wonderfully elegant card, and despite the lengthy reminder text, the effect is very simple.  The effect, and the card, is truly awesome, and it gives that sense of power and magic.  It's actually great that you mention Time Stop; I would pick that out as one of the most beautiful magic cards ever printed, and an archetype for elegance in Magic card design.  The Jitte, while not my favorite card (in terms of flavor, anyway) still is a powerful, legendary artifact, and conveys that through the card and its abilities.  Both of these I could actually imagine as a magic spell/weapon.  Think of the literature that could be put behind either of these.  Imagine a passage in a book describing the awesome effect of a mage using Time Stop.  Odd that I say this because I despise fantasy literature, but I hope I'm getting my point across that the card is something greater than just a piece of cardboard.

Of course, not all cards Wizards makes I like as much as Time Stop, and there are many cards I would have rather them not printed at all.  Second, it is a game, and that comes first; an effect that's good for the game can make a boring card, and a truly inspiring card could be unprintable as it concerns the game.

Now back to your card.  I'll start with your introduction to it:  "i realized it was heavily broken so i had to add black into the mana cost and give it a drawback."  I realize the necessity of making a balanced card, and that adding drawbacks for no other reason than to balance it is perfectly reasonable.  However, and this is particularly in regard to the discard-step drawback, it feels like an ability you put on there solely to make it weaker.  Dawbacks should flow into the flavor of the card, not just be added on for balancing.  Now that I think about it, the black mana also seems very "extra".  This doesn't feel at all like a black card.  It's not being complicated alone that is my reason for not liking it; it feels "cluttered".

In retrospect, I was a bit hasty in my assessment of this as an "excuse to make another card-drawer."  While I'm still not too fond of the effect, I can see the reason to put a new twist on getting cards in a player's hand, and I think that this could become a great card.

As it is, I just don't like it.

Sorry if I still haven't explained myself very well.  Some of it is really just intuition, and that can be hard to put words to.

Hmm: a blue/black deck using High Tide and Bubbling Muck, along with Underground Seas and many fetchlands, to ramp up to fifteen mana, Cunning Wish for this and play it for twelve (to get around Turnabout)--

At any rate, I don't like this card.  It's just a silly and overcomplicated excuse  to make another card-drawer.

It should be fifteen or fewer, not fifteen or less, because you're talking about something that can be counted (cards, in this case).

Because you're using "last-minute" as an adjective, it should be hyphenated.

Ha, so true.  I switched it, so it's now 1/2 without flying.  And...

24-HOUR CLOCK

For Green, although I have no problem with the current ability, untargetability was suggested.  As with the White one, instead of making the creature completely untargetable with one activaction, it could be "G: Counter target spell or ability that targets equipped creature."  The only problem there is that, while the effect is the same, actively countering a spell may be outside of Green's jurisdiction.

Just a small note on the cycle itself, three of the abilities are useful more than once per turn, and two (blue and black) aren't.  Not a big deal, but just something I noticed.

I second Nazdakka's suggestion.  That would make Angelic Soul a bigger Benevolent Bodyguard, but I think that would be appropriate here.

Even if you don't empty your hand and this gives no true card advantage, it still does allow you to cycle through the deck twice as fast and increase card quality.  Furthermore, with Madness and the recent capabilities of a graveyard to become an active resource, the simple draw-discard takes on a new power.  I concur with Orlove that this needs to have a higher cost, if not another drawback in the text.

Why is this still called "Diminishing Greed"?

Like so:

Delayed Rewards
{U}
Enchantment
When Delayed Rewards comes into play, put two prize counters on it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a prize counter from Delayed Rewards.
If Delayed Rewards has no prize counters on it, sacrifice it and draw five cards.

A slightly different idea, but the same mechanic.  I think it is a neat idea, too, taking it to the next extreme where it's just a blank permanent if the cost isn't paid.

EDIT: that cycle is done and waiting to be added.

Changed wording, added flying.  I'm still a bit unsure about that, might remove it.  I dunno.  I like the idea of it being 1/2 than 1/1 flying, but 1/2 just look so wrong, for whatever reason.  Still very open to suggestions.

I'll try removing those two conditions, see how it looks.

Edit: quick wording question: is it "any play may use..." or "any player may play this ability"?  I can't think of another card off-hand that I can template this on.

I would like to get some kind of comment on this before I clock it.  As it is, I feel like I'm just "settling".

Found another old card of mine that I'd like to see concluded.

Wow, found this on the second page, posted a month ago today and with no replies.

So, bump.

I still don't like the name, but I can't think of anything better at the moment.