See Challenge # 158.

I like this interpretation of the quote.

I get the impression that "before your next end step" would become "this turn" (since... you know... a lot has happened in this game before your next end step.) That said, I get the impression the card would still be a bit convolutious, which was ultimately the point, no? ;)

I need to reduce the tracking complexity somehow. Originally this exiled the cards, and you had to match them in order (and put them into the graveyard when you did). But that only worked for non-permanent spells.

I'm quite short of words. I imagined an opponent usually casting one spell per turn (on their turn or your turn). I would certainly reduce this to tracking one thing at once if I had the wording for it.

I'm leery of "this turn" as a simplification, because it might as well just say "in response", assuming you can usually only do that with instants.

I guess I could go with graveyard order...?? "Whenever you cast a spell with the same CMC as the bottom card of an opponent's graveyard" But it would fail if they've unofficially reordered it which is why wizards never print that.

Wait... was this supposed to draw cards off of spells played after your opponent? I thought it was supposed to look at card cast before your opponent cast a card. In retrospect, that makes a lot more sense.

I like graveyard order. I wish we could have it again. I know why we don't, though. It would be nice if it only mattered for a set... but then it would immediately matter for Modern if that happened, and that wouldn't do. Sometimes I wish I could see the alternate reality MtG, where graveyard order, mana burn, face down didn't automatically mean morph, etc., etc., were still things.

I don't understand your first para which suggests that whatever it does, this card is too confusing without wording. I think your original understanding was right, but I can't really tell.

The intent is, "Opponent casts a spell. Then you cast a spell with the same CMC and get a bonus." Originally it was going to be, you had to cast a sequence of spells with the same sequence of CMC as the opponent did. But the rules for that didn't fit, so I went with, "Opponent casts a spell, then on your turn, you need to match that spell", and just ignored the fact opponent would occasionally cast two spells and you could do them in either order.

Oh, and uh, it was meant to be the first time. Not, "opponent casts a 1 CMC, you cast lots of 1 CMC". I think I forgot to put that on the cards.

Yeah, my mind goofed. I thought this was "You cast a 1cmc spell during your opponent's upkeep. Whenever your opponent cast a 1cmc spell for the rest of the turn, if you (already) cast a 1cmc spell, draw a card." My mind inserted the word 'already' where it didn't belong. Which, admittedly, makes for a poor card power-level-wise. I just wasn't thinking about that.

That was my original point with my first paragraph. I thought that without 'this turn' this card would be looking back across the entire game to see if you already cast a spell with that cmc.

Ah! Yeah, I've no idea how that would work.

It's an interesting idea though, even if it came about by accident, of you trying to predict your opponent's spells. So is, "try to cast a spell in response". But it would be costed a bit differently to this.

Reminds me of our discussion on Canny Major and at http://www.magicmultiverse.net/cards/38401#comment_52570 and following. There we suggested

> At the beginning of each upkeep, predict the colour and CMC of the next spell an opponent casts this turn.
> Whenever you predict correctly, put a +1/+1 counter on ~.

I did consider something like, "Whenever an opponent casts a spell, note its converted mana cost. When you cast a spell with the most-recently noted CMC, draw a card." But magic has usually eschewed explicitly telling you to write things down, outside conspiracy and silver-border.