Heavy Fog.

Name: Heavy Fog
Set & Rarity:  Portal Three Kingdoms uncommon
 
Cost: 2
Card Type: Sorcery 

Rules Text (Oracle): Play Heavy Fog only during the declare attackers step and only if you are the defending player.Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you by attacking creatures this turn.

Format Legality: Legal in: Legacy, Vintage, Two-Headed Giant
 

That's the way it looks to me.  I guess you could run it with Quicken, or at least pitch it to Bounty of the Hunt...

Meh.  You're right: damage is dealt simultaneously, so even the lowly squirrel lives to fight another day.  Er, if they fight wherever tokens go when the game is over.  I chose green because Hurricane was green, and it can destroy any permanent.  I think my card is substantively different from Fleeting Salvation (although I despair of a name and especially flavor text that cool) insofar as it has value as a versatile, if expensive, control card even if you aren't at death's door, and it gets rid of a permanent (except when it doesn't...  )  but I seem to be a minority of one, so I give- thanks for the input.

Oh well, 0 for 3 ain't bad...

The card is supposed to be a sort of super-Hurricane that can permanently deal with virtually any single threat, albeit at a very high cc.  If that threat is lethal, it gets cheap and uncounterable.  Unfortunately, it has been explained that "lethality" needs to be very narrowly defined if the card is to be legal.  Does the idea have merit?  Would reducing the cc and making it three colors ( ~ counterspell; ~ destroy a permanent; ~ prevent damage) make it more appealing?  At least that's centered on the color wheel...

Desperate Measures
{W}{U}{G}     
Instant
Counter target spell, or counter target effect and destroy the source of that effect, or prevent any amount of damage that would be dealt to you by a source an opponent controls and destroy that source.

If a source an opponent controls would deal damage to you equal to or greater than your life total, you may reveal Desperate Measures, pay {G} and remove Desperate Measures from the game.  If you do, prevent that damage and destroy that source.

One the Card Creation forum, I posted this card:

Read 'Em & Weep
   
Sorcery

Draw a card.

If an opponent would mulligan, you may reveal Read 'Em & Weep from your hand.  If you do, opponent can't mulligan during this game.

The response was a unanimous, "What a terrible idea- in principle, that's just really bad for the game!"  I've given it some thought and, OK, point taken.  Here's another card that's really bad for the game:

MTG Sux Now- Let's Play Hold 'Em!

Instant

Flip a coin.  If you win the flip, you win the game.

However...

Let's say each card existed, and the format was Vintage, and I needed the tournament prize to pay for mother's kidney surgery.  I'd most certainly run 4 MTG Sux, and so would you.  But would you run Read 'Em and Weep?  It's useful only if they Mulligan, and then there's a 60% chance it isn't in your hand anyway.

What if it cost ?

But mine blows up a Laquatus!

Thanks for taking the time to explain that, Norm4eva.  Howzabout:

Desperate Measures
     
Instant
Counter target spell, or counter target effect and destroy the source of that effect, or prevent any amount of damage that would be dealt to you by a source an opponent controls and destroy that source.

If a source an opponent controls would deal damage to you equal to or greater than your life total, you may pay and remove Desperate Measures from the game.  If you do, prevent that damage and destroy that source.

But you have to target a spell or an effect.  Even if a resolved Yawgmoth's Will will "cause" me to lose the game, I can't target it with Desperate Measures- I can just target the lethal Tendrils you're playing from the yard.

By the way, I assume there's no way to use this to get around Battle of Wits- its "you win" isn't an effect that goes on a stack, right?

Desperate Measures

Instant
Counter target spell, or counter target effect and destroy the source of that effect, or prevent any amount of damage that would be dealt to you by a source an opponent controls and destroy that source.

If the spell or effect you target would cause you to lose the game, or if damage you prevent would reduce your life total to 0 or less, Desperate Measures' casting cost is .  If you cast Desperate Measures in any of these ways, your life total becomes one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Desperate Measures
{W}{U}{G}     
Instant
Counter target spell, or counter target effect and destroy the source of that effect, or prevent any amount of damage that would be dealt to you by a source an opponent controls and destroy that source.

If a source an opponent controls would deal damage to you equal to or greater than your life total, you may reveal Desperate Measures, pay {G} and remove Desperate Measures from the game.  If you do, prevent that damage and destroy that source.

Because I really suck at playing Magic, so any effect that randomizes the game significantly enhances my chances of winning!  Also, my deck designing skills are similarly lame, so I have a lot of experience with mulligans...

