Triskaidekaphobia

tris·kai·dek·a·pho·bi·a
/triskīˌdekəˈfōbēə,ˌtriskə-/
noun
1. extreme superstition regarding the number thirteen.
2. an enchantment in Shadows Over Innistrad

This card has far too much flavor win to ignore, so I picked one up. Not sure if I'll run it in any deck, but I just had to have it and it's only $0.50. The full card text is:

Triskaidekaphobia {3}{B}
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose one —
• Each player with exactly 13 life loses the game, then each player gains 1 life.
• Each player with exactly 13 life loses the game, then each player loses 1 life.
(William Murai)

Now check this:
1. 13 implements hanging from the wall
2. 13 boards on the ceiling
3. 13 boards on the walls
4. 13 drips of blood
5. 13 stones making the arch of the stove
6. 13 stones making the rest of the stove
7. 13 logs in the stove
8. 13 nails in the barrel
9. 13 pieces of the broken plate
10. 13 Ts in the card text
11. 13 words in each mode
12. 13 is the sum total of each digit in the card text: {3} + (1 + 3) + 1 + (1 + 3) + 1
13. 13 characters in the artist credit (counting the space)

The last one might be a stretch, but he's credited as "William" despite signing it "Will" on his website. It's also entirely possible I've missed one.

I have no idea what's in the forest outside that window (werewolves, probably), but I figure this guy dropped his plate, looked around, blood started seeping from the walls and he decided he'd try his luck elsewhere.

It's too bad they couldn't make the card collector #13/297 (it's #141), since the card order is strictly based on color and alphabetical sorting. #13 is pretty much guaranteed to be a white card in any set. (Descend Upon the Sinful, in the case of SOI)

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

I've actually managed to get a win with this card, during the first SOI draft at my local game store.

The life totals were 18-16 in my favor when I played Triskaidekaphobia. My opponent actually played Chaplain's Blessing, making it 18-21 and putting me in an uncomfortable position. Then she attacked with all but one creature. I blocked in such a way that between blockers and lifelink, I stayed at 18.

Next turn, I have us both lose a life, putting us at 17-20. Then I discard Malevolent Whispers to Call the Bloodline and steal my opponent's one untapped creature, a Dauntless Cathar. I swing with that and a Falkenrath Gorger, deal seven, and brought her to 13.

She had one turn to do something and couldn't deal four to me given my blockers. Triskaidekaphobia win.

[Lithl]

3883301
I just added it to my Thraximundar EDH stax deck. We'll see if it stays, but it's probably my best deck for it, since it can get kinda grindy. I once had a game with that deck where I won by looping Volcanic Fallout using Elixir of Immortality to recur it. I had something like 10 cards between my deck and graveyard. Trading Post + Salvaging Station kept the Elixir in play, and Phyrexian Arena + Honden of Seeing Wind (with the two other Hondens so I was drawing 5 cards per turn and getting a little extra reach with Infinite Rage) let me re-draw the Volcanic Fallout in a timely manner.

It's also the deck where is was taking like 7 damage from a Nekusar per turn, and yet remained under 5 life for around 10 turns before finally losing (pitching stuff to Trading Post and copies of Trading Post).