This is painnful. Pack a few Liliana's Caresses and enjoy watching your opponent squirm.
Briars
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
id say run 4 of these and 4 liliana's caress. overkill.
chremon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Too expensive
Chrome_Coyote
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
This card sure is a painful quandary. I wish it was just 1 colorless cheaper.
JaxsonBateman
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
One of the few high cost enchantments in recent sets which is limited viable. For 5 mana, it ends up being repeatable card advantage/lava axe. Not bad at all. Not to mention that by the time this card comes down your opponent is going to be running out of cards as it is.
Lord_Gravesmythe
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
I really like this card. It's worthy of having a deck tailored around it.
ninjaduckie
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
ouch.
BigK42
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I drew one of these in sealed but couldn't work it in because I didn't have any decent black creatures to go with it. Had it used against me as well, which hurt, but didn't win my opponent the game. It's ok, but it's expensive. Aggro decks won't care because it comes out too late, and control will just counter/ destroy it.
Diachronos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you think Painful Quandary is bad, just imagine how bad it would be for there to be more than one on the field. "Oh, you want to cast a spell? Discard 4 or take 5 for each one you don't discard."
the weakness with discard decks is that when your enemy runs out of cards and comes to the point that hes playing every card he draws and you cant make him discard thus not taking damage from your Caress. This card fixes that weakness, after hes without cards he draws one, plays it and takes 5 damage or he dosent play it and you make him take damage with caress.
It gives hard time to slower decks in limited. In standard... i dunno, maybe in some type oldskool UB control deck it could be viable?
Sironos
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
GREAT CARD! This is exactly what black discard needs, good job wizards!
infernox10
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
By all means a decent card, I'd say,
But I feel like if you're running discard, this is only a "win more" sort of deal.
They should probably already be dead with your Quest for the Nihil Stone and Liliana's Caress, or close to it.
And in other decks, it's sort of a late-game lock-down.
And in late game, your opponent may already have his/her strategy on the field, and this wouldn't do much to help.
However, still very decent.
4/5
RichardJesperson
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Incredibly potent when played, especially in multiplayer. One of my favorite cards from Scars.
I have a black sacrifice deck based around grave pact and a bunch of sac-to-force-discard creatures and this card alone ramps the deck up from an "almost always wins in multiplayer" to "almost impossible to lose".
It's become my first choice when I play a tutor as well.
Falgorn
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(6 votes)
Incredibly potent card. Even if answered right away, it'll be at least a 2 for one. If it isn't, it will either nullify (at the very least) the card advantage of control decks or decimate the tempo of the more aggressive ones. The only thing in Standard that could be considered "a little bit resistant" to it would be a deck revolving around Vengevine.
Oh, and don't complain about the mana cost. For this kind of effect, all of you should be content that wizards didn't "play it safe" by giving it a 6 cmc. If you want it to be even cheaper, you could ask wizards to print colorless cards with "Affinity for your life total" as well.
yesnomu
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
My friend ran it in his Sealed infect deck--now that was painful to see. *rimshot*
If nothing else, this card should help teach new players to keep excess land in hand, or that taking damage isn't that big a deal. The fact that the opponent can choose is really the death knell for the card--it's the same reason Browbeat or Dash Hopes were never power cards.
Still, of the "opponent chooses a bad thing to happen to them" cards, it's fairly aggressively costed for the effect. Not the worst card ever.
I think all those guys who go nuts over Megrim and Liliana's Caress should really be looking here for their win condition. Playing cards like Megrim and the Caress ensure that you lose tempo with your discard spells, while you neglect to put up a defense against creatures. Discard works better as a way to deny resources to your opponents. Setting up combos with Megrim is too risky.
This card, however, can really put the pressure on as an end-game play. This, and Nyxathid. When their life total is low enough this "option" really isn't one.
Edit...nevermind, I tried it. 2/5
Leonidus7784
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(11 votes)
You: Have Painful Quandary, Liliana's Caress, Quest for the Nihil Stone (with two counters) on the Field.
Them: At 5 life with two cards in their hand squirming around wishing they could do something about it.
You: Laughing
Them: Crying
A0602
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is powerful in a B/U control deck. Notice how Painful Quandary only cares when an opponent casts a spell... I think I will counter that spell that you paid 5 life for. It effectively slows them down to a snails pace, all you really have to worry about is what is currently on the field.
