So, you're paying three mana to turn a land into the equivalent of Ancient Tomb, only without the drawback of colorless, but without the additional colorless bonus mana. Seems too weak to me, plus it's not doing anything I set out to do with this card.

These are the effects I'm interested in here:

Most important:

1. Suppress the land's abilities.

Secondary importance:

2. Deal damage per upkeep to land's owner as long as the enchanted land remains in play.

I am not interested in turning this into a "if opponent taps he/she takes damage" mechanic.

Like a true Holocaust, the land is nuked. It still exists, but only as a burned out shell that can't do anything but harm its owner. It is cursed, like Cursed Land. If there is a nuclear holocaust, radiation persists, so in this flavor it's this sort of persistence of damage that does the damage to the controller. This is why I had red in it. The art I used showed the aftermath of a nuclear-type blast.

No, it's made inert. It's not removed from play or from the game
Land tax, for one thing. It can be destroyed by Armageddon and Strip Mine. Et cetera. If the land's controller has a card that allows him/her to destroy a permanent under his/her control to do something, the land could be destroyed for that purpose. The land's controller could use a card like Boomerang to return the land to his/her hand.
Yes. Do you think the artifact should cost 2 instead of 1?
I don't see all that many decks with it, certainly not all of them.

But, there are cards that make it into most sideboards, which is not necessarily a bad thing. If a card like this one can be used in any deck, practically, then Wizards can print powerful land abilities, knowing that they won't become out of control because there is effective/versatile/cheap hate available. This would lead to there being more exciting lands instead of the usual crop of "worse than dual lands".

But it only neutralizes one land at a time.

Since so many people seem to want a card with rain in it, here's one:

Cursed Rain

Enchantment - Aura

Enchant Land

Target land becomes a basic swamp. When Cursed Rain comes into play, target land's controller chooses to either remove the land from the game or lose 1 life each upkeep.

Kicker : If Cursed Rain would be removed from play, return it to your hand

Well, it doesn't destroy the land. It just makes it inactive. There can only be one counter in play. So, for two mana you're shutting down one land. It costs a third mana to move the counter to a different land.

As the card is, it's narrow enough that another poster, like myself, isn't even sure it would see much play in Legacy.

Please explain, in detail, how it's so overpowered.

Maybe, maybe not. There is Crucible. There are indestructible lands. There are elves. There are mana artifacts. Is there a Legacy tier-one LD deck? Do LD decks even get played at reasonably large tournaments outside of perhaps the first round? What about the other formats?

I think the fear of LD is overwhelming reason here. However, I suppose it would be possible to get rid of black altogether if we're creative with the flavor, because red likes to deal damage, too.

So so weak. I give up.

Does anyone want to consider the artifact, since it's obvious that the enchantment is going to be nerfed beyond usability?

Losing is never enjoyable, is it? What's the difference between getting pounded by Tarmogoyf every time you play against someone and playing LD deck? At least having another viable archetype adds variety. There is never a good argument against variety/options.

Way back when I had my cute 5 color deck destroyed by monoblack LD/discard. It wasn't pleasant, and losing never is. It was a wake-up call that told me my deck just wasn't fast enough. Losing cards and land and not being able to do anything is annoying, but so is combo (especially infinite), and being hit over and over by creatures. Winning is fun, losing isn't (except in multiplayer).

Well, lots of recent cards other than Tarmogoyf are being used in Legacy decks. I took a 2 year break from Magic and now that I look at the latest top placing Legacy decks from various tournaments many of the decks have at least 40% cards that I'm not familiar with. So, there are plenty of cards being made that are strong enough to hold up outside of nerfed formats.

As for the "is this type of deck fun to play against comment", I don't think that's fair. Any deck is fun for the person playing it if they're winning, generally. Plus, it's fun to be challenged by any deck if you can beat it. What's better than beating someone with a deck you find annoying? I don't think Wizards should reduce the deck format options people have but expand them as much as possible. That allows creativity to come out and keeps things from getting stale.

But, thanks for your supportive comments. What do you guys think about the artifact idea? It could be played as hate in any sideboard which would allow Wizards to create more powerful land effects. I've just realized that the artifact would also allow Library of Alexandria to come off the Vintage restricted list. This artifact would be a great addition to the game if it's properly costed (not too high!, but also not too low).

I don't think so. All you're doing is shutting down one land and dealing very slow damage. The kicker is what makes the card decent. At mid to late game, you can return the card to your hand or draw a card. Force of Will won't be able to nerf a deck built around this card. It will hurt blue Control, which is unfortunate, and could hurt Landstill, but every deck has vulnerabilities and new cards can be printed to improve those two formats. A land that can't be targeted by spells or effects will be immune to Holocaust and Enervation Machine.

