Lesser of Two Evils

[KDenz81]

I got the idea for this after Book Burning and Browbeat were printed.

Lesser of Two Evils   2BB   Uncommon

Sorcery

Unless target opponent looses 3 life, that player discards 2 cards from their hand.




Let me know if these cards I'm suggesting are balanced enough.

Denz

[Ephraim]

This is really quite bad. A common, black sorcery called [card]Mind Rot[/card] forces a player to discard two cards unconditionally for .

[KDenz81]

Alright, let's see if we can make this better.

Lesser of Two Evils 2BB

Instant

Unless target opponent looses 3 life, that player must discard 3 cards from his or her hand.



I took into consideration other black cards that casue opponents to loose life.  The black charm out of onslaught costs 1 black, is an instant and causes your opponent to loose 2 life.  Mind Rot is a sorcery that discards two cards, I think Unnerve costs 4 and discards 3 cards as a sorcery.  

I think the cost is about right for the ability of the card and it should be an instant.  If the card still needs work let me know.
Denz

[Nefarias]

The thing about the red Punisher cards is that both affects are cheaper than they normally would be, because the opponent gets to decide their own fate. Let's take Browbeat, for example:

Option 1: 5 damage to your opponent. Lava Axe does this and costs 4R.
Option 2: You draw three cards. Concentration does this and costs 2UU.
Browbeat: costs 2R.

While discarding three cards costs 3BB (Fugue, that new BoK card), losing three life definitely doesn't. The problem here is that people will always just take the three life lose. By making the discarding element stronger, you actually weakened the card, because it made your opponent much more likely to take the life loss, whereas you're probably trying to make them discard.

I would keep the discard and cost as is, but up the life loss to at least 5 or 6.

[Ephraim]

Mr. Sponge is failing to mention the most relevant of the red punisher cards, Skullscorch, which does something very similar to this. It may be better to just see if you can come up with some other, similar mechanic instead of making your opponent choose between life and discard. Maybe give them the choice between discarding two or three cards and letting you search their library and removing two or three cards. (Discard 2 or Extract 2 probably would be okay at {B}. Discard 2/Extract 3 or Discard 3/Extract 2 would probably be okay at {B}. Discard 3/Extract 3 would have to cost {B}.)

Skullscorch
{R}
Sorcery

Target player discards two cards at random from his or her hand unless that player has Skullscorch deal 4 damage to him or her.

[KDenz81]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.  Ephraim, I like the idea of extracting on there.  Since I'd want it to have a different ability than the other Punisher cards.

Lesser of two Evils  2{B}{B}  ~ Uncommon
Instant

Unless target opponent looses 4 life, you may search their library for 2 cards and remove them from the game.


I think this is a bit more balanced, 4 life is a lot to loose, and 2 cards could mean your combo.  I think it's a tough decision for an opponent to make, but sometimes it's easier to loose the life than the cards.  For example Book Burning, most people take the 6 damage over the top 6 cards.  
Again, thanks for the input, let's see if this needs more revision.

Denz

[Nazdakka]

Isn't this just very underpowered? As a straight burn spell, 4 life loss for 4 mana is below the curve, and 4 mana to remove two cards is rather bad too... see: Extract

IMO this could cost 2 or maybe even 1 mana without breaking anything.

[Jacob Orlove]

For example Book Burning, most people take the 6 damage over the top 6 cards.  

Those people are terrible.

[Puschkin]

Most scrubs dont understand Book Burning. If at all, Book Burning should be played on yourself to put Anger and flashback cards into your grave ...

Anyway, I think Ephraim's idea of combining discard and Extract as a punisher card is nice. Here is my try:

One of Two Evils
UB
Sorcery
Search target opponent's library for 2 cards and remove them from the game unless that opponnet chooses to discard two cards at random.

[KDenz81]

That's a pretty good attempt there Puschkin, but I'd rather still have it make your opponent choose between loss of life an extracting.  The revision you posted is quite similar to Skullscorch.  

Lesser of Two Evils  BB

Instant

Search target opponent's library for 2 cards and remove them from the game unless that opponnet loses 4 life.

any ideas for a quote?

Denz

[KDenz81]

The countdown has begun. This thread has been on here for well more than 3 days so I'm starting the 24 Hour clock now. If any of you have suggestions, questions, comments, or concerns about this card pm me.

Denz

[Jacob Orlove]

That mechanic is strictly red. This is basically the same as skullscortch (black ability or damage), so it should also be red.

[Matt]

Please familiarize yourself with the rules of the forum. You need to start a clock on this before asking me to add it. Also, please PM me with a link to the card and not the wording itself - I need to be able to find these things so I can lock the thread.