Take and Tempt1WBR
Sorcery [MR]
Exile two target nonland permanents you don't control. For each permanent exiled this way, its controller creates a black enchantment token named Temptation with "Sacrifice this enchantment: Flip a coin. If you win the flip, draw three cards. If you lose the flip, lose 10 life."
Deal with the DjinnBBB
Sorcery [MR]
Deal with the Djinn can't be cast unless you have 7 or more life.
Draw seven cards. Your life total becomes 1.
You can't gain life for the rest of the game.
I like the concept behind Take and tempt, but the difference between the good and bad effect are so great that it would only be used when they are losing. If the difference was less and hurt you either way it would play better.
Deal does what it does far too well. This is a combo card that reads "BBB, almost guarantee you will combo this turn." Then has random trinket text about losing the game if you either built your deck terribly or weren't playing combo for some reason. This feels like it was meant to be a tension inducing card, of "Oh with this I can certainly do something but what if my opponent can deal that 1 damage." Cruel Bargain is a better designed version of this card, it has a 'high price' that can usually be ignored due to combing but doesn't draw so many cards that you are guaranteed to combo so the price can actually matter.
I like the concept behind Take and tempt, but the difference between the good and bad effect are so great that it would only be used when they are losing. If the difference was less and hurt you either way it would play better.
Deal does what it does far too well. This is a combo card that reads "BBB, almost guarantee you will combo this turn." Then has random trinket text about losing the game if you either built your deck terribly or weren't playing combo for some reason. This feels like it was meant to be a tension inducing card, of "Oh with this I can certainly do something but what if my opponent can deal that 1 damage." Cruel Bargain is a better designed version of this card, it has a 'high price' that can usually be ignored due to combing but doesn't draw so many cards that you are guaranteed to combo so the price can actually matter.
I understand your point about Take and Tempt. The design was intended more for Commander, so there, losing 10 life is not nearly as substantial and it's a reasonable gamble for a free Jace's Ingenuity.
Yes Deal with the Djinn allows you to draw more cards, but it can only be cast if your life is 7 or more. Combo decks generally don't want restrictions on when they are allowed to do something. Think how much worse of a card Doomsday would be if you could only play it if you had 7 life or more. Brining your life total down to 1 is also no joke, especially at sorcery speed, it's a much more significant drawback than losing half your life. Also, the last ability is more than just trinket text, without it, the card would be extremely powerful with Children of Korlis effects.
The trinket text comment wasn't specifically about not being able to gain life but about every part of the card besides draw seven. I can't say for certain how good this card would be in a format like EDH but I can say it would be beyond broken in every other format. In EDH it might be just as broken, I am fairly unfamiliar with the more competitive scene there but I imagine it would be just as easily a win the game card with random trinket text.
The trinket text comment wasn't specifically about not being able to gain life but about every part of the card besides draw seven. I can't say for certain how good this card would be in a format like EDH but I can say it would be beyond broken in every other format. In EDH it might be just as broken, I am fairly unfamiliar with the more competitive scene there but I imagine it would be just as easily a win the game card with random trinket text.
I'm curious, give me a couple examples of Modern decks now that would absolutely want to play this card. You would have to be able to produce BBB, ensure you could cast the card before you were too low on life, and you would need countermagic up to prevent your opponent from burning you out.
The trinket text comment wasn't specifically about not being able to gain life but about every part of the card besides draw seven. I can't say for certain how good this card would be in a format like EDH but I can say it would be beyond broken in every other format. In EDH it might be just as broken, I am fairly unfamiliar with the more competitive scene there but I imagine it would be just as easily a win the game card with random trinket text.
I'm curious, give me a couple examples of Modern decks now that would absolutely want to play this card. You would have to be able to produce BBB, ensure you could cast the card before you were too low on life, and you would need countermagic up to prevent your opponent from burning you out.
