Nettling Imp

A pure design curio, and one of the clearest demonstrations of how loose Alpha's combat rules were willing to get. The card reaches across the table and rewrites another player's combat step: pick one of their creatures, and it has to swing or die. The restrictions read like a patch note written in advance. Not a Wall (the obvious break). Must have been under their control since the beginning of the turn (no targeting summoning-sick fresh drops). Activated only during their turn, before attackers are declared (no instant-speed surprise on your own turn, no ambushing after blockers). Each clause exists to close a hole that the base effect, "you decide what their creature does in combat," would otherwise blow wide open. The body is incidental: a 1/1 at this cost is a chassis, not a threat, because the ability is the entire card. What makes it a fossil rather than a template is that modern design has almost entirely abandoned the space. Forcing an opponent's creature to attack is a mechanic that punishes the controller for their own board, and Wizards long ago decided that "your stuff does things you didn't choose" is a feel-bad lever to pull only with heavy guardrails. The Imp is what that lever looked like before the guardrails existed, with the restrictions bolted on one at a time in the oracle text.