Brain Rack

[vartemis]

Brain Rack

Instant
Brain Rack is black.

As an additional cost to play Brain Rack, pay 2 life.
Buyback - Discard a card.

Draw a card.

The deeper you dig for knowledge, the deeper you plunge into madness.

Still on the zero casting cost spells and buyback kick.  This is sort of like an offshoot of Street Wraith.  Thought about making the cost 3 life, but I think that is too expensive and 2 will suffice.  It will cost you 10 life to get 5 cards.  To use the buyback, you would have to discard a card first before you get to see what you drew.  If it's countered and you paid the buyback, you are out 2 life and a card in addition to this spell.

j

Edit: Major miscalculation in its ability.  Not what I intended.

Brain Rack

Sorcery
Search your library for any one card and place it in your hand.  Lose half your life rounded up.
If Brain Rack is in your graveyard, you may remove a card in your hand from the game. If you do, return Brain Rack to your hand.

Cycling - pay 2 life

[Shock Wave]

No. This enables Threshold + Cabal Ritual/Tendrils silliness.

[vartemis]

No. This enables Threshold + Cabal Ritual/Tendrils silliness.

Good point.  Didn't think about that.  How about:

Brain Rack

Sorcery
Search your library for any one card and place it in your hand.  Lose half your life rounded up.
If Brain Rack is in your graveyard, you may remove a card in your hand from the game. If you do, return Brain Rack to your hand.

Cycling - pay 2 life

[Anusien]

That's quite a lot to tack onto one card.  The first ridiculous line of play is going Ritual, this for Lotus, then chaining this into Cabal Ritual for a while and ending on Will and finally getting Tendrils to win.  The other way is to get an incredibly efficient filter engine that puts Undead Gladiator to shame.  A tutor and a Street Wraith on one card is kind of silly good.

[vartemis]

That's quite a lot to tack onto one card.  The first ridiculous line of play is going Ritual, this for Lotus, then chaining this into Cabal Ritual for a while and ending on Will and finally getting Tendrils to win.  The other way is to get an incredibly efficient filter engine that puts Undead Gladiator to shame.  A tutor and a Street Wraith on one card is kind of silly good.

Well you can really only use it 3 times as a tutor because eventually you are going to run out of life.  assuming you are at 20, you cast it once and go to 10, then cast it again and go to 5, not including the damage you are going to take from fetchlands and other crap. I dont understand how it will combo with cabal ritual.  You wont have enough life to get a decent storm count.  I guess I could make the costs even more to return, and get rid of cycling on it.  How about this:

Brain Rack

Sorcery
Search your library for any one card and place it in your hand.  Lose half your life rounded up.
If Brain Rack is in your graveyard and you have at least one card in your hand, you may remove your hand from the game. If you do, return Brain Rack to your hand.

What I was trying to do with the cycling ability is make a pseudo necro ability without requiring an enchantment, but I also didnt want to make it a spell that causes it because that would allow you to trade life for storm count, which is broken.  How would you word it?

Cycling - pay 2 life.

Or how about something totally off the wall like

Cycling  - pay X life
X is equal to the number of times this has been cycled plus one.

Any ideas?

[Anusien]

Fetchland (go to 19), + some way to cast Rack (Ritual?) go to 9) get Lotus.  Lotus, bring back Rack, Rack for Dark Ritual (go to 4).  Ritual, bring back Rack, cast Rack (go to 2) go for Yawgmoth's Will.  Cast Yawgmoth's Will, recast Lotus, Ritual, Ritual, Rack for Tendrils of Agony.

Assuming you can get the mana to cast Will, the Rack will set you up to win the game off Yawgmoth's Will alone.  It costs you BBB+2B, which is easily done with land, ritual and moxen.

[vartemis]

Fetchland (go to 19), + some way to cast Rack (Ritual?) go to 9) get Lotus.  Lotus, bring back Rack, Rack for Dark Ritual (go to 4).  Ritual, bring back Rack, cast Rack (go to 2) go for Yawgmoth's Will.  Cast Yawgmoth's Will, recast Lotus, Ritual, Ritual, Rack for Tendrils of Agony.

Assuming you can get the mana to cast Will, the Rack will set you up to win the game off Yawgmoth's Will alone.  It costs you BBB+2B, which is easily done with land, ritual and moxen.

You're right.  Guess the best thing to do is this:

Brain Rack

Sorcery
Search your library for a card, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.  Lose half your life rounded up.
Flashback:


On the other hand, this might work:

Brain Rack

Sorcery
Search your library for a card, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.  Lose half your life rounded up.
Hellbent - If you have no cards in hand during your upkeep, return Brain Rack to your hand.