Ego Flux - CotW nominee (3/21/2005)

[Ephemeron]

Ego Flux - :3::u::r:
Enchantment
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, if that player's life total is a two-digit number, switch its first and second digit.

[Talysin]

Wow. Mana burning becomes actually good.
I'm at 20. Burn for 1. Then, I'm at 91. Destroy enchantment.....
Too good for stall decks.

[Ephemeron]

And if I add "Mana burn doesn't cause players to lose life"?

[Talysin]

And if I add "Mana burn doesn't cause players to lose life"?

Then, it would be harder to abuse but still doable via painlands or self inflicted damage through spells or creatures.

[unumplurum]

Wow, this would make for some hard math in tournaments. But I like it, at least with the mana burn fix. If they can get you down to X0 with instant-speed damage, you're screwed.

[fooligan]

UR lifegain? thats insane.
id like to see someone burn/city themselves to 19 then goto 91 and promptly heros reunion/ whatever themselves to some unfathomable mix and the turn after that play the 5o life win majigger.

or do some thing stupid withh transendance given some other combination of cards
or maybe just win with a lich.
then again you could go it the other way and play more of an aggro style.
still feels so wrong tho

[Xeonio]

Maybe to help with the abuse factor you could make it indestrucible & untargetable? Or maybe just have it setup so that once its in play it can't be removed from play until the game ends.

[Ripperboy]

Well... what should be the advantage of having 91 life? Next turn it will be 19 again :P

Nice card, anyway =)

[d4g4m3r]

dude... do you guys not realize it doesn't need to be disenchanted or anything to be broken? It's RED for chrissakes...

Let's see... I build a direct damage deck with some islands... I do nothing for a few turns... play this and end turn... shock you when your life becomes 2... and by the way, I don't even need the shock at that moment, because your life won't switch back once it becomes 2...

[Grga]

With this in play, no deck other than Goblins could kill by dealing damage. Just make sure you always mana burn yourself to the amount of life which end with a 9 and you'll always have more than 90 life.

[Ephemeron]

Personally, I would not expect this card to get abused too much in tournament play (particularily with the "no mana burn" errata). It creates too much unpredictability, too many opportunities for the opponent to mess with your masterplan, and depends too much on the particular draws on both sides. If I had to put a multicolored 5-mana enchantment in my tournament deck, I'd rather take something like Mirari's Wake. :)

In casual multiplayer, however, Ego Flux can be a real blast.

[who is the pilot]

this card reminds of of zurs weirding, transcendence, and cards like that. . .so wacky they don't even seem like magic cards, but so fun you just have to play them at some point or another. . .neither of the aforementioned cards broke tournament play, but everyone has a unique memory about them being used. . .i give this card my unofficial spirit of gaming award. . .

[stupidleo]

For my view:
It seems a unhinged card...= =

[No Limitz]

most of you are missing the point that the effects take place at there upkeeps which limits this alot. but i love this card, its getting my vote.

[MazerPriest]

09 is two-digits, right?

[unumplurum]

It would be nice if this gave them an opportunity to mana burn if they needed to the turn after you play it (if they have no mana open and they're still at 20, they're kinda screwed). Maybe have it switch at EOT, although that would change its effect somewhat. Of course, at least in Extended, most people take a lot of damage from fetchlands before turn 5 anyway...

[Ephemeron]

09 is two-digits, right?
It is, and then it kinda isn't. :D

If a player is at 90 life, they'll switch to 09. On next upkeep, if their life total hasn't changed, it will be a 1-digit number (9), and so Ego Flux won't trigger. The trick is to push the opponent into this "zero trap" before they do it to you.

[Santril_MtG]

Mkay, let's try messing with the wording a little on this to fix the potential abuses...then it's a fun card.

Ego Flux - :3::u::r:
Enchantment
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, if that player's life total is a two-digit number, switch its first and second digit. This effect continues even if Ego Flux is removed from play.

Second note...put two of these in play and negate the effect? Would that work, outside of the "zero trap"? :)