OK, OK, I dunno.  It's just something different, that's all.  I hadn't really thought about the issue raised above- "If serum powder was playable, would that be good for the game?"  Point taken, and anyway everybody seems to hate monkeying with mulligans, so I'll give it up.  Thanks for the input, all...

Read 'Em & Weep
 
Sorcery

Draw a card.

If an opponent would mulligan, you may reveal Read 'Em & Weep from your hand.  If you do, opponent can't mulligan during this game.

Heh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaks for itself, really.  Is it undercosted? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read 'Em & Weep

Sorcery

Draw a card.

If an opponent would mulligan, you may reveal Read 'Em & Weep from your hand.  If you do, opponent can't mulligan during this game.

Heh.

If all you're worried about is Wasteland, Teferi's Response is much better than Stifle.

It's really cool in my head... 


The  idea was a card that's very good in your opening hand but almost forces you to mulligan, works only once even if you mulligan into more copies, and is completely worthless otherwise. 

"Any time you could mulligan and Chancemonger is in your hand, you may reveal it and destroy target Chancemonger."

In other words, it's Legendary so you can't have two or more in play on your first turn.  If you mulligan into another one, there's a fifty-fifty chance you'll mulligan a third time, because the dead card effectively leaves you with a five-card hand anyway, so at least you don't add insult to injury by shuffling it back into your deck.  I'll broom it, though.
As far as mulliganing into more copies, no, it's meaningful.  As far as destroying an opponent's monger as I blithered about above, yep, that would be a waste of time alright. (kicks self in head) (again)

Fair enough.  Letting you draw the cards by removing the specific counter that you can only put into play while mulliganing solves all the vial/ piper/ raise dead/ oath/ etc. problems, though.

Heh.  I hit the post button for that and the board said, "Hey Chuckles, somebody else chimed in while you was scribblin'.  Insofar as they're an odds-on favorite to be smarter than you, ya wanna have a look-see before you post?"  Sweet!


Wow- that's deep. Does this prevent playing multiple copies on your first turn if you draw two in your opening hand/ mulligan into more/ etc?  I'm sure we could live with Wishing them back into the game, Sins of the Past, and other remote contingencies...

Uncommons, no less.  Would they all come out in one set and be Standard-legal for a year?  I'm hiding under my bed- come grab me when they rotate out...

It still royally shafts people who invested in power, right?  Truly mint original power wouldn't drop in value, but collectors would not be interested in my played fuzzy-backed moxen- they'd be worthless overnight  .

Or for something much cleaner (and weaker):

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chancemonger
 
Creature: Human Merchant
1/2

Any time you could mulligan and Chancemonger is in your hand, you may put it into play.  If you do, mulligan and put a Loot Counter on Chancemonger.

 , Remove a Loot Counter from Chancemonger and sacrifice Chancemonger: Draw two cards.  Play this only when you could play a sorcery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So now you could mulligan into two or more copies, and post-mulligan the card isn't exactly dead, just lame (although it might start in play and nibble at an opponent for a bit before it goes the way of all flesh).

Heh.  It could be destroyed, and the card you tutor for might not be so necessary down the road: best-laid plans of mice and men and whatnot.  The casting cost is fine and could maybe be zero- good card. 

D'Oh!  That was dumb of me.  First step: fix that.


By "first clause," I assume you mean the "reveal to destroy" bit, not "it's red."  That and the fact that it's legendary means that if you mulligan into more copies, you get one, not none or two or more.  Playing second and ashcanning your opponent's monger is just an amusing bonus.

OK, it was too powerful- sorry.  But in principle, it's not quite as simple as you make it.  More than half the time, it's not in your opening hand.  Now: Matt's right- there were a lot of ways to put it into play anyway, which I stupidly neglected to think about and have eliminated.  As it stands, if you draw an adequate hand but don't draw the monger, you can either mulligan and set off on an unlikely fishing expedition for it or play with four dead cards in your deck.  It also really cramps your style, mulligan-wise.  You sort of have to play him with anything but a dream opening hand.

Three cards?

 

Chancemonger
*none*
Creature: Legendary Goblin Merchant
0/1

Chancemonger is red.

Any time you could mulligan and Chancemonger is in your hand, you may reveal it and destroy target Chancemonger.

Any time you could mulligan and Chancemonger is in your hand, you may put it into play.  If you do, mulligan.

Remove Chancemonger from the game: Draw four cards.  Play this only when you could play a sorcery.