Enchantment_Removal
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I wouldn't put this card in the mana expensive category. I would say 5 mana is the threshold of the fair cost/expensive cost line. However, yes, this card most likely won't dig you out of a hole if you're in one.
This is a picturesque example of an "I need to be dealt with pretty soon" permanent.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Black is getting ridiculously powerful these days. It makes me, a Red player, both jealous and hopeful that White gets more love in the next set.
ChaosFire
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
About 1000% better than the Urza's Saga classic Oppression.
Really, for those of you talking badly about this card, play with it. Maybe not in standard, but somewhere where 5 cmc is MEANT to be played, like EDH or Prismatic.
This card is STUPID good in any format where it can be played.
And for those of you saying "oh just hold on to lands" here's the problem. You've done that before against mind funeral fine, but you didn't have to chuck a card for every spell. Also, in any format but limited, you usually can't afford NOT to play your lands unless you're running far too many.
Dragon_Nut
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Because when you're being a bastard and willing to run higher CMC cards, there's no reason to stop with one: Why not throw in Predatory Advantage as well?
Lithl
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
by A0602: Notice how Painful Quandary only cares when an opponent casts a spell... I think I will counter that spell that you paid 5 life for. It effectively slows them down to a snails pace, all you really have to worry about is what is currently on the field.
And since we're talking about UB control, we might as well bounce anything they do manage to get on the field. Then they get to try and cast it through Painful Quandry again. Only this time you might have a counterspell. Or multiple Quadries. Or a Caress or two.
Build a control deck which wins by simply letting the opponent try to cast spells :)
Run it with Dissipation Field. Since we're already running proliferate and blue, we can throw in Grind Clock, Horrifying Revelation, and Tome Scour. Follow up with a spot removal counter spell suite. 2 Liliana's Caress, 2 Jace's Erasure, one each of Lili and little Jace, and one each of Blue and Black Sun's Zenith. Hold the ground with Wall of Frost, kill fliers or lock them down with Ice Cage. Make your friends cry.
Garfunculus
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
My friend has an obnoxiously good lifegain deck... Or, HAD one until I played a foil one of these. He gave the only rational response in that situation. He took a look at the card, looked around the room, sighed, and said "Where's a lighter when you need one?"
ugotpauld
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
turns counterspells into lava axes or card advantage. quite nice
SeiberTross
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Dash Hopes becomes entirely more fun with this guy on the field.
bigdeezy88
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
i was got two of these and two liliana's caresses on the field in a two headed giant game. fun times
TotalDomination
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
was running my black blue support deck (drawing cards with spelbooks but slowing killing theopponents). it was a 6 person game(3v3) but with two headed giant type rules. my 2 teammates defended me while i brought out 4fonts, 4howling mines, 2 spellbooks, a jin-gitaxias(from the prerelease sealed event) then i brought out some gilded lotus. next turn i played 4 liana's caress and 4 megrims. turn after, played 3 underworld dreams, 2 psychosis crawlers then 4 painful quandrys. i also had 3 ivory towers on the field for life gain and a darksteel forge. this is a rediculously Overpowered support deck. first stragety is help my teammates draw cards and keep them(it was a hive-mind game where teammates shared abilities and effects) then make it impossible for the opponents to win in anyway(they lose life for all cards drawn, spells cast, and discarded while wegain extrem amounts of life) i say 5/5 if used in the right decks. haha
Splizer
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
This is (and let's be fair about this) a gorgeously ruthless brute of an enchantment. This instantly transformed my discard deck from 40% win to 95% hatred and subsequent loss in multiplayer games!
When you wonder why you're being forced to block with your specters from 5 different opponents, check to see if you haven't got this on your field.
luca_barelli
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The ultimate griefer enchantment.
DELON
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is GAME OVER... Just like that... So overpowered... I can't even imagine what is going on with the Wizards... I remember the time that a Serra Angel was a GREAT card, and the games were so fun :)
XTwistedsoulX
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Do you think hes watching the shire burn in that scrying pool?
DeathDark
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I realize that the Nihil Stone and Liliana's Caress are nice and all, but once Innistrad hits, we'll be relying on this as a killmoar for discard decks. With things like Nyxathid and Hypnotic Specter gone, Nihil Stone has lost its potency in standard. This, however, can hold its own. While it still requires your opponent to act in order to lose, it buys you a significant number of time.
