See Challenge # 097.

I rolled.

• Devastation .... destroy EVERYTHING? How am I gonna mash THAT with anything ?
• Dwarven Catapult ... fireball a bunch of stuff. Before or after I've destroyed everything? At least it's still red.
• Sylvan Echoes. Cool, draw a card whenever an event that never happens, happens! That's an easy card to add to anything :)

(Ok, so.. markdown thinks + is special. Whatever)

Ok, so... Echoes of Dwarven Devastation. That's a Balrog if ever there was one.

Clash: Destroy everything. Wonderful. And because this is MY card, I don't have to use clunky "all permanents" wording.

First attempt had it dealing its power to all creatures when blocked. I've only really kept the name from the catapult in this incarnation though. And gosh, the 5/5 flyer that dealt 5 on death was insane already. This, sadly, has to have some brake put on it, to land it in "aspirationally insane" rather than "bogs down the game entirely" territory. CMC6 is a start, but really it needs an escape clause.

"Unless they sacrifice a wizard" is far too situational. But dammit, it's flavourful. Add a (relatively huge) activation cost to make it slightly less potentially insane; while actually upping the "Here comes a big boom!" quotient, rather than diminishing it, by making it not-optional. I know that probably doesn't work in the rules; shut up, it's mythic.

Was to activate; but let's add a bit of a callback to nev by making it .

Still lacks catapults; really. Ah well. It's where the mash took me. I guess the alternative direction would be " Everyone with at least X creatures draws X cards"

Heh. Sacrificing a Wizard does seem most random, but now that I get why you're doing it, I have a hard time imagining it not being there...

it's trinket text. that's allowed at high rarities.
now let's address the main problem with this card; Balrog doesn't die when the bridge crumbles; he falls into the void and drags Gandalf down with him on the way down. So this really should be a 187; if you want to really push the flavor, make it on 187 tap all non-Wizards too. It's a colour pie stretch, but Shrieking Mogg did it at rare.

"On 187"? Je ne compris.

IIRC 187 means an enter-the-battlefield effect (especially one that kills things).

I think recalling the famous scene approximately rather than exactly is fine in magic -- look at Theros, where there are lots of stories similar to greek myth, but not exactly the same.

Is it cool if I riff off you and make a Gandalf with transform? :)

And yes, 187 is slang for an enters-the-battlefield. Especially a destructive enters the battlefield, because in America a 187 is how police dial in a drive-by. Sorry, I just love this series and I'm an English teacher for profession; I didn't mean to look like a stickler.

Heh; yes, a companion riff card would be fun.

And you're right - it's not an exact match. I guess "Leaves the battlefield" in place of dies would be closer. And might still work.

When he enters, he destroys all the dwarves within reach. But that's really stretching what fits on a magic card.

I'm just happy someone got the not-very-hidden reference.

I'VE GOT IT. MAKE BALROG AN ELEMENTAL DEMON, GIVE HIM EVOKE, AND MAKE THE DEVESTATION A LEAVES PLAY. Cause the idea of the Balrog in the world of Tolkein's novel is that he represented the demonic nature that will never be absent from life; the ethereal flavor of elementals can capture that.

Also, destroy dwarves isn't in Balrog flavor. The demon doesn't kill Balin; an orc does. What Balrog DOES do is terrify the rest of the Fellowship so absolutely that all but Gandalf are paralyzed. Hence my suggestion of tap all non-Wizard creatures on entry, devestation on leaving.

Also, you know as worded this spell doesn't do anything, right? "everything" is an inert word in the rules; it doesn't refer to anything, so you must write all permanents. Also it must be "when ~ leaves the battlefield, you may pay 4. If you do, clash with an opponent. If you win the clash, destroy all permanents unless that player sacrifices a Wizard."

"they" has no rules reference, and is a plural pronoun anyway. "if you win" has no meaning. if you win what? the duel? a dice roll? a pissing contest?

Ditch the "it" because Demon is not the source of the devastation; a triggered ability demon's controller controls is.

Wben Demon of Might enters the battlefield, tap all other non-Wizard creatures. When Demon of Might leaves the battlefield, you may pay 4. If you do, clash with an opponent. If you win the clash, destroy all permanents unless that player sacrifices a Wizard.

templating is there to keep judges from having to TOTALLY rip our hair out.

The Balrog arrives when the dwarves dig too deep; and destroys moria.

And yes, I know this would need more and crappier words. It is the demon, they is the opponent you clashed with, everything is all permanents. As this isn't a real card, and it is perfectly obvious what is meant, I'm keeping it.

I prefer "all permanents" too, but I certainly agree V doesn't have to follow normal templating if he doesn't want to :)

FWIW, whether a real card could say this, I think:

1. It IS ok under the rules, cf. Progenitus, I think it's clear and unambiguous that it means "everything that can be destroyed, is destroyed". Only permanents can be destroyed.
2. But it's NOT ok templating, since even though it's technically unambiguous, it will be confusing to many players who don't know for sure, can spells be destroyed, can players be destroyed, etc.