A second stab at what (((Riddle of Snakes))) was trying to mashup. I had to use a bit of shorthand to make the text not run long, so tell me if it is readable, eh? The big offender is the "sacrifice at end of turn" line, which is clumping up the flow. I'd just let the creature join the battlefield, but I'm afraid that players would just end up using this as a Polymorph, and not a funny way to counter Doom Blades. I like Polymorph, but you can only have so many of them kicking around. The polymorph effect can be really unique, but, in the end, it's just going to put into play the same 5 creatures that a polymorph player always reach for...

I'd not worry about the polymorph too much - after all, this costs six ... and is a 5/4 flyer. Yeah, ok, that and another big stompy etb creature is probably a bit much.

Hmmm, do the rules cope with spells targeting creatures still in your library? Could the wording be made less horrible if they could?

I'd probably play this if it only redirected all spells to itself, honestly. It's still a 5/4 flash flyer even if I don't get to counter removal (or, even better, someone's giant-growth or equivalent nasty combat trick...)

Hmm... so what you are suggesting is "...until you reveal a creature. redirect all spells to that creature, then put it on the battlefield. "It gains "at the beginning..."".

That's an interesting way to make the text simpler to grasp, but it probably just confused a completely different group (assuming it is legal... which it probably isn't. After all, I can't cast Unsummon on creatures in my graveyard).

I also, just realized how monstrous this card can get when played after the beginning of your opponent's end step. "Oh, you just attacked with your creatures, then passed the turn? That's nice. I'll play this at end of turn, then reveal the only other creature in my deck, Blightsteel Colossus. Don't worry. I'll have to sacrifice him at the end of my turn."

Grrr... this card is so close to fixing the mashup. I need a larger hammer to smack this round peg into this square hole!

Would it be cool to ask for "at the beginning of the upkeep" instead of end step, or do you think some players would call fowl, and/or turn their heads sideways?

You could partially fix the blightsteel problem by combining another aspect of the cards: "Reveal the top 3 cards of your deck, you may choose a creature from them..." But that's wordier still, of course. You could make it "Then sacrifice that creature at the end of the current phase"? Let's it stick around long enough to block with, but no longer?

How long does that end up?

Flying, Flash. When Solution Sphinx enters the battlefield, reveal the top three cards of your library. You may put a creature from them onto the battlefield and redirect all spells to target it. Sacrifice it a the end of the current phase. Shuffle your library.

It's missing a couple of "If you do"s but the "If you can't, don't, duh" rule should catch them.

How about "Flash, Flying. When ~ enters the battlefield choose another spell or permanent, then reveal cards from the top of your library, and play the first card possible targetting that spell or permanent"?

That doesn't hit everything, but sort of gets the "trap+cascade" idea... You could tack on the "when this dies, if an opponent played an X or Y spell this turn, put it into its owner's library third from the top" clause you added to riddle of snakes, but it may be too much.

I like Vitenka's "reveal the top 3 and choose a creature from among them" idea. Also, the "sac at EOT" clause doesn't have to be granted to the creature: see Through the Breach.

Hmm... I was trying to avoid something like top 3 because I was afraid of whiffing. That would seem fine if it was a "Through the Breach" type spell, but unreliable combat tricks seem a little less fun to me.

I do like the sacrifice at end of phase thing. It still gives you the chance to attack with Haste creatures, say, if you just do it during combat... but it reinforces the point that the creature is only here temporarily. Can we take it one step further? Would people respond positively to this?

...you may put that creature on the battlefield. Redirect all spells to that creature, then sacrifice that creature. Shuffle your library.

That cuts down further into the wordiness, and drives home the point of pulling a creature out for the sole purpose of redirecting the spells to it. ETB triggers and LTB triggers still go off, but, unfortunately, you can't pull Evoke style shenanigans with this, such as sacrificing it to another effect...

@Jack - Yeah, the third from the top clause is probably too much. I think we've got enough of the Sphinx in here, and he's his own man, so I'm okay with this.

As for the "right" permanent problem. I obviously chose creature because it was the most common permanent type targeted. I'd like to have the functionality of any permanent type, but even small clauses need to be examined for effectiveness. The most likely way of getting this done would be: "When ~ enters the battlefield, name a permanent type. Reveal cards until you reveal the named type..." which is possible... I'm still warming up to it. A big annoyance, though, is that I got to change the word "creature" to "named type" every time.

The "as temporary as possible" version has the problem that it is basically a fiddly wording of:

Counter all spells. As an additional cost, put the first creature in your deck into your graveyard.

Well... not quite. But it does become "Counter target spell that targeted a creature you control". I agree it probably isn't that exciting.

I like what's going on here, and I'll make the cosmetic changes only. When I move this card into the database, I'll give it another look to see how I feel about it then.