Multihunter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is painful. It is a powerful card, in my opinion. I haven't used it. I don't see how this doesn't cause serious pain...
Astronauts
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This + Omen Machine is a hilarious combo if you get it running.
OmegaSerris
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Wow, how did I miss this card? I love it! Mono-Black Control is coming back, just you wait and see.
@Scumbling1 You mistake the word "good" for the word "competitive". They are NOT interchangeable, as much as people seem to think in MTG. Just because a card is cheap (CMC-wise) does not mean it is fun to play (or play against) when it comes to kitchen table games. You know, the place MTG was born? The place you probably learned to play? Net-decking never made any friends but I'm sure it cost some people a few play groups.
Variety and "insane" combo decks are what keep this game interesting.
Paleopaladin
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
MBC / discard often has to choose between win-cons and hand control. This card provides both in a single card slot.
This is a phenominal card, when used properly.
It would be best suited for a U/B discard/control deck. Make them draw, then dare them to discard or play anything. a simple and effective grid-lock on their play.
As may have stated, this card would go very well with Liliana's Caress or Megrim , especially if you can get multiples of them out.
Just my two cents.
jordandarkmagic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I noticed that the card simply says "discard a card", does this mean that the opponent can choose to discard cards that are on the field as well as the cards in his hand?
Ragamander
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is a frightening card; I'm surprised no one has put it in a good Standard deck yet. It produces card advantage as long as it resolves, and if your opponent doesn't have an immediate answer, it can turn the game into a living nightmare for them. As long as your opponent still needs to cast spells to win - and that should be a given if you're playing control - then this card will quickly drain all their resources, allowing you to dispose of them at your leisure.
At its very best, though, it is those things...over and over and over again. It will wreck your opponent's hand and/or life total. Aggro decks will simply shut down, since they can't drop enough cards to establish a good board position (especially after any sort of mass-removal) - they'll have neither the cards nor the life to pull it off. Control decks will be crippled, as they typically rely on their spells producing card-advantage, and Painful Quandary undermines that (unless they're willing to Lava Axe their own face a few times, and that has a tendency to add up). Combo decks will destabilize, since they start losing tutors/draw/combo-pieces to avoid death. And let's not even talk about the matchup against Storm decks.
Compliment Painful Quandary with traditional control cards. Discard will force them to pace their plays poorly, while countermagic and removal will invalidate whatever pains they go through to resolve a spell. It's extremely difficult to break out of that kind of lock, not to mention that multiple copies stack.
scumbling1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
"I guarantee tears will flow when you play Dash Hopes after they've cast the spell and made their pick."
I'd much rather see my opponents play cards like Dash Hopes and Painful Quandry against me instead of good cards.
@ OmegaSerris: First off, you're applying your personal opinion to everyone. For many players, "good" and "competitive" are in fact interchangable. Even among kitchen-table gamers, not everyone enjoys the game in the same manner as you do; I know plenty of self-proclaimed "casual" players who love to netdeck, and take their Magic surprisingly seriously. There is variance in the level of competition within any two given casual groups, and as long as everyone involved is in agreement with what's acceptable, there need be no seperation between fun and cut-throat play.
Secondly, I like a more permissive casual environment than what I think you'd expect -- It's not all netdecks and Legacy bling where I play. I simply consider punisher cards, like Painful Quandry, to be not good on a fundamental level. They're inconsistent, and I have a distaste for that, whether I'm playing casually or competitively.
Because of punisher cards' inconsistency, I'd rather play against them than cards that would actually deny me a choice as to whether or not my spells resolve (or any other outcome). I want my cards to do what I intend them to do, and I don't want them to be stopped at doing it. It's got nothing to do with tournament worthiness (though I don't think you'll see many punisher cards in Top-8s), and everything to do with extra ability to play around my opponent's cards being built right into them.
Silence9
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love this card, especially when it's played properly.. "Sorry Susan, you can't choose to discard when you don't have any cards in hand.." :) << Is what makes this card great.
suGGu
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
what's better than having one of this babes on your side? having 2 of them
Krush_Chameleon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Does painful quandry's ability trigger even when spells are cast from graveyards with flashback? Or would my Chancellor of the Spires playing a card from my opponent's graveyard cause me to discard 2 cards from my hand and or loose 10 life?