{Reminder Text: Spells without casting costs can't be played}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is not as broken as it first appears.  Note that it's not a "four for one:" this guy costs a card right out of the box when we pitch seven for six.  And how good would an opening hand of six bombs and a Chancemonger have to be before you kept it but didn’t play him?  Awfully good, I'd say.  How many to play?  Four or none, it seems to me.  But of course, if we see 30-40% of the cards in our decks over the course of a game, he’ll usually cost a draw, and often two or even three.  What if you don't draw one in your otherwise acceptable opening hand?  Play on with four dead cards in your deck and nothing to show for it?  Yup: it beats mulliganing an adequate hand and ending up kicking yourself in the head as you are forced to take two or three more mulligans.  It would certainly suck to win the coin toss that determines who plays first, drop a Chancemonger, and have your opponent use the first ability of his own Chancemonger to destroy yours.  It would also suck to lose the coin toss, play one, and have your opponent make it go away it on his first turn.  That's why I made him a creature.  It’s unlikely outside of Legacy/ Vintage, but still…

Man, better make it 5 cards!  (edit) Or three

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chancemonger
*none*
Creature: Legendary Goblin Merchant
0/1

Chancemonger is red.

Any time you could mulligan and Chancemonger is in your hand, you may put it into play.  If you do, mulligan and put a Loot Counter on Chancemonger.

Remove a Loot Counter from Chancemonger and remove Chancemonger from the game: Draw three cards. 

{Reminder Text: Spells without casting costs can't be played}

Thanks very kindly for the input, folks!  Ephraim, you’re absolutely right: if the caster can see his opponent’s cards before deciding, it doesn’t work.  Godder, thanks for the fix.  As I see it, the problem with changing it to search for one card is that the effect would be all but negligible.  It would certainly never see play in in Vintage: it’s so much worse than Demonic/ Vampiric Tutor.  I will bow to others' superior wisdom if it seems like the card has a shot at the set, though.  I have no problem bumping the casting cost (especially bumping it to RRR, which would greatly temper the brokenness.)  Another possibility is searching for two (or even three) cards and putting one in the hand and one or two on top of the library or removing all of ‘em from the game.

Edit: In the interest of full disclosure, rumor has it that Burning Wish is red.  Maybe it had better search for only one card after all...

Gamble has been my favorite card for casual play for a long time- it’s got fun synergy with madness, flashback, Oath of Ghouls, Yawgmoth’s Will, or you can just run four of ‘em in combo decks and, well, do some gambling (be sure to run a Final Fortune or two!)  I secretly dream of having Gamble imprinted on an Isochron Scepter to get around the card disadvantage eventually, but that probably crosses the line between casual and stupid.  I really like the idea of forcing one’s opponent into a Gamble: “Have a Demonic Tutor!  Now Lobotomize yourself!�  High-Stakes Wager is sort of like that, but it also includes the possibility of bluffing: one’s opponent is squirming in fear of some degenerate combo and ends up effectively countering Mox Emerald and Brainstorm, and removing his countermagic from the game to boot.

"Cascade" is the best name so far for the mechanic, but somebody should use "concatenation" in a card name.

Oh- I think I get it now.  "Trapper's Guild" too permanentish-sounding?  "Domino Trap?"

'Scuse me for breathing!  OK, how 'bout "Tap Dance," Mr. Congeniality?

Well, yeah.  Y'know, buncha guys go to sleep, one after another?  I suppose the whole plague/epidemic thing is sorta out of flavor for white, but hey, there's a blue ninja kicking around these days...

Oh, fughedaboudit...

Epidemic Somnambulance/ Contagious Somnambulance/ Somnambulant Plague?

Anusien: I don't want the cards revealed beforehand; your text is perfect- thanks!

Slay: Yes, if this card is played against you, you should probably take 2 Forces or 1 Force and a pitch card if you're already holding a Force.  So he maybe goes Tinker-Jar and you can probably win the counter war.  'S OK.  Of course, it would suck if he removed two unnecessary moxen or search cards or silver bullets against decks you're not playing along with your precious Forces, no?  But then again, it would rawk if you were already holding counters or instant-speed disruption and you could grab maybe one more along with a Yawgmoth's for later.  That's gamblin' for you...

High-Stakes Wager
RR
Sorcery
Each player searches his or her library for any 2 cards.  You then put your cards in your hand or remove them from the game.  If you put your cards in your hand, each player does the same.  If you remove your cards from the game, each player does the same.
Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.


Current Version: High-Stakes Wager
RR
Sorcery
Each player searches his or her library for a card and removes it from the game face down.  Then you may have all players reveal and put all cards removed this way into their hands. If you don't, all players reveal all cards removed this way.
Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.[/i]