For Challenge # 100 and based on Link's set Anydria, the plane without Islands. I was thinking about what sorts of things could separate Anydria from normal planes, when it occurred to me that, without blue, no one would ever lie on anydria. Red and Green are too forward to care about lying anyway. Black would gladly lie, if it knew how, but not being able to lie, it mostly focuses on poorly timed, inconvenient truths. Without blue, white would be trapped. It wouldn't lie, but it would seek to withhold state secrets through bureaucracy. In other words, it wouldn't need to tell you the truth if you didn't know how to ask the right question.

Originally, this card was supposed to reflect a world without lying by forcing an opponent to just reveal named cards. But Magic isn't really good with the honor system, and Link's set isn't an un-set. So instead, I decided to make the penalty for lying steep - you lose the game. It may be over the top, but I do like the idea of having the occasional contest with an opponent you don't quite believe. Is the risk worth losing the creature?

I consider lying to be a black thing. Black will say whatever is in its best interests, whether or not it's true. Blue, on the other hand, likes the truth, since it represents knowledge. Blue is willing to bend the truth or fudge the details, but outright lies only when absolutely necessary.

Hmm, that's not what the flavour text on Merchant of Secrets says to me. I think lies are happily shared between blue and black... and probably red (heat of the moment). White probably goes in more for self-deception, or lying to oneself and others at the same time ("these rules were necessary for the safety of the populace").

I agree the mechanic is really interesting. The opponent only loses if they lied and you caught them at it. What bothers me is that the opponent has very little motivation to lie. It's just 2 or 4 life. I'd prefer it if the opponent had to discard that card, or at least lose some life, but both of those are clearly black rather than white, and the flavour here doesn't work for black.

Mostly, I didn't want this to feel like two even choices. At least, if you're to follow the logic of my take on Anydria, telling the truth should be natural, if not regrettable, while lying is verboten. I do get how the brain naturally wants both events to be equal to each other, though. It's an annoying Vorthos v. Melvin problem.

As for the flavor of lies... blue is the home of artifice and illusion. It's also the home of knowledge. Go figure. I agree, that black is also full of lies, but I figure this world can suspend some of that. After all, deception is more tilted on Blue/Black (i.e., Dimir) than on either color independently (Black/Red, in contrast, doesn't really care about the subject.) And besides, while black will do whatever is in its best interest, such as lying, it will do whatever is in its best interest, such as telling the truth. Selfishness, by itself, isn't the same value as deceptiveness.

Ah, yes, the point about telling the truth should be natural is a good answer.

I have to admit, this card is very confusing to read. Why would your opponent ever lie?

I like the idea a lot, it seems a good idea for Anydria. But I agree with the problems of this particular card. It's hard to resolve: the flavour wants the lie to rarely happen, but if so, the rules text might as well not exist. I wonder if there's a way of making it a bit like the game cheat, so the opponent usually wants to tell the truth, but occasionally is forced to lie?

@Jack and Link: How about something more like this? Double-Check Inquisitor.