MisterAction
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
60-card thoughts: I used to run an old-school discard deck and I would have killed for a card like this. Hymn to Tourach, Mind Twist, Megrim... not very impressive when your opponent isn't holding any cards. They would just play whatever they drew and my hand would fill with useless discard spells as I prayed for The Rack to bleed out their last few life points before they overwhelmed me. This, however, is a discard spell that wants your opponent to have no cards. A vital missing link I haven't seen before. Too bad I've promised my friends I'll never use those Hymns again...
EDH thoughts: You gotta think of this as an investment for the long game. Sure, the first few times it triggers won't do much; they've either got cards they don't need, or they're not worried about a little life loss. But as they get low on one resource or the other this will become a problem. You don't even have to keep feeding it mana or anything; just go about your business and watch the vice tighten.
pedrodyl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
An interesting card, maybe even a reason to Sign in Blood your opponents every once in a while @Leonidas Cast Paraselene, choose to discard other card and take 2, destroy all enchantments and gain 3 :)
kor6sic6
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Krush_Chameleon, it does not specify where the spell was cast from, it just looks for a spell being cast by an opponent. They cast a spell, from anywhere, and they have the option of five life loss or discarding.
azure_drake222222
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Really good in multiplayer.
igniteice
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@jordandarkmagic: Cards on the battlefield are called permanents. You can't discard permanents. Permanents can be destroyed, sacrificed, and exiled, but they cannot be discarded, because they are no longer cards. You can only discard from your hand.
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Running this with Tainted Aether and wrath effects is gorgeous. On the one hand, you kill everything, so saccing lands for your opponent sucks. On the other hand they have to lose more cards to do anything OR they kill themselves in order to sac in order to just get wrathed again (black sun's zenith ain't going anywhere! I mix with Blowfly and Carnifex.)
Top it off with Mindslicer. Kill everything, nuke everyone's hand, everyone has to sac things to get creatures out, and on top of it? they have to lose 5 life or wait 2 turns for subsequent spells.
You want to troll your playgroup? Do it right :D
Dxe10
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I was wondering, hypothetically if I had this card in play and my opponent played a destroy enchantment spell, would the effect of Painful Quandary take place before the spell? and if it does, if they had no other cards in hand and chose not to lose life, would they then be forced to discard the destroy enchantment spell being played? or would they have no choice but to lose 5 life then the enchantment is destroyed?
Wormfang
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
deck around this, Liliana of the Veil and the 2013 you make the card winner is some nasty stuff
SAUS3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Dxe10 You don't choose to not lose 5 life. You only choose whether or not to discard a card. If you have no cards in hand, you HAVE to lose the 5 life. If you cast disenchant to kill this card, disenchant is no longer in your hand - it's impossibly to discard it at this point. If you have no other cards in your hand, you HAVE to lose 5 life at this point.
This cards is awesome. It's a punisher card that is actually really strong. Even more mean if you counter their spell because they still lose the life or discard.
EDIT @Ragamander Actually, at worst, it's in your hand and you opponent has a strong board position. Even if they are at 5 life with no cards in hand, you can't kill them like you could with lava axe. Even if they have 2 cards in their hand, you can't get rid of them without them playing one of them (ie a lava axe that kills you on their turn).
This card is 'bad' because you need to establish a board position, and then lock them out of playing stuff by making each spell painful. I don't mean this card is actually bad, I mean that you can't say it's a lava axe or mind rot at worst, because it's not. A simple way to kill an opponent's board presence though is mutilate or similar.
It's cards like this that make me stop playing for a while and look up why cards like this exist.
BobbySinclair
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'd give this card 5/5, but the amount of hate it brings when it hits the table means I can only give it a… oh what the hell, I'm a mean player. 5/5.
Im_insane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like this deck I have the same one mine also has megrim,geths grimoire, sign in blood,caress of phyrexia hymn to tourach mind rot mind twist hypnotic specter drainpipe vermin silent specter dark ritual bubbling muck anvil of bogardan chains of Mephistopheles and a few other goodies
BagOfBags
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You have to drink the blood to get to the Horcrux on the bottom. This card reminds me a lot of Voldemort's cave lair with the horcrux inside it.