Prototype artifact on similar lines:

Enervation Machine



1: Place an enervation counter on target land. It loses all abilities, including the ability to tap and untap, as long as the counter remains. Enervation Machine may only target one land at a time. If a new target is chosen, move the enervation counter.

This is more exciting, probably, than Holocaust because it is much less narrow. It opens up the game to more powerful land effects and allows most decks to run the card in their sideboard. Unfortunately, it loses the Cursed Land functionality, but that's not very strong anyway outside of multiplayer, I suppose.

If you look at the latest high-placing Legacy tournament decks they're made up primarily of recent cards. At the very least, they have a large percentage of recent cards. There are a few exceptions, of course. But, there are top-tier decks that are made up of cards I've never played yet, especially cards like Tarmogoyf.

Sinkhole takes out one land for two mana of the same color. It's easier to cast. One dark ritual on the first turn and you have a one casting cost creature or artifact and your opponent has no more land. My card requires waiting to the second turn, if you're lucky enough to get both colors, dark ritual won't pay for it, and by that time your opponent has more options and more land. Does anyone put Sinkhole into top Legacy decks? Not that I know of.

To me, Legacy is the standard because it's designed to be all Magic cards, except for those that are broken, for ante, jokes, or which require physical dexterity. New cards are, to my mind, quickly displacing old cards in the format. Even if only a fairly small portion of recent cards would make it in it still shows that the recent cards are being designed to be powerful enough.

Well, as I said, I wanted it to be good enough to see play. Taking out a single land and doing a bit of damage is difficult to cost, because it's just not all that much of an effect at something like three mana. By the time you've got three mana to spend, you could be doing something more. Plus, if you draw this card in the mid to late game, it's useless unless your opponent is playing with a broken land like Academy. That being said, a card with this function would be a boon to Vintage because it would shut down broken lands like Tolarian Academy. In fact, I designed this card as an artifact and it could potentially allow the Academy to be taken off the restricted list as anyone could pack the artifact in their sideboard. But, Vintage is definitely not the focus, only a bonus.

Designing the card as an artifact also allows Wizards to make lands that have more powerful effects, more like Academy.
 
It makes it more difficult to cast, with the kicker included because you're now playing three mana with a total of three different colors.

Having a series of disasters in a land, including flooding at the end, makes sense to me. It's also quite interesting from a flavor point of view to start with fire and end with water.

It seems really weak to me. I doubt anyone would play it outside of low power formats. Is there a deck someone can build around this card that would justify printing it?

Since rain is water, shouldn't your card have blue?

I considered that, but there are worse things in Magic and the card's design doesn't have anything to do with people. You're probably correct, but I don't think the word should be off limits.

Plus, rather than a positive reference, it's certainly damning. A land is destroyed and damages its controller. That sounds pretty accurate.

Ridiculously powerful? You're taking away abilities/mana from one land and doing only 1 damage per upkeep as long as the enchantment says in play. How is that powerful, especially when you're making it two colors and three total mana? I doubt it would ever see play in a Legacy deck with that design.

Cursed Land was a horrible card precisely because it was made way too expensive. I'm not sure why we would want another overpriced card that won't see play.

I did have the exact design you posted at one point, but I wanted something that would see play in tier-one tournament decks. That's why I added the blue and lowered the cost. Maybe I made it too good. But, I can't imagine anyone paying four mana to remove a land a deal a bit of damage slowly.

And, is there, for instance, a land destruction and/or mana denial deck that's seen tournament play in the last five years? Have any of them won a tournament?

I acknowledge that the blue templating is a bit clunky. So, suggestions for improving it are appreciated.

Holocaust



enchantment

Target land loses all abilities, including mana production. Land's owner loses one life at the beginning of each upkeep. If Holocaust leaves play, the land it enchanted leaves play.

Kicker: Return Holocaust to your hand if it is removed from play by an opponent.

First the fire came, then plague. When the water began to pour down we thought it might be merciful.

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This is a card I designed back in 1997 to combine Stone Rain and Cursed Land. I've added the blue features (cantrip and the like) to make it good enough to see play while also making it more difficult to cast given the fact that it needs to have a low overall mana cost in order to be viable. The card hasn't been tested or tuned, because every time I look at it I change it. So, here is the prototype.

Hello. I have played Magic on and off since my first taste of it in 1995 or so. Unfortunately, lack of available players has been a problem as well as lack of funds to build decks for tournament play. I quit playing Magic more than once due to lack of funds and players and sold my cards. But, I do enjoy the game and would like to play more regularly.

I prefer multiplayer for the social element as well as its greater randomness, and I lean toward Vintage. For me, having fun is more important than winning; sacrilegious I know.