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CardName: Hypnotic Split Cost: 2B Type: Sorcery Pow/Tgh: / Rules Text: Kicker {3}{B} Rebound Target opponent discards a card. If this spell was kicked, create a 5/5 black Construct artifact creature token that enters the battlefield with a number of -1/-1 counters on it equal to the number of cards in that opponent's hand. Flavour Text: Set/Rarity: Name That Card Uncommon

Hypnotic Split
{2}{b}
 
 U 
Sorcery
Kicker {3}{b}
Rebound
Target opponent discards a card. If this spell was kicked, create a 5/5 black Construct artifact creature token that enters the battlefield with a number of -1/-1 counters on it equal to the number of cards in that opponent's hand.
Updated on 08 Oct 2020 by jmgariepy

History: [-]

2020-10-02 02:06:39: jmgariepy created the card Hypnotic Split

Welcome back! Here's a fun thing about kicker: It doesn't matter how you're casting a spell with kicker; you can kick that spell by paying the kicker cost when you cast the spell. If you put Into the Roil into an Isochron Scepter, you can pay the kicker to draw a card every time you activate the Scepter and cast the Roil.

That's what we're intentionally abusing with this Kicker/Rebound amalgam. If you cast NTC #046 with only four swamps up, you can only force your opponent to discard a card... this round. Next round, when you untap, you cast #046 without paying its mana cost, and can then choose to pay the kicker, getting a bonus creature in the exchange (but if you have seven mana, feel free to just go for the gusto twice.)

Originally this made a 6/6 token and I waffled on the kicker costing {4}{b}. But I definitely wanted the "Mind Rot split over two turns", and didn't want to increase the base cost above {2}{b}. So I made the creature smaller so that some players could feel better about casting this spell on round three. As a 5/5 with -1/-1 counters, you probably won't be getting much of a benefit from hitting the kicker in the early game. Hopefully that helps players feel better about firing this spell on round 3 if they got no better plays.

But what is this card's name? And also, what's the creature type?

Ugh. So this is built on top of a lot of rules experimenting and a nasty broken interaction? Well, I guess that's why flavour exists, to try and provide an actual hook to understand a card by.

Well; this is primarily a way of forcing a couple of discards. And cmc3 'discard two cards' is a perfectly good sorcery. Plenty of terms available for that.

And it can summon a couple of creatures. Card and creatures? I immediately blink to hippie-the-spectre. But that's not quite the flavour here. Actually, the flavour of "Cares about hand size" mostly comes from Kamigawa of all places. Which means a bazillion one-of crazy spirits with no unifying theme. (And even that set preferred 'cards in graveyard' to represent 'cards not in hand') ... magic hates subtraction. But! We can find something similar in The Rack - and even more similar in Rackling. An eminently forgettable little creature type, though. Still - we may have our flavour. You're summoning the services of a horrible construct to tear things out of your opponents mind. And if you pay enough, they might stick around. Some kind of netherworldly contract.

Need something that's two bites of the cherry - and what with already messing with minds; we immediately come to the imagery of mirrors. And the legend of Bloody Mary follows this thought. (See Ursula Vernon for the best horrific take on that)

Combine the two - and Hypnotic Split is the spell; a Construct is what this summons. And the art is someone being half pulled through a mirror, their mirror self blending into a puppet of blades.

I can't do better than Vitenka's flavour.

I propose: Mind Demons producing Spirit

Only two entries this time around, but I could still use your help determining a winner. Choose your favorite name here!

2020-10-08 22:26:11: jmgariepy edited Hypnotic Split

Vitenka wins this week. There wasn't much in the way of competition, but I blame the fact that this design was "a lot of rules experimenting and a nasty broken interaction."

See everybody in (((NTC #037)))!

The two finest words in the English language. Dee! Fault!

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