OlvynChuru
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is amazing with Nezumi Shortfang. Normally you can't really create an instant-discard lock with Shortfang because if you make them discard their last card, the rat flips. However, when you have Painful Quandary out, they don't want to cast the card in their hand when they only have one card because then they have to lose 5 life. So, when they draw their second card, make them discard it with Shortfang and the rat won't flip! They are forced to either pay 5 life for each spell, cast instants (and only one per two turns), or cast nothing.
Comments (65)
"Oh, you want to cast a spell? Discard 4 or take 5 for each one you don't discard."
This card fixes that weakness, after hes without cards he draws one, plays it and takes 5 damage or he dosent play it and you make him take damage with caress.
truly amazing card for the right purpose!
Run this with Guul Draz Specter, Nyxathid and Quest for the Nihil Stone and it will be overkill. But I would'nt suggest to run a mbc deck with this as a set.
But I feel like if you're running discard, this is only a "win more" sort of deal.
They should probably already be dead with your Quest for the Nihil Stone and Liliana's Caress, or close to it.
And in other decks, it's sort of a late-game lock-down.
And in late game, your opponent may already have his/her strategy on the field, and this wouldn't do much to help.
However, still very decent.
4/5
I have a black sacrifice deck based around grave pact and a bunch of sac-to-force-discard creatures and this card alone ramps the deck up from an "almost always wins in multiplayer" to "almost impossible to lose".
It's become my first choice when I play a tutor as well.
Oh, and don't complain about the mana cost. For this kind of effect, all of you should be content that wizards didn't "play it safe" by giving it a 6 cmc. If you want it to be even cheaper, you could ask wizards to print colorless cards with "Affinity for your life total" as well.
If nothing else, this card should help teach new players to keep excess land in hand, or that taking damage isn't that big a deal. The fact that the opponent can choose is really the death knell for the card--it's the same reason Browbeat or Dash Hopes were never power cards.
Still, of the "opponent chooses a bad thing to happen to them" cards, it's fairly aggressively costed for the effect. Not the worst card ever.
This card, however, can really put the pressure on as an end-game play. This, and Nyxathid. When their life total is low enough this "option" really isn't one.
Edit...nevermind, I tried it. 2/5
Them: At 5 life with two cards in their hand squirming around wishing they could do something about it.
You: Laughing
Them: Crying
This is a picturesque example of an "I need to be dealt with pretty soon" permanent.
Really, for those of you talking badly about this card, play with it. Maybe not in standard, but somewhere where 5 cmc is MEANT to be played, like EDH or Prismatic.
This card is STUPID good in any format where it can be played.
And for those of you saying "oh just hold on to lands" here's the problem. You've done that before against mind funeral fine, but you didn't have to chuck a card for every spell. Also, in any format but limited, you usually can't afford NOT to play your lands unless you're running far too many.
Notice how Painful Quandary only cares when an opponent casts a spell... I think I will counter that spell that you paid 5 life for. It effectively slows them down to a snails pace, all you really have to worry about is what is currently on the field.
And since we're talking about UB control, we might as well bounce anything they do manage to get on the field. Then they get to try and cast it through Painful Quandry again. Only this time you might have a counterspell. Or multiple Quadries. Or a Caress or two.
Build a control deck which wins by simply letting the opponent try to cast spells :)
UB Trinket Mage into Everflowing Chalice, oh look I'm in proliferate colors, imagine that.
Run it with Dissipation Field. Since we're already running proliferate and blue, we can throw in Grind Clock, Horrifying Revelation, and Tome Scour. Follow up with a spot removal counter spell suite. 2 Liliana's Caress, 2 Jace's Erasure, one each of Lili and little Jace, and one each of Blue and Black Sun's Zenith. Hold the ground with Wall of Frost, kill fliers or lock them down with Ice Cage. Make your friends cry.
When you wonder why you're being forced to block with your specters from 5 different opponents, check to see if you haven't got this on your field.
@Scumbling1
You mistake the word "good" for the word "competitive". They are NOT interchangeable, as much as people seem to think in MTG. Just because a card is cheap (CMC-wise) does not mean it is fun to play (or play against) when it comes to kitchen table games. You know, the place MTG was born? The place you probably learned to play? Net-decking never made any friends but I'm sure it cost some people a few play groups.
Variety and "insane" combo decks are what keep this game interesting.