I'm not certain which modern decks could support the BBB but even if none currently could its existence would spawn at least one. The need to keep up counter magic is relevant in exactly one match so completely irrelevant to the evaluation of the card and the existence of 0 cost counterspells undermines the argument anyway. I'm not certain how fast most decks would actually decrease your life total below 7 without having won. I believe most decks can't get you that low before turn 3 so you have already been given ample time to set up any number of combos. Depending on the state of modern when this would be introduced it could push storm into RB instead of RU other existing choices would be Grishoal decks, Ad Nauseam and possibly dredge, with a slight chance of showing up in DeathShadow.
Take and Tempt is great in concept, but as mentioned the exact amounts for cards drawn and life lost is difficult. Maybe 2 and 7? it's really hard to say since a number that's balanced in 20-life formats would not be balanced in 40-life formats. It can also reduce games to a literal coin toss, which probably wouldn't go over well with a lot of competitive players if they are forced to run it as the most efficient removal card in a format. But mana screw is a thing, so...
Deal with the Djinn's 7 life clause would maybe be relevant for any given matchup against burn or affinity. But I mostly agree with Honor Basquiat; what it does is so powerful that it will always either be totally useless or totally broken, no middle ground. Further, whether or not casting this works out, it's the only thing that matters. All of the rest of the game prior to this spell resolving is moot, you either combo or you don't.
It's like if Worldfire only costed RRR but left your opponent with 5 life and you with 1. It's utter trash until someone figures out how to break it. Then it immediately becomes unacceptably broken well past the point of fairly rewarding the ingenuity of the person who made it work. Stasis is a good example of a real card like this.
Sorcery [MR]
Exile two target nonland permanents you don't control. For each permanent exiled this way, its controller creates a black enchantment token named Temptation with "Sacrifice this enchantment: Flip a coin. If you win the flip, draw three cards. If you lose the flip, lose 10 life."
Sorcery [MR]
Deal with the Djinn can't be cast unless you have 7 or more life.
Draw seven cards. Your life total becomes 1.
You can't gain life for the rest of the game.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Deal does what it does far too well. This is a combo card that reads "BBB, almost guarantee you will combo this turn." Then has random trinket text about losing the game if you either built your deck terribly or weren't playing combo for some reason. This feels like it was meant to be a tension inducing card, of "Oh with this I can certainly do something but what if my opponent can deal that 1 damage." Cruel Bargain is a better designed version of this card, it has a 'high price' that can usually be ignored due to combing but doesn't draw so many cards that you are guaranteed to combo so the price can actually matter.
I understand your point about Take and Tempt. The design was intended more for Commander, so there, losing 10 life is not nearly as substantial and it's a reasonable gamble for a free Jace's Ingenuity.
The thing is Cruel Bargin/Infernal Contract aren't good cards.
Yes Deal with the Djinn allows you to draw more cards, but it can only be cast if your life is 7 or more. Combo decks generally don't want restrictions on when they are allowed to do something. Think how much worse of a card Doomsday would be if you could only play it if you had 7 life or more. Brining your life total down to 1 is also no joke, especially at sorcery speed, it's a much more significant drawback than losing half your life. Also, the last ability is more than just trinket text, without it, the card would be extremely powerful with Children of Korlis effects.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
I'm curious, give me a couple examples of Modern decks now that would absolutely want to play this card. You would have to be able to produce BBB, ensure you could cast the card before you were too low on life, and you would need countermagic up to prevent your opponent from burning you out.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Deal with the Djinn's 7 life clause would maybe be relevant for any given matchup against burn or affinity. But I mostly agree with Honor Basquiat; what it does is so powerful that it will always either be totally useless or totally broken, no middle ground. Further, whether or not casting this works out, it's the only thing that matters. All of the rest of the game prior to this spell resolving is moot, you either combo or you don't.
It's like if Worldfire only costed RRR but left your opponent with 5 life and you with 1. It's utter trash until someone figures out how to break it. Then it immediately becomes unacceptably broken well past the point of fairly rewarding the ingenuity of the person who made it work. Stasis is a good example of a real card like this.
- Rabid Wombat