I admit, this isn't one of my more inspired moments. I think I thought of the ability, said to myself "Why the heck doesn't this exist yet?" and put the card in the file. Later, one of the contestants submitted this card (an instant) as one of his entrants. I'm thinking it was a poor choice. All 3 of the judges have probably designed that card already, and it just never hit a set... it happens. You're not going to impress many judges by inventing things that they tossed in their garage.

I'm not sure about that. If there's a simple common that hasn't been printed yet, it's worth considering it. There might be a reason why it hasn't been printed, or it might just be that the time hasn't quite been right yet. As a natural variation on Heat Ray, I don't see any reason why this couldn't be printed.

Odd. As an instant it's slightly better than the red one though - since it still has a useful effect if you don't have enough mana to get the kill.

As a sorcery it's probably fair, comparing with Drain Life

I remember reading Rosewater's article a little while back, where he mentions that he's not a fan of . My guess is that that's the reason why they haven't done it yet... they aren't fond of using on common unless they've got a perfect effect for a set. It's hard to imagine a set where this card would be perfect for... it's kind of standard issue.