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Remorseless Punishment

Card Name

Remorseless Punishment

Mana Cost

3

Type

Sorcery

Rarity

Rare

rules Text

Target opponent loses 5 life unless that player discards two cards or sacrifices a creature or planeswalker of their choice. Repeat this process once.

Flavor Text

"I have suffered a thousand lifetimes of agony on this wretched world. I've far less time to share with you, but I assure you, no less pain." —Ob Nixilis

Legal Formats

Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage

Not Legal Formats

Alchemy, Brawl, Explorer, Historic, Pauper, Standard

Rulings

(1/22/2016)
The player can't choose to discard two cards unless they have at least two cards in hand. Similarly, that player can't choose to sacrifice a creature or planeswalker unless they control one. This means that if the target opponent doesn't have two cards in hand and doesn't control a creature or planeswalker, that player will lose 5 life and then lose 5 life again.
(1/22/2016)
No player may take any actions between the two times the player goes through the process.
(1/22/2016)
Any abilities that trigger while Remorseless Punishment is resolving will be put on the stack after it has completely resolved.
(4/8/2016)
The same player chooses both times. In a multiplayer game, you can't choose a different opponent to repeat the process.