@DELON: That era of Magic also had some vastly powered cards. Dark Ritual? Demonic Tutor?
It would be best suited for a U/B discard/control deck. Make them draw, then dare them to discard or play anything. a simple and effective grid-lock on their play.
As may have stated, this card would go very well with Liliana's Caress or Megrim , especially if you can get multiples of them out.
Just my two cents.
At its very worst (e.g. when your opponent is holding a Naturalize or an Oblivion Ring), Painful Quandary is either a Mind Rot for an extra
At its very best, though, it is those things...over and over and over again. It will wreck your opponent's hand and/or life total. Aggro decks will simply shut down, since they can't drop enough cards to establish a good board position (especially after any sort of mass-removal) - they'll have neither the cards nor the life to pull it off. Control decks will be crippled, as they typically rely on their spells producing card-advantage, and Painful Quandary undermines that (unless they're willing to Lava Axe their own face a few times, and that has a tendency to add up). Combo decks will destabilize, since they start losing tutors/draw/combo-pieces to avoid death. And let's not even talk about the matchup against Storm decks.
Compliment Painful Quandary with traditional control cards. Discard will force them to pace their plays poorly, while countermagic and removal will invalidate whatever pains they go through to resolve a spell. It's extremely difficult to break out of that kind of lock, not to mention that multiple copies stack.
I'd much rather see my opponents play cards like Dash Hopes and Painful Quandry against me instead of good cards.
@ OmegaSerris:
First off, you're applying your personal opinion to everyone. For many players, "good" and "competitive" are in fact interchangable. Even among kitchen-table gamers, not everyone enjoys the game in the same manner as you do; I know plenty of self-proclaimed "casual" players who love to netdeck, and take their Magic surprisingly seriously. There is variance in the level of competition within any two given casual groups, and as long as everyone involved is in agreement with what's acceptable, there need be no seperation between fun and cut-throat play.
Secondly, I like a more permissive casual environment than what I think you'd expect -- It's not all netdecks and Legacy bling where I play. I simply consider punisher cards, like Painful Quandry, to be not good on a fundamental level. They're inconsistent, and I have a distaste for that, whether I'm playing casually or competitively.
Because of punisher cards' inconsistency, I'd rather play against them than cards that would actually deny me a choice as to whether or not my spells resolve (or any other outcome). I want my cards to do what I intend them to do, and I don't want them to be stopped at doing it. It's got nothing to do with tournament worthiness (though I don't think you'll see many punisher cards in Top-8s), and everything to do with extra ability to play around my opponent's cards being built right into them.
EDH thoughts: You gotta think of this as an investment for the long game. Sure, the first few times it triggers won't do much; they've either got cards they don't need, or they're not worried about a little life loss. But as they get low on one resource or the other this will become a problem. You don't even have to keep feeding it mana or anything; just go about your business and watch the vice tighten.
@Leonidas Cast Paraselene, choose to discard other card and take 2, destroy all enchantments and gain 3 :)
Top it off with Mindslicer. Kill everything, nuke everyone's hand, everyone has to sac things to get creatures out, and on top of it? they have to lose 5 life or wait 2 turns for subsequent spells.
You want to troll your playgroup? Do it right :D
You don't choose to not lose 5 life. You only choose whether or not to discard a card. If you have no cards in hand, you HAVE to lose the 5 life. If you cast disenchant to kill this card, disenchant is no longer in your hand - it's impossibly to discard it at this point. If you have no other cards in your hand, you HAVE to lose 5 life at this point.
This cards is awesome. It's a punisher card that is actually really strong. Even more mean if you counter their spell because they still lose the life or discard.
EDIT
@Ragamander
Actually, at worst, it's in your hand and you opponent has a strong board position. Even if they are at 5 life with no cards in hand, you can't kill them like you could with lava axe. Even if they have 2 cards in their hand, you can't get rid of them without them playing one of them (ie a lava axe that kills you on their turn).
This card is 'bad' because you need to establish a board position, and then lock them out of playing stuff by making each spell painful. I don't mean this card is actually bad, I mean that you can't say it's a lava axe or mind rot at worst, because it's not. A simple way to kill an opponent's board presence though is mutilate or similar.
This card reminds me a lot of Voldemort's cave lair with the horcrux inside it.
4.5/5